the rest, only noise

Chapter 761 I have nothing to say
"Come on, Patrick, 10 laps to go."

On the second day of training camp, the Giants came back with a win.

This time, it was the Jamaican team's turn to run laps.

The Jamaica team also has guys who rely on the old to sell the old.

Danny Angie also shouted tired, but no one was willing to run laps for him.This made Angie furious, clamoring for a trade, and threatened Ewing that if he was not traded to the Giant Shoulders, he would be the best sixth man of the Giant Shoulders on the court.

Seeing this, Wilson opened his eyes to Angie, saying that as long as Angie resolutely implements his undercover behavior, he will not be punished every time the Jamaica team loses.

This made Ewing have to spend a meal to "buy out" Angie and let him become a free agent to join the Giant Shoulders.

Why a buyout and not a deal?Because the Giants thought it would be better for them to keep Ainge in Jamaica, they didn't want to trade.Since the opponent does not trade, Ewing can only give up Angie, and then select Lionel Simmons to join the team.

Ainge's joining the Giant Shoulders also gave the team a serious guard. Although it is not a pure point guard, it is better than letting Wilson and Reggie Williams be point guards all day long.

Rivalry is the highlight of the training camp.

Every day, the two teams will play sparks.

The growth of players can also be seen through high-intensity confrontation games.

Wilson's improvement in confrontation, Ewing's improvement in offensive ability, Rodman's rebounding and defensive improvement made his style of play close to the standard of the fourth position.Miller's three-pointer is difficult to see whether he has improved or not, and his figure has not changed, but he will usher in a contract year in the new season. Even for the new contract next year, he has to work hard.

In addition to these few, there are two players who have improved significantly.

That would be Sean Kemp and Doug West, who are about to enter their second season.

The most notable characteristic of star players is that they improve much faster than players of the same age.

For example, Karl Malone averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game in his rookie season. He averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds per game in his sophomore year. After that, he averaged 27 points and 11 rebounds per game as a superstar in his third year. He has remained at this level for more than ten years since then.

With Kemp, there is a similar magnitude of improvement.

Kemp didn't even get a chance to play at times last season.

He seized the few opportunities and averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds per game.

This summer, Ewing took him to train. In addition to strengthening his body and losing excess fat, he also refined his skills. After several months of training with Ewing and Mutombo, he got used to attacking under high-intensity defense.

That's why Ewing let him join the Jamaica team. He definitely saw Kemp's potential in those months of training, so he would take the initiative to win Kemp over.

In the training camp, Kemp's burst of energy, along with the increase in game experience and confrontation ability, brought about a sudden increase in combat power, which shocked everyone.

He has developed a jumper in the paint area. When attacking with the ball in the low post, he can turn over like Ewing, but what is even more powerful is his turn around and face the basket with the ball on the line to attack.If the defender defends him on the line, he can flexibly use the devastating turn and layup like Siakam to force points; if the defense is stuck off the line, his explosive power will directly destroy the opponent's defense;

Willis Reed's training for him in his rookie season has also begun to play a role.

Kemp has mastered everything a power forward should master, his position, screen, full of details, and dare to fight.Assist defense, switch defense, make up defense, rotate, protect the basket, and are extremely threatening.

He still has many problems, such as lack of prediction when grabbing rebounds, relying too much on physical talent, although he can block people, but his skills are not enough, his defense is fierce, and he is carved out of the same mold as Ewing, so he often cannot control his fouls like Ewing.

As you can see, his problems are many, but they are all fixable.

What happens once he fixes those problems, overcomes his own inner demons, and turns the accumulation of the first few years of his career into a manageable force?
Couldn't he be like Ralph Sampson in 1984, hiding from the front for four years, and then shaking the world after the explosion?
Just like Louie saw in Kemp in his rookie year.

He has all the assets a perfect power forward should have.

As for whether Kemp can destroy himself in this life due to inertia and wanton private life like in his previous life, Louis is not sure.

Kemp's progress was within the expectations of the coaching staff, and Doug West's progress was unexpected.

Kemp is the team's long-term plan, West is not.

So last season he, like Brad Rohaus, bought a house at the DNP position.

Tomjanovich's training on the wings is amazing, and the strong competition in the Knicks team indirectly promotes West's improvement.Coupled with a group of defensive elites as teammates, West was influenced by what he saw and heard, and he improved quickly.

He is originally a man with physical fitness and rough skills. If he is placed on a weak team, he can play a main rotation without any problem. When counterattacking, his impact is surprisingly destructive.

For this type of player, the Knicks have a wealth of training experience.

After training in his rookie season, West has made rapid progress on the defensive end.

Judging from the performance in the training camp, it is hoped that in the new season, he will leave the DNP local household registration.

Although the competition between Ewing and Wilson separated the Knicks into two factions, the competition within the team brought about was also better than before.

There are also various punishments for the losing side of the match.

It used to be just running laps, but later it became extra training, sparring, and serving tea and water to treat guests to dinner.

This latter one in particular, Louie admired their creativity in thinking up punishment options.

Ewing would argue about Wilson's salary every day.

Wilson always avoids talking about it, because Ewing is not alone in his salary.

Except for Wilson and Angie and the two new rookies, everyone else still holds old contracts.

Moreover, those two rookies were also treated extremely harshly.

The reason is very simple, or a matter of the contract.

Lionel Simmons signed a four-year, $4 million rookie deal, while Elton Campbell signed a four-year, $400 million deal.

Just compare it with the old players.

斯托克顿在1988年签下了4年400万的合同、雷吉·米勒在1987年签下了4年400万的新秀合同、罗德曼在1989年签下了5年800万的合同
Except for the outliers like Ewing, the other veteran players looked straight at the rookie's contract.

This is the contradiction that will be brought about after the salary cap skyrockets.

The salary cap has risen, and the salaries of rookies have also increased. If it hadn’t been for Louie’s proposal a few years ago to include cable broadcast contract income into the salary cap, prompting the players’ union to agree to introduce a standard rookie contract, the contracts of Simmons and Campbell may be even higher.

But even now, their contracts are about the same as a bunch of meritorious players who have won championships with the team.

The old teammates understand that this is a change brought about by the increase in the salary cap, but don't they feel uncomfortable seeing the kid who just entered the league earning the same money as themselves every day?Therefore, the unwillingness in the heart will naturally show.

As the first person in the Knicks to eat crabs, Wilson never showed off his contract. He knew that this was the elephant in the room and everyone wanted it, but it had to wait until the old contract ended.

Only Ewing dared to express his dissatisfaction publicly.

The day before the media day, Louis specially called the whole team for a speech.

"Recently, I have seen your enthusiasm. I like the confrontation and competitive desire you showed in the training camp. However, I hope you can understand that some things can be said in the Blue Palace or face to face, but when the media's microphone is aimed at us, you have to estimate how much impact your words will have."

"Especially some Pepsi spokespersons who like to joke, open their mouths without closing the door, and have hearts smaller than fucking toothpicks. Do you hear me clearly?"

Ewing dissatisfied: "You can just call me by my name!"

"Did I say that so obvious? Why did you admit it yourself?" Louis could always pretend to be stupid.

The next day, the media meeting.

Since 1988, the Knicks have been the only professional sports team in New York City with a guaranteed victory.

Their popularity is growing day by day, and the media paying attention to them has also greatly increased.

The New York media should take the lead in making such a big commotion about Ewing and Wilson.

Because of the great Yankees, the New York media has always had a perverted mentality to magnify the discord within the local sports team and write it as a legend.

The upsurge of this phenomenon started in the Bronx Zoo era. The Yankees had two representatives, namely "Mr. October" Reggie Jackson and the Yankees captain Thurman Munson who died young.But Jackson and Ewing had the same speaking style, which offended Monson.However, this phenomenon was magnified by the media. Not only did Jackson have a bad relationship with Monson, he also had a bad relationship with everyone.From teammates, to fans, to general managers and owners, no one likes him.

The Bronx Zoo era ended with Monson's death in 1978 in an accident while landing a plane.

New Yorkers remembered that era, Jackson became "Mr. October", and the New York media headed by The Times shamelessly felt that they had contributed to that splendid era.

They saw similar entry points in Ewing and Wilson.

So, when a Times reporter asked Louis what Wilson's big contract brought.

Louis said sarcastically: "Bring a group of wild dogs that smelled of copper and followed."

With Louie's warning in front, no one in the Knicks dared to talk nonsense.

Although Ewing didn't say anything, if a reporter wanted him to comment on Wilson's new contract, he would always show a puzzled smile: "I have nothing to say."

(End of this chapter)