Chapter 270 Four flowers bloom, the opening game begins
The Bulls players were sweating profusely in the training hall. Lu Yu and Artest kept fighting at the elbow area, as if the deep friendship between you and me last season was just an illusion.
"Hey, Ron, are you working so hard because I played small forward and took your starting position?"
Lu Yu squeezed Artest with his body and gasped slightly.
Artest pushed Lu Yu with his arm: "I'm not that stingy. Even without you, Lu Yu, there will be other players taking my position in the future. Besides, my goal this season is to be the best sixth man!"
"
If Artest were to be replaced by someone else, he would definitely not be willing to do so, but if Lu Yu was asked to come on the bench, he would have nothing to say.
"It's okay if your goal is to be the best sixth man." Lu Yu paused: "But your defensive habits need to change. You are not allowed to pull people with your hands this season."
Artest was stunned, he had forgotten about the rule change.
"If we want to go further this season, we must force other teams to adapt to the rules earlier."
Lu Yu's words made all the team members look stunned, including the newly joined Hamilton and Boozer. They finally knew why these players listened to Lu Yu's words so much, and why the Bulls reached the finals last season. Because they listened to
Lu Yu was absolutely right.
Lu Yu turned around with the ball, took a tentative step and then accelerated directly. Just as Artest was about to block him, he suddenly remembered the rules Lu Yu said and could only change into a sliding step to keep up with Lu Yu's defense.
Lu Yu suddenly slowed down and made a sudden fadeaway jumper. Artest didn't react for a moment and was thrown out by Lu Yu.
Whoosh!
Hit from mid-range.
"Farke, how are you going to defend those outside scorers like this in the future!" Artest complained speechlessly.
In fact, Artest is not the only one to complain. All players in the entire league are like this. They enjoy the dividends of the rules when attacking and complain about the unfairness of the rules when defending.
Lu Yu looked out the window. There were dark clouds, and a cool breeze blew in through the cracks in the window. He said softly: "The weather is going to change..."
I just don’t know what God is talking about.
…
San Antonio.
Battle came to the Spurs, but his identity became a bit embarrassing.
Originally, the Spurs wanted him to serve as an inside substitute to help Duncan support the opponent's powerful center, such as O'Neal of the Lakers, at critical moments.
However, changes in the rules have made Battle's identity confusing. Because of this rule, if you cannot pull the defender with your hands, these big players with height and weight, especially those with slow lateral movement like Battle, will basically encounter smaller players.
Just a death.
The veteran Popovich immediately thought of a good way.
Who says Battle must be a player? Can't he be an assistant coach?
Money has been spent and cannot be wasted, so I asked Battelle to be an assistant coach and simulate a powerful center to hone Duncan's adaptability.
Besides, the rules are not necessarily implemented in the new season.
…
Wang Zhizhi also encountered the same problem in Dallas.
His lateral movement speed is not that fast, but fortunately he has excellent offensive ability.
In fact, changes in league rules have had an impact on many teams. Changing players to adapt to the rules does not happen overnight, especially the 76ers. Even though their star Iverson will benefit from this, their players
All the team's role players are useless, and Iverson has little hope of returning to his peak leadership performance.
Wang Zhizhi's Mavericks team had problems with head coach Don Nelson's tactics.
They don't pay much attention to defense at all.
So the league changed theirs, and the Mavericks changed theirs.
However, Wang Zhizhi was ridiculed by Noviski: "Wang, do you still want to play in the team? You actually beat me so badly in the World Championships?"
"Can you blame me?"
Wang Zhizhi looked embarrassed, "You and I were teammates in the NBA and rivals in the World Championships. Besides, you can't even understand me. Why don't you come on as a substitute for me this season."
Nowitzki: "..."
Nash was snickering on the sidelines. He was very happy recently. When Nash participated in the filming of the "Like Mike" movie in the summer, Nash and Alejandra fell in love at first sight.
In Lu Yu's previous life, Nash and Alejandra gave birth to twin daughters in 2004.
They will get married in 2005, and Nash's wife will give him another son in 2010, but there is something wrong with this son.
Nash and his wife are both white, but his son is black.
Now you can even save money on DNA testing.
…
Auckland.
Yao Ming officially joined the Golden State Warriors.
This Warriors team is an underdog in the league, but they have different goals this season.
Playoffs!
They hope that the team can make the playoffs. Although it is not easy in a place like the Western Conference where there are many wolves, they have many talented players.
As a point guard, they are preparing to officially make Arenas a regular player this season.
After training last season, Arenas also transitioned from the shooting guard position in college to the point guard position, and gradually became accustomed to the point guard style of play. Of course, he is still a scoring-first player.
This is not easy. Many shooting guards like him who are not tall enough were successful in college, but disappeared in the NBA.
There are a lot of people who have failed in transformation.
For example, Lu Yu was a famous lonely god in his previous life.
Fredette was also a very strong scorer in college. In his senior year, he was elected the National Player of the Year. He averaged 28.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game, leading his college team Brigham Young.
The university achieved an impressive record of 20 wins and 1 loss.
Bring Brigham Young University, which has never reached the top 16 in 30 years, into the top 16.
Such outstanding results naturally attracted the attention of many scouts, and his draft ranking was also very high.
However, after entering the NBA, Fredette did not perform as well as he should have. After three seasons, he was bought out and became a passerby in the NBA.
Anyone who has watched him play should know that his athletic talent can be said to be very average. As a defender, he is not fast, not even as fast as Guo Ailun.
His bounce is average and his physical confrontation is average. The reason why he can perform so well in the CBA is because the confrontation in the CBA is so different from that in the NBA.
As a shooting guard, Fredette is less than 190cm tall, so he is at a disadvantage in the NBA. Furthermore, his speed is not fast, and his jumping is average, so it is difficult to score in an NBA-level game.
In addition to his strong long-range shooting ability, his defensive ability is also his weakness, so it is difficult for him to excel in the NBA.
There are countless examples like this, so Arenas' transformation has been very successful.
At the shooting guard position, the Warriors still use their starting shooting guard from last season, Jason Richardson.
The small forward is Antawn Jamison.
These two are both outstanding scorers in the NBA. When it comes to their names, even ordinary NBA fans will know a little bit about them.
At power forward, they used Troy Murphy, whom they selected in last year's draft.
Troy Murphy played 82 games for the Warriors last season, averaging 5.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He set a record for the number of games played by a Warriors rookie since Joe Smith in 1995-1996. On March 16, 2002, he started for the first time in his career.
Fa debuted and scored 13 points and 7 rebounds.
Coupled with this year's No. 1 pick Yao Ming, the Warriors' new starting lineup is formed.
The advantage of this Warriors team is their youth!
The oldest one is Antawn Jamison, who participated in the 1998 draft. He is 26 years old this year. Among the remaining four starters, Yao Ming is this year's No. 1 pick, and the other three are all rookies last year.
The team is energetic and impactful, and the players all have the desire to win.
But the shortcoming of this team is also its youth.
The lack of experience and the slow growth of newcomers made this team struggle last season. Their poor record in the regular season allowed them to directly win the No. 1 pick.
Many fans will question, is this environment suitable for Yao Ming to grow up?
I don't know what others think, but Yao Ming thinks it's a good fit. He will grow up quickly in this team and become the core of the team on both offense and defense like Lu Yu.
Soon, he proved himself in the preseason.
…
Four flowers have bloomed. All four players of the Chinese men's basketball team have found their place in the NBA, and the one who gets the most attention is still Lu Yu.
The Bulls obviously had reservations in the preseason. Lu Yu only played 20 minutes in each game before resting. Even so, they still achieved a record of 7 wins.
When a team reaches the finals, although it fails to win the championship, the team's confidence in winning has been established.
Artest was pleasantly surprised to find that he played as a substitute and played longer than Lu Yu, the starter. This was not because Cartwright restricted Lu Yu, but there was no need for Lu Yu to work hard in the preseason.
There are 82 regular season games, and the time when Lu Yu needs to exert his strength is often in the latter part of the season.
What scares opponents the most is that the Bulls' bench is so terrible that sometimes Lu Yu even plays with the bench for a long time.
The offensive firepower of this substitute lineup may be mediocre, but its defensive strength makes the entire league talk about it.
The most important thing is that the addition of Hamilton has completely made up for the Bulls' mid-range shooting vacancy last season. The Bulls' scoring firepower has been further improved. Hamilton, who can't run fast, has become a sharp knife in the Bulls' fast break. Lu Yu
This organizational forward often rushes to the basket to grab rebounds, and then directly makes a long pass, and Hamilton scores easily.
Lu Yu finally felt the joy of being on the inside.
Many opponents said that Lu Yu was playing small forward, but he was obviously a power forward, and he actually had more rebounds than the team's power forward Boozer.
In the first official strength list, the Bulls are undoubtedly the favorites to win the championship, although many experts still predict that the Bulls will still not be able to reach the Lakers' level.
But the Bulls' victory against the Lakers in the preseason silenced all basketball experts.
During the preseason, Lu Yu also invited all the players to a big party, mainly to welcome new members and make the atmosphere of the entire team more harmonious.
Family members were allowed to the party, but Lu Yu brought Anne Hathaway.
Because Charlize has been out filming these days.
Otherwise it would be really hard to choose him.
On October 31, 2002, the Bulls played their home opener against their old rival in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics.
