"Is this the legendary fan meeting... Why are you looking at me and not taking more photos? Are your eyes saying you are envious of me? Impossible, I am definitely not envious..."
Da Q looked at the boss who was thinking to himself, what did he say to him? What look did he give? He didn't!
He just came to ask why the boss didn't take a photo with him, while his teammates all went to take advantage of the camera.
But what he was certain of was that the boss was envious.
When the Clippers entered the Arco Arena at 7:30 in the evening, the cheers from the scene never stopped.
The Kings players also took photos with Jordan and the Clippers players who were taking advantage of the camera.
Jordan's first game back, although it was a preseason game, fell to the Kings, and the local tourism market became a little popular.
According to local media reports, more than 50,000 tourists came to Sacramento yesterday, breaking the city’s single-day tourist arrival record.
Tickets for a preseason game are priced exorbitantly—an average price of $25.
Tickets for the first row on the sidelines are as high as $500.
Both the average price and the highest price of a single ticket broke the NBA preseason record.
The supply is still in short supply. When Li Ao was surfing the Internet after finishing his extra practice at noon, he saw scalpers selling tickets on the forum. Stand tickets with a nominal price of 10 US dollars were priced at 100 US dollars. People placed orders as soon as they were shipped. If Scalpers buy tickets at the original price, which is 900% profit, just like picking up money.
He deliberately went to the fan forums of the three preseason opponents who played against each other in away games. Although the scalping market was not as good as that of the Kings, it was still exaggerated.
This fan appeal can be said to be unique among North American athletes, and it may even be difficult for anyone to compare with it in the world of sports.
The four top leagues in North America, NFL, MLB, and NHL, are all predicted to shrink in the new season, with revenue predicted to drop by 10%-20%. The NBA was initially predicted to decline the most. After all, compared to the other three major leagues, the NBA has the weakest foundation. Before 1976, the North American basketball market was not unified. At most, there were four leagues known as the "top basketball leagues". Basketball leagues in North America were regarded as synonymous with "dirty and messy".
It was not until 1979 that the Magic and Birds came to change the name of the NBA. After the Magic Birds competed for hegemony for eight years, the NBA truly became one of the top leagues in North America.
However, the economic impact brought about by Jordan's announcement of his comeback has led Forbes Sports to revise the NBA's revenue forecast for the new season, and the forecast is the same as last season.
No wonder David Stern came to join Ballmer as the background of Jordan's special comeback press conference.
But if Jordan's comeback is to save the NBA...emmm...it can only be said that the blind cat just happened to meet a dead mouse.
Jordan must have been angry with David Stern a long time ago, otherwise they shouldn't be that opponent in the Clippers' opening game of the new season...
His teammates went to take advantage of the camera one by one, but Li Ao didn't join in the fun. The opposing star wasn't coming for him. When his eyes got hot, he went to the opposite half to shoot the hot shot.
It's a very subtle feeling to shoot in the opponent's half during the pre-game preparations.
There was nothing I could do, the half of my home was packed with players and reporters.
Li Ao shot for a while and thought of one thing. He looked at Adelman on the home team's bench on the sidelines... The opponent didn't even glance at Mike Bibby.
Does Adelman have the talent to spot potential stocks? Li Ao recalled the seven or eight years when Adelman coached the Rockets and Timberwolves in the original time and space. It seemed that there was no such thing.
Similar to Larry Brown, this player only knows how to use maturity.
In the original time and space, after the Kings traded white chocolate for the White Devil in 2001, Adelman had a quarrel with Kings general manager Geoff Petrie.
Without two top general managers, Wally Walker and Geoff Petrie, it would be difficult for Adelman to have the opportunity to carry Princeton forward.
…
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the Jordan fan meeting finally ended and the game began.
Kings starting lineup: White Chocolate, Doug Christie, Peja, Weber, Divac.
Clippers starting lineup: Bibby, Li Ao, Jordan, Odom, O'Neal Jr.
O'Neal beat Divac to win the jump ball, and the Clippers struck first.
Li Ao's quick attack failed, and White Chocolate and Doug Christie easily completed the interception.
The Clippers fell into a positional battle. Just as Li Ao was about to use Jordan's off-ball screen to throw off Doug Christie and start running, the referee blew the whistle.
Li Ao looked around, and there was no one even confronting him. Why did he whistle?
The star of the Magic team sneaked here to watch the game. He was so happy to see the God of Basketball that he couldn't hold back his laughter and was discovered by the referee?
"Well……"
Li Ao saw the referee's three-second violation gesture and reacted immediately.
O'Neal Jr. was on the right baseline of the three-second zone, and he was about to cover Jordan. Divac moved to the left sideline of the three-second zone in advance, leaving the area an arm's length away from O'Neal.
Jordan went to the free throw line and executed a defensive three-second illegal serve.
Li Ao felt that he was being blown so harshly!
The referee blew the whistle before the offensive team officially launched an attack.
But the blow was strict, and the effect was good. After Jordan hit the free throw, the Clippers continued to attack. Li Ao used Jordan on the wing to block Doug Christie. He easily squeezed out Peja who was switching defense and cut into the inside. After receiving the ball, he scored two goals with a one-handed dunk. point.
Divac only dared to pull back from O'Neal after Li Ao entered the three-second zone. At this time, he had no time to make up defense and could only pick up the ball.
In transition between offense and defense, the Kings started the Princeton tactics surrounding the Twin Towers.
Weber cut in to catch the ball and attack the frame. Li Ao, who switched defenses in a one-on-one singles, made a layup with a lever.
O'Neal, like Divac, does not dare to make up defense easily.
They made a lot of preparations for the three-second defensive rule, but when they heard the first whistle on the court, they were still confused and could only follow their defenders to avoid being whistled accidentally.
After playing for several rounds, both teams could easily score in the paint. Gentry saw that this was not going to work!
This is a shitty tactical coordination, and it's almost like a slam dunk show for a fast striker.
He called a timeout and adjusted his playing style - ignoring opportunities to attack the frame and practicing tactical coordination with the goal of obtaining long-range shooting opportunities.
On the defensive end, let O'Neal take the initiative to test how the referee executes the 'defensive three seconds' call.
O'Neal Jr. complained: "What kind of rule is this? As a center, you can't move around the basket at will?"
Li Ao responded: "Just complain, Jermaine, now your chance has come, prove that you are different from others!
In order to limit Michael's scoring, the league introduced the 'Anti-Isolation Rule', and everyone complained at first.
But there will always be some people who take the initiative to adapt, adapt to the new rules earlier than others, take the initiative, and finally win two championships. Do you know who they are? "
"Who?" O'Neal thought for a moment: "Magic? Lakers?"
Jordan was very proud after hearing Li Ao's words, forcing the NBA to introduce new rules to limit his scoring. This is one of the proudest things in his basketball career.
Unexpectedly, the word Lakers came out of O'Neal's mouth. Did he promise to be his fans?
Jordan sighed and said: "Bad Boys, Pistons!"
Why is the God of Basketball angry again? Little O'Neal is not afraid.
He's not afraid of O'Neal or Duncan anymore, but he's still afraid of a perimeter player? And he’s still a teammate!
He thinks Spider-Man is right. Now is not the time to complain. If you adapt to the new rules faster than others, you can stay one step ahead.
The goal of grabbing the boss position can also be one step closer!
…
After the game restarted, as Gentry expected, the opponent also made the same adjustment.
Divac, like O'Neal Jr., started to move proactively to see what kind of movement the referee would blow the whistle and what kind of movement was 'legal'.
In the preseason, in order to allow players of each team to adapt to the new rules as soon as possible, the league asked referees to blow their whistles strictly.
As a result, the referee kept blowing whistles. In the first quarter, the two teams only made 13 defensive free throws in three seconds.
Divac, O'Neal Jr., Weber, Odom, as well as rotation players Scott Pollard, Jaylon Collins, Sean Lukes, Rafonso Ellis, Turkoglu, etc. People quickly deepened their understanding of the new regulations.
It's just hard for the outside players. The whistle comes when they are running. When it doesn't come, they are worried that the whistle will suddenly sound.
Fortunately for the Kings, their core lineup is still the same 8 people, White Chocolate, Doug Coritis, Bobby Jackson, Peja, Turkoglu, Webber, Divac, and Scott Pollard.
Their pre-season training is just to get a feel for the game.
The Clippers, whose main lineup has changed a lot, have struggled with actual movement training.
Fortunately, Spider-Man, the God of Basketball, and the captain who came on the bench were there to supervise. Although it felt torture, the Clippers players endured and moved.
Gentry expressed satisfaction with this. In fact, he did not need this game to see the players playing tactics smoothly. The players only needed to use their bodies to remember the running routes.
There was no suspense about the result of the game at all. The Kings, whose eight main players averaged 30 minutes each in the preseason, defeated the Clippers 114-91 and won.
Li Ao, who played the most time on the Clippers, only played 33 minutes.
Jordan is the player with the most exclusive tactics for the Clippers, and Li Ao is the player who appears in various tactics the most. To be precise, he plays a role in all the Clippers' tactics.
After the game, Li Ao felt a toothache when he saw that the two teams had a total of 31 defensive three-second violations and the two teams had a total of 49 free throws.
However, after returning to the hotel and reading the news online, he felt much more comfortable.
Everyone is the same!
In today's 7 preseason games, any strong team will give away at least a dozen free throws to its opponents due to three-second defense. In our neighbor's home game, there is a player who gave away 11 free throws to his opponent. The media analyzed that he was protesting against the new rules of the league.
On the contrary, some weak teams received very few whistles.
Especially the two losers, the Bulls and the Warriors, the former only defended for three seconds 5 times, and the latter only 3 times. Both teams defeated their opponents.
Li Ao feels that these two teams have the greatest possibility of winning the preseason.
You can’t find a team that cares less about the new rules than these two teams.
But there is also a team that surprised him-the Grizzlies.
Among the teams predicted by the media to compete for the No. 1 pick, only the Grizzlies had more than 10 defensive three-second violations, and as many as 24 times.
It can be seen that Gasol, a center who has played in Europe since he was a child, is not used to the 'defensive three seconds' rule.
Li Ao feels that it is really difficult for insiders this year!
In the future, when big men enter the NBA, they will not be able to defend for three seconds even in high school, college, or other leagues. When they get to the NBA, they will also need to adapt to new defensive methods, but at least they will have the defensive videos of their seniors as a reference.
This year's insiders are facing a dark situation. There is no precedent to refer to, so they can only adapt with their heads down.
When Li Ao read the tactical manual before, he saw that the coaching staff had already made preparations, and several insiders in the team were actively adjusting their defense for the new rules. He thought it was not a big problem.
As a result, after the first game, even he, the outside line, got one defense for three seconds after switching defenses. Even he felt that his vision was dark...
After the painful time was over, he began to try hard to recall the defensive methods of future outstanding interior defenders. He thought about the characteristics of several interior teammates and wrote them down in a small notebook to see if he could provide some help to his teammates.
As a result, I wrote more and more, and as I wrote, I lost sleep...
…
The Clippers left Sacramento the next morning and flew to Oakland.
After the plane took off smoothly, Gentry prepared to catch up on some sleep. He worked overtime and had a meeting until past 3 o'clock last night.
At this time Li Ao came next to him, also yawned and handed him a small notebook.
"What's this?"
"I couldn't sleep last night, and I just thought about the game. This may help us adapt to the defensive three seconds faster."
Li Ao responded and returned to his seat to put on a blindfold to catch up on his sleep. Gentry had no choice but to give up if he wanted to ask further questions.
He opened the small notebook and looked at it. At first glance, what is this?
It's a mess. The previous paragraph was about what O'Neal should pay attention to when moving inside, and what kind of moves can be bolder. The next paragraph mentions flanking attacks.
Next paragraph, what is this, the point guard's bottom line shrinks? Continuing to the next section, the defense is cut off in the middle...what and what? This is it.
Eh, that’s not right!
Gentry looked back and saw that the fourth end and the first paragraph were connected!
These two paragraphs are combined and connected to the second paragraph. The flanks are flanked, the center cuts off the pass in the middle, and when the missed role player cuts in, how can the center move to avoid defending for three seconds...
From the back, Gentry became more and more surprised as he looked at it!
Doug Collins on the side saw Gentry suddenly no longer sleepy, flipping through a small notebook, watching Liu Bei in public?
He moved to the head coach's side curiously and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Gentry was so focused that he didn't notice someone coming next to him and was startled.
After he recovered, he handed the small notebook to Doug Collins: "Leo had trouble sleeping last night and was thinking about how to help his teammates adapt to the new rules."
Doug Collins was already curious. Although he regretted that it was not Liu Bei, he immediately opened the small book and read it.
At first, his reaction was the same as Gentry's, confused, what the hell?
But after reading a few more paragraphs, I cried out to my God!
…
…
Xiaofeng has not been feeling well these days, and the update time is unstable. I'm sorry.
Fortunately, the extra updates owed last month have been completed. Xiaofeng will not add any more updates today. I will update one chapter in the evening to ensure regular updates. There will also be two updates on the weekend. Have a good rest. I will resume additional updates next week. There are currently 1,200 monthly tickets this month. Now, there are 6 chapters in total and more chapters added.
(End of chapter)
