God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 501 The Price of Youth

The Bobcats played very well in the preseason. They had no defeat in six games, which really surprised many people.Lien Chan Lian Jie also enhanced the confidence of the players, and everyone can't wait to show their skills in the regular season.

The league also seems to be interested in giving this new team some preferential policies. The opponent they arranged for the opening game was the Grizzlies, who had a mediocre record last season, and they were still at the home court of the Bobcats.However, in Charlotte, the Bobcats still have a long way to go to win the support of local fans. They only sold 60% of the tickets for the opening game, and you must know that this also includes a large number of free tickets.

At 6:[-] in the evening, Jackson took the Bobcats players into the stadium, but the attendance rate made them blush. There were a large number of vacant seats in the auditorium, and basically no one was seated in the front row.Jackson quietly said to Chang Wei: "I don't know what the boss thinks. I originally thought that the basketball atmosphere here is strong, but it is obvious that people are not interested in the NBA..."

Chang Wei patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Damon, don't be discouraged. Remember that difficulties are only temporary. If the team plays better and better, the local fans will definitely support us. At that time, the basketball atmosphere is very good to us. It's beneficial."

Jackson shrugged. He felt that what Chang Wei said seemed to make sense, but let's play the game well now. In case the Bobcats have a poor record this season, it will be even more difficult to lay a good foundation here in Charlotte.

Fortunately, the young Bobcats are not afraid of the regular season, they started to warm up talking and laughing.Looking at their attitudes, Chang Wei shook his head secretly, such a mental outlook will suffer.The record of the Grizzlies last season is generally true, but they have "Little Flying Squirrel" Stoudemire, Mike Miller, Rudy Gay, and the core Gasol. It is still very difficult for the Bobcats to win. It's a bit difficult, and the Grizzlies won't suffer from the starting lineup alone, and the experience is more abundant than the Bobcats.

After the warm-up, Bobcats players came to the locker room one after another.Seeing everyone's serious preparations, Jackson said impassionedly: "You have performed very well in the preseason and training camp, which proves that you have become a team. You are Bobcats players, not members of the previous team. Players, and this is where you start!"

"I know that the regular season is very different from the games you played before, but I have confidence in you. The opponent is not strong, and we have every chance to win the game. Remember to pass the ball more and actively create opportunities for your teammates , In addition, Brandon, you have to take on the responsibility of the team leader, you are the core of the team, and you must lead your teammates to play well in this game!"

After playing chicken blood for everyone, the game started soon. Jackson asked Milicic to jump the ball with Gasol.I have to say that Milicic's physical fitness is still very strong, Gasol is another floor player, Milicic easily helped the team get the ball, Roy dodged Stoudemire's interception , Steadily brought the ball to the frontcourt.

Roy called Raheem up to set a screen and easily got to the free throw line, but he couldn't go any deeper at this point. The Grizzlies' power forward Warrick had already pressed up, and Gasol was behind. Eyeing, ready to double-team up at any time.After Roy tricked Warrick with a fake move, he threw the ball directly to Ariza outside the weak-side three-point line.

Ariza did practice a lot of three-pointers in the training camp, but he hasn't quite adapted to the rhythm of the regular season.When Roy passed the ball, he almost missed the ball, and after barely catching the ball, he hurriedly shot the ball. As expected, the basketball hit the front of the basket. Gasol relied on his long arms Easily picked off this rebound.

Seeing his three-pointer hit the frame, Ariza waved his fist bitterly, very dissatisfied with the missed three-pointer.But there is no way, now that the ball has come to the Grizzlies, he can only contribute to the team on the defensive end.

After Stoudemire brought the ball across the half court, he immediately gave the ball to Gasol who was standing in a high position.Gay wanted to get stuck in the position to catch the ball and play singles, but Gasol didn't care about him so much, he just used Gay to attract Ariza's defense.After pressing back to the free throw line, Gasol made a very freehand pass behind the head to create an air-cut layup for Miller, and the Grizzlies scored the first point of the game.

Then Gasol completely turned into the team's high-level command tower. Under his guidance, the Grizzlies' offense appeared to be very smooth. Use mid-range shots to score.Bobcats players are very awkward, except for Roy's ball-handling singles, they have no way to score. Although Milicic's footwork is very good, but the Grizzlies have Gasol and Warrick inside, Milicic The post-up singles are almost useless.

Roy is indeed very powerful, but he is still only a rookie, and he is completely unable to compete with the Grizzlies on his own.When the two sides replaced the bench, the Grizzlies had already led by 11 points, which made Roy feel very ashamed.Originally, he thought that he could drive the team's offense, but he didn't expect that none of his passes could be turned into assists, so he had to bite the bullet.

Jackson was thinking about narrowing the point difference with the bench lineup, but he didn't expect the Grizzlies' backup point guard to defend him in disgrace.Although it was only a short two or three minutes, Chang Wei was drooling at the little point guard on the opposite side. That was Kyle Lowry, the starting point guard for the Rockets and Raptors in the future!If the Grizzlies hadn't put him on the player protection list, he would have added Lowry's name immediately.In the face of the strong little steel cannon, it is a ghost that the relatively thin Ellis can not be affected.

Ellis' performance gave Jackson a headache, and Chang Wei was even more helpless. He didn't expect that Ellis' confrontation is so bad now, and even the fledgling Lowry can have such a huge impact on him.When this sharp knife failed, the Bobcats' bench could only rely on Lee to score. Fortunately, his mid-range shooting percentage was not bad, and the Bobcats did not lag behind their opponents too much.

Even so, at the end of the first quarter, the Bobcats were still 23 points behind 35 to 12, and Roy scored 11 points alone. This is not good news for the Bobcats.Although Roy, as the core of the team, can control most of the shots, the others only scored 12 points, which is very dismal. This is something Jackson and Chang Wei did not understand before.

"It seems that this group of guys are still too young and need to be trained!" Looking at the scoreboard, Chang Wei said to himself silently.

(End of this chapter)