Chapter 409 The final lineup after the transaction
Two days after the game day, the Knicks ended their rest day and began Lionel Hollins' first full training day in office.
In the locker room, in addition to the serious-looking Hollins, Lin Yu also met his new teammate, Nazr Muhammad, who came from Detroit.
Nazr Mohammed was born into a Ghanaian immigrant family and grew up in Chicago. He is only 2.08 meters tall. He is considered a short, low-key blue-collar center who is good at rebounding and protecting the basket.
Strictly speaking, this guy is really just a temporary main center candidate, and he is still a long way from graduating.
But for Lin Yu and Lionel Hollins, the joining of Nazr Muhammad means that the Knicks' earth-shaking changes are about to start from here.
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The early morning training, although it was just some routine physical training and passing and shooting training to maintain condition, Lionel Hollins' iron-coaching style has begun to show.
Eddie Curry is always lazy. In the initial stage of physical training, everyone else was running fast, but he was the only one who was jogging without any effort at all. Lin Yu has been like this for so many days since he joined the Knicks.
Lin Yu learned that not only Duff Hopla couldn't control him, but also Eddy Curry half-listened to what the team's predecessor Isiah Thomas said. At most, the team's training sessions would take some effort.
Even Lin Yu has to admit that Eddie Curry still has talent, but if you don't use talent, it will slowly become useless...
Lionel Hollins' training is different. He limits physical training to one hour. Within one hour, the training vests worn by all players must be soaked with sweat, otherwise the training must be repeated.
Therefore, Lin Yu could see that in Hollins' first formal training session, Eddie Curry ran laps all morning, and he kept repeating them.
After running all morning, the fat little shark still didn't sweat.
Then in the afternoon, Hollins was about to start his tactics class. Eddie Curry found a seat to sit down by himself, but was pointed at by Hollins who was holding the tactical board: "Eddie, your mission is still there.
not done."
"Task?"
"Go back and continue the physical training task. Patrick, you go and supervise him."
Hollins's voice was undeniable. Eddie Curry looked shocked and stood there not wanting to leave. He said rather unconvincingly: "But it's afternoon now!"
"I said that the daily training tasks must be completed in order, otherwise you cannot proceed to the next training. Patrick, take him to run laps."
Eddie Curry stopped struggling and left the locker room, led by Patrick Ewing.
After he left, the Knicks' first training session began after the new coach took office.
Lin Yu listened for a while and roughly understood that Hollins' defensive philosophy was different from that of Tom Thibodeau. Thibodeau emphasized stacking the strong side and rotating the weak side, and there was no distinction between inside and outside lines.
However, Hollins emphasized that the outside line should not lose position in one-on-one situations, supplemented by inside defense and expansion, to limit the opponent's offense to a specific area.
If you defend like this, you have a strong ability to respond to situations. This may be the reason why later generations of Grizzlies can become killers of strong teams.
But this defensive concept has very high requirements on the ability of inside defense.
Hearing this, Lin Yu became a little worried.
Can the inside combination of Nazr Mohammad Gazak and Randolph meet Hollins' defensive requirements? I'm afraid it will be difficult.
Nazr Muhammad should be fine. Blue-collar centers do the dirty work of defense. The problem lies with Zach Randolph.
"I hope Leon can successfully save the fat black Randolph like he did in his previous life..."
After the tactics class, Eddie Curry came back, still not sweating, which made Lin Yu very helpless. This guy is a fat pig who is not afraid of boiling water and is determined to hang out.
Shaking his head, Eddie Curry probably didn't realize that not letting him participate in training sessions was actually a signal, a signal that he would be completely abandoned next.
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The afternoon training ended. With the supervision of the new coach and the new training course, Lin Yu felt the enrichment of training for the first time.
This kind of training is the kind of training an NBA team should have.
At the end of the training, the locker room was busy, and the teammates had no more energy to talk about where to hang out after the training.
Lin Yu took a shower early, changed into training clothes, said hello to Hollins, waited for half an hour, and then drove from Queens to Manhattan with Hollins.
The trade negotiations with the Grizzlies have reached the final stage.
When we arrived at Steve Mills' office, Madison Square Garden outside the window was busy and bustling.
Lin Yu still couldn't help complaining: "The training gym is in Queens, but the office is in the center of Manhattan. It's so inconvenient."
Steve Mills smiled bitterly: "This is Mr. Dolan's decision. He believes that placing the team's office area in Manhattan can reflect the Knicks' status in the league."
"Status? What status? The status of a bad team for many years?"
Lin Yu shook his head, but did not continue to dwell on this matter. The topic returned to the transaction with the Grizzlies itself.
"How's the deal going?"
"The Grizzlies refused to give us the rights to sign Marc Gasol."
Everyone is saying that the Lakers robbed the Grizzlies by acquiring Pau Gasol, but in fact these people were led by Popovich.
The value of a bad team leader in the Western Conference lottery is not high, and the value of Marc Gasol is also underestimated.
Although Marc Gasol was selected by the Lakers in the second round the previous season, his value is not high based only on the draft.
But this season, Marc Gasol has performed very well in La Liga and has already locked up the La Liga regular season MVP. Such a player, if he participates in the draft this year, will at least be among the top five in the first round.
So, strictly speaking, the Lakers traded a top-five pick in the first round and a bunch of additions in exchange for Pau Gasol.
The real core of this deal is not Kwame Brown, the Lakers' worthless first-round pick, or the young wing Gavaris Crittenton, but Marc Gasol, who has not yet joined the NBA.
.
Therefore, Steve Mills hoped to get the signing rights of Marc Gasol, but Chris Wallace refused directly, saying that it was absolutely impossible.
"So, there is only one possibility for the transaction?"
Steve Mills nodded: "Nate Robinson plus Kwame Brown plus Kyle Lowry in the first rotation."
"so be it……"
In the end, the deal with the Grizzlies failed to be concluded in the way Lin Yu hoped. He felt it was a pity.
If this deal allows the Knicks to get Marc Gasol at the same time, the general framework for the future will be formed. The Grizzlies will be the two fat guys on the inside, the forward is the potential Wilson Chandler, and the point guard will be the future small guard.
Steel Cannon, this first set is complete.
Next, they just need to fill in some bench substitutes and role players around this core lineup, and the Knicks can join the championship ranks.
Unfortunately, Marc Gasol did not come. Next season, the Knicks still need to find a graduate starting center before the core lineup can be fully formed.
Graduation-level starting centers are too rare in this era of scarcity of centers.
The transaction is completed, and the core lineup of the new Knicks has been formed——
The point guard will be Kyle Lowry as the starter. Without a qualified substitute, Lin Yu should make a guest appearance at this position.
Lin Yu will start at shooting guard, and Fred Jones and Shannon Brown are two useful substitutes.
The small forward is a rotation between Wilson Chandler and Renaldo Backman.
The starting power forward is Zach Randolph, and the backup is Jared Jeffries.
For the center position, once Kwame Brown arrives, he and Nazr Mohammed will compete for a starting position, and the other will be a substitute.
This lineup, except for the slightly inferior substitutes, the young players who still need to improve, and the makeshift center, can already compete with the second-tier teams in the league.
