Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 168: Like Zhan, Not Zhan
On this trade deadline, the Western Conference teams are vying to make their debut.

The first to come forward was the Los Angeles band.

They sent out team legend Luke Walton, plus a second-round draft pick, and traded for old player Ronny Turiaf from the Nuggets.

To be more precise, this should be a four-party deal, because he was involved in a three-party deal among the Wizards, Nuggets and Clippers.

The core of that deal was "Cake Warrior" Nene, "Olajuwon" McGee and "Singles King" Nick Young. Turiaf's role in it was just to balance the contract and he actually had no trading value.

This is equivalent to a junk contract swap, except that Walton's contract has one more year, so the Lakers need to pay one more draft pick.

But this operation is still worthy of recognition. Using Walton, who can't play, to exchange for a defensive inside player can be regarded as an A-level operation.

The next place to come was the Holy City under Han Sen's jurisdiction.

The Spurs sent Jefferson to the Warriors in exchange for "Martial Saint" Stephen Jackson.

This seems to be a change of starting small forward, but in fact it is to make room for Leonard.

The reason why Leonard fell out of the lottery was not only because of his average dynamic talent, but also because he had not developed his shooting ability before the draft.

But now, he has developed. His 37.6% three-point shooting percentage so far this season is not excellent, but it is definitely enough.

As for why Jefferson was not directly put on the bench, he came to the Spurs with a pay cut, and the team also promised him a starting position.

Jackson is a former Spurs player and a member of the 2003 championship team, so he is much easier to control.

Immediately afterwards, the Grizzlies also took action.

They sent center Przybila, who was just traded in the summer, and the 2013 first-round draft pick to the 76ers, bringing in 2-foot-08 swingman Marreese Speights.

This adds another layer of insurance as Randolph's return status is uncertain.

In the first game after the trade deadline, the Grizzlies faced the Nuggets at home.

The Grizzlies eventually defeated their opponents 98-89.

Speights was put into the starting lineup in the first game after the trade.

他在首秀里出场了24分钟，8投4中拿下8分9板，还抢下了3个进攻篮板，表现相当不错。

At the post-match press conference, Hansen also praised the team's new player.

"This was only his first game with the team, and he showed a high level of basketball IQ and professionalism, which helped us a lot."

Hansen is not exaggerating. His impression of Speights basically comes from his time with the Warriors. Speights was a core rotation player when the Warriors won the championship in 2015.

There is also a funny story. When Speights left the Warriors after his contract expired, he was still on the Warriors in the new season. A closer look revealed that it was David West.

Not only do they look alike, their playing styles are also similar. They are both good at pick-and-roll and mid-range shooting, making it difficult to tell them apart.

In the following games against the Pistons and Raptors, Speights maintained his excellent performance and helped the team achieve a three-game winning streak.

This also makes fans more looking forward to Randolph's comeback. After all, Speights is essentially a bankrupt version of Randolph.

Speights has a solid mid-range game, but that skill is just one of many in Randolph's arsenal.

Randolph's injury was a bad thing for the Grizzlies, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it allowed Hansen to grow into a core ball handler.

Speights was able to partner with Hansen to such great effect, and it is exciting to see Randolph's cooperation with Hansen after his comeback.

However, the Grizzlies are not in a hurry to let Randolph return at this time.

Allowing Randolph to train and recover to his best condition is far more helpful than rushing back to play games to find his form.

But at this moment, a discordant voice appeared within the Grizzlies.

In an open training session, Faried publicly expressed his dissatisfaction in front of reporters: "I should play a more important role in the team. I should be the starter."

After training that day, Joerger found Hansen and told him about Farid's problem.

"I communicated with him before the adjustment. Letting Marreese (Speights) start will be more conducive to our offensive space. I will not reduce his playing time." Joerger is not Hollins, let alone Brown. He has communicated.

It was obvious that Jorgel wanted to find Hansen, he just wanted Hansen to try to communicate.

After Randolph's absence, Hansen established a very high prestige in the team with his performance. He is now the person with the most say in the team.

Moreover, Joerger had asked Battier to communicate with him before, but the effect was not good.

Farid was indeed a bit of a troublemaker, just as Hansen had felt at the beginning.

"I'll try." Han Sen agreed.

Faried is now an important rotation player in the paint and plays with passion. He is the kind of person who can be the X factor on certain nights.

It can also be seen from the previous game against the Heat that he has the physical fitness and courage, and is a good hand at making things difficult for James when he travels during off-peak hours.

And because of the similar experience of changing locker rooms, Hansen had a natural sense of empathy for Farid.

In a sense, what is happening now is very similar to what he experienced with the Cavaliers.

Faried worked hard to get into the starting lineup, but was replaced by the starting lineup without doing anything wrong.

Even though he played as a substitute in the past period of time, his overall performance was not inferior to Speights, and he even performed better in rebounding and defense.

Faried is very much like his former self, and now he is in the position that James once was.

But he is not the King of Memphis and does not need to put on so much airs, so unlike when he was on the Cavaliers before, there has been no conflict between him and Faried.

And it is precisely because of that experience with the Cavaliers that he can better understand why Faried did that, and of course he is more aware of the impact that such things will have on the team if they are not handled properly.

When Hansen found Farid, he was sweating profusely in the training hall.

Faried's talent is not the best, otherwise he would not have dropped to 22nd pick, but he did work the hardest, both on and off the court.

This made Han Sen feel like he was seeing his former self.

Farid stopped when he saw Hansen, looking puzzled.

"Come on, let's play two games." Han Sen said.

Farid is eager to try, but he is also full of dissatisfaction.

Faried's defense is very good. Although his height limits him from becoming a top inside defender, his excellent movement speed in the interior also enables him to have the ability to defend smaller players.

But he was a rookie after all, and the person he was facing was Han Sen.

In the first game, Han Sen served first. He defended until the end but failed to block it.

Han Sen's ability to combine sudden attacks and shots put him in a dilemma, and he was easily defeated several times.

Han Sen didn't say anything. In the second game, he gave the ball to Farid and let him start first.

Farid put all his effort into it, but he still couldn't score against Hansen.

Theoretically, he has advantages in weight and confrontation, and he has a chance as long as he can get to the basket, but the reality is that he can't get to the basket.

This is just like when the school team center plays against Isaiah Thomas. The ball is served from the three-point line instead of being fed directly to the basket. You can't score in front of him.

Besides, Faried himself doesn't have many skills and can't shoot, so he has no chance at all.

After the fight, Farid instantly lost his temper.

Not to mention two games, the result would be the same even if you played twenty games.

"Let's talk?" Han Sen pointed to the stool next to him.

Farid nodded.

"When I was in Cleveland, I did the same thing as you, publicly complaining about the team's status in front of the media." Hansen said as he handed Faried a bottle of water.

Farid just stood there in a daze.

In fact, anyone who is not like Guy can probably guess why Han Sen is looking for him privately at this time.

But he still didn't expect Han Sen to do it too.

It wasn't until Han Sen knocked his hand with the water bottle that he came to his senses and took it. "Do you regret it now?"

"Regret? Why should I regret? I don't think I did anything wrong, just like I don't think you did anything wrong." Although Joerger said he had communicated with Faried, Faried's request to start was not met.

Farid stopped twisting the lid and looked at Hansen with his eyes wide open.

He had never expected Han Sen to say that, and he even wondered if he had misunderstood Han Sen's intentions.

“Then I applied for a trade.”

"And then you came to Memphis?" Farid unscrewed the lid and took a sip of water. He was a rookie and had not heard of what happened to Hansen.

"No, they didn't want to trade me, and then I led the third team in the training session and beat the first and second teams. The team gave me everything I needed."

Farid was choked by the water and started coughing.

Three teams beat one and two teams? How is that possible!

But after he calmed down and regained his senses, Han Sen didn't even sweat when he hit him just now...

Although he is a rookie, he has never been beaten like this before. He never had this feeling when facing James against the Heat before.

At this moment, he refreshed his understanding of Han Sen.

How could a person who dares to say that winning the championship is the only goal of the Grizzlies in a season with super teams like the Lakers and the Heat be an ordinary person?

"Kenneth, the biggest difference between the NBA and the NCAA is that it is a commercial league. It is like a jungle. Shouting will not get you what you want. Only if you are strong enough can you get everything."

Farid was thoughtful. If Han Sen had said the following words to him right away, he would have resisted and would have just let it go in one ear and out the other. But after Han Sen shared his similar experiences, it was hard for him not to empathize with him.

"Kenneth, there's only one thing you're worse than Maris in: your shooting," Hansen continued.

Faried's talent is indeed not among the best, but he is definitely better than Speights and has a much higher ceiling.

"But I'm better than him in other aspects." Farid was a little unconvinced.

"Then why can't you improve on the areas where you're worse than him?" Han Sen asked a soul-searching question.

His knowledge of Faried was limited, mostly from his time with the Nuggets, when he could run and jump, but he had never heard from him since then.

He also hadn't heard that Farid had suffered any serious injuries, so the more likely possibility was that he was eliminated by nature.

As the league's requirements for the shooting ability of inside players become higher and higher, many inside players like Faried who have no basket are eliminated.

What's more, Faried is a short inside player. No matter how well he does on defense, he can never cover the restricted area like Gobert.

But if he can develop a basket, even just from mid-range, it will be a different story.

"Don't say you can't practice it. LeBron has developed a three-point shot in Miami this season. You have to know that he didn't develop it in the previous seven years."

Farid wanted to explain, but Hansen stopped him.

Okay, can't argue with that.

"Come on, Kenneth!" Hansen patted Farid on the shoulder and stood up.
"You have to know that when the team made the trade and chose to send Joel (Przybila), it was also to make room for you. Your current characteristics are more suitable for the five position, but if you develop your shooting, you can swing between the four and five positions. At that time, you will be indispensable."

The Grizzlies have Randolph, so Faried has no chance to start.

Faried must know this too. Although he seems to be competing for the starting spot, he is actually still worried that he will fall out of the rotation after Randolph returns.

And what Hansen said is true. If the Grizzlies choose to send Johnson away, Faried will have to compete with Speights and Pulzybila.

The power forward and Speightsby have no shooting ability, and the center and Przybila have no height, so Faried has no chance at all.

The Grizzlies obviously considered this aspect, and of course this was also won by Faried's performance.

Farid stood up and nodded vigorously.

"I think Han can switch to coaching directly after retiring." After seeing that Farid was no longer obsessed with starting and was more enthusiastic about training, Joerger couldn't help but express his emotion to Tois beside him.

He has been a coach for five or six years and has seen many troublesome players. He knows how troublesome it is to deal with them, but Han Sen solved it in one go.

But speaking of it, Hansen has only been with the Grizzlies for more than a year, and no one has disobeyed him. Even people with weird personalities like Gay and Randolph were able to get along well with him in the end.

Those interpersonal skills are more powerful than his skills on the court. He is also good at communication and knows that it can bring out the team's greatest potential.

"Coach? I think he should just become the boss." Tois knew Hansen better than Jorgel.

NBA coaches don't have much power, and Han Sen won't put up with the players' bullying.

"Like Michael?" Jorgel said with a smile.

A week later, the Grizzlies will face the Lakers again.

After two months of recovery, Randolph is ready to officially return in the game against the Lakers.

“We’re going to win it back.”

Because of Han Sen's words, the second match in Memphis, which was also broadcast live across the United States, attracted a lot of attention from the outside world.

Han Sen was eager to try because his [Uncle Drew] was rapidly improving and was approaching a bottleneck as his opponent was targeting him intensively.

That allowed him to perform many difficult moves that he couldn't do before.

The Lakers had an open training session before the game, and Kobe left the court after finishing the training.

Paul stayed and gave media interviews.

"I know Randolph will be back in this game. He wants to beat us, Han wants to beat us, and all the teams in the West want to beat us, but we don't care about that. Our only opponent is ourselves."

When reporters asked Paul Hansen about his previous remarks, Paul seemed very calm.

When these words reached the Grizzlies locker room, the Grizzlies players felt very unhappy.

"That guy really thinks they are going to win!" You see, even Guy could hear the arrogance in Paul's words.

"You can pretend like this even if you are the best in the league." Randolph adjusted his headband.

"Isn't that because you're injured?" Guy complained.

Randolph stopped what he was doing and was about to stand up. He had been annoyed with Guy for a long time.

"Rudy." Hansen called out to Guy. "Stupid" and "unhappy" really don't go together.

"Do you remember what LeBron said before the game against the Heat?"

"I don't know how we lost." Guy's memory was still good.

"CP3 and LeBron are best friends," Han Sen reminded.

The legendary Windy City Four: James, Wade, Anthony, and Paul.

The best relationship among these four people is between James and Paul. They have known each other since high school. In fact, Wade and Anthony also got to know James because of Paul.

Moreover, James and Paul have many similarities. They are both business-type players, commonly known as "smart" players, who make a lot of money on and off the court.

Even in the "history" that Han Sen knew, they were the only two people who had said, "I don't want a championship that's not the FMVP."

"Birds of a feather!" Guy said bluntly.

After hearing this, Randolph sat down again. Compared with Gay, James and Paul were more annoying.

"So, CP3 will also pay the price for his arrogance."

Han Sen's words turned the unhappy atmosphere in the locker room into a united front.

Whether it is James or Paul, they seem stupid when they should be smart.

When you don't respect your opponent, don't expect to get his respect.

Of course, there is another point. Okafor, who did not play in the last match due to injury, will also play in this game, and both teams are fully healthy.

Han Sen also wanted to know how they would perform against the Lakers, a team that Kobe fans said had already won the championship.

(End of this chapter)