Zhiba NBA

Chapter 11 ([-]) Youth Army with Unlimited Potential

Yuan Fei didn't care about the start of the preseason, and the Rockets still let the old players rest as usual.Contrary to the media's imagination, the Rockets performed well overall, and several rookies came out like hungry tigers. Magloire, Wallace, Jefferson, Reed and Parker's starting lineup plus Turkoglu, the sixth man, are enough to repair the young players of other teams.In the end, the Rockets had a mixed success and completely exceeded expectations.

ESPN, as an established media, took the lead in studying this issue. They wrote a long article "Youth Army with Unlimited Potential" to analyze the future of the Rockets.The beginning of the article is as follows: "Mr. Carol Dawson seems to have suddenly realized that his draft performance in the last two years has surpassed all previous draft history. The Rockets have grown from a dull aging team to a young army with great potential in just over a year. Don't be fooled by their 2-year-old age (although this is also the top ten youngest in the league). 26.1 years old, which also includes McGrady, a first-line star in the league who rose last season. The beautiful record in the preseason allows people to announce in advance that the rebuilding work of the Houstonians has been completed at a high speed."

Tang Shuai stood up in time to play sloppy eyes again. He said at the press conference that the players are old and young, and the team is still in a period of failure.The goal of the Rockets in the new season is to reach the playoffs.

However, the media is not all optimistic about the Rockets. Yahoo Sports raised doubts: "The trade between Francis and McGrady aroused people's doubts last summer, but it turned out to be a win-win deal. Dawson successfully proved his vision. And this summer, he repeated his tricks and sold Mobley at a low price in exchange for Magloire, who is younger but has not yet proven his strength. Will Dawson be wrong this time? Let the new season be verified."

***
On October 10, the 30-00 season kicked off.In the first game of the new season, the Rockets played against the Eagles at home.Facing this underdog with only 01 wins last season, Rockets fans are full of hope that the team can make a good start.Even Tang Shuai, who is determined to be bad, believes that he can beat his opponent in the first game to inspire young players.

But things were not as good as people expected. Hawks power forward Abdul Rahim (the third pick of the 96 golden generation) showed his prowess. Thomas and Wallace, who came off the bench, scored a double-double of 17+10 in the first half.The backcourt formed by McGrady and Reid also did not perform well. They were intercepted consecutively by Jason Terry and Dion Glover of the Eagles. They made 4 turnovers each in the first half.At halftime, the Hawks led the Rockets 48:44.

Tang Shuai frowned and discussed with Yuan Fei: "These rookies are still too immature. It's expected that they don't have enough defensive experience, but their shooting ability is really lower than my expectation."

"Many stars started out with good physical fitness but poor shooting skills. They need to be refined after entering the league. You know this better than me, Rudy." Yuan Fei said: "Although their performance is slightly lower than expected, it is still within the planned range. The problem on the offensive end in the first half is not big. The main reason is that there are opportunities and missed shots. It is not a big problem for rookies. It's not that easy for a big backcourt to handle the ball."

"Tony only played 5 minutes in the first half, but his performance was still very steady. His shooting ability is insufficient, but his ball-handling skills are very solid." Tang Shuai said: "Let him keep playing in the second half."

"I totally agree, Rudy, you're thinking about me again."

"Have you rested, lads?" Tang Shuai got up and shouted at the players: "Now let's arrange the tactics for the second half! The starting players for the second half are Hakeem, Tracy, Richard, Tony and..."

***
The five Rockets players got up to play, and there was a thunderous applause from the audience.Fans chanted a name.

Olajuwon?Maddie?Jefferson?Parker?No, what aroused the enthusiasm of the fans was - "Odis Thorpe!" The mountain roared like a tsunami of cheers. The old hero who won the championship more than 8 years ago, Thorpe finally played.

"This time we will play a supporting role for you, haha." Dameng said with a smile, "Let's beat this little bird together, old man."

"This city is really different from the cold Toronto. It always has enthusiasm and warmth." McGrady thought in his heart.

"Can we be cheered like this by the fans at the end of our careers?" young Jefferson and Parker thought.

"I'm sorry, old man. I originally wanted you to come on the court to receive cheers when we were leading a lot in the fourth quarter. But now, it is necessary to use your experience as an old baller to teach young people." Tang Shuai had this thought in his heart: "Please, guard Raheem."

Thorpe didn't say anything, but there was a little sparkle in the corner of his eyes.

"I have been in the league for many years and have played for many teams, but only for this team, I am willing to give up everything. It feels so good to go home!"

***
Raheem received a pass from Terry and started a skillful post-up single.Facing the slow-footed Thorpe, he is confident that he can easily shake his opponent's center of gravity and then break through to dunk.But the huge pressure coming from behind made him feel not easy.

Skillful fake moves swayed, then turned around and walked to the bottom line, Rahim broke through!No, Thorpe was still in front of him, firmly stuck him in the bottom line, Dameng was about to come to block, Raheem was almost surrounded in a bad position, and he was forced to pass the ball.

Parker steals the ball, goes straight to the basket on a fast break, and makes a layup. 50 flat!
"Give me one more single!" Rahim roared angrily. The old man failed two consecutive singles, and he lost all face.

"Calm down!" Glover warned, but handed the ball to Raheem anyway.

Raheem dribbles the ball face-up and suddenly starts.Old Thorpe was still not good at speed, and he finally broke through. "Old man, you are old!" Raheem yelled, jumping up to dunk.

Suddenly a long arm flew over from the other side and slammed the ball down.

"This is the best block of the year!" Barkley, the commentator of TNT TV station (the famous former basketball superstar who signed with TNT after retiring from the Rockets in 2000), roared: "From--Tracey McGregor--Dee!"

Dameng grabbed the rebound and passed it to Parker, who was running fast. Parker advanced to the frontcourt and pretended to lay up. After deceiving the defender, he passed it to the unmarked Jefferson. Jefferson dunked! At 50:52, the Rockets overtook the score.

"This guy is a sports car made in France!" Barkley shouted again.

Thorpe was soon replaced, and the fans once again gave him warm applause.Tang Shuai nodded in satisfaction and hugged Thorpe.The effect is already there, and the eagle is in chaos.Although the Rockets' three-pointers didn't feel good today, Tracy McGrady, Jefferson and Parker, who received the new nickname "French Car", took turns to break through and completely disrupted the Eagles' defensive formation.The Rockets firmly grasped the situation in the second half.

84:95火箭收获了新赛季的开门红。新人帕克打满了下半场，得到了令人满意的11分5助攻2抢断且仅有一次失误。老鹰队拉希姆虽然得到了28分18篮板的漂亮数据，但下半场完全迷失，6次失误也显得相当扎眼（这个28+18+6为史上真实数据）。

***
"You played well, boys!" Tang Shuai said with satisfaction: "But don't be proud. Jason, can you analyze the data for them."

"First of all, congratulations on winning a victory. But you can do far more than this." Yuan Fei moved his gaze from the computer screen to the faces of the players and said, "The Hawks are a very weak team, and beating them doesn't mean anything. Your shooting is poor today. It's normal for Jordan to hit the iron continuously. But if a player's shooting continues to slump, I will suggest that the head coach reduce his playing time."

"Who is this kid? He looks so young but speaks like this." Wallace murmured dissatisfiedly and asked Parker and Jefferson beside him.

Jefferson quickly replied: "Keep your voice down! He's the team's chief data analyst, and he's a big hit with the boss. If it wasn't for his skin color, many people would suspect that he is the boss's illegitimate son. It is said that offending him is worse than offending the general manager. Many player transactions are led by this analyst. Wasn't Mobley suddenly replaced? Maybe he offended someone."

"The current game sample is very small, and there is not much data to talk about. We only conceded 84 points in this game, and it looks like a good defense. But let me point out that the Eagles only scored 100 points in 98.7 rounds last season, the league's fourth-lowest offensive firepower. Our defense on this kind of team cannot explain the problem." Yuan Fei turned his gaze back to the computer screen and continued: "If you can prevent the Lakers from only scoring 84 points, I really admire you and invite all players to have a feast."

"Forgive us, Jason, I don't want to wrestle with that shark for another 30 minutes with my old arms and legs." Olajuwon smiled and patted Magloire's shoulder next to him: "It's up to you!" Brother Ma blushed a little, and he smiled honestly.

"I'm also a member of the team's management team. Although I don't directly intervene in team affairs, I can always make some suggestions." Yuan Fei said: "I give you two pieces of advice, especially the first-year and second-year players--Practice defense and jump shots well. I know that you all want to become a star, a superstar like Jordan, and develop various gorgeous skills. But before that, you have to prove that you are capable enough to become an important member of the team. To become a superstar requires a lot, and to become a wheel A switch is just two things—defending well and getting a good pass and turning it into a score."

"And how to create a good pass, I think it's up to the two of you, Tony and Tracy." Tang Shuai added.

"We all work together to complete a season with no regrets!" Dameng added.

"Yes, Captain!"

　The NBA league is mature and has its own rules of operation.The carp jumping from the dragon's gate to the championship from the scum can happen but can't be expected (for example, the Celtics, who successfully operated in the 07 offseason, also paid a lot of future talent).Please wait patiently for the harvest day.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)