David Stern suddenly remembered that during the previous battle between the Bulls and Horses, the publicity department seemed to have done such a propaganda, because the Spurs also had a Chinese player.
However, after a few rounds of competition, the player named Battle had no chance to play.
So the alliance curbed this propaganda plan.
After all, forcing a gimmick will be counterproductive.
But what David Stern didn't know was that in China, on the other side of the ocean, when promoting the war between cattle and horses, Battelle and Wang Zhizhi were put together to create a gimmick.
After all, in the eyes of Chinese fans, even though Battle cannot play, he is still a Chinese player who can play in the NBA.
On the other side, Lu Yu entered the vacation bored and had no idea what to do.
Luckily Jessica is in Chicago.
After some consideration, Lu Yu decided to invite Jessica's uncle, Mark Foyo, who was also his college coach, and Lu Chaoyang to come to Chicago to watch the first two games of the finals.
In addition, he also plans to send tickets to Yi Jianlian, because Yi Jianlian is preparing to participate in this year's draft, and appropriate exposure will be beneficial to his future development.
The 2003 draw has ended.
The fifth pick in the draft was the Miami Heat.
The Heat's record is the fourth-worst in the Eastern Conference, with a 13.7% probability of being picked No. 1, and they only got a decent fifth pick, which is considered decent.
The Raptors got the fourth pick.
When Carter heard the news, his face looked a little unhappy.
This season, they gave up their record just to get the top three picks and find a helper for Carter. As a result, they had the third-worst record and only picked the fourth pick.
It seems that he is getting further and further away from LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.
Winning the third overall pick in the 2003 draft, it was the Denver Nuggets who got the third overall pick!
Camby, who was in charge of the lottery, looked indifferent, but Nuggets general manager Colangelo's face was obviously not that good-looking.
In order to get the No. 1 pick, the Nuggets copied the 1997 Celtics strategy.
Even the boss personally called the management and ordered the head coach not to win.
As a result, their result was the same as that of the Celtics, only getting the third pick. Perhaps this was fate. What they should learn from was not the Celtics, but the Spurs.
The Pistons got the second pick.
The general manager of the Pistons is already smiling. You must know that they have the second record in the Eastern Conference this year, but they got the second overall pick. How can you not be surprised?
This is thanks to the Grizzlies. In 1997, the Pistons traded veteran Thorpe for the second pick.
It's a little bit close, if the No. 1 pick is drawn, the Pistons won't be able to laugh anymore.
Because this draft pick is protected, once this pick becomes the No. 1 pick, it will have to be replaced with the next year's draft pick.
The current general manager of the Grizzlies is probably cursing.
With the second pick, wouldn't it be appropriate to choose Anthony?
With the acquisition of Anthony, coupled with the current Gasol, will it be too late for the Grizzlies to rise in the Western Conference?
In the end, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the No. 1 pick.
As early as the moment the second pick was announced, Ricky Davis, the player representative of the Cavaliers, was already jumping up with excitement. I won the No. 1 pick!
25% probability of winning the No. 1 lottery!
LeBron James, you can come to the Cavaliers to assist me!
With James, I will be the next Lu Yu in the East. From now on, the East will be my world!
To be honest, he really thought James was here to assist him.
After Carmelo Anthony learned about the results of the draft lottery, he secretly sighed. He knew that the status of the No. 1 pick had nothing to do with him.
He is unwilling to give in, but what can he do?
Who makes him not a child of Akron.
And Lu Yu knew the draft results and was already predicting Yi Jianlian's draft pick.
Without his participation this time, the butterfly effect is obviously much smaller. There is almost no change in the first few picks. Among the first three picks, unless the Pistons are smart and select Yi Jianlian instead of Milicic, there is a high probability that Yi Jianlian will fall to
Went in picks 4-10.
But it’s hard to say. In his previous life, Yi Jianlian was selected by the Bucks with the sixth overall pick in 2007, but this was the 2003 draft.
It is not impossible for Yi Jianlian to fall out of the top ten.
So let’s just wait and see what happens.
By the way, Xue Yuyang from the Feilong team is also participating in the draft this year.
The Bulls' coaching staff only gave the players three days off, mainly because they were afraid of overresting the players. They didn't want anything to go wrong in the finals. Once the three days off was over, the players all came back to practice shooting and running tactics.
The fifth game between the Western Conference Mavericks and the Spurs.
In a hand-to-hand battle between Duncan and Wang Zhizhi, Duncan made 8 of 17 shots, 5 of 6 free throws, and scored 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. The Spurs defeated the Mavericks 96-93 and gained match point.
In comparison, Wang Zhizhi performed better. Wang Zhizhi also made only 8 shots, but only took 15 shots, including 2 of 3 three-pointers, and 8 of 8 free throws. He had 26 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
But obviously, the Mavericks were slightly deficient in the tactics prepared for Wang Zhizhi, especially in the final stage of the game. Finley, who made 0 of 4 three-pointers in the game, went to shoot the buzzer-beater. As a result, he missed and was counterattacked by the Spurs. He was helpless.
A foul was committed, allowing Ginobili to go to the free throw line.
Ginobili made two free throws, killing the game directly.
After this game, everyone knew that Wang Zhizhi was capable, and it wasn't just his luck in the last game. When he faced off against Duncan, he could withstand Duncan on the defensive end, but he didn't go head-to-head with Duncan on the offensive end. Generally, he was able to withstand Duncan.
They all choose to outsmart them, shoot a three-pointer, or steal an open shot under the basket.
It is estimated that after the season is over, many teams will be willing to offer Wang Zhizhi a big contract.
It's a pity that Wang Zhizhi's contract has not expired, otherwise he deserves to make money.
Game 6 was held at the Mavericks' home court. Under the roar of the fans, Wang Zhizhi scored 36 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists. He and Duncan scored 39 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Mavericks grab a game.
After a victory, the two sides entered the tiebreaker.
Nowitzki frowned slightly when he saw this. He believed that Wang Zhizhi would no longer be his substitute next season.
Head coach Don Nelson didn't think so long-term. He was just happy that the big man he had worked so hard to bring back from the other side of the ocean finally broke out.
Popovich of the Spurs looked at the other Chinese big man on his team very depressedly.
Why are they all Chinese players and why is there such a big gap?
Compared with Wang Zhizhi and Lu Yu, Battelle seems to lack a lot of ability. This is not to blame Battelle. His own technical characteristics and physical fitness are indeed not suitable for the NBA league, which requires stronger running and jumping.
Wang Zhizhi has become stronger after two seasons of accumulation.
You can tell from the muscle lines on his body how much hard work he has put in for it. He can't do it if he doesn't work hard. Originally, he was the pinnacle of Asian players. If he plays casually, even if he doesn't do well in the NBA, he is still looked up to by Asian players.
exist.
It's different now. Lu Yu has reached the finals before him, and his goal this year is already to win the championship.
Behind him, there is Yao Ming who is struggling to catch up. Yao Ming has already become the core of the Warriors. However, in the Mavericks, he was the super sixth man of the Mavericks at best, but he was not even included in the main lineup at worst.
Going forward, Yi Jianlian will also participate in this year's draft.
He knows Yi Jianlian. With Yi Jianlian's level, it is easy to go to a weak team and play as the main force. It all depends on which team chooses him in the end.
In this situation, Wang Zhizhi had to work hard.
He didn't want to be the first to eat something, but the first to leave the table.
Wang Zhizhi knew that when it was time for him to leave the Mavericks, his playing style was very similar to Nowitzki's. If he stayed in the Mavericks, he could only serve as Nowitzki's substitute. If he played center, two people with similar styles would
Who will protect the rim?
So leaving for another team is his only option next season.
Since his outbreak, countless media have discussed his future, because for a player like him, other teams are bound to request a trade, and he is also the type of player who is most likely to be traded away.
Cuban also knows in his heart that Wang Zhizhi will not be able to retain him in the end, unless... they don't want Nowitzki.
This is impossible, so Wang Zhizhi must leave. What Cuban has to do is to exchange Wang Zhizhi for major benefits after the season is over.
But the problem is that he thought too early and acted too early. The phone calls to discuss with other teams were exposed by the media.
The tiebreaker is about to begin, but people in the Mavericks team are panicking.
Everyone knows that before the team's playoffs are over, trade negotiations have already begun.
In the tiebreaker, the Mavericks were in no mood to fight. Duncan led the Spurs to easily defeat the Mavericks 98-84. There was no suspense, no twists and turns, just let nature take its course.
It's as if this game isn't a tiebreaker at all.
Finally, Spurs fans were extremely excited. Congratulations to Duncan for entering the finals. In the eyes of Spurs fans, entering the finals means that the championship has been won.
Because this has been the case in the past few years, the West is always stronger than the East.
However, they seem to have forgotten that this year they do not have the best record in the league. They have won 60 games, but the Bulls in the Eastern Conference have won 77 games.
NBA Commissioner David Stern sighed helplessly when he saw the Mavericks losing.
Originally, before the start of the tiebreaker, he was already preparing to help the Mavericks win the Western Conference Finals. After all, the derby between two Chinese players was really exciting. But before the tiebreaker, he heard the conclusion that Cuban wanted to trade Wang Zhizhi.
, I suddenly felt that the plan was not enough, and I didn’t want to let go of the huge Chinese market. I had to have a German tank that was of no use.
But if he were replaced by Cuban, he would most likely choose Nowitzki.
After all, Wang Zhizhi's outbreak only lasted for one or two games, while Nowitzki's strength has been tested over several seasons.
As the manager of the team, it is clear who to choose.
So in the end, David Stern chose to leave it alone and let the tiebreaker play out no matter what. Anyway, whether the Spurs entered the finals or the Mavericks entered the finals, he had already made a plan.
In the end, as he expected, the finals were still between the Spurs and Bulls.
