NBA: Miracle Workers

Chapter 465 New Track New Achievements (Daily Chapter)
2006年8月2号，美国国家篮球协会颁布了几项重大规则变更，这些变更将在即将到来的2006~07赛季开始生效。

Postseason seeding rule revisions:
The league's top four seeds will continue to be allocated to the three division champions and the team with the second-best regular-season record;

But those four teams will now be seeded in order of their regular-season records.

The change would ensure that the two teams with the best records in the league would not meet before the conference finals.

Increased playoff roster size:

Playoff roster size will expand from 13 to 15 players.

Each team designates 12 active players and up to three inactive players before each game.

These two revisions to the playoff rules have been approved by the Board of Directors, which corrects the bug that caused the Mavericks to finish fourth this year.

NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson also announced the suspension rule changes at the press conference:
When the game reaches the last 2 minutes, if the team still has two 2-second timeouts, one of the timeouts will automatically become 60 seconds.

The same thing happened in overtime, where long timeouts were shortened.

When some local sports media heard about these rule changes, they immediately felt that the league favored the Knicks, as other teams did not have such a deep roster.

The playoff rosters are the same as the regular season rosters, which doesn't mean much to most teams.

Jerry Colangelo, former chairman of the league's board of directors, was also interviewed after the press conference. He naturally praised the new rules:

"We don't want to see the two best teams in the division meet each other. It's really unfair to them. The team with the better record deserves a more favorable position."

"The same goes for adding to the team's playoff roster. We like to see more great players emerge in the league."

"Basketball is a game for five people, and the new rules can increase competitiveness!"

After announcing the revised rules, the NBA also updated the new season's schedule on its official website, and the four teams for the opening game were officially confirmed:

Heat vs Knicks, Suns vs Lakers.

Wade is still preparing for the World Championships. O'Neal has been particularly low-key this year. Apart from participating in Alonso's charity game, he has been spending most of his time playing at sea with his family, completely staying away from media reporters.

O'Neal's signing with Li Ning was the only big news in July, but it was thrown aside by fans after a brief report by the Miami Herald. People were actually more concerned about the selection of the head coach.

After the finals, Pat Riley briefly accepted an interview at the end of June, and the greasy-haired boss did not commit to continue coaching at the time:

"I still need to think about it for a while and I am not sure whether I will return to the position of head coach."

Although Stan Van Gundy has not appeared in the American Airlines Arena for a long time, he is still a member of the Heat. If Riley is fired, there is still a possibility of re-employment.
The New York media likes to watch the fun, and after the Heat re-signed Alonzo Mourning and Gary Payton, some columnists labeled the Heat a "loser" in advance:
"Pat Riley is regretting that he shouldn't have returned to the coaching bench. In fact, he lost more than he won against Lee."

The Heat coached by Pat Riley lost to the Knicks led by Li You and became the favorite of New York fans recently. The greasy-haired guy, like Phil Jackson, has lost the aura of a famous coach.

Senator John McCain visited the US men's basketball team yesterday and successfully boosted the team's morale after a speech at the hotel!

However, there are exceptions. Arenas seemed to be eliminated in the training camp. Unlike Stoudemire who was ready to go home and wait for the birth of his child, the Wizards core player had a conflict with the assistant coach.

After confirming his departure and being unable to participate in tomorrow's open competition, Arenas complained about his treatment through the Washington Post:

"This year I will be the silent assassin!"

"They deliberately targeted me. Maybe that's why Lee refused to be drafted. In my opinion, this is just a bunch of losers entertaining themselves."

"I don't want to say much. I'm looking forward to the new season. Facing the Trail Blazers, I will try to get 50 points."

"I'm the best point guard in the league besides Lee, and I don't understand why they left me out."

Krzyzewski and the coaching staff had no response to Arenas' big mouth. They had already identified the No. 1 player and had no interest in bringing in an emotionally unstable "bomb".

Interestingly, as the U.S. men’s basketball team prepared to finish their tournament and head to Asia, Stephen Marbury also complained:
"It wasn't my fault for the loss last time, they didn't even invite me this year!"

"The coaching staff selected players with prejudice. In fact, I just lacked an opportunity. If I were in the Knicks, I could be as successful as Lee!"

"It's not Lee, it's not Kidd, it's not Arenas, I am the best point guard in the league."

Atlanta's sports media reported the accusation truthfully, and Marbury was ridiculed by New York fans:

"He shouldn't be compared with Lee. Look at how Kidd led the Suns and Nets to win. Marbury obviously hasn't realized that he is a born loser."

After the US men's basketball team officially confirmed Hinrich and Paul as the No. 1 position, they have been criticized a lot recently. The sour people like Marbury are the representative of them, and the current candidates lack persuasiveness.

With the US men's basketball team about to make its debut, the offseason has suddenly become a chaotic one.

When Sports Illustrated revealed part of the interview with Li You, the entire NBA community went wild. The biggest reaction was still from Mark Cuban, who directly posted on his blog:

"The conceited Lee will eventually destroy the Knicks, who have been blinded by victory!"

"."

While the American spectators were still discussing Li You's "outrageous words" about continuing to defend his title, the person involved had already flown to Manchester.

As the Manchester United Youth Football Super Cup is about to start, U15 players from all over the world gathered here.

The group stage will officially begin next Monday, which is a carnival moment for the children.

On Friday, August 8th, at the Carrington Training Center, the staff of Manchester United Club began to get busy as the group matches will be held here in the next few days.

Old man Ferguson has been busy dealing with conflicts among his disciples recently. In the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Germany, Rooney was sent off with a red card for stepping on Carvalho, and Ronaldo took the lead in putting pressure on him at the time.

What angered British fans was that after his club teammate was sent off, Ronaldo winked at the Portuguese bench on the sidelines.

The gloating shot was captured by the director. In the BBC studio, Ian Wright talked about this action at the time:

"I want to make sure, did he just blink?"

Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer were both sighing in the studio at the time, with the latter even making a prediction after Rooney was confirmed to be sent off:

"I believe Rooney will give Ronaldo a kick when he returns to Manchester United's training base!"

Li You had just flown to Manchester when he discovered that The Sun had recently launched a new product - a dartboard printed with Cristiano Ronaldo.

The bull's eye is the image of Ronaldo winking
The training camp officially opened, and a group of media who were just watching the show predicted every day that "Rooney will tear Ronaldo in half."

However, even if these reporters said a lot in the newspapers, they could not find out the real situation of the Carrington Training Center, because the security measures here were a bit excessive.

It has a 2.4-kilometer-long, 8-meter-high security wall, equipped with video surveillance cameras, and more than trees planted around the venue. If you want to find out what's going on, you must first pass the security personnel.

Li You was also a spectator, but what he saw here was the fat Rooney and the muscular Ronaldo, and their conditions were completely different.

In an interview with Manchester United's MUTV this morning, Li You did not act as an insider, but only praised Ronaldo's physical condition and gave him a "praise award":
"The atmosphere in the team is great. I think we can win the championship and the growing Ronaldo will win more honors."

Manchester United Football Club's U21 youth training facilities were officially opened in 02 and are not far from the first team.

The second floor of the main building overlooks the training ground, and is also home to the visitor room, parents' lounge, staff training room and MUTV television studio.

At this time, U15 teams from other countries were already warming up on the outdoor training ground. As Li You looked down at the training center, Les Kershaw introduced:
"Our Manchester United Football School has recently attracted more students. Although many parents are not familiar with sports science, they think it is a good thing for their children."

"I'm an old guy who's about to retire, Li. Wouldn't it have an impact on the team if I suddenly spent so much money?"

Under his short gray hair, Les Kershaw, with a wrinkled face, frowned slightly. The team did not make many moves in the transfer market this year, but spending money to build a sports center has left many people in the club with question marks.

Li You, like the coaching staff, was wearing loose training clothes. When he heard the question, he did not answer directly, but smiled and introduced:
"Toshiba has agreed to sponsor medical facilities. We have reached a long-term cooperation agreement. Ax Capital will sponsor the sports science department in the next few years. The cost is not as much as you think."

"This is a world-famous club. If we can win the Champions League, Nike has promised me that they will increase their sponsorship." In addition to building a building, Li You also plans to equip the team with corresponding doctors, physical therapists, sports scientists, sports psychologists, statisticians, nutritionists, etc.

The reason for launching this plan is actually to serve himself, and at the same time Ax Capital can also gain high-quality customers.

At present, Rooney has been captured. Big stars have money. Manchester United is still a blue ocean market. It is possible to gradually tap into domestic demand.
Brian McClair recently planned to take over the position of youth training director. McClair, who played for Manchester United for 11 seasons, was less than 50 years old and was already mostly bald.

McLell, whose body was stretched horizontally and whose face turned red, had completely transformed into an old Englishman. Hearing the introduction, he said in a muffled voice:
"Local kids are being squeezed out and Manchester United fans prefer to see local players reach the top. Being able to discover local talent is why everyone supports the club."

The future youth training director was dissatisfied with the special treatment of a kid who had just joined the club. Les Kershaw secretly winked at him, but Li You just waved his hand nonchalantly.

Pointing at the children playing and dancing in the training ground outside the window, Li You said casually:

"When you talk about local kids, you also include those who weren't born here but were brought to Old Trafford at a very young age.

"With our own TV station, we just need to report on these young people regularly and the fans will accept him."

"Really talented kids will definitely stand out. Football has become globalised. Don't just focus on the UK. The teams that won the Manchester United Youth Football Super Cup in recent years were not local teams."

The disagreement was caused by the fact that the club had just signed 14-year-old Neymar and was also being ripped off by his father.
At the end of May, Real Madrid Club almost signed this Brazilian kid, but the two sides eventually had a disagreement because "the father and son missed their hometown too much."

Taking advantage of the start of the Manchester United Youth Football Super Cup, Neymar Sr. started to promote his son again. This time he succeeded. With a signing fee of 5 pounds, his "homesickness" was also cured.
Real is still not as attractive as the pound. In short, this unexpected transfer caused a lot of trouble, which made McClair a little dissatisfied.

Les Kershaw smiled and changed the subject. He was very optimistic about the little guy. He was completely different from the British children. Brazilian children played football casually and creatively:

"It's not a bad idea to increase subsidies for talented players. We all know that parents who send their children to the academy hope that they can become professional players."

"Brian, our student base has expanded, and the advertising effect is very good this time."

Li You patted McClair, who had been criticized by fans recently. The latter might have to continue to take the blame in the future, but the academy enrollment was indeed more popular. He saw a familiar name on the list:
"7-year-old Declan Rice is just about to start school."

The names that appear in memory will most likely become stars in the future. As for whether there will be a butterfly effect, Li You is too lazy to think about these things. Those who are buried are not geniuses.

The three stopped talking about these future seeds and began to watch the training of different teams around the world with the staff.

No matter how critical the media is, they cannot obtain inside information, and there is currently no traitor in "Fort Carrington".

Li You frequently appeared on Manchester United MUTV in early August, and occasionally accepted invitations from Sky Sports to talk about previous World Cup predictions and expectations for the new season.

This year's Manchester United Youth Football Super Cup surprised Chinese fans. The Chinese division champion BJ Sanfang team advanced from the group as the second and finally won the fifth place.

On August 8, the final ended at Old Trafford.

Chivas Gotama from Mexico defeated Arsenal in the final and won the championship trophy.

The Premier League will officially start on the 20th. Ferguson, who attended the award ceremony, did not disrupt the event. Although he had to lead the team to pay off debts, Li You kept his promise that several non-executive directors would never interfere in football affairs.

“We hope to meet people and players from different countries and cultural backgrounds through this tournament.”

"This is the charm of modern football!"

The old man did not sing a different tune in front of the media, and did not even mention the kid Neymar who received special treatment. The British reporters at the scene did not provoke him either, and in the end, McClair took it all.

Li You is living happily in the UK. With the whole family mobilized, he even took the girls to choose a house. Fans saw news about him in the Sun again.

Artest recently got in trouble again for his outrageous remarks in front of 50 children at a black empowerment panel discussion at the Judge Mathis Community Center.

On Monday the 14th, ESPN reported Artest's arrogant remarks:
"Someone started a trouble, and I just ended him on my own terms!"

"Remember, protect yourself! If trouble is unavoidable, use your fists to tell the other party that you are not to be trifled with!"

At this sharing session, Artest did not share his basketball skills, but instead showed off his boxing skills in front of the children.

This move also allowed him to continue to increase his community service time.
At 3 p.m., ESPN's program Cold Pizza, which has been revised many times, was broadcast on time. In the past few years, it was a sports news broadcast similar to USA Today, but now it has evolved into a "debate competition."

Denver Post columnist Woody Page is a fat blond man, and sports writer Skip Bayliss is a thin man with a loud mouth who has recently become famous.

The partner of the two white guests is Sports Center's black co-host Dana Jacobson. After the revision, the show's ratings are pretty good, and fans are gradually accepting this kind of bickering.

As usual, we first talked about the US team's movements, the invincible warm-up games, LeBron James's killing spree, and Krzyzewski's visit to South Korea to comfort the US soldiers.
There is naturally nothing much to say about this kind of news. Soon Skip Bayliss pointed the finger at the Knicks and said seriously to the camera:

"I don't like Artest's comments. He didn't realize his mistake. Lee's arrogance infected him."

"The content of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated makes me uncomfortable. Lee lacks respect for other teams in the league!"

"Look at what happened to Allen Iverson. Lee never expressed any opinion on it. Because of him, the son of Philadelphia fell. Looking back at the playoffs, it was obvious that Lee deliberately humiliated Iverson."

Since Iverson was traded to Denver, many players have sent their blessings, and Kobe even took the initiative to call Iverson and chatted with him for an entire night.

In this regard, the Los Angeles Times gave a high evaluation, believing that Kobe will become a true role model for the new generation of players!

If you look through the recent newspapers in Los Angeles, you will see news about Kobe calling the US team every day. In an interview, Kobe, who had just completed knee surgery, said that he was with everyone:
"I've been wanting to get back to training camp, I want to fight with my brothers!"

In August, Kobe called and left messages for the players in the training camp every day. According to the Los Angeles Times, his "We Are Together" telephone speeches were well received and the morale of the US team was greatly boosted!

Woody Page rarely contradicted his partner this time. After all, Iverson had already arrived in Denver, and this was his home team player:

"Maybe the championship made Lee lost. As an old rival, he should really bless Iverson instead of ignoring him like he is doing now."

"I waited for half a month, but Lee didn't say anything. He even publicly stated that he didn't like Krzyzewski's coaching style, even though he's a Hall of Fame coach!"

Dana Jacobson heard the topic had changed and quickly interrupted, glancing at the two of them and gently reminding them:

"We're talking about Artest's community service"

Skip Bayliss, who was about to continue speaking, didn't even look at the host, and hurriedly added his own opinion:

"If we only look at championships, Lee is undoubtedly successful. He has surpassed Michael Jordan, but in terms of contribution to basketball, he is still far behind."

"I don't like the current trend. Superstars in the league are saying they lack helpers. The reason for all this is Lee and his Knicks team."

"New York sucks away the best players in the league. Imagine if Lee would have been so successful without that environment?"

"These achievements made him arrogant, and he began to humiliate his opponents in the game. He didn't have any friends in the league. This is not the NBA we want to see."

This output will not work for Woody Page. The media has been creating a "rival" and it turns out that fans like to watch the excitement and can't wait for the players to fight on the court:
"Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but Li should really be more concerned about his opponent."

"He should be a good role model for the young players."

The ESPN program was still going on. Kobe, who was far away in Los Angeles, was resting at home. Seeing the two people taking turns criticizing each other on the show, he felt particularly happy.

Robert Pelinka was also pleased that through the telephone speech, Kobe's reputation and public opinion had been completely reversed, and they had successfully gotten rid of the impact of the past "illegal invasion".

"Remember, Kobe! Arrogance ruins basketball players, and no one likes such a person!"

"Now all we have to do is win. You will be the focus of the league again, and I will help you put pressure on the Lakers."

Kobe, who was absorbed in watching the show, nodded when he heard his agent's encouragement. This was indeed a chance for him to change his external image. However, when he thought of the team's lineup, he couldn't help but frown:
"I need a more talented partner. Kupchak cheated on me!"

Thinking of the Lakers' offseason operations, Robert Pelinka remained silent. If it still doesn't work, they will have to use another method:

"A showdown with management? I hope it doesn't come to this."

(End of this chapter)