Chapter 159 20000-Word Dungeon Cleared

The few days between the end of the pre-season and the start of the regular season are always the busiest for team front offices.

They're busy making roster cuts while also monitoring the free agent market for potential additions based on the team's needs.

So, if you were to ask which season is most likely to cause team front office members to lose hair...

It'd probably be right now.

After filling in the gaps, the 76ers' 15-man roster for the 97/98 season, before the regular season began, was as follows:

Center: Ratliff, Williams, Erick Montross.

Power Forward: Ben Wallace, Hendrickson, Terry Cummings.

Small Forward: Su Feng, Harris, Davis.

Shooting Guard: Iverson, Stackhouse, Waters.

Point Guard: Snow, Aaron McKie, Overton.

After his contract with the team expired, Krause originally wanted Kenny Smith to stay with the team for the new season.

But after realizing his competitive form had declined seriously, Smith ultimately chose to retire.

For Smith, this life was far more exciting than his previous one.

After all, in the season before his retirement, he had accomplished something that even Olajuwon and Drexler hadn't.

And as Su Feng remembered, shortly after retiring, Smith immediately received a call from TNT.

As one of the future members of TNT's three-man crew, Smith was, in a sense, the senior of Barkley and O'Neal.

As such, Smith, who would be responsible for commentating on the 76ers' opening game against the Celtics, even sent Su Feng a text message after the pre-season ended...

In the text message, Smith said he was looking forward to seeing Duncan dunk on his head during the game.

When Su Feng saw this text message, he wondered what kind of terrible friends he had made in this life.

What happened to "I'll give you 10 points, and you'll go crazy praising me in the future?"

Nothing!

Absolutely nothing!

Reality simply doesn't follow the script!

Ahem, more on Smith's broadcasting career later. Compared to last year, the 76ers' main framework for the new season hasn't changed much. The main changes these days have been in terms of role players.

Aaron McKie was acquired by the 76ers from the Pistons in exchange for Don MacLean.

Cummings joined as a free agent.

As for Montross, he was obtained through a personal favor from Brown's disciple, John Calipari.

This player, who was the 9th overall pick in the first round of the 1994 draft, is 213 cm tall and weighs 122 kg. In Su Feng's previous life, he only averaged "4+4" in his career.

Montross's technique is average, but his strength is good. After suffering several injuries, the reason he can still make a living in the NBA is thanks to that "big shark" in Los Angeles.

Judging from Brown's personal favor from Calipari, Brown is clearly wary of the Lakers, despite his harsh words.

In short, a player like Montross wouldn't get many minutes of playing time in the current 76ers roster.

But his value will become apparent when they face the Lakers.

As for Cummings, Brown signed him because Brown really dislikes "softies" like Hendrickson.

Anyway, forcing Ben Wallace to play hard is a certainty. Ben Wallace's current status in the 76ers is second only to the privileged "Ai-Feng" (Iverson and Su Feng).

Therefore, in Brown's view, Cummings only needs to hold the fort during the time Ben Wallace is resting.

And McKie, on the other hand, is an A+ level move completed by the "basketball illiterate" Krause.

McKie has good physical qualities. At 196 cm tall, he can swing between the point guard and shooting guard positions. With him and Snow helping Iverson out, Iverson's survival environment in the new season has improved even further.

After the 76ers' new season roster was finalized, Su Feng had stopped exploiting Stackhouse these past two days.

Because with the 76ers' new season roster... where would Stackhouse find room to survive?

Therefore, after exploiting Stackhouse for a whole year, Su Feng decisively decided that it was time to let go of this unknown substitute who had made outstanding contributions to the 76ers' efforts to eliminate the Bulls.

"Alas! Practicing with Ben Wallace is really the most comfortable!"

In the new season, after Ben Wallace's missed shot value soared to 7500 points, Su Feng's daily 5 million one-on-one missed shot value was being earned incredibly quickly.

In the system's comprehensive evaluation of missed shot value, because offense and fame account for a large proportion, even though Iverson's missed shot value is as high as 14000 points in the new season...

If Su Feng were to find Iverson to exploit, even if he played with Iverson for 24 hours, he would still find it difficult to reach that 5 million missed shot value.

…

The 76ers' regular season opener for the 97/98 season will be on the 31st.

Su Feng, who had seen the schedule before, even imagined Stern laughing with a pair of little devil wings in his mind when he noticed that the 76ers' first game was against the Celtics...

As everyone knows, the 76ers have always liked to treat regular season games as if they were the NBA Finals.

Especially after the head coach was changed to Brown, who was eager for the team to limit their opponents to below 80 points every game.

Therefore...

Clearly, Stern is at odds with Auerbach!

Su Feng, who is familiar with Stern's tactics, knows that Stern is not as unprincipled as a joke. Taking his punishment of the Bulls last season as an example, Stern still has his own bottom line.

Therefore, in Stern's view, it is enough to slightly bully Auerbach through the schedule and rules.

After all, Stern's heart ached when Auerbach traded for Duncan.

But, to say that he should slightly target the Celtics...

Using referees to target the Celtics is not realistic in Stern's view, because if the Celtics' famous alumni protested together to support the Celtics, then the NBA would be too passive.

So, go, 76ers!

Grind this Celtics team to death for me!

But honestly...

In this life, after the Celtics traded for Duncan, Su Feng really doesn't dare to say that the 76ers will win this opening game with 100% certainty.

Because in a basketball game, you first have to look at the competitive state of both sides, and then you can determine the outcome.

If Su Feng is the guarantee of the 76ers' lower limit, then Duncan is undoubtedly the strength of this Celtics team.

As a "human-shaped encyclopedia of dullness," Su Feng remembers very clearly that in his rookie season, before suffering a major injury, Duncan once left behind a scene that was even more shocking than in science fiction basketball comics...

That was when Duncan first faced the Bulls, when he first defended from the free throw line to the three-point line, and then ran back to the basket to grab the rebound...

And if the NBA's timer wasn't malfunctioning, Su Feng remembers very clearly that Duncan only spent one second completing the above series of actions.

Truly one second.

You must know that Duncan, with his long arms and legs, had always used others as his background before suffering a major injury.

Pick-and-roll, help defense, rotation, passing, low post singles...

Whenever the team needs him, he can make the right choice.

It's not even an exaggeration to say that Duncan, like Su Feng, is the kind of man who comes with his own system.

In addition, neither Ratliff nor Ben Wallace...

To be honest, they have never had the upper hand in their career matchups with Duncan.

Especially Ratliff, who was basically beaten by Duncan every time they met before Duncan's major injury.

In Su Feng's previous life, Duncan couldn't shoot as much as other stars under Popovich, but that doesn't mean Duncan's scoring ability was lacking.

In fact, if you understand Duncan, then you know that after the Spurs officially transitioned their core, in crucial moments, the right thing to do is to hand the ball to Duncan.

And Duncan can always use some incredible moves to get the ball in the basket, either in the low post or at a 45-degree angle.

In Duncan's career, there are many shots that you would never expect to go in, and that are extremely awkward...

But... Duncan just makes them, what can you do?

If a player occasionally makes one or two of these miracle shots, that's luck.

But after Duncan has been making these shots for 20 years, then it's really skill.

Su Feng knows that Duncan's high finishing rate under the basket is related to his "hard hand" shooting technique.

In the NBA, in addition to two-motion and one-motion shooting, there is also "soft" and "hard" shooting.

For example, Jordan, the "Old Rogue," also used "hard hand" shooting under the basket in his second three-peat.

The biggest advantage of "hard hand shooting" is that the closer you are to the basket, the more accurate you are.

Because this kind of machine-like release is extremely stable.

Of course, Howard's iron-throwing release in the future cannot be confused with this kind of "hard hand shooting."

In the future, Curry and Nowitzki are representatives of "soft hand shooting."

In contrast to "hard hand shooting," "soft hand shooting" has a higher arc, and the ball also has rotation. As long as you are talented enough, even if you encounter strong interference, you can still snipe your opponent from far away from the basket.

In this life, Su Feng practices two-motion shooting, which is a combination of "soft and hard hand + high difficulty," for the sake of shot selection.

And the reason why he chooses a mixture of "soft and hard hand" is the same as his high school classmate, which is to shoot three-pointers.

In Su Feng's previous life, the biggest difference between Kobe's shooting and Jordan's shooting was this. With the [Long Range Shooter] badge, how could Su Feng be content to be just a mid-range king?

Although he still has a long way to go before his three-pointers become freakishly accurate.

But only by starting to work hard now can Su Feng have the opportunity to catch up with his nephew, Stephen Curry, in terms of three-point accuracy in the future.

In short...

This Celtics team is not as easy to deal with as it was last year.

And after Fox, Wesley, and others continued to renew their contracts and stay with the team, Auerbach's room for maneuver in the future is too great...

…

On the 30th, the 76ers flew to Boston to prepare for their opening game against the Celtics on the 31st.

It is worth mentioning that starting from the 97/98 season, CCTV officially increased the number of NBA games broadcast each week to 4.

In addition to the games between the 76ers and the Bulls, CCTV's broadcast schedule this season also includes games of strong teams such as the Lakers, Knicks, Heat, and Jazz.

Speaking of which, because the Bulls vs. Bucks game on the other side and this 76ers vs. Celtics game started at the same time on opening day...

The most upset rabbits were that they couldn't watch Su Feng and Hu Weidong's new season debut at the same time.

But don't worry...

Because a certain big shot is extremely expectant of the 76ers, the 76ers will have to fly to Chicago to challenge the Bulls in their second game of the regular season.

Now, in addition to the grudges of last season, the games between the 76ers and the Bulls this season also have the background of a "Chinese Derby"...

In Stern's view, if the 76ers and the Bulls can make it to the Eastern Conference Finals this season, then the ratings will explode!

Speaking of which, after arriving in Boston, on the evening of the 30th, because Brown was patrolling around with a whip in his hand, Iverson couldn't sneak out and have a good time.

Iverson spent the eve of the start of the new season chatting with Su Feng while playing Texas hold 'em in Su Feng's room.

To be honest, when Su Feng saw Iverson's aggrieved expression, perhaps this was the biggest contribution Brown had made to the 76ers in Su Feng's view...

…

On the 31st, compared to coming to the FleetCenter a year ago, when the 76ers players stepped into this arena again a year later, everyone put away their banter and disdain for the Celtics.

Sixteen championship banners and 21 retired jerseys were quietly hanging above the dome of what should be called the FleetCenter arena at this time.

If the NBA is a league of stars, then in the NBA's long river, only two teams deserve the title of powerhouse.

East Green, West Gold.

Before Jerry West conquered the league with his cheating operations, only the devil knows how many loopholes Auerbach exploited and how much of his personal charm he used to forge a legend for the Celtics.

This is destined to be a different kind of opening game.

Because tonight, all the Green Army legends who could come to support Auerbach will be in attendance.

When Tim Duncan entered the court for warm-ups with his relaxed pace, his family was already seated in the courtside seats.

As everyone knows, the reason why Duncan chose the number 21 jersey is not because of Popovich, as some mindless Spurs fans claim.

In 1989, because a hurricane destroyed all the swimming pools on St. Croix, Duncan, who was afraid of "sharks," couldn't just run to the sea to practice freestyle, right?

Therefore, when he was 14 years old, his brother-in-law, Ricky Lowery, began to teach him how to play basketball.

Later, to pay tribute to his brother-in-law, number 21 became Duncan's number when he played basketball.

Wake up, after Duncan became famous, how could Popovich be the only one who wanted to build a good relationship with him in advance?

If you have to argue, then the person who first favored Duncan was Jerry West.

Because in 1995, it was West who first said the classic line, "No matter what year he enters the draft, he will be the top pick."

Therefore, just like black people have to go through procedures, complimenting people also requires regulations and basic laws.

Of course, the Logo Man in the manager era is not included in this list.

"He's really tall..."

On the court, perhaps because he was used to the short Ratliff and Ben Wallace, Iverson's attention was drawn to Duncan when Duncan walked into the arena.

Su Feng, who was touching the cornrows that only he could braid, smiled and said, "Allen, although you're not tall, look, those big guys have to look up to you, right?"

Ah!

Damn it!

Being praised by a super coach and still being able to hear Su Feng compliment him, the joy Iverson is experiencing now is something that ordinary people can't understand at all.

After elbowing Su Feng twice, Iverson went to practice three-pointers.

On the sidelines, Brown, who noticed this scene, was wondering what he should say to Iverson later?

"Hey, 'Phenomenon'! I watched your series against the Bulls last season."

Just when Brown was struggling, Duncan walked towards Su Feng on the court with his big hands.

After subconsciously protecting the top of his head with his hands, Su Feng looked up at Duncan.

At this moment...

Duncan's right hand was awkwardly suspended in mid-air.

Look!

If Su Feng hadn't been quick-witted, his buzz cut might have turned into a Mediterranean in the future, you know?

"Hello, Tim," Su Feng said to Duncan with a smile.

On the court, after retracting his right hand, Duncan scratched his head with his left hand and said:

"I'm curious... um... your behavior of jumping on the scorer's table to provoke Michael in Game 1 was intentional, right?"

For Duncan, who studies psychology, unlike others, when paying attention to the 76ers' series against the Bulls, he has been analyzing the series from a psychological perspective.

And in his analysis, there was a greater than 90% chance that Su Feng jumped on the scorer's table on purpose in Game 1.

Because judging from Su Feng's actions in his rookie season, Duncan believes that Su Feng is a player with a very high EQ and IQ.

Just like his making a scene in Los Angeles to help his high school classmate Kobe, in Duncan's view, Su Feng's EQ and IQ are so high that he doesn't seem like a high school student at all.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer me... um... you know the acceleration of gravity... okay, what I mean is, your last Logo three-pointer had a beautiful arc."

Considering that Su Feng didn't go to college, when he noticed that Su Feng didn't really want to answer the question he had just raised, Duncan decided to continue the conversation by praising Su Feng.

Because from a psychological point of view, people generally don't refuse others to praise them.

And although it was just a few simple conversations, Duncan's EQ, as revealed in this, was something that "Camacore" couldn't compare to at all in Su Feng's view.

Perhaps the only thing that made Su Feng unhappy was that Duncan actually doubted his status as a scholarly genius.

You must know that Su Feng didn't go to high school in this life, but in his previous life, he was a man who struggled to choose between Peking University and Tsinghua University when filling out his college application, okay?

But then again, judging from Duncan taking the initiative to chat with him, Su Feng paid extra attention to Duncan's psychological activity of wanting to make friends.

After all, all the people who had been accompanying Duncan to practice in the past summer were a bunch of old men...

Duncan, who is currently only 21 years old, also wants to communicate more with his peers.

In this way, Duncan continued to discuss with Su Feng for nearly 30 minutes.

It wasn't until Duncan remembered that he had something else to do that he hurriedly ended the conversation and ran to the Celtics' bench.

Just then, Su Feng noticed that Auerbach, who is now 80 years old, walked into the arena with the support of Celtics head coach M. L. Carr.

Although Carr is nominally the head coach of this Celtics team, everyone who understands knows that the entire Celtics team only listens to one person's orders.

"Red Auerbach."

In the All-Star Weekend last season, Auerbach even coached a game with "Ai-Feng"...

Compared to his drowsy state at the time, how does Auerbach look like an 80-year-old man at this time?

He smiled and held Duncan's hands, and sat down on the chair that Duncan had set up for him.

Then...

Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, these familiar names sat behind Auerbach one by one.

Inside the arena, the Green Army legends sitting in rows soon became the object of media attention.

This is just a normal opening game.

But this extraordinary pomp from the inside out reveals Auerbach's love for Duncan.

Su Feng knows very well that Auerbach hopes to pass the torch to Duncan through this game.

"Su... looks even stronger than last year," Auerbach, who was squinting his eyes, said to Carr after glancing at the 76ers' half of the court.

"Larry Brown... is really lucky," Auerbach added after a pause.

Speaking of which, just as Auerbach was explaining the team's tactics for tonight to Carr, on the court...

Su Feng, who was wandering around... and stomping his feet after taking a few steps, quickly attracted the attention of the Celtics players.

After noticing that Su Feng stayed on a piece of the floor for a short period of time, all the Celtics players broke out in a cold sweat...

Duncan, who had just chatted with Su Feng, stroked his chin and said, "He really isn't an ordinary person."

That's right, the piece of floor that Su Feng had just stopped on was one of the Celtics' home court "traps."

Generally speaking, details like this are difficult for the visiting team to discover...

Because the Celtics' "traps" are not fixed.

Every time the "traps" are changed, in addition to the Celtics' own players being able to know the location of the "traps" because they have adapted to the arena in advance, it is difficult for the visiting team's players to detect such subtle changes.

At this moment, the position Su Feng is standing in is a "trap" on the left wing at a 45-degree angle in the left half of the court in the TV broadcast.

In critical moments, if the attacking side is unprepared, this "trap" will play its role when dribbling the ball.

Su Feng found a total of 3 such traps tonight!

Sure enough...

After drafting Duncan, the Celtics are no longer the bad team they were last season.

So, their tradition has naturally returned.

But for Su Feng, who is always cautious, these don't count for anything.

Because in his opinion, if the Celtics have the ability, they should turn off the air conditioning and compete!

…

On the court, after Su Feng showed the Celtics' home court "traps" to his teammates, the time to the start of the game was getting closer and closer.

It is worth mentioning that in addition to Wesley, Fox, who stayed with the team, and Jim Jackson, who joined as a free agent, there is another change in the Celtics' roster this season...

That is, Dino Radja, who would have retired in the summer, did not retire in this life.

In Su Feng's previous life, there were always people who questioned Yao Ming's Hall of Fame player status.

But in fact, if we really want to talk about "water," then shouldn't players like Dino Radja, who only played 4 seasons of NBA games and were inducted into the Hall of Fame, be kicked out by some people as well?

As a Croatian basketball legend, Radja, who is now 30 years old, is a technically skilled and defensive interior player.

Radja, who could get nearly "20+10" at his peak, was inducted into the Hall of Fame for a simple reason, because he was one of the best basketball players in Europe in the 90s.

You must know that in the 90s, European players...

Not everyone wanted to play in the NBA.

In order to encourage more international players to join the NBA, Radja, as a pioneer, was able to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the future because he made a huge contribution to the NBA's opening of the European market.

In Su Feng's previous life, because the Celtics lost too hopelessly in the 96/97 season, coupled with suffering from injuries, this player, one of the top 50 players in European history, chose to retire from the NBA for the sake of dignity.

But in this life, because Auerbach re-emerged and after practicing with Duncan a few times in the summer, Radja, who found that the Celtics' ambition had completely changed, decided to continue fulfilling his contract with the Celtics.

And for other NBA opponents, this is not good news...

Because although Radja's strength is not as good as the Admiral, he is indeed a strong player.

After recovering from his injuries, Radja, who is now 30 years old, certainly cannot compare with his peak in terms of athletic ability, but his excellent footwork and technique...

As well as his spacing style of play, will make opponents have to weigh the consequences when they want to double-team Duncan.

This season, ESPN ranked this Celtics team twelfth in the power rankings, and a large part of the reason why they are optimistic that they can make the playoffs this season is because of Radja.

Su Feng feels that the tsunami effect he has caused in this life is too exaggerated...

"If we look at it from the perspective of quantum mechanics, should this be considered a punishment from the world line for people who change history?" Su Feng wondered curiously before the game started.

…

FleetCenter, after the pre-game ceremony was completed, when the big screen gave the starting lineups of the two teams tonight, this arena, which had tasted all kinds of grievances in the past year...

exploded in an instant!

76ers: Ratliff, Ben Wallace, Su Feng, Iverson, Snow.

Celtics: Duncan, Radja, Fox, Jackson, Wesley.

When Tim Duncan's name resounded through the sky over Boston on this day, October 31, 1997, even David Stern felt that he had arranged this opening game between the 76ers and the Celtics too well...

On the commentary table, commentators from major American TV stations were popularizing the glorious history of the Celtics and the legendary figures in attendance today to the fans.

On the court, when Ratliff went to the center of the court to start the jump ball with Duncan, he did not feel the direct and real pressure from Duncan like he felt from O'Neal.

But believe it or not, in Su Feng's previous life, judging from the career matchup data, Ratliff...

was more afraid of Duncan.

In contrast to that mighty shark, Duncan is the kind of player who doesn't seem to pose any threat to you.

But in reality, after you finish playing, you will find that you can hardly escape his sanctions.

There is no doubt that this guy is one of the best building blocks in NBA history, a treasure of the same quality as Maple Cornerstone.

In the deafening cheers of the Celtics fans, under the watchful eyes of fans in China and the United States in front of the TV...

The curtain of the 1997/1998 NBA season was thus opened!

On the court, Duncan jumped for the first possession for the Celtics.

As if after precise calculation, the height Duncan had just jumped was not much or little, just 5 cm higher than Ratliff.

Wesley dribbled the ball over half court, but unlike what Celtics fans imagined, Duncan didn't go to the low post to ask for the ball right away.

In this possession, he moved to the high post and actively set a screen for Wesley.

This was a seemingly "ordinary" screen.

But Snow, the 76ers' other expert in getting around screens, failed to get around it.

Wesley, who hadn't lost his ability to break through at this time, took advantage of Duncan's screen to successfully break into the 76ers' interior.

According to the pseudo-zone defense that Brown usually taught everyone, Ben Wallace helped out immediately.

No...

Wrong!

On the sidelines, Larry Brown frowned.

It wasn't that Ben Wallace's help defense was wrong, but that Ratliff's... position was disrupted by Duncan, who was cutting in.

Wesley passed the ball to Jackson, who was cutting in from the baseline, and the latter easily made a layup.

0 to 2.

Turning around, in order to avoid being countered quickly by the 76ers, the Celtics' retreat was quite swift.

Although such a retreat was a bit redundant against Brown's team...

In this attack and defense just now, where were the Celtics the team that had lost so badly last season that they didn't even want their underwear anymore?

Snow steadily dribbled the ball over half court, and the 76ers looked for Iverson in this possession.

Before the game, the "Answer," who had been praised to the heavens by Su Feng and Brown, broke through Jackson's defensive zone with a simple acceleration in the face of Jackson, who was sticking to him.

However, just as Iverson was about to make a layup, Duncan retreated and used a chasedown block to make the temperature of the FleetCenter rise again!

In Su Feng's previous life, Duncan, who could make the All-Defense team in his rookie season, wasn't a rookie at all...

This guy is a maxed-out account!

After blocking Iverson, he controlled the second landing point and handed the ball to Wesley.

On the Great Heavenly Dynasty TV, Zhang Guidao said with a worried expression: "The 76ers' offense is too simple today..."

On the court, the Celtics launched a counterattack.

Fortunately, with Su Feng's obstruction, the Celtics failed to pick up the pace of the offense this time.

After settling into a set offense, the Celtics handed the ball to Fox.

Duncan once again completed a screen for his teammate.

However, this time, Su Feng did not choose to get around the screen.

After making brief eye contact with Ratliff, Su Feng actively stuck to Duncan.

"Ho! Su Feng is going to defend Duncan!" Zhang Guidao was very happy when Su Feng's shot appeared.

On the wing, Fox, noticing the mismatch between Duncan and Su Feng, did not choose to break through himself, but lobbed the ball to Duncan.

On the court, Duncan, who received the pass in the high post, welcomed a chance to punish a smaller defender.

Duncan versus Su Feng...

How will Duncan, who is holding the ball up with one hand, play this possession?

And can Su Feng help defend?

Bang!

The answer was revealed soon.

…

ps: 8000-word chapter, 20000-word dungeon cleared.

This chapter was written with a mobile phone while eating, and then completed and modified with a computer after returning... Ah! I finally completed the 20000-word dungeon!

Thank you to all the handsome and genuine subscribers for your support of Qiao! See you tomorrow, Qiao is going to sleep! Begging for subscriptions, monthly tickets, rewards, and recommendation tickets!