Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 225 225. A 32-point preseason victory, three-point rain in Houston, Morey, who is blind!
At the end of September, before the start of the new season, the league routinely allowed the team to accept interviews from media reporters.

Every year before the start of the season, the league will set a day for the team to accept interviews from outside media, so as to increase the relationship between the team and the media, and try not to make too much trouble in the new season.

The relationship between the NBA and the media is mutual support. The league needs the media to expand its popularity to the outside world, and the media also needs the league to provide them with news.

However, the relationship between the team and the media is often not very harmonious, and every year there will be negative news that a certain player or management is dissatisfied with the media.

The main reason is that the media deliberately fabricated some non-existent things in order to attract people's attention, which caused conflicts between the team and the media.

But in most cases, the team can get along well with the media, at least superficially.

The three most notable teams this summer are the Memphis Grizzlies, Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.

Due to Luke's high-profile announcement of joining, the Grizzlies have been the focus of the entire league this summer.

And with the Grizzlies' series of reinforcement operations, this also makes everyone look forward to the Grizzlies' performance in the new season.

As for the Celtics and the Lakers, both teams have completed a large deal, which has made the team's strength soar in the new season.

For the Lakers, the management traded Emeka Okafor from the Bobcats during the offseason.

In the new season, the Lakers, who have many outstanding players, will become one of the biggest favorites to win the championship. Especially in the case of re-signing the "old fish" Fisher from the outside, the paper strength of the Lakers should not be underestimated.

As the No. 14.4 pick in the 11.3 draft, although Okafor has been plagued by injuries since entering the league, Okafor, who was plagued by injuries last season, was still able to contribute 2.6 points, [-] rebounds and [-] blocks.

Excellent defensive awareness not only makes Okafor one of the best restricted area frame protectors in the active league, but also has improved significantly on the offensive end.

However, frequent injuries caused the Bobcats management to lose expectations for this favorite, so he was traded to the Lakers during the offseason.

Playing next to Kobe in the new season, Okafor's offensive data may shrink, but Okafor wearing a Lakers jersey is expected to become better. After all, Kobe's desire to win can always drive those who are still willing to stay in the league Hardworking player.

As expected, Celtics general manager Angie did not disappoint Luke. While he was doomed to have no chance to pursue Garnett during the offseason, Angie directly set his mind on "Shark" O'Neal.

It is no secret that the Heat are actively selling O'Neal in the trading market. However, O'Neal's salary is too high. In the new season, he ranks second in the league after "Wolf King" Garnett.

This made the Heat encounter great resistance in trading O'Neal.

However, the general manager Angie, who was determined to lead the team back to glory, chose to make a single throw. Even though O'Neal will be 35 years old in the new season, he still took the slant. Giant combination.

In addition, the Celtics also acquired veteran "Alien" Cassel, Eddie House, James Posey, and PJ Brown through operations.

The Celtics' series of operations this summer directly lifted the team to the top of the championship list, overwhelming the Timberwolves and other favorites to win the championship, and became the darling of the league in the new season.

After all, judging from the lineup on paper alone, the Big Three combination of Pierce, Ray Allen and O'Neal is the most shocking existence in the league.

Coupled with other excellent right-hand helpers, the Celtics, who only played 24 wins and 58 losses last season, are expected to have a gorgeous counterattack.

At the same time, Celtics coach Rivers will also become a hidden danger for Luke to compete for the best coach in the new season.

The Grizzlies and the Celtics have similar team records last season. If Luke wants to beat Rivers to win the second best coach of his career, he must ensure that the Grizzlies' team record in the new season is better than that of the Celtics. even better.

Otherwise, not only would Luke have no advantage at all in the competition with Doc Rivers, but the skin color issue would most likely become Luke's disadvantage.

On the day of media interviews, the three teams with the most news reports from the outside world were as expected. The Grizzlies, Lakers and Celtics alone accounted for more than 60% of the news.

In addition to the various auras of the defending champion Timberwolves themselves, other teams in the league have received little attention.

Among them, Grizzlies head coach Luke said confidently in an interview, "The goal of the team's new season has never been as simple as reaching the playoffs, but to launch an impact towards the championship."

"Many people are not optimistic about the prospects of the Grizzlies in the new season, thinking that the Grizzlies can only make the playoffs at most."

"But what I want to say is that the team I coach will always be the favourites."

"If I have to set a few goals tentatively, then the first goal is nothing more than helping the Grizzlies break through the first round of the playoffs, thus breaking the slightly embarrassing record in team history."

"However, the goal of the Grizzlies in the new season will not change anyway, which is to launch an impact on the championship."

"Even if many teams in the league complete reinforcements in the new season, making it more difficult for the Grizzlies to win the championship, miracles create possibilities out of the impossible, and I have been creating miracles since the moment I entered the league."

What Luke said in the interview spread quickly afterwards, and finally attracted discussions from many fans on the Internet.

Fans who support Luke only feel that Luke is still as domineering as ever, daring to utter harsh words before the start of the new season. I am afraid that only Luke dares to touch such a thing that is extremely easy to face.

As for the fans who don't like Luke, they began to mock Luke for his ignorance, and even set up a BF, ready to see how Luke slapped himself in the face in the new season.

After all, with the Lakers and Celtics reinforcing so smoothly, the Grizzlies wanting to win the championship is simply a dream.

Even the Western Conference teams that made it to the playoffs last year have also made reinforcements this summer. The competition in the Western Conference will inevitably become more intense in the new season. It is hard to say whether the Grizzlies can make it to the playoffs, let alone a breakthrough The first round of the playoffs.

Therefore, many people think that Luke's first goal may be slapped in the face, which makes some black fans very excited.

During the Timberwolves, Luke always held good cards in his hands, which made it impossible for fans who hated Luke to vent.

Now that Luke has chosen a team that ranked last in the league last season to make a comeback, it undoubtedly gave black fans a chance to complain wildly.

Success is often accompanied by overwhelming doubts and abuse. Luke doesn't care about this. As long as he can lead the Grizzlies to achieve results and put the facts before everyone's eyes, then all doubts will naturally be shut up.

Luke has no confidence in whether he can win the championship in the new season, but if he just makes it to the playoffs, Luke has already become invincible in advance and is ready to open everyone's eyes.

.........

At the beginning of October, the preseason of the new season officially came, and the first opponent the Grizzlies encountered in the preseason was the Houston Rockets in the Southwest Division.

After the league announced the preseason schedule to the outside world, NBA fans can be described as very excited.

After all, since the finals in June, fans have not watched the game for nearly four months. Although the start of the regular season will have to wait until the end of October, the preseason still attracts a lot of fans' attention.

On October 10, local time in the United States, the Grizzlies will be a guest at the Toyota Center in Houston to challenge the Rockets.

Even if it is just a preseason confrontation, the Rockets' home attendance is still very impressive, and a large part of them went to Houston specifically to watch the Grizzlies' first game of the new season.

The game between the Grizzlies and the Rockets is still quite interesting. In the off-season, the two teams made a deal about the star McGrady.

Many people want to see what kind of performance McGrady can play in the new season wearing a Grizzlies jersey, and whether the Rockets can get better after trading McGrady.

Today's Rockets are a single-core team with Yao Ming as the core, but the reduction in the number of stars has increased the depth of the Rockets' overall lineup.

Whether it is Conley and Gay, who are entrusted by Rockets fans, or Scola, Alston and Battier who can help Yao Ming, these people will determine the upper limit of the Rockets' new season.

Years of consecutive losses in the playoffs have long made Rockets fans impatient, but after a series of operations during the offseason, the Rockets have fundamentally changed.

As for whether to reach the sky in one step or fall to the altar, this is also what Rockets fans want to know.

Before the start of the game, the players of the two teams warmed up in their respective halfs, and Tracy McGrady, who returned to the Rockets Stadium, seemed to be in a good mood.

He even talked and laughed with his old friend Yao Ming and others on the sidelines, completely unable to see the urgency of the upcoming war.

Although each team will not show their full strength in the preseason, but for the deal that happened between the Rockets and the Grizzlies during the offseason, the two teams obviously do not want to lose.

Otherwise, the external reviews will definitely put a certain player under tremendous psychological pressure.

The starting lineup sent by the Grizzlies in this game is: Lowry, McGrady, Gerald Wallace, Gasol, and Gasol Jr.

Rockets here are: Conley, Gay, Battier, Scola, and Yao Ming.

Rockets coach Montgomery chose to put Rudy Gay, who is [-] meters tall, at shooting guard.

Originally, Gay's figure was more suitable for playing small forward, but between Lutherhead and Al's affair, Montgomery still chose Rudy Gay, who has more outstanding offensive talent.

As soon as the game started, Yao Ming helped the Rockets jump to the ball first, and the focus of the Rockets' offense was obvious from the beginning.

Conley tried to throw the ball to Yao Ming on the outside, apparently trying to open the situation from Yao Ming.

Luke, who knows this well, has already made arrangements. At this time, the Grizzlies' formation on the field is a zone defense, and Gasol is in a position that can flank Yao Ming at any time.

However, Gasol did not flank Yao Ming for the first time in the opening defense, but let his younger brother Gasol defend alone in the penalty area.

Although Yao Ming squeezed twice with his back and used his height advantage to turn around and score with a hook, Gasol showed no frustration on his face, and just ran to the frontcourt to participate in the attack after serving the ball.

The reason why Luke didn't let Pau Gasol help defend him was because this was just a preseason game, and he mainly wanted to see what kind of effect Gasol's defense in the penalty area can achieve when facing Yao Ming.

Although it is difficult for Gasol, who has just entered the league, to limit Yao Ming in one-on-one defense, for Gasol, this is not only a preseason grind, but also an accumulation of experience.

On the offensive end, Yao Ming's hook scored made the Grizzlies unable to play an effective defensive counterattack, but the Grizzlies in the positional battle still executed tactics in an orderly manner.

I saw Lowry holding the ball across the half court, and the Grizzlies had already set up a triangle offensive position.

Handing the ball to McGrady on the strong side, Lowry stood outside the three-point line at the top of the arc, forming a triangle with Pau Gasol and McGrady.

As for Gasol Jr. and Gerald Wallace, they fell to the weak side one after another. While preparing to cut without the ball at any time, they also created a lot of space for the three on the strong side.

Facing Rudy Gay's defense with the ball, McGrady still had a sleepy look on his face, posing a three-threat pose in the middle distance, seeing that Rudy Gay was defending his position far away, McGrady pulled it up directly. A CIC.

"Shu~"

As the sound of the basketball hitting the net sounded, McGrady showed a faint smile on his face.

Throughout the first quarter, both sides did not give too much defensive intensity on the defensive end, but they seemed very excited on the offensive end.

The two sets of tactics that the Grizzlies mainly focus on are the triangle offense and the pick-and-roll connection between Tracy McGrady and Pau Gasol.

And once the Rockets miss a shot on the offensive end, the Grizzlies will immediately launch a defensive counterattack, speeding up the pace of the game.

At the same time, McGrady and Pau Gasol's excellent offensive touch also attracted most of the Rockets' defensive attention.

Therefore, Lowry got a lot of shooting opportunities at the top of the arc, and he hit three three-pointers in a single quarter, helping the Grizzlies always have the advantage.

However, the time period when the Grizzlies really opened up the score was the second quarter.

Back in the second quarter, the two sides tacitly replaced all the main players. The main opponents in the preseason usually don’t play for too long, especially players like Yao Ming who have potential injuries. Montgomery dared not let Yao Ming play for too long.

Throughout the second quarter, when the two sides replaced the bench lineup to compete, the Grizzlies suddenly started to exert force from outside the three-point line.

First, Mike Miller hit a three-pointer at a 45-degree angle on the right for two consecutive offensive rounds, and then "Little Flying Squirrel" Stoudemire scored a three-pointer from Kapono in the bottom corner.

Until another offensive round, Milicic grabbed an offensive rebound in the crowd and transferred the ball to Novak who was beyond the left three-point line and made another three-pointer. The Grizzlies scored in just over two minutes. The Rockets went 12:0 and directly widened the point difference to nearly 20 points.

Seeing that the rhythm of the game on the field became more and more weird, Montgomery frowned and called a timeout.

But until the end of the timeout, Montgomery didn't understand why the team lost nearly 20 points in a daze.

The wave of three-point climax in the second quarter seemed to open the shooting curtain for the Grizzlies in this game. The Grizzlies hit a total of 8 three-pointers from the outside in the entire second quarter, which made the Rockets' defense full of holes. Shengsheng widened the difference to more than 20 points.

Among them, the threat of the fort of Mike Miller, Kapono and Novak almost shocked Montgomery into a cold sweat.

Even if Montgomery used the timeout to adjust the defensive formation to a three-two defense in time, the Grizzlies' offensive shooting is still a threat.

Although this is just a preseason confrontation, Montgomery seems to have seen the offensive firepower of the Grizzlies in the new season through this game.

At the same time, Montgomery didn't understand until this time why Luke was so confident before the start of the season. It turns out that the real killer of the Grizzlies has never been the Big Three combination on paper, but the "three-point machine" hidden in every corner!
Back in the second half of the game, McGrady teamed up with Pau Gasol and Gerald Wallace to frequently kill the inside line, using their personal abilities to continue to expand the score.

Until the end of the three quarters, the Rockets not only failed to narrow the score, but the Grizzlies extended their lead to 26 points.

Seeing that the game completely lost its suspense, Montgomery could only sigh helplessly, and then waved his hand to replace the main players, announcing that the game had officially entered garbage time.

It is worth mentioning that Novak, who was just waived by the Rockets in the offseason during the garbage time, was like a god descending from the sky. The continuous output of shells outside the three-point line made Montgomery look desperate.

The excellent offensive firepower seemed to make Montgomery know Novak for the first time.

Until the end of the game, the Rockets lost to the Grizzlies by 32 points in their preseason opener.

Montgomery, who was sitting off the court, has never figured out why he just changed a team. The offensive firepower Novak displayed on the court is like a different person.

Novak played 22 minutes in the whole game, personally scored six three-pointers, and shot through the Rockets defense almost by himself.

Especially with Kapono and Mike Miller on the court at the same time, Montgomery found that the Grizzlies' offensive range on the court has no dead ends.

It's hard to imagine how terrifying the scene will be once this lineup feels smooth on the court.

At least the current 32-point defeat has made Montgomery angry. Even though this is just a preseason game, Montgomery knows that after this game, the outside world will definitely put the Rockets on the ground.

And the team's choice to lay off Novak in the off-season will also make Morey, the general manager who has not been in office for a long time, be spat out by the fans, and even be labeled as "sightless" by the media.

(End of this chapter)