The next day, October 8, Zhou Quan went to report to the team.
The preseason starts on the 10th, and they will set off tomorrow. In order to get used to it, he will also participate in this preseason.
In the locker room at the headquarters, all the players except Zhou Quan have arrived.
"Michael, you have met Iron Fist. Isn't he very tempered and difficult to get along with?" Sam Perkins asked in a low voice.
He has a very good relationship with Jordan, and Zhou Quan and Jordan are mortal enemies. Facing Zhou Quan, a super strong man who has swept through all the bad guys in the league and a first-class heavyweight professional boxer, he is a little worried that it will not be easy to get along with him.
Michael Cage was startled and laughed.
"Say it!"
Sam Perkins said angrily.
In addition to Kendall Gill and Schramf, other people also looked over at this time. It was obvious that they were also very concerned about this issue.
Kendall Gill and Schrempf didn't speak. They had just arrived at the Sonics. They were considered newcomers and were not familiar with these old people.
That's why they rushed to Los Angeles a few days ago and took the initiative to meet Zhou Quan, just to establish a good relationship with the team leader first.
Michael Cage laughed and said: "I originally thought he was difficult to get along with. He must be very arrogant and bad-tempered, and he would beat people up when we met. But I'm wrong, Sam, as long as you are not his opponent, he is an easy person to get along with." .”
"real?"
Sam Perkins couldn't believe it.
Tekken has even beaten Jordan, and Jordan is also an extremely difficult person to get along with. How can someone with Tekken's personality be easy to get along with?
At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside, and then several people walked in, led by general manager Whithit, followed by Zhou Quan, two other executives, and the coaching staff headed by George Karl.
After Ballmer took charge of the team, he did not change the management in large numbers. He only changed a financial director and a president of operations. He also served as the team chairman, but he did not do much.
Seeing Zhou Quan and the management arriving, all the players stood up immediately.
Zhou Quan did not wait for the introduction from the management, he walked out and said with a smile: "Hello everyone, you can call me Zhou Quan, Zhou, or Iron Fist."
"Boss."
Kendall Gill shouted with a grin.
"Okay." Zhou Quan smiled.
"Boss."
Many marginal and role players with low qualifications shouted.
"Iron Fist."
Some senior main players and important rotations also shouted.
Zhou Quan nodded and started shaking hands with everyone.
With his memory, he knew everyone's information very clearly. After some communication, the players all felt very comfortable, and the atmosphere in the locker room changed from tense and dull at the beginning to relaxed.
Even some of the unruly guys among them did not dare to show their teeth due to the pressure of his heavyweight first-class professional boxers.
Seeing Zhou Quan easily handle the locker room, Whitsitt and other management and coaching staff also breathed a sigh of relief.
…
The next day, the SuperSonics set off for the preseason, and the team's season ticket sales and jersey sales for the new season also began.
The price of season tickets for the new season has increased by 25%, or a quarter, compared with last season, which is a huge increase. This shows that the management is very optimistic about the football market and believes that Zhou Quan's arrival will not harm the football market.
The sales volume on the first day also fully proves that the management was not wrong. 33% of the season tickets were sold, which is very popular.
Moreover, Zhou Quan's jersey sales are also very good, and the first batch of 20,000 jerseys prepared was sold out.
This makes the management very optimistic and full of confidence in the operation of the new season.
At the same time, Zhou Quan’s Iron Fist III also started sales. Skechers itself has a flagship store in Seattle and opened a Zhou Quan brand store. On the first day, more than 6,500 pairs of Iron Fist III were sold.
In the next ten days, Zhou Quan participated in seven preseason games, averaging only 25 minutes per game. The SuperSonics ended the preseason with 5 wins and 2 losses.
These few preseason games have allowed the Sonics to complete the initial run-in, but the run-in is far from over.
In the original SuperSonics, Rainman was responsible for attacking the basket. However, in the current Sonics, the impact on the basket is not so strong. It is basically shooting.
Zhou Quan didn't do much offense in the preseason. He mainly passed the ball, organized the offense, observed the characteristics and playing styles of his teammates, and became familiar with them.
After the preseason, the media's evaluation of this new Sonics was mixed.
"The supersonics of the Rain Man era were full of destructive power, but Iron Fist's supersonics no longer have this element, and the enjoyment of supersonics has been greatly reduced." The New York Times.
"Obviously, the Sonics in the Iron Fist era are more efficient than the Sonics in the Rain Man era. Iron Fist's big hand envelopes the entire team. His performance alone will determine the fate of this team." Los Angeles Daily .
Zhou Quan didn't bother to care about the media's comments. After the preseason, the official training camp began, and he devoted himself to the team's running-in.
In addition to the team's tactical training, this offseason was delayed due to other things. He did not conduct any technical training, and now he has to start again.
He has completed four shooting trainings before, and now he chooses two shooting trainings again. As long as he completes these two trainings, in addition to improving his own skills, his basic shooting skills and offense can also be improved by one level.
It itself is upgraded by two levels, but after completing three items last time, it has been upgraded by one level. This cannot be superimposed, so if you complete two more items, you can only advance by one level.
He chose the 80-level board shot and the 76-level turnaround jumper. The former can be trained for 13 rounds and the latter for 16 rounds.
A total of 87,000 training sessions are required. Only when the shots are made and the technical movements are up to standard. With someone helping to pick up the ball and pass it, it will take three months to make an average of 1,000 goals for three hours a day.
In addition, Philip has hired seven people for him, a housekeeper, three security guards, a gardener, a chef, and a cleaner. The annual salary of the six people will cost more than 200,000 US dollars.
The housekeeper is a British-American woman in her forties. It is said that she is one-eighth of Chinese descent. She studied housekeeping in college. Her name is Merlin Wellington. She is single. She can speak some Chinese but is not proficient in it.
Two of the three security guards are white and the other is Chinese. They are all men. The gardening and chef cleaners are all women. Among them, the gardener is black and the other two are Chinese.
The villa was already in normal operation, and he moved in from the hotel after finishing the preseason games.
There was also a congratulatory party that day and all my teammates were invited.
…
After the preseason, the lineups of each team have basically been determined, and the media has begun to analyze the situation of the new season.
TNT TV station divides all teams into four levels, namely the first level championship-level teams, the second level playoff teams, the third level ordinary playoff teams, and the fourth level. Teams outside the playoffs.
In the first gear, the East is the Bulls, Knicks, and Pistons, and the West is the SuperSonics and Suns.
"The new season may still be a situation where the east is strong and the west is weak, but it has become more balanced, but the competition in the east will be more intense."
"Detroit's economy continues to decline. The Pistons chose to trade Iron Fist due to operating cost issues. The team owner is selling the team and has lost the will to chase the championship. However, the Iron Fist transaction brought Gary Payton and Sean Can to the team. Pu, plus Joe Dumars, Sekali, and Ulrich, this is ironic. A team that does not want to chase the championship still has the strength to win the championship. I can only say that the 'legacy' left by Iron Fist So rich.”
"The Knicks, a strong team created by the fortune teller, are already in their third season and are fully mature. Last season they were eliminated by the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. This season, the team's strongest opponent will probably still be the Pistons. , and Jordan’s Bulls.”
"The Bulls, as long as Michael Jordan is here, this team will still be the most competitive team in the league. It is said that he has been training extra throughout the offseason, even when he travels around the world with his family, he also takes his trainer with him. He has not interrupted training. In the new season, he will start over with the Bulls."
"The Suns were defeated by the Pistons in the Finals. Charles Barkley had been sharpening his sword for ten years, only to be broken by the Iron Fist. In the new season, he will compete with the Iron Fist in the most brutal competition in the Western Conference."
"The SuperSonics failed to make it to the Western Conference Finals last season, and then Iron Fist took over. They were almost rebuilt. They didn't have championship-level strength. The reason for being selected was just because of Iron Fist."
TNT also evaluated the five first-tier teams without any obvious bias, which was generally recognized by the media and industry insiders.
There are also four teams in the second tier, the Hawks and Magic in the East, and the Mosaics and Spurs in the West.
Among the four teams in the second tier, including O'Neal, there are three super centers. Together with the Knicks, the four super center teams are all selected into the first two tiers.
Many media have seen this and are shouting that the new season will be a competition between traditional center teams and teams with defenders as the core.
However, many media believe that among the five teams in the first tier, only Ewing is a super center, and the other three super centers are on teams in the second tier, so the league is still dominated by defenders.
In addition, ESPN also divided the teams into different brackets. There are also five teams in the first bracket. The East is the same as TNT, but the West is the Suns and Mosaic, but the SuperSonics are classified in the second bracket.
The explanation given by ESPN is that the Sonics have no low post, no height, and no rebounds. Except for Zhou Quan, no one has the ability to attack tough situations. Once the fast break cannot be played, they will be very passive in positional battles.
"Iron Fist is indeed powerful, but he is only one person with limited energy. He cannot make up for the height inside or the lack of rebounds. He cannot carry this Sonics."
"Last season, the Pistons had Rodman, Seikali, height, interior defense, and rebounding, but now this SuperSonics has nothing."
ESPN's evaluation of the SuperSonics has received a lot of approval.
Zhou Quan can only say that he is speechless in his evaluation of ESPN. Are you blind? Can’t you see that Rodman is such a big rebounding machine?
In terms of interior defense, the Sonics have no height in the low post. Indeed, no player can withstand the four super centers in single defense, and they don't even have first-class rim protection capabilities. However, the Sonics have a strong flanking defense, and it is normal to have weaknesses. Maybe strong in all aspects.
The low-post offense is indeed a weakness of the Sonics. The main center Perkins often pulls to the three-point line, and Rodman can only play the second offense, so the low-post offense depends on his and Kendall Gill's breakthrough layups.
…
The new season starts on November 5th, and the 2nd is SuperSonics media day.
Although Seattle is not an international megacity like New York and Los Angeles, it is definitely an emerging international city, and the sports atmosphere in this city is very strong. Otherwise, all four major sports leagues would not have flocked here, so come here There were a lot of media reporters at the meeting.
"Crack, click, click..."
Zhou Quan stood in position C, taking photos with the media with his teammates.
"Iron Fist, after the preseason and official training camp, what do you think of this team? TNT thinks it is a first-tier championship-level team, but ESPN thinks it is not. What do you think?" New York Times reporter asked.
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "It doesn't matter whether we are in the first or second position. The media cannot determine our height. What ultimately determines our height is our own efforts and strength.
My own positioning of the team has been clear for a long time. Our minimum goal this season is the Western Conference Finals, and then we will strive to reach the Finals.
This seems to be in line with the positioning of these two media for us, which is either the first level or the second level. I personally agree more with the second gear, because it will give us relatively less pressure. "
"Tekken, do you like Seattle?" a Seattle Times reporter asked.
"I like it very much. I have already bought a house here." Zhou Quan nodded and smiled.
"Can you reveal the specific address?" the reporter asked immediately.
"NO, I don't want my private life to be disturbed." Zhou Quan refused with a smile.
"Iron Fist, what kind of performance do you think the Pistons will perform this season? Both TNT and ESPN think the Pistons are in the first tier, what do you think?" a reporter from the Los Angeles Daily asked.
"The Pistons' lineup does still have the strength to hit the championship. They are the first-tier team." Zhou Quan said.
"If the Pistons win the championship this season, will you regret leaving?" the reporter asked.
Zhou Quan said with a smile: "Everyone knows the reason why I left the Pistons. Except for the fans there, everyone wants me to leave, so it's not my turn to regret it."
"Then what do you think is the chance that the Pistons will win consecutive championships if you continue to stay with the Pistons?" the reporter asked again.
Zhou Quan pondered for a moment and then said: "If Rodman also stays, we still have a great chance of winning, at least 50%. I think the chance is higher than the Bulls."
"Which Pistons team has a greater chance of winning than the current SuperSonics team?" the reporter asked again.
"That piston." Zhou Quan said without hesitation.
"That is to say, you think this SuperSonics is not as good as that Pistons, why?"
"Because of defense, this is one of them." Zhou Quan said.
The media agrees with this reason. Two defensive teams and three defensive teams are absolutely different defensive thicknesses.
Zhou Quan added: "But the SuperSonics' defense is also very strong. Last season, they were the team with the second fewest points per game in the Western Conference, only higher than Mosaic. This season, although Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton are missing, The addition of Rodman and I will certainly not reduce the defensive intensity, so this reason is not the main reason.
The main reason is that we are basically rebuilding. The main lineup is all newcomers and there is no old man. We need time to adjust and build a new offensive and defensive system. We need time to grow. "
Far away in the East, the Detroit Pistons are also holding their media conference.
The leader of the Pistons is Joe Dumars. Gary Payton is just an ordinary player, not an All-Star. Shawn Kemp is not a leader. They can only let Joe Dumars, the old leader, continue to lead the locker room. .
Joe Dumars has Sekali on the left, Shawn Kemp on the right, and then Gary Payton, who is called the Four King Kongs of the new season by the Detroit media.
"Rainman, Gloves, I heard that you are not satisfied with coming to Detroit, is that true?" The first person to ask the question was a reporter from the New York Times.
Sean Kemp twisted his neck, an unruly and fierce light flashed in his eyes, and like a beast, he roared in a deep voice: "NO, I'm very satisfied, the trade allowed me to go from a rubbish team to a... A first-tier championship-level team.”
Gary Payton snorted and said: "This is nonsense from the media. We like this place and are very grateful to this city. It is this city that has taken us in. Otherwise, we would just be abandoned garbage."
The answers of the two could not fool the media. At least the local media laughed at them. These two guys were full of complaints after being traded. How could they like Detroit? It's hard for them to believe that these two guys will still be here after their contracts expire.
"Do you hate the Sonics?" the next reporter asked.
Gary Payton said extremely firmly: "They abandoned us. After we reached the Western Conference Finals, this was a betrayal. Yes, we hate the Sonics. After we reached the Western Conference Finals, they traded us. , I curse them to never be favored by superstars in the future."
"Will you hate Iron Fist because of this?" the reporter asked again.
"Schett, we don't like him. He made our parent team trade us. This is all bullshit! He betrayed the Pistons and caused us to be traded by the team. This is all his fault." Gary Payton cursed fluently.
"Gary, Sean, if you reach the finals in the new season, who would you like to face the most?" another reporter asked.
"Supersonic speed." The two said in unison.
…
(End of chapter)
