After practicing shooting for more than half an hour, Zhao Feiyang turned around and walked to the locker room. When he arrived at the locker room again, he finally found that players had arrived.
After pushing the door open, Zhao Feiyang saw some familiar faces.
Kevin Martin sits in the middle, which is a good position and is close to the team's head coach Philip Sanders. He is the team's highest scoring player this season, averaging 20 points per game.
Arguably the strongest player on this team right now.
Sitting next to him is Andrew Wiggins, this guy was the No. 1 pick of the Cavaliers, but was sent here in exchange for Kevin Love.
Andrew Wiggins has good talent and has averaged 16.9 points per game so far.
From this point of view, this champion is indeed worthy of his title.
However, one of the things that fans have criticized him for is that this young man seems to have little desire for victory. Not only is he not enthusiastic about training off the field, but his attitude towards the game on the field is also about the same.
It seems that he has the ability to score 80 points, but he often only reaches 65 points and then stops working hard!
Some Chinese fans were quite speechless at his performance, and even deliberately made photos of him to tease him, turning the contents of his water glass into wolfberries to show Andrew Wiggins' "health-preserving style."
In addition to these two people, the Timberwolves also have Maurice Williams in the locker room, a man who once played point guard next to LeBron James.
Known as "the one who doesn't pass the ball", he is famous for not liking to pass the ball.
At this time, he was also at the end of his career and could almost be said to be on the verge of retirement.
What makes Zhao Feiyang most incomprehensible is that the team's back line is so crowded that it is simply a headache.
The above three people alone occupy three positions. Even if Andrew Wiggins is placed on the front line, the team's back line can be said to be quite crowded.
Golden boy Ricky Rubio, a foreign player who had high hopes before the draft; rookie Zach LaVine, is known for his athletic ability, especially his explosive dunk performance.
There are also several names that Zhao Feiyang is not so familiar with. Together, these people make this team look like a mess.
And it’s not just the back line, but other positions as well.
Anthony Bennett, another No. 1 draft pick acquired by the Timberwolves during the trade with the Cavaliers, is known as "the best No. 1 draft pick in history." But at this time, Anthony Bennett had just played one season and was injured again. The problem of illness exists, and no one knows whether he will have a chance to play in the future.
The only thing that stands out is probably the return of "Old Wolf King" Kevin Garnett.
It's a pity that Kevin Garnett is already 38 years old at this time. He returned to the Timberwolves just to sell tickets and give himself a perfect exit.
It is no longer his responsibility to help the team achieve results.
After all, no one can criticize an almost 40-year-old veteran for what he should do.
Faced with such a situation, Zhao Feiyang could only bite the bullet and walk in. After he entered the locker room, he quickly attracted the attention of other people. The reaction of his teammates was lukewarm. Some people greeted him loudly, but they did not show any signs of getting close to him.
Only Kevin Garnett, as a veteran in the locker room, walked up to him and took the initiative to express his goodwill to him.
"Zhao, welcome to Minneapolis!"
Kevin Garnett reached out.
"Thank you, Kevin."
The two high-fived and hugged.
"It's very cold here...but you will get used to it over time...enjoy the game! No one here requires you to do anything..."
Zhao Feiyang nodded.
Soon, the team's head coach Philip Sanders entered the locker room.
He arranged the team's starting lineup, and Zhao Feiyang was not on the list. Perhaps he did not want to break the existing stable situation. In short, Zhao Feiyang was placed on the substitute list to rest from the beginning.
"Today our opponent is the Oklahoma City Thunder."
"Their record is not much better than ours, so we just do our best..."
There isn't too much fanfare or too many slogans, and coach Philip Sanders looks very Buddhist. After giving instructions on what to pay attention to on the field, he led the players towards the infield.
Once inside the infield, the fans finally cheered.
At this time, there was not much time left before the game, and all the fans had already entered the venue.
What surprised Zhao Feiyang was that there didn't seem to be that many fans in the Target Center Arena. Some seats were still empty, and the entire arena was only about 80% full.
Even if it is only 80%, what is interesting is that there are more than a dozen Asian faces sitting on the team bench cheering for themselves.
As soon as he walked out of the tunnel, he heard voices from both sides of the stands.
"Zhao! You are the best!"
“Minnesota welcomes you!”
Although he didn't know which country they were from, Zhao Feiyang still waved enthusiastically in response to these fans who supported him.
Of course, except for these few people, it is almost difficult to see Asian faces in the entire arena.
call out.
The referee whistle sounded.
The two sides officially started fighting.
The Timberwolves' starting lineup debuted, headed by Kevin Martin, with role players like Thaddeus Young, and newcomers like Andrew Wiggins, and a lineup that looked decent came out.
For the Thunder, their starting lineup also appeared quickly.
However, they look much better than the Timberwolves.
The team's two core players, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, can be described as high-spirited. Even if their record this season is mediocre, it does not affect their confidence at all.
Jump ball from both sides.
Snapped.
The Thunder won the ball first.
The game officially begins.
Russell Westbrook held the ball across half court.
Just after halftime, Kevin Durant started running and came up from the wing to receive the ball. One second, Russell Westbrook looked like he was going to pass the ball to him, but the next second, he suddenly changed direction and pushed away Kevin Martin and went to the basket.
His breakthrough was so fast that before the Timberwolves players inside could counterattack, he had already jumped high and smashed the ball into the basket.
boom.
A dunk was delivered at the start.
Such an explosive performance made the entire Thunder bench stand up and cheer and applaud.
"Well done!"
"nice shot."
Looking back at the Timberwolves players, the players on the court looked very calm, as if there was no counterattack due to such a dunk.
On the bench, most of the players had expressionless faces, acting like they were just enjoying the crowd.
