Pick Westbrook

Chapter 130
October 10, Salt Lake City.

The NBA, which had been rested for a whole holiday, finally started. The first game of the preseason was the game between the Jazz and the Bucks.

Barkley laughed at the camera and said, "Kenny, do you know which team is the hottest topic this offseason?"

Kenny Smith raised his head proudly and said, "Of course it's the Bucks!"

Kenny Smith, who loves the Bucks, has been paying attention to their movements all summer. In addition to choosing Stephen Curry as a guard, which will make the Bucks' already excellent guard line more crowded, Kenny Smith would like to give the Bucks a new look. Full marks for other operations.

They first won Rasheed Wallace, who was coveted by various teams among this year's veteran players, and then took advantage of the trend to grab the court wizard Allen Iverson, and then traded for the former league's number one center. Shaq O'Neill.

These transactions also strengthened the biggest shortcoming of the Bucks last season.

Barkley grinned and shook his head. He had a different opinion.

"Honestly, apart from the Rasheed Wallace deal, I'm not optimistic about the Bucks' other deals."

"Iverson? He is a solid tumor in the Pistons. Looking at his record throughout his career, it seems that his style of play has never proved himself."

"As for O'Neal, let alone, the old fat fish is almost unable to jump, what are the Bucks doing with him? And he also has the fifth highest salary in the league at 2000 million! It's like In opening a nursing home, the Suns don't know how happy they are."

"Rookie Curry is a terrible draft. They have Westbrook, Dragic, and George Hill. Three rookies who have proven themselves. As a result, the Bucks are still stubborn to choose a guard. .”

"In my opinion, Li Lai has proved his coaching ability last season, which is very close to the level of the league's first-class coaches, but he is obviously a layman in team management and trading. That's right."

This statement made Kenny Smith speechless, because the facts did seem to be like this.

This is why ESPN is only willing to give the Bucks, which had the 9th record in the league last season, only one place in the new season's power rankings.

Except for the signing of Rasheed Wallace, everyone is skeptical about the Bucks' other operations.

Bradley Arena, the atmosphere of the fans is extremely hot.

Even if this is a preseason game, the Milwaukee people who have been waiting for three months are excited enough.

But at the beginning of the game, when they heard that big-mouthed Barkley yelling at the Bucks, these fans were inevitably outraged.

"Bucks, let that fat flying pig see that we are stronger than what he said."

"That guy who only knows how to output with his mouth, how could he know how powerful we are."

Barkley: Well, to explain again, my name is Flying Pig.

on the field.

Li Lai ignored the scolding and encouraging voices. On the bench, O'Neal, Iverson, and Wallace, who had been accustomed to doubts throughout their careers, also remained expressionless.

Instead, Curry bit his head and shook his head, ready to prove his strength after playing in the meeting.

Marshall said: "Coach, let's try our best in this game and let them see our current strength."

Tyronn Lu also nodded in agreement.

He is very sure that the current strength of the Bucks is definitely stronger than last season. Whether it is the starting stage or the bench stage, if they really muster their firepower and attack with all their strength, even if they are facing the Jazz, which is also powerful in the Western Conference, they may be able to beat them. They fought hard.

Li Lai shook his head and said, "It's just a preseason game, it's not worth it."

Naturally, Li Lai must win this match.

In addition to allowing players to be familiar with the feeling of winning from the beginning and giving them great confidence in the future, there is also a reason for winning points in the Gods List.

In addition, although the preseason wins and losses are not included in the regular season record, they can reflect the overall running-in level of a team and the potential of the regular season. Even if a strong team does not perform well in the preseason, Then it can also be predicted that they will be in a slow state after the opener.

Therefore, the Bucks must show a very strong momentum from the beginning of this season to win the game.

However, if you have to pay for such momentum with the style and intensity of the regular season or playoffs, it is extremely meaningless and worthless.

"Our goal in this game is to let the veterans find their feelings on the court in advance."

Li Lai set the tone of the game in advance, so the starting lineup was Iverson, George Hill, Danny Green, Crohill and O'Neal.

Jazz head coach Qiansheng coach Jerry Sloan, after seeing Li Lai cooperate so well to get such a lineup, he also took the Jazz's pure substitute lineup.

Point guard Wesley Matthews, shooting guard CJ Miles, small forward Paul Millsap, power forward Andrei Kirilenko and center Costa Koufos.

But when he saw this lineup, Li Lai couldn't help but smile at Mr. Sloan speechlessly.

"It's just a preseason game, and you still want to hide my secrets for me like this?"

The lineup that the Bucks are currently taking obviously has a big problem on the front line.

Needless to say, Danny Green is a swingman, but he is now a proper second-round pick, and his level of strength is not strong.

The power forward Crohill is already a 34-year-old veteran. He liked long-range shooting when he was young. He is not good at inside defense and confrontation, and now he can provide meager defensive ability.

So in this case, the Jazz actually took their striker duo Millsap and AK47 that the entire league envied to play in the preseason. Isn't this against the Bucks?

Li looked at Iverson and O'Neal and said: "You should have seen the arrangement of the Jazz, so we don't fight against them tonight, I just ask, attack until they doubt life!"

Game start.

When O'Neal jumped, the entire floor of the game shook three times.

On the other hand, the white center Costa Koufos jumped even shorter than O'Neill. He was afraid that O'Neill would accidentally press the ball directly when he jumped.

Iverson holds the ball in the backcourt.

O'Neill licked his big tongue on the inside and asked for a position.

The Jazz players also didn't seem to believe that the 37-year-old veteran could still play singles like he did when he was young, so they didn't send someone up to double-team at this time.

O'Neal catches the ball with his back, Yiku!
With his back, Costa Koufos took a step back, O'Neal found the offensive space, and made a signature shark turn.

Swish!
The ball is in.

Tylen Lue applauded and said: "Compared to O'Neal when the training camp just started, he is obviously lighter at this time, and his shooting speed is also faster."

Li Lai nodded. He had never doubted O'Neill.

A player who can become the No.1 player in the league, even if it is only for a short three years, he should not be doubted.

The MVP will lie, but the FMVP and the championship will not.

Go to Jazz offense.

Millsap received the ball at 45° on the right side and prepared to single Danny Green.

Mishen, who has played in the NBA for three years, is preparing to teach rookies.

Last season, Millsap ushered in the greatest improvement in his career, from averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds per game to 14 points and 9 rebounds, and he won this data as a substitute.

The second-round pick has ushered in a counterattack in life, and is ready to go further this season and continue to work hard towards the All-Star.

It is also a post-up singles. Millsap is the same wild type as O'Neal. He put up his back twice in a row and directly pushed Danny Green to the waist position of the court. This is the singles position he is familiar with. After turning around Back jumper, the ball goes in.

Danny Green was stumped, and there's a good chance he'll be caught by the Jazz's front duo the entire game.

Tyronn Lue couldn't bear to say: "Coach, why don't you replace Danny first, he obviously can't adapt to the NBA yet."

Li Lai thought of Danny Green's commitment to him in the training camp and the extremely strong self-confidence he showed.

He shook his head and said, "Danny Green doesn't need such pity, he is stronger than everyone believed."

Turning around, Iverson wanted to save face for his teammates, took the initiative to play a pick-and-roll with Danny Green on the outside, and then switched positions to play Millsap.

Lower the center of gravity, shake continuously, make a breakthrough after a fake shot, and then go straight to the basket.

At this time, Iverson was playing big and small, and his speed was extremely fast. Millsap's defense was already very good, but he still couldn't keep up with the opponent's speed. In the end, he could only watch Iverson score.

"Don't even try to bully the rookies in our team!" Iverson spat out trash talk.

In the past, when the Bucks players were bullied, it was often Artest who stood up for them. However, Artest, who has always been a strong-bodied and simple-minded man, has only one way to stand out, and that is to do it!

If you can do it, you will never beep beeping blindly. If you can't do it, you will be guarded to autism, and countless defensive fouls will make you doubt your life.

But now, Iverson's response is more domineering.

That's the response on the pitch.

Danny Green gave Iverson a high-five sensible and thanked Big Brother for his help.

Iverson, who has always been a rascal and fearless, also touched the other party's head and said: "In the future, if you have anything to do, ask the elder brother, and the elder brother will help you vent your anger."

O'Neill rapped aside and said: "The young rookie has been found. He is fair, beautiful and has long legs. In this life, he is at the pinnacle of his life."

Li Lai was very satisfied with the picture on the court. When Iverson returned to defense, he gave the opponent a look.

Iverson nodded. He knew that this preseason game was not a time for him and O'Neal to take turns. The Bucks took the initiative to play tactics and attack first, followed by winning.

So in the next round, Iverson took the initiative to indicate the strategic position.

O'Neal mentioned an outside false block, and Iverson broke through the basket with the ball.

After all, he used to be an elf on the court. Even though he is now at this age, he has not lost the ability to eat through breakthroughs. In addition, O'Neal is such a pick-and-roll assisting offense. It is even more difficult for defenders to keep up with Iverson's speed. .

The Jazz players chose to double-team, CJ Miles shrunk to the basket, and Iverson made a pass from outside.

This pass is fast!

Iverson's passing has always been fast. Although he is not a top field control master, he started his career as a point guard and does not lack passing skills.

After receiving the ball, George Hill made a steady three-pointer.

Marshall nodded again and again, and finally realized at this time why Li Lai won George Hill in this preseason game.

This seems to be just a random preseason formation by the Bucks, but it is actually quite meaningful.

Iverson's passing ability is of course no problem, but it is the first time to play the Bucks' offensive tactics in a game. It is inevitable that he will be a little unfamiliar or unfamiliar. At this time, George Hill, who also has a certain passing ability, is needed. Make supplements.

So for the ball just now, even if George Hill was switched in place, the Bucks could immediately play a second offense.

Of course, it seems that Iverson's ability is worthy of recognition. He played very well in the Bucks' first offensive tactic.

The Jazz continued to attack, and it was still the singles of Millsap and AK47.

With Shaquille O'Neal's tonnage in the paint, the Jazz almost always choose half-block offenses. Compared with the Bucks' offense, the efficiency is lower.

In the second half, Li Lai picked up Mengmeng Da Curry again, and signaled the whole team to implement off-ball pick-and-roll tactics for him, and handed over more offenses to him.

Li Lai told Curry: "You have to adapt to the NBA's defensive intensity and shooting feel in the preseason. The number of spectators and the atmosphere of the court here are different from those in college. You have to adapt immediately.

Because you are the team's starting shooting guard! "

Curry would like to call Li Lai an expert. For a shooter, if there are no external factors to interfere with their shooting percentage, it will be very scary, but why does the shooting percentage always drop sharply in the game? Interference, physical strength, pace, shot selection and fan atmosphere, these are very big influences.

After all, wasn't Wang Bird disturbed by a group of beautiful posters when he was making free throws?Then he missed two free throws, and he couldn't force the king.

The game is over quickly.

The Bucks won the game 112:104.

艾佛森20分4篮板7助攻，奥尼尔16分8篮板1盖帽，乔治希尔14分6篮板6助攻，丹尼格林0分4篮板2助攻，库里三分球18投8中，24分3篮板2助攻。

Li Lai shook hands with Mr. Sloan in the midfield. In this contest between substitutes and substitutes, in general, he won.

Jerry Sloan said: "Let Iverson play pick-and-roll offensive tactics. Fortunately, you can figure it out. He is the player who likes to play individual offense the most."

Li Lai smiled. He really wanted to say that Iverson, who was originally signed by the 76ers under the pressure of public opinion in his previous life, had already made such a change. He began to actively play tactics for Iguodala. , these years of wind and frost have matured this stadium elf a lot.

This season, Li Lai took the initiative to find Iverson, gave him a lot of affirmation and revealed the goal of the Bucks. Isn't this environment better than the 76ers at the time?
So Iverson's change came more naturally.

The Bucks continued their preseason. Li Lai trained rookies Curry and Danny Green one after another, and let the team's main players come up one after another to find their feelings.

In 8 preseason games, the Bucks had 7 wins and 1 loss. Except for the game lost to the Spurs, where the Bucks were all upset outside, they had no defeat.

At the press conference after the game against the Bucks, Zhuge Weiqi recalled the dazzling offensive tactics of the Bucks in this game and exclaimed: "This team will definitely be a force that cannot be underestimated this season.

The league championship battle is thus chaotic! "

(End of this chapter)