NBA Legends Manager

Chapter 401 The Strongest

After the Pelicans beat the Clippers, the second home game was back-to-back against the New York Knicks.
Although the Knicks this season are also a mess in the summer, in Presti's eyes, they are completely reduced to a belly. Center Samuel Dalembert is 33 years old. He is basically useless except for being able to block rebounds and screens. His movement speed is extremely slow, and he basically does not protect the frame.

Stoudemire is no longer what he used to be. Now he is too mediocre both defensively and offensively. Sean Larkin was a rookie last year, but this year he is already adapting to the game. In the starting lineup, only Iman Shumpert can defend, but his independent offensive ability is worrying. It can be said that the Knicks now want to attack but not attack, and defend but not defend.

The team played extremely smoothly during the game, and the Knicks couldn't defend at all. Curry singled out Larkin from the outside.Leading the Knicks by 12 points in the first quarter!
In the second quarter, the Pelicans' substitutes also showed off their power. Antetokounmpo knew that when he entered the basket and turned around, he would dunk. David West made a show of his footsteps.
After 6 minutes in the second quarter, the lead has been extended to 20 points!After that, Presti played the veteran again to let the veteran find the feeling of the game, but even so, it was extremely difficult for the Knicks to score defensive goals against the veteran, and they could only rely on Anthony's singles points!At halftime, the Knicks were 28 points behind!
In the second half, Presti intentionally told the players to keep pace and not to make the point difference too big, but the Knicks were really weak and couldn't score. In the end, the Pelicans beat the Knicks by 129 points 89:40 away, becoming the game with the biggest point difference in the new season!

In the previous life, the Knicks averaged only 91.9 points per game this season, but their opponents averaged 101.2 points per game. It can be said that it is not too much to call it "mud".

On October 10, the Pelicans played an away game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers this season are even worse than last season. Kobe’s state can be said to be the same. Apart from serious injuries, the most important reason is that, of course, there is also age. Now that he is 31 years old, it can be said that he is in no condition. Footsteps!

The Lakers' second scorer, Nick Young, can only play singles. It's not an exaggeration, and his shooting percentage is hard to beat with Kobe, shooting 36.6% from the field, and of course, 36.9% from three-pointers.

Others like Ellington or Johnson are just functional players and cannot determine the outcome.

The game process was also very smooth. The Pelicans clocked in half a quarter again. In the second half, the second team and the veteran third team were interspersed. In the end, the Pelicans easily defeated the Lakers 121:101.

After the game, Presti expressed his respect for Kobe in an interview, but when the Lakers reporter asked Presti for any good advice, Presti was a little stunned, and some Los Angeles local reporters were looking forward to Presti's answer.
Now Presti has become recognized as the best coach and team builder in the league. As long as he can offer a few suggestions, no matter how poor the team is, it will rise quickly!

Presti was stunned for a moment, it really didn't know what to say, did he want to say not to hire a magician as the general manager, and not to let Wharton's egalitarianism coach?Wouldn't that be a prophet, so he pretended to think for a while and said, "The current Lakers are undoubtedly uncompetitive, unless they can get big-name players, but obviously the Lakers are like this, and free agents are also very difficult. Then there is only one way left, and that is the draft!"

Presti paused and continued: "I know that most of the rise of the Lakers is through trading to get superstars, but what I want to say is that you need to have a good bargaining chip when trading superstars, so now study the next draft players carefully, and then cultivate them patiently!"

The reporters were obviously not very satisfied with this general answer, so they continued to ask: "Then which one do you think has potential in the next session?"

Presti couldn't help laughing. This reporter's head was flooded. Even if I knew it, I wouldn't say it here. Similarly, other reporters looked at this reporter like an idiot, and the reporter who asked the question obviously realized his "stupidity" and immediately asked: "Then what position do you think the Lakers should choose as a rookie?"

"If the position is the same, choose a small forward!"

Presti's words also got the opportunity to say that the team manager and coach agree. After Presti's small ball won several championships in a row, he has realized the importance of the striker!
On November 11, the Pelicans beat the Timberwolves again with 2:118. Many people thought that after the Timberwolves had Jimmy Butler, after an offseason reinforcement, they would not be embarrassed when facing the Pelicans, but the result was still nothing.
But Jimmy Butler played well, scoring 29 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. In fact, Presti did not formulate tactics against Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler did not score explosively, and his organization was just that.

But after the game, there was a problem in the Timberwolves locker room. Jimmy Butler slammed his teammates for not working hard and not being competitive. Of course Wiggins was the one who was sprayed the most!Of course, this time is not the same as in the previous life. In the previous life, the fans who supported Butler and Black Butler were almost evenly divided, but now Jimmy Butler has just left from the Pelicans, and there is no negative news. The most important thing is that people understand that there must be such a gap from a championship team to a big team.

Therefore, fans generally support Butler, and also criticize Wiggins for not working hard as the No. [-] pick, but having talent but dawdling.

When Presti saw the news, he shook his head and smiled wryly. The Timberwolves suffered. This was just the beginning. If Jimmy Butler didn’t renew his contract during the offseason and pat his butt off, then the Timberwolves would lose a lot in this deal. Thinking of this, Presti felt a little embarrassed, maybe he cheated the Timberwolves too many times.

A week later, Davis was elected the best player in the first week of the Western Conference. He averaged 22 points, 11 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.2 blocks per game, shooting 68% from the field, 34% from the three-point range, and 94.5% from the free throw line!Davis ushered in an explosion this season. Although there were only four games, in these four games, Davis directly ruled the penalty area. No one can defend him. Once the low post receives the ball, he can only foul!

Fans of other teams shouted "It's the finale again". In fact, the finale has long been over. Although the players this season are not as hard as the previous two seasons, they have greatly improved both technically and psychologically, especially Davis, who is already talented.

The US media exclaimed in response to these games: "In 3 years, Davis will be the number one center in the NBA!" Davis is indeed the darling of the media.

And the best player in the Eastern Conference was awarded to James!The Cavaliers won all three games. James can score 28.9 points, 8.9 rebounds and 8.7 assists. The opponent can't limit him at all.
而他的左右手欧文则是能拿下23.5分4.7助攻，乐福则是能砍下18.9分9.8篮板2.3助攻，三巨头在这几场比赛中展现了十足的统治力！

And these few games have also made James fans and Cavaliers fans hopeful, they think they have the ability to challenge the Pelicans!
In the official strength rankings, the Cavaliers jumped to second place, second only to the Pelicans. Then the Cavaliers and Pelicans won another wave of victories, and they both beat their opponents, and the two teams are also ranked first in the East and West!

On November 11, the Pelicans lost 6:109 to the Eagles in the away game. Both sides played very well in the game, especially the Eagles. The outside touch was wide open. Korver made 112 of 11 three-pointers. Horford also threw 8 of 6 three-pointers.

When it came to the rotation lineup, this was originally the biggest advantage of the Pelicans, but tonight the Eagles' substitute special envoy showed off his power. Schroeder broke through the inside and hit consecutively, and even pulled Gobert out for military training!
In the previous life, Schroeder's highest career score came from playing the Jazz, and he only played Gobert for this point!
Of course, the Pelicans did not have any problems with their offensive play, and they did a good job defensively, without distraction or obvious loss of position!At the last moment, there was a chance to tie the score, but Paul George missed a three-pointer, and the frontcourt was given to Curry. Curry missed a three-pointer, and went all out again, but Thompson still didn't!When the time comes, it can be said that luck is not on this side tonight.

After the game, Presti praised the Eagles fiercely in an interview. In fact, losing to the Eagles is not a shame. The Eagles won the first place in the Eastern Conference this season in the previous life!

Presti and the Pelicans didn't take it seriously, but it doesn't mean that others didn't take it seriously, because before the Pelicans lost, the Eagles lost to the Cavaliers, and they were still defeated!Therefore, many fans said rhythmically that the strength of the Cavaliers has surpassed that of the Pelicans, and the Cavaliers are the strongest this season!

Finally, on November 11th, the Cavaliers ushered in a challenge from the Pelicans at home!

This nationally broadcast game has attracted a lot of attention from fans. Even some people who don’t usually watch the game will sit by the TV and wait for the game to start. No way, the Pelicans have ruled the NBA for 3 years. People really want to see the Pelicans being defeated!
People are like this, when a certain team has been strong for a long time, they expect someone to beat it. This is one of the reasons why the supporters of the Warriors who won 73 victories in the previous life are not as high as the Cavaliers.

The game started quickly, and everyone thought it was a thunderous game, but in the end, this long-awaited game turned into garbage time in the fourth quarter, because at the end of the third quarter, the Pelicans had already led by 26 points!
During the game, the game was evenly matched at the beginning. James broke through, hit back shots, and then led his teammates. Irving even made various tricks to pass Curry in succession, hit a throw, and finally simply pulled up a three-pointer. Love opened up the space from the outside and received a pass from James. The three-point shot was 3 of 2 in the first quarter!
Originally, the fans cheered and enjoyed themselves, but the situation changed suddenly. After Presti called a timeout and came back, the Cavaliers collapsed!Presti used running and bombing in his offense, launched a fast break as soon as he grabbed the rebound, and looked for opportunities to throw a three-pointer directly. In the positional battle, Davis played low singles.

On the defensive end, use a zone defense against James, leave Davis on the inside, and speed up the rotation on the outside, not giving the Cavaliers a chance to take a three-pointer easily!As a result, the Cavaliers' cooperation was paralyzed. After James rushed to the penalty area, the Pelicans quickly assisted in the defense.
The Big Three were dismantled, and they could only play singles. Owen singled out Thompson from the outside, and he still turned around and made a hit!Immediately after breaking through the inside in the next round, he was blocked. Irving could pull out his shot, but if he wanted to make a layup, there was no way!
After Love lost weight, the low position was terrible, and he couldn't stand Green at all. He could only rely on his height and touch to shoot. However, Green kept making small defensive moves and kept giving physical confrontation.

On the other hand, the Pelicans, scoring is much easier!
Once the Cavaliers hit the iron, the Pelicans played a fast break with 5 players. Paul George, Thompson, and Curry spread out from the outside, Green made an air cut, and Davis fell directly to the basket. Every position is an opportunity.
After the rotation lineup, the Cavaliers were even more anxious to die. The Cavaliers used Irving belts, and they were uncomfortable being entangled by Bradley, and the insider Gobert and the Antetokounmpo lineup were also hated when they came in!
Love came up to bring it, and it was even more difficult. Antetokounmpo couldn't hit it, and neither could Gobert, and so did David West!
In the end, only James could bring him, but he still cut off the connection with his teammates. James can only play singles, but he can maintain the point difference, but James always needs to rest.

In the end, the Pelicans defeated the Cavaliers 111:101, ending who is currently the strongest team!

In this game, James scored 38 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. He was the best player in the Cavaliers. Although Irving scored 21 points, his shooting percentage was only 32%, and Love only scored 14 points!Love struggled very much against the starter Green, and David West of the Pelicans also performed poorly.

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(End of this chapter)