The NBA started with helping Iverson win the championship

Chapter 283 Opening Game against the Lakers

After training for half a month, Carlisle was a little confused.

With the arrival of Li Xun, the entire Mavericks radiated unimaginable passion and vitality.

A group of old men were together before, and the training was listless.

Although the professional attitude of these stars is definitely fine, but after all, at that age, training is just a formality.

But now that Li Xun and other newcomers have arrived, the Mavericks' training ground is in full swing every day.

Nowitzki and others couldn't help feeling envious, it's really good to be young.

They can only envy them now, especially Kidd, who entered the league in 94, and now he seems to be heading towards the age of 41.

The 41-year-old is definitely a living fossil among NBA players.

You must know that Middleton, the youngest player on the team, is almost 19 years younger than Kidd.

Middleton was born when Kidd started college.

"Coach Carlisle, can these rookies start in the new season?"

"I think they definitely have the strength to start."

Li Xun negotiated with head coach Carlisle.

Carlisle has been notified by Cuban, to be precise, it is a warning, asking him to fully cooperate with Li Xun.

Cuban knew Carlisle's character too well, and he didn't want Li Xun to run away in anger.

Carlisle nodded, "It's definitely okay for Clay to start, and Jimmy can make do with it."

"It's this little guy, why should he start?"

"I really can't figure out what he can do on the court."

Carlisle's character is really too straight-hearted. If this kind of words were replaced by other head coaches, he would definitely say it more tactfully.

But he didn't have any bad intentions.

But a player like Thomas Jr. is really not acceptable to ordinary coaches.

From this point of view, in terms of training players, Marshal Stevens is really a must. In addition to Thomas Jr., the Smart he trained is also very impressive.

To be reasonable, if it weren't for Stevens, Smart might have become a homeless man after his rookie season.

"We now have Terry and Kidd as point guards in the team. They are too old. I want to give Thomas some opportunities."

"After the start of the game, in one month's time, you will definitely not regret this decision."

Li Xun definitely didn't want little Thomas to be buried like this.

After all, he is the player he chooses, so he has the responsibility to let him perform as he should. Otherwise, wouldn't he be harmed?
Carlisle nodded, "Okay, that's one month."

Then the two chatted for a long time and decided on the starting lineup for the new season.

Li Xun, Nowitzki, Giba, Clay and Thomas Jr.

This lineup is quite weird, mainly because Li Xun was placed in the fifth position.

No way, the Mavericks really don't have a decent center in the team now, so they can only let Li Xun play the fifth position.

For Li Xun, playing the fifth position has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that he can concentrate more on rebounding.

With Li Xun's strength, there is actually no problem with him averaging 20+ rebounds per game.

But to this day, he has not been able to average a full season of 20 rebounds per game. The main reason is that he has been playing outside.

Sitting on the basket and playing outside, the chances of grabbing rebounds are definitely not the same thing.

And in addition to rebounds, block data will also rise a lot.

There may even be an improvement in steals.

The basket is an area where opponents pass the ball very frequently. As long as Li Xun's hands are fast enough, it is not a problem to improve the stealing data.

As for the disadvantage, it must be that the score will decrease.

But now Li Xun and Curry are no longer teammates, and he can no longer enjoy Curry's three-point attributes.

However, it can be bound to Clay. His peak three-point attribute is 97 points, which is actually not bad.

Since then, the Mavericks' lineup for the new season has also been officially determined.

No. [-] position: Thomas Jr., Terry plus Kidd.

Among them, Kidd, who is 41 years old, is unrealistic to expect him to play 20 minutes per game. He is now more like a mascot staying in the Mavericks.

The main force must still be Thomas Jr. plus Terry.

The two actually have something in common.

Terry previously played double pick-and-roll with Nuo Tianwang in the Mavericks. In fact, Thomas can also play this way.

Although Thomas's basket is not as accurate as Terry's, he also has places where Terry is not as good.

That is mobility. Thomas Jr. has far more mobility than Old Terry, and the effect of playing a two-man pick-and-roll may not be worse.

The second position is Klay, Middleton and Delonte West.

When Middleton was drafted, his position was small forward, but under Li Xun's suggestion, he switched to shooting guard.

In fact, it is now in this era. Except for some special small forwards, shooting guards are no different from small forwards.

The main offensive method of a traditional shooting guard is shooting, and the main offensive method of a traditional small forward is a breakthrough.

But now there is no small forward who focuses on breakthroughs.

Because Clay and Middleton are both rookies, Nelson Jr. signed West for another year.

It is certainly not a bad thing to have an experienced veteran at the same position in the team.

Anyway, West is indeed cheap.

On the third position are Giba, Marion and Carter.

Carter has participated in the All-Star selection many times as a small forward, so he is not actually a pure shooting guard.

The four major shooting guards do not seem to be exclusive positions. Carter, Tracy McGrady and Kobe are all swingers, while Iverson is a combo guard.

Nowitzki and Green are in the fourth position, and Li Xun and Chris Kaman are in the fifth position.

Kaman is the Mavericks' biggest signing this year besides Li Xun. He used to be an All-Star center. Unfortunately, after his peak season of 09+10 in the 18-9 season, he thought that the cause of injury was gone.

Even the All-Star that was selected was actually Huang Mambaroy who replaced him.

He signed a one-year $800 million contract with the Mavericks this season, not too much, but not too little.

The reason for choosing the Mavericks is because Nowitzki is a teammate of Kaman's German national team.

And now that Li Xun has joined the Mavericks, the chances of the Mavericks winning the championship have skyrocketed. Kaman may also want to become a championship before retiring.

Some players don't care about championships.

But some players are very eager for the championship ring. They have already reached this position, and they are no longer short of money. What they lack is a thought after retirement.

This lineup is not perfect, but the current conditions are limited, and Li Xun is already satisfied.

After all, this is his first season joining the Mavericks, and the situation is much better than that of the Pistons at that time.

Now Li Xun is looking forward to the start of the race, so that he can test the power of this lineup.

On October 10, the preseason kicked off.

But Li Xun didn't show up at all. With his current rank, there's no need to waste time in the preseason.

The preseason is for players to find their status. Li Xun doesn't need to find his status at all. He has never been idle this offseason.

Wait until mid-October, the end of the Mavericks preseason.

Played six games, lost three and won three.

Not many people care about the results of this preseason match. Let alone a [-]% win rate, even if they lost all, it doesn't really explain anything.

The Mavericks fans were a little disappointed. They watched every one of the six preseason games, but unfortunately they couldn't see Li Xun.

What they are looking forward to most now is to see Li Xun play at the Mavericks' home court.

On October 10, the NBA's new season opener kicked off.

The opening game of this year's East is the Heat against the Pistons, while the West is the Mavericks against the Lakers.

As the team with the lowest record in the league last season, the reason why the Mavericks can qualify for the opening game this season must be Li Xun.

Just because of Li Xun's joining, the Mavericks immediately became the sweet pastry in the eyes of the league.

Stern is going crazy right now.

When he learned that the Mavericks were going to sign Li Xun, he also thought it was an April Fool's joke.

I thought about it day and night to get Li Xun to leave the Pistons quickly, but in the end I didn't do anything, and the Mavericks actually helped him do it.

In order to express his gratitude to the Mavericks, Stern directly arranged for the Mavericks' home court for this much-anticipated game.

"Li Xun!"

"Li Xun!"

"The new king of Dallas!"

When Li Xun came out wearing the calf's white home jersey, the fans shouted wildly.

It was like a dream, Li Xun actually became a player of their Mavericks.

Li Xun waved to the fans at the scene, looking a bit gentle and elegant in a white shirt.

I have to say that the Mavericks' jerseys are actually pretty good-looking, especially the white home jersey. Li Xun collected a Nowitzki home jersey in his previous life.

He himself did not expect that one day he would own a Mavericks jersey of his own.

"Well, this game is Li Xun's first appearance."

"We can't screw it up."

"Guys, come on, we're going to win this season."

Nuo Tianwang cheered for many teammates before the start of the game.

"Dirk, this kind of work should be handed over to Li Xun. We old guys just need to enjoy the game."

Terry grinned.

"Dudududu!"

The referee's whistle sounded, and the starters of both sides began to play.

Little Thomas was a little nervous, and kept looking at Li Xun.

After all, he was just a fringe player in the Pistons last season, but when he came to the Mavericks, he started directly.

He also knew that this was the position that Li Xun helped him win.

He is now worried that he won't play well, embarrassing Li Xun, and wasting this rare opportunity.

"Dude, don't worry."

"Believe in my vision, and at the same time believe in your own strength."

"Although you can play with the ball at ease, even if you go to the basket, you can make a shot yourself, and if you can't make a shot, you can pass the ball to me or Dirk."

"If it's really not in the hands of the two of us, then throw it outside, and someone will always pick it up."

Li Xun stepped forward to comfort the nervous little assassin.

He was in the fifth position, but he actually wanted to let Thomas play better.

Being stuck at the basket by himself can give Thomas Jr. a good shot space.

A player like Thomas Jr. is most afraid of rushing to the basket, and then being completely covered by those tall inside players.

Not to mention the shot at the basket, even the pass can't be passed.

Now that Li Xun is on the side, the situation is much better, and if it is not good, he can pass the ball to Li Xun.

And tonight is also a rare opportunity for Thomas Jr. to perform, and his opponent is old Nash.

Last season, the Lakers fell apart and sold many people.

They have carried out a lot of operations this season, first of all, they signed the old Nash, and then signed Artest in the free market.

Under normal circumstances, in fact, they also got Warcraft Howard this season, and the lineup can be said to be quite good.

It's a pity that the lineup on the books is good, but it can't hide the shortcomings of this aging team.

Now Nash is no longer the son of the wind. There is no problem on the offensive end, and his shooting is still very accurate, but the defensive end can no longer be said to be eye-catching.

His defense has really become air.

For example, Nash played a total of three games against the Trail Blazers this season, and he was facing the young Lillard.

Lillard is now a rookie, and it turned out that Nash was a bit outrageous.

After three games, Nash scored 2 points, 4 points and 6 points respectively.

And Lillard, a new melon egg, can get an average of 20+ per game on him.

Li Xun firmly believes that what rookie Lillard can do, Thomas Jr. can certainly do it, and even with his own help, he can do better.

The experience of the first year in the NBA is actually very important.

Many players gain more in the first year than in the next three or even five years.

This is why in the rookie challenge, the second-year team can always beat the first-year team.

Now Thomas is in the second grade, and with the help of Li Xun, how could he not beat Nash.

Li Xun actually didn't understand why the Lakers brought in Nash, which was obviously not a good signing.

A player like Kobe, like Jordan, needs a good one defender like Ron Harper.

With such a successful case of copying, the Lakers can't copy easily, and there is no one else.

As a result, it turns out that Kobe and Nash are indeed not a very suitable pair of partners.

Of course, it is also possible that both of them are old, and if they are both at their peak, maybe the situation will be better.

But what is certain is that the effect of partnering with Nash is definitely not as good as that of partnering with Paul.

It's not that Nash is weaker than Paul, but they are completely different players, and the chemical reaction with Kobe is definitely not the same.

There are actually quite a few types of point guards. Traditional point guards alone can be divided into three categories. One is strong offensive and defensive like Nash.

One is Rondo Kidd, who is weak in offense and strong in defense.

There is also a more balanced offense and defense like Paul.

A shooting guard like Jordan Kobe is undoubtedly more suitable to partner with a defensive point guard. He has the best offensive ability, and it doesn't hurt if he doesn't.

The point is that the Lakers haven't got Howard yet, so their lineup is even weaker. Li Xun thinks that they may be at the level of the first round of the Western Conference this year.

When the game started on the court, Kobe looked at Li Xun resentfully.

He didn't understand until now why Li Xun would join the Mavericks instead of joining their Los Angeles Lakers.

Because no matter how you look at it, the Lakers are more suitable for Li Xun than the Mavericks.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Li Xun joins the Lakers, the Lakers will immediately become a championship-level team this year, and they are fully capable of competing with the Pistons.

It's a pity that he has joined the Mavericks now, and Kobe is not very optimistic about the current Mavericks.

(End of this chapter)