radicalducati Chapter 237 The Shutdown Ends! A Tremendous Change in the League!
Chapter 237 The Shutdown Ends! A Tremendous Change in the League!
Chapter 237 The Shutdown Ends! A Tremendous Change in the League!
On January 20, 1999, the two sides finally officially signed this new, extremely long collective bargaining agreement, marking the end of the NBA's 204-day lockout and the end of the biggest crisis in NBA history!
Meanwhile, the league announced that training camp will begin on January 24, lasting only one week, followed by five days of preseason games, with each team playing only two games, and then on February 5, the first season in NBA history that does not span a calendar year will officially begin!
The regular season was reduced to only 50 games, the All-Star Game was canceled, and the density of each team's schedule increased significantly. At the same time, the difficulty of each team's schedule also increased!
The first shortened season in NBA history is about to begin.
Meanwhile, although NBA activities such as contract renewals, free agent signings, and rookie signings had already begun on the day the two sides announced the agreement, according to the rules, they could not officially begin the signing process until January 20, the day the two sides officially signed the contract.
In other words, each team only has 5 days to assemble its new roster!
It's hard to say what kind of lineups each team will be able to assemble in just 5 days, but their general managers and coaches are definitely extremely busy and overwhelmed!
Even if they had reached some verbal agreements before the season was suspended, and even if all the teams had started to get ahead of themselves when the agreements were reached, the fact that all the work done in the summer was compressed into less than a week would make anyone feel a sense of despair.
Fortunately, this is the best basketball league in the world, where the world's elite gather. So after some minor contract renewals and signings, the first groundbreaking free agent signing was born!
Scottie Pippen, a legendary player for the Chicago Bulls, a multiple All-Star and All-NBA selection, a five-time NBA champion, and hailed as the NBA's best small forward, has joined the Houston Rockets on a five-year maximum contract!
He will be playing alongside Hakeem Olajuwon in the new season! Although the Rockets' Big Three 2.0 didn't materialize due to the absence of Barkley, Pippen has at least fulfilled his dream of earning a multi-million dollar annual salary.
Next came another contract extension that drove the entire league into a frenzy.
Patrick Ewing has chosen to take a pay cut yet again!
He once again chose to take a one-year, $200 million base salary contract and stay in New York!
Ewing's salary over the years has truly shocked the entire league. From the 18 million salary in the 1995-96 season, which was the highest annual salary in NBA history and the first 10 million annual salary, to 2 million in 1997, and then he received a salary of 15 million in 1998, and this year, he once again chose the minimum salary!
As for why he chose the base salary, it's really too simple; almost everyone can see through it at a glance.
Michael Jordan!
After all, Pippen has left, and Phil Jackson has announced he will not continue coaching the Bulls. As for Rodman…
Well, nobody knows where Rodman is now or what he's doing; the guy has completely disappeared.
However, it is foreseeable that the Bulls' breakup is a foregone conclusion!
Jordan will either retire, join the Bulls in their rebuilding process, or transfer to another team.
He only has these three paths to take, but so far he hasn't announced his retirement. And given his relationship with Krause and Reinsdorf, it's completely impossible for him to accompany the Bulls in their rebuilding process. In fact, there's only one option left!
And everyone believed that if Jordan, a Brooklyn native, wanted to transfer, he only had one place to go!
New York Knicks!
Nowhere but the Knicks could satisfy Jordan's demands and desires.
Less than a day after Ewing announced a significant pay cut, the Knicks made another move, sending a first-round draft pick, Larry Johnson (who had just signed a 5-year, $55 million contract with an annual salary of $8.5 million), and Chris Childs (who had an annual salary of $3 million) to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for nothing!
Yes, they're willing to pay out of their own pockets a first-round pick and two players in their prime, just for nothing!
At any other time, this trade would be seen as a foolish act of contradicting oneself, but at this moment, everyone knows the Knicks' true intentions!
Because of this, coupled with Ewing's pay cut of over $1800 million, the Knicks reduced their total payroll by more than $3000 million! Overnight, in an almost insane way, they brought their total payroll down to $1000 million below the salary cap!
They have once again earned the chance to compete for the superstar the team has always dreamed of: Michael Jordan!
Moreover, this time, no one is competing with them!
After realizing that Jordan had no intention of staying with the team, Reinsdorf and Krause didn't bother to humiliate themselves; they didn't even make an offer to Jordan! They knew Jordan too well; they knew what kind of insult they would receive if they made an offer and requested a contract extension.
So, this was actually just a one-on-one negotiation between Jordan and New York.
The negotiations progressed incredibly quickly, or rather, New York may have already secured Jordan and Falk long before making those two major moves.
Just before training camp began, Michael Jordan announced that he had signed a two-year, $20 million contract with the New York Knicks! Also officially announced was a two-year, $16 million endorsement deal between Jordan and Coca-Cola!
This is yet another blatant violation of regulations, and yet another blatant supplementary contract.
But just like last time, the league didn't do anything, and the others turned a blind eye, with no intention of complaining or reporting.
After all, no one in this league wants to offend the Knicks, Jordan, and the league officials at the same time!
This is absolutely a foolish and thankless task!
Well... not entirely. There are a few people who are very interested in making Jordan feel frustrated and unhappy.
Lin Tian, Bird, and the Pacers!
They were not afraid of Jordan and the Knicks; in fact, they were happy to see them suffer.
However, the Pacers are really not in the mood to cause trouble right now; they are facing very big problems.
The first question is about Charles Barkley, who is laughing so hard his eyes are almost invisible right now, and who is at least two sizes bigger than he was six months ago, gaining at least 30 kilograms!
"Fuck! Charles, you've been at the pig farm for half a year? What's with all this fat on your body?" Even the usually calm and collected Lin Tian was completely dumbfounded at this moment.
Did I give my weight-gain serum to Barkley or Webber? How come Barkley suddenly inflated like a balloon?
This isn't just weight gain; he's literally ballooned out of control!
"Well, I can't help it. After winning the championship, it's inevitable to indulge a little. I've had such a happy summer, I just couldn't resist! So the reason I came here is to tell you guys that I'm planning to retire." Barkley leaned back on the sofa with a smile. Judging from his appearance, it seemed that the little bit of activity he had just done had already exhausted him so much that he didn't want to move at all.
"You fucking told us earlier!" Bird was going crazy. This guy, all summer long, no!
For over 200 days, including the entire summer, autumn, and half of winter, he remained completely silent about his retirement!
It wasn't until the season was about to start, and he had become as fat as a ball, that he rolled over and announced that he was retiring.
FUXX!
Bird just wanted to swear!
Although he had long anticipated that Barkley's motivation to play would plummet after winning the championship and he wouldn't be as driven as he was last season, he never expected it to plummet to this extent.
"You damn flying pig! You stupid scum! I really believed you, that you could actually play basketball! FUXX! I really want to just kill you right now and see which is more of a limp fry: fat or water in your brain!"
Bird vented his frustration and anger wildly. Barkley was driving him to the brink of collapse. But what Bird didn't expect was that while Barkley's fat was increasing rapidly, his temper was decreasing at an alarming rate.
Despite being verbally abused in Bird's face, Barkley still smiled and said, "Well, I only signed for one year anyway, so retiring now is perfectly justified. But I'll still support you guys!"
Bird looked at the calmer Barkley and could only sigh helplessly, saying, "Then you can stay with the team as a trainer or something, and mentor the newcomers, okay?"
"Can I refuse?" Barkley scratched his bald head and said, "I can't get up before noon anymore, and I feel like I'm not full unless I eat three big, fatty steaks with a huge bottle of Coke for every meal! Carbonated drinks and fried food are just too wonderful! Seriously!"
"Of course, most importantly, I've found a new job as a commentator for TNT. No more flying around, no more controlling my weight, and not even having to get up early! I'll be saying lots of good things about you guys when I get there!"
"For the rest of my life, I'll be inseparable from fried chicken, beer, soda, and all sorts of high-calorie foods. I've realized they're the things I love most. So, Larry, I'm sorry, it's not that you're not good enough, it's just..."
"Get out! Get out!" Bird yelled, pointing directly at the door. "Go live your life with your fried chicken, beer, and cola!"
Lin Tian felt that the conversation between the two was almost identical to the declarations made by boyfriends and girlfriends when they break up!
If you replace basketball, steak, cola, and fried food with the names of love and men and women, everything will make sense!
So, love is essentially just this kind of thing.
Regardless, Barkley eventually announced his retirement and once again threw himself into his hedonistic lifestyle. At this point, with no salary cap space available, even with Bird's extensive connections, the Pacers couldn't find a suitable replacement.
"Lin, when you get to training camp, talk to Rashad and Al a lot. Tell them to work hard and try to adapt to the NBA environment as soon as possible. We urgently need them to grow quickly!"
To be honest, Bird was starting to regret it. If he had known that Barkley would quit and retire, he would never have picked two unfinished power forwards in the draft. He would have at least picked one who could contribute immediately!
Bird's original plan was to have Barkley mentor him for another year, teaching his younger brother a thing or two. But now, that guy has just run away!
Shameless!
That fat pig is infuriating!
No matter how angry Bird was, there was nothing he could do. He could only go to the free agent market and look carefully to see if there were any hidden gems he could snag on a minimum salary.
Everything in the shortened season went by very quickly. Free agency lasted only a few days, and then training camp started right away. Many players hadn't even gotten to know each other in training camp before the preseason began.
When the preseason started, many fans were stunned!
They discovered that although many people were wearing familiar jersey numbers and bearing the same names, the fans couldn't recognize the fat man in front of them at all!
Even players like Barkley who retired immediately after gaining weight are considered good!
Many players arrived at the training camp looking so overweight they were unrecognizable!
O'Neal, Kemp, Vin Baker, and of course Webber—these guys are all fatter than the last, and their performances are all worse than the last.
Needless to say, they definitely didn't train much during the entire shutdown period!
A week-long training camp is far from enough to allow the team to refine its tactics, let alone get them back into game form and into season mode!
This is the only advantage of this year's preseason: teams don't have much time to study and refine their rosters in training camp. Coaches are focusing almost entirely on helping players find their form and rhythm. This means that fans can see regular season-level rosters and games for the price of a preseason game!
Although there are no detailed statistics, everyone believes that this year's preseason games will definitely see the most playing time for starters in NBA history!
Coaches have basically given up on using preseason games to observe role players and fringe players; they simply don't have the time!
We haven't even properly assessed the key players yet, so who has the time or inclination to manage the role players?
Even though the playing time of key players increased dramatically in this year's preseason, the performance of most players was, well, truly appalling.
In almost every game, every arena in the league is filled with the sound of banging and clanging.
All that could be heard from the stadium was the sound of balls missing their targets!
Stern was quite frustrated watching the preseason performances of various teams.
What can he do?
Hopefully, these players can quickly regain their confidence and feel for the game, find their form again, and bring the level of NBA games back to its previous heights!
With the preseason underway, the NBA regular season schedule has already been finalized.
Without the Christmas Day games, the New Year's Eve games, and the All-Star Game, this year's NBA regular season has undoubtedly lost a lot of its hype.
Fortunately, although this year's NBA season had far fewer hype, they still managed to keep the season going! Plus, the NBA has a whole bunch of marketing experts to rely on!
No Christmas battle? No problem, we still have the Valentine's Day battle!
The New Year's Eve battle is over? No problem, we have the Arbor Day battle!
We have everything the fans want to see!
For the Pacers, they will face their old rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers, from last year's first round of the playoffs in the opening game!
The Cavaliers have welcomed a top-tier center, Chris Webber, this season. The twin towers he forms with Shawn Kemp are highly anticipated by many, who believe they can make a significant impact in the Eastern Conference!
In addition, the Pacers will raise their championship banner and receive their championship rings before the game, a first in Indiana history!
Tickets for this game sold out early, even though prices skyrocketed and were more expensive than those for the finals!
The Indians have been waiting for more than 200 days. They were originally supposed to witness this historic moment at the end of October, but it has now been delayed by a full three months!
They have countless passions and enthusiasm that they want to unleash in this game!
Besides the fans' anticipation, the Pacers players were also very excited about this day!
The Pacers have undergone a major overhaul this season. Last year's championship-winning players, Dumars, Ainge, and Barkley, have all announced their retirement. In addition, players like Best, who left as free agents, and Carter and Lewis, who were drafted, have brought many new faces to the Pacers this season!
Their specific roster was also officially finalized before the start of the regular season.
Centers: Rick Schmitz, Ben Wallace, Sam Perkins.
Power forwards: Dale Davis, Mark Pope, Rashard Lewis, Al Harrington.
Small forwards: Doug Christie, Chris Mullin, Fred Hoiberg.
Shooting Guards: Reggie Miller, Vince Carter, Eddrick Bernanke.
Point guards: Lin Tian, Greg Buckner.
Bird pieced together a roster from various sources, making numerous moves in the free agent market, and finally managed to complete the team's 15-man roster! And at first glance, this roster actually looked pretty good!
First, at the center position, Bird brought in Sam Perkins, a former fourth overall pick who had reached the NBA Finals with the SuperSonics in the previous two seasons. He is an experienced and steady big man. Although he is older, he is more than capable of being the team's third center and backup big man.
Although Barkley has left, the Pacers still have a full four players at the power forward position. However, despite the large number of players, this position has changed from the Pacers' absolute strength last season to the most worrying position this season.
After all, these four people look like they could play a game of mahjong, but apart from Davis being a seasoned veteran, Lewis is a high school student, Harrington is also focused on potential, and second-year player Pope didn't even make it into the team's rotation last year.
This position is likely to become a key point for the Pacers to exploit in the new season!
At the small forward position, in addition to the very consistent Christie and Hoiberg who started to enter the rotation in the second half of last year's playoffs, Bird also poached former superstar Chris Mullin from the Warriors, his former Dream Team teammate, who is now almost retired.
The reason why Bird was able to poach Mullin, this old alcoholic, on a minimum salary was actually quite simple: Bird brought out his treasured wine that he had kept for many years and promised that in addition to playing basketball, he would teach him how to be a manager and run a team.
Yes, Bird had long seen that his old friend wanted to go into management after retiring, so he catered to his interests and successfully poached him from the Warriors on a minimum contract. "God's Left Hand" will play the role that Dumars played last season in the new season.
As for the shooting guard position, it has now become a position with a very rich roster for the Pacers. In addition to the team's soul Reggie Miller, there is also the super talent from North Carolina, Vince Carter, who is believed by many to be able to grow rapidly into a superstar in a few years!
With the addition of Edderic Bohannon, who is considered a rising star alongside Mark Pope and has also never made it into the team's rotation, the Pacers' shooting guard position shouldn't have any major problems as long as they don't get injured.
Finally, there's the point guard position. Although there are only two players in this position, as long as Lin Tian is there, this is the Pacers' strongest position. After all, through years of honing his skills and building his reputation in game after game, Lin Tian is now recognized as the league's best point guard!
With him on the court, he's more than capable of dominating all the backcourts in the league!
The team's backup point guard is Greg Buckner, an older rookie that Bird acquired late in the second round.
Buckner isn't exactly a player with extraordinary talent, nor does he possess exceptional ability. His defining characteristics are maturity, consistency, and hard work!
He played for Clemson University for four years, always as the team's leader and breaking countless records, making him one of the most legendary players in the school's history! In addition, he was selected to the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Second Team for two consecutive years, a feat unique in their team history.
Of course, these honors did not help Buckner get the attention of any NBA teams. The reason is simple: he had no potential and his immediate impact was just so-so. His height, speed, jumping ability, wingspan and all other talents were really quite ordinary on the NBA stage.
Fortunately, he is hardworking and consistent, which is an important reason why Bird selected him.
Bird believed that this guy could withstand the pressure and stabilize the situation during the ten or so minutes that Lin Tian was away!
From this perspective, of the Pacers' four rookies this year, besides Carter who will undoubtedly be the focus of development and receive a lot of playing time, Buckner actually has the most opportunities. It all depends on whether he can seize them.
Even if he couldn't handle it, Bird wasn't too worried.
Because when he organized this lineup, he paid great attention to the players' ability to move around!
Most of the players on the team can play two or even three positions!
比如卡特，就被公认为能从1号位打到3号位，刘易斯和艾灵顿两个新秀也是3-4号位摇摆的类型，老将穆林也同样能从3号位往下摇摆到1号位。
In addition, the team's championship-winning backcourt trio of Lin Tian, Miller, and Christie are all versatile talents who can play at least two positions.
The Pacers' roster does have a bit of a futuristic feel to it: flexible, versatile, with ambiguous positions and an unpredictable playing style.
Entrusting such a group of people to Bird's hands is certainly something to look forward to!
Bird was very satisfied with the lineup he had finally assembled!
The team boasts a diverse roster, including seasoned veterans, promising young talents, and formidable players in their prime! Everything hinges on how far the team goes this season and whether they can successfully defend their title!
Lin Tian was also very satisfied with the lineup that Bird had magically created. On the night before the start of the regular season, Lin Tian lay in his bed, looking at the team's lineup, and began to think about how he could upgrade the team before the season started!
Lin Tian is now a real rich man. He has accumulated more than 22000 experience points, enough for him to upgrade several skills!
This time, Lin Tian has many more choices!
He could upgrade either "Offense and Defense Integration" or "First Defense," which require the most experience points. Each of these skills requires a little over 1 experience points, which would be just enough to use up all of Lin Tian's reserves.
Of course, Lin Tian could also choose to improve other skills that don't require much experience, making himself more well-rounded and with a more varied playing style!
Looking at the team's roster, Lin Tian, who never liked to hesitate, quickly made a decision.
Because of Barkley's departure, the team's rebounding and first pass ability after grabbing a rebound have been greatly reduced. Although Davis is tough, he is a pure role player and does not have the ability to pass. Therefore, in order to continue to play the Pacers' signature offensive and defensive transition, Lin Tian has to take on the responsibility of rebounding and passing!
Therefore, his first decision was to use about 4000 experience points to upgrade "Peak Moment," which can improve both abilities at the same time.
Furthermore, after this skill is upgraded, it can be combined with the already LV3 'One-Handed Quick Pass' to form a new skill, which will allow Lin Tian to save more experience points when he levels up next time!
Next, Lin Tian decided to use approximately 7000 experience points to upgrade the "Flying Divine Pig" skill. This skill would improve Lin Tian's rebounding, strength, and jumping ability, making him even stronger in the new season!
Finally, Lin Tian used all the remaining 11000 experience points on "Offense and Defense in One," his strongest and most comprehensive skill at the moment, giving himself another comprehensive upgrade!
"Peak Moment LV3 (0/14000): The host's rebounding ability increases by 16%, and the ability to find teammates after grabbing a rebound increases by 13%. If a teammate receives the ball during a fast break and shoots without dribbling, the shooting percentage increases by 9%! If a teammate shoots within 7 seconds of the start of the offensive possession, the shooting percentage increases by an additional 3%! When using the Williams passing move, the turnover rate increases by 5%!"
Next comes the fusion of peak moments and one-handed quick passes!
"Peak Moment LV3 (4000/20000): The host's rebounding ability increases by 16%, and the ability to find teammates after grabbing a rebound increases by 13%. If a teammate catches the ball and shoots without dribbling during a fast break, the shooting percentage increases by 9%! If a teammate shoots within 7 seconds of the start of the offensive possession, the shooting percentage increases by an additional 3%! When using the Williams passing motion, the turnover rate increases by 4%! If using a one-handed pass, the above passing bonuses increase by an additional 5%, and the passing speed and accuracy increase by an additional 15%!"
Looking at the long list of skill descriptions, Lin Tian silently gave it a thumbs up.
What we're saying is, from now on, decent people won't use both hands to pass the ball anymore; they'll just throw it with one hand!
「飞天神猪LV4（0/16000）：力量增加17%，篮板能力增加12%，弹跳增加9%。」
"Offensive and defensive all-around LV4 (0/28000): Mid-range shooting percentage increased by 9%, finishing ability under the basket increased by 9%, penetration ability increased by 9%, rebounding ability increased by 9%, post-up ability increased by 9%, one-on-one defense increased by 9%, steal ability increased by 9%, and shot blocking ability increased by 9%."
After upgrading all three skills, the first thing Lin Tian did was to open the system panel and take a good look at his new situation after the upgrade!
Name: Lin Tian
Age: 25
Height: 191 cm
Weight: 90KG
Physical Assessment: Jumping A+, Speed S+, Strength A, Stamina S+, Explosiveness A+, Coordination A+, Awareness S-
Overall physical assessment: S-
Offensive ratings: Shooting S-, Dribbling A+, Passing S+, Penetration S-, Low Post Center, Dunk A, Fast Break S+
Overall Offense Rating: S-
Defensive ratings: Rebounding A+, Stealing S, Top defense B, Blocking B, Help defense A-, Boxing out B-, One-on-one defense S-
Overall defensive rating: A
Special abilities: All-Seeing Eye, Pretty Boy, Lightning Speed, Human Cannon, Czech Iron Man, Leap of China
技能：挡拆投篮LV4（1372/8000）、手套截断LV3(2722/8000)、犹他城墙LV2（1631/3000)、飞翔曼巴LV3（2504/10000）、顶峰时刻LV3（4000/20000）、飞天神猪LV4(0/16000)、快枪手LV2（821/4000）、攻防一体LV4(0/28000)、杀手甲虫LV2（1811/4000)、第一防守LV3(701/12000)
物品：肥厚脂肪（3次）、伤病豁免（1次）、谜样年纪（3分钟）、恶意犯规（3次）、16-17赛季拉塞尔·威斯布鲁克体验卡（单月）、89-90赛季派屈克·尤因体验卡（全场）、87-88赛季麦可·乔丹体验卡（单月）
XP: 24
Task: None
How so?
Putting aside the improvement in these data, the feeling of spending more than 2 experience points at once was just awesome!
How cool! No wonder Iverson loves to show off in nightclubs, throwing dollars around like crazy.
This feeling of paying the bill is just fantastic!
Especially after making a purchase, seeing your ability stats improve is even more gratifying!
Lin Tian's improvement this time is absolutely all-round, from offense to defense, from rebounding to strength to jumping ability, and his shooting, stealing and driving abilities have all been upgraded to a higher level!
In particular, the rebounding ability has been upgraded by two levels!
Furthermore, even Lin Tian's overall scores in all three categories have improved.
Spending over 2 yuan at once feels completely different from spending 8000 or 1 yuan cautiously!
Of course, during the six months that the season was suspended, Lin Tian didn't train that hard. Compared to monsters like Kobe and Jordan who enjoyed self-torture and found pleasure in crazy physical training, Lin Tian really fell short in terms of effort.
For example, in the weight column, Lin Tian's weight has increased by 4KG compared to last season's 86KG, reaching 90KG. Considering Lin Tian's height, he is definitely a small cannon, a human tank, comparable to Deron Williams or LeBron James in the 90s.
With top-tier speed and top-tier weight for his position, Lin Tian felt he could already begin to mourn for his opponents next season.
Payton, Stockton, and Kidd are all destined for an even worse fate.
Yeah, and there are also agile types like Iverson and Marbury. Hehe, little bro, all done showing off your dribbling? Time for your post-up game!
Of course, Lin Tian's current weight of 4KG is not very noticeable when he is wearing clothes, and he can't compare to Barkley or Webber who gained 15 or even 20 kilograms in six months. However, this 4KG weight has not actually been fully converted into effective muscle; most of it is fat.
The most significant evidence is that Lin Tian's shooting performance in the two preseason games was not good, with a three-point shooting percentage of only 36% and an overall shooting percentage of only 43%!
Compared to his performance in the previous three years, this number is indeed quite disappointing.
However, Lin Tian was not worried. Firstly, he had completed the upgrade, and secondly, as the season progressed, Lin Tian was confident that he could turn all 4KG of fat into effective muscle, the kind of real, living muscle that could effectively increase his strength!
By mid-season at the latest, Lin Tian will become a true human tank, carrying a bomb and able to raze 100% of the point guards in the league to pieces!
Therefore, Lin Tian was not in a hurry. He had to train his strength little by little, develop his muscles little by little, and fight one match at a time.
If we can get into our best form before the playoffs, that's enough!
In particular, compared to the Pacers' opening game opponent, Lin Tian's 4KG of fat is nothing to worry about!
Lin Tian saw the Cavaliers' official photos from their media day.
How so?
Lin Tian decided to name Kemp and Webber's inside duo the Hefei Combination, or the Half-Ton Combination, or the Fat Double Pigs, the Meatball Tank, Fatty Joy, Plus-Size Men's Clothing Model...
These two guys are really fat and unrecognizable!
Lin Tian himself was really looking forward to seeing his two old friends again.
After all, when we met last year, Kemp was still all muscle, looking like the most powerful striker of the 90s.
Webber was also brimming with talent, aiming to become the most dazzling and talented power forward in NBA history.
Lin Tian also believed that the Cavaliers must have had incredibly wonderful fantasies when they formed this duo!
Webber received the ball at the high post, drawing the defense, and then suddenly made a pass. Kemp, in the paint, turned and dribbled past the defender before unleashing a powerful two-handed dunk!
Webber received the ball in the low post and backed down the opponent. Just as the opponent was about to double-team him, Webber suddenly made a no-look behind-the-back pass. Kemp, who was cutting to the basket, caught the ball with both hands and pulled up for another powerful dunk!
Furthermore, Webber could even run pick-and-rolls with Kemp at the high post. After the two separated, one would cut inside and the other would step out. Both of them had top-notch defensive drawing power and offensive ability. How could the opponent defend against them?
There's no way to defend against it!
Anyway, at least that's what head coach Fratello fantasizes about!
During the long offseason, he enthusiastically built and designed a perfect system and a variety of link-up tactics between Kemp and Webber, based on their playing styles!
He even included the team's other big man, Zydrunas Ilgauskas! He had considered trying out a three-tower strategy at certain times!
Fratello felt that he had been given the opportunity to build the most elite twin towers and the most dazzling frontcourt combination in NBA history!
Yes, Fratello must be smiling through his dreams this offseason!
His only concern was the relationship between Kemp and Webber! After all, neither of them were exactly good people; both had a history of falling out with former teammates and were notorious troublemakers. Fratello was genuinely worried that the two might fight over the leadership position, affecting the team's chemistry.
Well, there's nothing I can do. When the time comes, I'll just have to show my charm and use my leadership qualities to win over these two big guys and create a beautiful story together!
Fratello believes he has a chance to compete for the best coach of the season!
Then?
And then the training camp began!
(End of this chapter)