The godfather of basketball started from conquering the NBA

After China defeated Spain, the whole country fell into a day of ecstasy. Regardless of whether you watch basketball or not, you all know that among the three major goals, the men's basketball team won the world championship. For this, it is worth a year of joy.

And because of the last Olympic Games, China won Serbia and Montenegro. You must know that Serbia and Montenegro were the world champions in 02. This time we won the world champions in 06, so we like to mention the title of "World Champion Killer".

Although we know that Spain was too relaxed in this game and gave us a chance, it is still something worth inflating. Afterwards, our morale was high, we beat Angola violently, and in the life-and-death battle with Germany, we narrowly won Germany achieved the best record in history with 3 wins and 2 losses in the group stage.

But unfortunately, we are in the death group. Except for the United States, Spain and Greece, the champions and runners-up of the last World Championships all achieved a record of 3 wins and 2 losses, while Spain and Greece ranked second and third by virtue of their net points , and although we have achieved the best record in history, we are still fourth in the group.

In the knockout round, facing Lithuania, which is tall and burly, the fate of being eliminated is still inevitable, but this is completely acceptable for us.

Because of the wins, we ended the Olympic Games with a record of 3 wins and 3 losses. Australia with 2 wins and 4 losses in Leah became No.7. This time, we are actually No. [-] in the world. Such a result is enough We are proud of it.

After busying himself with the Olympic Games, it's time for Xu Xiao to prepare for the next season.

Next season, the requirement for the Timberwolves is to reach the playoffs, and his three-year contract should be fulfilled.

Next season will definitely give Westbrook time to level up. During this period of time, other people must stand up. If we follow the plot of the previous life, then Westbrook will be fully familiar with the rhythm of the NBA in the middle of the season, and he can completely serve as a player. The team's starting guard.

But this is a long time for the Timberwolves. Now Xu Xiao wants to shorten Westbrook's training time, so in the first ten games, all the team's resources will be tilted towards Westbrook, and then five games will be given to him. To hone the team lineup, Xu Xiao will give Westbrook his ability in the No. 20 game.

Looking at the current lineup of his team, Roy is still the most stable point, because the team is very friendly, so Xu Xiao is not afraid that his arrangement will cause dissatisfaction from others, especially the current team boss. Roy.

In addition to Roy, the other focus is last year's No. [-] pick Oden. Last year I trained for Oden for a year. Now I am watching Oden. Although his physical talent is indeed at a historical level, he has a strong body and excellent movement. Ability, and good flexibility, it is also very tough to fight, and the amazing explosive power is really scary.

But these are far from enough. It can be seen from last year that Oden's offensive area is limited to the three-second zone under the basket. The body rate is not high, and Oden's backs are often squeezed to the basket to end, or rely on his good dexterity to enter the three-second zone, so it is normal to have a higher shooting percentage than Howard, after all, Howard does not have him. The strength of the lower body and such a height.

But other than that, Oden's hooks, small throws into the frame and half-stops are all very bad, not to mention shooting, and on the defensive end, he has a good ability to protect the frame, rebounds and blocks. Not bad, but it's too easy to foul. This problem has been a big problem for Oden no matter in his previous life or today. Last season, Oden's foul ability was really the best in the league.

Therefore, after a year of investigation by Xu Xiao, the final evaluation of Oden is that he can reach the passing line of the No. [-] pick at most, and he may have a chance to become an All-Star player in the future, but he is definitely not a player at the historical level, far inferior to Kevin Duran. Special, the achievement won't even top Al Horford.

However, it doesn't matter, this is what Xu Xiao wants, since you can't do it, then I will help you.

A Daluo star ability card came to mind, because the star card runs through the player's entire career.Therefore, the skills of Daluo's peak period and the three-point ability developed later in his career were given to Oden.

Daluo's touch is definitely the best part of the inside players in the league. Not only is his technique delicate, he is proficient in various scoring skills, but he also has full experience on the defensive end. Daluo's shortcoming is that he is too slow and basically has no running and jumping Ability, this is also Oden's advantage, and Daluo's handwork, defensive experience, and position selection can completely make up for Oden's shortcomings.

This is not what Xu Xiao is most concerned about. The biggest problem now is the striker. Although Milicic has developed the league's top three-point ability with the help of Xu Xiao, but compared to the fourth position, Milicic is on the defensive end. I still prefer to stand at the 5th position. He is also good at topping the protective frame, and the help defense can only be said to be average. Although he has good mobility and wingspan, he is still not good enough to judge the defensive position.

And Outlaw and Miles in the third position are the team's biggest shortcomings. Fortunately, Outlaw has no problems at least on the offensive end, except for some nerve knives, but his ball handling and shooting. He did a good job, but the problem is defense. Outlaw has excellent physical talent. He is tall and has long arms, and he moves very fast. problems can never be resolved.

But Outlaw has a way to save it. After all, Xu Xiao still has a Bradley star card here. Bradley's defensive skills are definitely worth having, but Darius Miles is not that good. It's easy to handle.

Although Miles has played a period of high light after recovering from health, those undisciplined high school habits have also returned, the defensive end is lazy, and private training is not active. Last year, Xu Xiao stared at him. It's a little bit better, the training is still passable, at least the shooting has been corrected, and the three-pointer has been practiced.

But there is still no obvious improvement in other aspects. In the game, Miles is still a person who relies on physical talent to play.

And this offseason, Xu Xiao originally wanted to give him a star card, but this offseason Miles is either holding a party, or on the way to the party, all kinds of indulgence, which also dispelled Xu Xiao's desire to Ideas for giving him a star card.

As a player, Xu Xiao allows him to be good, but he is not allowed not to work hard. For this, Xu Xiao especially appreciates Pat Riley of the Heat. It is this kind of method that can create the tough style of the Heat team. This is also the team culture that Xu Xiao wants to build.

Originally, Xu Xiao had the ability to turn stone into gold, but if the player didn't work hard and didn't have a hard-working and tough character, then such ability would be wasted.

So Darius Miles is one of the targets he wants to clear this summer, but he still has 2 years and 1800 million contracts left, which makes many teams daunting.

As a free agent, Xu Xiao didn't think about it any more. No player was willing to come to Minnesota, where the world of ice and snow is.

Just when he was at a loss, Burks, the old man of the team, approached him.

"A friend of mine, Hammond, is in the management of the Magic. He contacted me before, hoping to trade Aaron Brooks with us. Their bargaining chip is Trevor Ariza. Boss, do you think it's okay?"

Ariza?This made Xu Xiao a little bit excited. If Ariza can come, then with his defensive ability, he can definitely make up for the Timberwolves' forward problem.

As for Brooks, this year Xu Xiao will select Westbrook and Della in the draft. Brooks' chances will naturally decrease. Now it is a good opportunity to sell, and the Magic is willing to trade Ariza. Xu Xiao also guessed the intention. After the end of next season, Ariza has become a free agent, and he can't afford to renew his contract. There will be room to renew Turkoglu next year.

Instead of letting him go in vain, it is better to change the rookie contract.

"Of course there is no problem with this. Since you are an old friend, you can communicate with me. But I have a request, that is, Bi Miles should be packaged and sent away together. The second round can be given, but not the first round."

Xu Xiao smiled and said to the Timberwolves veteran employee.

"Myers, he still has two years of 1800 million in his contract. It won't be easy if he doesn't make the first round..."

"It doesn't matter Burks, although Darius Miles has a two-year contract, he only has a guarantee of 200 million in the second year, so he can be cut in the second year without taking up too much space.

I won’t give it in the first round, but I can give it in the second round. After all, we are old acquaintances with the Magic. The Milicic trade we made the year before last, my buddy didn’t let them lose money, and even helped them score successfully. Playoffs, this time, it's your friend again, I'm very optimistic about you. "

Xu Xiao shamelessly gave Birx pua

And Burks was also very efficient in handling things, and soon the Magic reached a deal with the Timberwolves. The Magic traded Ariza for Timberwolves' Aron Brooks, Darius Miles, and two second rounds from 09 and 10. sign.

Because it was just a small transaction, no one paid attention to it, but Xu Xiao was not satisfied with this transaction.

Ariza will definitely want a long-term contract next season, obviously he will not stay in the Magic, and now the Magic trades Ariza itself to stop the loss, and Brooks, who played well last season, coupled with his youth, has at least three years left The child labor contract, the deal itself is not a loss for Magic, and even a little bit of profit. Although Miles is a garbage contract, it will definitely be laid off in this year and the next year. There is no room for Magic in the future. Influence.

In this case, let the opponent earn two second rounds for nothing. It seems that Burks is popular, but his professional ability is still not good. In the future, he should try not to entrust this kind of matter to him. This also made Xu Xiao realize that I realized that although popularity is a good thing, when talking about work, try not to be too worldly, otherwise it is easy to get caught.

After the deal is completed, it is close to the preseason of the new season, and the Timberwolves' lineup has basically stabilized.

Lineup for next season:

Point guards: Russell Westbrook, Dragic

Shooting guards: Brandon Roy, Gary Neal, Tyronn Lue

Small Forwards: Trevor Ariza, Outlaw and PJ Tucker

PF: Darkomilicic, Tolliver, Chuck Hayes

Centers: Greg Oden, and Marc Gasol Jr., who played well in the Olympics.

It's not a strong team, but at least young and energetic, the Timberwolves next season are still very hopeful to make it to the playoffs.

However, before the start of the season, the players have to conduct training camps, and the management also has to convene a meeting to formulate policies and directions for the next season.

"I don't agree. Such a strategy will do more harm than good to our entire team. It will damage our team in the eyes. A rookie is not worth it. He is not the No. [-] pick. Even if he is the No. Oden, the No. [-] pick we boasted to the sky, last year we also saw what kind of performance he was in, what kind of state he was, and how much damage this practice did to the team..."

"Coach Casey, during the start of last year, Oden's performance was indeed not good, but this also has something to do with your coaching tactics. You just let him play with the ball and didn't design any tactics for him... .”

"What do you mean, is it that I deliberately didn't let him play well? Or do you think I'm simply not good enough? If it's the latter, you can say it openly, don't use your Chinese thinking and say it so euphemistically." , if the former, then I can tell you that I am a professional coach, no matter what policy you set, I always hope that the team can win and the players can play the best performance on the court. Team, you don’t need to be less affectionate towards the players.”

In the internal meeting of the management, after Xu Xiao stated his plan to give up the first fifteen games for Westbrook, Casey couldn't sit still and confronted Xu Xiao directly.

At this time, Xu Xiao also found that the team's friendly and convincing degree dropped by several points. It seems that once conflicts arise, this point will drop. The contradictions are not easy to reconcile. Even if the lottery is drawn again and the matter is prevaricated with a friendly and convincing degree, it will not change Casey's mind.

But in this matter, Xu Xiao has no intention of giving in. This is the plan he made for the team, and no one can easily change it.

So there are some extremes in terms of words.

As the good old man Burks of the team management, he stood up to act as a peacemaker:

"Well, we can observe a few games through the preseason first. If Westbrook really shows the kind of talent that can make me desperate, then we can still discuss it."

"No, no discussion."

Unexpectedly this time, Xu Xiao and Casey had the same opinion, and both sides thought that there was no need to discuss this matter.

In this way, everyone broke up in the first meeting of the management team, and the team's friendship and credibility gradually dropped. The fuse is gone.