Anthony the Reborn

Chapter 24 The Home of the Championship
"Bruce, I heard that your opponent in the opening game is the Nuggets. The Nuggets rookie Anthony performed well in the preseason. Have you thought about how to defend?"

"Who is Anthony?"

"Carmelo Anthony, this year's No. 2.03 show, a [-]-meter small forward."

"I haven't heard of it. What is the concept of outstanding performance you mentioned? I don't pay much attention to games like preseason games."

"He averaged 20 points per game in the preseason and almost had a triple-double in the first game."

"I've defended guys with 20 points? 30 points. Against a rookie with 20 points or a score like this in the preseason, I need to think about how to defend? And what you said was almost a triple-double? Although I didn't pay much attention to the preseason, but I heard that this year's No. [-] pick has already won two triple-doubles? I think it makes more sense for you to ask me how to defend James?"

"..."

"We are the defending champions, we take a longer view, the opener is the same for everyone, because we always win, don't we?"

"Okay, thank you Bruce for accepting our interview."

The Spurs came off the bench in the preseason and won all six, Bruce Bowen said in an interview after the final 6-96 win over the Timberwolves.

During the five days of rest, Anthony trained during the day and took time to go here and there with Su Xi at night. Their relationship was brought closer, but there was still a layer of cellophane between the two of them, and no one thought of stabbing him. break.

Time passed, and five days passed in the blink of an eye. On the afternoon of October 10th, Anthony and his Nuggets flew to San Antonio, Texas, where they were about to usher in the first NBA game of the 30-20003 season. In the regular season, the opponent is the powerful defending champion Spurs.

A pitched battle was inevitable.

Texas, the largest state in the southern United States, has a developed economy and is best known as the "Texas Cowboy" in the world.

In the history of the NBA, this is also a holy place for basketball. Texas has the title of "Island of the Dead" in the basketball world, because here, there are three strong Texas teams: the San Antonio Spurs, the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks. Every other NBA team takes a lap in Texas and sheds a layer of skin.

The San Antonio Spurs, the NBA champions in the 2002-2003 season, last year was also the second NBA championship in their team history. Since they selected the "Stone Buddha" of Tim Duncan, they have a faint tendency to create a dynasty. Although the "Navy "Admiral" Robinson retired, but at the same time he also added powerful players like Turkoglu, and his strength is still as strong as before.

In the locker room before the game, Nuggets coach Bzdelik repeatedly emphasized the strength of the Spurs, keeping the players focused and ready for tough battles.

After so many games, Anthony has a certain understanding of his coach. Compared with tactical arrangements, Bzdelik seems to pay more attention to the spiritual aspects of the team. , This is a coach who feels like he doesn't have much ink in his stomach.

However, Anthony also ushered in a good news. In this game, Bzdelik made him the core of his tactics in the pre-match tactical arrangement. It seems that Su Xi's previous analysis was correct. Zdrik instructed.

The biggest difference between the regular season and the preseason is the atmosphere. If the preseason is an arena fight, then the regular season is a battlefield where thousands of troops fight.

The home court of the Spurs is the SBC Center Stadium. There are more than 8000 seats in the stadium. The fans are wearing the golden uniforms issued by the home court. The vast sea of ​​people is spectacular.

Because the Spurs were the champions of last season, the championship rings will be awarded before the game begins.

The rings were presented by "Lord of the Rings" Bill Russell and "Cardinal" Auerbach, the two most famous players and coaches in NBA history. The honor can only be seen on large occasions.

As the melody of the scene sounded, the players put their championship rings on their palms and lifted them up into the air together. The surrounding flashes flashed one after another, and the fans on the scene shouted like a mountain and a tsunami.

This is the moment that belongs to the championship, and it is also the moment that belongs to the fans of the championship. At this moment, they are the center of the basketball world.

Anthony looked at the scene in front of him, and his heart couldn't be calmed down for a long time. This is the championship. He has worked hard for a season to get the honor. This is also the dream of every NBA player. Of course, it also includes Carmelo Anthony, it's a pity that he has worked hard for 15 years, but after all, he missed this golden ring.

"I will, I will definitely be able to change Anthony's destiny!"

Anthony swore secretly in his heart.

At this time, Anthony found a familiar figure in the Spurs, **, this Chinese rookie who was only selected by the Spurs in 2001, won the championship ring with the team for two years.

This is really fate. Some players have worked hard all their lives but have not succeeded. Here, they can win the championship ring if they just make soy sauce.

Anthony didn't know whether to smile or smile bitterly.

The awards ceremony is over, the lights go out, and then the players are introduced, which is something that didn't happen in the preseason.

The Nuggets players were introduced first. The host shouted one after another to make people excited, and the audience on the scene also cooperated with shouts and shouts. Every player seemed to be a dazzling star at the moment when he appeared on the stage. people cheer.

"Player No. 15, Carmelo Anthony!"

With the shout of the host, the fans on the scene let out a roar like a tsunami.

Anthony rushed out from the player tunnel, clapped hands with the teammates who had already run out one by one, looked at the waving light sticks and shouting fans around the stadium, his heart was beating violently, and finally, he To officially start Carmelo Anthony's NBA journey, his road to proof will start here, starting from the iron-blooded championship Spurs.

After the Nuggets players came on the court, the Spurs' home players followed. They enjoyed even more crazy shouts when they came out, declaring that this is their territory.

After the introduction of the Spurs players and the warm-up, the referee blew his whistle, and Anthony's first NBA regular season officially started.

The Nuggets started exactly the same as in the first game of the preseason, with Miller and Leonard at guard, Anthony at small forward, and Nene and Camby on the inside.

On the Spurs side, after "Admiral" David Robinson retired, the player fluctuations this season are also quite large. The team suddenly added 9 new players, and the team also suddenly changed from the "Twin Towers Era "Entered the immature "GDP era", the starting five "GDP" Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili occupy three seats, and the center position is Lasso Nesterovich, who was just traded this year , At the small forward position is the defensive champion Bruce Bowen.

The referee blew the whistle and the two sides jumped the ball. Camby and Nesterovic jumped the ball. Nesterovic had a longer hand and put the ball into Parker's hands.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

Just at the beginning, Bzdelik shouted loudly from the sidelines, which shows the importance he attaches to the game and the tension in his heart.

Anthony also knew that the Spurs should not be underestimated. When the Spurs got the ball, he quickly stepped back.

Parker is not Barbosa. After he got the ball, he didn't push forward quickly, but took the ball to call his teammates to run. After the baptism of the finals, he is no longer that young boy.

Popovich is a very successful coach. He doesn't have his own set of tactics that he is famous for like other well-known coaches, such as Phil Jackson's triangle offense, Adelman's Princeton, etc., but his team absolutely It is the most reasonable offensive team in NBA history, because in his tactical philosophy, the offensive end must be in the hands of the most suitable player, no matter who he is.

The Spurs have taken the simplest tactic in basketball to the extreme, that is, the pick-and-roll. As soon as they are in position, the Nuggets players find that they are struggling. Hit the pick and roll.

Soon, Duncan found an opportunity to play singles with the ball. Facing Nene's defense, he shook the board casually and scored two points easily. He could only glance at Duncan's back with resentment.

Anthony was defending against Bowen, who received the least defensive pressure. During the tactical arrangement, coach Bzdelik also asked him to look at the situation but helped Nene to help defend, but just now he also had a hard time.

It is said that Bowen is a defensive champion, even when he is on offense. This super defender who has to face the opponent's main scorer every night seems to have no intention of attacking at all. He regards offense as a kind of defense. , Anthony was stuck by the candy-style defense, and he couldn't do it even if he wanted to make up the defense.

Seeing that Duncan hit the board and scored, Anthony was able to get rid of Bowen's entanglement. He said angrily: "I'm sick!"

Anthony spoke Chinese, and Bowen didn't know what he meant. He just gave him a strange look, then turned around and ran towards his own half.

The commentator for this game is "Magic" Johnson, and his partner is EPSN commentator Devin Brown
"Ervin, what do you think is interesting about this game? From the point of view of a certain gap in strength between the two sides." As soon as the game started, Brown began to communicate with Johnson. Judging from what he said, it seemed that Not optimistic about the Nuggets.

"What to watch, I think there are two aspects. First of all, you need to know that the Nuggets are an offense-oriented team, while the Spurs are a team that is good at defense. The biggest thing to watch is naturally Can the Nuggets' spear penetrate the Spurs' shield? In the second aspect, this year's Nuggets rookie Carmelo Anthony is a super scorer in the NCAA. High scoring efficiency, now is the first official game of his career, and it is still facing a defensive champion like Bruce Bowen, how much he can play is also a part that is worth looking forward to."

Johnson analyzed methodically, but he maintained a neutral attitude.

"Melo's performance is really good. I still remember that he scored 35 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists in the first preseason game. His performance is phenomenal." This one is a frequent visitor with a triple-double, and he couldn't help complimenting, "Add that kid from Cleveland, and there are two successors to the 'Magician' in the league at once~"

"Haha~" Johnson let out a burst of hearty laughter. Although he has been famous for a long time, he is quite happy to be used as a template for two geniuses.

While they were talking, the Nuggets went through a few coordinated runs, and the ball came into Anthony's hands. Other players also pulled the defender away, and Anthony matched up with Bowen's defense for the first time.

(End of this chapter)