NBA: Becoming stronger starts with hard work and mastery

Chapter 209

The old man was very upset.

Auerbach was also helpless about this. Picking up trash was not something he liked. In his previous trading history, he liked to stuff stacks of All-Star players into his lineup, but the problem was:

Han Yi liked these second-round picks very much!

Except for Eddie Lucas who was selected this year, all the second-round picks were hand-picked by Han Yi!

Especially Ginobili, who made Auerbach, an almost 80-year-old man, fly thousands of kilometers across the ocean to sign the contract secretly. This is more troublesome than signing a first-round pick, right?

There are now 12 players under contract on the team, and all the young players except Eddie Lucas are those Han Yi has chosen not to move. The only ones who can be moved are the two old guys Joe Dumars and Dell Curry.

So the question is, what can these two old guys who are about to retire get in exchange?

"What the hell," Auerbach shook his head, "I've been running a team for a lifetime, and suddenly I find that I have money but can't spend it!"

"Han Yi is really a weird guy. We have so many young rookies who can be turned into a whole. Both McGrady and Ben Wallace have a very good market in the NBA now. As long as we get two more draft picks, it will not be difficult to exchange for top players like Gary Payton!"

"But... hey!"

"Is it really okay to rely on such a group of rookies in the new season?"

Obviously there is a problem. Even though Han Yi led the Boston Celtics to win the championship with the best playoff record in NBA history with 16 wins and 1 loss last season, the Celtics were ranked third in this year's NBA new season team strength rankings!

Before the Celtics, there are not only the Los Angeles Lakers, who introduced Zen Master Phil Jackson and Zen Master's dog legs Ron Harper this summer, but also the Portland Trail Blazers, who introduced Scottie Pippen!

Experts wrote seriously in their pre-match analysis:

"The Portland Trail Blazers, who successfully reached the Western Conference Finals last season, introduced Scottie Pippen, who was selected as the best defensive player last season, without changing the core players this year, making up for the last shortcoming of his front line."

"This formed a Big Three lineup of FIBA's No. 1 center Arvydas Sabonis + Rasheed Wallace + Scottie Pippen. In addition, the team also has veterans such as Damon Stoudemire and Steve Smith, as well as talented youngsters such as Bonzi Wells and Jermaine O'Neal!"

"Although the Celtics won the championship last season in an unrivaled manner, it is necessary to face the fact that last season was the first time in NBA history that the championship was shortened with only 50 regular season games. Too many teams like the Utah Jazz Such a top team was trapped by injuries and did not get a good regular season ranking, which eventually led to an early elimination! "

"The Boston Celtics, with such a young overall lineup, obviously enjoyed the benefits of the shrinking lineup. It is obvious that when all teams are hoarding multiple team cores, the Celtics can't even find a second guy who can enter the All-Star Game except Han Yi."

"Tracy McGrady is indeed the second highest offensive and defensive efficiency player in the Celtics lineup, but he is not only very different from Han Yi, but even compared with the second-in-command of other NBA teams, the strength is far apart. The problem of high efficiency but low output is something that McGrady has never been able to solve.

"Maybe the 20-year-old McGrady has a bright future, but it is too hasty to regard him as the second-in-command of the championship team."

"But because the schedule is too short, even if there are serious problems with the lineup reserves, Han Yi relies on his strong strength to crush all the way and lead his teammates, so that they, who are all healthy, have almost no decent challenges and won the championship. "

"But if the game is 82 regular season games as usual, then Han Yi will definitely not be able to do it. He will get tired, and when he gets tired, he will need more help from his teammates. If his teammates can't help at critical moments, Han Yi will be more tired, and Han Yi will be more likely to get injured. "

"If a team can win the championship with a big man, but can't even make the playoffs without a big man, then I won't be optimistic about him winning the championship in a normal season. "

"Compared with the Celtics who rely on Han Yi alone, I would rather believe that the lineup is complete and the star player is dazzling enough.

The Los Angeles Lakers have a better chance to win this year's championship! "

And relying on outsiders' praise is obviously not enough. Shaquille O'Neal said seriously:

"I will never admit that last season's championship is the real championship. A championship without 82 regular season games will always need to be marked with an asterisk. I am willing to call it an asterisk championship. Phil has brought valuable championship experience to our Lakers."

"Phil told me that Jordan didn't have a championship before he came. He will make me a center version of Michael Jordan, and I will become a super Mac! "

In the six preseason games, Han Yi played less than 5 minutes per game. He basically came on in the first quarter to say hello to the fans and then went to rest. The same was true for Dell Curry, Joe Dumars, McGrady, Ben Wallace and other absolute playoff main players.

The real preseason should still be given to the young people in the team, although Han Yi may be younger than these young people who need to be trained!

So the real main lineup of the preseason is:

PG: Manu Ginobili, SG: Stephen Jackson, SF: Ron Artest PF: Otella Harrington, C: Brad Miller!

Han Yi looked at this lineup and couldn't help but say NB from the bottom of his heart. Except for Otella Harrington, who was a teacher to him, it was a miracle that the other four could get together at such a young age!

Even though their draft picks were not high, if they didn't have a third eye, it would be a miracle to pick out such a beautiful flower from a pile of weeds in different years!

But sorry, Han Yi has already revealed his cards: "I have a third eye, so do whatever you want! ”

Although this lineup only achieved a dismal record of 1 win and 5 losses against the opponent's regular season main rotation players brought out from the preseason, it continued to deepen the outside world's stereotype of the Boston Celtics:

Are you Boston Celtics really no longer good?

But Han Yi said he didn't care at all!

So, amid controversy and doubts, on October 26, 1999, the 1999-2000 NBA regular season officially started!

The first opponent of the Boston Celtics: the Utah Jazz from the Utah Plateau!