Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 296: The Clash of Times

As a continuation of last year's finals, the league also scheduled this Cavaliers-Warriors battle as the season opener.

The publicity surrounding this game also started early.

Although the alliance is still a Nike alliance, Silva hopes that UA will continue to grow bigger and stronger.

Because there is another major sensitive event this season: the jersey sponsorship contract that Adidas originally signed with the league will expire after the end of the season.

If it weren't for the rise of UA, Nike would have become the new jersey sponsor in advance, but now, this position will also be decided by this season.

As the league's publicity machine got into gear, a lot of news about the opening game came out one after another.

The Warriors suffered bad news before the start of the season, and this bad news did not come from the players, but from the coach.

Warriors head coach Kerr had a back surgery during the offseason. He did not follow the example of his former teammate Rodman and have surgery before the start of the season, but the complications caused by the surgery caused him to miss at least two to three months, just like Rodman.

The Warriors' coaching baton is now in the hands of the team's first assistant coach, who is not Gentry. With the reputation he established with the Warriors last season, Gentry has taken over as the head coach of the Pelicans in the new season. The current first assistant coach is Luke Walton, a former Lakers star and the team's second assistant coach last season.

But does it matter?
Obviously it doesn't matter, because what Kerr brought to the Warriors was tactical concepts rather than coaching ability.

The Warriors' system is now mature, and they can even tie a dog to the coaching bench.

What attracted more attention than Kerr's absence was what Green said during an interview on media day.

Previously, because of Kobe's retirement announcement, Green's remarks were covered by information, but when the opening game came, it was dug up by the media again.

"You all talk about Han being the best player, but we beat them, so Steph is the best player, and his performance in training camp this year is amazing, he will be the best player in the new season."

Although Thompson won the FMVP of the finals last season, Green knows better than anyone who the real thigh of the Warriors is. As long as he holds on to that thigh tightly, he won't have to worry about the rest of his life.

After the Cavaliers arrived in Oakland and the open training ended, reporters also asked Hansen about his opinion on Green's remarks.

Han Sen skipped that topic directly.

The role of the black fan leader is just to help him automatically generate black fan value.

Of course, Hansen’s non-response does not mean that other members of the Cavaliers will not respond.

"That guy is just a bully. He is nothing without Stephen." TT fired directly.

"We are the champions, and they have accomplished nothing." Green's level of verbal warfare is quite accomplished.

On opening night, Oracle Arena was packed.

For the vast majority of fans, the championship 40 years ago is almost the same as having no championship at all. After all, the vast majority of fans who watch the NBA were not even a fertilized egg 40 years ago.

Of course, in order to highlight this history, the Warriors took great pains to find the fans who witnessed the Warriors win the championship that year and arranged for them to wear commemorative Warriors T-shirts.

Most of them are in their seventies or eighties, and the youngest one is already 58 years old. They may not still have the same passion as before, but as long as they pay more, they can still continue to have the passion.

All in all, the atmosphere at the Warriors' award ceremony was quite good.

Otherwise, how can the Warriors' market value continue to rise? In addition to Curry, the team's operations are also very good.

And the boss is willing to spend a lot of money.

According to pre-match news reports, this time the Warriors' championship rings were designed by famous jewelry designer Jason Alaseben, and the cost of each ring reached a staggering $100 million!
Generally speaking, ordinary championship rings, such as the one awarded to Hansen by the Grizzlies before, are worth tens of thousands of dollars. This has more than doubled the price tenfold. It can be said that it is unprecedented and will be difficult to surpass in the future.

However, Han Sen felt that the 100 million was a bit of bragging. For example, the design fee cost 80. Since the ring is so small, it would not be worth that much even if you covered it with diamonds.

Before the warm-up began, a championship ring award ceremony was held on site, and more than 20 championship rings were placed in the center of the stage.

Under the spotlight, it's a bit blinding.

Han Sen also saw the legendary million-dollar ring.

It's actually studded with diamonds!
It’s great to be close to the Bay Area, and you can spend as much money as you can.

And this is the best publicity, allowing all fans to see the investment that the management is willing to make for the team, and the fans' enthusiasm for watching the game is high.

I don’t know what kind of sincerity Gilbert will show when the Cavaliers really win the championship.

The Warriors players began to go up to receive their personal rings.

Curry showed the details to the camera when he received the ring.

The Warriors' classic team logo, the Oakland Bay Bridge, the bridge is gold, but the filling part in the middle of the rope is sapphire, and next to the bridge is the "30" logo, which is Curry's jersey number.

When the details were displayed on the large LED screen, they drew cheers from the Warriors fans at the scene.

Of course, the Cavaliers players' eyes were filled with desire.

Except for Hansen and Garnett, the rest of the team is still without a championship.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.

Cavaliers: Irving, Hansen, Tucker, TT, Garnett
Warriors: Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Green, Bodog
Except for Irving, the starting lineups of both teams have not changed much from last season's finals.

The Warriors' biggest reinforcement this summer was the signing of former James loyalist Varejao, who lost his value and was kicked out.

In order to renew Green's contract, the Warriors also sent David Lee to Boston, which is also an important reason why the outside world is not optimistic about their defense of the title this season.

TT beat Bogot with a jump shot, winning the Cavaliers the opportunity to attack first and officially opening the curtain of the game.

The game had just started for a while when the whistle sounded on the court and TT was called for an offensive foul.

This is not a black whistle, but TT and Green made big movements when they were competing without the ball.

On the one hand, his body was too excited, and on the other hand, he was always annoyed with Green.

In fact, the main reason why he asked for a high price from the Cavaliers management when renewing his contract was because Green got a five-year, $5 million contract extension from the Warriors, and he also wanted to get something similar to show that he was no worse than him.

Ma Long then stood up and reminded TT to control his emotions.

After a small incident, the game continued.

The Warriors' tactics were launched, Curry and Green played pick-and-roll outside the three-point line, Green broke the ball and went down, and Curry... just threw the ball half a meter away from the three-point line!
This choice took everyone by surprise.

Not to mention how good Curry's shooting is at that distance, the Warriors' tactics have just started.

Han Sen certainly knew that Curry had the shooting range, but the key was that this was just the beginning!
This feeling is like inserting the key to start the car and then stepping on the accelerator to the floor.

Under normal circumstances, it is easy to explode.

But Curry just threw the ball in.

The reason why Curry can be called a groundbreaking player is not because of how accurately he can shoot reasonable three-pointers, but because he can throw these seemingly unreasonable three-pointers!
This goal also ignited the enthusiasm of Warriors fans at the beginning of the game.

But the Cavaliers are proceeding step by step.

Hansen held the ball and played pick-and-roll with Garnett, breaking through Bodog and making a quick stop mid-range shot.

Every team has its own suitable rhythm. If they compete for three-pointers at the beginning, they will fall into the Warriors' rhythm.

In the transition between offense and defense, Irving also strengthened his defense on Curry. At this time, his hard work in the summer was also demonstrated, and Curry was unable to get rid of him all at once while dribbling the ball.

But soon, Curry passed the ball to Green, then made a hand-to-hand screen and a rim-viewing move that sent Irving flying.

This is also the most difficult part of peak Curry to defend, just like Kobe's fake move will make him shoot if you don't jump, Curry will shoot if you don't jump.

Seizing the moment when Irving jumped, Curry quickly rushed into the inside, passed TT, and made a layup before Garnett pounced on him.

If Curry's three-point shooting before was unreasonable, then now he is like an elf on the court, flying around the court so fast that there is no time to assist in defense.

Han Sen was also a little surprised at this time.

During the previous training camp, Curry didn't give him the feeling that he was undefended.

It can be seen that Curry has thrown himself into the training hall during the entire offseason.

From this perspective, it was actually a good thing for Curry that he didn't win the FMVP in last season's finals, because if it hadn't happened, Curry might have just enjoyed his life after winning the championship.

Failure divides people into different types, and so does setbacks.

After realizing this, Han Sen also became excited.

After the pick-and-roll with Garnett, he changed direction, passed Bodog and rushed to the inside. It was as if his feet were equipped with rocket thrusters and he flew up in an instant.

Green then came to assist in defense under the basket and stretched out his long arms towards Hansen.

Green's first-team defense last season was really solid, he really dares to defend.

Of course, the ending was really tragic.

Han Sen's jumping speed was much faster than Green's, and his jumping height was beyond Green's reach.

Of course, the most important thing is Han Sen’s physical fitness.

After the two people collided in the air, Green was knocked back directly.

"Oh!"

Han Sen pushed the ball into the basket through Green!

The Oracle Arena, which had originally been ignited by Curry's consecutive performances, suddenly became restless.

If you can use some logic to deal with this game, it won't be completely unreasonable.

Green, who was knocked to the ground, was also confused.

In order to make himself worthy of the big contract he just signed, he also worked hard this past summer. That made him soar in confidence and was also the reason why he dared to brag on the media day.

But the dunk just now made him feel like his confidence was collapsing.

Especially when Han Sen stared at him after landing, he was so scared that he didn't dare to move.

He felt that if he moved, Han Sen would step over him.

This emotion also affected his offensive performance. After he screened for Curry and received the pass, his butt-sticking three-pointer hit the rim and went wide.

Garnett protected the defensive rebound and the Cavaliers pushed for a fast break, but the Warriors retreated quickly and both sides switched positions.

After receiving the ball in the frontcourt, Hansen leaned against Thompson with his back, and before the double-team came up, he made a fake back-to-back breakthrough to force Thompson's center of gravity to shift, and then he turned around and shot backward.

The pose is picturesque.

"Shh!"

With Hansen scoring 6 points in a row at the beginning, the Cavaliers immediately took the lead.

Jokic waved a towel excitedly on the sidelines. He really did what he said on media day.

Curry ran without the ball, and after receiving the ball, he attracted a double-team and made a beautiful behind-the-back pass without looking at anyone.

The ball accurately fell into Thompson's hands, and Thompson made a three-pointer after receiving the ball.

After playing together for four consecutive seasons, the tacit understanding between the two has reached the level of tacit understanding.

Hansen passed the ball after being double-teamed, but unfortunately Irving was unable to return the answer ball.

Green grabbed the defensive rebound and advanced with the ball, and the Warriors launched a defensive counterattack.

Curry received the ball one meter away from the three-point line in the frontcourt. At this time, both sides were still retreating.

The moment Irving turned around and looked at the positions of other players, Curry took the shot.

When Irving turned around, the ball had already flown over his head and he didn't even have time to make any move.

When the sound of a goal came from behind him, his eyes were full of disbelief.

No... is this how you play the ball?!

Generally speaking, even the top shooters in the NBA need more than 0.5 seconds from catching the ball to shooting.

But Curry's one-step shot can be even faster, with an average time of 0.4 seconds, and some even say the limit can be as low as 0.3 seconds, which is roughly the time it takes for a person to blink.

6:11.

In the blink of an eye, the Warriors not only overtook the score, but also led the Cavaliers by 5 points.

The scene was once again filled with the excited cheers of Warriors fans.

Do you think the Warriors’ championship last season was the limit?
No, that's just the beginning. This season's Warriors are at their true peak!
But once again, the fans' cheers didn't last long.

Because Hansen turned around and broke through Thompson and rushed into the inside, he made a close-range rebound shot under double-teaming and caused Bodog to commit a defensive foul.

When Han Sen made the free throw, the score difference returned to one goal.

Nine minutes into the first quarter, the score was 9 to 31, with the Warriors leading.

The two teams played evenly, and more importantly, the two teams have scored 58 points in total.

Among them, Curry scored 14 points and Hansen scored 16 points.

Green's words before the game were very arrogant, but Curry this season can indeed be regarded as a player on the same level as Hansen on the offensive end.

Although the offensive methods displayed by the two players in the game were very different.

The biggest change for Curry this season compared to previous seasons is that he has simplified his offensive means. Now he basically uses three-pointers, lobs and breakthroughs. He has evolved these three skills to the extreme and connected them to each other. In fact, it is modern basketball that pursues ultimate offensive efficiency.

Hansen has comprehensive offensive skills, but after the opening his playing style was still more like that of the beginning of the century, getting as close to the basket as possible, and then supplemented by a lot of mid-range finishes.

The fans were in a trance because it was like two eras colliding on the field.

(End of this chapter)