Eight Hundred and Sixty-One. A New Pattern, a Sign of Prosperity!
"Lord, that No. 1 draft pick is really good. Paul and Klay are no match for him."
"I told you to call me General! What? Teacher Tony, do you want to go up and defend him?"
"Oh, damn, don't call me Teacher Tony. I have a psychological trauma. Don't ask me to cut your hair next time!"
"Haha..."
"But seriously, I want to go up and try. I want to predict how good he will be in the future."
"I think he will be as good as Ellis."
"Really? Are you kidding? You said this guy has the talent to average 25 points per game?"
"Don't believe it? How about we bet 100 yuan?"
"No, I won't bet with you. You have a good eye in this regard. I heard that Klay was selected by the team to carry your bag? His three-pointer is really beautiful. Jimmy is also great, just like when I first entered the NBA. I think he will be a better student than you. He may be better than me."
"..."
Sun Ce glanced at Teacher Tony speechlessly. Brother Jimmy is going to be an all-around forward and guard swingman with 20+5+5 in the future! How did he become the type who can't even make a layup? Although Jimmy Butler did lose both of his layups after playing for 5 minutes...
But his defensive enthusiasm is really like Tony Allen's style, Sun Ce admits that he is physically stronger than Tony Allen and is the most hardworking in team training.
And after a summer of one-on-one competition with Sun, he gradually developed defensive awareness.
But it's not enough, at least he has to practice as a sparring partner for a year or two, and he can't even play in the Development League because his skills are too poor. The players in the Development League are basically the strongest players in the NCAA who didn't enter the NBA. Jimmy Butler may still have a team willing to train him in the NBA at this time, but Jimmy Butler will really miss the opportunity to go to the Development League, where everyone wants to play well and be favored by NBA teams or overseas teams.
Sun Ce feels that the young teammates who come to him, if they are not older rookies like Gasol who have mature skills in the NBA, the others will basically go astray, which means that they are developing in a very different direction from the "him" in Sun Ce's impression.
For example, Paul George practiced ball handling well with James in the summer, and Kobe occasionally gave him some pointers, but in the game, he still floated outside to catch the ball and shoot, and he extremely disliked physical confrontation in positional battles, but he rushed faster than anyone else in counterattacks.
He partnered with Nash and dunked three times in more than 4 minutes.
The Hornets are currently a pure lineup of playing badly and training Irving. Irving is the only bright spot in the entire team. The expired players of other teams that the Hornets spent money on half a month ago, such as Ariza, Landry, Kaman, etc., have not found their form yet. In comparison, Irving is really getting better and better.
And Sun Ce thinks Irving is really good and plays well. As for why his reputation will be like that in the future, Sun Ce doesn't understand. At least now, it seems that he is much more talented than the No. 1 pick of the Wizards.
Of course, it is limited to the offensive end. After Sun Ce and Nash left the court, Neil led Vazquez, Klay Thompson, Development League player Andre Bullock, and the team's fifth inside player Speights to play well with the Hornets.
The Grizzlies were probably going to lose, but Irving, who was not so good at scoring, led the team to widen the gap. Under the connection of Vazquez, Neil and Klay Thompson were on fire, and the gap was kept within 10 points.
In the end, the Grizzlies lost the first preseason game 106 to 114.
Paul George, the longest-playing starter of the Grizzlies in this preseason, only played for 24 minutes, and Nash only played for 13 minutes. I don’t know if Coach Hollins did it on purpose. Nash wore No. 13, so he gave him 13 minutes of playing time, and the same for Paul George... Fortunately, Sun Ce played for 5 minutes, not 3 minutes as written on the jersey number.
Losing the preseason is losing. Coach Hollins saw a lot from the first game and needs to make adjustments.
For example, Paul George's ball-handling attack, which seemed to be quite good in training, was almost invisible in the game. However, Paul George did a good job in passing outside the scope of the tactical plan, which was a bit like the extended version of Battier's shooting range. However, Paul George's current defense and passing are still far behind Battier in his peak period, and his shooting stability is also far behind, which needs to be improved.
The situation of the game is far from what was predicted in the training camp. There is no way. For example, last season, before Sun Ce returned to the team, the coaching staff had trained the whole team for a week, and had been closely observing the strength and technical changes of rookies and main players in the summer. This time, the time is too tight, so we can only take it slowly.
In this shortened season, Coach Hollins doesn't care so much about the regular season results. It's enough to squeeze out the Spurs or Mavericks and enter the top four in the West. It doesn't matter which place they are. There are back-to-back games in the playoffs, and the depth of their Grizzlies lineup is advantageous.
…
The Grizzlies began to prepare for the regular season in full swing, using the preseason to train and find problems with the team, hoping to complete the running-in in the early regular season. Other teams are also actively preparing.
Whether it's for the championship, a playoff spot, or the No. 1 pick, everyone has their own direction of effort.
At the Los Angeles Medical Center, the Lakers had just finished their first preseason game with the Clippers. Kobe came to the hospital after the game. He didn't play for a few minutes, just waiting for the game to end and appreciating the empty-handed connection between Billups and Griffin for a while.
I came to the medical center, the best medical institution in Los Angeles, in a hurry, because Paul was transferred from the Texas Medical Center in Houston.
Seeing Kobe coming, Paul got up from the sofa, still wearing a protective gear on his knee.
In terms of ligament repair, Paul had finished treatment in September and is now at the end of a long recovery period, but the more time passes, the more cautious he needs to be, so Paul is doing rehabilitation every day. Now he stays in the hospital every day, at most he goes to the basketball court in the hospital to shoot until he recovers.
"OH, Chris, he XXX, it's really hell, my God..." Kobe was a little incoherent when he saw Paul, full of swear words.
The team asked the team to trade Bynum for Kidd, but the team did not agree. Who knew that they would trade back to Paul now!
Although Paul has just experienced two major injuries in a row, but... he will not be worse than Kidd, who was 34 years old in 2007.
"This is really incredible. I was still doing rehabilitation in Houston, and suddenly I was notified that we became teammates... Haha!" Paul thought of his new teammates including Kobe, Odom, and Gasol. This is simply! Like a dream!
And finally he doesn't have to play that damn run-and-gun!
The run-and-gun did allow him to play the best moment of his career last season, which was better than the 07-08 season, but that style of play consumed the core too much. Eight players rotated in each game, which means that as long as the core can play, they have to stay on the court. Not everyone has a body as tough as Nash and a team of doctors as good as the Suns.
The two were excited for a while, and Paul calmed down first: "Kobe, did you come here today to practice with me? That's not possible. I have to recover for at least a month before I can start practicing. I can't practice with you every morning like that kid in Memphis."
"No, I didn't come here for this today." Kobe also became serious.
Seeing Kobe's serious look, Paul asked, "What do you want to tell me?"
"Yes, I want to talk to you about the change in my playing style. First of all, I want you to believe that after you come back, you will definitely be the core of the outside ball holder. You and Paul are the tactical core, and I am just the end point of the tactics.
I said this to Paul four years ago, and then we..."
"Then you took the MVP from me and won two championships by the way?"
"Yes, that's it."
"Oh, God, I really want to punch you in the nose, but no, after I come back, you still have to make shots to increase my assists."
"Let's talk about tactics. Our new coach is very good at defense, very good. Offense... Let's discuss it carefully. I'll bring Paul and Bernie tomorrow."
"Bernie? Bickerstaff?"
"Yes, he is very good. We have to talk about offense. things."
"Kobe, although I am very happy that you talked to me about the team when I just arrived, can you let me be happy for a while before talking about the game? What a bummer!"
"I thought you would be happy to talk about the game..."
"I am not you, a paranoid."
"I like this nickname."
"OK, I can't understand your thinking, but I think it will be very happy to play with you."
"But we may not be happy now, the NBA has changed."
"Yes, the NBA has changed. Since the Heat broke the rules and two superstars at their peak did not leave any property to the parent team and joined forces with another superstar, the NBA is no longer the NBA we are familiar with."
"The Big Three of the Heat..."
The current chaos in the NBA started with the Heat's grouping, and Kobe also felt so, but he always felt that it was not just that, but he couldn't say which link was the most critical.
However, in just over a year, the entire NBA landscape has undergone earth-shaking changes!
...
In Los Angeles, Kobe and Paul talked all night and finally slept side by side.
In Miami, it is said that James is drinking and singing loudly on the beach again...
In fact, James doesn't drink much, occasionally, but very moderately.
James is very melancholy now. He wants the team to fight for a heavyweight inside player, and his target is Elton Brand. As a result, a heavyweight center really came back, but it was too heavy, named Eddy Curry, and Brand went to the Lakers.
He wanted a better pitcher, and his target was Morrow, who the Grizzlies couldn't keep, and then failed. The team was unwilling to give him a full middle-class salary. If Morrow had a full middle-class salary and the status of the first outside pitcher, he would be willing to come to Miami to play, but Pat Riley was holding a middle-class contract, and the team didn't want to pay too much luxury tax.
After Chalmers completed a 4-year 16 million contract extension, the Heat's total salary exceeded the luxury tax threshold by more than 1.1 million. The full middle-class salary was gone, and only the mini middle-class salary was left.
Pat Riley chose to tap into the team's talent, letting James officially change his position to power forward and Bosh to center...
Although the Heat is still the strongest team in the East at present, the 76ers have Howard, and it is estimated that it will take time to run in. James is also confident in dealing with the Bulls.
But watching the 76ers' young team preparing for battle day by day, and the Bulls also signed Richard Hamilton with the middle class...James is anxious!
With Sloan's Bulls and the 76ers with explosive talent, James doesn't know how many years he can last.
After finally forming a Big Three, the Green Army's Big Three survived until they were disbanded, but it had only been a year since the new Big Three was formed, and James discovered that things had changed in the Eastern Conference!
In addition to the Bulls and 76ers, the Knicks formed the inside combination of Stoudemire and Bynum... Although James doesn't look down on them, they are not easy to fight when they encounter them. A center will dare to bully him and Bosh. .
But the current lineup is already the best in his career. The team's salary is not as good as that of the Cavaliers, but the other two core players are at their peak. James has nothing to complain about. He now feels that he does not want to leave the Cavaliers completely. After all, let alone competing with the 76ers and Bulls, even the now-mature Celtics may not be able to beat them.
However, seeing the rise of the 76ers and Bulls, the Pacers also dug up David West, and the Hawks, Knicks, and Celtics were eyeing them.
James feels miserable!
…
…
He may still be the best scoring player in the NBA, but he and the best player in the NBA are now in a world of ice and fire. One is happy and the other is lucky.
Sun Ce continued to work hard with his teammates. After playing the first game against the Hornets on the 17th, he returned to Memphis on the 18th, rested for a day, prepared for the game on the 19th, and won the challenge of the Hornets at home on the 20th.
Returning to the home court, even though it was a preseason game, we still had to win, which would make the fans happy who could watch the game more than two months later than in previous years. So, Mr. Tony personally went into battle to compete with Irving.
Not only Teacher Tony, Sun Ce, Paul George, Battier, and Gasol also started together and played the entire quarter.
This lineup has a tacit understanding of defensive cooperation, and the offensive end... is not considered at all.
19-8 in the first quarter, the Grizzlies held the Hornets to double figures in a single quarter in the preseason.
Sun Ce and others did not expect the Hornets to be so inexperienced... But Sun Ce thought it was normal when he thought that the scouting report said that the Hornets would continue to be bad this year.
In the second quarter, the Grizzlies put on a lineup of Vazquez, Neal, Klay Thompson, Yi Jianlian, and DeAndre Jordan. They were ready to have a good fight tonight and win well.
Nash and Randolph were wearing suits. Nash watched with his own eyes as his team's ultimate defensive lineup came up to rub against the opponent. His eyes were straight, and the defense was bloody. He had played for so many years, and he had never been in such a team. The team played.
Nash felt like he was being held back!
"Lord, you were a little slow on a ball just now. If you were faster, they could only score 5 points!" Tony Allen said dissatisfied.
What Tony Allen was talking about was that Sun Ce did not immediately go out to cover Ariza's three-pointer after covering up Irving, but Ariza made one.
"Yes, yes, I understand. Teacher Tony, you should pay more attention to your beloved disciple. Brother Jimmy hasn't played yet today."
"He has a strong mentality and knows that he is not strong enough, so there is no need to worry."
"..."
Nash was a little broken listening to the conversation between Tony Allen and Sun Ce. They defended each other and only scored 8 points. Isn't that enough?
Nash looked at the new No. 1 pick who was a little doubtful about his life. He felt that it was really miserable for this guy to meet Tony Allen when he first entered the NBA! Horrible!
However, in this kind of game, Nash feels that he does not have a particularly big role. The opponent is too weak, too weak to bear to look at it, and there is a high probability that he will get the top three picks again.
If it were a normal preseason, there would at least be two or three really strong opponents, allowing them to find their own flaws and then use the games against weaker teams to get a good run-in.
But there is nothing that can be done about this situation. Nash can only communicate more with his teammates. Originally, he wanted to talk more about tactical details with the coaching staff.
but! Coach Hollins only laid out the tactical framework, and the specific details were left to the players themselves.
Nash feels weird right now.
It’s okay during training, but framework training also requires a lot of tactical preparation, especially for the Grizzlies, who have the Princeton style of play with Gasol as the core, the triangle offense style of Sun Ce + Gasol + Nash, and the Ordinary pick-and-roll play, and singles and ball-splitting play... In addition to these conventional tactics, there are also run-and-gun tactics. The specific tactics are no less than those of other teams, but the choice of offensive tactics is actually left to the players themselves!
On the defensive end, Coach Hollins makes substitutions very accurately and arranges the lineup very well. Besides when playing run-and-gun games, he often makes substitutions with defense as the top priority, maximizing the situation according to the player's condition and relationship. Substitutions are made in three aspects: opponent matchup situation and lineup structure.
This is completely different from the teams Nash has been on, and it is simply unconventional.
Nash didn't even know how such a team reached the Western Conference Finals, but they did it, and defeated the Lakers team that he and Stoudemire couldn't defeat before...
Battier, who is also a veteran, saw Nash's strange expression and came to sit next to Nash to watch the game together: "Steve, don't worry about the offense. We will get better gradually. We have Lord and Mark." …and now there’s you!”
"Are you used to it?" Nash thought about Battier who just arrived on this team last season.
"I'm not used to it, but we win by fighting. If the offense can't beat us, don't we still have defense?"
"..."
Nash thought about the fact that the Grizzlies only allowed 89 points per game last season... He felt that he had better think about the running and gunning of the Grizzlies, which was quite different from his previous one, and at the same time be a good positional shooter and pick-and-roll offensive organizer. …
But because of the confusion after changing teams, Nash felt as if he was much younger. He had his hair shaved, designed by Sun Ce and operated by teacher Tony. The sides were shaved clean, the top of his head was mousse, and his bangs were left combed. With his slanted bangs, he looks younger. In addition, playing in such a team full of uncertainty, Nash feels as if he is younger both physically and mentally. This is also the reason why he works so hard to integrate. It is not just Sun Ce who hooked him up. come over.
Looking at the series of transactions, amnesties, and signings after the lockout ended...the entire NBA landscape has undergone tremendous changes. It is completely different from the NBA situation 10 years ago that often took several years to stabilize. The entire NBA is full of uncertainty, and maybe even the Eastern Conference None of the new Big Three can break out of the Eastern Conference. Who knows which team in the Western Conference can break out of the Western Conference. Nash really falls in love with the current NBA, and laments that his peak period is not in this era. Who doesn’t like to be in a A prosperous age with stars shining brightly?
Therefore, he has to ensure that he can better integrate into the team. The current lineup of this team is really not inferior to any team he has been in.
The teammates are young and positive, and no one is afraid of the playoffs if they defend well. The team atmosphere is good and seems to be on the rise. It seems that there are countless problems that can be solved and the teammates are actively working hard to find solutions and solve them. If not, we will start from the defensive end...
Nash couldn't express his emotions, he just wanted to have a good fight with this group of teammates who were so selfless that even Randolph and Sun Ce, the team's top two scorers, were willing to score in single digits!