Media Day, also known as Media Meeting Day, is the time for players and coaches to mandate the media to take photos and interview.

Team members must accept interviews and let the media shoot the team's training and answer the questions raised are basically rigid regulations, and are measures taken by the league to establish a good relationship with the media.

After Yang Rui arrived at the stadium, he greeted the players.

The five players in the summer league were very close to him, Bowen, Jackson, and Atkins reported to him the training results, regarded him as his thighs, and planned to hug him tightly.

Veterans such as Ewing, Oakley, Johnson nodded even if they were done, they were all high-paying stars. Although they were players, they didn't take the assistant coach seriously.

Coach NBA is playing with a group of rich people. It is not easy to convince them. For example, Ewing's salary this season is 200 times that of Yang Rui.

Usually, the focus of media day is big-name stars and head coaches. This time, this time, reporters from multiple media interviewed Yang Rui together. The previous racial discrimination incident made the whole United States know his name.

"Jerry Young, are you confident of being the team's first assistant coach?" asked the reporter.

"Yes." Yang Rui despised this reporter from the bottom of his heart. This is nonsense. Who would say no?

"Many people think that the Knicks play well in the summer league because of the players' strength, not tactics. What do you think?" asked the reporter.

"Has anyone said this before the summer league?" Yang Ruixin thought it wasn't him, and none of these five people could make up. "Of course, no matter how others think it is their business. All I have to do is help the team win, and the record will tell everything."

The reporter asked: "What do you think the Knicks will achieve in the new season?"

"I don't know, the opponents are very strong, and we will work together to defeat those powerful opponents."

The reporter asked: "On the Internet, the coach who graduated from you at the same time said that you are introverted and unsociable, which leads to your bad relationship. Do you have anything to say?"

After the discrimination incident, in order to reduce the impact, several coaches jointly interviewed anonymously, saying that Yang Rui was not sociable.

Yang Rui smiled and said, "When I couldn't find a job, many people laughed at me. I found a good job and started saying that I was not sociable. I want to say, classmates, don't be jealous. Even if I am sociable and love you as my biological son, what can I do? You can't be an NBA coach because you are not capable, not because you don't have a good father."

The reporters were all shocked. The big news is clearly a verb that doesn’t spit dirty words.

It is certain that it is not sociable, but no one believes Yang Rui is introverted. Which introvert dares to say this on the Media Day?

Yang Rui dares to take the camera to expose it, so he naturally doesn't mind the final shot. Is it useless to have a good relationship with those people? When he is in a downturn, he will be hurt one by one. Could it be that when he is developed, these missed balls will be enlightened and become good balls?

He will not deliberately make enemies. He is already an enemy and there is no need to be polite, let alone tell people about truth, goodness and beauty.

For example, how to view the players, Yang Rui said all the good things, including the five people he has worked with in the summer league. He also praised him. As an assistant coach, he inevitably interacts with the players and cannot speak nonsense.

The Knicks' pre-season 17-man roster is released.

Center: Patrick Ewing, Ben Wallace, Chris Dudley, Buck Williams.

Power forwards: Charles Oakley, Mickey Moore, Herb Williams.

Small forwards: Larry Johnson, Bruce Bowen, Anthony Bowie, Chris Mills.

Scoring guards: Alan Houston, Stephen Jackson, John Starks.

Organizational guards: Chris Chiles, Charlie Ward, Chucky Atkins.

The Knicks only have the championship this season, and Mills can only play as a substitute when joining, which is to buy insurance to prevent Johnson from getting injured. Yang Rui is confident in preventing the Bulls from defending the title this season. The team's lineup is completely defeated by the Bulls, and can be called the Super Knicks.

You can tell how strong you are by looking at the makeup photos of the core players. Ewing, Oakley, Johnson, Houston and Starks took a photo, all of whom are very capable.

On the 26th, the team will be open for training classes, and the media and fans can visit the venue, and the stadium is full.

In addition to watching the training match, the audience will also receive a short-sleeved T-shirt with the Knicks logo pattern as a commemoration. Hunter Johnson came with his childhood sweetheart Jill, which was given by Yang Rui.

Before the training began, Oakley and Ben Wallace were chatting on the sidelines, and Van Gundy asked curiously: "Why, you two know each other?"

"He attended my training camp in high school, and I recommended this kid to go to college." Oakley smiled and said the interesting things they met.

At that time, Oakley saw a guy with a vicious look in the training camp. He didn't look like a good person and didn't look like a high school student, so he asked this person to practice alone, wanting to teach him some lessons.

Oakley didn't expect that this kid would dare to confront him head-on. Oakley knocked his lips open and he broke Oakley's nose. This kid was Ben Wallace in high school.

Later, Oakley let Ben Wallace, who was financially struggling, work in his car dealership, teach him to play basketball, and recommend him to sponsor him to go to his alma mater, Virginia United University, to go to school and play basketball.

Therefore, during the growth process of Daben, Oakley was everywhere, with tough and steel-like muscles.

After listening to the introduction, the more Van Gundy looks at Big Ben, the more he likes people who can defend. "You play well in the preseason. As long as you have 80% of his defensive skills, the team will definitely sign a long-term contract with you."

Van Gundy still underestimated him. Now he is comparing with Oakley. The winner must be big-best. His running and jumping ability is amazing, but all he lacks is experience. Just looking at protecting rebounds, he will not be better than Oakley.

The players first followed the physical trainer to run around the lap, then warmed up the shooting, and Van Gundy and Yang Rui chatted on the sidelines.

"Get the players together later, you and Tom lead the team, let's play the game, let me see your skills." Van Gundy suggested.

Yang Rui smiled slightly. "I have no objection to fighting against me, but if the players are mixed, I can't tell my ability."

"Oh? Then what do you think you should do?"

"I will take the five guys in the summer league and choose two more substitutes. As long as Alan Houston starts, eight guys will go against you nine, how about it?"

Van Gundy frowned. "Why, do you think you have a chance to beat me?"

Yang Rui smiled and explained: "No, because my tactical core is that the offense is initiated from the outside to the inside, so I want you to see the effect of this fight."

This is a nice saying. In fact, Yang Rui wants Houston to come because Van Gundy doesn't know how to use it at all.

Houston was the second leader of the Pistons in the 1995-96 season, averaging 15.2 shots per game, scoring 19.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3 assists, 5.5 shots can score 2.3 three-pointers, and the three-point shooting percentage is as high as 42.7%.

When it comes to the Knicks, Houston averages 12.7 shots per game, with the data dropping to 14.8 points, 3 rebounds and 2.2 assists, and the three-point shooting percentage drops to 38.5%.

Van Gundy originally thought that Yang Rui would choose John Starks, the best sixth man in the league, outstanding strength and good at mid- and long-distance shooting.

As a result, Yang Rui only chose last season's substitute point guard Charlie Ward, as well as the 38-year-old veteran who is about to retire, 203cm inside Buck Williams.

Van Gundy frowned even more, feeling very uncomfortable.

What does he mean? He deliberately asked me to do it? He wanted a starter or a role player from last season, and then brought a group of substitutes who were not up to date to beat my core members?

OK, since you want to make a fool of yourself, I will find someone to score points and win 30 points, so that you can know the difference between the NBA team and the summer league!

If you hear Van Gundy's voice, Yang Rui will definitely despise him. As a defensive coach, this guy thinks that winning 30 points is a big victory, and it will ultimately be humiliated.

In the 21st century, the pace of the game is very fast, winning three or forty is very common.

Yang Rui walked to Thibodeau. "Tom, we are going to play against Jeff and call the players."

"Is this a test too? Who is in our team?"

Yang Rui called out eight names loudly on the sidelines. "Everyone, put on the red vest, let's have a team."

The five summer league players were very happy, ready to try, they worked with Yang Rui and knew that the coach would arrange appropriate tactics to help them play their specialties. They are all system players, so it is definitely not possible to play randomly.

Alan Houston felt desolate.

What is this situation? Should he play the sixth man and lead the substitute in the new season?

If this is not the case, there is no reason to let him be on the same team with these marginal people, but he performed very well last season's playoffs.

Yang Rui walked to Houston and smiled and said, "Alan, the offense will depend on you later. I suggest to Jeff that you are the core of the outside line in the new season, and letting you lead a substitute here is a test. How much ball rights you get depends on what you can bring these new players to play."

"Ha?" Houston was stunned for a moment. This was the span of the promotion and salary increase that he thought he was going to be fired.

"Why, you don't have confidence? I'm very optimistic about you."

"No, I'm just a little surprised." Houston smiled. This opportunity he was waiting for. Ewing was already old and the team needed a new core.

"Everyone gathered." Yang Rui clapped his hands and announced loudly: "Starting the starter Wallace, Charlie Ward, Alan Houston, Buck Williams, Bruce Bowen."

Jackson has good personal abilities. After all, he is only 18 years old, so many problems have been exposed in the summer league. He is prone to being hot-headed, and Atkins is the same. They can grab points with substitutes, and the starting lineup requires experienced people.

Yang Rui's tactics are the same as in the summer league. The person responsible for the cover of the outside world has become veteran Williams, and the main attack on Houston. Ward's pass is stable and has been verified last season. He has the ball in the middle and the two blue-collar workers have the task of defending and fixed offensive end positions.

It's just that there is no ball cover on the side, which is very simple. Everyone understands that as long as they are not fools, they can execute it.

Good coaches are actually good at arranging simple and effective tactics, such as Popovich and Phil Jackson, who defeat their opponents with skillful and simple cooperation, so they don’t have much timeout, and often let the players adjust themselves on the court.

Only coaches who are not at the right level will make the tactics very complicated and constantly test the players' players. Regardless of whether this group of people can understand or not, they spend all their time on running-in, but ignore what the players' own strengths are.

This kind of coach is actually not much different from senior fans. If you can win, you will be a god.

Yang Rui is a smart person and understands the future prospects of players, so his main goal of arranging tactics is to give full play to the players' strengths.

Bowen doesn't need to cut the bottom line, and big book doesn't need to pull it out. Ward reduces the number of shots. With their personal abilities, the coach can arrange tactics and let them run the route of a rose on the court, but he can't get any points.

Yang Rui emphasized: "If you can shoot three-pointers, you should shoot two points. If you misplace, you will break in. Barker does not need to enter the penalty area. He is in a low post and is responsible for grabbing the frontcourt rebounds. If you can't grab the ball, you will quickly return to defense!"

"After grabbing the rebound, keep it steady, leave it to Alan to fight, don't be nervous, you are capable, very strong! Buck, Patrick gives you single defense, come on!"

Williams is 203cm tall and suffers a loss, but he and Ewing know themselves and enemies are better than Jean Moore's. This is why Yang Rui wants him.

On the other hand, Van Gundy arranged for the main tactics last season. Ewing pulled the ball to the horn position to catch the ball and challenged one-on-one, Johnson cut from the side, and others looked for opportunities on the outside.

There are two benefits to this kind of fight. One is that it is not easy to mess up. If you start a single fight, you can stand on the outside and wait for the return pass. If Ewing attracts double-teams, you will pass it, and if you don’t have double-teams, you will hit it.

Second, while the core data is very beautiful, everyone saves energy and can stay on the defensive end and fight desperately.

To put it bluntly, the Knicks did not have offensive tactics and relied on the stars’ personal abilities to solve problems. Stars were prone to data when playing under Van Gundy, and they also had to be mentally prepared to be exhausted and useless.

This is also the reason why Yang Rui must win Houston as a leader. In his previous life, Ewing was reimbursed for serious injuries in the regular season, missing the Gorillas, and it was more difficult to defeat the Bulls in the playoffs.

Five players from the White Team: Chiles, Mills, Johnson, Oakley, and Ewing.

Mills first arrived in four starters last season, and his strength is also good. He will definitely be an important rotation member in the new season.

In the audience, Hunter was in a very high position, but it was still difficult to get an autograph, so he could only shout to Houston.

Jill asked: "How did Houston get to the Red Team? Isn't that a substitute there?"
To be continued...