Chapter 409 The Season Opener (Third Update!)

"Can you help the team enter the playoffs in the new season?"

"What kind of player do you think Anthony Davis is?"

"What kind of performance do you expect yourself to play in the new season?"

"Is there any difference psychologically going from a championship contender to a rebuilding team?"

...

The problem is one after another, this new aid meeting is more like Tang Tian's personal meeting.

"Our training camp has started for more than a month, and the performance of the past month or so gives me reason to believe that this is a playoff team."

"AD is AD, he's one of the most talented post players and he's going to be a true superstar for years to come."

"My performance? You'll be surprised when the season starts."

"No, man, the team got me and Zhu this past summer, we're not a rebuilding team, we're a championship team."

...

Tang Tian's answer was steady when it should be, and skinny when it should be, and his words showed confidence in himself and the team.

In addition to that day, the team's general manager Dempsey and owner Benson also expressed their optimism for Tang Tian's joining at the press conference.

"We believe he's going to be the next Ray Allen."

Dempsey set up a very good template for Tang Tian.

Most fans only remember Ray Allen's perfect three-pointer when he arrived at the Celtics.

But in fact, in the peak period of the Sonics, he averaged close to 25+5+5 per game all year round, and he also had about 1.5 steals. He is a superstar who can shoot, pass and defend.

Putting out this template shows that Dempsey's expectations for Tang Tian's new season are quite high.

"He will be the best helper around AD, he has championship experience, and he will help this team enter the playoffs."

Benson also had high hopes for Tang Tian.

The meeting is over, and both the Pelicans fans and the local media in New Orleans are looking forward to the new season.

"AD was our Michael Jordan, now we have our Scottie Pippen!"

"Holiday+Gordon+Don+Anderson+AD, this lineup can't make the playoffs yet?! Let's go!"

"I can't wait for the new season, let's get started!"

...

In the anticipation of the fans, the preseason officially started on October 6. The first game of the Pelicans was against the Houston Rockets at home.

But Tang Tian didn't participate in this game, he didn't even appear on the bench.

He suffered his first injury in New Orleans.

Perhaps it was because he was not used to coming to the seaside city from an inland city, but he caught the flu, and it was a serious one.

Because he was afraid of infecting his teammates, he didn't come to training for the past two days.

Not only was he playing against the Rockets, but Tang Tian was recuperating from his illness throughout the preseason. It wasn't until the last two games of the preseason that he got better and participated in the team's joint training.

The strength of the Pelicans has improved significantly compared to last season, and the performance in the preseason is also very good. Williams did not arrange Tang Tian to play in the last two games.

In this way, Tang Tian missed the Pelicans' first preseason game because of a flu.

Fans can only see Tang Tian after the regular season starts.

After the preseason, the Pelicans completed the final layoffs, and Lance Thomas, Josh Childress and Arlinz Onuaku were successively laid off.

After the layoffs, the team's 15-man roster was finally released.

Point guard: Holiday, Reeves Jr., Brian Roberts

Shooting guard: Gordon, Morrow

Small forwards: Tang Tian, ​​Aminu, Darius Miller, Metta Shiping

Power forwards: Davis, Ryan Anderson

Centers: Jason Smith, Stiensma, Akinsa, Jeff Vichy

The team's regular season opener of the new season is the Rockets, which is the same opponent as the preseason opener. The difference is that this time they are playing away.

Both the Pelicans and the top three in Texas belong to the Southwest Division, and they have to play against each other four times each season, which is one of the reasons why it is difficult for them to enter the playoffs.

On the morning of the game, the team flew to Houston.

The attendance rate of the Toyota Center was surprisingly high, exceeding 80%, and there were quite a lot of Chinese fans at the scene.

There is still about an hour before the start of the game, and the players of both teams are in the locker room making final preparations for the game.

In the Pelicans locker room, before Williams came, the players were changing shoes and jerseys.

Tang Tian had just changed into his red away jersey when his phone vibrated suddenly.

He picked it up and saw that it was a message from McGrady.

This is really strange, McGrady would send him a message before the game?

He clicked and looked.

The content is very simple.

"Blow up that guy named James Harden."

McGrady, as a Rockets star, doesn't this deal with Harden?

But after watching for a while, he suddenly remembered.

The Spurs played the Rockets' first game in the playoffs last year, and McGrady scored 7 points in that game.

At the post-match press conference, a reporter talked about this and asked him if McGrady would become a problem for the Rockets.

Harden's answer at the time was: "T-Mac is no longer the protagonist of this league."

This sentence itself is fine, but as the core of the Rockets, it seems a little inappropriate for Harden to speak so bluntly of the Rockets' star.

And McGrady's character is actually quite sensitive.

In the previous life, JR Smith once tweeted that the peak Durant could easily beat the peak McGrady, and then the Magic's Fournier liked it.

At that time, McGrady was already a special commentator of ESPN, and he directly attacked Smith and Fournier.

Especially Fournier, you must know that the Magic is the team where McGrady won two scoring titles.

McGrady is Durant's idol, not to mention that the two people have really similar personalities.

So looking at it this way, it is really reasonable for McGrady not to wait to see Harden because of what he said at the time.

"I will."

Tang Tian replied the message.

In fact, McGrady will do the same without sending a message. This is the season he left the Spurs to prove himself, and the first game will definitely have a good start.

As soon as Tang Tian finished replying to the text message, Williams brought Borrego to the locker room.

"Zhu, you mainly defend Harden, Tang, you play more in the opening game, AD, you play more pick-and-roll."

After Williams came in, he picked up the tactical board and began to arrange the team's opening tactics.

Tang Tian missed the game due to the flu, and lost a chance to get in touch with the team.

But this absence is also beneficial. Tang Tian's dry pull has not been used in an official game. This is an opportunity to catch the Rockets by surprise at the beginning.

"Guys, we have been training hard for more than a month, let us all reward ourselves with a victory!"

After setting up the tactics, Williams shouted to the players before setting off.

"New Orleans!"

The players shouted the slogan once, and then they all got up and went to the arena.

The first show of the new season for the Pelicans is coming soon!

ps: Thank you Huan Yu for the two 100,000 rewards! !