Champion Rules

Chapter 94 090: Do You Dare to Defend Against Me? Little Princess (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)
LeBron James delivered a near-perfect performance with 38 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.

It wasn't as impressive as his 52 points against the Milwaukee Bucks in the previous game, but such stats would be enough to make home fans leave Quicken Loans Arena with a smile on their faces on any night.

But when the game ended, the Cavaliers fans didn't smile at all.

Lynch's amazing performance of 43 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists made James's brilliant stats seem like a lonely star next to the bright moon.

As the clock struck the end, the starkly different choices made by the two superstars tore apart the hearts of Cleveland fans.

What made James even more humiliated was that the day after the game, Reebok officially announced a collaboration with former Air Jordan designer Tinker Hadfield.

The top sneaker designer who originally worked for the emperor has now joined Lynch's team.

Brand executive Sonny Vaccaro couldn't hide his pride in front of reporters: "Tinker will be joining Lynch's shoe design team directly. Great people always attract each other. This will definitely be a revolutionary collaboration, and the basketball world has officially entered a new era."

Sonny was already imagining how that old bastard Phil Knight must be tossing and turning at night.

That self-proclaimed "dictator" will eventually realize that the Nike empire wasn't built by him alone.

He wasn't even the most important person.

Even Lynch himself was surprised by the speed at which the collaboration was progressing; he had thought the top designer would wait until the end of the season to make a decision.

Tinker Hadfield explained his reasons for making the decision in an interview with reporters.

"Many people have misjudged Lynch. There has never been a so-called 'Young Four Cavaliers' in the East. When you see what Lynch has done, you will know that there can only ever be one true superstar in the East. In the current East, no player is qualified to be called one of the 'Four Cavaliers' alongside Lynch."

Tinker Hadfield firmly believes that Lynch can succeed, not only because of his ability, but also because of the way he plays.

LeBron James, who is always impeccable in front of reporters, made one mistake: last night's game was more than just a regular season game.

Every time he clashed with Lynch, it changed the business prospects of both of them.

No one would like a young Caesar who can't even beat his peers.

Nobody likes a chosen one who keeps causing the team to lose.

After the game against the Cavaliers, Lynch led the Knicks to continue their winning streak. After defeating the Bulls on November 30, the Knicks had a record of 11 wins and 3 losses, ranking first in the Eastern Conference.

But the familiar curse has once again befallen the Knicks.

At this time last season, Allan Houston's season-ending injury put the Knicks in a difficult position.

This year, Grant Hill, who was unusually healthy last season, is facing a problem. He has developed a sports hernia, caused by uneven pressure on his feet while running.

Grant Hill, determined not to play with an injury, opted for surgery. Including the recovery period, he is expected to return towards the end of the regular season.

It's not hard to imagine how busy the New York media is.

They were analyzing the disadvantages of losing Grant Hill, and they were recalling the pain of offensive constipation when Trevor Ariza was in the starting lineup.

They don't want to see the Knicks' offense revert to its primitive state overnight.

The media came up with countless trade ideas for the Knicks to fill the void at the small forward position, and Stephen A. Smith even suggested that the Knicks invite Reggie Miller back to the game.

"It's time to call back 'Mayor of New York' Reggie Miller to don his jersey again! This legendary shooter deserves to fight for the city's glory once more! If he's willing to join the Knicks, we'd do anything for Spike Lee, even choke him!"

Faced with an injury crisis and media hype, Sam Presti simply made a calm phone call to Lynch.

"Focus on leading the team; you don't need to worry about anything else."

He was well aware of his responsibilities.

So, just two days into December, the New York Knicks suddenly announced a trade.

Sam Presti traded the Knicks' own 09 first-round pick, next year's second-round pick, and Michael Sweetney, whose contract was expiring, to the rebuilding Golden State Warriors for wing player "French Jordan" Michael Pietrus.

Presti's offer hit almost every nerve with the Warriors: draft picks and expiring contracts are as tempting to a rebuilding team as tearing socks is to a thirsty man.

This deal caught everyone off guard; no one expected Presti to act so quickly.

After all, the New York media and fans have become accustomed to the Knicks' management's inaction.

It's worth noting that after Allan Houston's season-ending injury last season, the "Smiling Assassin" was unable to make any reinforcements for the team until the trade deadline.

But Sam Presti had a completely different style of doing things. He was very decisive in making deals, completing the trade negotiations within 72 hours of Grant Hill being diagnosed with a sports hernia.

The deal was finalized before the media even heard any rumors.

The Frenchman also has high emotional intelligence. On the day he arrived in New York, he told reporters, "As soon as I got off the plane, I found the air around me to be so sweet. It smells like victory."

However, Sam Presti did more than that.

For an NBA locker room to be harmonious, it must maintain a balance.

Considering that Pietrus's arrival might make Trevor Ariza uneasy, Sam Presti immediately used his early bird rights to sign Ariza to a 3-year, $930 million contract extension after the trade was completed, making it clear with a real money commitment that Ariza is still part of the Knicks' future plans.

When Sam Presti manages a team under an owner who doesn't need to save money, he would never do something like letting go of promising players to save a few million dollars.

These two perfect moves resolved all the crises the Knicks faced in a timely manner: they alleviated Hill's injury crisis by adding immediate players and eliminated potential locker room conflicts by extending his contract early.

Even the most demanding New York media outlets couldn't find fault with Presti; he demonstrated textbook-level management skills.

The youngest general manager in North American professional sports history became a New York star overnight, while Lynch simply felt at ease.

He was glad that he had fought hard within the team last season and finally got rid of the assassin.

The value of all of this becomes apparent at this moment.

Lin Qi no longer needs to worry about so many messy things; he only needs to defeat the opponents in front of him one by one.

In early December, Lynch will face a formidable opponent.

On the same day the Knicks and Warriors completed the trade, ESPN released its latest MVP rankings.

An unexpected name appeared at the top of the list—Dirk Nowitzki.

It's important to understand that in this era, a tall, white European player who prefers face-up jump shots is highly unpopular with the media. In the eyes of the media, Dirk Nowitzki possessed no personal charisma whatsoever.

So the only reason he's currently ranked first in the MVP rankings is that his performance in the first month of the season was just too good.

整个11月，德国人场均30.4分8.6个篮板3.2次助攻。场均命中率52%，三分命中率40%！

If there's an ultimate answer to offense at the power forward position, it's Dirk Nowitzki.

His offense had almost no weaknesses, and he led the Mavericks to a 12-3 record.

The clash between the top teams in the East and West, the battle between the strongest defensive forward and the strongest offensive forward, inevitably became the main event.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban boasted before the game, "Dirk's offensive arsenal is an encyclopedia of modern basketball. Whether it's Garnett's aggressive defense or Duncan's system-breaking defense, they all ultimately succumb to his firepower. Now, it's Lynch's turn to experience this despair!"

Two days before the game, Lenny Wilkens led the entire team in a detailed study of the Mavericks' game footage.

The final conclusion was sobering: "Even if Lynch keeps the Germans under 20 points, the Knicks are not guaranteed a win."

This assertion stems from the Mavericks' deep offensive foundation—besides Nowitzki, the firepower of Jason Terry, Josh Howard, and Jerry Stackhouse is enough to tear apart the defense when Lynch is focused on guarding the German machine. They have numerous scorers, and Lynch guarding Nowitzki will inevitably affect his help defense range, giving others easy opportunities to break through.

Stephon Marbury was unhappy with this conclusion: "Let me guard Jason Terry, I can shut him down!"

This is clearly a load of nonsense, because even the incredibly handsome LeBron James at his peak couldn't stop Jason Terry.

Of course, there's really nothing to criticize about LBJ's defense in 11, because Terry was one of the few players who faced off against LBJ but didn't win the Finals MVP, which is enough to show how outstanding James' defense was in 11.

For the 11 NBA Finals, the Heat will always have only one culprit – Dwyane Wade.

Averaging less than 30 points per game in the series shows that he is a useless core player, wasting a year of James' youth.

Stephon Marbury is a strong defender, but he's far from being a full-court defender. Without Lynch protecting him, he would have a hard time completely containing Terry's firepower.

The same applies to everyone else. The Knicks' problem on the perimeter is that while their defense is above average, they don't have a single All-Defensive caliber player.

Their defense has a high floor, but a relatively low ceiling.

This means they all need Lynch's help to raise their ceiling. With Lynch's help defense, they can achieve top-tier defensive performance in the league.

But to lock down a single player in a one-on-one defense? That's clearly beyond their capabilities.

Furthermore, what makes the Mavericks' isolation plays truly terrifying is that after a pick-and-roll, any of them can get a mismatch against the opposing defender.

Mismatch isolation plays are the Mavericks' greatest strength.

When Lynch is unable to create a defensive line through help defense and backup, the limitations of this lineup become glaringly obvious.

Kurt Thomas joked to Marbury, "Come on, without Lynch chasing you around the court with toilet paper to wipe your ass, you'd have left poop all over the floor."

New signing Michael Pietrus gently covered his mouth and nose amidst laughter. The New York Knicks are indeed a team with a strong flavor, but it's not just the flavor of victory.

The jokes were over, and Sam Cassell asked the most important question: "Since you guys think that even if Lynch locks down Dirk, it won't work, how are we supposed to fight? Kneel on the floor?"

“Of course we have a strategy,” Lenny Wilkens said, glancing at the Frenchman Jordan who was covering his nose. “Michael, next game you’ll guard Dirk, and I’ll let you smell our victory to your heart’s content!”

"what?"

Michael Pietrus looked completely bewildered.

Arrived in New York, and in his first game with his new team, he was assigned to defend the player ranked first in the MVP standings. What to do? Urgent!
Michael Pietrus gripped the hem of his jersey tightly, the sweat from his palms evaporating in the fervent air of Madison Square Garden.

French Jordan was a little nervous because his first game with the New York Knicks was a nationally televised game against the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference.

Furthermore, he was placed in a position he had never been competent in before.

The top Western Conference player, wearing a light blue jersey, entered the arena. Dirk Nowitzki smiled and nodded to Lynch before beginning his warm-up.

He's clearly different from his boss; he doesn't like to cause trouble before matches.

The game started quickly, and people noticed that the Knicks' starting lineup was completely different from usual.

Today's starting five are Stephon Marbury, Sam Cassell, Eddie Jones, Michael Pietrus, and Lynch.

Lynch was moved to the center position, and the Knicks' average height was very short.

As they gathered at center court, Jason Terry deliberately whistled, "Looks like some people aren't even afraid to go head-to-head with you, Dirk. Is this the young Caesar everyone's been talking about?" The sarcastic shooting guard intentionally bumped his teammate Josh Howard with his shoulder, "More like a young princess!"

“Shut your latrine, Lynch isn’t afraid of anyone.” Stephon Marbury spoke up for Lynch.

"Save your breath, New York outcasts. Who was it that got shut down to a 38% shooting percentage softie in last year's Eastern Conference Finals? If Lynch had a decent second option, he'd be in the NBA Finals by now!"

This stung Stephon Marbury, leaving him speechless for a moment. Last season in the Eastern Conference Finals, against the Pistons' grueling defense, Marbury's average field goal percentage in six games didn't even reach 40%.

Seeing that Lynch ignored their argument, Jason Terry pressed his advantage: "Even your master has nothing to say, so what are you barking about?"

"That's enough! Are you guys still going to play or not? If you keep talking nonsense, get back to the locker room!" The referee's angry rebuke ended the verbal sparring between the two black guards.

The referee throws the ball in, and the Knicks gain possession first.

Stephon Marbury dribbled the ball past half-court, where he was guarded by Josh Howard.

Unlike the talkative Terry, Josh Howard is taciturn, a trait stemming from his high school experience.

In high school, he was chatting with his friends in front of a gas station before the SAT exam when he was suddenly and roughly taken away by the police in a police car.

The reasoning is very much in line with the investigative experience of the police in the United States.

"That guy looked like a drug dealer, but he wasn't."

This experience made Josh Howard relatively withdrawn and less inclined to talk.

However, on the defensive end, Josh Howard's ability speaks for itself.

Marbury's crossover dribble couldn't find a breakthrough under Howard's tight defense, so he passed the ball to Lynch, who had circled out to the three-point line.

Lynch waved to Eric Dampier, the second-best center in the West, and called for Michael Pietrus to set a screen.

After the pick-and-roll, Dirk Nowitzki had to defend Lynch, while Dampier was pulled out to the three-point line.

TNT commentator Kevin Harlan immediately saw the Knicks' purpose in fielding this lineup.

"This isn't about letting Lynch avoid Dirk; they're about defeating the Dallass the Dallas way!"

That's right, the best way to deal with an offense-first team is to attack.

It's impossible to prevent.

This lineup ensured the Knicks' ability to respond from the outside, prevented the Mavericks from easily double-teaming them, and allowed Lynch to play one-on-one with impunity.

Neither Dampier nor Nowitzki posed a significant challenge for Lynch, though he ultimately chose Nowitzki in the first round to suffer.

Catch the thief first to catch the king.

Without hesitation, Lynch drove hard to the basket.

You could say the German is a perfect offensive power forward, but his defense is nothing to brag about.

After forcefully driving to the basket using his strength and explosiveness, Lynch faked a shot, then rose up and slammed a one-handed dunk over the German's head!
Lynch, who had successfully scored, didn't say anything to Dirk, but instead turned to Jason Terry.

He won't let his teammates who support him down.

Marbury just spoke up for him, so of course he won't let Marbury lose face.

"Jason, after all that talk, do you dare to defend me, little princess?"

On the bench, young general Avery Johnson cursed under his breath.

Dirk Nowitzki might score a lot of points today.

But Lynch will fucking get more!
(End of this chapter)