On the 20th, Wang Tiejun reported to the team headquarters.
After leaving the Suns in 1997, this was his first return to the Suns headquarters in five years, and he felt both familiar and unfamiliar.
"Welcome back our Sun King."
Entering the headquarters, all the management, staff, and coaching staff lined up to welcome him.
"I believe this is a new beginning." Lao Wang said with confidence.
"Pa bang bang..."
There was warm applause at the Suns headquarters.
Lao Wang looked at the management and saw many familiar people, including Miss Molly from the public relations department, team doctor Andrew John, chief trainer Aaron Nelson, etc., so he went up to greet them one by one.
After the welcome ceremony, everyone dispersed, and Lao Wang followed Colangelo Jr. to the latter's office, along with D'Antoni, assistant coaches Van Gundy Jr. and Frank Johnson.
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After sitting down, he asked the assistant coach to bring coffee in. Colangelo Jr. said: "Old K, we also have an assistant coach, Mr. Scott Skelter, who will lead the team in the preseason. However,
The preseason has been completed, the team will return tomorrow, and the official training camp will start the day after tomorrow."
"Bryan, how is our lineup?" Lao Wang asked with concern.
Colangelo stood up and took out a piece of paper from the drawer in his office, then handed it to Lao Wang and said: "There are no stars in the free market this year. I contacted two and they were unwilling to come. They are not optimistic about us. I will tell you later
Try your best to trade, I hope you will gain something.”
Lao Wang smiled, said nothing, and began to look at the lineup.
Center: Wang Tiejun, Ewing, Jack Waskull
Forward: Stoudemire, Marion, Tom Gugliotta, Beau Outlaw
Guards: Nash, Joe Johnson, Anfernee Hardaway, Randy Brown
This is the current roster of twelve players, all of whom are under contract. There are also five fringe players who have not signed contracts yet.
Colangelo Jr. introduced: "Old K, your first substitute is Ewing, another Waskull, with average strength, a second-round pick in 2000.
At the power forward position, Gugliotta still has some juice, and Outlaw has no strength. It mainly depends on whether Stoudemire, who was selected this time, can be cultivated.
The small forward is Marion, and Hardaway can substitute for this position. As for the shooting guard, Joe Johnson, and Hardaway. The point guard, Nash, and Hardaway can substitute, but Randy Brown has no strength. The main disadvantage now is the small forward. I
Prepare to find another small forward."
D'Antoni said at this time: "Old K, I am going to use you, Tom Gugliotta, Marion, Anfernee Hardaway, and Nash as the starting lineup, and I will make adjustments later. What do you think?"
Lao Wang stared at the list in his hand and said: "Gugliotta is already old. We don't need to let him start, right? Didn't we choose a power forward rookie? Amare Stoudemire, he can't
?”
Van Gundy Jr. said: "Old K, Amare is a high school student. Although his talent is very good, we are worried that he cannot assume the starting position. We will use a veteran to transition him first and let him get used to it before trying to start."
Lao Wang thought about it and felt that it was right. Isn't there an idiom called destroying a child's talent to encourage growth? He nodded and said, "Okay, we are not pursuing regular season results this season."
Everyone nodded, but there was also a pressure on them.
Last season, the Suns were last in the Western Conference, but Wang now said that they are not pursuing regular season results. The implication is that they are pursuing playoff qualifications. This is their pressure.
When Lao Wang comes back this time, he no longer pursues honors such as MVP and scoring champion. He doesn't even care about the championship. He only cares about whether he can create a Sun Dynasty.
During his dynasty with the Lakers, he also won the MVP and Finals MVP for three consecutive years, as well as the regular season scoring and rebounding titles, first team defense, and other personal honors.
Throughout his career, he has won 6 championships in 9 years, one of which is a dynasty. This dynasty is also the only three consecutive championship dynasties in the modern basketball era of the league. It is of great significance, and he is the absolute core of the team. This is why he has become the first player in the history of the NBA.
A person's most important honor.
He also won the MVP for 5 consecutive years from 1996 to 2000, the FMVP for 5 years from 1995 to 2000, two AMVPs, won 6 scoring titles from 1995 to 2000, and won the 6 scoring titles from 1996 to 2000.
In each of the five years, he had 3 rebounding champions, 3 blocked shots champions, 2 DPOYs, 7 All-NBA Teams, 5 Defensive Teams, including 5 Double Teams, 1 All-NBA Second Team, 1 All-Defensive Second Team, etc.
.
In terms of career total points, as early as the beginning of 1999, he had already exceeded 20,000 points. When he retired, he had played a total of 9 seasons and had reached 25,316 points.
In addition, he averaged 36.8 points per game in his career, surpassing Jordan and becoming the first in history.
It can be said that throughout the 1990s, except for the first two years when Jordan was in control, after that, he was the only one who dominated the world and had no shortage of honors.
However, with this lineup in hand, he feels that this season is quite difficult.
I don’t know if Stoudemire, a high school student, can play well. Joe Johnson’s defense is mediocre. He only averaged 9.8 points per game last season and shot only 42% from the field. Marion is not bad. He was almost 20+10 last season. His offensive and defensive versatility is still good.
With rebounds, Nash is okay.
Calculating the scoring ability of the main lineup, he counts as 20+. Marion has enough shots, 20+ is no problem. Hardaway and Nash can also score 30 points together. Not counting high school students, the four main players can also score 70.
+, the offense should be okay, and we can play a dozen games in the regular season.
But entering the playoffs and encountering strong teams, it's hard to say.
"Who are the strong teams now?" he asked.
Colangelo Jr. said: "In the West, the Mavericks will be very strong. They are a first-tier team at the championship level. The new owner of the team, Cuban, is very willing to spend money. They have Dirk Nowitzki. Last year
Michael Finley was traded again, and this time we gave Marbury to them. All three of them are All-Stars averaging 20+ per game."
"Nowitzki?"
Lao Wang has an impression of this German. The rookie in 1998 seemed to be very soft in playing, but he was often suspended, committed a lot of flagrant fouls, and was often fined. He played for 9 years, and the number of foul fouls was far less than the German's four years.
Of course, that kid Kobe is more powerful and has committed many crimes. Now he has an additional nickname, Los Angeles Malone. After gaining weight to 99 kilograms, his elbows are very thick, and he can be called the Malone among guards.
Colangelo Jr. continued: "In addition to the Mavericks, the Western Conference also has the Kings. The Kings had the third best record in the Western Conference last season, second only to the Trail Blazers and Lakers. They have Chris Webber, Peja, and Mike Bibby.
Well, old K, remember Bibi, we are a local, you have talked to him."
"Remember." Lao Wang smiled and nodded.
Colangelo Jr. continued: "The Kings' offense is very gorgeous. Their head coach is Rick Adelman. He established the Princeton system in the Kings. The Kings are difficult to deal with.
In addition, there are the Trail Blazers and Lakers who just won the championship. By the way, the Timberwolves are also good now. Garnett is very strong and is more popular than Duncan.
I won’t talk about the Lakers. You know better than me. As for the Trail Blazers, although Dameng has retired, their lineup is very strong. The lineup of Duncan and Rasheed Wallace is really strong, otherwise they would not be able to beat the Nets.
.”
Lao Wang is helpless. The Trail Blazers are poaching the Suns. Does Paul Allen have a grudge against the Suns?
"What about the east?" he asked.
Colangelo Jr. continued: "The Knicks are no longer good. The Pistons have begun to rise in the past two years. They got Ben and Billups..."
When Lao Wang heard this, he was still helpless. These two guys were from the Suns again.
Colangelo Jr. continued: "They also have Hamilton, Clifford Robinson..."
Lao Wang was startled, Clifford Robinson, this seems to have played in the Suns again, right?
"Except for the Pistons, although the Pacers don't have Ewing, their strength is still there and they are still the top team in the Eastern Conference. The Philadelphia team is okay. Apart from these three teams, there is the Nets, which ranked first in the Eastern Conference last season. I guess the new
This season they are still the strongest in the Eastern Conference and the most likely to reach the finals."
When Colangelo Jr. said this, he added: "But the Nets left Van Horn, and Yao lost a good partner."
Lao Wang nodded. Without Van Horn, the Nets are still very strong. In addition to Yao, there are also a large number of players such as Kidd and Richard Jefferson.
Colangelo Jr. said: "Old K, no matter how we strengthen our current lineup, it will be very difficult. You have to be mentally prepared."
Speaking of this, he said with some emotion: "After you announced your comeback, when I was seeking trades, it was very obvious that no team was willing to trade with the Suns, including those weak teams.
I'm afraid you also know the reason. From the Suns to the Lakers, you won 6 championships in 9 years. With the Lakers, you won three consecutive championships. You also won four consecutive championships and won countless honors. Before you retired due to injury, you had become
Enemy of the Alliance.
So even if the media and the league are not optimistic about your comeback, even if the Suns are terrible, the teams in the league will not allow the Suns to get strong reinforcements. We can only make up for it through the free market or the draft."
There was one sentence he didn't say, which was that Old K was still a Chinese, and he didn't even get a green card in the United States. In the past, when there were not many honors and achievements, this was not a big problem, but now, this is a big problem.
The big issue is the issue of stance. For the United States, Lao K is an outsider.
Lao Wang nodded and said, "I understand."
At this time, Colangelo Jr. smiled and said: "But we have full confidence in you. As long as you still show strong dominance, I believe that the Suns will be attractive to the free market again in the next offseason."
, even if they prevent us from reinforcing us, we will still get strong reinforcements."
Then Lao Wang, D'Antoni and other coaches discussed tactical issues.
Tactics are very important to him, because D'Antoni's philosophy was seriously inconsistent with him in the past, but now although his speed has increased and he can play fast breaks, his tonnage is still 130 kilograms here, so if there are too many fast breaks,
It will also be a considerable drain on his body, which requires the team's tactics to be more suitable for him.
If not, he will definitely ask the team to find another head coach.
In addition, defense is also very important, and he will also discuss this with the coaching staff.
After D'Antoni left the Suns, he returned to Italy and coached there for several seasons. There were indeed big changes.
Although he still adheres to his own ideas, he is no longer so paranoid and more tolerant.
These days, he often discusses tactical issues with several assistant coaches and already has many ideas, but these tactics still need the support of the management and Old K.
He did not talk about his offense first, but first talked about defense, which showed that he valued the importance of defense and said: "Old K, Jeff is in charge of defense. He will use you as the core of defense to build our defense.
system."
Lao Wang looked at little Van Gundy and looked at the little latter's head. This gentleman was not very old, but his head had begun to go bald. The front part was shiny and his bald face was already obvious. He didn't know what to do all day long.
What are you worried about?
Van Gundy scratched his head and began to describe in detail the defensive system he wanted to build.
Lao Wang has won DPOY twice, but this is not important. What is important is that he has won the defensive first team 5 times. This is his defensive strength.
Van Gundy said: "Old K, according to the latest physical test data you provided, whether it is straight-line sprinting, return running, or lateral speed, your current mobility is far beyond before, reaching the speed of a small forward, so I must
It places higher defensive demands on you."
"Okay." Lao Wang nodded.
Van Gundy said: "I need you to block the entire penalty area, even to the two-point area, and return to the basket in time."
"No problem." Lao Wang nodded.
Van Gundy said: "The reason why you need to defend is because Nash's defense at No. 1 is too poor, Joe Johnson's defense is average, and Hardaway's is the same. You need to make up for them."
Having said this, he added: "The team has high hopes for Stoudemire. Judging from his high school data, he is also strong in offense and weak in defense. From now on, he will be the starting power forward. Your defensive task will be even heavier."
.”
The defense of these little bastards was so poor that the worried Lao Wang wanted to scratch his head, but when he saw little Van Gundy's bald head on the opposite side, he quickly put down his hand. Only then did he understand why little Van Gundy was worried.
After talking about defense, D'Antoni started to talk about offensive tactics and said: "Old K, in terms of offensive tactics, I plan to pay equal attention to positional warfare and fast break tactics. What do you think?"
Lao Wang also admires D'Antoni. A very stubborn person in the past actually knows how to be flexible now. He nodded and said: "I don't dislike fast breaks now, but the basis of fast breaks is that we don't lose defense, only a strong enough defense.
Only in this way can we go further in the playoffs. This is my experience over the past 9 seasons. A team that does not pay attention to defense cannot win the championship."
D'Antoni suddenly broke out in sweat. These words were a knock on him, but Old K has this qualification. He is the first person in history to win 6 championships in 9 years. He really has no qualifications in front of Old K. To be honest,
Now he doesn't have the confidence to speak.
Thinking back to when he was with the Suns, he even thought that if he was asked to be the head coach, he would have to sell off his old K and replace him with some suitable All-Stars to play small-ball tactics, and he felt ashamed.
After stabilizing his mood, he continued: "Old K, you are the five-time rebounding champion, and you are also very capable of directly launching a fast break after grabbing backcourt rebounds, so this is also one of our important fast break tactics.
At this time, if you directly initiate a fast break, rather than if you pass it to Nash and he initiates a fast break, the rhythm will be faster, the links will be fewer, and the opponent will be unable to guard against it."
Lao Wang nodded and agreed to this fast attack tactic.
D'Antoni added: "Our fast break tactics are determined by Old K's position and physical fitness. When your physical fitness is good and your position is good enough during the transition between offense and defense, we will
Play at a fast pace, and if the conditions for fast break are not met, we will play positional warfare."
Speaking of which, he gave some examples.
For example, when Lao Wang's position on the defensive end is too deep and when transitioning between offense and defense, he is not required to quickly enter the frontcourt, while others are required to advance quickly and attack when there is a good opportunity. If not, wait for him to fight in position.
Such a tactical setting may cause his shots to decrease and his tactical status to decline. D'Antoni was also uneasy when he proposed it.
But Lao Wang agreed, but he reminded: "Mike, this tactic is only suitable for the regular season. Once we enter the playoffs and the defensive intensity increases, the opponent only needs to lock Nash. Without me participating in the offense in the frontcourt, they alone will
A few people cannot solve the problem."
D'Antoni was startled, but seeing Lao Wang's serious performance and Colangelo staring at him, he immediately nodded and said: "I understand, I will study tactics suitable for the playoffs. If it doesn't work, then
After we entered the playoffs, we focused on positional warfare and only strengthened our fast break tactics when grabbing backcourt rebounds."
Lao Wang and Colangelo both nodded happily at the same time. It seems that this stubborn D'Antoni has indeed matured now.
To be honest, this is also the reason why D'Antoni's preferred fast break tactics have not achieved any results. Without the Suns, he would not even have a chance to use them. In addition, the Suns' support for Lao Wang and Lao Wang's own status
, he has no ability to compete.
After discussing tactics for a long time, when leaving, Colangelo sent Lao Wang out and said with a smile: "Old K, the league does not support our Suns now. We only got 8 national live broadcasts last season, and our operating income dropped significantly.
, advertising revenue is also very small.
However, because of your comeback, we have also received some advertising revenue during this period, and several major television broadcasters may also increase the number of live broadcasts of the Suns across the United States.
In terms of tickets, season ticket sales for the new season have begun, and the average price is 2.4 times that of last season. The situation is not bad, and this is all because of you."
"Will the number of live broadcasts across the United States be announced in these two days?" Lao Wang asked.
"It will be announced tomorrow," Colangelo Jr. said.
Lao Wang can't say how many national broadcasts the Suns will get this time. This is very important to him and the Suns. Without national broadcasts, he and the Suns will not receive much attention.
Of course, he no longer pays attention to personal concerns. His status as the number one player in the history of the league is there. No one can challenge his historical status for at least ten years. He also does not pay attention to any economic interests. Now he simply
No shortage of money.
But the Suns need to pay attention, and his teammates also need to pay attention, so national live broadcasts are still very important.
During the Lakers' three consecutive championship dynasty, to be precise, after the Lakers' first championship in 1998, he had become a public enemy of the league. Since that championship, it has been difficult for the Lakers to get reinforcements. What the Suns are experiencing now,
That's what the Lakers were like at the time.
The Lakers' next two championships relied on the efforts of him, Kobe, and a group of veterans to complete the dynasty. It was really difficult to win the championship in those two years.
Now, he feels that the difficulties the Suns will encounter should be no less than the Lakers at that time. If he shows his strong strength, the Suns are likely to encounter greater difficulties and challenges.
Although Jordan has retired now, there are still many rising stars. The four major shooting guards are all very strong, as well as Duncan and Dayao. In the current league, he still has many strong enemies.
Jordan's strength has begun to decline in the last two years. He does not dare to invest too much in defense, and there are few breakthrough plays on the offensive end. The current four shooting guards are not weaker than Jordan in those two years.
He drove away and was stopped by a large group of reporters and Suns fans at the gate of the headquarters. After signing autographs for some fans, he was interviewed.
"Old K, the four major shooting guards are now famous. How do you evaluate them?" a reporter from the Miami Daily asked.
After pondering, Lao Wang said: "Of the four shooting guards, I am most optimistic about Kobe. He has my iron-mountain playing skills and plum blossom steps. After six seasons of hard work, his defense has also reached the top level, and now he has entered the
At his peak, in terms of overall ability, he ranked first among the four shooting guards."
"Do you think Kobe and O'Neal joining forces will pose a threat to you?" the reporter immediately asked.
"It's possible. After all, I'm disabled. O'Neal promised to press me to the floor and rub me. It's possible that he did it while daydreaming." Lao Wang said in a teasing tone.
"Ha ha……"
The reporters and the surrounding fans burst into laughter.
"Old K, where are the other three shooting guards?" another reporter asked.
"The next is Iverson and Tracy McGrady."
Lao Wang continued: "Iverson's offensive ability is very strong, but due to his size and size, he is not good at defense. I think his overall ability is slightly lower than Kobe.
McGrady, in the past five seasons, has become a top offensive and defensive all-around shooting guard. His comprehensive ability is no less than that of Iverson. However, because of congenital diseases, it is difficult to say about the future. After major injuries, the decline will be very serious.
quick.
As for Carter, the world's top dunker, his personality is not as good as that of Kobe and Iverson. He is too gentle and lacks aggressiveness and competitiveness."
"Old K, apart from Kobe, who among the three shooting guards do you want to work with most?" a reporter asked.
Lao Wang thought for a while and said: "Iverson, he is very fast and has unparalleled breakthrough ability. I think I can cooperate quite well with him. However, his defense will give me a headache."
At this time, the security at the headquarters helped him open a way forward, and he had no choice but to leave.