Chapter 36 36. The Magic that Should Have Been the Best

Chapter 36 36. The magic that should have been the best

Since the Raptors left the shadow of his distant cousin and came to the Magic, McGrady led the team alone for the first time last season, and led the Magic, which had not made the playoffs for four years, to the playoffs.

After O'Neal left the Magic, the Magic changed from a strong team second only to the Bulls in the East to a weak team. Anfernee Hardaway was reimbursed after playing 50 games in the first year after O'Neal left, and never returned. At the peak, he was traded to the Suns by the Magic in 1999, and the Magic completely turned into a belly.

In 2000, the Magic introduced Grant Hill and McGrady, and at the same time recruited free agent Tim Duncan. Since Duncan signed a rookie contract before the lockout in 1998, it was only three years, and there was no parental contract stipulated in 1998. The team gives priority to the renewal terms, and the Magic are expected to form the Big Three.

At that time, the head coach of the Magic, Doug Rivers, and the owner of the Magic went to San Antonio to talk to Duncan in detail. Duncan had agreed to go to the Magic at that time, but when Duncan was about to agree to sign, he asked: When playing away games Can I take my girlfriend and family on the team charter flight? Airfare is a bit expensive.

Then Rivers said no.

Then there is no more.

From asking whether O'Neal was worth 100 million in the newspapers back then, to not giving Duncan's girlfriend, parents air tickets in 2000, the management of the Magic team is absolutely amazing!

Rivers' sentence is not possible and is true enough.

For the Magic, not only is the operation very good, but also the luck. They just signed a 6-year 80 million contract with Grant Hill. Grant Hill played 4 games last season and was reimbursed for the season.

In fact, at the beginning, the Magic had Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill, and they wanted to recruit Duncan, because at that time, basically no one regarded McGrady as a giant, and they wanted to find the dual core of Grant Hill and Duncan. , I didn't expect that one of them didn't come and the other was reimbursed.

This is probably the only "lucky" thing in McGrady's unlucky year last season. He didn't have a star-level teammate. He became the absolute core of the Magic. If Grant Hill was there, McGrady would just change the team It's all about being Pippen, but Grant Hill was reimbursed, and McGrady's talent was revealed.

With an average of 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5 assists per game, Tracy McGrady, an ordinary star who averaged 15 points per game directly from Carter, became a first-line superstar in the league, stepped into the ranks of superstars, won the Most Improved Award, and was in the best team. Voted more than Carter in the second team, and it only took one season to prove that he is stronger than his distant cousin!

But McGrady’s bad luck is true. After the end of last season, Grant Hill recovered from his injury. The Magic saw that they had two superstars. What more did Duncan need? Darrell Armstrong, the Celtics' quasi-first-class point guard Dee Brown, and Mike Miller, the weakest and best rookie in history selected by the team in 2000, have also grown up.

Seeing that the new season is ready to overthrow the 76ers... Grant Hill is reimbursed again.

Dee Brown was also reimbursed.

Championship lineup?

nonexistent.

Originally, the Magic should start this season with a combination of super outsiders like Dee Brown, Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill plus two blue-collar insiders like Pat Garrity and John Amich. A few air tickets can get Duncan back, and there are three starting-level substitutes Darrell Armstrong, Beau Outlaw, and Mike Miller on the bench, as well as Patrick Ewing, a veteran, This is basically the first team in the East!

No matter how weak the best rookie is, he is also the best rookie. It is not so easy to average 11 points and 4 rebounds per game in his rookie year...for the 2000 rookie.

If the Magic is the lineup before Grant Hill and Dee Brown were reimbursed at the end of the season, the Eagles can say that they will not play, and you can take the victory away.

In fact, even the current lineup of Darrell Armstrong, McGrady, Mike Miller, Pat Garrity, and John Amici is no worse than the Hawks.

...

If Kobe was a poisonous snake that could only hide in the shadow of O'Neal at the beginning, Carter was a flying dragon that shined in the league as soon as he came out, and Iverson was a rebellious lone wolf, then McGrady is like an elf who takes his time and goes with the situation.

Leaving aside the honors of his career, McGrady is like the James Liu Mang saw in the future who dominated the Eastern Conference for many years. Everything is not tepid, and he gets points, rebounds, and assists casually. .

Also as a top player in the league, Raheem was suppressed in all aspects when facing McGrady, and McGrady seemed to have no strength at all, and he got 15 points in the first quarter.

Liu Reck looked at Raheem who was abused to death from the sidelines. Maybe it was because his first goal was to win the game. Why is it so miserable every time I meet a superstar?

If Liu Mang knew what Raheem was thinking, then the Grizzlies, which trained Raheem into a top star with an average of 23+10+3 per game, would not trade him away and rebuild.

Rather, the rivalry between Jason Terry and Darrell Armstrong is more interesting. The confrontation between the former best sixth man and the future best sixth man will come and go.

Both teams are blue-collar insiders, so they just watch the outside line play, grab rebounds and defend the basket.

After the first quarter, as the media expected before the game, the Magic had an all-round advantage in strength. Although the Hawks played the entire first quarter, they still trailed the Magic by 6 points 21 to 27.

The Eagles have done a good job at other positions. Jason Terry and Darrell Armstrong, the two most suitable players for the sixth man, are on par. Mike Miller is replaced by Dean Gero. Husband defended very well, and Dean Grove's organizational skills and scoring ability were average, and he was also defended by Mike Miller.

The insiders are all blue-collar and don't have much offensive performance, which is half a catty.

As far as McGrady is concerned, the Eagles were blown away. McGrady not only beat Raheem to death on the offensive end, but also defended Raheem to his knees. If it wasn't for Jason Terry who scored 3 3s in the first quarter Points, the Eagles score will be very miserable!

Coach Kruger is really speechless to Raheem. In the first four games of the season, he was beaten by top players in three games. In the first game against the Rockets, Francis, who should not be as strong as him in terms of statistics and strength, was beaten. Explosive, the second scene against Iverson... Iverson scored 25 points in a single quarter, the third game was okay, the opponent couldn't compete with him, and finally got tough and scored 37 points, this fourth game met McGrady ...

Can't you be a little bit angry!

What Coach Kruger is most dissatisfied with about his team is that there are no players who can play the absolute core, and there is no one who can lead the team forward.

Rahim is capable, but lacks energy, and will be exploded when he meets a superstar.

Jason Terry has the spirit and strength, but he has no team spirit. He just goes up and does it, and he is easy to be targeted.

Everyone else...are role players.

This lineup can win some games and enter the playoffs, but it is too difficult to become a popular team as the boss wants!

Speaking of the hottest player on this team right now... Coach Kruger looked at Liu Mang who was eager to play and looked forward to playing. Seeing Liu Mang's shining eyes, it seems that the most star-like player on our team is This guy, this guy who is now famous all over the United States because of his extremely wretched style of play, this rookie who can always become an X factor, is also his disciple.

After thinking about it, Coach Kruger made the personnel arrangement for the second quarter: "Ace, Jason, Alan, Ira, Nazr, you go on the field."

"Received!" Liu Mang took off his training uniform and was about to walk on the field.

Playing in regular time for two consecutive games, that is to say, he has entered the ranks of rotation players from the water dispenser administrator! There is no room for Liu Mang not to be excited.

Seeing Liu Mang walking on the court like that, coach Kruger's face was black: "Ace, come back to me!"

"Huh? What's the matter, coach?" Liu Mang asked suspiciously.

"Tactics! I haven't set up tactics yet!" Coach Kruger had a headache. That Liu Mang was so steady when he was in college, what's wrong now!

Liu Mang saw that Coach Kruger's face was darkened, and he came back with a smile...