Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 200 This boss doesn't look like a good person

After the preseason ended and before the season began, the NBA officially released the first team strength list of the season.

The Heat top the list.

The official evaluation was just one sentence, but it was also concise and clear: "This is the strongest team on paper in history."

The Grizzlies, the defending champions, are in second place.

The official evaluation is: "The 1991 Bulls? Or the 2001 Lakers? They have a chance to become another legendary team."

The Lakers, Spurs, Nets, Mavericks, and Nuggets ranked 3rd to 7th.

The Thunder were only ranked eighth.

The official evaluation is: "The Thunder's lineup is luxurious, but we need to doubt the compatibility of LeBron and Russell playing together. They may rub out amazing sparks, or there may be irreconcilable conflicts."

After this list was released, it was unsurprisingly attacked by James fans.

James is stronger than Durant, Afflalo is more compatible than Harden. He was ranked sixth in the Thunder's predictions last season, but now he is ranked eighth in the new season?
You officials seem unreliable!

Then they dug deeper and found out that this official list was made by Stan.

After his list was well received by fans for two consecutive years, the reporter was directly recruited by the league.

Stan's social media was bombarded again.

However, this old octopus was also tough. He just posted a status saying "See you after the opening game" and then closed the comments.

This wave of operations has further increased the popularity of the opening game between the Grizzlies and the Thunder.

In fact, according to the league's usual practice, the opening game will be between the defending champion and the finals opponent.

For example, the Heat and Mavericks last season, and the Lakers and Magic the season before that.

However, this year's matchup between the Heat and the Grizzlies is clearly the highlight, and the league has scheduled them for the Christmas game.

As a second choice, the Thunder will have to suffer. After all, every time James and Hansen met last season, the traffic exploded.

The Grizzlies are the defending champions, and there will be a championship ring award ceremony in the opening game, so the game will naturally be held in Memphis.

Not only was the FedEx Center packed, but the online ratings also reached the level of last year's finals.

"Watching James and Hansen receive championship rings" is a very interesting thing in itself.

Before leaving for the court, the Grizzlies players were more excited than each other in the locker room.

The championship trophy belongs to the team, only the ring belongs to the individual.

When they walked out of the player tunnel wearing long sleeves that symbolized the championship, they saw the arranged venue at a glance.

There is a round table in the center of the court, with the Grizzlies' championship trophy in the middle, and in front of the trophy, more than 20 rings are placed in a circle.

Guy couldn't help rubbing his hands.

Although the other players on the Grizzlies didn't act so directly, they kept their eyes fixed in that direction and couldn't move away.

What's more funny is that before the championship ceremony began, the live broadcast of TNT gave a close-up shot of James.

James' frown is a guarantee of ratings.

You know, because of being KO, James failed to witness the Grizzlies' championship moment, but now he can at least witness the Grizzlies' award ceremony, which makes up for the shortcoming.

But his mood at the moment should be very complicated, because if you go back to two years ago, he would never dream that Hansen would win the championship before him.

Of course, if we think on the bright side, he was the one who gave away the championship, and he also contributed to it.

After a while, Stern came to the center of the arena and the lights on the scene focused on the round table.

Under the focused light, the diamond on the ring reflects the light, dazzling.

The live award ceremony began, with Stern delivering a speech.

All the Grizzlies players are eager to try at this time.

After the speeches, Stern presented championship rings to everyone.

First is the team owner Haisley, then general manager Wallace and members of the management team, followed by head coach Joerger and members of the coaching staff, and finally the players.

This year, the Grizzlies are imitating the Lakers' 2009 ceremony. In addition to receiving their championship rings, the players on the court will also use a brief speech to introduce the next player.

Hansen was the last to appear on stage, followed by Battier.

Before Battier opened his mouth, the crowd was already cheering because Hansen was the only one who had not received the ring.

"The next player I'm going to introduce is a very good one. He led this team and changed the fate of this city. I think he is the one who is more suitable to be called 'President'. He is Hansen!"

You can always trust Battier's eloquence. Before he finished speaking, the cheers from the audience were overwhelming.

It has been nearly half a year since they won the championship, but it seems like it just happened yesterday.

At this moment, just as at that moment.

Hansen looked very stable. He waved calmly as he walked towards Stern. After shaking hands with Stern, he took his first championship ring from Haisley.

The ring is not luxurious, but it is very creative. It looks like the FedEx Center.

On the front of the ring is the Grizzlies' team logo, a big bear head, and the few diamond rings are all inlaid in the center of the bear's forehead, forming a "1" pattern, representing that this is the Grizzlies' first championship in team history.

Han Sen put on the ring.

The cheers from the audience were already resounding throughout the stadium.

And the cheers gradually turned into a uniform "handsome".

Han Sen's emotions could no longer be concealed. He kissed his own palms and blew kisses to all the fans at the scene.

After taking the microphone from the reporter, he also needed to give a speech.

Because he was the last one, there was no one else behind him. This arrangement was also to allow him to make a speech as the leader of the team.

But Han Sen doesn't follow the usual path.

"The next person I want to introduce, I think it's very good to describe him, he is our 16th man, he has become our strongest backing with his shouts of 'Whoop that trick', without his support we can't do this, he is you, the fans of the Grizzlies!"

His words completely drove the fans at the scene crazy.

At this moment they knew that Battier was not just being polite. Hansen was truly their "President"!
Then, the scene was replaced by the familiar “Whoop that trick”.

Han Sen also made a listening gesture.

The Grizzlies' award ceremony, this moment has also become a world-famous painting.

The live camera was given to James again, and the camera language was at its fullest, accompanied by the shouts from the audience.

At this time, Nike executives cursed ESPN in their hearts. The live broadcast rights were basically purchased by ESPN and TNT through bidding. This season, TNT spent a lot of money to buy the regular season live broadcast rights just for this wave of traffic.

Fortunately, the award ceremony always comes to an end. When the championship flag representing the Grizzlies was raised in front of the players, the lights on the scene also lit up.

As the players prepared to warm up, Sacre, the Grizzlies' only rookie this year, looked at Gay playing with the ring in his hand with envy.

Han Sen handed him his ring and let him try it.

"Don't be envious, you will have it at the end of this season." He said lightly after taking back the ring.

Han Sen's confidence not only made Sacre look expectant, but even Guy put down his ring and patted Sacre on the shoulder:

"If Han says yes, then yes."

They may be rebellious, but when it comes to confidence, that is what Han Sen gave them.

After all, as Battier said, it was Hansen who changed the fate of all of them.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both teams were announced. Thunder: Westbrook, Afflalo, James, Ibaka, Lopez Jr.

Grizzlies: Conley, Hansen, Gay, Randolph, Gasol

Before the starting players came on the court, James did not throw magnesium powder.

It’s not that he was worried that the Grizzlies would empty his magnesium powder bottle again, but in the press conference held for him by the Thunder, James had already said that he was mature now and no longer threw magnesium powder.

After Hansen came on the court, before the jump ball started, Afflalo, who was facing him, had already stuck to him.

Speaking of Harden's deal, Hansen was still very surprised.

As a time traveler, he knew that in "history" the Thunder traded Harden for Kevin Martin, the "first generation scammer".

Previously, Martin went to the Hornets in the Bynum trade, and the Rockets' first-round pick also passed him by. He thought Harden would go to the Hornets to be the queen bee and lead the Hornets to take off together with Anthony Davis.

Unexpectedly, Harden finally went to the Rockets, and the Thunder also took the opportunity to trade for Afflalo.

This action can be said to be his underestimation of the Thunder management.

Because judging from their "history" of trading Harden for Martin and forming a lineup with overlapping core functions such as Westbrook, George, and Anthony, it shows that how good their draft vision is, how poor their trading ability is.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have selected a bunch of historical stars, but in the end, let alone winning the championship, they only made it to the finals once.

So looking back at their trading Durant for James, it was completely normal.

Back to Afflalo, he is a standard 3D player, or to be more precise, a 3D player whose strength is between the main force and the star.

What he and Sefolosha have in common is that they are both excellent defenders, but the difference is that Afflalo's three-pointers can generate output.

The simplest data comparison is that last season, the three-point shooting percentage of both players was around 40%, and Sefolosha might be a little higher, but Sefolosha made less than 2 shots per game, while Afflalo could make 4.

In addition, Afflalo is also capable of dribbling through and posting up in the low post, and is not a pure role player.

Last season, he averaged 15.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for the Nuggets, and is clearly a better fit for the Thunder than Martin and his ilk.

The whistle sounded on the sidelines, and Gasol Jr. jumped over Lopez Jr., giving the Grizzlies the opportunity to attack first.

An award ceremony had just been held on the scene, and the fans were extremely excited. There were cheers as soon as the game started.

The Grizzlies started the game with Randolph's low-post tactics, with Hansen running without the ball to contain the defense.

However, Gasol's pick-and-roll did not block Afflalo.

Although both are known for their defense, Afflalo is a little different from Sefolosha.

Sefolosha has more defensive confrontations, but Afflalo is more like Tony Allen and is more flexible.

Moreover, Hansen discovered that Afflalo was consciously pushing him inside, and it seemed that he wanted to cooperate with Ibaka in defense.

This kind of defender is actually more difficult to deal with.

Of course, Hansen was not used in this round. Randolph crushed Ibaka in the low post and turned around to score the ball.

From positioning to singles to successful shots, Randolph's overall feeling is completely different from last season.

Although injuries like torn ligaments are irreversible, he is already very close to the state when Hansen first came to the Grizzlies.

This is a major asset of the Grizzlies against the Heat.

On the Grizzlies bench, a bald man stood up from his seat almost like a catapulted shot, and then waved a towel excitedly.

Sacre's action attracted puzzled looks from all his teammates, but he didn't care and continued waving the towel.

Han Sen noticed it and pointed in the direction of Sacre.

It looks like the Grizzlies' water coolers are safer this season than before.

But he quickly turned his attention back to the court.

Because he was really curious about how this Thunder team would play with two ball-handling core players.

Then, he was disappointed.

Because Westbrook was arranged on the weak side, on the strong side, James held the ball and backed up Gay.

This is not the Thunder, this is the Oklahoma City Heat!
But this is understandable. After all, "the Kings have brought hope and tomorrow to Oklahoma City," and the management will definitely ask the coaching staff to give them enough tactical status.

James backed down Gay and then took a turnaround jump shot.

This is one of his signature offensive methods now, but I don’t know if his mentality was affected by the award ceremony, the ball was a bit off.

The basketball hit the front of the backboard and bounced out, and was picked up by Gasol Jr.

Han Sen rushed out with one quick step.

Having won a championship ring, he also had a strong desire to score tonight.

Gasol Jr. passed the ball to Hansen, who broke through to the frontcourt.

However, Afflalo did not lose his defensive position, and he firmly embedded himself between Hansen and the basket.

Han Sen moved closer to him, then used him as an axis while moving, turned around and made a layup.

This time Afflalo had no chance to interfere, and Hansen's layup went in easily.

The talents improved by [God's Farewell] can not only improve his ability to turn and fade away, but also improve his ability to turn and finish.

Sacre once again turned into a towel man, and this time the Grizzlies players were no longer so surprised.

With such a teammate, there is no need to worry about the team's morale in the future.

Hansen brushed past Westbrook while retreating, and the two looked into each other's eyes.

Han Sen shook his head, his disappointment evident on his face.

Russell, I had high hopes for you during training camp!
Why did you, as a driver, end up hitting the passenger?

Perhaps sensing Hansen's emotions, in the Thunder's next offensive round, when James continued to lean on Gay to get position, Westbrook refused to give him the ball!

It's just that direct, which is very Westbrook.

Westbrook also showed his improvement in strength. After a pick-and-roll with Lopez, he rushed into the Grizzlies' inside line as if he was stepping on a rocket. Before Gasol Jr. returned to defense, he stretched his body into a bow and made a violent slam dunk.

This ball caused a stir at the scene. Westbrook turned his anger over Durant being traded into strength. After hard training in the summer, he directly evolved into Megatron!

The prerequisite for Westbrook to compete with James for the top spot is that he has enough strength, and now he does have it.

This time the Thunder are going to have a good show to watch.

Han Sen didn't have to wait too long for this good show.

Two minutes into the game, because he couldn't get the ball, James took the initiative to communicate with Westbrook after a dead ball in an offensive round.

James' emotions were still very stable, but Westbrook looked a little excited.

You didn't score but I did, so why should I give you the ball?

James also realized that Westbrook was not as easy to talk to as Wade, and was about to give up communicating.

Just at this moment, Han Sen came over and clapped his hands loudly at them.

"Come on, Russell, this is your team!" Applause was not enough, Han Sen fired directly at James' face.

This scene happened right in front of the Grizzlies bench.

Thackeray's expression was shocked at this moment.

Han Sen's previous speech was very impressive, and he looked like a top-notch, high-quality boss.

But now... this boss doesn't look like a good person!
(End of this chapter)