179 Hollow Into the Net

End of first quarter.

The Trail Blazers led 31:26 with their efficient offense.

In the second quarter of the game, the Rockets started to get serious.

As they were determined to stir up trouble in the playoffs last season, they were eliminated by the Trail Blazers in the first round. For the Rockets, this was dissatisfaction and extremely angry.

They regard the Trail Blazers as the target of revenge from top to bottom. In the off-season, the Rockets management even hired the beast Ron Artest in order to restrict Zhang Jun and successfully carry out revenge.

Therefore, after being led by the Trail Blazers in the first quarter, the Rockets immediately made adjustments. In the second quarter, they took on Sean Battier, Rafe Alston, Luis Scola and other main players.

As for the Trail Blazers, they originally used rotation players in the first quarter. Naturally, they can only use role players during this period.

It was Reeve LaFrentz, Josh McRoberts, and even Steve Francis.

Looking at Steve Francis who has gained a lot of weight, Yu Jia couldn't help but joked: "Boss Francis can only play in the preseason now. It is estimated that his chances of appearing in the regular season and playoffs will be Very limited.”

"Those Chinese fans who like Freddie should also take a good look at Freddie's final performance on the court. After all, his contract will expire at the end of this season."

Yu Jia said it very cryptically, but it was indeed the case.

If nothing else happens, Steve Francis will say goodbye to the NBA completely after finishing the last year of his big contract.

Of course, he also has the opportunity to play for another year on a minimum-salary contract, teach rookie players as a veteran, and impart his valuable experience of more than ten years in the workplace.

However, the chances of Steve Francis staying with the Trail Blazers with a minimum salary are slim.

Because the young people of the Trail Blazers have grown up very well, Zhang Jun, Luo Yin, and Aldridge can all take the lead. At this time, what they want is not the experience of veterans, but the ability to fight on the court to help them. Take a step further in the playoffs and make up for the regrets of last season.

On the court.

Luis Scola had everything he wanted from the Trail Blazers' inside line. He used his post-ups and excellent footwork to get to the basket many times and easily succeed, and he could also help the team complete the offense with stable mid-range shots.

"Last season, the Trail Blazers' interior was riddled with holes, and the series against the Lakers was even worse."

"I expected that their management would upgrade and strengthen the inside line in the offseason, but they almost still used the lineup from last season. Instead, they let Jarrett Jack go due to salary pressure."

Jarrett Jack is of course a more capable point guard than Steve Blake, but in this Trail Blazers team, there are too many ball-holding points and the ability of the ball-handler is too strong. Jarrett -Jack's abilities and characteristics are not fully utilized.

Of course, Jarrett Jack had no intention of leaving the Trail Blazers, and he very much wanted to stay with this team, but the Trail Blazers' management still traded him from the team's perspective.

The Indiana Pacers only used a second-round pick to acquire him. The biggest benefit of this deal to the Trail Blazers is that it can save a salary of nearly 5 million, and more importantly, it can save the total salary of the new season. Lowered below the luxury tax line.

Think about it, the one with the highest salary in the Trail Blazers is Francis, who barely plays, and the three main players on the court, Zhang Jun, Luo Yin, and Aldridge, are still on child labor contracts. You can completely know the situation in the Trail Blazers. How low is the total salary?

In fact, apart from Francis, there is currently no player on the Trail Blazers with a salary of over 10 million.

Yu Jia believes that the Blazers' management is outrageously frugal. After all, they reached the Western Conference Finals last season and pushed the powerful Lakers to the edge of the cliff several times.

Any team that wants to make a difference in the playoffs will make substantial reinforcements under such circumstances, but the Blazers' management did the opposite. Instead of making reinforcements, they actively released Salary pressure.

Su Qun saw what Yu Jia was thinking, and explained at this time: "The Blazers' management is preparing for the team's salary for next season."

"Relieving salary pressure is also to cut off the luxury tax for many consecutive years in advance and plan for the team's salary stability in the next few years."

"Looking at the performance of Aldridge and Luo Yin last season, there will definitely be a lot of teams willing to pay maximum salary for them in the off-season."

"So do you want to stay with the Trail Blazers or not?"

"If you want to stay, you have to match the contract. This is also what the Trail Blazers management is worried about."

"They are afraid that Luo Yin and Aldridge will enter the signing window at the same time in next year's off-season. If other teams come to offer maximum-salary contracts to grab people, and the Blazers are unable to match, then it will be a complete loss of talent. Two empty."

This scene has not happened before in history.

The Warriors finally managed to develop a great general, Gilbert Arenas. In 2003, they spent all their salary space and offered a mid-level contract.

Unexpectedly, the Washington Wizards suddenly came out halfway, and they offered Arenas a progressive contract with a starting salary of 8.5 million. In that era when 11 million was the maximum salary contract, this contract was really full of sincerity.

After the Warriors faced such an upright grab from the Wizards, they tried every means to contact other teams for trades in order to release the salary space in the team. Unfortunately, no team had any of them that summer. The team was willing to trade with the Warriors, but in the end they could only watch Gilbert Arenas leave.

The latter quickly became the core of the Wizards and led the team to very good results.

Seeing this performance, the Warriors' management was naturally heartbroken.

Yu Jia calmed down and nodded. There were indeed many problems with the team management that he had never imagined. But as a pure basketball fan, he felt that he could reach the Western Conference finals last season, but this season he actively weakened the development of the team's own strength. The team is indeed a pity.

On the court, the second quarter of the game was over, and the ending was without any surprises.

The Rockets not only regained the score, but also took the lead 62:58.

The third quarter of the game.

Yu Jia and Su Qun both looked at the court expectantly. The fans watching the game in front of the TV were also eager to see Zhang Jun play after waiting for a whole off-season.

But when the Trail Blazers came up with their starting lineup for the first quarter, they were really getting impatient.

"Don't worry, it's already the third quarter and we're still not allowed to play. All of us are waiting for Zhang Jun."

"Don't mention it. He hasn't played at this time. Maybe Zhang Jun won't play in the fourth quarter. Today's game is over."

Hearing this, Yu Jiake was not happy. He asked: "Director Su, is there any way to activate a player on the team's roster but not let him play?"

Su Qun said: "This kind of thing is normal in the playoffs, but it is still relatively rare in the regular season, and it is even rarer in the preseason."

"After all, when a player is activated on the roster, it means that he must be fully prepared in advance to play."

"Most coaches will also let the players come up and walk around during the regular season or preseason. No matter how much playing time they have, they cannot let down each player's pre-game preparation."

Yu Jia said angrily: "Let me just say, if the Trail Blazers don't let Zhang Jun play tonight, it would be really unethical."

Trail Blazers coaching bench.

At this time, Nate McMillan and Monty Williams were not struggling with the issue of whether Zhang Jun would play or not.

"This is our fourth game and we have tested every player and every team strategy."

"And the result is that when Zhang Jun, Aldridge and Luo Yin don't play, we can't beat anyone."

Monty Williams said with some frustration.

At least they still had Jarrett Jack last season. When Zhang Jun, Aldridge, and Luo Yin were not on the court, his personal offense could also help the team stabilize the situation.

And now the Trail Blazers' management has traded Jarrett Jack away. This has resulted in the Trail Blazers losing a ball handler. This will make Zhang Jun, Aldridge, and Luo Yin more capable when on the court. Easily targeted.

It would be fine if the three of them were on the court at the same time, but if they were not on the court at the same time, the Trail Blazers would not be able to beat the rotation of any team in the league.

They were an extremely good second team last season!

"What I'm most worried about now is that without Jarrett Jack, when Zhang Jun is completely left out on the outside, we will have no better way to deal with it and can only bring Luo Yin or Aldridge in advance."

Nate McMillan said, taking a deep breath.

Except for Zhang Jun, Aldridge, and Luo Yin, no one on the Trail Blazers can hold the ball. To put it bluntly, the team is full of shooters and lacks personal offensive ability. They basically rely on their teammates to feed them.

In last season's playoffs, the Trail Blazers, led by Zhang Jun, forcibly fed the second team, which once made the entire Western Conference fearful.

In that lineup, Steve Blake and Jarrett Jack both played very important roles, and their three-pointers were also very threatening.

But now, Jarrett Jack has been traded away, and Steve Blake has to be pushed into the starting position, so who will take his place?

nobody!

Nate McMillan is sure of this, so the scene where the Trail Blazers were able to defeat their opponents with a heavy bombing in the second quarter last season may not happen again.

More importantly, even if the shooting level of the Trail Blazers' rotation last season was so terrifying, opponents would still choose to leave Zhang Jun open from beyond the three-point line or double-team Zhang Jun in advance.

"Now, I'm afraid Zhang Jun's good days are coming to an end. His weakness of not having three-pointers will be infinitely amplified by these opponents."

In the playoffs, the competition is who has fewer weaknesses and stronger strengths, and Nate McMillan knows this very well.

On the court.

Because Luo Yin and Aldridge are not on the playing list tonight, the Trail Blazers can only have others hold the ball at this time.

Nicolas Batum did have some outstanding passing performances on the court, but then he was marked by the opponent and made a mistake.

Batum is still too young and inexperienced, and he has not formed a very good chemical reaction with his teammates. It is impossible to hand him the important task of holding and controlling the ball.

At the end of the third quarter, the Trail Blazers made 10 turnovers in a single quarter and were already trailing the Rockets by double digits, 74:84.

At this time, Nate McMillan was already frustrated and said: "Forget it, the team's overall ball control ability is only like this now, there is no need to continue testing."

"Let Zhang Jun play and see if this kid can improve his breakthrough and mid-range performance this season. I don't want him to be lazy during the off-season."

Nate McMillan finally planned to let Zhang Jun play. Zhang Jun had been sitting under the court with itchy hands for a long time, and he even felt sleepy.

Coincidentally, the Houston fans at the scene had the same emotions as Zhang Jun. When they saw Zhang Jun finally come on the stage, these Houston fans burst into extremely warm applause.

“Finally it’s time to play!”

"Look! Even the fans in Houston want to see Zhang Jun play. You can imagine how many fans around the world are looking forward to this moment."

Yu Jia finally waited until Zhang Jun came on stage, not to mention how happy he was.

Su Qun also hopes that Zhang Jun can produce some off-season results. After all, in his opinion, Zhang Jun has the talent to become the league's superstar. If he fails to work hard to fully demonstrate his talent on the court, then It's a bit of a pity.

On the court.

Qian Ningfulai patted Zhang Jun on the head and said: "Man, just go inside and pass the ball to me when they let me go, and let me teach them a three-point lesson."

James Jones also trotted over and said: "Don't forget about me. This game was frustrating. No one passed the ball to me. I also want to shoot a few more three-pointers during the preseason to get better at it." "

Zhang Jun nodded and said, "Okay, then you must be ready."

This was Batum's first time watching Zhang Jun play on the court. Although Zhang Jun had already taught Batum a lesson during the team's training, he knew that Zhang Jun did not use his full strength.

So at this time, Batum is also looking forward to how good this guy who won the league's scoring title in his rookie season will be on the court.

The line referee blew his whistle and the game continued.

The Trail Blazers naturally handed the ball to Zhang Jun. The opponent's Rockets defender was his old rival, Chuck Hayes.

Chuck Hayes saw Zhang Jun holding the ball and the other party's expression was extremely serious. In addition, the Trail Blazers were now behind by double digits, so Chuck Hayes was very sure that Zhang Jun was It’s time to get serious as soon as you get started.

Chuck Hayes quickly retreated to the free throw line, and then reminded his teammates left and right.

"Cheer up, everyone. If this kid comes in later, come over and double-team and help defend."

"His breakthrough is no joke."

"You also need to pay attention to the mid-range in advance. Zhang Jun's mid-range shooting is already among the league's first-rate."

Zhang Jun stood two steps away from the three-point line, looking at Chuck Hayes who was still there to remind him. He didn't bother to pay attention to the opponent and just shot from the outside, as if he was in shooting training.

Uh-huh!

The basketball goes hollow into the net.