Pick Westbrook

Chapter 428 The Windy City Rose
The Barkley Show.

Barkley looked at the photo in front of him in a daze, which caused heated discussions across the United States.

Kenny Smith sighed and said: "This tendon has changed significantly compared to the draft."

"That's the muscle an NBA player should have."

O'Neal said: "If Antetokounmpo can continue to maintain this size in the future, and even continue to evolve, I think he will become a good player."

"Of course, it's still not worth a lottery."

Hearing this, Barkley breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Only muscles are not enough. Do you still remember Kwame Brown, the No. 01 pick in [-]?"

"His size was much better than that of Antetokounmpo at the time, but the rookies Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, and Joe Johnson were better players than him."

9 month 25 day.

Player makeup photos and media release day.

9 month 26 day.

The Pelicans' lineup for the new season has been confirmed.

Point guard: Chris Paul, backup guard Devin Harris.

Shooting guard: Leonard, backup point JJ-Redick, Nick Young.

Small forwards: Jimmy Butler, backup small forward Vince Carter.

Power forwards: Anthony Davis, backup power forwards Boris Diaw, Rashard Lewis and Antetokounmpo.

Center DeAndre Jordan, substitute Oden, Jason Smith.

In this lineup, Devin Harris is the first backup point guard, JJ Redick is the first backup shooting guard, and Nick Young is the standard swingman.

And because Antetokounmpo currently does not have the ball-handling ability, organizational ability, and shooting ability, he will become the first backup power forward to replace Dior.

In a special period of time, Anthony Davis will be pushed to the center position, and Diaw and Antetokounmpo will divide the playing time of power forwards during this period.

“总之，32岁的迪奥上场时间会控制在20-25分钟，阿德托昆博的上场时间会控制在25-30分钟。”

"As for Rashard Lewis."

Rashard Lewis is 35 years old, and the opponent's playing time with the Pelicans was running out last season.

With the addition of Antetokounmpo this season, it is foreseeable that Rashard Lewis will play less and less playing time.

Rashard Lewis would be totally reduced to a fountain keeper.

When Li Lai was training in the team, he asked Rashad Lewis what he thought, and asked him if he had any plans to stay in the team after retiring next season.

Lewis shook his head and declined the offer.

"I am not an athlete with a good basketball IQ. Even if I am proud of my shooting ability, Peja is better than me in the team. It is more meaningful for him to stay and guide the players' training than me."

"Coach, I have played 16 seasons in the NBA and won a championship as I wished."

"I am satisfied enough with my career and have accumulated a lot of wealth."

"In fact, in the rookie class in 98, except Nowitzki, Paul Pierce and Vince Carter, no one earned more money than me. I was still a second-round pick."

"I want to go back to my family now and give them all the time."

Li Lai chose to respect Lewis' decision. He also told the other party that if he changed his mind, the Pelicans' coaching staff, training camp or management could reserve a place for him.

10 month 5 day.

The preseason of the 2013-14 season officially began.

The Pelicans open their game against the Pacers.

The starting lineup sent by Li Lai is Devin Harris, JJ Redick, Nick Young, Antetokounmpo and Jason Smith.

In this game, the new aid German-Harris played extremely proactively, relying on breakthroughs many times to succeed, and passed a lot of good shots.

JJ-Redick made 7 of 4 three-pointers in this game, perfectly proving his shooting ability.

The biggest surprise for Li Lai was Nick Young. He succeeded in mid-range singles many times in a row against opponents who were not strong in defense.

The opponent's mid-range singles ability even made Leonard and Jimmy Butler couldn't help but look at the same thing at the same time.

However, Li Lai also discovered Nick Young's playing problems. Without passing vision, he was too focused on personal offense, and it was difficult to find the position of his teammates, so it was difficult for him to get the ball out of his hands.

Stevens reminded: "The Pelicans are a team that emphasizes passing and coordination. Even if the players play alone, we will design a singles tactic that clears one side."

"Young's offensive choices will reduce our coordination efficiency on the offensive end, and it will be easy for opponents to target in the playoffs."

Li Lai frowned and thought for a while. He didn't think that the 29-year-old Nick Young could change his faults and style of play.

But Nick Young's current style of play does hurt the team's offensive system a bit.

At least judging from the pictures of the preseason game, when Nick Young got the ball, the rest of the Pelicans could only stand still, and there was no possibility of receiving the ball.

"So we have two options. One is to design the positioning and offensive coordination of other players when Nick Young is in singles."

"One is to reduce the proportion of Nick Young's singles and let him participate more in offense without the ball."

Du Feng quickly gave a statistics of last season.

In the 76 games that Nick Young played for the 70ers and Wizards, Nick Young’s running distance off the ball was comparable to that of an inside center, and less than 30% of his participation in offensive tactics and defense without the ball .

This data is less than 10% of all players in the league who have played more than 80 minutes.

In other words, Nick Young is less efficient than most NBA players on the off-ball end, and his defense is also very easy to distract.

Stevens, who saw this data, gave up and said: "It seems that we should reduce Nick Young's playing time a lot. Fortunately, we have Vince Carter, and the absence of him will not have much impact on us. "

This is why Li Lai will win Redick and Nick Young at the same time, because he is worried that one of the two will be dissatisfied with the Pelicans.

Now it seems that Redick is a perfect fit for the Pelicans, and he has also taken on the tasks of JR Smith in the team.

As for Nick Young, there are still too many questions to be resolved.

But Li Lai didn't want to give up on this player. He believed that the opponent's mid-range singles talent would become the X factor in the playoffs, and he would definitely be able to play an extremely efficient role at some point.

So Li Lai said seriously: "I plan to design offensive singles tactics for Nick Young during the rotation period."

Game four.

Li Lai took Paul and Antetokounmpo as partners.

Because Antetokounmpo still doesn't have the ability to attack the frame with the ball, nor does he have the ability to shoot, so Antetokounmpo, who has played for 30 minutes until now, only has 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Li Lai wants to use Paul to stimulate Antetokounmpo's potential, and also look at his training results this offseason.

"Pao, pass the ball more to guys whose names you can't even remember."

Paul gave Li Lai a reassuring look. In fact, even if Li Lai didn't say anything, he still knew the reason why he would play at this time.

It is to help rookie Antetokounmpo adapt to the NBA game as soon as possible, and the most important thing is to play with confidence.

"Pick and roll! Pick and roll! Come!"

Under Paul's guidance, Antetokounmpo frequently picks and rolls with Paul, going down or out.

Paul also handed almost every ball to Antetokounmpo.

A mid-range open shot hit the iron, a slam dunk, and an alley-oop dunk. The confident Antetokounmpo then hit a three-pointer!
In the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo delivered 11 points and 3 rebounds in a single quarter, and 17 points and 9 rebounds in the game.

Most importantly, the Pelicans won the game 108-100.

After the game, Barkley waved his hands in a panic and said, "The preseason doesn't count. Everyone doesn't defend much."

"Besides, Antetokounmpo didn't score 20+10."

O'Neill looked at Barkley, who was obviously flustered, and said with a smile: "Man, I advise you to ask my coach for mercy."

"He must have heard the bet you made with your boastful talk there. From what I know about him, he will definitely let Antetokounmpo score 20+10 in the regular season."

"Antetokounmpo's improvement this offseason also makes me think he has the quality to do that."

10 month 26 day.

The preseason is over.

The Pelicans have achieved a record of 5 wins and 2 losses. The overall chemical reaction of the team is gradually picking up. More importantly, Antetokounmpo has made rapid progress and is fully able to adapt to NBA-level games.

Throughout the preseason, Antetokounmpo averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds per game, which made the whole team extremely satisfied.

Even Stevens, who was not optimistic about him at first, changed his perception and said: "He deserves a first-round pick, and he is a player who works as hard as Jimmy."

ESPN immediately announced the latest team strength rankings.

The Pelicans rank first, and this is the first time that a team coached by Li Lai ranks first on this list.

The Heat ranked second, the Warriors ranked third, the Spurs ranked fourth, the newly formed Big Three Kings ranked fifth, the Knicks ranked sixth, and the Bulls with Rose back from injury ranked seventh.
10 month 30 day.

In the NBA opening game, the Pelicans played against the Bulls at home, and it was also the award ceremony for the championship ring.

A large number of media reporters poured into the New Orleans Arena, and the fans were extremely crazy.

Zhang Weiping reported outside the arena.

"The number of fans outside this arena is about the same as in the finals of last season!"

The live big screen showed the performance of the Pelicans in the playoffs last season, Paul, Anthony Davis, Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Vince Carter, Jordan Jr.
All the players' highlight moments appeared on the big screen one after another.

There are 13 rings neatly placed in the center of the court, of which 10 rings belong to the players and the other 3 belong to the coaching staff.

Li Lai personally put on the championship rings for the players and coaching staff one after another, and then said: "We will not forget that there are still four Pelicans players who are not present tonight."

"They are Patrick Beverley, JR Smith, Willie Green and DJ Mbenga, and they will always be our champions."

Afterwards, Li Lai's ring was put on by Paul himself.

The new aids Devin Harris, JJ Redick and Nick Young on the side could only applaud enviously.

Antetokounmpo looked at the shining championship ring, his eyes were full of fiery emotions.

For the first time, he had the idea that playing basketball was not just for his family.

And Antetokounmpo has the same emotion as Derrick Rose of the Bulls' bench.

No one knew what kind of torment he had suffered in this year, at this moment he only felt that his whole body was full of strength.

He wants to let the whole world know that Rose of the Windy City is back.

Game start.

Pelicans starting lineup: point guard Chris Paul, shooting guard Leonard, small forward Jimmy Butler, power forward Anthony Davis and center Jordan Jr.

Bulls starting lineup: point guard Derrick Rose, shooting guard Kirk Hinrich, small forward Luol Deng, power forward Carlos Boozer and center Joakim Noah.

Midfield jump ball.

Noah jumped high to get the first wave of offensive ball for the Bulls.

"Come on, Ross!"

Noah looked at Rose who had received the ball and yelled.

Both Boozer and Luol Deng turned their eyes to Rose while running forward.

Kenny Smith said: "In the playoffs of the 2011-12 season, Derrick Rose was reimbursed for the playoffs with a torn cruciate ligament. He was injured for a whole season last season."

"After 547 days away from the stadium, we finally waited for the return of Derrick Rose!"

on the field.

Rose advanced with the ball. Facing Chris Paul's defense, he suddenly changed his body forward and accelerated quickly like the wind, passing Paul directly and hitting the basket.

None of the players on the Pelicans' infield reacted, and Leonard and Jimmy Butler didn't even have time to block and double-team the offensive line.

Anthony Davis reacted. He wanted to block Rose, but the latter ended the offense with a one-handed throw from one step inside the free throw line.

Swish!
The basketball hits steadily.

Little Jordan, who didn't react, couldn't help but spread his hands and looked at the thick eyebrows.

"Did a big black mouse come in just now?"

Nong Mei nodded and said: "Yes, the speed is very fast!"

On the live commentary stand, Kenny Smith couldn't help shouting: "Ross is back! The son of the Windy City is back!"

"The only player in the league who changes speed without slowing down. His breakthrough is unmatched."

Behind the Bulls dugout.

Their general manager Gar Forman finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, Rose has suffered such a major injury in his career, and he still insists on believing that the opponent will return to the top, which in itself is facing a lot of pressure.

It took 547 days for Rose to come back from injury, and Gal Forman suffered 547 days.

Fortunately, the Bulls successfully entered the playoffs last season, so he was able to deal with the boss.

"Ross, go ahead!"

The coach of the Pelicans.

Li Lai immediately stood up and reminded the players on the field with gestures to shrink their defense.

With the breakthrough speed and ability that Rose showed in the first round, it is impossible for the Pelicans to defend with one player.

Moreover, although Paul is a player at the defensive lineup level, he does not have an advantage when defending speed players.

"But, Rose is still playing like this."

"I originally thought that this injury would cause him to be vigilant and stop playing in a way that consumes his body excessively. I didn't expect him to continue to play like this."

"He's still the Windy City Rose."

Li Lai is very worried about how long Rose, who has been injured, can continue to play in this way, but he hopes that the opponent can play for a longer time.

(End of this chapter)