Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 395: The Talented Kings

Half a month after arriving in Sacramento, Hansen spent more than two million US dollars to purchase a manor called 90 Riverside Boulevard on the banks of the Sacramento River.

The manor covers an area of ​​more than 120 acres, which is as large as 11 football fields.

In addition to its large area, its most distinctive feature is that it has a huge artificial lake, a private dock and even an island in the lake.

The main building is also castle-style, located beside the lake and the grass, with a very pastoral style.

Sacramento also has some wealthy areas close to the mountains, such as 10 Salem Avenue, which is quite famous. However, wildfires often occur in this part of California. In addition, Sacramento is a hot, dry city with a high greening rate. If you encounter one, the mountains will really burn down.

In contrast, except for the trees planted by the lake and next to the villas, the rest of the manor is green grass and there is also an artificial lake. Even if there is a wildfire, there will be no problem of the fire hydrants being out of water.

Especially after the Twin Towers were breached, American firefighters were basically in a state of lethargy and did not dare to take risks with such things.

Of course, comfort is more important than safety. This is a perfect dream leisure residence. Jokic will definitely like this place very much.

Not long after Han Sen moved in, the manor welcomed its first guest, Tyronn Lue, the head coach of the team appointed by Han Sen.

There was only one word to describe the state Lu saw Han Sen in: elated.

Lu retired in 2009 and immediately went to work as an assistant coach under Rivers. He followed Rivers for five years and then followed Malone for four years, a total of nine years. Now he can be considered to have finally become a successful coach.

Who would have thought that Lue, whose most memorable scene as a player was being stepped over by Allen Iverson, would one day become an NBA head coach.

Of course, in addition to Chunfeng's surprise, Lu looked at Hansen with more gratitude.

Competition for head coaching positions in the NBA is fierce, and with so many famous coaches waiting for their vacancies, this kind of job opportunity is extremely valuable.

Han Sen also invited Lu to the semi-open terrace on the lakeside to eat Chinese barbecue.

The lake can create water effect and air convection effect. Sitting in this position, there will be natural wind convection. It is not only cool but also has beautiful scenery. This manor is really suitable for enjoying life.

Han Sen even grilled a few skewers of lamb for Lu himself, which made Lu even more flattered.

In fact, Han Sen chose Lu not only because of his excellent interpersonal skills, but also because he was one of his own.

From the management to the coaching staff, they are all his own people, so Hansen can easily control the direction of the King's ship.

Although this also means that Hansen must lead the team to success, if he fails, he will be the next James in the Cavaliers period.

And this time he didn't have to call himself the King, because as he arrived in Sacramento, he already had a nickname, "The Real King."

If he fails to do this, it will have a huge impact on his personal influence. It will not only cause him to be criticized, but at least it will be like Wizard Joe, who said, "If only he had chosen to retire directly at that time."

Of course, since Han Sen dared to do this, it showed that he had enough confidence.

Even though they were a group of rookies, he knew the talents of the king's men.

While eating, Lu also talked to Hansen about the current situation of the Kings.

In addition to Hansen, Mitchell, Tatum and Gay, among the other players of this team, the most important one is Sabonis in the interior.

Sabonis Jr. was the first player that Hansen recommended the Kings to select. He became a starting player shortly after joining the Kings. Last season, he averaged 13.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 51.4%. Although he did not shoot many three-pointers, he still had a shooting percentage of 35.1%.

Although he is not a true space inside player, he has a soft touch like his father, and his offensive shooting is stable both in the low post and in mid-range.

Han Sen's previous psychological positioning of him was a weakened version of Jokic, which is a pretty accurate description.

When playing against the Kings last season, Sabonis and Mitchell's hand-off tactics in the high post caused the Cavaliers some trouble.

Moreover, Sabonis Jr.'s father is the world-renowned "Roof of the World" Sabonis. Compared with Bronny, he, who became an All-Star player in "history", is the true representative of "a good father will have a good son".

However, what Hansen remembers most is the scene where he was lying on the ground and was "murdered" by Green who stepped on his chest.

In addition, the Kings have another inside player, Cauley-Stein, who was selected as the No. 2015 pick in 6.

Stan is 2 meters tall and has a wingspan of 13 meters. In terms of static aspects, he is at an adequate level as an inside player, but what makes him truly outstanding is his dynamic talent.

He is the best defensive player in the NCAA. Although he is an inside player, he has excellent footwork and can directly switch to defend the opponent's outside players when encountering a pick-and-roll. In theory, he can defend five positions.

Hansen previously suggested that the Kings choose Jaren Jackson Jr. to partner with Sabonis Jr., essentially because Jackson also has this ability.

Han Sen had some impression of Stan when he played against the Kings before.

However, Stan's biggest problem is his offense. Although the draft report stated that he had the talent to develop shooting ability, he could only make baskets after playing in the NBA for three years.

As a mobile inside player, this directly limits his ceiling.

On the outside, there is another No. 6 pick, Hield.

Unlike Stan, Hield was not drafted by the Kings, but came from the Pelicans in the three-way trade for Cousins.

When Hield first joined the Kings, he played 25 games, starting 16 of them, averaging 15.1 points per game, averaging 5.5 three-pointers per game, and shooting 42.8% from three-point range.

After Mitchell came last season, he was squeezed to the bench by the opponent, and his average points per game dropped to 12.1 points. He averaged 5.1 three-pointers per game, but his hit rate increased to 43.2%.

Hield was a breakthrough player in the NCAA, but in the NBA he developed an elite level of outside shooting, which shows his shooting talent.

But he is also a player with very obvious strengths and weaknesses. His three-point shooting is good enough, but his defense is also very mediocre, even clichéd.

His height of 1 meters and wingspan of 93 meters are barely enough, but it is still far behind Mitchell, and his lateral movement is also far worse than Mitchell.

This type of player is most suitable to play as the team's sixth man, like Kerr of the Bulls back then.

However, the Kings' real sixth man is not Hield, but another player, Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Bogdan was a first-round pick in 2014 and was selected by the Suns with the 27th pick. The draft pick then went to the Kings, who signed him with a three-year, $3 million contract last season.

Hansen was deeply impressed by Bogdan, but it did not come from the game, but from the "history" he knew.

As Jokic's national team outside partner, Bogdan has outstanding personal ability and game temperament. He has a classic saying: The players of the Dongda men's basketball team don't know how to play.

Bogdan is a swingman who can hold the ball and organize the game as well as play without the ball. Last season, he averaged 11.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage reached 4.1% with 39.2 shots per game.

In addition, there are a number of young players such as Skal Labissiere and Justin Jackson.

On paper alone, the Kings are now full of talent.

But there is a reason why the Kings were previously called the "rookie graveyard". Judging from the training of Tyreke Evans alone, the training level of the previous management was indeed worrying.

Mitchell was able to play well last season, and he was essentially similar to Jimmy Butler back then, with both strong strength and mental quality. And this kind of team has another characteristic, which can also be seen from the time these players entered the league. Although the team was almost "built" by Hansen, they were all selected in the past two or three years, and the rookie bonus has already exceeded half.

If he fails to lead the team to achieve good enough results in the next two to three years, he will then face widespread problems with rookie contract renewals.

So although Han Sen has a lot of time, it is actually very tight.

But the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

If he can lead such a team to the top, even just once, it will be more valuable than any previous championship.

Because that would be a true single-core win.

By the time the two had finished talking about the team lineup, they had almost finished their meal.

It was already evening, the sun was setting, and the weather was getting much cooler.

Han Sen invited Lu to go on a boat trip on the lake.

The lake covers an area of ​​about 13 acres, which is larger than a football field, and looks like a giant key.

According to the real estate person, there are many fish raised there.

After Han Sen got on the boat, he sat on the side of the boat, fishing and continuing to chat with Lu.

"Have you met Vlad?" Han Sen asked after casting his fishing rod.

Normally, the first thing Lu does when he arrives in Sacramento is to sign a contract with the team, so he and Divac must have met.

Sure enough, when Hansen asked this, Lu nodded: "We have talked about some coaching staff matters, and he recommended Jeff Hornacek to me."

Han Sen had just set up his fishing rod when he couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead.

If he hadn't known that Divac had already started a family, he would have thought that Divac had fallen in love with Hornacek's daughter Abby.

But the more realistic situation is that Divac has his own ideas.

This is also normal. Everyone has his or her own ideas and will work hard to realize them.

"What about your own choice?"

Han Sen would not interfere with Lu on the issue of assistant coaches. After all, that was Lu's own coaching team and his partner.

"Jeff Van Gundy."

However, Lu mentioned a candidate who was not on the list given by Divac before and who surprised him.

范甘迪上一次在NBA执教还要追溯到2006~2007赛季，他执教火箭队在2007年季后赛首轮2比0领先爵士的情况下被翻盘，他也被火箭队解雇。

After being fired, he has been working as a commentator for ESPN and ABC TV. It has been 12 years since he last coached.

As a Dongda student, Han Sen must be familiar with Van Gundy. In his previous life, he had a love-hate relationship with this "Bald Van".

Because of him, Yao Ming grew into the peak of his career, and for a period of time he was the top two center in the league and crushed another center;

But also because of him, Yao Ming ended his career early due to overgrowth.

Of course, that was his thought in his previous life. Now, after playing professional basketball for so many years and experiencing so many things, his views have changed a little.

As he discussed with Rose before, the players actually know the risks to some extent.

We are all adults. It is not others who force you to make a choice. Instead, the choice is given to you and you make it yourself.

So when fans feel sorry or regret about those things, Yao Ming may have chosen a shorter but more glorious career just like Rose.

"Why him?" Han Sen was curious.

But after thinking about it, he changed the way of asking the question: "Can you convince him?"

Van Gundy is doing very well in the commentary booth and can be said to be one of the most popular commentators outside of the TNT team.

Moreover, his style is to speak boldly and he often criticizes the referee's decisions, which makes him an outlier among commentators.

"Yes, I played for him." Lu looked confident.

Han Sen was stunned when he heard this.

After searching in his mind, he finally remembered.

In addition to his strong communication skills, Lu was also a "vagrant" during his playing career and has been teammates with many superstars.

He started out as a teammate of the "OK combination" in the Lakers, then became famous for defending Iverson, and went to the Wizards to be teammates with Wizards' Joe. After Jordan retired, he went to the Magic to be teammates with McGrady, then followed McGrady to the Rockets and became teammates with Yao Ming, and in his last year he was also a teammate of Howard.

What Lue was talking about when he played for Van Gundy was the period when he was traded to the Rockets.

Lu's strength is communication, just like Han Sen can always use resonance to build relationships with teammates. The common foundation of this ability is the ability to understand each other.

Therefore, Lue is highly praised by these superstar teammates (Wizards' Joe said that Lue was the best teammate during his time with the Wizards), and of course he also has a good understanding of the level of the coaches he has played for.

However, Lu's move to find Van Gundy to break through was a bit counterproductive.

After all, Van Gundy coached Lue in the past, but now he is going to be Lue's first assistant coach.

This would be an impossible task for anyone else, but he knew Lu's communication skills.

"If necessary, you can say that I admire his coaching level and look forward to working with him." Han Sen also gave Lu an assist.

Although there is not much intersection between him and Van Gundy, he is known as a good coach among NBA superstars.

At the beginning, Joerger made direct remarks to promote the game, and these remarks will have some effect.

"Thank you, Han. With your words, my confidence has increased from 8 points to 12 points." Lu is still so eloquent.

At this moment, the buoy in the water sank instantly.

A fish is hooked.

(End of this chapter)