Ewing now thinks this red-haired rookie is not cute at all!

However, he should be educated well, because he is the superstar Ewing!

If he messes up the welcome ceremony for this annoying red-haired kid, he will definitely be laughed at by those old friends.

After a few rounds, it was the Knicks' offensive round, and Ewing once again held the ball one step outside the penalty area.

This time, it was not as "harmonious" as the beginning!

Ewing launched with all his strength, and his waist and hips turned at the same time, and a powerful force hit Hanamichi's chest.

Hanamichi groaned, but he didn't lose his position.

But Ewing took advantage of this space and made a small throw with his right hand, and hit it!

"Hey, rookie! Welcome to the NBA!"

After saying this familiar sentence, Ewing turned back to defend.

Hanamichi was left rubbing his chest in place. In a place where the referee couldn't see, he was taught a good lesson by Ewing!

"You really can't underestimate these old comrades who don't follow the ethics of the game!"

But from the referee's perspective, it was clearly seen that Ewing's turning action did not involve lowering his shoulders and raising his elbows.

During the entire turning process, there was no deliberate infringement on Hanamichi, and there was no obvious foul. It was a good attack.

"Is this the real welcome ceremony of the NBA?"

"Compared to this, the young wolf is really a civilized wolf!"

In fact, this is also a matter of experience. Although Hanamichi has the strength of a star, he does not have the corresponding experience, so it is normal for him to suffer in these small moves and be educated by the [gorilla].

But Hanamichi is very open-minded!

He thought that if Ewing did not use these small moves, would he not be able to hold his [welcome party] well?

This also shows from the side that Hanamichi's strength is indeed unique!

In the next three consecutive attacks, Ewing squeezed out space by "unreasonable" "hitting", and then scored directly under the basket!

Face Ewing's attack seemed to be powerless to fight back!

At this time, only 6 minutes into the first quarter, Raptors head coach Landon Malone called a timeout.

During the timeout, commentator Bill Walton said gloatingly:

"It seems that the young core of the Raptors' inside line still needs to accumulate more experience!"

However, another commentator Matt Gokas saw the essence:

"Who was the last rookie that Ewing took so seriously, Bill, do you remember?"

"It was that sturdy [Shark]!"

"In fact, the performance of rookie Flower is good enough to be able to entangle with Ewing for such a long time!"

"Don't forget, this is only his second official game in the NBA!" (Preseason games are not counted)

Matt Gokas, the former 76ers guard, has a basis for saying this.

Although Ewing made 5 of 7 shots and scored 10 points in the first 6 minutes, his performance was very unstoppable, and Hanamichi's defensive efficiency was not very good.

But Hanamichi made 3 of 6 shots on the offensive end and scored 6 points, which is also a very good performance.

After all, this is the data he produced against superstar Ewing.

Similarly, Raptors coach Landon Malone knew that he could not blame Flower.

In fact, he was able to play like this with Ewing in a one-on-one offense and defense, which was beyond his expectations.

The next key depends on his deployment!

"Let's adjust the defense. Sharon White remains unchanged and guards Oakley on the opposite side throughout the game."

"As for Oliver Miller, I put you in the small forward position just to help Flower."

Although Anthony Mason on the opposite side is a small forward, he is actually a "pseudo-inside player" averaging 14+8 per game.

This was really common at the end of the 20th century, and there were often 5 or 6 people standing in the restricted area.

"As for the offensive end, Damon, you should play more... Playing small against big is your best opportunity. We have Flower, White, and Miller in the penalty area. Our rebounding configuration is not inferior to the Knicks!"

Oliver Miller, Flower, Das, and White nodded in response.

The effect of Coach Landon Malone's timeout and personnel tactical adjustments were immediate.

After the Raptors strengthened the inside lineup, Ewing found that his hit rate gradually decreased.

The most obvious thing is that the interference when shooting has increased!

The opponent will assist in defense from time to time, and even the red-haired rookie in front of him blocked it once without paying attention.

The other is in the fight for rebounds. Although Ewing is 33 years old, his rebounding level has always been at the top of the league, averaging 10 rebounds per game.

But facing the muscular inside line of the Raptors, Ewing alwaysUnable to achieve absolute control over rebounds.

Even in the statistics of the second quarter, the Knicks' frontcourt rebounds and backcourt rebounds were lagging behind the Raptors to varying degrees.

Landon Malone was still very confident in his arrangement:

While limiting the opponent's inside offensive firepower, he also strengthened the fight for rebounds and increased the outside firepower output.

The reason why they can so blatantly target the Knicks' strong inside combination is that they also have a core from the outside.

Das was also very competitive. He made 5 of 8 shots in the second quarter and scored 11 points in one quarter.

This is the benefit of the inside and outside dual cores, complementarity!

After the halftime, the Raptors temporarily led the Knicks with 43:41.

In the first half, Hanamichi scored a total of 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists.

And Ewing scored 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Judging from the data, it is not an absolute loss to Ewing, and he is even better than Ewing in rebounding control.

The second half is the time for Hanamichi to exert his strength.

During the halftime break, he was blessed with the silver medal [Physical Monster] and activated the bond of [Sakuragi Army].

So after the halftime break, Hanamichi, who had been a "meat grinder" in the first half, was still in good physical condition.

Coach Landon Malone saw this and directly changed the offensive core from the outside to the inside.

First, because of the crazy attack in the second quarter, Das had to cool down.

Second, because the first 8 minutes of the third quarter were always Ewing's rest time.

If he didn't beat the Knicks' inside at this time, he would be really derelict in his duty as a coach!

So the Raptors decisively replaced Das, White and Oliver, allowing Hanamichi to continue to grab points with the substitute lineup on the court.

Coach Malone's arrangement was correct. When Ewing was resting, Hua Dao tried his best to attack the basket.

The substitute center/power forward~Charles Smith had no ability to resist at all and was exhausted by the vigorous Hua Dao.

Charles Smith was the third pick in the 1988 NBA draft, but due to physical reasons, he retired from the NBA in 1997!

At this time, there were only 2 years left before his retirement!

In fact, in February 1996, in 4 months, Charles Smith would be traded away by the Knicks.

The so-called "pick the soft persimmon", coach Landon Malone saw this point.

In the early third quarter, he repeatedly told Hua Dao to keep an eye on Charles Smith, which was simply a live roll call~teaching.

Hua Dao hooked, forced a back-to-back, jumped, and attacked the basket from time to time, carrying a bomb and making a layup.

In the first 6 minutes of the third quarter, Charles Smith was fouled twice.

Hanamichi scored 10 points in the first 6 minutes of the third quarter, including 4 free throws.

This was much easier than the 10 points he had scored in the first two quarters against Ewing!