The strongest champion puzzle

Chapter 20 Preseason Start

The Nuggets are not as turbulent as the Spurs. At a certain point, should they replace the main force or the main force.

Neither Gallinari nor Ty Lawson could be locked up by the Spurs' bench. The two kept shooting from the outside. Even though Gary Neal of the Spurs had a good touch, the score was still firmly suppressed by the opponent.

"Coach, Mr. Greg, let me play, I promise to help the team win."

Zhang Xiaotian also went all out, bit the bullet and asked Popovich to play.

Popovich turned to look at him with a serious face and eyes that could almost kill.

Ginobili, who was also pressed on the bench, quickly pulled Zhang Xiaotian away, and said to him earnestly: "Playing for the Spurs, you must remember that you can't hit the coach."

"The old man must have a plan for who to let go. Are you going to teach him how to form an army? I don't want to sit on the bench and worry about it in the future. Be honest now."

Zhang Xiaotian also came to his senses. Popovich is not Jacques Vaughn. Even if it is the team's big brother Duncan, Popovich would dare to press on the bench, let alone him.

In the end, Zhang Xiaotian failed to play for 1 minute. The Spurs were defeated by the Nuggets and ushered in their first preseason loss.

Zhang Xiaotian felt a little depressed, but he still practiced after the game.

He thought that if he failed to play today, those media would definitely ridicule him, but he didn't expect that his name was not mentioned in the news at all, and he was still a small role after all.

Fortunately, many netizens on the other side of the ocean are still enthusiastic, and all kinds of unreliable gossip broke out. There are still many fans who support him, which gives him a little comfort.

"What's going on, why didn't you play today, you lose if you don't play, the team can't do without you."

"Aren't you hurt?"

After exercising and taking a shower before going to bed, I came out and saw two messages from Yang Feiyu.Zhang Xiaotian suddenly smiled.

"How can I be so important, the team let the players take turns to rest, thank you for your attention."

"What happened to your roommate, Eddie is still alive."

"Why, you don't want to see my roommate's beauty."

After chatting with Yang Feiyu before going to bed, the smog in Zhang Xiaotian's heart was finally swept away.

He just sat on the bench for a game, but he will work harder in the next game. Even if he is not allowed to play after the game, he must let the coach see his enthusiasm during training.

The Spurs are going to play away games next, and their first stop is Houston.

The Rockets' lineup has also changed a lot this season, with many transactions and signings. The most notable thing now is the acquisition of Jeremy Lin, who rose to fame last season.

It is said that the Rockets will have a follow-up big deal. Compared with last season, their starting lineup in this preseason only has one second-year rookie, Chandler Parsons.

The Spurs also had a small change in the start of this game. When Popovich informed Zhang Xiaotian to start, Zhang Xiaotian still felt a little unreal.

Life is really full of ups and downs, you don't know what is not satisfactory, and you don't know when you will have a chance.

Therefore, we must strengthen ourselves, so that we will not be defeated when we are not satisfied, and we can grasp the opportunities in front of us.

The team's starting position is that his position has changed, and the Rockets' starting two are both rookies this year, Jeremy Lamb and Terrence Jones.

Zhang Xiaotian didn't expect him to be able to start, but since the coach arranged it that way, he must go all out. Chandler Parsons, who is facing him, is a white striker with good physical fitness, so he used his whole body at the beginning. Solve the number and entangle with each other.

The situation was a bit different from what he had imagined. The Rockets' lineup didn't seem to be running well, and Chandler Parsons was also a little absent-minded.

Duncan and Parker scored one after another, and Zhang Xiaotian also hit a three-pointer after receiving a return pass from Boris Diaw.

In less than half a quarter, the team led by 10 points.

When the team rotated, Duncan and Parker went down quickly to rest, but he stayed on the court and finished the first quarter.

Giving him so much time, Zhang Xiaotian was a little nervous, and defended even harder, which made Parsons very depressed.

In this game, the Rockets' substitute players played better. Carlos Delfino and rookie Donatas Motiejunas both made three-pointers to catch up with the score.

Popovich didn't let Leonard play. It seems that the Spurs really let the players take turns to rest, although Zhang Xiaotian felt that he didn't play much time and there was no need to rest.

In the second half of the second quarter, Zhang Xiaotian got another chance to play and hit the middle distance.

For the first time in the NBA, he played happily without any ability bonus. Although he only played a supporting role, he was very competent, and the team suppressed the opponent throughout the process.

In this game, the Rockets played either rookies or newly transferred players. In the second half, Popovich didn't let Duncan and Parker play at all, and the Spurs also began to inspect players.

But after Gary Neal replaced Parker, the Spurs had some problems with their rhythm. The Rockets took advantage of the opportunity to play a few neat counterattacks, and both Lamb and Parsons hit three-pointers.

After Parsons made a three-pointer in front of Zhang Xiaotian, he blew his whistle, "Rookie, I'm going to be a little more serious in the second half. This is the cruelty of the NBA."

Zhang Xiaotian countered on the spot: "Well, you were not serious about those unreliable shots in the first half, and you may not be serious after a while."

"Rookie, you made me angry." Parsons said coldly.

Zhang Xiaotian wouldn't be afraid of him, so he worked hard to actively seek physical confrontation. Parsons was taller than him, so he had to consume the opponent a lot, otherwise it would be difficult to defend against shots.

Parsons didn't believe that Zhang Xiaotian, who had never been in the NBA officially, could defend him. When it was the Rockets' turn to attack again, he wanted the ball for singles.

Parsons dribbled the ball twice outside the three-point line and pulled up to shoot. Zhang Xiaotian was waiting for the opponent to shoot. Although Parsons was faster than the average white forward, he was not the one with fast feet. Zhang Xiaotian was It was predicted that the opponent would take advantage of his height to eat him.

So he jumped up almost at the same time as Parsons, stretching his right hand as high as possible, affecting the opponent's shooting line.

A three-pointer hit the iron, the Spurs took the rebound and quickly counterattacked, and Ginobili caught the ball and made a layup on the move.

Zhang Xiaotian looked at Parsons and smiled provocatively, and Parsons' face turned green immediately.

He murmured that he wanted to save face, but the Rockets coach Kevin McHale didn't want to watch him play, and the Rockets didn't want to investigate him in this game. Seeing that the score began to be drawn again, the Rockets requested a timeout. By the way, Parsons was replaced.

In the fourth quarter, Zhang Xiaotian completely released his desire to attack when facing the Rockets' backup forward, NBA fringe man Gary Forbes, scoring 11 consecutive points to seal the victory.

The first start of the preseason, a perfect ending.

(End of this chapter)