Chapter 28 Shen Fei's advice, the preseason starts!
"Mark, I'm going to make another deal next."
In the conference room, Shen Fei said calmly.
"What are you going to do?"
Mark Jackson wondered.
In his eyes, the Rockets are currently in a good state.
The veterans are in excellent condition and the newcomers are like wolves and tigers. This is the moment for the Rockets to strive for good results.
Now that Shen Fei suddenly wants to trade again, Mark Jackson is a little confused.
"It will take some time for Yao to recover from his injury. Except for Tucker, our inside players are not very strong defensively."
Shen Fei replied.
This time, Mark Jackson was even more confused.
As Shen Fei said, pj Tucker has strong defense.
But apart from him, Chuck Hayes is difficult to shake in the low post; although the newly joined Griffin is inexperienced, he is also very tough on the defensive end with his excellent jumping and strong body.
Why is it that when it comes to the mouth of your own general manager, you can't defend?
Shen Fei could see Mark Jackson's confusion at a glance.
"I look at it from a championship perspective."
"There are too many outstanding insiders in the current league."
"Tim Duncan of the Spurs, Kevin Garnett of the Celtics, Chris Bosh of the Heat..."
"Of course, there is Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas, who is currently causing me the most headache."
Shen Fei explained.
"General Manager, I understand what you mean."
"However, the first few people couldn't prevent me from agreeing, but this last one..."
"With all due respect, Dirk may be unstoppable in the regular season, but in the playoffs, I don't think we need to be too afraid."
Mark Jackson said seriously.
Shen Fei understood what he meant and immediately shook his head.
Unexpectedly, not only fans, but also professionals despised Nowitzki so much.
Shen Fei finally understood why Nowitzki was in such explosive form in the playoffs, but his opponents never did a good job of defending him...
A large part of the reason is the negative evaluation of the driver from the outside world (Nowitzki had not yet played his season of success, and fans called him more of a "softie" rather than "King Nowitzki"), which led to the opponent's More or less despised him.
This contempt is not only reflected in their attitude, but also in their preparations for war.
If you are not fully prepared, it will be too late to wait until the series begins to set up targeted tactics!
The team also lacks player reserves to limit Nowitzki, who has excellent singles ability.
"Dirk will be our biggest obstacle to breaking out of the Western Conference this year! In the next season, the coaching staff must fully study Nowitzki and his Mavericks team."
Shen Fei ordered in a tone that left no room for doubt.
The Heat may be the team with the strongest overall strength this season. The Mavericks, led by Nowitzki, will definitely be the most resilient and very troublesome team!
Mark Jackson saw Shen Fei being so solemn and immediately nodded, saying that he would prepare well for the battle.
"Speaking of trades, my target is Chris Anderson of the Nuggets."
"In the next preseason, I need you to give these two players more opportunities to perform."
"Jordan Hill and Ishmael Smith"
Shen Fei said lightly.
Neither of these two players played in the group match just now, and they were outside the team's rotation.
"I will arrange it, don't worry, manager."
Mark Jackson naturally had no objections and immediately agreed. After that, he pondered for a moment and added:
"However, manager, I need to remind you. Anderson is an athletic insider, but he is 32 years old this year and may experience a cliff-like decline at any time."
Mark Jackson's concerns are not unfounded.
There have been countless jumping men in NBA history, and most of them suddenly declined around the age of 30 to 33.
The most obvious example is another Nuggets insider, the half-orc Faried.
In his prime, he was a regular player for the United States national team.
But after his physical fitness declined, he was quickly abandoned by the NBA and could only go overseas to seek gold.
And Anderson is now 32 years old!
As a blue-collar insider with no offensive skills, once his body declines, it means that he has lost his only competitiveness in the game!
However, Shen Fei is not worried about this. Anderson still has at least 2-3 years of golden period.
But he couldn't explain to Jackson what these time-travelers only knew, so he had to make a decision first.
"Don't worry, I have my own considerations."
Shen Fei said lightly.
Time will give the final answer!
............
That afternoon, the Rockets announced on their official Twitter that Griffin would return and warmed up for tomorrow's first preseason game.
For a time, many fans gathered under the tweet to express their opinions:
"I don't ask for much else. I just hope that Griffin can complete a complete game."
"This is the player we got in exchange for Aaron Brooks and Lance Stephenson! Don't let me down, Blake."
"I admit that I am a troll. If Griffin is really like Oden and can only play a few games a year, I will be a full-time black man from now on!"
Of course, amidst all the noise, there are also some sensible fans who are looking forward to the new season:
"There are many newcomers this year. I hope Houston can stage a youth storm!"
"With his body shape and superstar looks, George is the perfect successor to Tracy McGrady!"
"The game has started to go dark before it even started? Whether it's a mule or a horse, we'll find out tomorrow in a real fight with swords and guns!"
............
Time flies, and the day has passed in the blink of an eye.
October 6, Beijing time, Toyota Center Arena.
The 10-11 NBA preseason has officially begun!
The Rockets, with Yao Yao, are the absolute favorites of CCTV.
Although today is just a preseason game, and Yao Ming has already announced that he will not play, cctv-5 still sent a broadcast team to broadcast live.
"Hello viewers, welcome to watch the NBA preseason game broadcast for you by cctv-5!"
"I am Yu Jia!"
"I'm Yang Yi!"
"The two teams we face today are our old friends, the Houston Rockets, and the Eastern Conference's powerful team, the Orlando Magic."
"Coach Yang, can you tell me what you think of this game?"
Yu Jia asked.
"The Rockets have been very active this offseason."
"They have welcomed a total of 6 new players. The most interesting ones are naturally last year's No. 1 pick - Griffin and this year's No. 10 pick - Paul George."
"Today they all appeared in the starting lineup. It can be seen that the Rockets' goal this season has changed from competing for the championship to cultivating new players."
Yang Yi analyzed confidently.
"Oh? But Yao is still at his peak. Will the Rockets waste his peak period to train new players?"
Yu Jia was a little confused.
"Yao Ming was reimbursed for the season last year. The latest news is that he has recovered, but is still doing recovery training."
"Coupled with the turmoil in the team's management, Shen Fei, who is from China, became the first Chinese general manager in NBA history."
"It is normal for a new official to have a buffer period in the first year. I think Yao Ming should take a good rest this year. When the rookies are almost fully developed next year, the Rockets will put the championship on the agenda."
Yang Yi explained.
Yu Jia nodded and took over the conversation: "And their opponent, the Orlando Magic, is very strong this year! Today they all played, and it seems they want to give the new season a good start."
"Yes. In terms of overall strength, the Magic are obviously the stronger team."
"When Yao Ming was here in the past, Howard would always get frustrated when he met him, so the Rockets have never been afraid of the Magic. But today Yao Ming is absent, and Howard may have to show off his World of Warcraft style."
"I think objectively, the probability of the Rockets winning this game is low."
Yang Yi said with a smile.
"Okay, the game is about to start, let's hand the camera to the front!"
Yu Jia waved his hand and the screen switched to the stadium.
…
At this time, players from both teams had already started playing.
On the Magic side, Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter partnered in the backcourt, Quentin Richardson and Rashad Lewis acted as the front line, and Warcraft Howard guarded the penalty area.
The starting lineup for the Rockets is: Lowry, George, Battier, Griffin and Jordan Hill.
As the referee throws the ball high, the game officially begins!