The Cavaliers' pre-season training quickly went on for two weeks. During this time, Mike Brown gradually determined the main core of the new season.
The positions of Lin Yu and LeBron James are fixed, and the other four positions——
The starting point guard competition is between Daniel Gibson and Delonte West. In two weeks, Delonte West, who has better defense and slightly worse three-pointers, is already in the lead.
There are four possibilities for the power forward at the beginning, a traditional inside starter like Joe Smith or Darko Milicic, and a space-oriented fourth position like Jared Dudley or Brian Cook.
But after trying for two weeks, Brian Cook was in poor condition and suffered constant minor injuries. Jared Dudley was still too young, and Joe Smith's play style was too inside. He was unable to use the Cavaliers' one-star and three-shooter offensive tactics.
Ko Milicic became the surprisingly best choice.
Compared with the other three, at least Milicic has a mid-range shot, and his defensive hardness is not bad. The only problem is that he has gained a lot of muscle in the past two seasons with the Magic, and his speed has become very slow.
At the center position, Zalunas Ilgauskas, who is getting older and slower, no longer has much advantage. The young Anderson Varejao is already ready to move up.
But for the time being, the starting center is still Lithuanian Big Z. However, in terms of playing time, Anderson Varejao will not be less than Big Z. The two of them at least share the playing time.
In this way, by the middle of the training camp, the Cavaliers' starting lineup was determined to be point guard Delonte West, shooting guard Lin Yu, small forward LeBron James, power forward Darko Milicic and center Zaru
Nas-Ilgauskas.
In the substitute lineup, Anderson Varejao will share the playing time at the center position with Big Z. At the point guard position, Daniel Varejao will basically get the remaining time after Delonte West leaves the court.
At the shooting guard and small forward positions, Lin Yu will play for at least 30 minutes, and LeBron James will play more, up to about 40 minutes. A total of 20 minutes of substitute time for these two positions requires players such as Damien-
Wilkins, Devin Brown, Ira Newbell and Shannon Brown competed.
Two weeks later, the Cavaliers' pre-season training has entered the middle, and they have begun practicing tactics for the new season.
Milicic only has mid-range shots and no three-pointers. The Cavaliers' offensive style last year is no longer suitable, so in the new season, the Cavaliers' offense needs to make some changes.
The same goes for defense. With Milicic here, the Cavaliers' defense will become easier.
But at the same time, the Cavaliers also put more demands on Milicic, such as practicing three-pointers and striving to have the skill of an open three-pointer.
In the first few seasons with the Pistons, Milicic failed to get the playing time that a second overall pick deserves. When he arrived with the Magic, he was originally called Duncan White and was immediately transformed into a heavy center.
Now, the Cavaliers want Milicic to return to the fourth position. This is too demanding for Milicic. Lin Yu even feels that Milicic is too pitiful.
But thinking about it again, sometimes homeless role players are like this. When they go to a team, they will face a new requirement, and then they have to adjust themselves and become another type of player to adapt to the new requirements.
team.
Then returning to the team's tactical training session, Mike Brown showed all the changes he had prepared.
"First of all, due to changes in players in certain positions, our offense can no longer rely solely on breakthrough extra-point goals like last season."
Last season, the Cavaliers were able to play a simple breakout tactic because they had All-Star shooters like Lin Yu and Rashard Lewis on the wings. However, in the new season, once Lewis left, it was difficult to fill the two fourth positions.
Very useful.
There is one less shooter on the field, and the space for breakthrough points is very narrow. Regarding this, Mike Brown’s idea is: “We add some pick-and-roll offenses, such as horn offense, Darko and Zarunas horn position, Lin and
LeBron used pick-and-rolls to create threats."
The offense uses more pick-and-rolls, which is what Lin Yu wants to see, because it means that the proportion of James' breakout system in the Cavaliers' offense will be greatly reduced.
If it continues to develop, James will seem less important.
You know, after winning the championship last season, there has been a saying in the Cleveland area: Although Lin Yu's statistical performance is better, without LeBron James' sudden points to create threats and opportunities, Lin Yu's outstanding performance would not be possible.
Therefore, many LeBron James fans and certain media in the Cleveland area created a golden phrase: half of the FMVP trophy.
They believe that in this championship of the Cleveland Cavaliers, James won half of the FMVP trophy, referred to as half FMVP.
Now, in the new season, the Cavaliers will play more pick-and-roll offenses, which means Lin Yu's opportunity has come.
If Lin Yu relies on pick-and-roll offense to perform outstandingly in the new season, no matter how blind he is, he will not think that James can take half of the credit.
"Defensively, Darko will be our starter. His presence will make our interior a little crowded, so Darko, you need to defend and spread your defensive influence to the mid-to-long distance..."
Hearing this, Lin Yu knew that there was good news for James. With Milicic here, James, who had to shoulder the defensive task of sweeping the mid-range last season, would be freed up.
Based on James' personality, he will not put this extra energy into his personal defense. He will only put more energy into the offensive end.
With a liberated LeBron James, the battle for the ball in the new season can be expected to be fierce.
"Our main lineup has not changed much compared to last season, so the tactical training is not difficult. I hope you can all get into the game state before the preseason."
Lin Yu nodded and agreed very much with Mike Brown. Although Darko Milicic's starting position changed the Cavaliers' offense and defense, the Cavaliers played like this last season when Drew Gooden was on the court.
It's just that Drew Gooden didn't play much time as the fourth position, so they didn't play much, but it was also a season of use and practice. In the new season, he quickly integrated into the new tactical system, and it won't be too difficult.
big.
Mike Brown finally clapped his hands and announced that the team's tactical training would officially begin.
"Pick-and-roll! Lin, you are a little faster, wait a moment for LeBron on the other side!"
"Darko, after blocking, open it immediately. You need to attack the frame. Do you understand? Attack the frame!"
"Well done, Lin, that dunk was so beautiful!"
"..."
After the training started, questions and surprises came one after another.
First, Lin Yu seemed to be unable to control his sudden increase in speed. He was always one step faster than James when attacking from a corner position.
It's not that he is faster than James, but that he doesn't judge his own speed clearly and always starts early.
Then, Lin Yu's gradually improving bounce meant that when faced with an empty basket, he no longer had to slowly cut into the penalty area and lay up. He could jump up and dunk easily from two steps away.
There were problems and surprises, but all in all, the Cavaliers' pre-season training went smoothly.
#
As time enters October, the league also announced the preseason schedule for the new season.
The Cavaliers were scheduled to play a preseason game outside of North America, also known as the China Game. Finally, Lin Yu's third season in the NBA and his second season after joining the Cavaliers, he finally
It’s time to play a highly anticipated match in China.
"The China game has been scheduled by the league for October 7, the last day of the National Day holiday. Your opponent is the Houston Rockets."
Amanda Gray received the news immediately. It was not that she was well-informed, but the advertisers who endorsed Lin Yu were well-informed. They all contacted Amanda Gray immediately and put forward some suggestions.
Cooperate with publicity requirements.
"The attention of this game will be very high, so Under Armor will release a sneaker with red as the main color. They ask you, should you use Lin Crazy's signature sneaker, or Lin's first generation or Lin's second generation?"
Lin Yu didn't think about it and decided directly: "Just Lin Crazy, after all, these are signature sneakers."
"Also, KFC hopes that you can interact with the KFC mascot that will appear in the stadium before the game."
"Interaction? What interaction?"
KFC bought the naming rights for this year's China Game, which is also called the NBA KFC China Game.
The way the title is reflected is that in addition to the Rocket Bears and the Cavaliers' Moon Dog, there will also be an extra KFC grandpa in the stadium.
"They say whatever they want, but it's best if it can spark a heated discussion after the game."
Lin Yu frowned and nodded. He was thinking about what kind of interaction could trigger a heated discussion after the game. Beating the mascot? Or kissing the mascot? It didn't sound feasible.
"Is there anything else worthy of special attention?"
"You have to pay attention to your clothing and decoration that day. When you enter the arena, you must wear a suit, and the decoration of your watch must be of the brand you are endorsing. Other than that, there should be nothing else you need to pay attention to."
The China game is just a preseason game. Not many people seem to care about the outcome of this game. Even Mike Brown has begun to consider that he will only let the main players play for about 20 minutes and leave the rest of the game to him.
Substituted.
As a result, Danny Ferry told Mike Brown that the league's requirement is that the two teams must contribute a confrontation with intensity comparable to that of the regular season. Otherwise, although they will not be punished, the league will be dissatisfied with it, resulting in
Some of the consequences are difficult to guarantee.
Mike Brown understands very well what the threat from the league means. Now the Cavaliers are the team that the league strongly supports because they have No. 23 LeBron James, the next Michael Jordan, Lin Yu who represents the Chinese market, and a building
Just received the championship trophy.
It can be said that the Cavaliers are now one of the league's official favorite teams. They will get some resources as a result, and Mike Brown does not want to lose these resources.
So, he compromised.
On the other side, the Rockets are also preparing for the China game. In the new season, their new coach Rick Adelman has no idea of letting the main players rest more. His style has always been to ruthlessly rough the main players.
Even Dayao can get 37 minutes or more of playing time in his hands.
Lin Yu has always believed that the reason why Dayao suffered career-destroying injuries in succession in the later stages of his career has something to do with Rick Adelman.
You know, the previous season, and even the previous seasons, Yao's average playing time under Jeff Van Gundy hovered around 32 or 33 minutes per game. Under Adelman, his playing time increased to
37.2 minutes, Dayao had a vitreous constitution before this, it was impossible for him not to be affected.
Both sides are playing the China game with all the main players, and the intensity is comparable to that of the regular season. For such a preseason game, the league naturally spared no publicity resources and went crazy.
People have become accustomed to words like the Chinese Derby, and to promote the duel between LeBron James and Tracy McGrady, NBA officials directly used the term "a duel between the strongest dynamic talent and the strongest static talent in NBA history"
.
As a result, many fans argued about it.
In terms of dynamic talent, James is the strongest, and in terms of static talent, McGrady is also very strong, but some people always think that McGrady is not the strongest.
This is where the controversy lies.
But even so, this China game still attracted domestic, North American and even global attention. Compared to it being just a pre-season game, the attention it received was already much higher than it deserved.
#
Before the China game, the Cavaliers were conducting their training in an orderly manner.
Most of Lin Yu's focus is on improving his physical fitness. His speed attribute has increased rapidly. It has now exceeded 85 points and reached 86 points, and will soon be at full potential.
The strength attribute has been rising slowly. It has just exceeded 75 points now, but the potential of 83 points is not high, so it is not far from full potential.
Lin Yu only started to practice the jumping attribute after he returned to Cleveland. It has increased slowly and has just exceeded 70 points, which is still a long way from the full potential of 94 points.
The agility attribute has also passed 80, but again, it is still a little far away from the full potential of 92 points.
Overall, Lin Yu's physical attributes have not yet reached their peak, and there is still room for improvement.
Judging from the speed of improvement, the progress is a bit slow. If we really want to improve to full potential in all four categories, it will have to be at least the second half of the new season.
But this is understandable. If physical fitness improves too quickly, the FBI may come to visit.
Compared with Lin Yu, who has been improving, and the Cavaliers' tactical training, which has been relatively smooth, Darko Milicic's integration is a bit less optimistic.
The main problem is that Milicic, who is overweight, is slow and cannot keep up with substitute Jared Dudley when playing power forward. Whether it is offense or defense, the Cavaliers' entire lineup is slowed down.
In the competition, the main lineup's offense didn't look so sharp.
But Mike Brown did not make adjustments. His idea was that no matter how the team's competition went, the final changes must be based on actual combat.
Therefore, the China game, which is considered to have the intensity of the regular season, has become the best opportunity to test.
On October 5, the Cavaliers set out from Cleveland, first flew to Los Angeles, and then took off from Los Angeles and rushed to China on the other side of the ocean.