The Legend of the Hungry Wolf in Basketball

Chapter 107 [Excellent preseason, new hope for the Clippers]

The Clippers dedicated a wonderful training game to the fans.Someone took a camera and filmed it, and was going to go back and edit a dunk collection.

Although there were many mistakes in the game, the vitality of the players left a deep impression on people.Ye Feng showed a very high competitive state, and Love also performed well, grabbing a lot of rebounds.

In the next week, in order to run the team, head coach Thibodeau kept changing the lineup.He tried to use Gortat as the starting center and Love as a power forward to increase the height of the inside, but it didn't work. There would be loopholes in defense when the two were on the court together, and it was not easy to defend against pick-and-rolls.

Outside Tony Allen started defensively aggressively, but couldn't shoot three-pointers. It was impossible to play a game where Love and Smith were expected to shoot three-pointers.If Morrow and Chalmers play can break 23 zone defense, but the defense is too poor.

After repeated trials, Thibodeau finally determined the starting lineup before the start of the preseason.

Point guard Kyle Lowry, he has a good passing awareness, strong breakthrough ability, strong body, and hard-working defense, but his height is flawed and his shooting is not good enough.

The shooting guard starts with Ye Feng. He is stronger than last season. The coaching staff believes that he will definitely score 20+ points in the new season, and he will be the Clippers' first scoring point.As a shooting guard, his body has more advantages, and he can also make fast breaks immediately.

The small forward is Matt Barnes.His defensive characteristics are similar to the Spurs veteran Bowen. He is good at close defense and small moves, and he is also good at provoking opponents. His role cannot be reflected by statistics.Compared with Tony Allen, his advantage is height and he can also shoot three-pointers.Before joining the Warriors, he made a total of 10 three-pointers in his career, but in the 2006-2007 season, he suddenly developed his three-pointer ability, making 125 three-pointers with a shooting percentage of 36.6%. , he can provide outside firepower.Moreover, Barnes' 40-minute rebound efficiency reached 7.7, and he can play from the 2nd position to the 4th position.

Power forward Josh Smith.As the swingman at positions 3 and 4, he, Ye Feng, and Barnes can switch positions at any time, which is the biggest guarantee for the Clippers' defensive end.His rebounding ability is also outstanding, grabbing 35.5 rebounds in 8.2 minutes last season.

Center Thibodeau still decided to use Love.In the frontcourt, he is responsible for the high pick-and-roll, and in the backcourt, he protects the rebound under the basket and launches a fast break with a pass.His ability to grab rebounds ranks first in the team and has been recognized by everyone. Mutombo admires his position, and his confrontation ability is at the "sumo" level.

Originally, Thibodeau and Baylor were a little disgusted that Ariel chose people according to Ye Feng's suggestion, but after the training camp started, they found a lot of bright spots.The players introduced by the Clippers either have special skills or amazing physical fitness.Gortat is a Brutalist, with strong mobility and can play two positions; Dorell Wright and Anthony Morrow both have excellent shots; Barea is only 177cm tall, but his speed is amazing, breaking through faster than Lowry Sharper, and can hit three-pointers from the outside.The Clippers' bench lineup is very competitive.

Thibodeau admired Ye Feng's vision. Although these substitutes could not become stars, they were suitable for multiple sets of tactics and would definitely help the team.He believes that if the Clippers run well in the new season, it is still possible to hit the playoffs, at least they will not be at the bottom of the league.

Only JaVale McGee, a potential stock, gave Thibodeau a headache.Giving him less playing time is a waste of talent.With more playing time, teammates have to make up for his holes.McGee showed amazing physical fitness in training, blocking shots and dunking very powerfully, but there are some problems with both offensive and defensive positions, and he often wanders outside the system.His speed is very fast, and he can keep up with the defender when he makes up the defense, but a fake move by the opponent can shake him into the air.When rebounding, McGee is too thin and can't be well positioned.Mutombo served as McGee's mentor, pointing out his many shortcomings, and he could only sit on the bench until he became stable.

On October 10, the Clippers began their preseason campaign.The opponent in the first game was the Los Angeles Lakers.Every year in the preseason, two teams from the same city will have a derby battle.However, this game is a bit boring. Both Kobe and the Gasol brothers have finished the Olympics and will definitely not participate.The team mainly relies on the two generals Odom and Bynum.

The Clippers' starting lineup is: Love, Josh Smith, Barnes, Ye Feng, Lowry.

The Lakers arranged a starting lineup of Bynum, Odom, Ariza, Vujacic and Farmar.

The commentators for this game are Ralph Basil and Mike Smith, both of whom are not optimistic about the Clippers' lineup.

Basil said depressingly: "In the end, the Clippers let go of Brand and Maggette, and only brought in Josh Smith in the free market. They sacrificed too much for Ye Feng to be the core, and there is no salary space. But no big-name players have been introduced to reinforce, let us see how these rookies will perform today."

Smith said with a smile: "Now even the head coach of the Clippers is Thibodeau who has no experience. I heard that Ye Feng and Adam Sandler are good friends. Maybe his goal is to stage a comedy this season."

After the game started, the situation did not develop as expected, and the Clippers played more proactively.Lowry was eye-catching, using his teammates' screens to break through and attack the inside frequently. Not only did he score two layups, but he was also able to pass the ball to his teammates.This is Thibodeau's arrangement, allowing him to retain his strength and the regular season broke out.

Love was still in charge of grabbing rebounds. On the offensive end, he took two shots after the pick-and-roll and hit a goal.

After only half a quarter, Thibodeau made adjustments, replaced Ye Feng, Lowry, and Love for a rest, and replaced them with Ricky Davis, Skeena, and Jason Hart. Intended to examine free agency.

The Clippers didn't play very well, but the Lakers were even worse. Except for Bynum, other players were sleepwalking.The scores of the two teams have always been very close.In the second half, both sides put on the bench to compete. If McGee and Gortat hadn't contributed a few beautiful dunks, the audience would have fallen asleep.McGee got a lot of playing time, practicing the defensive methods that Mutombo taught him.

快船91比87爆冷击败了缺兵少将的湖人，取得了季前赛开门红。叶锋只打了13分钟，得到6分3篮板。

On October 10, the Clippers played their second preseason game, an away game against the Sonics, which was last in the Western Conference last season, and has now been renamed the Thunder.

The Clippers decisively adopted a 23-zone defense and stuck to the basket.The Thunder, which lacked shooters, couldn't break through the Clippers' iron barrel array. After breaking through, Rose plunged into the crowd and became a blacksmith.Thibodeau is a worthy defensive master. He can make the most reasonable arrangements according to the characteristics of the opponent's players. As a result, the Clippers beat the Thunder 103 to 85.

Ye Feng still kept his strength and only played 15 minutes, scoring 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.The best performer of the Clippers in this game was veteran Ricky Davis, who scored 18 points and 7 rebounds.

In the third game, the Clippers played the Saramento Kings in the same district at home. After Artest was gone, the Kings became the favorites in the lottery.The only star Kevin. Martin played only 18 minutes, the King's offense was weak, and the Clippers won three consecutive victories 85 to 77, which surprised the experts.

Even if Ye Feng and Smith stay strong, the defensive line composed of Tony Allen and Barnes is still very solid. In order to get more playing time in the new season, marginal players and rookies are doing their best to express themselves.Especially McGee and Gortat, both of them played more than 30 minutes per game, and sent beautiful big caps in the paint many times, and Barea also played well.

On the 19th, the Clippers played an away game against the Raptors. Dream Team power forward Bosh, Italian champion Bargnani, and Spanish point guard Calderon were absent.The Clippers squeezed another soft persimmon, winning 93 to 90 and achieving four consecutive victories.

On the 22nd, the Clippers finally lost to the Suns in the same district 91 to 105.

The team's four-game winning streak is enough to surprise people, and more experts suggest that the Clippers' opponents either have a disorganized lineup or don't take the preseason seriously, so they can't be used as a reference at all.None of the Clippers participated in international competitions, and everyone worked hard, so they naturally had a greater chance of winning.

On the 23rd, the Clippers played back-to-back against the Trail Blazers, losing 85 to 105 by 20 points.The Blazers wanted to make a good start to the new season and sent all the main players.Last season's No. 15 pick, Oden, known as a super genius, also returned.The Clippers still only allowed Ye Feng and other main players to play for only [-] minutes. Naturally, they were not the opponents of the Trail Blazers who played the preseason as a regular season.

Against the Nuggets on the 25th, Anthony and Iverson did not play. The Clippers won another game 101 to 97, and finally achieved a beautiful record of 5 wins and 2 losses.The Clippers haven't had a good preseason game in years.Although it is related to the Olympics, at least it shows people how hard they are.

Thibodeau's joint defense system has achieved initial results.The advantage of zone defense is that you only need to stand in your own position to defend, and you don't need to move in a large range. In this case, players are not easy to lose their positions.McGee is occupying the power forward position, and the anti-personnel is handed over to the center, and he is responsible for helping to defend and block shots.This arrangement also allowed him to have room to display his talents.Under the guidance of Mutombo, McGee has more experience in blocking shots.As for Mutombo himself, he is the glue in the locker room. Without major accidents, he will not play the game.

The substitutes won five victories, which was an unexpected gain for the Clippers.Thibodeau became more confident because of this, and he began to fantasize that maybe the Clippers could really break through in the west where strong teams gather.

At the end of the preseason, the uniform team discussed and decided not to sign any more players. They decided to use a lineup of thirteen players for the regular season. If someone was injured, they would select players from the free market to supplement the lineup.Although Ricky Davis averaged 14 points per game, his playing style was too poisonous.He has to dominate the ball and is a stat brush for wild shots. Thibodeau doesn't like him very much.Davis was still putting on airs for Morrow, Chalmers and others in the locker room, which made Ye Feng annoyed when he saw him, and it was impossible to let him stay.The other two veterans are too slow to keep up with the fast pace of the Clippers' new season, and there is no need to sign them.

The Clippers players have 3 days off to recharge their batteries.The tough 82-game regular season is about to kick off.

(End of this chapter)