From today on is the king

Chapter 138 138. Why Not Me?

Memphis people knew before last season that the Grizzlies would move to Memphis in the summer of 2001, so they paid close attention to the 2001 draft.

In 2001, there was only one person who was regarded as a future All-Star candidate in the small green room in [-], and that was Barcelona's Pau Gasol. In this era, the NBA could be considered high in the draft. There is basically no possibility of parallel imports. They are all geniuses who have already played absolute dominance in Europe.

When the Wizards chose the first high school student in history, and the Bulls also won the first high school student in history, Memphis fans fell into ecstasy.

Although Kwame Brown and Tyson Chandler are the kind of super talented men who are so talented that they are bursting, it is unlikely that they will be lost only by their physical fitness and defensive awareness.

But whether the talent can be fulfilled is not an easy task. In 2000, the Grizzlies had already gambled on the talent once. They did not choose Mike Miller, who was a great player in college, but chose Stromile Swift, a super physical monster.

In this regard, the Grizzlies gave up the idea of ​​​​gambling on talent, and chose a real and visible future All-Star Gasol after the two teams did not want Gasol.

From the first game of the season, Memphis fans began to look forward to their own Gasol can go all the way to win the first best rookie in team history.

In the beginning, no one could hinder Gasol, who was able to reach the excellent level among the top picks in the 90s this season. Gasol averaged 18+8 per game in his rookie year, and the top three picks in the 90s are not too bad.

Unexpectedly, Liu Mang has suddenly emerged, and now he has averaged 15 points per game, which is beginning to threaten Gasol's evaluation among professional media people.

In the end, the vote for the best rookie is the vote of the media and professionals. When the data is not so crushed, especially when the most important point difference is not so big, the outcome of the two rookies is likely to become the biggest influencing factor!

Elsewhere, this year's Rookie of the Year is less concerned than last year's Rookie of the Year being Mike Miller.But the people of Memphis care!This is the first award of the first major league team in history that they have just welcomed!
This is reflected in the local media in Memphis. There are only 60 to [-] people here. Anything about the Grizzlies is the biggest news for sports fans.

Liu Mang actually felt the treatment of a "superstar" in Memphis. On the afternoon of the 16th, the Eagles came to the FedEx Arena sponsored by FedEx, the largest company in Memphis, and were surrounded by reporters.

Playing against the Lakers was requested by the media for interviews. It is not a big deal that the Eagles did not accept interviews. Anyway, there are two topic figures from the Lakers who can be interviewed.

But against the Grizzlies, the most popular of the two teams is Liu Mang.

The only one of these two teams that has made headlines in American newspapers and magazines this season is Liu Mang.

……

……

During the pre-match interview, Liu Mang was taken by coach Kruger to participate in the pre-match interview.

When he arrived at the interview room, Liu Mang was surprised that it was full of reporters!
Not only Memphis, but the entire state of Tennessee is closely surrounded by Memphis, and there are a lot of media.

Although it was a team interview, the first shot was indeed on Liu Mang.

"Liu, what do you think about today's game?"

Liu Mang answered this kind of question honestly: "We will win."

Liu Mang's answer here is very honest, but the media here is basically inclined to the Grizzlies, and most of them are Grizzlies fans, which sounds uncomfortable.

Do you want to be so direct!Isn't it said that Chinese people are very restrained?

Liu Mang was so straightforward, reporters who originally wanted to write about the Chinese people's courtesy first, and then soldiers were also polite.

"Liu, what's your opinion on the Grizzlies as an opponent?"

"Memphis is a great place. The Grizzlies will definitely be a great team one day when they move here, but not now. We are stronger."

"You're going to play the Grizzlies' Rookie of the Year favorite Pau Gasol, any pressure?"

"Of course there is. Paul is the best insider in our rookie class. He will be an All-Star in the future and win the championship, but we have a better insider. Theo will use his muscles and strength to defend the insider."

Originally, the media at the scene were very unhappy with Liu Mang, but Liu Mang's answer to this question suddenly made people very happy again.

It’s really difficult for a rookie Gasol to deal with Ratliff, a well-known center who is likely to be the best defense this year and ranks first in the league with an average of 3.6 blocks per game.

It's just that Liu Mang didn't say anything, and the Grizzlies didn't win the championship.

Many media have already died down. Liu Mang's answer is enough to make the fans happy. Then he asked some common questions about the Eagles' tactical arrangement, how to deal with the twin star combination of Gasol and Jason Williams, and so on.

However, at the end of the few minutes of pre-match interview, someone still asked a topical question.

"Everyone thinks that you and Pau Gasol will be the most powerful candidates for the best rookie. Who do you think will get the best rookie between you and Pau Gasol?" asked a reporter with glasses.

Logically speaking, when the two sides have entered a pleasant interview time, the reporters who came with the Eagles will not take the initiative to pick trouble on the away game, and the home team's media will not deliberately offend the opposing team. After all, the Grizzlies are the bottom three weak teams in the league.

Liu Mang was also a little surprised. Today he has strictly followed Coach Kruger's instructions and accepted the interview honestly.

Originally, Liu Mang wanted to scold the Grizzlies, but seeing Coach Kruger's cannibalistic expression, he estimated that if he scolded everything like he did in Seattle, the coach who took care of him the most would probably have a heart attack.

Originally, Coach Kruger didn't want Liu Mang to be exposed. It wasn't that he didn't want Liu Mang to become a star or to make Liu Mang famous. The key was that Liu Mang's mouth continued to shoot like this, which would probably offend the other 28 teams in the league!

As a coach, Coach Kruger understands a little better than others. It is difficult for a player to stay on a team forever, especially a team like the Eagles with a very utilitarian owner. It is one of the management teams that can squeeze players the most. You can see this when he was sent to the Clippers when the essence of human movies still had trade value.

As a well-known local university coach in Atlanta, coach Kruger understands very well that if the benefits Liu Mang brings to the team in the future do not match what he paid before, it will be difficult to say what will happen afterwards.

So Coach Kruger didn't want Liu Mang to offend so many opponents, maybe which team would be Liu Mang's next home that day.

For the previous questions, Liu Mang answered casually, praising his opponent, and saying that he was better on his side, all of them were polite answers.

But regarding the issue of best rookie, Liu Mang started to have ambitions!
Liu Mang didn't expect much from this award before, and thought it would be easier to win the best sixth man.

However, after arriving in Memphis yesterday afternoon, he felt the enthusiasm of Memphis fans for Pau Gasol's Rookie of the Year award, and he felt a very different feeling.

It's not that there is no chance!

And just like what those TV media, fans, and professionals said, this is an award that a rookie can only get once in a lifetime!
Taking a closer look, the logo of the reporter's microphone seems to be the New York media, as if he and the Knicks are not so harmonious!After losing to the Knicks in the last game, it seems that the report in New York is that the shameless rookie was abused!

This time Liu Mang's expression became very serious: "Best rookie? Of course it's me!"

"You mean you are better than Pau Gasol? You will win this Rookie of the Year competition?" The reporter from New York continued digging decisively.

"Why not? Someone has to win, why not me?"

(End of this chapter)