Chapter 612 Releasing the Ban and Comeback + All-Star Ticket King
At the end of October, Lao Wang's family of three returned to Phoenix.
The new season started on the 28th. After rushing back to Phoenix on the 27th, he immediately went to the headquarters.
Colangelo Jr. made a deal during the offseason. In order to make room for Joe Johnson at the No. 2 spot on the main roster, he traded Anfernee Hardaway to the Knicks in exchange for a 2004 second-round pick.
, as well as two role players, and some cash.
"Old K, there are no big changes in the lineup. The team's transactions are very difficult." Colangelo said with an ugly face.
But he added: "But I think our current lineup is pretty good, a little stronger than last season."
Lao Wang took the list and looked at it. There were indeed no big changes.
Center: Wang Tiejun, Scott Williams, Jack Waskull,
Forwards: Stoudemire, Marion, Zhu Fangyu, Tom Gugliotta, Beau Outlaw, Jumaine Jones
Guards: Nash, Joe Johnson, Josh Howard, Howard Ellis, Randy Brown
Colangelo Jr. said: "There are fourteen people in total, leaving one spot to be replenished."
He went on to say: "With you out, the center position can only be filled by Williams and Voskull, but I have discussed it with D'Antoni. He hopes that when you are away, we can play real small ball tactics, less
What do you think about using a center forward?"
Lao Wang began to think about this issue. When a team's tactical style is fixed, it is difficult to change. Once it is changed forcibly, it will definitely cause some unexpected consequences. If he plays small ball when he is away, then when he comes back, he can still
Can he change back? Or can he adapt to the small ball style?
He asked cautiously: "Then what does he mean after I come back?"
Colangelo Jr. said: "Of course you are the main player and the tactics used last season are impossible to change.
Don't worry, Old K. Our playoff record last season was so good. If the league hadn't suppressed us, we would have definitely won the championship, so I won't let him mess around, and neither will the boss.
In addition, I have talked to him again and again, and he will be here soon. You can talk to him and communicate with him."
Not long after, D'Antoni arrived.
Lao Wang talked with him and determined his tactics after his return.
Of course, he is still a little worried. When he comes back, the team should have an adaptation period and hopes it will not affect the playoffs.
The three of them discussed the situation of the league in the new season again.
Colangelo Jr. said: "In the West, the Lakers reinforced Postman and the Trail Blazers reinforced Payton. They have all improved a lot in strength, but we don't have any strong reinforcements. We will be more difficult in the new season than last season.
many."
D'Antoni said: "In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons got Rasheed Wallace and should be stronger, while the Nets got Mourning. Mourning's status is not good yet. Generally speaking, the West is strong and the East is weak.
"
"Old K, what do you think of the situation in the new season?" Colangelo asked.
Lao Wang asked: "How is Kobe's lawsuit going?"
"It's far from over." Colangelo shook his head.
Lao Wang thought for a while and said: "Although the Lakers got the postman, Kobe is in a lawsuit, so it's a question of how much energy he can focus on the game.
In addition, Shaq also did it, and the relationship between O'Neal and Kobe must be very bad. They must be incompatible with each other, right? Such a Laker should not be very competitive."
Hearing the words "Shaq did it too", Colangelo Jr. and D'Antoni laughed at the same time. The former said: "There are media reports that O'Neal's foot injury still exists and he did not train during the offseason. According to the media
According to the photos taken, he must have lost control of his weight again."
"Then we have only one real opponent in the West, the Trail Blazers." Lao Wang said.
"With Payton joining the Trail Blazers, the Trail Blazers' strength should be greatly strengthened, but they traded the troll, I don't know what they were thinking." Colangelo Jr. said.
Lao Wang considered: "The inside line is okay, but the outside line is more troublesome. Payton's defense can definitely limit Nash's performance. We need to be more cautious when facing the Trail Blazers."
D'Antoni quickly assured again: "Old K, don't worry, after you return, we will definitely still use the tactics of last season, focusing on positional warfare, defensive counterattacks and fast breaks. This way, with you controlling the rhythm, we will not lose control.
Even if Nash is somewhat restricted by Payton, with his speed and ball-handling ability, the aging Payton cannot completely lock him down, and he can still pass the ball to you."
He also thought very clearly that he played so well in the playoffs last year, but it was a pity that there was an accident in the Western Conference Finals. Otherwise, the hope of winning the championship would be very high, so he also hopes to make a comeback this year and replicate last year's playoffs.
"That's no problem." Lao Wang nodded.
With Nash's ability, even if Jordan was at his peak, it would be impossible to prevent Nash from passing the ball to him. At most, Payton could limit some of Nash's organizational functions.
"By the way, Old K, the Lakers have changed their general manager, do you know?" Colangelo suddenly said.
"Did Jerry West stop doing it?" Lao Wang asked a little surprised.
"No, the new general manager is Mitch Kupchak, a former NBA player. West went to the Grizzlies to be the basketball director," Colangelo Jr. said.
"Why did West leave the Lakers? The Lakers have created a dynasty in his hands." Lao Wang asked gossiping.
Colangelo Jr. said with a smile: "I can't tell you the specific situation. Several heirs of the Bass family were in trouble, and Kupchak was pushed to power by Jim Buss."
Lao Wang ignored the matter and suddenly thought of a question and asked: "Brian, how are our operations this season?"
Colangelo Jr. shook his head and said: "Without you, in the first 48 games, we only had 5 live broadcasts across the United States, but starting from game 49, which is the day you came back, we had 25 live broadcasts out of 34 games.
Several broadcasters have made it clear that they arranged the show just for you."
"30 games is barely enough." Lao Wang nodded.
After chatting for a while, the three of them went to the parking lot, because the team was going to San Antonio today, and the Suns' opening game was an away game against the Spurs, which was about to leave.
Lao Wang did not go to the away game. He was suspended and the punishment was very severe. He was not allowed to enter the stadium, including the home game.
"Zhu Fangyu, if you have the opportunity, you must seize it and work hard on the field, do you understand?" When sending his teammates to the bus, he stopped Zhu Fangyu and warned him.
"I will do it, brother, don't worry." Zhu Fangyu patted his chest and said.
"Old K, don't worry, I will pass the ball to Zhu." Nash promised.
"Goodbye, boss, we are waiting for you to come back and compete for the championship." Before getting on the bus, Stoudemire and others waved and shouted.
Watching the bus leave the headquarters, Lao Wang secretly decided that the more the alliance wanted to suppress him, the more he wanted them to understand that in his era, no one could suppress him.
After staying in Phoenix for two days, Lao Wang and his family of three left and returned to China via Los Angeles.
Time passed slowly, and on December 15, 2003, Pippen announced his retirement, ending his career.
At the end of the month, which is also the end of the year, two months have passed since the 2003/04 season, and the Suns have completed 32 regular season games.
The Suns lost Wang, but unexpectedly, their record ranked third in the Western Conference, better than last season, only behind the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves, and above the Lakers, Mavericks, and Kings.
The Suns played an amazing run-and-gun tactic, attacking once every 7 seconds, sacrificing half-court defense, and greatly improving the rhythm of offense and defense.
Its main lineup does not have a real center, with Stoudemire and Marion as the inside combination, Marion plays the power forward, Joe Johnson and Nash partner on the back line, and the two rookies Zhu Fangyu and Josh Howard take turns serving as the main force and substitute at the third position.
Nash and Stoudemire began to shine, one feeding and the other eating, alley-oops and dunks continued.
In the first two months, Nash averaged 15 points and 11.5 assists per game, while Stoudemire averaged 23 points and 8.5 rebounds, becoming the team's leading scorer.
Others also performed well. Marion scored 19 points and 11 rebounds and was the team's second scoring point. Joe Johnson scored 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3.5 assists, becoming the team's third scoring point.
Josh Howard started 14 games, averaging 23.7 minutes per game. His main position was the third position, and occasionally substituted for the second position. He averaged 8.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1 steal, and 0.8 blocks per game. He shot 43% from the field and 30.3 from the three-point range.
%.
Zhu Fangyu started 18 games, averaging 29.2 minutes per game, 9.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.5 blocks per game, shooting 47.5% from the field and 40.5% from the three-point range.
Lao Wang has been paying attention to the team's performance. He is indeed a little surprised by the team's record. D'Antoni's run and gun tactics are indeed very good.
But he also realized that this tactic of giving up defense can be played during the regular season, but once it enters the real playoffs, it will not work.
In the past two months, with the Suns' excellent record, the media has also made some public statements.
For example, Old K is useless. Without Old K, the Suns' record is better than last season, and last season they were fourth in the Western Conference.
For example, if Old K’s style of play is selfish, in Old K’s absence, the overall statistics of other Suns players are better than last season. It was Old K who suppressed the performance of all Suns players.
Some media even suggested that the Suns should trade Old K, which can not only get rid of the burden of an annual salary of 20 million, but also strengthen the lineup.
Lao Wang was a little worried that the coaching staff and teammates blindly believed in the run-and-gun tactic, which would affect his comeback, but for some reason, he did not contact the team about this.
Fortunately, Colangelo was very clear-headed, because he knew Mrs. John's attitude very well, and he also knew the strength of Old K. Under his influence, D'Antoni also maintained a certain calmness.
But now D'Antoni, with the success of the run-and-gun tactics, his self-confidence has also skyrocketed.
In addition to paying attention to his own team, Lao Wang also pays attention to several other major opponents.
For the Eastern Nets, Mourning only played 12 games and was not in good condition. Then he had physical problems and was retired for the season. Affected by this, the record of the defending championship team was not very good, ranking third in the Eastern Conference.
It is very difficult for Yao to defend his title, even reaching the finals for the third consecutive time.
After getting trolled by the Pistons, he discovered that this team's defense is really strong and may even be more competitive than the Nets. They are currently second in the Eastern Conference.
The top team in the Eastern Conference is the Pacers, a veteran team. O'Neal has grown up, and Artest, Al Harrington, Reggie Miller and others have joined forces, and they are very powerful.
In the West, after the Trail Blazers, Timberwolves, and Suns, there are the Lakers, Kings, and Mavericks.
The lineup of the three giants, O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Postman Malone, is currently a bit reluctant to maintain. The three giants have rarely played at the same time. Either O'Neal rested due to injury, or Kobe missed the game because he attended the court hearing, and Postman Karl Malone also suffered from a knee injury.
I was sick and missed half of the game.
The Timberwolves acquired Sam Cassell and Madman Sprewell, plus Garnett, creating a three-headed monster lineup, which is the most powerful Timberwolves in history.
Lao Wang analyzed it and found that the main opponent in the Western Conference this season is still the Trail Blazers.
Although the Timberwolves are currently performing well in the regular season, as long as he returns and suppresses Garnett, the Timberwolves should not pose much of a threat.
The Lakers will have to look at their subsequent performance. If the OK combination can't work together, adding the Postman will be useless, and the Postman won't be able to do it either.
The three teams in the Eastern Conference that are most likely to reach the finals are the Pacers, Nets, and Pistons. In his opinion, the overall strength of the Eastern Conference this season has improved compared to last season.
Time entered 2004, and on January 1st, the league announced that All-Star voting would begin.
This time, China’s online voting channels have not been opened.
A week later, the voting came to an end, and David Stern was very troubled when the first week of voting ended.
When he thought about it, the channels in China were closed, and K. was banned. There was no K. in the official announcement at all. So even if the most popular Kobe had an accident, K. would not be the winner of the vote, as well as the other three major points.
Wei, but the facts told him that his prediction was wrong, and the vote winner in the first week was still Lao K.
Lao Wang received 1.02 million votes in the first week, which is lower than the 1.21 million votes in the first week last year, but still far higher than Carter, who came in second. It is expected that the number of votes will exceed at least 3 million in the one-month voting period.
Half of these votes came from Arizona and half came from Japan and South Korea.
Vince Carter, one of the top four shooting guards, received 620,000 votes in the first week and is expected to exceed 2 million in a month.
LeBron James, whom he focused on, received 200,000 votes in the first week, which made him very happy.
James is indeed a talented player who emerged in twenty years. He has just debuted and has hit the peak of his debut data. He has 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 0.7 blocks. He is just around the corner to enter the All-Star Game.
"I hope this young man can take the place of old K in the future."
…
"Lao K, there were 1.02 million votes in the first week, what do you want to say most about this?" Phoenix TV interviewed Lao Wang over the phone.
"I'm not in the alliance, but I'm in the alliance again, haha!" Lao Wang laughed.
At the end of the second week of voting, Lao Wang received another 980,000 votes. The number of votes in two weeks reached exactly 2 million, which is still higher than the top vote. This shows his influence.
January 21st, New Year’s Eve.
Lao Wang's family of six did not go back to their hometown, so they celebrated the New Year in the capital. Da Ya went back to her husband's house in Tianjing to celebrate the New Year, and Er Ya stayed at her husband's house in Cang*zhou and made an appointment to come back on the second day of the Lunar New Year.
In addition, Feige was secretly pregnant with her third child. She was already four months pregnant with her due date in early June. This was also the main reason why she did not go back to her hometown to celebrate the New Year.
The 2004 All-Star Weekend is on February 14th and 15th. As the All-Star Game approaches, the day for Lao Wang's comeback is approaching. He will return in the 49th regular season game, and will challenge the Knicks away from home on January 31st.
.
So after the New Year, on the 28th, the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, I boarded a plane to Los Angeles alone and arrived in Phoenix on the 29th.
As he returned to the United States, a lot of media attention and topics quickly shifted to him.
"There has been no game for half a season. Although there are media reports that Old K still maintains systematic training, no one can guarantee his condition. Relevant experts suggest that the Suns continue to maintain the current lineup and tactical play. There is no need to carry out training because of Old K.
Change, because without Old K, the Suns' record is better than last season, and his impact on the Suns is negative." New York Times.
"Suns players, be careful, the man who stole your data is back." New York Sports.
"Bang!"
When Lao Wang saw the New York media reports, he was lying when he said he was not angry. He was so angry that he smashed the water glass in his hand.
His first game back is against the Knicks. He wants to use the Knicks to tell the New York media not to offend anyone he offends.
On the 30th, the league's All-Star voting ended. Wang was elected as the 2004 All-Star voting leader with 3.75 million votes. Vince Carter, who was second, received 2.17 million votes, and his popularity is also very high.
Kobe, who filed the lawsuit, received more than 1.7 million votes, and Dayao received more than 1.4 million votes.
Dayao did not get the starting position as center in the Eastern Conference All-Stars because Ben Wallace received nearly 2 million votes and was very popular. This was Ben's highlight moment.
Surprisingly, as last season's championship, no one from the Nets became an All-Star starter.
