Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six. I Think You May Have Misunderstood.

At the Beverly Hills West Hollywood Hotel, Sun Ce and his family will spend two nights here with his teammates, coaching staff, and others. Sun Ce's parents will spend three nights with Zu Geese, and will go directly back to Memphis next Monday. , Sun Ce and the team flew directly to Minneapolis that night after playing the Lakers.

In the courtyard of a suite with a courtyard in the hotel, Grizzlies owner Robert Pera was drinking red wine with an owner of a team in the same division.

"This matter is not very difficult. I won't lose anything, but why should I help you? As a competitor, I would rather see your team in pieces." Cuban looked at the young man in front of him with a joking look.

Unlike the image of a fiery-tempered middle-aged man on the sidelines, Cuban has a completely different temperament when discussing business.

"You will help me because you are here." Robert Pera was not intimidated by Cuban's aura. He can become a billionaire at a young age, so he naturally has two skills.

Cuban stared at Robert Pera for a while and smiled: "Of course, I am willing to cooperate with you."

"Cooperation?" Robert Pera's eyes lit up.

"Yes, I'm not helping you, but cooperating." Cuban said, taking a sip of wine.

It is not easy to owe favors, but it is also not easy to give them away.

Favor, whether it is owed to others or owed by others, is not a good thing.

When it comes to business, the best business is the business that can be cashed in immediately.

"what do you want?"

"I don't want anything now. We are still rivals."

"I like this answer very much..."

…

After seeing off Cuban, Robert Pera returned to the living room of the suite, where coach Hollins and Chris Wallace were chatting.

"Robert, has Cuban agreed?" Chris Wallace asked.

"He agreed to persuade those guys to propose to the league to modify the salary terms for rookie contract renewals. With him joining, there is no need to worry about this matter." Robert Pera said and sat on the sofa, feeling relieved.

It has been more than a month since February. He has been lobbying in many ways, hoping to attract more teams to complete this matter.

However, it didn't go so smoothly. Almost all the bosses of the big city teams didn't agree, but just stated that they would not refuse the matter.

Teams in big cities have unique conditions. They have high exposure rates and are willing to spend money to bring in role players. Relatively speaking, they can rely on lower salaries to attract stars. They do not need to use higher salaries to retain their own teams. The talented players selected, those talented players themselves are unwilling to leave.

And if the terms are not changed, big-city teams like them will still pay higher salaries to players whose rookie contracts have expired than other teams. From all aspects, they are not worried about their young players running away. If the terms are changed, It will only add extra salary expenses to them.

Other than the Bulls, no other big-city team has expressed support.

On the contrary, most of the owners of small city teams agreed. They are more willing to spend money on the stars they have trained. After modifying this clause, the parent team will give more contracts to rookie players whose contracts have expired than other teams. Several percentage points higher.

Players whose rookie contracts have expired are quoted by other teams, and their starting salary and annual salary increase will be lower than that of the parent team that owns the Bird rights. According to the changes in terms proposed by Robert Pera, the salary gap will be even greater than the original salary.

From all aspects, this matter is weakening the appeal of big city teams. Big city teams have to pay more for their rookies and are less attractive to young stars from other teams. Naturally, they will not agree. , of course, I won’t explicitly refuse, I just won’t express my position.

This aspect needs to be handled by a well-connected person, so the Grizzlies turned to Cuban.

Yesterday, Robert Pera and Randolph came to Los Angeles together and invited Cuban to have fun together. Today they raised this matter.

After making some promises and finally getting Cuban done, Robert Pera felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

This has nothing to do with making money, it is purely a hobby, just like someone who likes to play strategy games. He may be spending money, but the sense of accomplishment makes him willing to invest energy and money.

"Can we talk to Noah about renewing the contract now?" Chris Wallace asked eagerly.

"No, Chris, we don't have to worry about free agency, there may not be free agency this year,

We still have three months to give us. You first find those professional institutions to calculate the salary cap expectations for next season. You first follow the expected salary cap, our team's salary structure, contract renewal plan, and maximum expectations for changing terms... Calculate the contract that can be given to Noah from these aspects. When this season is over and changing the terms becomes the hottest topic in the NBA, we will directly give the best offer to Noah and announce it. "Robert Pera revealed his plan.

"I understand. If the changes to the terms are lower than expected, I don't think Noah will blame us. This is an official NBA issue."

"That's right..."

Robert Pera and Chris Wallace chatted happily, but Coach Hollins didn't say much.

He was a player then and is now a head coach. Coach Hollins' work rarely involves management. In his opinion, these things are too troublesome, so he should be a head coach and study how to lead the team well.

The more I understand, the more I worry about the day when all the stars of the team will be gone...

Because the more I know about it, the more I feel that the small city teams are miserable. The big city teams are like vampires, asking their small city teams to feed them as snacks every three days.

…

…

The management has been planning the future of the team for more than a month, and the Grizzlies players have no impact at all, or even know about it.

It is only occasionally seen that the media hypes "talented rookie players being squeezed", but the impact is not particularly large. Not many fans discuss this during the season. Players estimate that it will not have real impact until the draft stage.

After resting in the hotel for an afternoon and having dinner at around 5 o'clock, Sun Ce took his parents, Wang Keying, Zu Ge, coach Hollins and Robert Pera, and set off together, arriving in Stai around 7 o'clock. Puth Center.

Before the Lakers face the Grizzlies, there is still a focus battle, Lakers VS Mavericks.

The Lakers have two consecutive games broadcast live on the Chaoting Channel. Tonight's game starts at 8pm Los Angeles time. It has now entered daylight saving time, which means the game starts at 11am in China. Domestic students can go to the cafeteria or at home during lunch time. Look at Yao Ming, the Grizzlies will challenge the Lakers away from home the night after tomorrow at the same time.

Arriving at the Staples Center employee parking lot in the boss's luxury car, Sun Ce's family was separated from the team coach and owner because Yao Ming brought Nowitzki, a star teammate, to pick up Sun Ce and others. According to regulations, NBA teams Bosses and head coaches are not allowed to communicate with players from other teams in private.

Although Wang Keying and Zu'e saw that Sun Ce's family of three were already used to tall people, when they saw Yao Ming, they had to raise their heads upwards...

"Hello, uncle and auntie, Xiaobawang, Chloe, Juanjuan, long time no see." Yao Ming came up to greet the Sun Ce family, "This is Dirk... Dirk, these are Noah's father, mother, girlfriend, younger sister……"

Yao Ming has met Sun Ce's family a long time ago. Sun Ce's mother and Zu'e have met in Turkey. Wang Keying has met more often. Sun Ce's father also met once during the All-Star Weekend.

Sun Ce's father is very popular now. There was news when he arrived in Los Angeles. Nowitzki also knew about Sun Ce's Internet celebrity father and was very interested. He said enthusiastically: "Hello, I am Dirk..."

Before Nowitzki finished introducing himself, Zu Ge suddenly exclaimed: "Brother, this is the Silver Horn King you are talking about!"

"Cough cough cough..." Sun Ce was so frightened that he coughed several times in a row. Fortunately, the chatty sister spoke in Chinese.

At the hotel in the afternoon, when Sun Ce was chatting with his family about Yao Ming's new team and who his teammates were, he said that Yao Ming's best teammate looked like King Silver Horn...

Yao Ming couldn't help but burst out laughing when he heard Zu Ge's exclamation. If he looked carefully...it really looked like him! Why haven't you noticed it before?

Sun Ce's mother patted Zugoose's little head reproachfully but lovingly. Zugoose stuck out his tongue and said it accidentally.

Nowitzki's head was full of questions. When he saw a little lolita pointing at him and saying something, a group of people were laughing and looking at Yao Ming in confusion.

"Uh...ah..." Yao Ming didn't know how to explain, and he didn't know if he would offend his strongest partner.

At this time, Sun Ce took the initiative and said: "Dirk, except for your skin color, you look very similar to the famous character in our country's classic TV series "Journey to the West". My sister has loved watching "Journey to the West" since she was a child."

"Really? That's so cool! Yao, you must give me a set of that TV series." Nowitzki said to Yao Ming.

Except for the difference in skin color... Yao Ming is angry and funny, so what do you mean the skin color is different? All species are different!

Wang Keying was interpreting for Sun Ce's parents, and they held back their laughter this time.

After chatting for a while, they separated. Sun Ce and others went to the stadium to meet the boss and coach Hollins to wait to watch the game. Yao Ming and Nowitzki made the final preparations before the game.

…

At eight o'clock in the evening, the game between the Lakers and the Mavericks started.

Sun Ce asked Wang Keying to bring his parents to Los Angeles. The main purpose was to spend more time together. Tomorrow, he asked Wang Keying to take his parents and chatty sister to Los Angeles to go shopping. Since he came to the United States, he must visit the scenic spots in big cities and take photos. Take photos, otherwise my mother will complain again when she goes back that she didn’t even take a few photos.

From a work perspective, watch the Lakers and Mavericks game live, watch these two powerful insiders compete directly, and analyze their opponents.

If it were before the Spurs took a break, the two teams might not be so serious about playing against each other, but now that they have a chance to win first place in the Western Conference, and the regular season championship is likely to be decided by just one or two wins, the two teams will definitely be very serious. .

The Lakers and Mavericks are one of the three teams with the best records in the league after the All-Star break. The other team is the Heat in the Eastern Conference. All three teams have only lost one game. The Heat have finished third in the Eastern Conference. Three, the Grizzlies can't compare to these three teams.

After the game started, both the Mavericks and Lakers showed super defense. Sun Ce frowned while sitting on the sidelines watching the confrontation between the two teams' strikers.

Artest VS Marion, Bynum VS Yao Ming, Kobe VS DeShawn Stevenson, Fisher VS Kidd...except for Nowitzki and Gasol, who are more "civilized", the other four This position is like fighting.

When two top teams compete, in addition to the confrontation between players, there is also a duel between coaches. The stable performance of techniques and tactics under high confrontation and the head coach's grasp of details will determine the direction of the game.

The Lakers trailed 44-50 at halftime, and trailed 65-73 by 8 points at the end of three quarters.

The reason the Lakers fell behind was because Kobe made 1 of 14 shots in the first three quarters! If he hadn't made 4 of 4 free throws, 6 assists and 3 steals on the defensive end, there would have been more pitfalls. Even with those performances, it looked like a pitfall.

The Lakers were not pulled within 10 points in the first three quarters, relying solely on Bynum's 22-point performance in the third quarter.

Bynum doesn't care about brains, he is really a talent in terms of playing. He is not afraid of O'Neal in his rookie year, and now he is 23 years old, nor is he afraid of Yao Ming and Chandler. Bynum's explosive performance in the first three quarters was 9 of 12 and 4 of 6 free throws. Scored 22 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks.

However, in the fourth quarter, things changed.

Kobe, who only scored 6 points in the first three quarters and shot only 7% from the field, scored 4 mid-range shots in the final quarter... The Lakers went on an 8-0 run to tie the score!

In the final quarter, Kobe shot 7 of 8 in a single quarter, including 2 of 3 three-pointers. After making 4 consecutive mid-range shots at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Mavericks defenders went crazy. Kobe used the opponent's pressing defense to rush to the basket and cause two opponents. After committing three fouls, he hit all 4 free throws, plus a pull-bar dunk under the basket. Kobe, who scored 20 points in the final quarter, raised his scoring to the season average and led the team to a score of 33 to 20 in a single quarter.

In the end, relying on Kobe's 20 points in the final quarter and Bynum's 28+14, the Lakers defeated the Mavericks 98-93 and won two consecutive victories.

This game is amazing!

Sun Ce saw the Mavericks steadily suppressing the Lakers in the first three quarters and thought the Lakers were going to be beaten.

Yao Ming played 14 minutes in the first three quarters and scored 13 points on 5 of 8 shots. Nowitzki scored 19 points in the three quarters. Kidd also had 8 assists in the first three quarters and defended very well. The Lakers only allowed 65 points in the first three quarters. point.

Who knew that Kobe scored 20 points and 3 assists in the final quarter, plus Bynum scored 6 points in the final quarter, Blake made two three-pointers, and Artest made one of two free throws, the Lakers actually came back!

…

After the All-Star Weekend, Sun Ce watched two Lakers games. One was a live broadcast of the Lakers-Spurs game, and the other was in person. Both games made Sun Ce very different from his original impression of this season.

Although he had already felt the differences as the season progressed, it became more and more strange toward the end of the season.

Gasol really feels like the number one power forward in the league. After Stoudemire was injured, Gasol's overall performance until now is definitely the best among all the power forwards in the league. Nowitzki, Randolph is one step ahead of Gasol. With the two forward teams occupied by Durant and James, Gasol has almost locked up the second team.

Just like tonight, Nowitzki had 26 points and 6 rebounds, compared with Gasol who had 15 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks. Almost all the post-game comments Sun Ce saw believed that Gasol performed better.

And Kobe’s key ball...

After watching two Lakers games, Sun Ce is even more afraid of the Mavericks. How terrible must Nowitzki be in this year's playoffs to sweep the Lakers?

If the Mavericks had played against the Lakers from the beginning, it would have been better for Sun Ce to clearly feel how strong the Mavericks were. This kind of unknown but worry would be even more torturous.

After returning to the hotel, Sun Ce discussed the Lakers with Battier, Tony Allen, Gasol, and Conley who watched the game live in the hotel.

The five people agreed that the Lakers played no worse this year than last year!

Kobe Bryant, who averaged 26+5+5 per game, Bynum, the third center in the league, Gasol, one of the best insiders, and Odom, the best sixth man, the core lineup is still strong, and the bench lineup is better than last year. Even better, the addition of Blake and Barnes made up for the aging problem of Fisher and Artest.

Kobe played so poorly in the first three quarters, and Yao Ming, Nowitzki, and Kidd performed so well, but they could not widen the point difference. When Kobe played poorly, Bynum had more opportunities, mainly offensive rebounds. Kobe Assisted Bynum with 5 offensive rebounds.

Of course, this game gave the Grizzlies a lot of inspiration. The Mavericks did a good job defending the core combination of Kobe and Odom in the first three quarters, and the Lakers were able to maintain the point difference in the first three quarters. , it can be said that most of them are supported by Gasol, Bynum, Blake, Barnes and others.

Kobe couldn't handle the situation when DeShawn Stevenson and Kidd hit four mid-range shots in a row. The Mavericks were stunned by such a strong shooting, but this was an unexpected situation. The Mavericks' defense in the first three quarters was excellent. really good.

There is a lot worth learning here. Sun Ce analyzed and studied the Lakers with the team's four major defensive masters.

On the other side, the coaching staff is also learning from the Mavericks' style of play, and they are all working together on how to beat the Lakers.

Counting the game the day after tomorrow, the Grizzlies will play the Lakers twice this season. The next time is the penultimate game of the regular season. They play the Lakers the day after tomorrow. For the Grizzlies, it is more of an All-Star Weekend. The Lakers, who later posted a record of 10 wins and 1 loss, have found out their strength, but they can't let up any slack!

…

…

On March 12, Sun Ce and his teammates came to the Toyota Center training hall to prepare for the game.

A tactical meeting was held first. Battier, as a representative, put forward the ideas and some issues on how to defend against the Lakers that he discussed with Sun Ce, Conley, Tony Allen, and Gasol last night.

The coaching staff adopted some suggestions, answered some questions from the five people from the angle that could be answered, and analyzed the big picture that the five people had not thought of.

The Grizzlies can maintain the league's top defense until now with concerted efforts on the defensive end. It is not a casual gift, but the efforts of everyone.

Coach Hollins attaches great importance to the details on the defensive end, but on the offensive end...

After the tactical meeting, Sun Ce was still thinking that Coach Hollins was too general on the offensive end, so he laid out a large tactical framework.

As for the solution, you can always think of it. Sun Ce carefully watched the game clips of the Mavericks and the Lakers twice last night and found something that he thought could be used!

...

The preparation time for the day passed quickly. On March 13, Sun Ce and his teammates came to the Staples Center to prepare.

The tickets for tonight's game were requested together the day before yesterday. Today, Sun Ce's parents and Zu Ge still went around with Wang Keying during the day, and went to watch the game in the evening.

In the morning, he ran two tactical runs. During the rest time after lunch, Sun Ce was asked for interviews by several TV stations.

The interviews with Chaoting TV and .T, which broadcast the game live, were fine, and no sensitive questions were asked. However, when it came to the interview with Sports Illustrated, which is owned by Time Warner, the sponsor of the Lakers, troublesome questions came.

After the interview began, the reporter from Sports Illustrated first talked to Sun Ce about some random things, such as his views on the Lakers, Kobe's performance in the final quarter of the Lakers and Mavericks game, whether Gasol had a chance to replace Durant in the first team, who was stronger between Bynum and Gasol, etc.

These were all easy to answer, but as they asked, Sports Illustrated raised a very sensitive topic: "Lord, your rookie contract is about to expire. Have you decided where to play next?"

The Grizzlies management and coaching staff did not want to add pressure to the team or Sun Ce, so they never talked about the contract.

But the playoffs are getting closer and closer. Since the playoffs are "compulsory play", that is, Sun Ce's contract is getting closer and closer to the end, some media who want to make trouble can no longer hold back.

So far this season, the Grizzlies and the Lakers have a record of 1 win and 1 loss. As a media under the sponsor of the Lakers, Sports Illustrated was the first to jump out to stir up trouble.

This question... Sun Ce looked at the fierce female reporter in front of him, stared into her eyes and asked back: "What factors do you think I should consider when choosing a team? I haven't thought about this yet, I hope to hear your advice."

This answer... The fierce female reporter felt that Sun Ce was very smart in this regard, but she was prepared and said: "I think the team market and salary are very important. The Grizzlies should not be able to satisfy you in these two aspects."

"Team market and salary?" Sun Ce smiled and said: "Yes, you are right, these two are the focus of my consideration, but you may have misunderstood one thing."

"Why? Do you mean that you will not care about the ball market and salary and stay in the Grizzlies?" The fierce female reporter turned the tables.

If Sun Ce admits this problem, then when he changes teams in the future, he will be criticized no less than James. Now no player dares to say such things. With James as a precedent, the stars in small cities avoid talking about such things, because no one can predict the future.

Sun Ce shook his head and said: "Ball market? Wherever I am, there is the best basketball market!"

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