no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 84 New arrival
The Bulls' training camp will not officially start until mid-September, but Xu Yong is not alone in returning to Chicago.

Because every year before the training camp starts, other players will report in advance.

Xu Yong met those people on his first day at the United Center training hall.

Several people who participated in the Summer League together, Johnson, Gibson, and Richard are all here. As rookies and marginal players, they need to do more than others in order to win the chance to play in the new season.

However, the appearance of one person surprised Xu Yong.

One of the king's rivals in the first half of his life, Sudan's basketball master, Deng Yingqiao, Loel Deng.

A hot piece of knowledge, Deng was actually in the same class as James.

James was the No. 2003 high school student in the class of [-], and Deng was ranked No. [-].

It's just that unlike James who participated in the NBA draft after finishing high school, Deng chose to enter Duke University and played for a year before entering the NBA.

Perhaps it is because of his college experience, or perhaps because he was born in a political family (his father was a Sudanese national minister and deputy prime minister), Deng feels very cultivated and friendly to others.

Even Xu Yong thinks so.

Speaking of which, Deng also won the NBA Ethics Award and the Kennedy Citizen Award at the same time, which is fundamentally different from other Liren players.

Of course, that's off the court.

In the training camp before this training camp, Xu Yong still felt the toughness of this top small forward on the field.

Deng played tough on the court, and his defense was suffocating.

In other words, this is also the first time Xu Yong has experienced the strength of a top NBA defender.

It is not only talent, but also a perfect combination of skills and experience.

Although the previous Jordan was also very skilled, but after all, he was 46 years old, and he was incomparable with a player like Deng who was at his peak.

It was difficult for Xu Yong to score in front of him.

But it was precisely because of this that Xu Yong was excited.

The sunspots said that the summer league is not worth mentioning, Xu Yong actually knows this better than them.

This is why he was not a little proud after scoring 48 points. Instead, he went to Olajuwon to practice his back for the first time.

Although he practiced in Tempe for a summer, whether it is DeRozan and Harden, or later Butler, the defensive level is limited.

Those trainings were more about making him proficient in his movements, and the real improvement had to be against players of Deng's level.

Deng didn't feel much at first. Xu Yong looked similar to when Rose came to the team last year. He was in good health, but his skills were relatively jerky.

But as the training continued, he began to notice that something was going wrong.

Xu Yong's progress is too fast!

The day before, he turned around and was destroyed for a layup, and the day after that, he was able to score a jumper with a fake step-back.

That damn feeling of being an experience baby, even he felt weird.

So much so that by mid-September, Xu Yong was already able to break with him [-]-[-] in one-on-one offense and defense.

It's not that Xu Yongkai is dead, but that he is strong in confrontation, plus he has excellent dry-drawing and breakthrough skills. After his back is tempered in actual combat, he can link up these technical moves. , took off.

Of course, one-on-one and formal competition are two concepts, because in the competition you will encounter flanking and assisting defense.

Those are the keys that really determine whether the technology is successful.

But this was enough to surprise Deng, as well as to look forward to it.

He has played in the NBA for five years, and he has already left the category of "young Deng", but has begun to enter the rising period of his career, which is the time to make achievements.

They lost seven games against the defending champion Celtics last season, and the future is worth looking forward to.

As a result, the Bulls sent away the two main players of last season in a deal in the summer, which is a direct start from scratch.

Even if he is as honest as he is, he will inevitably feel lost in his heart.

But Xu Yong's performance has swept away his disappointment.

And there was Gibson.

Although Gibson is a rookie and seems to have no upper limit, he is very mature in all aspects and belongs to the kind of immediate player among rookies.

And he also has a very stable mid-range jumper, so it may be better for him to replace Thomas.

So it is equivalent to replacing Salmons with Xu Yong, and the new season is worth looking forward to.

At this time, the Bulls' training camp officially began. Except for Rose who would be late because of some ankle injuries, everyone else arrived.

Xu Yong also got a glimpse of the Bulls' lineup.

Then his feeling was, Emmm... It can't be said to be average, but there is indeed a difference of [-] million points.

At the point guard, the second-year Rose ⊕ is the main force of the iron fight, Hinrich is the substitute, and then there are Genilo Pargo and Chucky Atkins on the bench.

Hinrich was the No. 03 pick selected by the Bulls in 7, but he never played. He became a substitute last season, averaging only 9.9 points and 3.9 assists per game.

As for the two on the bench, Pago is at the lineup level of 50 when you play an operation game like Fantasy Basketball Manager.

Atkins was traded to the Bulls in the offseason.

After completing the No. [-] pick deal, the Bulls turned around and used the expiring contract of Gaydon Thomas in the future second round to make a deal with the Thunder in exchange for Atkins and Damien Wilkins Two people fill the backcourt.

Then the subject of this deal is actually Wilkins. As a 35-year-old defender with a height of less than 1.8 meters, it is still unknown whether Atkins can stay until the start of the season.

However, this configuration is already the best of the Bulls' five positions.

At shooting guard, Xu Yong, like Rose last year, has a high probability of starting directly, and his substitute is Wilkins just mentioned.

Of course, this Wilkins is not Peter Wilkins, he is the nephew of "Human Film Essence" Dominique Wilkins, 29 years old this year, at his peak.

It's just that the peak height is a bit low.

He was in the fifth year of his career with the Thunder last season, averaging 5.3 points per game on a poor team.

The only upside is that he's a sizeable swingman who plays defense well.

Then, all that's left on the bench is Lindsay Hunter, the No. 1993 pick that only hardcore fans have heard of, but in [-].

This December will be 12 years old...

At the small forward, Luol Deng is the main force, James Johnson will most likely be a substitute, and he will compete with veteran Tim Thomas.

Power forwards were the worst, with rookies Gibson and Darius Sanguela competing for the starting lineup, and Chris Richard, who was left behind after a good summer league performance, on the bench.

As for the center, last season's bench, Noah, a third-year player who averaged 6.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, will most likely become the starter. Veteran Brad Miller will be a substitute. The No. 2007 pick in 59 sits on the bench. Long Gray, and Jerome James, a famous garbage contract created by the Knicks back then.

With this lineup, Jordan shook his head when he saw it, and the others ran away carrying buckets overnight.

But it's not that Foreman can't do it, but that the mess left by his predecessor is too bad.

You have to know that the time will go back three years, and the Bulls are still the fifth in the Eastern Conference. In the summer, Kobe at that time shouted for the team he wanted to join.

But in the past three years, except for Deng and Hinrich, who failed to train, the rest are all gone.

Hey, hey, he didn't say anything, and left a bunch of rubbish contracts.

A look at the salary table may give you a deep understanding.

The Bulls now rank first in salary with Brad Miller at 1225 million, followed by Deng at 1037 million, and Hinrich at 950 million.

The top three, except for Deng, are all sorry for their social status.

But at least it can still play, fourth and fifth in the team, Jerome James with 660 million and Tim Thomas with 647 million, this is pure garbage contract.

Then you know, except for Deng, all the main players of the Bulls next season are still on rookie contracts.

It's no wonder that outsiders think the Bulls can't make the playoffs.I don't think it's all for the sake of Deng and Rose.

Of course, Xu Yong didn't think much of it.

In history, Jimmy Butler can lead a group of undrafted picks and premium contracts to complete the black eight and reach the finals. Their lineup is somewhat similar. Not to mention that level, there is still great hope of making the playoffs.

You must know that the overall strength of the Eastern Conference has been weak in recent years, and only those teams are strong.

And he knows that whether it is Rose, Noah, or even Gibson, they are stronger than their seemingly thin NBA resumes.

Of course, the most important thing is that after the training camp can be split [-]-[-] with Luol Dunn, he is also looking forward to how he can perform in the real NBA arena.

　Today's warm-up match against Slovenia was 73 to 75. It was a real fight and it was very intense. Zhao Jiwei also scored 7 for 1, and Zhang Zhenlin also scored 6 for 1. They led by more than ten points in the middle. Qiao Shuai was only chased after inspecting the players, and the opponent was Doncic We didn’t play, and our Kyle Li didn’t play either. It feels like it’s still worth looking forward to, right?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)