For the next two seasons, Wei Guo moved between two cities with Gentry and Cummings.
This also brought the championship to both cities...
In these two different teams, Wei Guo met new teammates and also met some old teammates, and everyone got along very well.
These were also the two toughest seasons for Wei Guo.
Compared to his first four seasons in his professional career, Wei Guo had quite a few helpers around him. However, in the last two seasons, Wei Guo has been specifically targeting weaker teams, perhaps in order to prove himself.
The most terrifying season was the 2005-06 season, which can be described as the season in which the team defended their title and became legendary.
That year, the league added some more rookies.
Several rookies are quite good, including Paul, Williams, Bynum, and David Lee.
The top scorer was a bit lacking...
The number one pick in that year's draft was Bogut. He entered the league full of fighting spirit. When he first met Wei Guo, he was dunked on twice by Wei Guo over his head in one game.
Just like Carter's dunk of the century...
Wei Guo dunked on Bogut like that, twice, in the same game, and that game directly destroyed Bogut's basketball dream.
after...
Bogut was completely out of form and disappeared from the league after less than two seasons, being rated as the league's biggest draft bust.
......
New York has always been the basketball mecca of the United States, and the Knicks are an even more prestigious team... The owner is willing to spend money, often signing big-name players with poor skills in order to win, making them one of the NBA's biggest suckers.
He has an extreme passion for basketball and for this team.
But...
For the championship.
He loaned the team to a mysterious Chinese billionaire, which was unprecedented in the NBA, but the mysterious Chinese billionaire had too much influence, and the deal was eventually completed.
The day after the agreement was reached, Wei Guo joined the New York Knicks.
There was another very important reason why Wei Guo was willing to come to the Knicks. Before he arrived, the Knicks had just signed Larry Brown, who was Wei Guo's head coach when he played for the 76ers. Brown knew Wei Guo very well, and in order to bring a championship trophy to the city, Brown took the initiative to contact Gentry and expressed his willingness to be his assistant coach.
This was also one of the main reasons why Wei Guo joined the Knicks...
After Wei Guo's arrival, the Knicks made a series of trades because Wei Guo's contract was too large, and the team had to clear some contracts, resulting in the waiver of their star player, Stephon Marbury!
Cutting a star player, especially one in his prime who didn't have major conflicts with the team, is extremely rare in the NBA. However, it saved Marbury from several detours. After being cut by the team, Marbury angrily joined the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and found a place where he belonged.
After Marbury left...
Wei Guo's only outstanding teammates were Francis, Crawford, and Spud Robinson, while Hardaway was nearing the end of his career. In short, all of these players were point guards, which made the Knicks' backcourt overcrowded, leaving them with few available players in other positions.
Several young players are quite good, Channing Frye, Mark Barnes, Ariza... and there's also a veteran, Jalen Rose, whose breakout game was the Raptors' game against the Lakers, where he and Kobe combined for 83 points.
2005-06 regular season.
The data for defending the country is as follows:
Appearances: 82
Starting lineup: 82
Time: 46.5
Shooting percentage: 76.6%
Score: 53.3
Rebounds: 21.7
Assists: 11.9
Steals: 3.6
Blocks: 7.5
Aside from scoring, all other statistics were at their career peak, especially playing time. Wei Guo barely rested throughout the season. If it weren't for several games where he led by more than 40 points in just three quarters, Wei Guo might have broken Chamberlain's record for average playing time per game.
This can also be said to be the most prosperous year for the State of Wei.
The team's record was just average, with 57 wins and 25 losses, ranking only third in the East and not even as good as the Spurs in the West. However, Wei Guo's stats were too outstanding. He averaged a triple-double for the season and won the scoring, rebounding, assist, steals and block titles, so he still won the regular season MVP.
As for other honors...
Needless to say, Wei Guo single-handedly swept most of the honors in the regular season.
In the playoffs... the battles in the Eastern Conference were incredibly fierce.
Carmelo Anthony went to the Nuggets, which greatly weakened the Pistons. However, even a weakened giant is still a giant. With Prince back in the starting lineup, the Pistons' starting lineup remained reasonable, and they achieved a good second place in the Eastern Conference during the regular season. As for the Heat, they completely retained last season's roster, aiming for revenge. They ranked first in the Eastern Conference.
The remaining teams in the top eight are:
Fourth: Brooklyn Nets
Fifth: Cavaliers
Sixth: Wizards
Seventh: Pacers
Eighth: Chicago Bulls
The Knicks' first-round opponent is the Wizards.
Arenas' playing style has become increasingly mature, but unfortunately, his average of 29.3 points per game in the regular season only ranked fifth in the league. Wei Guo, Kobe, Iverson, and James all ranked ahead of him. The competition for the scoring list this season was very fierce, with four players averaging more than 30 points per game. Kobe averaged nearly 40 points per game, and Wei Guo's average was an astonishing 53.3 points per game.
However, the Wizards are not just about Arenas. He, Jamison, and Caron Butler form the Wizards' trio that swept the league and were not afraid of any team they faced.
First round playoff starting lineups:
Knicks: Francis, Barnes, Jalen Rose, David Lee, Wei Guo
Wizards: Arenas, Jeffries, Butler, Jamison, Haywood
There is a gap in the lineup.
Without Wei Guo, the Knicks would definitely have the worst record in the league this season, and would have been swept by the Wizards in the playoffs. But because of Wei Guo, the situation has changed.
final...
The Knicks defeated the Wizards 4-1.
The Cavaliers are also very strong this season. In addition to James, they have many excellent players, such as Snow, Larry Hughes, Gooden, Ilgauskas, Varejao, Marshall, Murray... If the Knicks face the Cavaliers, it will be very difficult for them to end the series within 5 games.
They did not encounter the Cavaliers.
After defeating the Nets, the Cavaliers will face the Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks are facing a Pistons team that is stronger than the Cavaliers.
The Pistons lost their star power and became a grassroots team after failing to retain Carmelo Anthony. Ironically, this made the team more cohesive.
Eastern Conference Semifinals Starting Lineups:
Knicks: Francis, Hardaway, Barnes, David Lee, Wei Guo
Pistons: Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace
With this starting lineup... anyone who sees it will be confused. People would believe it if you said the Pistons swept the Knicks 4-0.
Coincidentally, last summer, Wei Guo invited a few friends to play a friendly match against the Adidas Five. This year in the playoffs, he first faced Arenas and then Billups, both members of the Adidas Five.
This series has been tough; we'll have to take it one game at a time...
Let's start by talking about the Pistons' five starting players; their durability is absolutely top-notch.
In the 82-game regular season, Ben Wallace and Prince played all 82 games, while the other three only missed one or two games, and all of them played more than 80 games.
Hamilton and Billups averaged close to 20 points per game, Prince's mid-range shot was incredibly reliable, Rasheed's offensive skills were still improving, he had shooting coverage from all angles, his three-point shooting percentage reached a career high, and he could post up and face up. The only player without offensive ability, Ben Wallace, was still able to score 7.6 points per game by dunking.
Ben Wallace's defensive abilities are among the best in the league, and his contributions on the defensive end cannot be ignored.
Wei Guo and the Pistons can be considered old rivals.
The Pistons had this roster from the 2002-03 season. In those seasons, the Pistons were consistently among the league's top teams, with championship potential every year. When Wei Guo was with the Nets, the Pistons were the toughest opponent they faced in the playoffs. They also had a super rookie, Carmelo Anthony, but Billups, Hamilton, and Prince were far less mature than they were this season.
If Anthony doesn't leave, the Knicks probably won't be able to get past the Pistons.
Even if Anthony leaves...
The Pistons are still a tough nut to crack.
The Knicks and Pistons battled for seven games, with the Knicks ultimately winning thanks to Wei Guo's outstanding performance.
Let's start with the first match.
The Pistons got off to a good start, with Hamilton and Rasheed hitting consecutive three-pointers, quickly widening the score gap. The Knicks' outside offense was completely ineffective; Hardaway, with his aging physique, couldn't outrun Hamilton at all, and Francis was shut down by Billups, unable to even pass the ball.
In the third quarter, the Knicks were down by as much as 20 points.
Six minutes into the third quarter, Wei Guo finally erupted... He constantly established position under the basket, and whenever he received the ball, he would force his way through. Ben Wallace alone couldn't contain Wei Guo's performance at all, and Rasheed's help defense was also ineffective, as he got into foul trouble.
For about three minutes...
The Pistons' outside shooting suddenly went cold, and in those three minutes, Wei Guo scored four 2+1 plays under the basket, racking up 19 points in three minutes and helping the team catch up.
In the fourth quarter, Ben Wallace, who had already fouled out, had to sit on the sidelines to rest. Wei Guo was in his element under the basket, and whether on offense or defense, any rebound that occurred belonged to Wei Guo.
final...
Wei Guo scored 61 points, grabbed 29 rebounds, and blocked 7 shots, helping his team secure a hard-fought victory in the first game.
Now let's talk about the second game.
Despite losing home-court advantage, the Pistons dominated the Knicks in Game 2 with their defense.
79:73!!
The Pistons narrowly defeated the Knicks by 6 points at home.
Wei Guo scored 59 points, but it wasn't enough to bring a victory... Apart from Wei Guo, the rest of the Knicks players only scored a combined 14 points, which shows the difference between the two teams.
The situation was similar in the third and fourth games.
Gentry suddenly changed tactics...
The slender Frye was put in the starting lineup, and he and David Lee were tasked with defending the Knicks' interior defense.
The effect is quite good.
Frye's defense is poor, and Ben Wallace's offensive ability is also weak. It's pointless for Ben Wallace to defend Frye, and it's even more pointless for Frye to defend Ben Wallace, since he can't score anyway.
Wei Guo is switching to position 2!
The Pistons' outside shooting was completely overwhelmed...
Ultimately, thanks to Wei Guo's two consecutive 60+ point games, the Knicks secured two consecutive home wins, bringing the series score to 3-1.
Let's talk about the fifth and sixth games.
The Pistons relentlessly double-teamed Wei Guo, with Hamilton and Prince on the perimeter and Rasheed and Ben Wallace in the paint. More often than not, they double-teamed Wei Guo with two or three players. The physical contact was intense, and Wei Guo was knocked down twice during the contact. Every shot he took was difficult, and he didn't have a single easy shot opportunity in both games combined.
This level of confrontation...
That means Wei Guo; if it were any other player, they would probably be in the IcU by now.
The referees also showed some favoritism towards the Pistons, calling fouls fairly evenly. Apart from giving Rasheed a technical foul, other players were hardly bothered by fouls, which allowed the Pistons to play smoothly.
As for the other Knicks players!
Whether it was Francis, Hardaway, Barnes, David Lee, Frye... no one could step up to help Weiguo. The only player who could actually score was Cummings!
Cummings played 21 minutes, making 5 of 7 three-pointers and scoring 17 points, making him the Knicks' second-leading scorer... This is thanks to the chemistry between Cummings and Wei Guo. Because of the Pistons' double-teaming, Cummings always managed to get open, and Wei Guo was able to pass the ball to Cummings, so most of Cummings' shots were open shots.
Unfortunately...
The Knicks ultimately failed to win a game, bringing the series to 3-3.
The decisive Game 7 is considered one of the classic playoff battles for the Chinese national team.
Can you imagine one person taking on the Pistons' starting five?
No way...
Wei Guo did just that. In Game 7, Wei Guo single-handedly slaughtered the Pistons' starting five. From the very beginning, Wei Guo delivered a series of blocks, turning the Knicks' interior into a no-fly zone, preventing the Pistons' starting five from daring to attack the paint. Nearly 90% of their points came from outside shots.
External projection is also not allowed!
Anyone who shoots within two meters of Wei Guo will have their shot blocked by him.
After a match...
Seven goaltending calls were made, a first in NBA history. The onslaught of Wei Guo recorded 17 blocks in a single game, setting a new NBA playoff record for blocks in a single game.
This is only on the defensive end!
On offense, Wei Guo was even more unstoppable, driving inside and shooting outside. As long as the ball was in Wei Guo's hands, he had a way to put it in the basket. Wei Guo took 37 shots and made 25 of them, including 7 of 11 three-pointers. He also had 19 free throw attempts and made 18 of 19. He scored 75 points, which was 2 points more than the entire Pistons team.
The final score was...
96:73!!
The Knicks defeated the Pistons by 23 points on the road, winning Game 7 and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
75 points, 21 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 17 blocks!
Wei Guo's stats were unbelievable even to himself... Several of his stats set new league playoff records. The Pistons' starting five said after the game that God had beaten them.
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