NBA: Duncan feels uneasy coaching Warriors

Chapter 218 The first battle, Paul’s provocation
As the regular season gets closer.

The media also sorted out the teams that are most anticipated this season, or in other words, the teams that are competing for the championship.

The first and most eye-catching thing is the knight.

This season James announced his return to the Cavaliers, and the Cavaliers are also actively recruiting.

According to the original timeline, the Cavaliers would have made an offer for Love.

However, because Su Chen took over the Timberwolves early and traded Love out, Love lost his former low-post dominance after losing weight, and he also became a colander on the defensive end.

With Love like this, the Cavaliers will naturally not let the Cavaliers spend big money on signings.

Moreover, the current Bulls have not put Love on the shelf. Rose's injury and retirement have meant that the Bulls are now in the hiring stage. After all, Love has performed very well before and the Bulls have spent so much money to trade for it. Naturally, they still want to see it again. .

Although from the perspective of the time, it was almost just a single replacement of Luol Deng and Love, with Butler as the addition.

But now it seems that Butler is the main body, and Luol Deng is the supplement.

The Bulls can't go back on this deal now, so they naturally want to see what kind of performance Love can perform. After all, Love's market is currently at a low point and there are no assets to be traded.

With James' return, the Cavaliers are very eager to produce results, otherwise James will not play with them.

Before the inspection, Love may still be able to meet James's requirements, but after the Bulls inspection, it is obviously not enough to meet James's requirements.

Although the Cavaliers are sincere in their bargaining chips, many teams have no intention of trading their core players.

Especially for some teams with good results, they also need to perform well, and the No. [-] pick deal offered by the Cavaliers is of no value to them.

However, the Cavaliers did not take out a No. [-] pick. In addition to Wiggins, the No. [-] pick this year, there was also Bennett, the No. [-] pick last season.

Bennett only played 52 games last season and averaged 12.8 minutes per game, all as a substitute.

Although the statistics are not good, given the limited playing time and lack of training, he can still be regarded as a piece of rough diamond that can be polished.

In addition to the top picks of Wiggins and Bennett, the Cavaliers also took out the first round picks in 2016, which can be said to be full of sincerity.

Two teams are still excited.

The Hawks are willing to take out Al Horford, and the Nets are willing to take out Brook Lopez.

Al Horford is already a two-time All-Star, and Lopez is a one-time All-Star. The strength of both of them can barely meet the Cavaliers' expectations.

The Cavaliers still chose the Nets.

The conclusion of this deal has almost officially determined the failure of the Nets' luxury old battleship.

Elderly Garnett and elderly Pierce, members of the former Big Three who came from the Celtics, have been playing worse and worse in the Nets.

Garnett could only average 6.5 points per game last season. Pierce was slightly better, but only averaged about 13 points per game.

In addition, the strength of the elderly Deron and Joe Johnson has also been greatly reduced.

Lopez, who was still in his prime, played little last season.

You must know that these five people are among the top five in the salary queue. Their high salary and low performance have turned the Nets' elderly battleship into a joke.

Now that Los Angeles has traded for two No. [-] picks and a first-round pick, the Nets are almost ready to rebuild.

At the same time, this transaction also allowed the Cavaliers to form a Big Three combination of James Irving and Lopez, and they became the league's latest championship contenders.

In other words, wherever James is there, there will be discussions about the championship.

In the ranking of championship expectations, the Cavaliers have also become the most anticipated.

Even the odds are No.1.

Knights are first, warriors are second.

The Warriors' performance last season was actually pretty good. Their integration has gradually matured. Although Cole's system is still under the shadow of Su Chen, he has also begun to show good tactical qualities.

In the first two seasons, the Warriors have already won the championship, proving the upper limit of this team.

In fact, the Warriors also showed ferocious combat effectiveness last season.

Only met the championship team in the semi-finals.

After Curry and Thompson have experienced these few seasons, they will almost reach their official peak in the coming season.

No. 2 on the odds list is also quite reasonable.

As for odds No. 3, it is the Timberwolves.

As the defending champion, he shouldn't be as low as third.

But the Timberwolves have weakened too much this offseason.

Not only did head coach Su Chen leave, starting champion small forward Luol Deng was also poached by other teams with high salaries.

It stands to reason that as a championship team, there will be veterans who want to compete for the championship. This part of the team can make up for the lost combat power.

But what's outrageous is that as the defending champion Timberwolves, no powerful veteran is willing to join with a minimum salary.

In fact, the situation of the Timberwolves is a bit like the Nuggets after Jokic won the championship.

After winning the championship, they lost their fighting power in vain, and no capable veteran was willing to join with a minimum salary.

It is not that there are no veterans in the free market this season, but after they heard that James joined the Cavaliers, they all went to join the Cavaliers.

This is the same as that season with the Nuggets. The Nuggets obviously won the championship, but Durant's Suns received a group of strong and basic-salary players.

In fact, this is also very understandable.

As a person born and raised in the United States, they are more willing to believe in superstars like James and Durant rather than international players who win by playing team basketball.

Besides, whether it’s the plateau of Denver or the ice and snow of Minnesota, it’s hard to give up.

Moreover, after Su Chen left the Warriors, judging from the situation of the Warriors, Su Chen had a considerable impact on the game.

Su Chen's proportion in the team is larger than expected.

Although they are the defending champion, Su Chen left the team and they have to find a system again.

Moreover, there is a real departure of starting small forward Luol Deng. For the Timberwolves, it will not be easy to defend the title in the new season.

As for other teams.

The Spurs are no longer regarded as championship contenders due to their GDP aging for another season, but Leonard's growth still allows them to follow suit.

Next is the Thunder.

The Thunder got super sixth man Crawford and new starting center Roy Hibbert. Westbrook and Durant are still very interesting.

The Trail Blazers, who have gone through trades, and the Rockets, who originally performed well last season, also followed closely behind.

The new combination of Paul and Aldridge is exciting, and Harden has also evolved again.

The eighth is the Clippers.

After the trade, the Clippers have sent out all their starting insiders, and Suchen has not yet put big baby Glen Davis on the roster.

The inside line of this team actually depends on a late first-round or second-round rookie. This is the reason why they are least optimistic about them. The inside line is too weak.

Originally, the team with Lillard and George could be ranked slightly higher, but the Clippers' problem with too many newcomers has reduced the depth of their overall lineup.

If it weren't for their head coach Su Chen, who has repeatedly performed miracles, the Clippers wouldn't even be ranked in the top ten.

Staples Center Arena.

Regardless of how the outside world views it, the NBA's 2014~2015 season has officially begun.

The outside world may not be optimistic about it, but the Clippers are paying a lot of attention.

The Clippers itself is a big market. Ballmer, a wealthy man who is not short of money, bought the Clippers. At the same time, Su Chen has won championships with two teams in a row.

This has given this Clippers different expectations.

And it's a brand new lineup. Whether you are a Clippers fan or not, you still want to see what the Clippers team can do.

The league is also very considerate. The number of live broadcasts given to the Clippers across the United States is directly the third most in the league.

Second only to the Cavaliers and Warriors, the two favorites to win the championship, they defeated some teams ranked ahead of the Clippers.

It is worth mentioning that even though they won the championship last season, the Timberwolves were ranked outside the top ten in national live broadcasts.

It can be seen that Xiao Hua does not like small ball markets, especially Minnesota.

After all, the league persuaded Timberwolves owner Taylor to move from Minnesota, but Taylor refused to move. The league obviously didn't like such a disobedient boss.

Or the owner of a small football market.

Even though the Timberwolves are the defending champions, the number of live broadcasts across the United States has not increased much.

And because the Timberwolves swept the Heat last season and made the league less money, the Timberwolves' already few whistles will probably be even more unpopular.

In the new season, we may even see Antetokounmpo rushing into the crowd and being slapped down by a group of people. Then Antetokounmpo sat on the ground with a puzzled expression on why he didn't blow the whistle, but his opponent had already rushed towards the Timberwolves basket with the ball.

The Clippers game was selected as the first day game.

The opponent is also quite interesting, it happens to be the Trail Blazers.

Paul was obviously unhappy with being traded by the Clippers. Now after the trade, the Trail Blazers' lineup is not weak. They are even more optimistic than the Clippers because their lineup structure is more reasonable than the Clippers.

Paul is also a very influential player in the league and a talker in the Players Association. CP3 also has a large number of fans off the court.

Not only for Paul, it is about revenge against his former club, but for Lillard, it is also about proving to his former club.

Regarding being traded, although the players said they understood it was part of the business, they were definitely still dissatisfied in their hearts.

After all, the team will trade you because they think you are inferior to others.

Even if you are not angry personally, in this kind of direct dialogue transaction, whichever player plays poorly will be discussed by the fans.

Something like 'The management made the right choice, this guy is just not as good as so-and-so'.

Therefore, there are often players who will behave like crazy when facing their old club, and most of their teammates can understand and give him the ball in that game.

Of course, the premise is that you have a certain position. Not many people care about your feelings when a small role is traded.

The Staples Center was filled with spectators.

This arena is shared by the Lakers and Clippers. If the two teams play a game, they will change the floor with whose logo.

Ballmer has actually always cared about this and is already preparing to spend money to build a new arena belonging to the Clippers.

Speaking of this, there is another interesting thing.

The Clippers and the Lakers have a grudge. During a playoff game between the Clippers and the Suns, Lakers fans planned to buy tickets for the Clippers home game.

After the game started, they switched sides and cheered for the Suns.

Presumably this is what Ballmer considered in advance, so he decided to build his own arena.

But no matter what, this is a big ball market, and the Clippers also have their own fan base.

As a heavyweight match, this match was directly scheduled to be broadcast live across the United States.

The gold medal commentary team is naturally in place.

"It's a new season again, but why is Su Chen standing in front of us when the game starts?"

Buckley said with a laugh.

The last game they commented on was the one when the Timberwolves eliminated the Heat.

At the beginning of this new season, although it is not the Timberwolves or the Heat, the one thing that remains unchanged is Su Chen.

"Three teams have formed in three years. What do you think Su Chen will do this season?"

Johnson asked everyone at this time.

This issue is actually a hotly discussed topic among fans during the offseason.

There are all kinds of answers.

At this moment, the audience watching the live broadcast cheered up when they heard Johnson ask this question. Obviously they wanted to see what the gold medal commentary team would think.

"I want to say that they can barely make the playoffs, but last season Su Chen led a team with a worse configuration than the current one and won the championship. Now I don't know if this Clippers can make it there. To what extent.”

Kenny Smith waved his hand and refused to answer the question.

"Maybe in the first or second round of the playoffs. Their current lineup is unreasonable. I don't care about Su Chen's past two seasons. I'm just talking about the present."

Buckley said directly.

Nicknamed Big Mouth, he is not afraid of being slapped in the face if he says something wrong. He is used to being slapped in the face anyway.

What he's thinking right now is that it feels good to express it.

"Judging from the lineup on paper, it's already pretty good to make the playoffs."

"If Su Chen can repeat the feat of last season this season and win the championship with this kind of lineup, then the gold content of Su Chen's championship will be too high. I think he can already be compared with the greatest coach in history."

O'Neal spoke his mind.

Winning championships with three different teams in three years, and none of the three teams are strong contenders for the championship.

The accumulation of honors is not enough, but this kind of gold content is much higher than the gold content of some championships won with super teams.

Although championships are never the result of a certain player or a certain coach, great players and coaches usually complement each other.

But it is undeniable that with a team that has reached the Galaxy Battleship level, it is easier to win the championship than with an ordinary team.

Su Chen won his first championship with the Warriors.

The Warriors weren't considered a weak team at the time, but they weren't a championship contender either.

But Su Chen's second championship has become more valuable.

The Timberwolves' configuration before the game was not even the configuration of a playoff team, but they won the championship.

This is enough to prove Su Chen's super strength.

For Su Chen, this third championship is more of a proof that his first two championships were not achieved by chance.

To prove the strength, the second Timberwolves championship has already proved it.

Regarding O'Neill's statement, the others nodded in agreement.

It would be of great significance if Su Chen could win his third consecutive championship.

This is even more legendary than building a dynasty with the same team.

"Let's talk about this separately. Now Su Chen should go into the playoffs first."

"In this game, I think both Lillard and Paul are under a lot of pressure. Whoever loses will be said to be inferior to the other."

At this time, Johnson brought the topic back to the game.

"This game is indeed very interesting to watch, but the problem with the Clippers is that their current inside line may not be able to match the Trail Blazers."

"These two rookie insiders, one is late in the first round and the other is a second-round pick, it will be difficult for them to match Aldridge."

Regarding the Clippers' two rookie big men, O'Neal shook his head.

"The Clippers' top priority now is to trade for a useful center before the mid-season trade deadline."

"What level of center they can trade for is the key to whether they can go further in the playoffs."

Buckley also nodded and said.Their view of the Clippers is that the Clippers' insiders are too weak.

During the conversation, the Clippers' player entrance ceremony also ended.

Players from both sides took the field.

Su Chen walked into the field and looked at the opposite side.

The Blazers' coach is still Terry Stotts.

At this time, Terry Stotts also saw Suchen, but Terry Stotts did not make eye contact with Suchen, but looked towards his team's camp.

Terry Stotts is quite serious today.

Last season, the team led by Su Chen was swept, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Even the team management was a little dissatisfied with him. After all, the Timberwolves were not favored at the time, and being swept by the Timberwolves made them feel that Terry Stotts was a loser.

However, after the Timberwolves won the championship, the Blazers' management stopped angering Terry Stotts.

After all, the Heat were swept, just like the overall runner-up, which gave the Blazers a little more thought.

The Trail Blazers, who originally had no plans to move the team, also began to look for opportunities in the trading market.

Especially since Aldridge has reached his prime, he also expressed that he wants to strengthen the team and not waste his peak.

So when the Clippers came up with Paul's deal, the Trail Blazers immediately agreed.

If Su Chen hadn't swept the Trail Blazers last season, the Trail Blazers might not have made such a straightforward trade. Speaking of which, Lillard still belongs to his own equipment.

Turning Lillard from a not-for-sale item for the Trail Blazers into a tradable bargaining chip.

In particular, Paul is considered a superstar. With Paul leading the team and partnering with Aldridge, the Blazers management was immediately attracted.

Terry Stotts is still looking forward to today's match.

Working with Paul made him feel very relaxed.

Sometimes Paul can be regarded as a coach on the court, and the team's offense is much smoother than when Lillard was there.

But Su Chen didn't pay much attention to it.

At this time, Su Chen was looking at the system's virtual panel, lost in thought.

"With this starting lineup, the striker bond has not been triggered."

Su Chen touched his chin.

[Frontman fetters (A level): When the team has 3 forward players with a height of 2 meters and above, they can get 01% offensive and defensive organization improvement on the field at the same time. to take effect. 】

In the starting lineup, only George and Batum can be regarded as forwards who meet the bond.

Although Jokic can organize and make three-pointers, he is still considered an inside line, not a forward.

Needless to say, Lillard can't be triggered even if Reggie is a defender due to his height.

In fact, among the substitute lineup, there are strikers who meet the requirements.

Kyle Anderson, Matt Barnes, Marcus Morris, Jerami Grant, and Torrey Craig can all make up a five-forward lineup from the bench.

"If we need more forward power, we can consider replacing Reggie in the starting lineup, but let's forget it for now."

Su Chen thought and closed the list.

At this time the game is about to begin.

Suchen walked to the middle and shook hands with Terry Stotts.

When Su Chen shook hands, he smiled at Terry Stotts, which made Terry Stotts stunned.

However, Terry Stotts quickly recovered his composure and did not talk to Suchen.

At this time, the referee also walked towards the court holding the ball.

The starting players of both teams entered the court.

Clippers starting lineup: Nikola Jokic (C), Nicolas Batum (PF), Paul George (SF), Reggie Jackson (SG), Damian Lillard (PG)

Trail Blazers starting lineup: Robin Lopez (C), LaMarcus Aldridge (PF), Aaron Afflalo (SF), Wesley Matthews (SG), Chriss -Paul (PG)

This starting lineup was something Su Chen had planned in the offseason.

But it's not settled yet. After all, even if the striker is not triggered in this starting lineup, if any striker performs well in the future, we can consider bringing up a striker.

George can play the SG position. In any case, George's defense can still be believed to be suitable for guarding positions one to three.

The forward who is brought up can just play the normal small forward.

Jokic started the game, and Su Chen directly used the [Fixed Ability Value] skill on Jokic.

In this way, Jokic has 80% of his peak attributes in this game.

Unlike Antetokounmpo's 80%, Jokic's 80% needs to show more strength.

Antetokounmpo's peak performance largely relied on his own body to play, with an 80% numerical increase, but there was no improvement to Antetokounmpo's body.

But Jokic is different.

Whether it's Jokic at his peak or Jokic now, they are all pork belly.

Gaining weight is easier than gaining muscle. Suchen has already made Jokic reach his peak weight.

Coupled with the effect of the S-level building [Summer Training Camp], Jokic's body shape is actually not much different from his peak body shape.

Jokic is the easiest to reach his peak size.

Like other rookies, such as Capela who plays as a substitute, what he needs is standard muscle-building and running and jumping ability training.

Just like Antetokounmpo, this kind of growth cannot be done quickly. The growth of pork belly is too simple.

Milosevic was Jokic's coach in the original timeline. With Milosevic's guidance, Jokic's growth trajectory did not deviate from the course.

In addition, Suchen made demands on Milosevic, and the directions he gave Milosevic were all in the direction of Jokic's peak.

This actually allowed Milosevic to avoid a lot of detours.

Because even according to the original trajectory, Milosevic slowly found Jokic a direction that truly suited him through training and practice.

After all, the current league is already advocating a faster, higher and more spacey route. Jokic's way of organizing the center is to cross the river by feeling the stones.

Although there were organizing centers in the past, but now the rules are different in different eras, and there is no template for Jokic's route to refer to.

Now it means that the tedious process of training and practice is eliminated, and the most correct direction is found directly.

Su Chen is also looking forward to what Jokic's first game will be like.

However, the Trail Blazers' lineup is also quite competitive.

Although Lopez is far less talented than his brother, he can still be an average blue-collar center and can meet Paul's basic pick-and-roll requirements.

Aldridge has good ability at the basket and also has shooting range. There is also something to be said for him and Paul playing pick-and-roll.

Compared to Griffin, Aldridge can have more diverse offensive methods.

Afflalo is a relatively good 3D player, while Matthews is an above-average shooter.

The move for Terry Stotts was pretty good.

"Why is the Clippers' starting center not Capela, who has pretty good physical test data? His running and jumping ability and defense are very good."

Buckley said with some confusion.

"The Clippers' current starting center Jokic's physical test data is like a matchbox bounce, and his speed is too slow. Can he really keep up with the offensive and defensive rhythm of the NBA?"

Kenny Smith also frowned and said.

Obviously, they are still more optimistic about Capela, who is more in line with the inside of this era, who can run, jump and defend.

"Hey, do you look down on fat people?"

O'Neill questioned the two at this time.

"Hahaha, Shaq, you are a smart fat guy, he doesn't look very smart."

Buckley laughed and said.

"Lopez jumped on the ball."

Johnson provided live commentary at this time.

"Hahaha, he bounces like a matchbox, even little Lopez can jump over him."

Buckley continued teasing.

Lopez's talent is mediocre, something that many people in the league know.

But in front of Jokic, little Lopez felt a little talented, running fast and jumping high.

Of course, this is vs. Jokic.

Compared to others, he is still the blue-collar insider with average talent.

After Matthews picked up the ball, he immediately handed the ball to Paul.

Paul is now the team's point guard, so he should be given the ball.

It is also Aldridge, the original boss of the team, who is an insider. Otherwise, before it is truly established who is the real boss of the team, we still don’t know who the ball will be given to.

Aldridge was the original boss of this team, but his status as the boss is not so secure. After all, his personal honors cannot reach the superstar level.

On the other hand, Paul, although he is from outside, is above Aldridge in terms of honor and influence in the league.

What the Players Association says matters to everyone, which makes it difficult for many people to offend Paul.

With Paul's status, even if he is an outsider, it seems inappropriate for him to be Aldridge's second-in-command.

But Paul now wants to play well rather than fight for power.

At least not fighting for power now.

After all, facing the Clippers who traded him, Paul needs to play a good game to save his face.

After Paul got the ball, he glanced at the person defending him who happened to be Lillard.

So he directly signaled to pull away.

Paul's first ball was to hit Lillard directly.

After Paul dribbled the ball continuously, Lillard obviously didn't want to let Paul's shot go. Upon seeing this, Paul performed a shooting fake and chose to break through.

Lillard made a mistake in judgment and could only chase after him.

Looking at Paul rushing toward the basket, Jokic was forced to step forward to protect the frame.

But this time Paul threw it into the sky.

Lopez Jr. put the basketball in the air from behind.

The ball was slightly higher, mainly because Paul was used to cooperating with talented insiders like Griffin and Jordan, and for a moment he forgot that Lopez's talent was not that good.

But the ball was still put in.

Clippers 0:2 Trail Blazers.

There is nothing good to say about this ball, except for Paul's personal ability.

Lillard is not strong on the defensive end, but Paul can still support the situation with his singles with the ball.

Clippers offensive round.

Lillard was hit by Paul and seemed a little over the top.

After all, due to offseason transactions, he and Paul are often compared by the media, and Lillard doesn't want to lose.

He asked Jokic to set him a pick-and-roll, and then directly pulled a three-pointer.

But Paul also did his homework and knew what Lillard was best at. He thought that if Lillard was beaten, he might choose the offense he was best at.

Paul made defensive predictions, bypassed Jokic's pick-and-roll in advance, and interfered with Lillard.

Lillard's ball was interfered by Paul, and he forcibly raised the arc, trying to ignore Paul's interference.

But after the arc of this ball is raised, the difficulty rises sharply.

clang!
Three-point strike.

Aldridge collected the rebound.

Batum didn't hit the rebound with this ball. There is still a height and wingspan gap between him and Aldridge.

After all, Aldridge is a 20+10 level insider, and he can still protect rebounds.

As Aldridge's former teammate, Batum naturally understood it, so he chose to retreat quickly.

And he is a little unaccustomed to playing power forward.

The last time he played power forward was in the playoffs last season, when Terry Stotts arranged for him to guard Antetokounmpo.

Back to the Blazers.

Paul has now mastered Lillard's psychology, and instead of calling a pick-and-roll, he called a singles tactic.

After Paul called for singles tactics, he glanced at Lillard's expression.

Sure enough, just as he thought, Lillard was a little angry and a little impatient.

Seeing Lillard's reaction, Paul smiled proudly.

After dribbling with continuous cross-steps, Paul made a crossover and passed Lillard directly.

After Lillard was passed, he chased after him unwillingly.

At this time Paul clicked and made a throwing motion.

Lillard's running and jumping ability is pretty good, he just wanted to jump up from behind and miss the throw.

But the ball was just a fake.

After lighting up Lillard, Paul really took action.

beep!
Lillard was called for a foul.

brush!
The ball Paul shot went in.

This is a 2+1.

Paul went to the free throw line and made the free throw.

beep!
Su Chen called a timeout expressionlessly.

When Paul passed by Suchen, he gave her a provocative look.

Obviously, Paul said he didn't care about trading Su Chen as soon as he arrived, but in fact he still cared about it.

By making these moves, Paul seemed to be saying, well, the person you chose is not as good as him.

(End of this chapter)