Memphis people knew before last season that the Grizzlies would move to Memphis in the summer of 2001, so they paid close attention to the 2001 draft.

To say that those in the Little Green Room in 2001, there was only one person who was regarded as a future All-Star candidate from the beginning, and that was Barcelona's Pau Gasol. In this era, there were basically no parallel imports who could be favored by the NBA with high picks.

Possibly, they are all geniuses who have already achieved absolute dominance in Europe.

When the Wizards selected the first high school student with the No. 1 pick in history, and the Bulls also selected the first high school student with the No. 2 pick, Memphis fans were in ecstasy.

Although Kwame Brown and Tyson Chandler appear to be extremely talented men at first glance, there is little chance that they will fail just by relying on their physical fitness and defensive awareness.

But whether talent can be realized is not an easy thing. In 2000, the Grizzlies had already gambled on talent. They did not choose Mike Miller, who was very good in college, but chose Stroma, a super physical monster.

Al-Swift.

At this point, the Grizzlies gave up the idea of ​​betting on talent and selected Gasol, a future All-Star who is actually worth seeing after two teams did not want him.

From the first game of the season, Memphis fans have been expecting Gasol to make great strides and win the first Rookie of the Year award in team history.

In the beginning, no one could stop Gasol from reaching the level of excellence among the high-draft picks in the 1980s and 1990s this season. Gasol averaged 18.8 per game in his rookie year and was ranked among the top three picks in the 1980s and 1990s.

They're not too bad, they're a bit far from the top, but at least they're among the best.

Who would have known that Liu Mang suddenly emerged and now averages 15 points per game, beginning to threaten Gasol's evaluation among professional media people.

The final vote for the best rookie is a vote by the media and professionals. When the data is not so overwhelming, especially when the most important difference in points per game is not so big, the outcome of the two rookies' battle is likely to be the biggest.

Influencing factors!

Other places don’t care much about this year’s Rookie of the Year, just as last year’s Rookie of the Year was Mike Miller. But Memphis people care! This is the first time they have just welcomed a ball from the four major leagues in history.

Team’s first award!

This is reflected in the local media in Memphis. There are only 500,000 or 600,000 people here. Anything happening with the Grizzlies is the biggest news for sports fans.

Liu Mang actually felt treated like a "superstar" in Memphis. On the afternoon of the 16th, the Eagles arrived at the FedEx Arena sponsored by FedEx, the largest company in Memphis, and were surrounded by reporters.

When the Lakers were asked to be interviewed by the media, it was not a big deal that the Eagles refused to accept interviews. Anyway, the two hotshot figures from the Lakers were available for interview.

But against the Grizzlies, the most popular of the two teams right now is Liu Mang.

The only one from these two teams who has made headlines in newspapers and magazines across the United States this season is Liu Mang.

…

…

Pre-match interview, Liu Mang was taken to the pre-match interview by coach Kruger.

When he arrived at the interview hall, Liu Mang was surprised that it was packed with reporters!

Not only Memphis, but the entire state of Tennessee was closely surrounding Memphis, and a large amount of media came.

Although it was a team interview, the first shot was indeed fired at Liu Mang.

"Liu, what do you think of today's game?"

Liu Mang answered this question honestly: "We will win."

Liu Mang gave a very honest answer here, but the media here are basically leaning towards the Grizzlies, and most people are Grizzlies fans, which makes me feel uncomfortable.

Why don't you be so direct? Isn't it said that Chinese people are very reserved?

Liu Mang was so direct that the reporters who originally wanted to write about the Chinese people's courtesy first and then attack were no longer polite.

"Liu, what do you think of the Grizzlies as an opponent?"

"Memphis is a great place. The Grizzlies will definitely become a great team one day if they move here, but not now. We are stronger."

"You are about to play against the Grizzlies' Rookie of the Year favorite Pau Gasol. Are you feeling pressure?"

"Of course, Paul is the best inside line among our rookies. He will be an All-Star in the future and will win championships. But we have a better inside line. Theo will use his muscles and strength to guard the inside line."

The media at the scene were originally very unhappy with Liu Mang, but Liu Mang's answer to this question suddenly made people very happy again.

It is indeed a bit difficult for a rookie Gasol to deal with Ratliff, a famous center who is likely to be in the best defense this year and currently leads the league in averaging 3.6 blocks per game. This sounds unpleasant, but as Liu Mang said earlier

Gasol will make the All-Stars, and most importantly, he will win a championship, which will make them feel that Liu Mang is not very arrogant.

It's just that Liu Mang didn't say something. Winning the championship was not with the Grizzlies.

Many media had already stopped talking. Liu Mang's answer was enough to make the fans happy. He then asked some common questions about the Hawks' tactical arrangements, how to deal with the twin stars of Gasol and Jason Williams, etc.

However, at the end of a few minutes of pre-game interviews, someone still asked a topical question.

"Everyone thinks that you and Pau Gasol will be the strongest candidates for the Rookie of the Year. Who do you think will win the Rookie of the Year?" A reporter wearing glasses asked.

Logically speaking, when the two sides have entered a pleasant interview time, reporters from the Eagles team will not take the initiative to stir up trouble in the away game, and the media from the home team will not deliberately offend the other team.

The Bears are one of the bottom three weak teams in the league.

Liu Mang was also a little surprised. Today he had strictly followed Coach Kruger's instructions and accepted the interview honestly.

Originally, Liu Mang wanted to antagonize a wave of Grizzlies, but seeing Coach Kruger's cannibalistic expression, he estimated that if he antagonized everything like he did in Seattle, the coach who took care of him the most would probably do it.

Heart attack due to anger.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Originally, Coach Kruger did not want Liu Mang to be exposed. It was not that he did not want Liu Mang to become a star or make Liu Mang famous. The key was that Liu Mang

If you open your mouth and continue to fire like this, you will probably offend all the other 28 teams in the league!

As a coach, Coach Kruger understands better than others that it is difficult for a player to stay on the same team forever, especially a team like the Eagles whose owner is extremely utilitarian and one of the managements that squeezes players the most.

, you can see this when he was sent to the Clippers when the essence of human movies still had trade value.

As a well-known local college coach in Atlanta, Coach Kruger knows very well that if the benefits Liu Mang brings to the team in the future do not reach the level of his previous efforts, it will be difficult to predict what will happen next.

So Coach Kruger didn't want Liu Mang to offend so many opponents, because he might not know which team that day would be Liu Mang's next team.

Liu Mang answered the previous questions casually, praising his opponent and saying that his side was better, all in a polite manner.

But regarding the issue of Best Rookie, Liu Mang started to have ambitions!

Liu Mang didn't expect much from this reward before, thinking it would be easier than winning the Sixth Man of the Year Award.

However, after arriving in Memphis yesterday afternoon and feeling the enthusiasm of Memphis fans for Pau Gasol to win the Rookie of the Year award, he felt a very different feeling.

It’s not like there’s no chance!

And just like what the TV media, fans, and professionals said, this is an award that a rookie can only have one chance to win in his lifetime!

If you look carefully, the logo on this reporter's microphone seems to be that of the New York media. It seems that he and the Knicks are not so harmonious! After losing to the Knicks in the last game, it seems that the report in New York was about torturing the shameless rookie!

This time Liu Mang's expression became serious: "Best Rookie? Of course it's me!"

"You mean you are better than Pau Gasol? Will you win this Rookie of the Year competition?" The reporter from New York decisively continued to dig holes.
Chapter completed!