When he learned that Dayao and Daba had just arrived in Toronto and had not yet found a place to stay and were currently staying in a hotel, Li Ming decisively invited them to stay in his villa.
After all, the house is so big, it will be empty if you live alone, and you don't need to clean it yourself. It will be lively if there are more people living in it.
Dayao and Daba exchanged polite words, but when they saw that Li Mingzhen invited them sincerely, they no longer shied away.
I called the moving company to pick up their luggage from the hotel. After arriving home, I helped Dayao and Daba pack the room.
Although Dayao and Daba are both basketball stars in the Dragon Kingdom, they have obviously never lived in such a luxurious house. They praised Li Mingzhen for being a rich man and must hug their thighs tightly.
While eating, Li Ming thought about it and said to Dayao seriously:
"The Raptors are still very good to me, and I will always play with the Raptors, so I sincerely hope that you can treat Toronto as your second home. Let's work together to make your career better." No regrets."
Dayao's emotional intelligence is still very high, and he can completely understand the meaning of Li Ming's words:
That is, the Raptors are his team, but he doesn't mind sharing it with himself, and hopes that he can play his right to win honor for this city and his own career.
"Don't worry, we all live together now, aren't we a family?"
Dayao directly gave Li Ming strength:
"As a family, we don't have to talk to each other. Don't worry, as long as I'm on the court, I've never been soft. I also want to see what heights our Raptors can reach under your leadership!"
At this time, the bus followed him again: "Me too!"
........
In the next two days, the product manager of Huigou Sports kept pestering Li Ming, hoping to sign a contract with them.
As early as the few days after the draft, Li Ming had clearly rejected all sneaker contracts.
Because he wants to sign a contract with a domestic brand and also hopes to promote the development of domestic sneakers.
But who knew that none of the domestic sneaker manufacturers were looking for him!
On the contrary, it was Hui Gou Sports who was the most persistent, calling every once in a while to say nothing. No, the product manager came again with their utmost sincerity:
"One hundred million US dollars in ten years, exclusive signature shoes will be launched every year, and a dedicated designer will design your exclusive logO."
"You know, the contract amount Reebok offered me is much larger than yours. Even the contract with the three stripes is much larger than yours."
Although Li Ming was touched by Dui Gou Sports' persistence, he still did not let go because he had a better idea.
"Ninety million US dollars over seven years. This is LeBron's contract amount and our greatest sincerity. What do you think?"
The product manager of Gou Sports didn't hide it and directly pulled out his trump card.
"Don't worry, I have a better proposal. I don't want any endorsement fees, but I will still fulfill the obligations of a spokesperson. The premise is that every product with my personal logo must be allocated to me for product sales. 10% of the amount, what do you think?"
Li Ming calmly picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea. He knew that the product manager could not make the decision.
But he wanted to see how sincere the Gou Sports Company was. After all, it was the world's largest basketball shoe manufacturer, and Li Ming was not willing to offend them.
"This... I cannot reply to you immediately. Please wait for a while. I will report the situation to the senior leadership. I will contact you as soon as I have news."
After speaking, Li Ming greeted him with a few polite words and then sent him to the door.
After drinking a few cups of tea, Li Ming started today's training again.
After training together for two or three days, Li Ming also had a basic understanding of the strengths of Dayao and Daba.
Dayao's level is definitely above that of Bus, especially in terms of the delicateness of his footsteps and shooting. There is no way to compare.
Now Dayao has not gained weight yet, and he still looks relatively thin.
Although the confrontation ability under the basket is not that strong, for Yao, who is much taller than others, although it is not as intimidating as the basket after gaining weight, it still cannot be underestimated.
In the preseason games of the Raptors, under the various changes made by the new head coach Anil, they successfully achieved zero wins and seven losses.
Through these changes, Li Ming also saw that this coach was simply not capable of coaching the NBA.
Li Ming only plays an average of ten minutes per game. After all, it's just the preseason where the coach needs to train and see everyone's strength, which is an important means to determine the roster.
However, although Li Ming played very easily, he still felt a little bit wrong. He felt that the other players in the team had a vague feeling of isolating himself and Dayao Daba. I wonder if he was being too preoccupied.
But Li Ming is not worried. After all, this is Toronto. According to his popularity in Toronto, the mayor has to be polite when meeting him. Is he still afraid of these cats and dogs?
Through the preseason, Li Ming has basically established a certain degree of tacit understanding with Dayao and Daba. Li Ming has no intention of counting on anyone else for this team.
With himself as the core on the outside and Dayao as the core on the inside, this is the best winning combination since the 21st century.
Just like the Lakers' OK combination, a super shooting guard and a super center are the basis for the Lakers dynasty to win three championships in the new century.
So now all teams hope to have a super guard and a super center in their team to replicate the feats of the Lakers dynasty.
Based on the performance of each player in the preseason, and also because of the arrival of Li Ming and Dayao, they saw the hope of the championship, so they were very active in transactions and the free market——
He shouted the slogan that except for Li Ming and Dayao, who are not for sale, all the remaining players can bid.
It is precisely because of this attitude of the Raptors management that other players except Li Ming, Dayao, and Daba felt even more panicked, and their attitude towards the three of them became even colder.
It is precisely because of the positive trading attitude of the Raptors management that the Raptors have not established a confirmed starting lineup in the preseason.
Fortunately, the preseason is now over, and the Raptors’ final roster is out:
Starting line-up: Center: Dayao, No. 11.
Power forward: Donyell Marshall, No. 42.
Small forward: Jaylen Rose, No. 5.
Position: Li Ming, No. 7.
Point guard: Alvin Williams, No. 20.
Substitute: Center: Barter.
Power forward: Jerome Moiso.
Small forward: Morris Peterson.
Points: Michael Curry.
Point Guard: Milt Perasi.
Water cooler players: Robert Archibald, Lamond Murray, Chris Jeffries and Rick Bronson.
The time came to 7 pm on October 29, and the Raptors also ushered in their new season opener——
A home game against the New Jersey Nets, also a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference.
Last season, the Nets, as the Eastern Conference champions, faced off against the Spurs. Although they were defeated by the Spurs with a score of 4:2, the Spurs beat the Lakers 4:2 last season.
After this calculation, the strength of the Nets is equal to that of the Lakers. I am simply a math genius!
In the locker room, the morale of the Raptors was poor, and no player took the initiative to talk to Li Ming or Dayao.
They seemed to be a group of their own, separating the three Dragon Kingdom people.
Seeing Li Ming staring at other players, Dayao came over at this time. Perhaps he was afraid that Li Ming would not be used to this situation when he first came to the NBA, so he patted Li Ming on the shoulder:
"Don't take it too seriously. They just have a kind of innate discrimination against us yellow people. Especially now that the management has determined that we will be the cornerstone of the team, they must be even more unbalanced."
"I don't know where their sense of superiority comes from. They have well-developed limbs and simple minds. They don't play well at each ball, but they have a bad temper."
"As old players, they are supporting us, the yellow-skinned rookies of the Dragon Kingdom. They must be unbalanced in their hearts, and they are probably holding back bad things."
"But don't worry about them. We just need to play our own ball. Let basketball speak. Don't worry. With the head coach here, they won't go too far. Don't worry."
Dayao must have experienced this kind of thing in Houston last season, and he said it all.
Li Ming shook his head, glanced at Dayao, and said with a half-smile:
"Hey, Dayao, relax, I'm not worried about what they will do to us. If I'm worried about this, I'll treat them as opponents. If we can win 2 vs. 8, wouldn't it be awesome? Slap them in the face.”
"Besides, this is our team and it was decided by the management. What ability do they have to change the management's opinion? Rely on their appalling data or their appalling skills?"
"I was just thinking that these people's cultural level is not high, and everything is on the surface. In fact, they are not too bad on the inside. As long as it does not affect winning, I will not take the initiative to trouble them."
"Forget it, let's not talk so much. The coach is here. Let's listen to the tactics first and see their performance on the court later. Then I will make a decision."
What Dayao didn't know was that in order to complete his achievement system, Li Ming had already marked all the players with symbols:
It's either usable or not. There is absolutely no word neutral in his dictionary. Anyone who affects him from winning the game is his enemy.
Anil called the players to gather in a circle, took out the tactical board and talked about today's regular tactics.
In fact, there are no new tactics. They still require positional warfare. Li Ming is used as a breakthrough point on the outside. Williams is required to dribble the ball and hand it to Li Ming after half-court. Li Ming provides temporary tactical command according to the situation on the court.
With Dayao as the axis inside, Marshall opened up the space. When Dayao was double-teamed, he passed the ball to Marshall first, and then Marshall distributed the ball, and then launched an internal and external positional attack.
Because the Nets' outside shooting is average, they use a second and third zone defense to prioritize rebounding.
The tactics were easy to understand. Everyone gathered around and shouted slogans before getting ready to enter.
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the game officially started. The Raptors' starting lineup was as mentioned above, and the Nets' starting lineup was:
Center: Jason Collins.
Power Forward: Kenyon Martin.
Small Forward: Richard Jefferson.
Shooting Guard: Corey Kidders.
Point guard: Jason Kidd.
