God of NBA point guards

Chapter 559 Kidney transplant?

At noon on the 11th, Roger Philippe contacted Zhou Quan and talked about Da Zhi’s contract.

"Zhou Wang's pick is a bit low, and his style is similar to Nowitzki's. He is not very competitive in the team, so he only negotiated a two-year contract worth 127 million. Fortunately, it is a guaranteed contract. "

"Let him hit first."

"Well, if it doesn't work, I'll try him with another team. His main problem is that he doesn't work hard enough on defense. His position on the offensive end is a bit outside, but his shots are not stable enough in confrontations. I let him go more When playing under the basket, he was a little resistant to confrontation."

"understood."

In the evening, Zhou Quan contacted Dazhi and asked about the situation.

"Brother, it's okay. I signed a two-year contract with a total of 127 million US dollars. The contract is fully guaranteed. The jersey number is No. 16." Da Zhi said happily.

Zhou Quan already knew this from Philip, and he asked: "Have you met Old Nelson? He is the head coach."

"I haven't seen him, he is still on vacation." Da Zhi said.

"You should take the initiative to communicate with your teammates and coaching staff in the team. If your English is not up to par, go to the university to find a translator. Just leave this to Philip and he will help you solve it." Zhou Quan warned.

"Well, Rogge has already invited me." Da Zhi said.

Zhou Quan also warned: "The United States is different from China. There is no need to be so reserved here. If you have any dissatisfaction or any requirements, such as playing time, position, playing style, and tactics, you can take the initiative to communicate with the coaching staff. Understand ?"

"clear."

Da Zhi was actually a little worried because he was not good at this.

Zhou Quan added: "If you don't take the initiative to express yourself and fight for it, then they will ignore you and despise you, and you will be marginalized in the team. Do you understand?"

"Oh, I know." Da Zhi said.

Having said this, he suddenly said: "By the way, brother, Mr. Nelson and I talked on the phone at noon."

"Did he take the initiative to call you, or did you take the initiative to call him?" Zhou Quan asked.

"Well, he called me." Da Zhi said.

"Why don't you take the initiative to call him? You have to be proactive and not passive in everything. It's the same as playing basketball." Zhou Quan said.

He hesitated a bit, and Philip asked him to contact the head coach first, but he did not make the call.

Zhou Quan added: "In the NBA, we pay great attention to defense. You just arrived in the Mavericks. I think the style of Dirk Nowitzki, the core of the Mavericks, is similar to yours. You won't get many opportunities on the offensive end, so you should strengthen your defense. Only then can we get more playing time.”

"Defend..."

He is now a bit disinterested. He prefers offense more and more and is unwilling to defend. He feels that his talent lies in offense and investing in defense will waste his energy.

Judging from Da Zhi's reaction, Zhou Quan was a little disappointed. The young man did not pay attention to his words.

……

Zhou Quan went to the headquarters that day to talk with Whithit about the lineup.He had to play in the Olympics before, so he didn't pay attention to these things about the team.

Center: Ben Wallace, Eldon Campbell, Ewing

Forward: Bowen, Rashard Lewis, Corey Maggette, Ruben Patterson, Desmond Mason

Defenders: Zhou Quan, Brent Barry, Shamond Williams, Flat Vinson
There are 12 players in total, with two new players, one of whom is this year's No. 17 pick in the first round, Mason. The lineup has not changed much and basically maintains the winning lineup from last season.

But in terms of strength, it is not considered a reinforcement, it is still slightly weakened. With the departure of Brad Miller, the strength of the center position has been lost. It will be more difficult to deal with O'Neal in the future.

"Ewing?"

I was a little surprised when I saw Ewing's name.

He was not surprised why Ewing came to the Sonics, but was he surprised that the team could accommodate Ewing's multi-million contract?Did Ewing buy out his contract to join the SuperSonics?With Ewing’s character, it seems impossible?

Whitsitt explained: "Ewing still has a one-year contract worth 1400 million, and it is impossible for us to trade him. The Knicks initiated a multi-party transaction, and they wanted to pull us in, but that was impossible. We have Ben Wallace. Ewing is too old to play ball.

In the end, their deal was not completed, and no one wanted Ewing. Ewing was angry that the Knicks wanted to trade him, so he bought out the contract in anger and joined us with a minimum salary. "

"..."

Zhou Quan was a little speechless. The Knicks could even afford Larry Johnson's billion-dollar contract, but they traded Ewing in the twilight years of his career. Was he taking the wrong medicine?
"Bob, where did Miller go?" he asked again.

Whitsitt regretted: "We only had his one-year minimum salary contract, and he went to the Bulls. The Bulls gave him a three-year, $3 million contract, and we had no room at all. I now regret not giving them a few more updates last year." long, low-paying contracts.”

Zhou Quan shook his head and said: "They all have strength and potential. Did you have the space to give them high salary for many years last year? No, they will not sign a low-paying contract for many years."

"That's true." Whithit nodded.

Zhou Quan looked at the lineup and said thoughtfully: "How to beat O'Neal in the new season is still our focus."

Whithit nodded and said: "There are also Spurs. I heard Duncan is recovering well."

"How is the general doing now?" Zhou Quan asked.

"He should still have good strength, and his condition is much better than Ewing. He was born in 65 and is only 35 years old." Whitsitt said.

Zhou Quan said: "In the new season, the Lakers and Spurs will be our strongest opponents. Without Miller, we will be a little weak inside."

Whitsitt sighed: "I'll try to find someone else. It's very difficult. Iron Fist King, you should know that for a defending champion like us, other teams will not help us strengthen at all."

Zhou Quan nodded. The SuperSonics have won three consecutive championships and will defend the title again in the new season... What else are other teams playing?Definitely guard against the Sonics.

Thinking of the Lakers, he suddenly thought of something and asked: "Bob, has the Lakers' management changed?" Hearing this, Whitsitt also laughed and said: "Phil Jackson and Jerry Weiss Nothing special

move.

The Jerry Buss family should be taking over power. Jim Buss and Jeanie Buss have been active in recent months, and Jerry West's authority in the Lakers has been restricted.

I think he will eventually leave the Lakers. His prestige with the Lakers is too high. He has been with the Lakers for more than ten years longer than the Buss family. As long as he stays with the Lakers for one day, he will be a threat to the Buss family. "

Nodding, Zhou Quan asked casually, and then returned to the topic, saying: "In our lineup now, who do you plan to use as the main force at position [-]? Or Campbell? Then Ewing will serve as a substitute for Ben, and he will also Is it possible?"

"I've evaluated him and it should be fine to play 15 to 20 minutes in the new season," Whitsitt said.

"That's fine."

Zhou Quan nodded and said, "Is it Bowen or Corey Maggette who is the main player at position three?"

Whitsitt said: "Bowen performed well in the Western Conference Finals and Finals, but Maggette is still a bit too good. I think it is better to practice on the bench.

The substitutes at position three include Maggette and Patterson, as well as this year's rookie Mason.Mason has some potential and can be given some chances. "

Then he added: "The back line is still you and Barry. However, Iron Fist King, I intend to take Barry as the starter and train our young people. What do you think?"

It was impossible for Zhou Quan to object to this idea, so he immediately nodded and said: "Yes, Ruben Patterson is in his third year and has some potential. We can indeed let him try to play the main position at the second position."

"Then I'll talk to Paul."

Whithit nodded with a smile and added: "Maggette is the swingman at forward and guard, so he will be the first substitute at the second and third positions, and Barry will also be the first substitute at the back. He can get More playing time.”

"Okay." Zhou Quan said.

Whitsitt continued: "In addition to Ewing, Campbell is also the substitute at the fifth position. If Ben or Ewing is injured, Campbell will play the fifth position, and Rashard Lewis will play the fourth position."

Zhou Quan thought for a while and said: "The inside line is still a little thin. Including Rashad Lewis, there are only four people. At least five are needed. There are still not enough manpower at the fourth position. If Rashad is injured again, the fourth position will be There are no substitutes. Bob, I suggest finding another power forward and one less outside player."

Whithit nodded and said: "There are only 12 people now. If we can still find them in the free market, there is no need to reduce the number of people on the back line. If we can't find them, we can only trade them."

Zhou Quan took another look at the lineup. The bench lineup is very capable of scoring. Ewing, Kevin Willis, Rashard Lewis, Maggette, Mullin, and Junior Barry are more capable than the main lineup. If there are more, everyone can score.

In the main lineup, neither Ben nor Bowen can attack well, so only he, Patterson, and Campbell can attack.

"Tekken King, are your playing time going to be reduced this season?" Whitshit asked.

After thinking about it, Zhou Quan said: "I don't care, but among us guards and swingmen, there are almost no pure point guards. I don't think the time will decrease, but in the substitute lineup, I mainly focus on organizing defense, so that these The substitutes take more shots.”

"That's better," Whitsitt laughed.

After talking about the team, the two talked about the Lakers and Spurs.

These are two teams with both championship aspirations and championship capabilities. They are the SuperSonics' strongest opponents in the Western Conference.

Whitsitt said: "The Lakers' main small forward Glen Rice went to the Knicks, the main power forward AC Green went to the Heat, Phil Jackson found Cobra Grant, his old subordinate from the Bulls, and the Hawks rotated The main defender Isaiah Leder, there are no other changes.”

Zhou Quan thought for a while and said: "It seems that Cobra Grant and Rick Fox will be the main players."

"Based on their lineup, it should be," Whitsitt said.

"The main lineup of O'Neal, Grant, Fox, Kobe, Ron Harper... will not be stronger than last season unless Kobe's strength improves by leaps and bounds."

Zhou Quan thought about his main lineup, Ben, Campbell, Bowen, Ruben Patterson, and he felt that it was not bad.

The main problem is that there is one less Miller in the human shield, and the method of fighting the Shark is a little softer. Fortunately, there are many people in the paint now, so you can also rely on foul tactics to kill him.

In terms of the bench lineup, my side should be the same as last season, stronger than the Lakers.

He asked with some confusion: "The Lakers knew that their substitutes were not as good as ours last season, so they didn't do much to reinforce them?"

Whitsitt said with a smile: "The Bass family seized the opportunity to mess with Jerry West. I'm afraid West was distracted."

"This is also internal strife!" Zhou Quan shook his head.

However, Jerry West has indeed been with the Lakers for too long. For 40 years, he can almost be said to have kept his word. He has indeed posed a threat to the Buss family, and even the boss cannot tolerate it.

Whithit said: "But I think the main reason is not that Mr. West doesn't want to reinforce, he is not a person who slacks off in his work. The main reason is that it is not easy to reinforce.

High-quality role players are not that easy to find. The Lakers, like us, don't have much leverage to make deals. "

Then he talked about the Spurs and said: "Popovich brought in the Clippers' main guard Derek Anderson, but there were no other big moves.

The main question is, how exactly Tim Duncan is recovering, we don't know yet, we just heard that he is recovering well. "

After chatting for a while, Zhou Quan left.

A few days later, Whitsitt informed Zhou Quan that veteran Kevin Willis was signed from the free market with an annual salary of US$50.

"Although Willis is 38 years old this year, he played 79 games with the Raptors last season, averaging 21 minutes per game, 7 points and 6 rebounds per game, and can play as a substitute at the fourth and fifth positions."

"In addition, I also found a backup center who is a marginal minimum-salary man named Jelani McCoy."

"Also, Chris Mullin hopes to join us with a minimum salary for the sake of the championship, and I agree. I laid off Flat Brunei, and now the team has a total of 14 people."

On the 15th, the media suddenly reported that Alonzo Mourning, who had just participated in the Olympics, was diagnosed with severe kidney disease, even serious enough to need a kidney transplant.

……

(End of this chapter)