NBA: James wants to team up with me

Everyone knew that Wang Chong would fight back, but no one thought that Wang Chong would choose such a frontal approach.

This is enough to show that in Wang Chong's eyes, the Heat's Big Three are not a threat, at least not much more threatening than the Lakers in the West. As long as the Bulls' lineup remains healthy, they are confident that they can fight the Heat.

This strong response also reassured many Chicago fans who were anxious about the formation of the Heat's Big Three.

They are not afraid of their own stars, so what else do they have to be afraid of?

Whether it is James, Wade or Bosh, they are all defeated by Wang Chong. They have never won against Wang Chong in the playoffs. What will happen even if the three of them join forces? Their Bulls team is not only Wang Chong, but also has a serious configuration of the Big Three. It's just that the two giants, Garnett and Billups, are a bit old. They both failed to make the All-Star and All-NBA teams last season. , can no longer be called a giant.

But if you add Curry, Gasol and others, the Bulls' overall strength is still the top team in the league.

The Heat's Big Three are not without their shortcomings. First, James and Wade have slightly conflicting technical styles. They are both players who mainly use the ball to break through and attack the basket. There will be certain problems with the distribution of ball rights.

The second point is that as a completely new team, the Heat's tactics, cooperation and tacit understanding need to be started from scratch. It is completely different from the Bulls who have won three consecutive championships together and have a tacit cooperation. Compare.

As long as they can master the advantages in these aspects, the Bulls will definitely be worthy of the Heat in the game.

The league is also watching the excitement, and the Bulls vs. Heat have become the biggest hot spots in the league. The schedule for the new season is directly arranged. The Bulls will challenge Miami away from home in the opening game, and the second game between the two teams will be on Christmas Day, December 12. In a big battle, the two teams must compete.

In mid-September, Bulls players returned to the team one after another, including O'Neal and Tracy McGrady, who signed with the Bulls on a veteran's minimum salary.

O'Neal chose No. 32, the number he has worn the most in his career.

McGrady chose the No. 3 jersey because his favorite No. 1 belongs to Billups. If McGrady had just won two consecutive scoring championships and was in his prime, Billups might be willing to give up his jersey number for McGrady, but now McGrady It was clear that he was here to win a championship, and his position was naturally placed. He was just a transparent person on the bench in the Bulls.

However, although their strength is no longer good, after all, both of them were once the top stars in the league, and they are still quite popular.

Therefore, after the team's makeup photos were taken, many reporters interviewed the two.

When McGrady was interviewed, he behaved very low-key.

"I feel very honored to be able to join the Bulls. Wang Chong is the strongest player in the league today, and he is also a compatriot of my good friend Dayao. Before I came, Dayao had talked to me about Wang Chong, so I am looking forward to it." This time I can join forces with Wang Chong, and I fully accept all the roles assigned to me by the team, as long as I can help the team win."

McGrady's relationship has all gone to Yao's side, which shows how eager he is to stay in the Bulls and win a championship.

Compared to McGrady, O'Neal's speech was much tougher. After all, unlike McGrady, who needed Dayao to get closer to Wang Chong, when Wang Chong first entered the league, O'Neal was Wang Chong's big brother and once protected him. Wang Chong's, there is absolutely nothing to say about this relationship.

When he was interviewed, his attitude was very clear.

"I had already planned to retire after last season. For me now, one more championship and one less championship won't make much difference, but when I see LeBron, Dwyane When two players I had partnered with joined forces and wanted to compete for the championship, I suddenly changed my mind. It would be interesting to stay in the league for one more year and see with my own eyes the peak showdown between the players from the 03 class. thing."

Whether O'Neal, as he said, no longer cares about the championship, no one knows. Wang Chong has also analyzed before that at this stage, even if O'Neal wins the sixth championship as a role player, the bonus to his historical status will not be high. , but after a few decades, it’s not certain what fans who don’t know much about this period of history will think.

The interviews with O'Neal and Tracy McGrady are very popular, but the interviews with the real main players of the Bulls are also very popular. For example, the celebrity and popularity are not at all compared to O'Neal and Madison's Kevin Garnett.

"To be honest, I wasn't that happy when I won the championship last season. Although the team's victory also belonged to me, it is undeniable that I didn't help at all in winning the championship last season. I originally thought I could win in the finals. He tried to turn the tide on the field, but was ruined by this guy Wang Chong."

Garnett's words caused a burst of laughter from the reporters at the scene.

It is indeed rare to be unhappy when you win, but it is not surprising.

As one of the strongest power forwards in the league, Garnett's target should be Tim Duncan.

But Duncan has four championships, two MVPs, and three FMVPs in hand. If Garnett wants to catch up with Duncan, there is obviously still a long way to go.

Originally, by winning the third championship of his career, Garnett should be closer to Duncan, but just because the Bulls can win the championship without Garnett, not only does this third championship have nothing to do with Garnett. , and even reduced Garnett's role in the first two championships, making people wonder whether the Bulls could have won the championship even without Garnett before?
This conclusion is of course not valid. The Bulls were able to win the championship without Garnett because of the growth of Gasol and the arrival of Curry, coupled with Wang Chong who continues to get stronger every season. To have such strength.

But in the past two years, the Bulls might have continued to stand out in the Eastern Conference without Garnett, but in the finals they had no chance of winning against the Lakers in the Western Conference.

Garnett himself knew this very well, so he felt unhappy. He continued: "From this point of view, I am quite grateful to the Heat. The formation of the Big Three gave me the opportunity to prove myself again. I will definitely use my performance this season to show everyone whether the Bulls need me or not!"

Compared to Top Gun's Garnett, Wang Chong's interview seemed brief and direct.

Reporter: "Excuse me, what are your goals for the new season?"

Wang Chong: "Defend the title and win the championship."

Reporter: "So do you think the Bulls can beat the Miami Heat?"

Wang Chong: "Of course."

reporter:"……"

It’s not that Wang Chongxi’s words are like gold, it’s just that he really doesn’t want to repeat what he has said before. The focus of reporters' attention is his views and thoughts on the Heat, but he had already said these in an interview more than a month ago, so why waste your breath?
Besides, the first game of the new season is the Bulls vs. the Heat. If there are any problems, we can wait until the game is over.
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Time comes to early October, and the NBA preseason begins.

The Bulls, as in previous years, strictly control the playing time of the starting lineup during the preseason. For the Bulls generals who have been working together for many years, there is no need to go through preseason games to build a tacit understanding. It is better to leave the opportunity to them. The substitutes are free to play.

There are still several good players on the Bulls' bench, such as striker Danny Green, who started many times last season. Another example is that after being drafted by Wang Chong, he has not had a good chance to perform on the bench. Marcus Thornton.

To put it bluntly, Thornton was unlucky to be valued by Wang Chong.

Originally, the most glorious period of Thornton's career was during his rookie contract.

When he first entered the league, Thornton shined with the New Orleans Hornets, averaging 14.5 points per game. As a second-round pick, this figure was even beyond the reach of many players in the first round.

Then Thornton was traded to the Kings in the second season. In the last 27 games with the Kings, he averaged 21.3 points per game. In the second season, the third year of his career, he served as the main guard of the Kings, averaging 18.7 points per game. 3.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and assists.

The first three years of his career can be regarded as the most glorious three years of Thornton's career, because then his condition began to decline, and his playing was not as good as each year, and he eventually disappeared from everyone.

In Wang Chong's view, Thornton is an excellent immediate player. Although his level is not very high, when he is healthy, he is extremely athletic and can cause a certain amount of damage even if he rushes recklessly. , but once he is injured on the court and his explosive power declines, he is finished.

The original choice of Thornton was also because it would be a waste to waste the draft pick. However, after selecting him, Wang Chong did not expect him to provide much substantial help to the team.

Thornton averaged 9 points per game in the regular season last season, and is definitely qualified as a substitute player. However, in the playoffs, the defensive intensity has increased, and the opponent's main player has increased playing time. There is very little time for the substitute to perform. Dayton basically had no role in the playoffs.

In the current season, Thornton will most likely not have any chance in the Bulls.

With Danny Green and Tracy McGrady on the outside bench, Thornton doesn't really get much of the ball, and he probably won't be able to perform at his original level.

So strictly speaking, it was Wang Chong who chose Thornton, which resulted in him not having a suitable stage for his performance.

But Wang Chong doesn't think there's anything wrong with it. The most he can do is trade Thornton away after this season to give him a chance to show himself.

After coming to this world, Wang Chong has changed the career trajectories of many players in the NBA, not least this one or two.

However, in the unimportant preseason, it would be okay to give players like Thornton more opportunities to perform.

During this period, Thornton's level was indeed not bad. In the 10 preseason games, Thornton averaged 30 minutes per game and could contribute 22 points and 3 rebounds. He became the Bulls' preseason scoring leader. His strong body allowed him to hold the ball. He is very impactful when attacking the basket. At the same time, he also has the attribute of a sharp shooter from the outside. His accurate three-pointers are also very exaggerated.

Thornton's outstanding performance in the preseason surprised many teams. Could this bench player who was unknown on the Bulls' bench last season be so good?
Although Marcus Thornton performed very well in the preseason, the Bulls' preseason record was quite satisfactory, with only 6 wins and 4 losses. This is not surprising. Although Thornton has certain strength on the offensive end, , but the shortcomings are also obvious. First of all, his defensive ability is insufficient. His height of 1 meters is a bit short for a shooting guard. He does not have Wade's exaggerated athletic ability, and his defensive enthusiasm is not high, making it very easy to miss people on the court.

In addition, Thornton's continuous offensive ability and offensive ability are not strong, so naturally he cannot help the team win as the main core scorer. With him as the core of the offense, the offense will basically be suppressed by the opponent.

Of course, since it was a preseason game and Thornton was just a bench player for the Bulls, these shortcomings were directly ignored and his advantages were praised.

"The Bulls are really full of talents, and every bench has such a level. Tom Thibodeau should seriously consider increasing Thornton's playing time in the new season to fully utilize his strength."

"After a long offseason, the Bulls are definitely ready to face the challenge of their strongest opponent in the new season, the Miami Heat. At the end of the preseason, the two teams are about to usher in a battle like Mars hitting the earth. The ultimate showdown!”

The preseason is over and the new regular season is about to start.

ESPN also released the latest NBA strength rankings in due course.

The Bulls, who won three consecutive championships, undoubtedly ranked first, and the Lakers, who had six fierce battles with the Bulls in the finals, continued to rank second.

Unexpectedly, the third place was not the Miami Heat, which formed the Super Big Three, but the Orlando Magic led by Howard.

Obviously, although the formation of the Heat's Big Three shocked the entire league, not many people are really optimistic about them. On the one hand, they believe that the Heat's Big Three need enough time to get into a tacit understanding. On the other hand, the Big Three during the preseason Playing time is very little and has no reference at all.

But the Big Three are the Big Three after all. Even without any reference value, they are still second only to the Bulls, Lakers, and Magic teams, ranking fourth in the league's strength list, and higher than the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs. , Utah Jazz and other league-leading teams.

Despite all the heated discussions, on October 2010, 10, the regular season started as scheduled.

The American Airlines Arena, the home of the Miami Heat, was packed with seats. Heat fans poured into the stadium to witness the home debut of the Heat's Big Three!

On the field, players from both teams have begun to warm up.

James was very motivated and made several tomahawk dunks in a row, looking very domineering. It was obvious that he had been looking forward to this game for a long time.

Recalling that he was beaten up by Wang Chong in various ways in the past, we can somewhat understand his current mood. I am afraid that he can't wait to lead the Heat to defeat the Bulls and avenge his shame.

As the referee blows the whistle, players from the two teams compete for the ball, and the game is about to begin! (End of chapter)