Author: Dong Wangyi

At the same time, Barkley had arrived in Chicago and was interviewed by reporters at the airport.

"Charles, you are here to watch the Eastern Conference Finals, so do you support the Bulls or the Pistons?" a reporter asked.

"Charles, I heard that you are going to Los Angeles for fishing?" another reporter joked.

Buckley laughed, but in his heart he really wanted to give this taciturn reporter a strong hug and throw him into a brainless state.

Pretending not to hear the reporter's question, he answered the previous reporter's question and said: "Yes, I came here specifically to watch the Eastern Conference Finals. Bulls and Pistons, I'm sorry, I support the Bulls."

"Why?" the reporter asked.

"Because Michael is a good friend of mine, and the Bulls are obviously much stronger than the Pistons, and the Iron Fist team is not strong enough to upset the team," Barkley said with a smile.

"Charles, which team will Philadelphia trade you to?" a reporter asked again.

Barkley's smile faded. Although he also wanted to leave Philadelphia, being traded by the team was not a comfortable thing. From now on, he will become a wanderer.

However, being traded would be better for his reputation than actively applying for a trade, so he immediately said with a bitter look on his face: "Oh, we didn't perform well this year and failed to make the playoffs. I have my thoughts on the team's trade."

There were no complaints, so they decided, and I respect their decision."

"So which team do you want to go to?" the reporter asked.

"Can I say bull? Haha, okay, I know it's impossible, just a joke. But I can't decide my future. This feeling is very bad. I'd better let God decide where I belong." Buck

Li said helplessly.

A reporter rushed to the United Center to interview Michael Jordan and asked, "Michael, what do you think of this bet?"

There was no smile on Jordan's face and he said: "Look at that kid's sneaker sales. I think not only will a sneaker company go bankrupt, but that kid may also go bankrupt."

The reporter immediately asked: "The ESPN reporter proposed that you and Iron Fist bet against each other. Iron Fist refused. What do you want to say about this?"

"He has no money, so it is rational to refuse. I really don't understand how stupid it is to bet with ESPN since he has no money." Jordan said disdainfully.

"How likely are you to defeat your opponents?" the reporter asked again.

This question made Jordan silent for a moment. After all, it is not easy to sweep the Pistons. This year's Pistons are not the Pistons that lost their spirit and lifelessness last year. In his opinion, the spirit and willpower of this Pistons are among the top in the league. He even feels that

The Bad Boys Legion has been resurrected.

But he was silent for only a second and then said firmly: "I insist that we have a high chance of sweeping the Pistons."

After Zhou Quan proposed a bet with ESPN, he could not show any weakness, otherwise it would definitely affect the morale of the Bulls and boost the morale of the Pistons. Therefore, even if there is a possibility of being slapped in the face in the future, he must make the strongest move.

Express a stance.

However, his words were not final, leaving room for the future.

At six o'clock in the evening, ESPN publicly announced that it agreed to the bet proposed by Zhou Quan. If the Pistons avoided being swept by the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, ESPN would donate US$5 million to a charity.

This news dominated the headlines of all TV media at night.

At half past six, Zhou Quan, who had just finished dinner but had not yet left the table, received a call from his agent.

"Zhou, starting from four o'clock in the afternoon, your sneaker sales exploded. There was a long queue in every store. By the time the store closed at six o'clock, the sales in the United States today reached 350,000 US dollars, 99% of which

Sales come from 4 to 6 p.m., 41% of sales come from Los Angeles and 35% from Detroit." Philip said excitedly.

Zhou Quan did some calculations and found that the remaining 1% was today's normal sales volume, which was only US$3,500. Is it 60% or 70% lower than yesterday?

If this is not saved, sales may drop to zero in a few days. His shoes will definitely be taken off the shelves after the Eastern Conference Finals. It seems that he made the right bet.

Philip then shouted: "There should be another wave tomorrow, and tomorrow is the main meal. Zhou, you have done a great thing. I really hope this effect can be maintained until the end of the Eastern Conference Finals. By then, the sales volume may be 8 million US dollars."

It’s no longer a problem, and you can hope to get the next six million dollar contract.”

Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Roger, aren't you worried that I will lose half a million dollars?"

Philip was startled and immediately said: "Zhou, I never believe that your team will be swept by the Bulls. I have confidence in you."

"I believe it too." Zhou Quan said.

"Iron Fist, it's time."

At this time Chuck Daly greeted.

"Coming."

Zhou Quan ended the phone call and went to a business conference room with his teammates. There will be a tactical meeting for the G1 game tomorrow.

In fact, we held a meeting yesterday to discuss some issues, and we will continue today.

After everyone arrived, one of the staff members served a cup of coffee. Chuck Daly took a sip and said: "Gentlemen, Iron Fist has staked his fortune on it. I hope everyone will work hard to prevent his half a million from going to others."

in his pocket."

"Ha ha……"

Everyone laughed.

Rodman shouted: "Coach is not someone else's pocket, it is a charity account."

Daley said: "I know, but little fool, charity is all business. Don't forget this sentence. If we are swept away, Iron Fist's half a million will definitely go into the pockets of some rich people."

Everyone was startled, and Joe Dumas quickly reminded: "Chuck, the boss is a philanthropist."

Daley was startled, glared at Rodman and said: "Dennis, don't mention charity-related topics from now on. Do you want me to be fired by my boss?"

"Ha ha……"

The conference room burst into laughter.

Zhou Quan felt good, the atmosphere was relaxed, which was better than tense, but he hoped that this relaxation was not due to giving up completely.

"Okay, the joke is over, now let's talk about business."

Chuck Daly took two more sips of coffee, cleared his throat and said: "Yesterday we talked about defensive tactics, and today we determine offensive tactics.

Let me give you some data first. This is the data of Michael Jordan in the first and second rounds. In the first round, he averaged 45 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block per game, and averaged 10.7 free throws per game.

Regarding his performance in the first round, I have the following evaluation, which is much higher than his performance in the regular season. He has unlimited firepower, unlimited damage, top-notch offense and defense, and explosive rebounding ability.

His field goal percentage is as high as 60.9%, and his true shooting percentage is as high as 66.7%. This kind of efficiency is enough to destroy any team, including us, who have the strongest defense in the league."

"call!"

Zhou Quan and others began to take a deep breath in unison, because these data gave them great pressure.

Then Daly added: "His performance in the second round was slightly inferior to the first round, but he was still very good. If you look at the recent sales of his MJ brand, you will know how good his performance in the playoffs was."

Zhou Quan sighed helplessly, Coach Daley, which pot are you not talking about? When you talk about offense, you just talk about offense. What shoes are you talking about?

Chuck Daly said again: "However, although Michael Jordan is very powerful, it does not mean that we have no hope of winning.

Let me give you another statistic. The Bulls' overall shooting percentage in the first two rounds was not as good as the regular season. Their regular season shooting percentage was 50.8%. In the playoffs, it is now 48.7%.

This shows that except for Jordan, the offensive efficiency of the other Bulls is not as good as in the regular season, and this is our opportunity. We have the strongest defense in the league.

In the regular season, the Bulls limited their opponents' shooting percentage to 46%, while ours was 45.3%. Yesterday we said that we should base our defense on defense, play defense first, and then attack."

Having said this, he looked at Zhou Quan and said: "The offense must be efficient and of high quality. We reject wasteful shots and meaningless shots."

Zhou Quan immediately nodded. Even if he was not allowed to take action in the Eastern Conference, he would still be willing to do so. There was no other way, as he might not be able to get the bonus of +1 bounce, but if he was swept by the Bulls, his profit losses would be even greater.

Chuck Daly said at this time: "Iron Fist, Jordan added a lot of breakthrough layups in the playoffs, so he can achieve super high efficiency, so I also hope you can strengthen breakthroughs."

"OK."

Zhou Quan nodded solemnly, now that it was the most critical Eastern Conference Finals, he had to fight hard.

After the tactical meeting, Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals happened to start, and they happened to be watching the game together in the conference room.

As a result, the Trail Blazers, playing at home, won a big victory, 88:113, winning by a full 25 points.

The Trail Blazers led by 18 points in the first quarter and could almost defeat the Jazz in one quarter.

In rebounding, field goal percentage, steals, assists, and number of shots, the Trail Blazers are all ahead of the Jazz.

Among them, the Trail Blazers had 36 assists and the Jazz had only 20.

The five-time assist king John Stockton made 1 of 6 shots and only scored 6 points, 1 rebound, 9 assists and 0 steals.

The Trail Blazers sent out 10 steals, while the Jazz only had 4.

In terms of the number of shots, Pioneer took 85 shots and the Jazz only took 65 shots, a huge gap of 20 shots.

On three-pointers, the Jazz made 1 of 6 shots and a shooting percentage of 16.7%, while the Trail Blazers made 7 of 14 shots.

No one on the Jazz scored more than 20 points. Jeff Malone only scored 16 points. Postman made 3 of 6 shots and only scored 11 points. They lost without any temper.

As for the Trail Blazers, five players scored 10+, and two of them scored 20+.

Among them, the core glider Drexler made 5 of 11 shots and only scored 11 points.

But this shows the strength of the Trail Blazers' lineup. Even if the core performs abnormally, there are others who step up and defeat the powerful Jazz.

After watching this game, Zhou Quan feels that ESPN has always ranked the Trail Blazers second in terms of winning chances, which is very reasonable.

He said: "I'm not bragging. This year's Trail Blazers have been strong from beginning to end, averaging second in the league in points per game. The Pacers, who were first in the league, were eliminated in the first round. In other words, among the four teams now, the Trail Blazers are

He has the strongest scoring ability and really has the temperament of a championship.”
To be continued...