The Road to Stardom: Start as a Slam Dunk Master.

Chapter 317 Cavaliers’ starting lineup

Rukawa maple.

For the entire 48 minutes of the game, this guy didn't get even a second of playing time, so much so that Sakuragi, who was focused on the game, forgot that he had a companion on the other team.

"Ha..." Sakuragi Hanamichi wanted to laugh, but when he started laughing, he realized that his voice was a little hoarse. After a pause, he smiled really awkwardly: "Invite you to dinner?"

"As long as you don't drink, the team has booked a flight for tomorrow morning."

"Say it as if you have drunk it." Sakuragi Hanamichi finally laughed and picked up the packed luggage: "Let's go, I know a very good sushi restaurant!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi had been thinking about inviting Rukawa Kaede to dinner for a long time. During the half year at Lakeside High School, he had eaten a lot of Rukawa Kaede's breakfast for nothing.

It's a pity that when he got his first salary in his life, this guy had already gone to Charlottetown. North Carolina and Washington State, where he is located, are far to the west and far to the east. This is the first time the two have met since the draft.

There are many sushi restaurants in Seattle, and their names are also very simple. They are either Japanese restaurant or simply the English translation of sushi, sushi.

The external environment looks no different from Japanese street shops. The Japanese are quite confident in this aspect. They don’t engage in flashy gimmicks and dare to openly open such small shops on the roadside in the most expensive section of the city center. Come.

"Actually, I know that even if I paid the money at that time, they would still be exclusive, but it should be a little slower. Maybe after I have no money to pay, then maybe I can play a game first that other teams can see. The data above, it’s a pity...” Kaede Rukawa said with a smile: “After that, my data began to plummet, and my playing time naturally continued to decrease. In the last two games, I couldn’t even play.”

Sakuragi Hanamichi nodded: "I may be sent away."

——On December 12th, the SuperSonics will face the Cleveland Cavaliers at home!
——The fateful showdown, from the Nike Summit to the NBA regular season!
——The battle between the No. 1 pick and the No. 2 pick!

"Actually," Rukawa Kaede laughed, looked into Sakuragi Hanamichi's eyes, and said slowly: "I just want to tell you that no matter what happens, cheer up, don't leave here easily, and don't let yourself be sent away easily. Come on, the world outside is much colder than you think..."

Sakuragi Hanamichi was stunned, and Rukawa Kaede was waiting for him with a tea cup.

"Then try to face it instead of being timid and worried." He raised the tea cup on the table and said with a smile: "The day after tomorrow, I will watch the broadcast in Charlotte of the game between the Cavaliers and the Cavaliers. Your draft pick is higher than mine, so if you become the first Japanese player to be kicked out by an NBA team before me, who is in a worse situation, it will be a big shame!"

"Hahaha! Stop dreaming!" Sakuragi Hanamichi finally laughed, laughing so much that tears came out... But his expression suddenly became much more relaxed in an instant. He also picked up the teacup on the table, As if he had regained his former activity, he shouted: "How could I lose to you? I am a genius!"

Rukawa Kaede, whom I haven't seen for a few months but is only in his early 18s, has already grown a light beard and looks haggard and mature, as if he is already in his early twenties.

"I'm not afraid of the cold." Sakuragi Hanamichi quickly picked up the conversation and looked into Rukawa Kaede's eyes. The wetness and timidity on the court were no longer in his eyes: "I'm just afraid of losing everything here. .”

"At the beginning of the season, I averaged about ten minutes per game. As a substitute, no one paid attention to me, and my outside shooting was rarely targeted. In the second game, I scored 12 points in a single game, but that day, the ball A few black guys on the team gave me an excuse to celebrate and went to the bar together. Then they called a lot of women and drank a lot of good wine. They probably spent more than US dollars. But in the end they wanted me to pay, so I naturally left directly. Oh...haha, now that I think about it, my personality is a bit too straight. After that, no one passed the ball to me anymore."

The two ordered something and sat down. The familiar Japanese restaurant made them both find a rare tranquility in this prosperous foreign land.

………………

"The environment is much worse than I imagined. The NBA is not the carefree school we once were..."

Rukawa Kaede was startled and laughed.

"Not yet, we can only take a step to see." Rukawa Kaede paused, looked at the silent Sakuragi Hanamichi with a smile, and changed the topic: "I don't know much about the internal situation of your Supersonics, but recently But I heard rumors that you seem to be planning to make a deal with the Grizzlies?"

So I basically listened to what Rukawa Kaede said. Rukawa Kaede didn't have family feuds or polite banter among some friends. He just talked about his situation in the Charlotte Bobcats during this period calmly.

"A new team has been formed in a hurry. The owner is a black man who talks a lot about things. The coach is black, and the teammates around him are all black. Their ideas are different from ours. They are barbaric and rough. Their world is full of sex. and violence, rather than the pure basketball in our dreams... Victory is not the only goal they pursue, and it is difficult to integrate into it..."

Sakuragi talks very little. Although it is a joyful thing to reunite old friends after a long separation, he is really not in the mood to recall the good times in the past and has no ideas for chatting.

Bang!
The two teacups touched together, sparking a sparkle of water.

"You guessed it, I've been watching your games."

"Then what are your plans?" Sakuragi asked.

——The Super Dark Horse Cavaliers with sixteen consecutive victories, and the SuperSonics with eight consecutive victories after rebirth, who will be the final winner!

In the past two days, Seattle has undoubtedly been surrounded by all kinds of warm-up and publicity for the battle between the SuperSonics and the Cavaliers. Various promotional posters are flooding the streets and local mainstream media. Almost the entire city is paying attention to this. A battle.

Frankly speaking, although Seattle is a big city and there are many die-hard Sonics fans, to be honest, compared to the Seahawks, another sports representative of this city, the reputation and influence of the Sonics are undoubtedly Much smaller, so much so that the basketball market is actually not that big.

It's not that Seattleites don't like basketball, it's just that they like American football more now.

Compared with the SuperSonics' record in the NBA in recent years, the Seahawks invited Mike Hoimgren, the famous coach who had won the 31st Super Bowl, to win the division championship in the past two years. In these two years, regardless of performance, honors, influence, etc. Etc., are undoubtedly based on the SuperSonics playing basketball, which has not only tilted the Seattle government's funds in sports support, but also changed the entire sports trend in Seattle from the original people's love for basketball in the 96 season to now more rugby situation.

Frankly speaking, basketball is on the verge of death in the city of Seattle, and it is only liked by a small group of people.

And as now, the streets are promoting a regular season hotness. The last time this happened was back in 96 during the peak finals with the Bulls.

This is obviously due to the various hot topics that Lin Dong has set off in Seattle and even Washington state since joining Lakeside High School.

After all, he is the darling of the media. As long as it is related to Lin Dong, people will watch it, so there will be more reports. Even people in Seattle who do not watch basketball know that there is such an Asian celebrity who plays basketball living in the same city as him.

And now that the battle with the Cavaliers has attracted the attention of the national basketball community, the media has seized on various hot topics and gimmicks in the past and vigorously manipulated them, making the somewhat cold basketball market in Seattle become hot again, and it is natural and logical. .

Tickets for the tens of thousands of seats at Key Arena were sold out early.

Things are rare and expensive, and Americans also like to watch the excitement. Many ticket dealers list tickets on the Internet that have exceeded the original price by more than two or three times, but they are still sold out as soon as they are put on the shelves, and the supply exceeds demand.

Frankly speaking, except for the Seattleites who support the home team, few people in the national basketball community are optimistic about the SuperSonics, which had a bumpy start to the season. Although the SuperSonics currently have an eight-game winning streak, everyone knows well that their eight-game winning streak has been against weak teams, and the advantages and disadvantages of run-and-gun tactics have long been known throughout the league. This is something that everyone knows, and the Cavaliers are now known as the top two-tower combination in the Eastern Conference. They are a lineup that naturally restrains run-and-gun tactics. In addition, they just won the Wizards with Yao Ming and Jordan, making this Cavaliers' momentum positive. Like the sun.

So all parties predicted that the two sides would open 3-7, SuperSonics 3, Cavaliers 7!

After all, the current national attention has given this regular season a different color from ordinary games.

The SuperSonics were naturally doing various pre-war preparations, and although the game didn't start until 9pm the next day, at noon on the 7th, the entire Cavaliers team had already arrived in Seattle in advance.

I went to the Key Arena to familiarize myself with the competition venue, and then checked into the hotel early to recuperate, showing that I attached great importance to this game.

hotel room……

John Lucas walked into Paxson's room with a list of the starting lineup.

As the head coach of the Cavaliers, he does not have much say or control over this team. He only became the head coach last year. His coaching career record is mediocre and his ability is average. He can be the head coach of the Cavaliers. The coach's reason is just because the Cavaliers want to mess up, and he happens to be relatively cheap.

This season, the Cavaliers won Wade, who was ranked second in the draft. The team owner obviously had certain ambitions for this season's performance. He originally wanted to change his coach, but firstly, he did not find a suitable candidate for the time being. Secondly, the Cavaliers season started. After that, they actually won consecutive games all the way. There was really no reason to change coaches. Thirdly, it was because Paxson, the team manager, was there to protect them.

The reason why Paxson protected him is also very simple, that is, Lucas is very good at observing words and emotions, and to put it bluntly, he is obedient.

Paxson took the list he handed and glanced at it.

The Cavaliers started with center Zasunas, power forward Carlos Boozer, small forward Jumaine Jones, shooting guard Ricky Davis, and point guard Dwyane Wade.

This is the starting lineup that has continued the previous 16 consecutive victories, but Lucas seems to have some new ideas, otherwise there would be no need to specifically ask for instructions.

"LeBron's recent performance is actually very good. I see that he has recovered quite quickly." Lucas said with a smile: "On the other hand, Jones' statistics in recent games have been mediocre. Nowadays, the media has mentioned them a lot. Regarding the old story between LeBron and Lin Dong, I am wondering if I should take this opportunity to help LeBron become the starter. What do you think? Mr. Paxson?"

Lucas had a flattering smile on his face and was observing Paxson's reaction.

It’s well known in the Cavaliers that LeBron is Paxson’s guy.

After all, long before LeBron cleared his name, he was the first to propose recruiting LeBron at the team's senior meeting, and it was he who convinced the team's senior management to use a second-round pick to sign this potentially disabled young man. For this kind of kindness, no one would believe it if LeBron didn't appreciate him or Paxson didn't value LeBron.

During the team training in the summer, LeBron, who returned two months late, performed very well. According to Lucas, he was enough to replace Jumaine Jones as the Cavaliers' starting small forward.

But the strange thing is that Paxson should be in the same boat as LeBron, but he just doesn't mention him as a starter.

Lucas is a very cautious person, and his immediate superiors don't mention it, so he naturally never mentions it. He feels that the relationship between Paxson and LeBron is not as simple as the rumors seem.

Therefore, he has always held the scale in his hands. This season, LeBron averaged seven or eight minutes of playing time per game, but his actual performance was not as good as he was in summer training.

He only averaged 4.4 points per game, which is quite satisfactory. It doesn’t matter if you don’t pay attention to him, but if you mention him as a starter or give him more playing time, he may still achieve some results. With Zhu Maine Jones feels on par.

Until this time playing with the Sonics, many in the media were hyping up the feud between LeBron and Lin Dong, as if LeBron, who was a marginal substitute in the team, was suddenly promoted into the much-anticipated protagonist.

So Lucas wanted to take this opportunity to seriously test Paxson's attitude towards LeBron.

Unexpectedly, this mention seemed to play into Paxson's hands.

He laughed and said, "That's exactly what I mean, give more opportunities to young people, and the topic of the two people hyped by the media this time is also a hot topic..."

"Let LeBron come on, let him start." The folds on Paxson's face were smiling: "I'm looking forward to his performance!"

Lucas suddenly understood, and a big stone of suspense fell to the ground in his heart.

Paxson seemed to still want LeBron to start the game. He probably thought too much, but he finally lost his worries: "Okay! Then I'll change the list now!"

Paxson didn't stand up from the couch until Lucas left the room.

I haven't been this happy for a long time...

Since LeBron came to the Cavaliers, although he has done nothing extra and never mentioned the recording to him again, and he always looked respectful when he saw Paxson, he always made Paxson feel like that guy It was like a thorn stuck in his throat, awkward and uncomfortable.

But after all, he is a rookie he just acquired, and the other party has something to do with him. Therefore, he cannot be the one to clear him out. If the team owner is not satisfied with him and takes the initiative, he must have a reason.

So he has been secretly influencing the team's operations, not letting LeBron start, only giving him a little playing time to test his recovery status.

If he recovers well, then he will try his best to put pressure on him secretly, shorten his playing time, and deny him a chance to perform. If he stays for one or two seasons, this person will either be useless or he can't bear to transfer. Go to other teams.

After all, Paxson doesn't want to watch LeBron climb up step by step under his hands. This will not only make him panic, but also seriously threaten his status in the Cavaliers. After all, he has experienced the madness of that madman. and ambition...

But now it seems that he averages seven or eight minutes of playing time per game, but only has 4.4 points. It is obvious that he is no longer the chosen one who once dominated the high school basketball world in the United States. Even if he is promoted to the starting position, he will not be able to win. Can't put up a great performance.

And the supersonic Lin Dong seems to be LeBron's destined nemesis. Every time he meets Lin Dong, this guy always suffers.

Then simply support him in this situation, and wait until he is defeated miserably at the hands of Lin Dong, or when the enemy meets and his mentality is unbalanced and he does something extreme... All he has to do is go to the boss and casually mention it, and talk about it for LeBron. "Good words", the Cavaliers owner, who has always been cold to him and resents the minor leagues within the team, may tell him to get out.

It will be solved once and for all, and it will save me the awkwardness of seeing him in the team all day long.

Paxson thought happily: Tomorrow will definitely be an enjoyable game!

(End of this chapter)