against the front

Chapter 21 Opener

On October 2008, 10, U.S. time, the Arco Arena, the home of the Sacramento Kings and the famous "Devil's Home Stadium" in the NBA, was already full of seats in this basketball arena that can accommodate 29 seats. Although the Kings only won The poor record of 17317th in the Western Conference, but these fans in Sacramento still support the Kings as always. Since the beginning of the new century, the Arco Arena, the home of the Kings, has created a miracle of 11% attendance for 7 consecutive seasons .

Due to the poor record of last season, the King's management made several consecutive transactions during the offseason, sending away Ron Artest and Mike Bibby, the two core members of the team, in exchange for Drew - Gooden, Andres Nocioni, Rashad McCants and a large group of role players, as well as multiple draft picks, are ready to rebuild around Kevin Martin.

As a team with a poor record last season, the Kings met the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first game of the new season. After the Timberwolves sent the head star Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics , It started a long process of poor performance. For two consecutive seasons, the Timberwolves did not get the pick they wanted, nor did they select players who could save them, so the Timberwolves' poor performance will continue.

Although the goal set by the Kings for the new season is the playoffs, in the eyes of the outside media, the Kings, who have lost two important players in a row, have inevitably become the favorites for the No. [-] pick. With the top pick, the game between the Kings and the Timberwolves will naturally not attract much attention, and it is even impossible to broadcast nationally. In the new season's national live broadcast list, the Kings only have two national live broadcasts. , This is still the light of the Rockets. If it weren't for the Huaguo Derby between Yan Hua and Yao Ming, it could still attract a little attention. It is estimated that the number of live broadcasts of the King in the United States will be as poor as the Timberwolves.

There is no national live broadcast, and the opponent is still a big fish. Naturally, there is no attention to this kind of game, so there are now two or three kittens in the press box of Arco Arena. Except for some media in Sacramento and Minnesota, no one Will come here to watch a pecking game.

"This is the Arco Arena." As a rookie this year, Yan Hua was at the forefront of the team, and as a pioneer, he was the first to walk out of the player tunnel. Because of the trade, after Yan Hua came to the king, he did not encounter the legendary old bird bullying the rookie, but some unspoken rules should be followed. Arco Arena, and the cheers of the audience, even Yan Hua, who has a big heart, can't help but feel a little cramped now.

"Yan, are you a little nervous now, don't think too much, just treat today's game as a preseason game or summer league." After the appearance ceremony, the starting players of both sides began to warm up. , as the king's new boss, Kevin Martin, after seeing Yan Hua's nervous expression, he took the initiative to step forward, wanting to enlighten Yan Hua and let him relax a little.

The king's main center Brad Miller was injured and absent, so most people in the team thought that the backup center Spencer Hawes would take his place, but when the game was arranged before the game, the head coach Reggie Toyce announced that this season's rookie Yan Hua will replace Brad Miller in the starting lineup.Although there are some objections to the head coach's arrangement, Kevin Martin, the team boss, still chose to support the head coach's decision.

"Well, I'll be fine in a while." After taking a few deep breaths and trying to calm down his nervousness, Yan Hua nodded towards Kevin Martin. In fact, the head coach arranged for him to start. Yan Hua was not prepared at all.

Because before the start of this game, Yan Hua didn't have any extravagant hope of being able to start. Although he trained day and night in the system space, under the repeated training of Battelle and Kwame Brown, Yan Hua's current ability The value has also skyrocketed to 71, but Yan Hua's competitor, Spencer Hawes, has an ability value of 74.

Therefore, in Yan Hua's plan, the best situation is to come off the bench for a dozen or 10 minutes in each game, and then wait until his strength surpasses Spencer Hawes to compete with him for the starting position. , but unexpectedly, when the head coach Reggie Toyce announced the starting lineup in the locker room just now, he directly arranged for Yan Hua to start.

Before stepping on the floor of the court, Yan Hua looked back at the head coach Reggie Troyce who was standing on the edge of the bench, and looked at Reggie Troyce who nodded slightly to him. He secretly swore that he would never let down the trust that the head coach had placed in him.

After watching Yan Hua walk onto the court, Reggie Toyce turned his head and glanced at Spencer Hawes, who was sitting on the bench with an unhappy expression on his face. Yan Hua was scheduled to start for today's game, and it was Ray Gee Toyes made the decision after careful consideration. Yan Hua's current strength is not as good as Spencer Hawes, but Yan Hua's potential and upper limit far exceed Spencer Hawes, so as long as it is an initiative Coaches know who to use.

In addition, the king's opponent today is a big fish like the Timberwolves, so Reggie Toyce is even more determined to let Yan Hua start. If the king's opponent today is the Magic or the Spurs, then Reggie Toyce is Yan Hua will definitely not be allowed to start. In the first game of his career, he encountered a powerful opponent and was brutally beaten. A rookie with poor mental quality may directly cast a shadow on the NBA.

Being able to start the first game of his NBA career is a thing to be proud of for any rookie. Therefore, in the king's locker room, Dante Green, who did not enter the active list today, and Shaw The two of En Singletary also looked enviously at Yan Hua who was warming up on the TV. As a rookie, Yan Hua's starting point was several steps higher than theirs.

In addition to the rookie Yan Hua, Drew Gooden, who was the main bargaining chip in the deal for Mike Bibby, also entered the starting lineup for today's game. Drew Gooden will partner with Yan Hua to support the King's inside line , As for the remaining three perimeters, they are all old men of the Kings, point guard Benno Udrih, shooting guard Kevin Martin, and small forward John Salmons.

Because the strength of the Timberwolves is very average, Reggie Toyes did not make too many arrangements and mobilizations before the main players appeared on the field, but only asked them to play according to the tactics formulated in advance.

(End of this chapter)