Basketball Dragon

Chapter 37 The Regular Season Begins

In the last preseason game, Li Hai scored 15 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals, completing his mission.

The 15-man roster of the New York Knicks is fully determined, and preparations for the regular season have officially begun.

It was a pity for Li Hai that Battelle was not able to stay, and the team chose the 2-meter Bralo Sandev as the inside reserve.

In November, the regular season officially started. The Knicks did not play on the first day. After training, Li Hai received a call from Xia Weiliang.

"How do you feel in the team during this time? No one bullies you. I heard that the team will bully newcomers."

"It's okay, nothing too exaggerated."

"Tomorrow, I will come to the stadium with some classmates from the school to support you. Let's work hard for the first game."

"No problem, I just hope the head coach can give me more opportunities, ha ha."

After chatting with Xia Weiliang for half an hour, Li Hai's mood became very good.

To be honest, although Lenny Wilkens has a good reputation, he is a bit old-fashioned and not tough enough. Not to mention Marbury, even Tim Thomas can't hold back. The atmosphere in the team is relatively ordinary. Li Hai It's been a bit of a bad day these days.

On November 11, when the Knicks played against the Timberwolves at home, Wilkens did not let Li Hai serve as the starter. The last preseason game was just a warning to Tim Thomas.

The Timberwolves ranked first in the regular season last season, but lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals of the playoffs. This season, they have almost retained the lineup from last season, which can be regarded as a strong team.

Position 1 "Alien" Sam Cassell, Position 2 "Madman" Latrell Sprewell, Position 3 Wally Szczerbiak, Position 4 "Wolf King" "Kevin Garnett, the 5th position is the "famous" Michael Olowokandi.

Compared with the Knicks' starting lineup, it is much more reasonable.

At the beginning of the game, the Timberwolves had their boss Kevin Garnett hit a mid-range shot. With Garnett's height and long arms, it would be difficult to guard against it if he opened the mid-range shot.

The Knicks are obviously at a disadvantage on the inside line. Both the 4th and 5th positions are shorter by the opponent. Instead of attacking them, Jamal Crawford directly hit an unreasonable three-pointer.

But then he missed a few more shots. If Marbury played "individually" because of his character, then Jamal Crawford's "individual" was entirely due to technical reasons. This happens.

Marbury originally saw that this partner was new, and his personality was considered good. He planned to let the opponent fight more, but seeing that this guy had no intention of passing the ball at all, he also increased his personal offense.

His shooting percentage was not bad, and he scored several goals in a row. Relying on the ability of the two guards, the Knicks led by 10 points in the half quarter.

However, the Knicks lineup also has a guy who plays "individually". Tim Thomas also plays various singles when receiving the ball. He is 2 meters tall and is the tallest person in the Knicks' starting lineup, but he plays the small forward position. The small forwards in the entire league basically have a height advantage.

However, this guy was a little upset because the head coach Wilkens criticized his defense, and he didn't feel good today. He missed shots for a few minutes and let the Timberwolves catch up with the score again.

After seeing the shorter Wally Szczerbiak grab an offensive rebound in front of him, Wilkens told Lehi to get ready.

For the player Tim Thomas, Li Hai has some incomprehensions. He has excellent jumping, wide shooting range, better height and wingspan than him. He was also a bad guy in school, but he became mediocre in the NBA. It feels like a waste of extraordinary. talent.

The two sides entered into a rotation, and Szczerbiak, a white forward with a strong body and excellent shooting, remained on the court. He would be Li Hai's first opponent in the first NBA regular season game.

As a rookie, defense must be done well, and head coach Wilkens also pays attention to defense.

Seeing a rookie like Li Hai, Szczerbiak also planned to use him as a breakthrough point, but Li Hai was so focused that he didn't give the opponent an open shot at all. Just go inside and break through.

He didn't have any skills or aesthetics, he just used his body to force him. It's just that although Li Hai was a little lighter than the opponent, his strength was a bit stronger, so he didn't let the opponent rush in.

Szczerbiak was a little surprised, but he was calm and did not force himself.

Li Hai's solid defense also made the coach on the sidelines nod.

Compared to strength, Li Hai is only one point stronger, but compared to speed, he is much stronger. During the attack, he doesn't care whether his teammates pass the ball or not, he just runs non-stop. He is a substitute, but he doesn't care about physical exertion. .

Opportunities come through hard work. Marbury is "independent" and "individual", but his passing skills are first-class. When Li Hai ran out of the three-point line and opened an open space, his ball was thrown over at almost the same time. .

Li Hai caught the ball, jumped up and shot in one go, and the Knicks won by 30 points at 25:5 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, when Marbury went to rest, the relationship between the teams became even worse. Li Hai could hardly catch any balls, and was subsequently replaced.

When Marbury was on the court, his touch was not as hot as in the first quarter. Crawford had good times and bad times. Lost by 7 points, and lost 12 points in the second quarter.

Among the Knicks' substitutes, only Li Hai and another forward Michael Sweetney can still play, and the others are in a mess, especially the former All-Star Wen Baker, who the Knicks thought they had picked up a cheap signing, has been completely drunk. Destroyed, standing on the court as if he was drunk, the head coach shook his head and asked him to stand for a few minutes before changing it.

In the third quarter, the two sides played fiercely. Marbury felt good on the Knicks side. After playing a round of the Olympics, Marbury planned to work hard to lead the team to achieve good results. He has a good appearance in series, but his defense is not satisfactory. Garnett is really a headache.

Not long after the third quarter, Li Hai came on as a substitute again.

After trying in the first half, he felt more confident. In order to chase points, the Knicks replaced Nazr Mohamed, who had no offensive ability, and formed a small lineup.

The same is true for the Timberwolves, who replaced Michael Olowokandi.

Now Li Hai's opponent became Latrell Sprewell. Sprewell was much faster than Szczerbiak, but Li Hai was still able to keep up. Although the opponent defended well Yes, but his height and weight are a bit worse than him. He is not a rookie who doesn't know how to use his advantages.

(End of this chapter)