basketball pope

Chapter 33 [Ewing is your wife? 】

Two days off after the preseason, the regular season will officially start.

These are two busy days for the uniform team, to sign players, to promote the game to fans, to determine tactics, to summarize the preseason gains and losses, etc...

Unfortunately, the Knicks rookie didn't get many performance opportunities in the preseason. The only thing Van Gundy reused was Ben Wallace, who served as a backup center after Ewing went off the court.

Van Gundy liked Chuck Hayes when he saw him in the Rockets, and let him start with Yao Ming, who was just a weakened version of Big Ben.It's also a rough brother. Big Ben is in control of rebounding, resisting, blocking, etc., and he is completely superior to Hayes. Van Gundy loves him to death.

Yang Rui felt that if Van Gundy's wrong thinking was not corrected, the Knicks would not be able to compete with the Bulls even if they had a team of All-Stars, because Van Gundy liked to rotate seven or eight people to death, and could not play the player's offensive expertise at all.

Like the vast number of Chinese fans, Yang Rui was extremely disappointed with Van Gundy in the Rocket era in his previous life. He made Yao Ming gain weight and play in the low post, and McGrady had a chance to make a large mid-range shot. Others watched the fun outside, and the Rockets never passed. The first round of the playoffs.

In the preseason, many rookies actually averaged less than 10 minutes per game and didn't have a chance to perform.For a player like Bowen, he can't even get stats at this time.

Atkins and Jackson were the worst, averaging less than 5 minutes per game.Van Gundy hated their style, speeding up the offensive tempo would inevitably affect the defensive intensity and be prone to turnovers.

For the sake of defense, he abandoned it, and he ignored the advantages of both.

The most embarrassing is Chris Mills, who is already middle-class in this era with an annual salary of 300 million. He ranks fifth in the Knicks' annual salary, but he has to share playing time with Starks, Houston, and Johnson, so he plays. 15 minutes.

Since it doesn't matter if there is Mills, why is the management poaching him? !
Before the start of the regular season, the NBA officially announced the first phase of the power list. The Knicks were obviously not optimistic and only ranked tenth.This is also because the Knicks have a luxurious lineup, and their performance in the preseason may be lower.

Yang Rui is gratified that although Van Gundy gave the veterans a lot of time in the last two games, manager Ernie Grunfeld did not ignore the potential of the young people. All five players he selected in the summer league have stayed. With this impressive performance, he will be more open in management.

The five newcomers have their own strengths, good quality and low price, which is the main reason for them to get the contract.

Ernie and Van Gundy have different ideas. In addition to looking at the player's game experience, he also needs to consider salary matching for the future of the team.

The same lanky big man, veteran Herb Williams wants $77, and Moore only needs $27.

虽然赫伯巅峰能拿下19.9分9.1篮板2.2助攻，但那是12年前的事了，58年2月出生的他赛季中将达到40岁，根本跑不动了。

Jackson's $27 price-performance ratio is far better than the experienced and unpotential Anthony Bowie. His advantage is that he can play the 2, 3, and 4 positions. When he is a guest power forward, his super mobility can help the team.

Bowie's physical quality and shooting are not as good as Jackson's, and it is reasonable to be eliminated.

Ben Wallace is Van Gundy's most admired person. He signed a four-year long-term contract with the team at once. The first year is 74 US dollars, which increases year by year, with a total of about 340 million.

Ernie is very financially minded, Ewing is old, and his annual salary is 2050 million US dollars this season, and he will not be able to maintain his state for a few years. What the Knicks need most at the moment is to train a center successor. Although he is short, his defense is very tough.

Bowen signed a year-end salary of 33 yuan, and Van Gundy was more pleasing to the eye because of his desperate defense.

Atkins signed a two-year contract after the summer league. He hardly played in the preseason. If Ernie hadn't valued it, he would have been the easiest to get out of this summer's MVP. Van Gundy hardly gave him playing time, let alone arranging tactics.

To this end, Atkins approached Yang Rui several times, hoping that he could say something nice and persuade Van Gundy to send him on the court.Yang Rui can only let him practice three points and wait patiently.

The Knicks have a 14-man lineup for the new season, leaving a vacancy. In the event of an injury, they can make targeted signings in the free market.

Centers: Patrick Ewing, Ben Wallace, Buck Williams.

Power forwards: Charles Oakley, Mickey Moore, Larry Johnson.

Small forwards: Stephen Jackson, Bruce Bowen, Chris Mills.

Shooting guards: Alan Houston, John Starks.

Point guards: Chris Childs, Charlie Ward, Chucky Atkins.

The coaching staff was not idle, and the four gathered in the office to find the root cause of the preseason loss.

Van Gundy believed that the star's poor state led to the loss. Thibodeau and Sharman agreed and had no idea at all.

Yang Rui really wanted to tell Van Gundy that "you lose the game because you're brainless", but then the two might fight directly, so he thought about it for a while and decided to express his thoughts in a more gentle way.

"I think the root cause of the Knicks' unsmooth offense lies in the habits of the players. If you want to play the offense well, the top priority is to disrupt the lineup and boldly use new players."

Van Gundy frowned in disbelief. "What habit?"

Yang Rui quickly drew a tactical map on the tactical board, prepared the player number, and said: "Larry Johnson should attract defense in the bottom corner, attack from the strong side, and Ewing cuts and dislocates the attack, attracting double teams and can be divided. The ball was given to him, but he couldn't stand at all, and he rushed to the basket and hit the back after a while. Ewing knew his habit, so he was not active in air cuts, and mainly made jumpers from the perimeter. At this time, the screen did not come out."

The three older coaches thought about it and couldn't raise any objections.

Yang Rui went on to say: "Ewing and Houston are not so powerful in off-ball screening. Another reason is that Childs habitually passed most of the ball directly to Ewing, and then formed a heads-up. He ignored Houston's movement and passed the ball. It's not as good as Jackson doing half a beat, so I suggest that the point guard start with Ward."

"But he's better defensively." Van Gundy shook his head.

"So we'll never attack?" Yang Rui rolled his eyes.

If Yang Rui was the head coach, he would have been mad at Childs in the preseason. How many times did I say it was passed to Houston?You really don't understand human language, do you?You can only see Ewing in your eyes, right?Ewing is your wife? !

Then, Childs may be extremely aggrieved and say, "If Ewing is a woman, who would dare to look at her?"

Childs is a defensive point guard with poor organization. His mid-to-long-range shots are acceptable and unstable.Van Gundy actually insisted on starting this guy for a season, and he really deserved to be eliminated by the Heat.

Van Gundy frowned and felt powerless, but he didn't want to show it. The management had put pressure on him to come up with a plan as soon as possible to strengthen the offense.

He couldn't do it himself well, and he didn't want to listen to Yang Rui's arrangement on the offensive end, so he was stubborn.

PS
(End of this chapter)