one-handed ball

Chapter 317 Trivia
The Finals between the Celtics and the Lakers is reminiscent of the two veteran giants that ran rampant in the East and West two years ago.

The grievances and entanglements between them, love and hatred, really can't be finished in a day.Because of this matchup, the NBA has earned enough attention and made enough gimmicks.When the World Cup in South Africa was being held in full swing, and when men all over the world were crazy, the NBA could still attract the attention they wanted. It is indeed the most extensive sport in the overseas market in North America.

When Zheng Ke and the others left South Africa, the last game of the finals was over.

"The Lakers really opened my eyes. After losing Tianwangshan, they can win two games in a row." Zheng Ke said to Schwartz.

"Artest played very well in the last few games and scored a lot of points." Schwartz smiled. He also paid attention to this year's NBA Finals. In his impression, Artest's performance in the last two games was eye-catching.

"However, when he only scored single digits in the front, his performance was average."

"Haha, that's what I said." Zheng Ke felt that Schwartz represented the thoughts of the vast majority of fans. Those with high scores made great contributions, and those with low scores were in poor condition.

"Is this time returning to Minnesota for the new coach?" Schwartz asked suddenly.

"Well." Zheng Ke nodded, with a smile on his face, "Kevin (McHale) hopes that I can go back during this time, because the 2010 draft is about to start, and he is also concerned about the selection of the head coach. It is basically confirmed, and now I have gone to meet with the head coach."

"Oh?" Schwartz was slightly surprised, and said, "Kevin is pretty fast. Which head coach is he?"

Zheng Ke lowered his voice and said, "It's the Celtics' defensive assistant, Tom Thibodeau!"

"What? It turned out to be him." Schwartz was a little surprised. Of course he knew Thibodeau's name. He served as an assistant coach in the Rockets period and trained many excellent players. He even rejected the king's invitation to head coach. He has trained the Celtics defense in the past few years, making the Celtics a well-known defensive team in the league, and almost helped the Celtics win the championship again this year. Counting this year, Thibodeau's assistant coach I'm afraid my career has been 18 years.

But Schwartz also has doubts and puzzles: "Though Tom Thibodeau has a first-class defensive ability, our Timberwolves are already strong in defense. The only difference is that they are excellent conductors on the spot. He has never practiced this at all. How do you know if it fits?"

"That's why I'm going to the interview!" Zheng Ke said with a smile.

Zheng Ke paused and continued: "Thibodeau's contract with the Celtics has just expired, and he also has the idea of ​​being the head coach. Among the teams currently in contact with him, the Bulls and our Timberwolves are the most hesitant. Team. He admitted that he likes the Timberwolves very much, but he does not rule out the possibility of going to the Bulls, so this interview is a mutual process, we are testing him, and he is also testing us.”

"This fat old man is in his 50s this year. If he comes, you should get along well with him. This year's playoffs will hurt the team too much." Schwartz said sincerely.

"Well." Zheng Ke was very touched by Schwartz's concern. As a league agent, Schwartz is one of the few who cares about the player's status. He is a gentle "vampire" in all aspects of the family. He chose Schwartz at the beginning. His sincerity.When Schwartz said this, Zheng Ke heard it in his heart, and felt that there was indeed something wrong with his playoffs.

"I always thought our Timberwolves were strong defensively."

Zheng Ke leaned back on the seat, his eyes became misty and deep, as if recalling something, "I didn't expect to play against the Spurs in this year's playoffs, and various defensive problems were exposed. The lack of system, the height of the inside line is not enough, the leakage People, misplaced runs and so on. The Spurs can't beat us easily, and the offensive end can give it all."

"Hey~" Speaking of the playoffs, Schwartz also sighed, and said: "If Thibodeau can come this time, I hope he can train the Timberwolves' defense well. The Timberwolves do not lack talent, but what is lacking is to use it. A perfect system came out."

"correct!"

Zheng Ke laughed and said: "You know, our defense has always been one-on-one, and the zone defense is rarely used. Whitman's personal defensive ability is really nothing to say, but when it comes to the real formation on the field, the ability is really good. worse"

"If you say that, I feel that you can become a coach." Schwartz also smiled. Zheng Ke has a strong understanding of the game, and some ideas may have existed for a long time.

"Maybe I can think about it after retiring." Zheng Ke smiled, as a coach?I am not short of money, so being a coach might as well be a basketball commentator, host or something.

Zheng Ke and the others returned to Minnesota around the 21st, and after two days of rest, Zheng Ke suddenly received a notice from the domestic basketball association.

It turned out that the Basketball Association didn't know where Zheng Ke had gone, and had been unable to contact him.When Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian returned to the national team to report, they finally contacted Zheng Ke through Yao Ming. Immediately, the phone was full of criticism, and Zheng Ke was ordered to report back to the national team before July 7th, participating in the last month. team training.

Zheng Kehao's mood was completely destroyed immediately, and he curled his lips.

"What's wrong?" Taylor asked.

"It's okay, the national team called me back to participate in the training camp." Zheng Ke put down the phone, his face was a little depressed, and said: "It's not that I won't go, I'm making a fuss."

"Then just don't go, you have to play in the NBA and the national team, it's too tiring." Taylor said with some distress.

"That won't work." Zheng Ke still saw the big things very clearly, and said with a smile: "This World Championship is not a small game, it is very important for the national team's ranking, um~ it's like the World Cup. And I was originally There will be special training in the summer, and participating in this level of competition is just a good way to exercise yourself. There are many big names in the Dream Nine team this year, and they are all waiting to avenge their revenge. What if I don’t go?"

The Dream Nine team came back with shame. The failure to win the two consecutive Olympic Games made everyone doubt the strength of the American Dream Team.Some veteran celebrities even ran out to ridicule these superstars, like Barkley and members of the Dream Team like Jordan, thinking that the Dream Team now cannot be compared with them at that time.

This can be regarded as annoyed a lot of leading stars, capable people have a temper, this year's 12-member dream team actually included a group of Durant, James, Wade, Paul, Anthony, etc. Superstars can be called the largest star lineup in the history of the World Championships, and it is obvious that they want to avenge their shame.

And among these superstars, a large number of players have not yet finalized a new contract.Players like James and Wade have made it clear that they want to jump out of the contract, and the Knicks and other teams have officially pursued their favorite player James. The "friend's mother's door" incident greatly increased the possibility of James' departure, and Cleveland fans still foolishly thought that their children would not run around.

This year's draft, Zheng Ke still ran to the scene to participate.

The Timberwolves are no longer what they used to be. The former Timberwolves had top picks because of their poor record, but now the Timberwolves hold the last few first-round picks.

McHale admires Zheng Ke's vision very much. The players currently selected by Zheng Ke are all excellent, and there has been no waste of draft picks.

The Timberwolves may leave a group of people this summer, and Iverson has made it clear that he wants to leave the Timberwolves.He originally wronged himself as a substitute in the Timberwolves to win the championship, but the Timberwolves failed to satisfy his wish.Let him play as a substitute for another year, he is afraid that he will go crazy.There is also Lowry who is still vacillating. Lowry's contract expires this summer. Although he is very happy in the Timberwolves, he wants to seek a starting player opportunity. The Timberwolves are currently negotiating with him and Billups among.There is also veteran Brad Miller, who was completely marginalized in the Timberwolves last season, and McHale is not going to renew his contract.

The remaining players are all players whose contracts have not expired. Generally speaking, the Timberwolves have guaranteed the complete lineup of last season.

Point Guard: Billups

Shooting guards: Afflalo, Marcus Thornton
Small forwards: Zheng Ke, Brewer, Mike Miller
Power forwards: Love (injury), Taj Gibson

Centers: Pekovic, Anderson, DeAndre Jordan
The team lineup has 11 players. If the contract extension with Lowry is successful, there will be 12 players. Basically, only a few marginal potential players are needed.

In the end, the Timberwolves picked out the 23-year-old combo guard Vasquez from Venezuela at the end of the first round.This player is 1 meters tall and can serve as both point guard and shooting guard. For the Timberwolves, such a player with excellent passing is also extremely needed.

The Thunder traded wildly in the draft, getting Cook and Bledsoe from the Heat for a while, sending Bledsoe to the Hornets for a while, and changing back to the tall white center Cole Aldridge, and then with the Hawks and the Nets for a while A three-party transaction occurred and the unknown Peles was obtained.

Relatively speaking, the Timberwolves, who were more active in the past few years, appear to be much more stable. Although they have received a lot of trade requests, and even the Wizards are willing to directly exchange the talented No. [-] pick John Wall for Zheng Ke, but they are all given by McHale. Rejected. After all, talent only represents good potential, and potential may not be fully developed. What about Zheng Ke?Take Jordan will not agree.He is now only waiting to sign Thibodeau, and then he will build a brand new team according to his requirements, and let the Timberwolves ship sail under the shining light again.
(End of this chapter)