Chapter 570 Evaluation of the four quarterbacks

  On the 20th, Wang Tiejun went to the team headquarters to report.

   After leaving the Suns in 1997, this is the first time he has returned to the Suns headquarters in five years. It feels both familiar and unfamiliar.

   "Welcome back to our Sun King."

   Entering the headquarters, all the management, staff and coaching staff line up to welcome.

   "I believe, this is a new beginning." Lao Wang said confidently.

   "Clap clap clap..."

  The Suns headquarters burst into warm applause.

  Pharaoh looked at the management and saw many acquaintances, such as Miss Molly from the PR department, team doctor Andrew John, chief trainer Aaron Nelson, etc., and went up to say hello.

After the welcome ceremony, the crowd dispersed, and Pharaoh followed Colangelo Jr. to the latter's office, along with D'Antoni, assistant coaches Van Gundy Jr., and Frank Johnson.

After sitting down, I asked the assistant to bring in the coffee. Little Colangelo said: "Old K, we also have an assistant, Mr. Scott Skelter, who will lead the team to play preseason games. But The preseason is over, the team will be back tomorrow and the official training camp will start the day after."

   "Brian, how is our lineup?" Pharaoh asked with concern.

Little Colangelo got up and took out a piece of paper from a drawer in the office, then handed it to Pharaoh and said, "There are no stars in the free market this year, so I have contacted two of them, but they don't want to come. They are not optimistic about us. I will do it later. Trade as much as you can, and hopefully you will gain something.”

  Pharaoh smiled, didn't say anything, and began to look at the lineup.

   Centers: Wang Tiejun, Ewing, Jack Waskull

   Strikers: Stoudemire, Marion, Tom Gugliotta, Beau Outlaw

  Guards: Nash, Joe Johnson, Anfernee Hardaway, Randy Brown

   This is the current list of 12 players, all of whom have contracts, and there are also five marginal players who have not signed contracts for the time being.

   Little Colangelo introduced: "Old K, your first substitute is Ewing, another Waskull, with average strength, a second-round pick in 2000.

   For the power forward position, Gugliotta still has a little bit of fuel, Outlaw has no strength, it mainly depends on whether Stoudemire can be cultivated this time.

  The small forward is Marion, and Hardaway can fill this position. Shooting back, Joe Johnson, and Hardaway. Point guard, Nash, Hardaway can be benched, Randy Brown has no strength. The main disadvantage now is the small forward, and I am going to find another small forward. "

  D'Antoni said at this time: "Old K, I'm going to start with you, Tom Gugliotta, Marion, Anfernee Hardaway, and Nash, and make adjustments later, what do you think?"

Pharaoh stared at the list in his hand and said: "Gugliotta is old, we don't need to let him start, didn't we choose a rookie power forward? Amare Stoudemire, he can't do it. ?"

   Little Van Gundy said: "Old K, Amare is a high school student. Although his talent is very good, we are worried that he can't assume the starting position. We will use the veteran to transition first, let him get used to it, and then try to start."

  Pharaoh thought about it and thought it was right. Isn't there an idiom called pulling seedlings to encourage growth? He nodded and said, "Yes, we are not pursuing a regular season record this season."

   Everyone nodded, but there was also a kind of pressure on them.

   Last season, the Suns were last in the Western Conference, and Pharaoh is now saying that they do not pursue the regular season record. The implication is that they are pursuing the qualification of the playoffs, which is their pressure.

   Pharaoh's comeback this time has no intention of pursuing honors such as MVP and scoring title, and even the championship is not in his eyes. He only cares about whether he can create a Sun Dynasty.

   Played a dynasty in the Lakers. He also won MVP and FMVP for three consecutive years, as well as personal honors such as regular season scoring and rebounding champions, first-team defense and so on.

Throughout his career, he has won 6 championships in 9 years, one of which is a dynasty. This dynasty is also the only dynasty with three consecutive championships in the modern basketball era of the league. It is of great significance, and he is the absolute core of the team. A person's most important honor.

He also swept the MVP for 5 consecutive years from 1996 to 2000, FMVP from 1995 and 1997 to 2000, two AMVPs, 6 scoring titles from 1995 to 2000, and 6 scoring titles from 1995 to 2000. 5-year rebounding champion, 3 blocked shots, 2 DPOY, 7 best first team, 5 defensive first team, including 5 double first team, best second team once, best defensive second team once, etc. .

   In terms of total career points, as early as the beginning of 1999, he had already exceeded 20,000 points. When he retired, he played a total of 9 seasons and reached 25,316 points.

   In addition, he averaged 36.8 points per game in his career, surpassing Jordan and becoming the first in history.

   It can be said that throughout the 1990s, except for the first two years, which was dominated by Jordan, after that, he was the only one in the world, and he had no shortage of honors.

   However, with this roster in hand, he feels that this season is not enough.

High school student Stoudemire doesn't know if he can play. Joe Johnson has average defense. Last season, he averaged only 9.8 points per game and shot only 42%. Marion is not bad. With rebounds, Nash is okay too.

Calculate the scoring ability of the main lineup, he is 20+, Marion has enough shots, 20+ is no problem, Hardaway and Nash can get 30 points together, not counting high school students, the four main players can also get 70 points + Now, the offense should be okay, and it can be played a dozen times in the regular season.

   But entering the playoffs and encountering a strong team is hard to say.

   "Who are the strong teams now?" he asked.

Little Colangelo introduced: "In the West, the Mavericks will be very strong. They belong to the first team of the championship level. The owner of the new team, Cuban, is willing to spend money. They have Nowitzki. Last year Another trade for Michael Finley, and this time we gave them Marbury again, all three 20-plus All-Stars."

   "Nowitzki?"

  Pharaoh has an impression of this German. A rookie in 1998, he seems to play softly, but he is often suspended, commits a lot of malicious fouls, and often gets tickets. He has played for 9 years, and the number of bad crimes is far less than that of the Germans in the past four years.

   Of course, Kobe is more powerful than that kid, and has a lot of criminals. Now he has a nickname, the Los Angeles Little Malone. After gaining weight to 99 kilograms, a pair of elbows are very thick, and he can be called Malone among defenders.

Colangelo Jr. continued: "In addition to the Mavericks in the West, there are also the Kings. The Kings had the third-best record in the West last season, second only to the Trail Blazers and the Lakers. They have Chris Webber, Peja, Mike Bibby. Now, old K, Bibby, remember, we locals, you talked to him."

   "Remember." Old Wang smiled and nodded.

   Colangelo Jr. continued: "The Kings' offense is playing brilliantly, their head coach is Rick Adelman, he built the Princeton system in the Kings, and the Kings are difficult to deal with.

   In addition, the Blazers who just won the championship, and the Lakers. By the way, the Timberwolves are also good now, Garnett is very strong, and his popularity is even higher than Duncan.

  I won't talk about the Lakers, you know better than me. As for the Trail Blazers, although Da Meng has retired, the lineup is very strong. The lineup of Duncan and Rasheed Wallace is really strong, otherwise they will not be able to win the Nets. "

  Pharaoh is very helpless. The Blazers are all digging the corner of the Suns. Does Paul Allen have a grudge against the Suns?

   "What about the east?" he asked.

   Jr. Colangelo continued to introduce: "The Knicks are no longer good. The Pistons have begun to rise in the past two years. They got Big Ben and Billups..."

  Pharaoh was still helpless when he heard this, these two guys were from the Suns again.

   Colangelo Jr. continued: "They also have Hamilton, Clifford Robinson..."

  Pharaoh was startled, Clifford Robinson, this seems to have been played in the Suns again, right?

"Except for the Pistons, although the Pacers don't have Ewing, their strength is still there. They are still the top team in the East. Philadelphia is okay. Except for these three teams, the Nets, the first in the East last season. I estimate that the new They're still the best in the East this season and most likely to make it to the Finals."

  Little Colangelo said here, and added: "But the Nets have left Van Horn, and Yao is missing a good partner."

  Pharaoh nodded, one less Van Horn, the Nets are still very strong, in addition to Dayao, there are a lot of people such as Kidd, Richard Jefferson and so on.

   Little Colangelo said: "Old K, how to strengthen our current lineup, I'm afraid it will be very difficult, you have to be mentally prepared."

   Speaking of this, he said with some emotion: "After you announced your comeback, when I sought a trade, it was very obvious that no team was willing to trade with the Suns, including those weak teams.

I am afraid you also know the reason. From the Suns to the Lakers, you have 6 championships in 9 years. You have won three consecutive championships in the dynasty of the Lakers, and you have won four consecutive championships personally and won countless honors. Before you retired due to injury, you have become a Public Enemy of the Union.

   So even if the media and the league are not optimistic about your comeback, even if the Suns are bad, the teams in the league will not allow the Suns to get strong reinforcements. We can only make up for it through the free market or the draft. "

There was one more thing he didn't say, that is, Lao K is still a Chinese, and he didn't even get a green card in the United States. When there were not many honorary achievements in the past, this was not a big problem, but now, this is a The big question, the position question, for the United States, the old K is an outsider.

   Old Wang nodded and said, "I understand."

At this time, Colangelo said with a smile: "But we have full confidence in you. As long as you show your still strong dominance, I believe that in the next offseason, the Suns will be attractive to the free market again. , even if they prevent us from reinforcing, we will still be reinvigorated.”

   Then Pharaoh and D'Antoni and other coaches discussed tactical issues.

Tactics are very important to him, because D'Antoni's philosophy was seriously inconsistent with him in the past, and now although he has improved his speed and can play fast breaks, his tonnage is still 130 kg here, so if there are too many fast breaks, It will also be a considerable drain on his body, which requires the team's tactics to be more suitable for him.

   If not, he will definitely ask the team to find another head coach.

   In addition, defense is also very important, and he has to discuss this with the coaching staff.

  D'Antoni returned to Italy after leaving the Suns and coached there for a few more seasons, and it did make a big difference.

   Although he still insists on his own ideas, he is no longer so paranoid and more inclusive.

   These days, he often talks with several assistant coaches about tactical issues, and already has a lot of ideas, but these tactics need to be supported by the management and the old K.

He didn't talk about his offense first, but first talked about defense, which shows that he attaches great importance to defense and said: "Old K, in terms of defense, Jeff is in charge, he will use you as the core of defense to build our defense. system."

Old Wang looked at the little Van Gundy and looked at the latter's head. This gentleman is not very old, but his head is already bald. The first half is shiny, and the bitter melon face is already obvious. What are you worried about.

   Van Gundy scratched his head and began to detail the defensive system he wanted to build.

  Pharaoh has won DPOY twice, but it doesn't matter, what matters is that he has won 5 defensive firsts, which is his defensive strength.

Van Gundy said: "Old K, according to the latest physical test data you provided, whether it's a straight sprint, a return run, or a lateral movement speed, your mobility now is far beyond the previous, reaching the speed of a small forward, so I must Puts more demands on you defensively."

   "Yes." Old Wang nodded.

  Van Gundy said: "I need you to block the entire penalty area, even reach the two-point area, and return to the basket in time."

   "No problem." Old Wang nodded.

  Van Gundy said: "The reason why you need to defend is because Nash's defense is too bad at No. 1, Joe Johnson's defense is average, and Hardaway is the same, you need to fill in for them."

Having said that, he added: "Stoudemire, who has high hopes for the team, is also weak in attack and defense according to his high school data. If he will be the starting power forward in the future, your defensive task will be heavier. ."

   The defense of these little **** was too bad. The worried Pharaoh wanted to scratch his head, but when he saw the bald head of Little Van Gundy on the opposite side, he quickly put down his hand. Only then did he understand why Little Van Gundy was worried.

   After talking about defense, D'Antoni began to talk about offensive tactics and said, "Old K, in terms of offensive tactics, I am going to pay equal attention to positional warfare and fast break tactics, what do you think?"

Pharaoh also admires D'Antoni very much. The stubborn man in the past now knows how to be flexible. He nodded and said: "I don't dislike fast break now, but the basis of fast break is that we don't lose defense, only strong enough defense. Only in the playoffs can we go further, this is my experience in the past 9 seasons, a team that does not pay attention to defense cannot win a championship.”

D'Antoni was sweating instantly. This is beating him, but Old K has this qualification. The first player in the history of 9 years and 6 championships, he really has no qualifications in front of Old K. To be honest, Now he doesn't have enough confidence to speak.

   Thinking back to when he was in the Suns, he even thought that if he were to be the head coach, he would have to sell the old K for a few suitable All-Stars to play small ball tactics, and he felt ashamed.

   After stabilizing his emotions, he continued: "Old K, you are the 5-time rebounding champion, and you have a very strong ability to directly launch fast breaks after grabbing backcourt rebounds, so this is also one of our important fast break tactics.

   At this time, you directly initiate a fast break, rather than passing it to Nash, who then initiates a fast break, the rhythm will be faster, the links will be less, and the opponent will be unable to guard against it. "

   Old Wang nodded and agreed with this fast break tactic.

D'Antoni added: "Our fast break tactics are determined by your position and your physical fitness, old K. When your fitness is good and your position is good enough when transitioning from offense to defense, we will decide whether to play fast break tactics or not. Play a fast pace, and if we don’t meet the fast break conditions, we will play positional warfare.”

   Having said that, he gave some examples.

   For example, when Pharaoh's position on the defensive end is too deep, when the offense and defense transition, he is not required to quickly enter the frontcourt, while others require quick advancement, and he will fight when there is a good opportunity, and wait for him to play a positional battle if not.

   Such a tactical setting may reduce his shots and tactical status. When D'Antoni proposed it, he was also apprehensive.

But Pharaoh agreed, but he reminded: "Mike, this tactic is only suitable for the regular season. Once the playoffs are entered, the defensive intensity will increase. The opponent only needs to lock Nash, without me participating in the attack in the frontcourt, relying on them alone. A few won't solve the problem."

D'Antoni was stunned, but seeing Pharaoh's serious performance and little Colangelo staring at him, he nodded immediately and said, "I understand, I will study the tactics suitable for the playoffs, it's really not good, then After we entered the playoffs, we mainly focused on positional warfare, and only strengthened our fast break tactics when we grabbed backcourt rebounds.”

   Old Wang and Little Colangelo nodded in relief at the same time. It seems that this stubborn D'Antoni is indeed mature now.

To be honest, this is also the reason why D'Antoni's preferred fast break tactics have not achieved any results. Without the Suns, he would not even have a chance to perform, plus the Suns' support for Pharaoh and Pharaoh's own status , he has no competitive capital.

After discussing tactics for a long time, when he left, Colangelo sent Pharaoh out and said with a smile: "Old K, now the league does not support our Suns, we only got 8 live broadcasts in the United States last season, and the operating income dropped significantly. , and advertising revenue is low.

   But because of your comeback, we also got some ad revenue during this time, and several major TV broadcasters may also increase the number of Suns live broadcasts in the United States.

  In terms of tickets, the season ticket sales for the new season have started, and the average price is 2.4 times that of the previous season. The situation is not bad, all because of you. "

   "Will the US live broadcasts be announced in these two days?" Pharaoh asked.

   "It will be announced tomorrow." Little Colangelo said.

   Pharaoh is also not sure how many U.S. live broadcasts the Suns will get this time. This is very important to both him and the Suns. Without the U.S. live broadcasts, he and the Suns will not pay much attention.

Of course, he no longer pays attention to personal concerns. The status of the first person in the history of the league is there. No one can challenge his historical status for at least ten years, and he does not pay any attention to economic interests. Not short of money.

   But the Suns need attention, and so do his teammates, so national broadcasts are still very important.

During the Lakers' three-peat dynasty, to be precise, after the Lakers' first championship in 1998, he had become the public enemy of the league. After that championship, it was difficult for the Lakers to get reinforcements. What the Suns are experiencing now, That's what happened to the Lakers.

  The two championships behind the Lakers depended on the efforts of him, Kobe, and a group of veterans to complete the dynasty. It was really difficult to win the championship in those two years.

   Now, he feels that the difficulties the Suns will encounter should not be smaller than the Lakers at that time. If he shows great strength, the Suns are likely to encounter greater difficulties and challenges.

  Although Jordan has retired now, there are many up-and-coming stars. The four major shooting guards are all very powerful, as well as Duncan and Dayao. In the current league, he still has many strong enemies.

  Jordan's strength has begun to decline in the last two years. He didn't dare to invest too much in defense, and there were few breakthroughs on the offensive end. The current four shooting guards are not weaker than Jordan in those two years.

   He drove away, blocked by a large group of reporters and Suns fans at the headquarters gate, and after signing autographs for some fans, he gave an interview.

   "Old K, now the four quarterbacks are famous, how do you evaluate them?" asked a reporter from the Miami Daily.

After pondering, Pharaoh said: "Among the four shooting guards, I am most optimistic about Kobe Bryant. He has my iron mountain relying skills and plum blossom steps. After six seasons of tempering, the defense has also reached the top level, and now he has entered the In the peak period, in terms of comprehensive ability, he ranked first among the four shooting guards."

   "Do you think Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal will be a threat to you?" The reporter immediately asked.

   "It's possible, after all, I'm already disabled. O'Neal said that he would press me against the floor and rub it. He might do it when he was daydreaming." Pharaoh said in a teasing tone.

"Ha ha…"

  The reporters and the surrounding fans burst into laughter.

   "Old K, what about the other three shooting guards?" another reporter asked.

   "Next is Iverson and Maddie."

  Pharaoh continued: "Iverson's offensive ability is very strong, but limited to his size and tonnage, he can't defend well. I think his overall ability is slightly lower than Kobe's.

McGrady, in the past five seasons, has become a top all-around shooting guard, with a comprehensive ability not lower than Iverson. However, because of his congenital disease, the future is not easy to say. After a major injury, the decline will be very high. quick.

   As for Carter, the world's top dunker, in terms of personality, he is not as good as Kobe and Iverson, too mild, aggressive and competitive. "

   "Old K, besides Kobe, who do you want to work with the most?" a reporter asked.

  Pharaoh thought for a while and said, "Iverson, he is very fast and has unparalleled breakthrough ability. I think I can play quite well with him. That is, his defense will give me a headache."

   At this time, the security at the headquarters helped him open the way, and he had to leave.

   (end of this chapter)