Although the Cavaliers were not favored in this schedule at the beginning of the season, overall, the Cavaliers are still the favorite to win the championship this season.
Zach Lowe's annual pre-season prediction rankings ranked the Cavaliers in third place, second only to the Celtics and Suns.
Obviously, some people understand this ranking, while others are puzzled.
The reason Zach Lowe personally gave is: "In the new season, the Celtics' reinforcements have been very successful. New aid Sam Cassel was still a qualified starting point guard averaging 12+5 per game last season. P.J.
When Brown played for the Bulls last season, he was also a qualified substitute inside player. These two signings successfully filled the vacancies in the inside substitute and point guard rotation for the Celtics."
"A Celtic with better strength, in my opinion, will be the biggest favorite to win the championship this season."
"Then there is the Phoenix Suns. In the new season, they have retained the core lineup of last season. In last season's playoffs, without Robert Horry's collision, the Suns might have reached the finals. But facing
The Suns, in a head-to-head battle, the finals will become full of suspense."
Fans don't have any objections to the Celtics ranking first. The Big Three are the Big Three after all, and their threat level is full.
But some fans of the second-ranked Suns thought it was a joke.
Bright comments on Reddit——
"So, the San Antonio Spurs owe the Phoenix Suns a championship?"
"I suggest Zach Lowe write a letter to league officials and raise a championship flag at the home court of the Phoenix Suns."
"..."
Lin Yu also wanted to laugh. If his memory was correct, this season's Suns would show off their tactics when the start of the season wasn't too bad and send Shawn Marion to the Heat in a trade to acquire an older player.
Shark O'Neal, and then completely ruined himself.
"Ranking third is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Losing Rashard Lewis cannot be said to have no impact at all. It's just that the growth of LeBron James and Lin Yu can make up for some of the impact of losing Rashard Lewis, but their
After all, the strength is still not as good as last season.”
The reason why the Cavaliers are ranked third is very clear, and Lin Yu thinks there is nothing wrong with it.
At the moment of the new season, he can't understand the situation in the league. Because of the history of the previous life, the two teams entering the finals are the Celtics, who are predicted to be number one by Zach Lowe, and the Celtics, who have not yet entered the finals.
The Lakers traded for Pau Gasol.
His question is whether the Lakers can still trade for Pau Gasol.
Lin Yu heard some rumors and rumors from Amanda Gray. Maybe the deal has been launched, but at least for now, the deal for Pau Gasol to join the Lakers has not been reached. The Lakers are only the top two in the Western Conference regular season at most.
If you want to go further, Pau Gasol, who is the core of the triangle offense, is still very important.
The fourth-ranked team in Zach Lowe's prediction is last season's overall runner-up San Antonio Spurs. The reason given is: "The Spurs' main lineup has been retained, but the problem is that Bruce Bowen is getting older.
, he failed to guard China Lin in last season's finals, and in the new season, he will become a hidden danger for the Spurs."
In fact, Gregg Popovich has been trying to find a successor to Bruce Bowen, but so far, he has not been successful.
Ranked fifth is the Mavericks. Last season's defeat still affected them, but the 2006 championship also makes the Mavericks still highly optimistic.
Ranked sixth is the Jazz, seventh is the Nuggets, eighth is the Rockets, and ninth is the Magic who have introduced Rashard Lewis in the new season...
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"According to Zach Lowe's ranking, the opening game will be a battle between No. 1 and No. 3. So, if No. 3 wins No. 1, will this ranking be invalidated?"
In the early morning, Lin Yu, who was eating breakfast, chatted with Amanda Gray, who showed up at his home early in the morning.
Hearing what Lin Yu said, Amanda Gray naturally shook her head: "The victory or defeat of a regular season doesn't mean anything. What Zach evaluates more is the ranking of the entire regular season and the final outcome of the playoffs.
.”
Lin Yu also started to shake his head: "I hope the fans can say the same if we lose the game."
Amanda Gray immediately opened her mouth: "Are you so unsure about the opening game?"
"It's not that I don't have confidence, but I have to be prepared to lose every game, because there will definitely be critics who criticize us in the new season."
"Okay, let me tell you, Lin, if you lose the game, just close your eyes and cover your ears, and ignore all the comments from the outside world, and you'll be fine."
Lin Yu returned the OK gesture, then stood up and prepared to go to the knight's training hall.
Before leaving, he suddenly thought that there seemed to be something missing at the beginning of this new season. After a while, he put on his heavy cotton coat and took the car keys, and he thought about what was missing.
"Amanda, tell Zach, I think he can also make a list, a star ranking list for the new season."
"Star rankings?"
"That's right, in the new season, there are less than 500 players in the entire league, who ranks first and who ranks last, it will be interesting."
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The Cavaliers' training these two days has been focused on defense, and Mike Brown knows very well that if they want to get through this devilish schedule at the beginning of the season, their defense must be improved.
"Darko, you need to turn around faster!"
"Lin, follow your opponent closely!"
"LeBron, if Darko fails to make up for it, you have to help him, do you understand?"
"..."
After directing for a moment, Mike Brown turned around to discuss something with his assistant team.
"Obviously, LeBron doesn't want to invest more energy on the defensive end, but Darko's assist defense has not met our requirements. What should we do?"
Brendan Malone shook his head, but Phil Handy showed his hands: "There is nothing we can do, but if we lose a few more games, LeBron will understand that we cannot do without his investment on the defensive end."
"So, we can only wait passively?"
"Yes, we can only wait."
Mike Brown was helpless. Sometimes, he would have the same idea as Lin Yu, that is, James's voice in the Cavaliers is too high, higher than all the players in the team, and even higher than the coaching staff.
This puts Mike Brown at a disadvantage.
For the time being, the team management with only Danny Ferry in the Cavaliers does not feel this way, because James in the Cavaliers 1.0 stage does not yet know what Manager James is.
"Hopefully losing some games will make LeBron realize the importance of defense?"
Lin Yu also felt that James' offensive will has skyrocketed during training. This is not a good trend. Perhaps the smelly sneakers are already having an effect, and the battle for the ball will be staged at the beginning of the season.
Everything has a feeling of being advanced.
For the time being, both Lin Yu and LeBron James still attach importance to the team's victory, which means that they have not yet reached the point of breaking out.