"Can you help the team reach the playoffs in the new season?"

"What kind of player do you think Anthony Davis is?"

"What kind of performance do you expect to have in the new season?"

"From a championship-contending team to a rebuilding team, what will be the psychological difference?"

……

The questions came one after another. This newcomer meeting felt more like a personal meeting for Tang Tian.

"Our training camp has been going on for more than a month, and the performance in the past month gives me reason to believe that this is a playoff team."

"AD is AD, he is one of the most talented inside players, and he will become a real superstar in the next few years."

"My performance? You will be surprised when the season starts."

"No, man, the team got me and Jrue this summer. We are no longer a rebuilding team. We are also a championship-contending team."

……

Tang Tian's answers were steady when they needed to be, and cheeky when they could be, and his words revealed confidence in himself and the team.

In addition to that day, team general manager Dell Demps and owner Benson also expressed their optimism about Tang Tian's joining at the press conference.

"We believe he will be the next Ray Allen."

Demps set a very good template for Tang Tian.

Most fans only remember Ray Allen's incredible three-pointers during his time with the Celtics.

But in fact, during his peak with the SuperSonics, he averaged nearly 25+5+5 with about 1.5 steals per game, and was a superstar who could break through, shoot, pass, and defend.

Setting this template showed that Demps had very high expectations for Tang Tian in the new season.

"He will be the best helper around AD. He has championship experience and will help this team reach the playoffs."

Benson also had high hopes for Tang Tian.

After the meeting, both the Pelicans fans and the local media in New Orleans were full of expectations for the new season.

"AD is our Michael Jordan, and now we have our Scottie Pippen!"

"Holiday + Gordon + Tang + Anderson + AD, can't this lineup make the playoffs?! Let's go, go, go!"

"I can't wait for the new season, let us begin!"

……

Amidst the fans' anticipation, the preseason officially kicked off on October 6th. The Pelicans' first game was at home against the Houston Rockets.

However, Tang Tian did not participate in this game. He didn't even appear on the bench.

He suffered his first injury since arriving in New Orleans.

Perhaps it was because he wasn't used to going from an inland city to a coastal city, he caught the flu, and it was a pretty bad one.

Because he was afraid of infecting his teammates, he didn't come to practice these past two days.

Not just the Rockets game, Tang Tian was recuperating throughout the entire preseason. He only felt a little better and participated in team practice in the last two games of the preseason.

The Pelicans' strength was obviously enhanced compared to last season, and their preseason performance was also very good. Williams didn't arrange for Tang Tian to play in the last two games.

In this way, Tang Tian missed his first preseason in his Pelicans career due to a flu.

Fans could only wait until the regular season started to see Tang Tian.

After the preseason, the Pelicans completed their final roster cuts, with Lance Thomas, Josh Childress, and Arinze Onuaku being waived in succession.

After these cuts, the team's 15-man roster was finally released.

Point Guards: Holiday, Rivers, Roberts

Shooting Guards: Gordon, Morrow

Small Forwards: Tang Tian, Aminu, Darius Miller, Metta World Peace

Power Forwards: Davis, Ryan Anderson

Centers: Jason Smith, Stiemsma, Ajinca, Jeff Withey

The team's first regular season game in the new season was against the Rockets, the same opponent as their preseason opener, except this time they were playing away.

The Pelicans and the Texas teams all belonged to the Southwest Division, and they had to play each other four times each season, which was a major reason why they had difficulty entering the playoffs.

On the morning of the game, the team flew to Houston.

The Toyota Center had a surprisingly high attendance rate, exceeding 80%, and a considerable number of Chinese fans came to the arena.

With about an hour before the start of the game, the players from both teams were in the locker room making their final preparations for the game.

In the Pelicans' locker room, Williams hadn't arrived yet, and the players were changing their shoes and jerseys.

Tang Tian had just changed into his red away jersey when his phone suddenly vibrated.

He picked it up and looked, and it turned out to be a message from Tracy McGrady.

That was strange. McGrady would actually send him a message before the game?

He opened it and looked.

The content was simple.

"Blow up that James Harden guy."

As a Rockets legend, McGrady didn't get along with Harden?

But after thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered.

Last year, in the first game of the Spurs' playoff series against the Rockets, McGrady scored 7 points in that game.

At the post-match press conference, a reporter mentioned this and then asked if McGrady would become a problem for the Rockets.

Harden's answer at the time was: "T-Mac is no longer the protagonist of this league."

There was nothing wrong with this sentence itself, but as the Rockets' core, it seemed a little inappropriate for Harden to speak so bluntly about a Rockets legend.

Moreover, McGrady's personality was actually quite sensitive.

In his previous life, JR Smith once tweeted that prime Durant could easily blow up prime McGrady, and then the Magic's Fournier liked it.

At that time, McGrady was already a special commentator for ESPN, and he directly blasted Smith and Fournier.

Especially Fournier, considering that the Magic were the team where McGrady won two scoring titles.

McGrady was Durant's idol, and don't even mention that these two personalities are really a bit similar.

So looking at it this way, it was really reasonable for McGrady to dislike Harden because of those words back then.

"I will."

Tang Tian replied to the message.

Actually, he would have done it even if McGrady didn't send the message. This was his season to prove himself after leaving the Spurs, and he definitely wanted to get off to a good start in the first game.

Just as Tang Tian finished replying to the message, Williams came to the locker room with Borrego.

"Jrue, you'll mainly defend Harden. Tang, you'll play a little more at the start. AD, you'll play more pick-and-rolls."

After Williams came in, he picked up the tactical board and began to arrange the team's starting tactics.

Tang Tian missed a chance to mesh with the team because he missed games due to the flu.

But this absence also had its benefits. Tang Tian's pull-up jumper hadn't been used in official games yet, and this was an opportunity to catch the Rockets off guard at the start.

"Guys, we've trained hard for more than a month, so let's all reward ourselves with a victory!"

After Williams finished arranging the tactics, he shouted to the players before heading out.

"New Orleans!"

The players shouted the slogan once, and then got up and went to the court.

The Pelicans' first show of the new season was about to begin!

ps: Thanks to 환우야 for the two 100,000 donations!!