Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 3 3. The new season full of expectations
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it came to the beginning of October, and the league also released the teams' list of preseason matches in October.

The first opponent the Timberwolves met in the preseason was the Saramento Kings, who had only won seven games in the semifinals last year.

This season, the head coach of the Kings is still "Tactical Master" Adelman, and although Webber is very unhappy with the management, the salary of up to 1750 million US dollars does not mean that the transaction can be traded.

What's more, although Webber was pressed to the ground by Garnett in the playoffs last year and frantically rubbed, Chris Webber is still one of the best power forwards in the league today.

So even if there is a transaction, it must be deeply involved.

The king's core lineup this season has not changed much compared to last season. The biggest change is that the younger Brad Miller will fill the vacancy of Divac at the center position.

As for the reason why the Kings chose to give up Divac, it is mainly because Divac is old and his defensive steps can no longer keep up with the rhythm of young people.

After the injury, Weber was basically a colander on the defensive end, and Divac was also a colander.

Putting these two together, although Princeton can play dazzlingly on the offensive end, but on the defensive end, thousands of people are trampled by thousands of people, and there is no way out.

On the other hand, Brad Miller, who is only 28 years old, has excellent defensive ability, so the Kings will not hesitate to give up the contract extension for Divac.

If nothing else, Brad Miller will assume the responsibility of organizing in the new season and continue to play Princeton's tactics under Adelman's hands.

This game is played at the Timberwolves' home court. Since the preseason game is mainly about training, there are not many spectators in the stands.

However, although this is only a preseason game, strictly speaking, it is the first game coached by head coach Luke after entering the NBA.

This special situation also made Luke want to treat it carefully, and at the same time, he also wanted to see what kind of power this lineup in his hands could exert.

Before the game, Luke and Adelman exchanged a few symbolic words on the sidelines. It was nothing more than Adelman congratulating Luke for landing in the NBA, and Luke had long admired Adelman's name for this kind of commercial exchange.

Luke is not a person who likes to communicate too much with people, at least not one who can sit down and talk amicably for a long time.

For the most part, Luke will focus on his game.

After the start of the game, the king took the ball first. The king's starting lineup for this game is: Mike Bibby, Christie, Peja, Chris Webber, and Brad Miller.

The Timberwolves are: Cassel, "Madman" Sprewell, Szczerbiak, Garnett, and Eddie Griffin.

Luke chose to use Eddie Griffin as the starting center instead of "Sugar Man" Olowokandi or veteran Divac. Drive up.

Eddie Griffin was the No. 2001 pick in the first round in [-]. Griffin's physical fitness can be described as explosive, and he has been called a genius since entering the league.

However, during the Rockets' two years, Griffin was used as a high-position turret, and basically most of his shots came from outside the three-point line.

In addition to Griffin's reimbursement for the 03-04 season, head coach Luke has no idea what Griffin can do in the new season.

But Griffin is 220 meters tall and weighs [-] pounds, especially for the air cut bombing of the basket, he is definitely very threatening.

The most important thing is that Griffin is very mobile. Although his body is a bit thin, his ability to protect the penalty area is definitely not as good as "Sugar Man" and Divas, but the changes he can bring on the offensive end are also the same. It is also unmatched by "Sugar Man" and Diwaz.

As soon as the game started, the Kings side obviously focused on training, and Princeton was still Adelman's best at the offensive end.

It's just that the point of the center axis has changed from the original Divac to the current Brad Miller. This is also the place where the Kings need to adjust the most in the new season.

For Adelman's Princeton, Luke did not arrange for the team to defend the second and third defenses. After all, this is just a preseason game, and there is no need for the two sides to go all out.

In addition, Luke has just taken over the coach, and the control over this Timberwolves has not yet reached the point where he can do whatever he wants.

It's better to let the players play freely than defending the zone defense. Anyway, Garnett's defense ability is inherently restraining Princeton.

After all, Garnett at his peak is fully capable of supporting a team's defensive system by himself.

With the Timberwolves' excellent personal defense, the Kings, who ultimately failed to find an opportunity for an air cut, could only use Webber to complete the shot from the middle distance.

"boom!"

As Webber's mid-range shot missed, the muscular Szczerbiak slammed into the position, and then Griffin easily protected the backcourt rebound.

Griffin, who took off the backboard, passed the ball to Cassel immediately, and Kassel did not hesitate after receiving the ball, and directly launched a counterattack in the frontcourt.

The current lineup of the Timberwolves is very mobile. Whether it is Garnett or Griffin, the two insiders belong to the kind of players who can run and jump.

This also made the Timberwolves extremely prominent in the defensive counterattack, leaving Brad Miller behind in an instant.

Cassel, who advanced to the frontcourt, saw the opportunity and directly passed the ball to Garnett who was cutting inside. After receiving the ball, Garnett was also very determined. Facing Christie's supplementary defense, Garnett Use your height to put the ball in the basket.

On this ball, Christie stood in the defense position and raised his hands high, but he didn't dare to make any moves, because in this situation, Garnett in the fast break counterattack would probably make two plus one.

This is also why NBA coaches often say, either don't foul, or make a big foul!
Throughout the game, the Timberwolves and the Kings focused on training, and did not pay too much attention to winning or losing the preseason.

In the game, the Timberwolves mainly played defensive counterattacks, which improved the mobility on the field to the extreme. Compared with last season, a very big change has taken place.

If it is a positional battle, then the Timberwolves are mainly playing horns in this game.

The "alien" Cassel acted as the ball holder, and Garnett and Griffin both came up for the pick-and-roll at the same time.

Then the moment it was disassembled, Griffin made an air cut, Garnett mentioned the line, and together with Szczerbiak and Sprewell ambushing in the two bottom corners, this also made Kaka Sale can have more offensive options.

Whether it is passing the ball to Griffin who cuts down, or Garnett who mentioned the line, or the two bottom corners and his own offense, Cassel can use it flexibly.

After all, "Alien" Cassell is the best cut passer in the league today.

Cassell's nickname is "Alien", but this is because of his appearance. In addition, Cassell is also known as the "master of post-up singles" on the court.

That's right, looking at the entire history of the NBA, Cassell is definitely the best player in post-up singles at the point guard position, and there is absolutely no one.

Therefore, Kassel, who likes to play back, can often see his teammates cutting to other positions, which also allows Kassel to practice an excellent air-cut pass.

If it is a breakthrough to score the ball, then Cassel's passing ability may not be that good, but if it is a pass to a moving teammate, then Cassel's vision is definitely the top in the league.

Luke, who probably knows the player's ability, did not focus on winning, but directly started a rotation with Adelman, suppressing the playing time of the main players to about ten minutes, to avoid playing in this unimportant situation. There were injuries during the game.

At the end of the final training phase, the Timberwolves defeated the Kings by 4 points at home and won the first preseason game of the 04-05 season.

整场比赛，加内特出战了16分钟，个人在进攻端8投6中，其中罚球线上3中2，依然强硬的贡献出14分7篮板3助攻2抢断以及2次封盖，用数据来彰显自己的全面。

除此之外，“外星人”卡塞尔11分3篮板6助攻，“狂人”13分6篮板，斯泽比亚克9分4篮板2助攻。

Although the playing time of the main players is not very high, the competitive state of the crowd still makes Luke feel bright.

尤其是被卢克放在首发出场的埃迪格里芬，更是在仅仅出战13分钟的情况下就6投6中，以100%的命中率斩获下了12分5篮板1封盖的数据。

Even though most of Griffin's finishes are dunks after hitting the rim, being able to bomb the rim in front of "white villain" Brad Miller is also an ability.

After the game, Luke also had the most basic judgment on the overall strength of the new season. At the same time, he also began to look forward to the upcoming regular season!

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(End of this chapter)