NBA: Back to 97, to be the Jagged Bishop

Chapter 159 New Mission【Different Engine】

About Hu Weidong joining the Grizzlies, Kong Bu has already greeted the Grizzlies general manager Stu.

Kumbu didn't brag too much about Laohu, he just said that he is a good backup shooting guard, has sufficient experience in major competitions, and also has the nickname of Asian Jordan.

Among other things, even the nickname Asia Jordan was enough for Stu to sign Lao Hu.

As long as you have a relationship with Jordan, you can immediately improve your grades by a large margin.

In addition to Asian Jordan Laohu, there are Lebanese Jordan Hadib, French Jordan Pietrus, British Jordan Luhr-Deng, Argentine Jordan Ginobili, Japanese Jordan Tianwa Yuta...

The last one pretty much counts.

The key price proposed by Kong Bu is also quite cheap, with an annual salary of 30 million, which is less than half of the middle-class contract.

After talking to Stu, Combe called old Mahon again.

It is definitely not for Lao Mahon to give Lao Hu the starting shooting guard position, but for Lao Hu to become the Grizzlies' chief backup shooting guard.

Of course, it is impossible for old Ma Hong to refuse this kind of effort.

After Hu Weidong's affairs were settled, Kong Bu was relieved a lot.

More than a month of training is over, and the preseason of the new season is about to begin. Kumbu began to accept the training results of the five newcomers.

Nash's progress was so rapid that Combe wondered what he had done with the Mavericks and why his stats were so low.

After special training, his attributes have officially entered the peak period.

The mid-range shooting attribute and three-point attribute all reached 92 points, the free throw reached 95 points, and the organizational ability was 94 points. The attributes are so high that they are scary.

However, the perimeter defensive attribute is only 42 points, which is frighteningly low. It is estimated that many drinking fountain point guards have better defense than him.

Comb felt that this was also something that could not be helped.

If Nash can still have Payton's defense, then he is a pure BUG player.

Marion's improvement is also very large. This guy's inside defense is 87 points, and his outside defense is 91 points. This is the first time Comb has seen this attribute.

In addition, Marion's rebounding attribute is as high as 88 points, almost at the same level as Big Zhi, and stronger than Yao Ming in his peak period.

It's a pity that he is still a bit short. If he can have a height of 208 centimeters or more, he doesn't need to play a combo forward at all, and can directly play a power forward or a center. Whether it is league status or historical status, he will definitely be able to improve a lot.

On October 10, the NBA preseason kicked off.

Coincidentally, the Raptors played against the Grizzlies in their first preseason game.

This is the first time Kumbu led the team to play a preseason game.

In the season just crossed, the Raptors did not make an appointment with an opponent, so there was no preseason.

The preseason game is not an official game, but several teams contact each other to warm up before the start of the season. In 97, the Raptors were at the helm of the old Thomas. Where did he contact the team to play the preseason game.

In 98, due to the suspension of the season, the main game was almost cancelled, who still had the heart to play the preseason.

The home of the Raptors, the old Mahon led the Grizzlies back to Toronto. Looking at his expression, he was indescribably proud.

"Kong, I want to ask you something, please don't lie to me."

"What's the matter?" Combe asked curiously.

"That Yao Ming of your national team, will he participate in the draft next year?"

"This matter is very important. If he participates in the draft, what Stu means is that we have a bad season and try to get him."

Old Mahon's tone was serious.

Kongbu was speechless, so he started thinking about Yao Ming so soon?
Under normal circumstances, Yao Ming only participated in the draft in 02, and now he is only in 99, and there are at least three years left.

But Kumbu had a premonition that maybe Yao Ming would run for the election in advance.

After all, his strength has skyrocketed in this training camp. After returning to the CBA, he must be in an invincible state, and it is inevitable that he will have the idea of ​​coming to the NBA.

"Not sure, if you ask me about this kind of thing, it's better to ask Hu Weidong in your team."

"By the way, how is Hu Weidong doing in your team? No one bullies him, right?"

Kong Bu was a little worried that Lao Hu would be looked down upon in a foreign country.

Both Da Zhi and Da Ba were brought up by Kong Bu. They have been under Kong Bu’s nose all the time, and now they have become stars. Regardless of which team they are in, they are the absolute core, and they will definitely not be bullied. .

"Look at what you said, the person you sent, I can let others bully him?"

"The performance is very dedicated, and the strength is indeed not bad. After all, he is a 30-year-old mature player, and he usually plays very calmly in the training games."

"Just don't worry, as long as I'm with the Grizzlies, he'll have no problems."

With old Ma Hong's words, Kong Bu was completely relieved.

After a while, the game on the court officially started.

Because it was a preseason game, Kumbu didn't let the "veteran" of Daben play directly.

Comb's starting lineup tonight is Miller, Marion, Maggette, Lagabel and Nash.

Miller is a bit nondescript in this lineup.

He can only play positional warfare, his speed is too slow, and he can't play fast break at all, while the other four players on the field are all good fast break players.

Kong Bu couldn't help it. After Xiao Ao and Da Zhi left, it was too difficult to find an insider with outstanding athletic ability.

Big Ben's athletic ability is good, but unfortunately he is too short to eat Nash's pie.

If you want to eat cakes, first, you must have a bounce, and second, you must be at least tall enough to get a position. Even if Daben is this tall and catches the ball under the basket, he can't directly dunk and score like Stoudemire.

Kemp at his peak was actually able to perfectly replace Stoudemire, but it's a pity that Kemp can't do it now, otherwise Combe would find a way to get him into the team, and he would really be a perfect replica of the Suns.

Garnett is actually fine, but his contract is too big for the Raptors to swallow.

The main reason why Payton was able to be traded before was that Payton's contract was small. His contract was signed before 98, and it is not a maximum salary at all now.

At least in the last two years, the Raptors have been unable to strengthen by trading mature stars.

The game on the field has begun.

Nash took the ball to the front court, and Marion and Maggette stood on the left and right sides, charging directly towards the penalty area.

After the two entered the three-second zone, Nash's passes followed one after another, and Marion received the pass in mid-air and completed a relay dunk.

In the offensive round of the Grizzlies, Dixon missed a three-pointer from the outside, and Miller easily accepted the rebound.

Although Miller's rebounding ability is unremarkable in the Raptors, and he was beaten by Big Ben and Bus, but in terms of all center groups in the league, he can at least rank in the middle and upper reaches.

The center of the Grizzlies is Cherokee Parks, a scumbag center, and his rebounding ability is at least two grades worse than Miller.

It was the Raptors' offensive round again, and Nash was still holding the ball at the top of the arc, and the two-horse combination rushed towards the penalty area.

After rushing to the basket, Nash scored the ball, and the two dunked after catching the ball.

Marion is worthy of the nickname of hacker, his physical fitness is really a bit alien.

On the other hand, Maggette is strong, and he rushed forward with a desperate posture. Rahim was facing him, so he didn't dare to use his body to block Maggette.

This is just a preseason game, in case of injury, the loss outweighs the gain.

After being scored three goals in a row in the same way, Ma Hong hurriedly called a timeout and replaced a few tough blue-collar combo strikers on the bench.

Such a change does have an effect, at least the two-horse combination can no longer run unscrupulously to the basket to dunk.

However, the Raptors' offense was still swift and fierce. Nash and Bell made pick-and-rolls for each other outside the three-point line, and the three-pointers were more accurate than the other.

At the end of the first quarter, Bell had already made 4 of 3 three-pointers. He could always receive Nash's pass in the most tricky position, and then throw the ball into the basket.

The outstanding performance on the offensive end is still secondary. The defensive ability he showed in the past few minutes shocked the old Mahon.

The starting shooting guard for the Grizzlies tonight is Dixon, a player the Grizzlies bought at a high price.

According to Stu's plan, that is to support Dixon, a swingman at the forward and guard, and become the Grizzlies' box office guarantee.

Tonight is Dixon's first appearance in the Grizzlies, and he is looking forward to playing brilliant data in this game to prove that he does have the value of a No. [-] pick.

It's a pity that his ambition was quickly snuffed out by Bell.

Under Bell's defense, he took a total of 7 shots in the first quarter, but only hit one goal.

Old Ma Hong almost vomited blood, should the gap be so big?
If Bell is a player selected by Kombak with a high pick, then that's all, it's normal for Dixon to not be able to play.

But now Bell is an undrafted pick. The Grizzlies bought a player at the price of a No. [-] pick, and they were blown up by a undrafted pick on both offense and defense?
Is there any reason.

Ma Hong is now full of regrets. If he had known that he could be the coach of the Grizzlies, he would not be able to sell the No. [-] pick.

In the second quarter of the game, Kumbu originally wanted to make a substitution, not wanting to make the Grizzlies lose too ugly.

Then he suddenly realized that he had no one to replace him.

Other teams can't make substitutions because the players on the bench are too weak.

Kumbu's side is good. The reason why he can't make substitutions is that the players are too strong.

The first quarter has already played a big advantage, and the old Mahon also replaced the substitute player, and the game entered garbage time.

After all, the preseason itself is the nature of the team's warm-up, giving players the feeling of looking for the game.

Kumbu glanced at Ben, Bus, McGrady, Carter, Pierce, Payton and others on the bench. What should we do?

Fortunately, Old Ma Hong was on his own, so it didn't matter if he won more points, and it wouldn't affect the relationship between the two.

"Kong, I regret playing preseason with you now."

"One game directly blew away the confidence of our players."

"Why don't I talk to Stu after I go back, let's continue to play badly this year."

Old Ma Hong smiled wryly. They lost 37 points in the whole game. This is still the point difference that Kongbu's men were merciless. If they were merciless, they would have to break through at least [-] points.

"It's not a problem to show off every year."

"This is your first season as a head coach, and you have to produce something."

"Let's play hard first. After the game starts, I'll see if I can send you a player."

Comb doesn't want Ma Hong's first season of coaching to be mediocre. It just so happens that the Raptors will definitely make some lineup adjustments this season. By then, giving them a decent insider will greatly enhance their competitiveness.

The Grizzlies' lineup is actually not bad now, with White Devil Bibby at the first position, Dixon at the second position, and Raheem at the third position.

It's strange to say that Raheem seems to be in the third position, but he can still average 10 rebounds per game.

All three are more offensive than defensive.

If a blue-collar insider with excellent defense can be found, the Grizzlies' combat power can be improved by at least one level.

The inside line with excellent offense and defense is very valuable, and the inside line at the defensive ceiling level, such as Da Ben and Uncle Mu, is not low in value.

But there are only blue-collar insiders with excellent defense. There are a lot of them and their value is not high.

When the time comes for Comb to make a deal, bring the Grizzlies in to make a three-way deal, and you can arrange one for them.

"I've been waiting for your words."

"We must send a center forward, we are short of a decent center right now."

Old Ma Hong laughed out loud. He was very glad that he had made the decision to join the Raptors. If he hadn't gone to the Raptors, how could he have encountered such a good thing now.

The head coach has also been appointed, and Kumbu sent the players over, which is simply delicious juice.

"Don't worry, I know where your Grizzlies' shortcomings are, you just have to wait for my good news."

Kong Bu nodded and said, then walked directly towards Hu Weidong.

Lao Hu played 5 minutes tonight and scored 1 points, 1 rebound and [-] assist. His performance was quite satisfactory.

"Old Hu, how are you adapting?"

Kong Bu deliberately used Chinese, and then hugged Hu Weidong intimately.

He did it for the Grizzlies players to let them know that he has a great relationship with Lao Hu.

"Very good. The teammates are very friendly. I heard that the coach is your former assistant? He is very good to me."

"Director Kong, thank you so much."

Hu Weidong still referred to Kong Bu as Director Kong.

He had never known how to address Kong Bu before, and it was impossible to address Kong like a foreigner. It was too weird, and he could not be called Brother Kong. After all, he was older than Kong Bu, and he could not give up his dignity for the sake of dollars.

Later I heard from Da Zhi that Kong Bu liked being called Director Kong, so he just called him that.

"It's too alien to say thank you, it's all my own."

"If anything happens to the team, call me right away."

"Other teams don't dare to say, I still have something to do with the Grizzlies. Your general manager and head coach are old acquaintances with me."

These words reassured Hu Weidong a lot.

After the first preseason game, the Raptors played five more games.

The opponents are all relatively close teams. The Bucks, Knicks, Nets, Green Kais, and Bulls are not far from the Raptors in a straight line.

A total of six preseason games were played, and the Raptors lost two games, to the Bucks and the Knicks.

This kind of loss can't explain anything at all. In the game against the Bucks, George Karl sent all the three musketeers in the team to the field and played for a full 32 minutes.

Those who didn't know thought he was playing in the playoffs.

The reason why the Bucks are known as powerful killers is not without reason. Their outside three swordsmen are the big dog Robinson, the gentleman sword Ray Allen, and the new alien Cassel who joined in the Marbury trade last season.

These three all have the ability to shoot three-pointers, and Carl Sr. is also a coach who is good at training and shooting. As long as they make good shots, God will have to shoot them to death.

The loss to the Knicks was similar. Old Thomas was so shameless that he let Big Zhi play for 35 minutes.

The Bulls have been completely bad this year, and their combat power is not even as good as the Grizzlies.

Looking at it this way, Jordan did not retire last season, which may not be a good thing for the Bulls.

Because the Bulls originally got the No. [-] pick Brand and Artest in this draft, but now they don't get anything.

If this season is bad, the 2000 draft is still a super young year. I'm afraid the Bulls still won't get anything.

Even if they still get the No. [-] pick and sign Kenyon Martin, it will not improve the team's strength much.

Of course, Martin is not considered the top pick in parallel imports, but his strength belongs to the bottom batch of top picks, roughly on the same level as the later top pick Bogut.

On October 10, the opening game of the new NBA season came as scheduled.

In the east, the Raptors are playing against the Knicks, and in the west, the Lakers are playing against the Nuggets.

The Spurs are a bit sad. They are obviously the strongest team in the Western Conference, but they are not qualified to play the opening game.

Comb didn't even need to look at the schedule to know it was the Knicks' home game.

As long as the Knicks play the opening game, 100% of them are their home court. The NBA has been established for more than 50 years, and there have never been any exceptions.

Even if a team like the Raptors is playing the opening game, they have to obediently go to the Knicks to play away games.

The game on the field is about to begin, and the five starters of the Raptors are warming up on the sidelines.

Big Ben, Bus, Pierce, Tracy McGrady and Payton, Combe didn't play tricks tonight, and directly showed the Raptors' current supreme combat power.

Xiao Ao's departure has the greatest impact on the Raptors' match against the Knicks. They are no longer sure of winning.

The main reason is that Big Zhi is difficult to deal with.

Regardless of whether it is Duncan, O'Neal or Barkley, it is difficult to restrict players with a style like Dazhi.

Not to mention Big Ben.

As a result, the Raptors may not be able to limit Dazhi's performance.

In addition, the biggest headache for Comb is not this season, but the Knicks next season.

Ewing must have left the team by then, and the Knicks will free up a lot of salary space. It is hard to guarantee that they will not make some earth-shattering signings.

"Dudududu!"

The referee blows the whistle and the starting players of both sides enter the field.

At this moment, the long-lost system prompt sounded in Kong Bu's mind.

"It is detected that the lineup coached by the host in the new season has two Hall of Fame point guards, and the [different engine] task is triggered."

"Mission objective: The host is free to match two completely different starting lineups. Both starting lineups have won more than [-] games this season."

"Mission Reward: Random Hall of Fame Point Guard Template Card."

Kumbu was dumbfounded, what are you kidding, what kind of mission is this?

Let yourself have two completely different starting lineups, and you have to require more than [-] wins?

The goal of this mission is simply life-threatening, could it be that it is too big.

However, the task rewards made Kong Bu's eyes shine. He was still greedy for the point guard template card before. I don't know if the system knew Kong Bu's idea and directly gave a task of rewarding the template card.

Even if this template card is random, how can there be a point guard who can enter the Hall of Fame?

(End of this chapter)