With three points at the start, Nash begged for a maximum salary to renew his contract

Chapter 64 Barkley: I care more about Wang Chao

After the trip to Italy, the Suns' next preseason games were all played against NBA teams in the United States.

This kind of promotional activities should not be carried out too much or too frequently. After all, the preseason games are held for the purpose of the league's teams recovering their status before the regular season, and they are not a tool for attracting money and attention.

On October 10, the Suns played against the Philadelphia 10ers at home.

The star of the 76ers team, Allen Iverson, started the game, played less than 10 minutes and left early to rest. The 76ers didn't care about the outcome of the preseason game at all. In the end, the Suns easily won 112:99.

As a time traveler, Wang Chao knew that Iverson and the management of the 76ers had serious conflicts at this time, and the 76ers were ready to overthrow and rebuild. If there were no accidents in the course of history, Iverson would After playing 76 games for the 15ers in the regular season this season, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first-round picks.

In the past, Wang Chao liked Iverson very much. A player with a height of nearly 1 meters can enter the league as the No. 8 pick like Iverson, lead the team to the finals with a single core, and win four scoring titles , is really not easy.

But there is no way, Iverson's character and style of play are destined to be so.

If Wang Chao travels a few years earlier, it is not impossible to consider partnering with Iverson at his peak. With Iverson's ball-handling breakthrough lethality, combined with his outside three-point shooting, the effect will definitely be very good.

But for now... forget it.

During the Denver Nuggets period, Iverson was already at the end of his career. Although he still averaged about 26 points per game, his record in the Nuggets was not very satisfactory. The Nuggets won 06 in the 07-45 season, The season was a little better, but it barely reached 07 wins, ranking eighth in the Western Conference.

The emergence of the store module and the setting of the currency reward mechanism are destined to make Wang Chao more inclined to join a team with a better record, because the more victories he wins in the regular season, the more points he will reward, which can be exchanged for more It is a virtuous circle, the more the team wins, the faster he will become stronger.

……

In the subsequent preseason games, the Suns played against the Kings, Lakers, Timberwolves and several other teams, and they also won and lost each other.

No one cares about the outcome of the preseason. The main players of the Suns are all played for less than 20 minutes. In addition to adapting to the rhythm of the game, it is more up to the substitute players to perform and play.

During this process, Wang Chao also keenly sensed something.

His playing time was relatively high in the first two preseason games, reaching more than 20 minutes, but in subsequent games, his playing time became the same as Nash and others.

The reduction in playing time is not necessarily a bad thing for Wang Chao, because it means that the Suns coaching staff's inspection of Wang Chao has ended, and there is no need to continue to observe Wang Chao's performance in the preseason.

Because of this, Wang Chao's playing time will be reduced, and other substitute players will be given more time to play and exercise.

According to an assistant coach who has a fairly good relationship with Wang Chao, head coach D'Antoni has decided to let Wang Chao serve as the team's starting small forward during the regular season.

It is worth mentioning that it was Dior, Wang Chao's imaginary competitor, who competed with Wang Chao for the starting position.

This is not surprising.

Diaw is a player with very strong comprehensive ability, who can do any job on the court.

But too complicated skills also make Dior lack the powerful stunts he is proficient in.

For this alone, he is not as good as Wang Chao who has developed the three-pointer to the extreme.

After all, the current Suns have Nash in the tandem organization, Stoudemire in attacking with the ball, Marion in defense and fast break, and there are people who can do what Dior is good at.

In this case, it is more efficient to let Diaw play as a substitute. His ability to assist with the ball can be fully utilized when Nash is not on the court.

In fact, the most comfortable season for Diaw was not when he started with the Hornets in the future, but when he played as a substitute for the Spurs at the end of his career. At that time, Diaw became an important substitute rotation player for the Spurs. When everyone is resting off the court, the Spurs often use Diaw to carry the offensive banner of the bench lineup.

Diaw's only championship ring was also obtained with the Spurs.

Of course, this is the fact, but as Dior himself, he definitely hopes to be able to play the main starting position, which will directly relate to the size of his future contract extension.

Therefore, Wang Chao did not feel complacent because he took the team's starting position in advance, because he knew that Dior would definitely stare at himself who took his starting position from the bench. If Wang Chao did not perform well during the regular season , the other party will certainly not hesitate to add insult to injury and put pressure on the coaching staff and even the management.

This opportunity is rare, and Wang Chao cannot miss it anyway, he must seize it!
……

Soon, the time came to the end of October.

The entire schedule of the preseason is over, and the regular season is finally coming.

The Suns' opponent in the regular season opener is the Los Angeles Lakers, and the two teams are also old enemies.

Last season, the Suns eliminated the Lakers in the first round. If the original historical process is followed, this season will end in the playoffs, and the first round will be the Suns vs. the Lakers.

Because of this, this opening game has received a lot of attention.

The Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers, was packed on game night.

TNT TV also sent their golden partners Charles. Barkley and Kenny. Smith to broadcast live commentary on this battle of focus.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome to the NBA 06-07 season broadcast live by TNT. The opening game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns at home. I am your old friend Kenny Smith."

Smith went straight to the point at the beginning, "Charles, what do you think of this game? Which side do you think has a better chance of winning?"

"Of course it's the Suns." Without thinking, Barkley went all out to support his former home team.

"The Suns made it all the way to the finals last season, and it was the Lakers that were eliminated in the first round. In the new season, the Suns ushered in Stoudemire's return from injury. I predict that the Suns will at least Can win more than 60 games."

"After last season, the Lakers did not have any strong signings in the summer. The team still can only rely on Kobe to fight alone. I don't think Kobe alone can make the Lakers strong."

"But speaking of it, there is one player in the Suns that I am more concerned about, and that is Wang Chao, the team's scoring leader in the playoffs last season."

(End of this chapter)