On the 9th, Zhou Quan and the team returned to the SuperSonics. After that, he entered training while the team went to play preseason games.
Ma Jian contacted him once and said he would play a preseason game for the Clippers. He encouraged him and said whether he could stay with the Clippers would depend on Ma Jian's performance.
Throughout Husse, he focused on boxing and did not do much basketball training. After thinking about it, he decided to focus on training layups, pull-up jump shots, and floaters from now on, and improve them first. Let’s wait until level 96.
In terms of breakthrough technology, comprehensive training and general improvement are required to avoid long-term training in a single way, which may easily cause injuries to the body.
As long as he improves four or five shooting skills to level 96 this season, has so many top-notch finishing skills, and further improves his breakthrough ability, his offensive strength will definitely be stronger and his offensive efficiency will be higher.
Whether it's Glider or Jordan, their strength and efficiency are declining. It's hard to say who will win or lose in the playoffs.
Glider does not have the same abnormal physique as Jordan, and the decline is even greater. Even Jordan can only focus more on the offensive end, and the defensive end will definitely reduce investment as he grows older.
…
On October 20, Liu Yumin called. The first season of the CBA had begun, and domestic professional basketball had begun. This also symbolized the beginning of the professionalization of the domestic sports industry and was also a reflection of the further opening up of the domestic market economy.
On the 22nd, the Magic suddenly announced that O'Neal was accidentally injured during training and is likely to miss the first two months of the regular season.
On the 25th, as the preseason ended, the regular season became more and more flavorful.
Ma Jian did not stay with the Clippers and could only choose to leave the United States in disappointment and go to the Philippines to play ball. The Philippines has established a professional league, which is developing faster than domestic basketball.
Because he left the national team without authorization, his domestic relations were in a mess, and he had no chance to return to China to play in the CBA. The Beihe provincial team did not let him go back.
By the end of October, Zhou Quan's pull-up jump shots, layups, and floaters had all improved to level 96.
They were originally level 95, 94, and 93 respectively. A total of 12,000 shooting training sessions were completed 6 times for the three skills.
In the remaining time, he upgraded all five breakthrough skills to level 93, and the crushing breakthrough was still the original level 95.
On the 28th, Zhang Lili and Xu Jicheng rushed to Seattle with their team.
"Xiao Zhou, the station has invested a lot of money, and it will be broadcast twice a week." Zhang Lili said excitedly as soon as they met at the airport.
"Are the domestic foreign exchange reserves in good condition now?" Zhou Quan was a little surprised.
Xu Jicheng smiled and said: "Last year was good. I have seen the data released by relevant departments. It increased by 140% compared with 1993, and it was more than 50 billion US dollars."
Zhang Liji smiled and said: "Otherwise, even if the station wants to broadcast a few more shows, it won't have the US dollars."
Xu Jicheng said to Zhou Quan with a smile on his face: "Xiao Zhou, you won the world boxing championship. In those days, you were all over the domestic news every day."
"Yeah?"
Zhou Quan was very happy.
The 30th is the SuperSonics’ media day for the new season.
There were a lot of media participating in the media day. There were more than 100 media, many of which were world-class media. Even half of the media reporters were reporters from outside the United States.
There were more than a dozen domestic reporters, not including Zhang Lili and others. This had never happened before, and Zhou Quan was a little surprised.
He chatted with these reporters. They were all reporters from provincial newspapers and sports magazines. Among them, there were five reporters in Hunan, three in Dongguang Province, two in Hubei, and five in the capital.
"Iron Fist, I heard that you have decided to have the first mandatory defense of the world boxing title next offseason. Is this news true?"
Entering the question period, the New York Times was the first to be slapped, but the reporter asked a question that had nothing to do with the NBA.
Zhou Quan nodded and smiled: "That's right, my main focus now is the NBA."
The reporter immediately changed the question and asked: "You didn't participate in golf events during the offseason, so don't you plan to participate this season? What about the offseason?"
"Oh, it depends. If the golf schedule cooperates during the All-Star Weekend, I may participate in one event. During the offseason, 1996 is the Olympic year, and I personally have very important things to deal with. It should be There is no time." Zhou Quan said.
The host took back the microphone from the New York Times reporter and gave it to Zhang Lili.
Zhang Lili immediately asked: "Xiao Zhou, the SuperSonics' goal in the new season is definitely to defend the title, and both the Bulls and Mosaic have made strong reinforcements. How likely is it for you to defend the title?"
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "Their strength has indeed increased. Defending the title in the new season may be difficult, but we will work hard to achieve our goals. As for strength, I think we are not worse than them."
The next question was from the Seattle Daily News, asking: "Iron Fist, what do you think about Barkley teaming up with the three superstars, Dream and Glider?"
"They are all old, we should be more tolerant." Zhou Quan said.
"Haha..." The reporter below laughed.
"Iron Fist, do you really think the SuperSonics' current lineup can cope with the Big Three?" a reporter asked.
Zhou Quan smiled and said: "The glider's efficiency has dropped a lot. I don't think he still needs double teams. A person who has no ability to attract double teams cannot be called a giant.
As for Dameng and Barkley, to be honest, Dameng is still okay and still at his peak, but Barkley? Barkley no longer needs double teams. "
"oh!"
Seeing how Zhou Quan underestimated the lineup of the Big Three, the reporters couldn't help but exclaimed.
"Iron Fist, who do you most want to defend your title against?" The reporter from German newspaper Bild who asked the next question asked another question that had nothing to do with the NBA.
"With an opponent who is strong enough, this is what I hope for." Zhou Quan said.
Seventy percent of the reporters who asked questions next asked questions related to boxing, especially non-American reporters. Ninety percent of the questions were related to boxing. Not only did Zhou Quan feel helpless, but so did the SuperSonics management.
After the press conference, Zhou Quan invited Zhang Lili and a group of reporters from China to dinner, totaling 21 of them.
At 9 a.m. on the 31st, NBC and several other American television broadcasters, together with NBA officials, announced the number of national live broadcasts for the new season.
As the defending championship team, the SuperSonics finally surpassed the Bulls and became the team with the most live broadcasts in the entire United States, even as many as 42 games, which is exactly half of the regular season.
The Bulls' previous record was last season, with 40 live broadcasts across the United States, which was also a league record.
Now the Sonics have directly broken this historical record. Everyone knows the reason. There is only one reason, because the Sonics are the team of world boxing champion Zhou Quan.
The second place is the Bulls, with 39 games, one game less than last season and three games behind the SuperSonics.
This change lets the league and the American media know that Zhou Quan's popularity in the United States is at least as popular as Jordan's, and has even surpassed Jordan's.
Of course, whether it is really surpassed remains to be proven by the ratings of the SuperSonics games in the new season. Perhaps it is just that several major TV broadcasters have miscalculated Zhou Quan's popularity.
At noon that day, Magic Johnson was interviewed by the media in Los Angeles.
"Erwin, do you think Iron Fist's popularity has surpassed Michael's now?" the reporter asked.
"Regions should be distinguished."
Magic Johnson said very cautiously: "Overseas, Iron Fist's popularity, popularity, influence, commercial value, etc., have undoubtedly surpassed Michael. With the blessing of the title of crossover king and heavyweight world boxing champion, He has reached the heights of Maradora."
"What about in America?"
"In the United States, actually... have you noticed changes in the sales of Tekken and Michael's sneakers?"
Magic Johnson shook his head with emotion and said: "In the past month since he became the world boxing champion, his Tekken series has reached the top sales position of basketball shoes in the United States, and his jersey sales in the United States have also reached the top. Surpassing Michael is one of the manifestations of popularity and influence.
In addition, no matter which TV station you turn on, no matter which mainstream newspaper you open, you can see Iron Fist's endorsement ads. No matter which city you go to, you can see his large advertising photos in the city center. It is also a reflection of popularity and commercial value. "
"You mean, in the United States, Iron Fist has surpassed Michael?" the reporter asked in surprise.
Magic Johnson shook his head and said: "Michael can still compete with Iron Fist, but the weight of the heavyweight world boxing champion and the crossover king is too heavy, and the blessing to Iron Fist is too great. If Michael cannot win the championship this season, Come back, then Iron Fist will truly surpass him in the United States."
"Michael, what do you think about the fact that the Bulls don't have as many national live broadcasts as the Sonics?" A reporter interviewed Jordan over the phone.
"I only care about championships."
Jordan only said one sentence, hung up the phone, and then turned off the phone.
November 1st is Mosaic’s media day.
Barkley has moved his family to Houston. Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States and he prefers it to Phoenix.
When taking the photo, he stood on the left side of Dream, and the glider Drexler stood on the right side. The lineup of the Big Three was shining brightly.
"Crack, click, click..."
After the media took photos, they entered the question-and-answer session.
The Big Three are a little nervous because they know that media reporters will definitely ask a lot of questions about the group, which will embarrass them.
The host was very smart and the first one he turned over was the local media.
"Hakim, what is our goal for the new season?"
"Out of the Western Conference, we want to reach the finals and compete for the championship." Dameng said excitedly, suppressing his excitement.
After three local reporters asked questions in a row, the foreign reporters became anxious. The host was afraid of causing public outrage, so he had to turn over the New York Times reporter's card.
"Charles, there is a definite source of information. It was you who asked the Suns management to trade you to a championship-level team. Do you admit this?" After taking the microphone, the reporter immediately asked.
"This is impossible. I can't decide the deal. This is a frame-up." Buckley said angrily.
"Mr. Colangelo revealed in an interview with our colleagues that you did have such suggestive words," the reporter added.
"That's what you think. I haven't done it." Buckley turned into a bastard and refused to let go. If he let go, he would become the ancestor of the group.
He felt that Colangelo would not say that. Although he did say something, the Suns were satisfied with the transaction. The transaction had been completed long ago, and there was no need to offend him afterwards.
There was nothing the reporter could do. He had no definite information and was just guessing. Colangelo had not given any interviews on the transaction.
"Hakim, Mosaic has been eliminated by the SuperSonics in the Western Conference Finals for two consecutive seasons. Do you think the Mosaic team has a chance to break through the SuperSonics and Iron Fist in the new season?" the Los Angeles Daily reporter asked the next question.
"Of course, we will definitely win this time, and we will never lose again." Dameng said angrily and confidently.
"If Mosaic reaches the finals, do you think they can defeat the Bulls who have strengthened Kevin Willis?" the reporter asked.
"I can beat him, and Charles can beat Toni Kukoc, and we will win the Bulls." Dameng said with confidence.
The next question came from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The reporter asked: "Hakim, we don't think highly of you because all three of you are old."
"Who said we are old?" Dameng said angrily.
The reporter said in surprise: "In other words, you haven't aged at all. Were the three of you together in your prime?"
"Pfft, haha..."
Most of the reporters below laughed.
The three people in Dameng were blushing and just wanted to leave.
"Charles, Iron Fist said that you and Glider no longer need to be double-teamed, and those who do not need to be double-teamed are not giants, so do you thank him? What he means is that you are not in a group, you are just a big dream." a reporter asked.
"asshole!"
Glider was fine, but his personality was too unassuming. Buckley was so angry that his stomach ached, and it was hard to refute, because refutation would mean a group hug.
…
The NBA league has completed an expansion, adding two new teams, and now has 29 teams, namely the Toronto Raptors in the East and the Vancouver Grizzlies in the West.
In late July, the SuperSonics' Sarunas Mathilionis and another fringe player were selected by these two teams.
Although two more teams have been added, the league is still divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences and four districts. This has not changed, but teams in the same district used to have a high probability of playing five games. Now the probability is very low. Smaller, usually four games.
Before the start of the regular season, the media conducted a lot of analysis and predictions on the situation of the new season.
NBC television divides all teams into four tiers. There are four championship-level teams in the first tier, namely the Bulls and Magic in the East, and the SuperSonics and Mosaic in the West. These four teams are also the most popular. right.
Teams like the Knicks, Jazz, and Pacers are all in the second gear.
A team like the Spurs with super center David Robinson is even ranked in the third tier.
NBC's four first-tier teams are recognized by almost 70% to 80% of the media and professionals. They all believe that the championship of the new season will most likely be born among these four teams.
After becoming the new head of WBC, Zhou Quan discovered a situation. There were fewer and fewer news that criticized him. Some of them did not make any waves, and not many people paid attention to them.
This is of course related to the fact that he doesn't have a lot of dirty information. He doesn't engage in pornography, gambling or drugs, he doesn't like alcohol or drugs, and he hardly goes to nightclubs. Now that Zeng Li is by his side, his love life is also very stable.
But the main reason, according to Philip and his own analysis, is that the US media has blackmailed him into not moving.
The US media has two motives for slandering him. One is out of profit. This is the reason why the US media slandered Jordan before, but there is another reason why he was slandered, and that is his skin color and his Chinese identity.
But now his influence in the world has transcended the restrictions of skin color and nationality. If one American media denigrates him, ten international media will denigrate him, so there is no way to denigrate him.
In addition, his fans now far exceed those before, and the media that criticizes him will be called to death by these fans. Therefore, criticizing him not only has no market and no benefits, but is harmful and harmful, so the American media is too lazy to criticize him.
This was something he had not expected before. He did not expect that a world boxing champion would have such a great influence.
…
(End of chapter)
