Chapter 426 New Season, New Look

The two-month experience of the national team was relaxing and enjoyable. What made Lin Dong happy the most was not just the slight changes in the basketball thinking of Zhu Fangyu and others, but the change of Lao Jiang.

Frankly speaking, the stubbornness of some senior basketball players in Long Country has been deeply ingrained in Lin Dong's heart.

This is not just because they have difficulty accepting new ideas, but also because such changes often involve their own interests.

New play style? Then who can I teach the things I was good at?

Is the new way of playing better? So was my playing style the worst? So am I still the best coach? Doesn’t that mean others are better than me? Doesn't that mean that others are more suitable for this position than me?

So no, I have to use my style of play. If I achieve results, I am awesome. If I fail to achieve results and I am kicked out, there is nothing to say.

In a word, to admit something new is to deny themselves.

But fortunately, such a thing did not happen to Mr. Jiang.

Firstly, it is because Mr. Jiang's own status in the Dragon Kingdom basketball circle means that he no longer needs to prove himself with any achievements. To put it bluntly, his status has reached the top and no one can shake it.

Secondly, and more importantly, Lin Dong proposed the 'small ball thinking model' and the 'soldier-general relationship'. These things have not been proposed by anyone else in the current basketball world, and Lin Dong is based on A way of discussion to inspire Mr. Jiang to think of these things, rather than a 'teaching' attitude.

Not only did this make Mr. Jiang find it novel and interesting, but after he was unknowingly guided by Lin Dong to think about the results, he would think that this was his own original theory. At least, it was Lin Dong who proposed the theoretical concept and then he perfected it and made it. Something to prove.

The founder of a new style of play and basketball thinking, this name is enough to give Mr. Jiang a reason to take risks.

Therefore, it is natural to accept it. As the Taishan Beidou in the basketball coaching world of Longguo, he is now coaching the national team, and Lao Li is supporting him. Lin Dong believes that this theory will soon spread to the whole country with the implementation of the national team. of.

This may also be a big help for me during next year's Olympic Games...

Thanks to the overwhelming strength, the two months of extra schedule did not put any extra burden on the body. It was like returning to the country for a vacation.

By the time Lin Dong and Hanamichi Sakuragi returned to Seattle in early October, the SuperSonics' summer team training was already coming to an end.

The new Korver is still not used to the intensity of the NBA. If it weren't for the fact that he was hand-picked by Lin Dong and his son, McMillan would have already scolded him for choosing the wrong person.

Fortunately, the training is serious and hard enough, and with Yang Dong's shrewdness, he offered an annual salary of 500,000 and a three-year rookie contract of 2 million, which also reduced the cost of training Korver to almost the minimum for the Sonics.

McMillan simply didn't care about him. Anyway, Lin Dong had given Korver a standard position, that is, a fixed-point shooter from the outside. That only required a basic training plan including off-ball movement, escape, shooting training, etc. every day. Just leave it to him and let that guy practice on his own. As for the level he can reach in the end, it depends on him.

As for the rest of the team, the training situation is just fine.

Iguodala has made great progress after winning the championship with the team. The experience of winning the championship seems to have given him endless confidence. His performance during the entire summer training period has made people completely unable to see the slightest immaturity of last year's rookie period.

In particular, the 3-pointers who have been practicing hard to follow the team's tactical needs have improved a lot in their ability to withstand pressure. With Lin Dong and Sakuragi not in the team, no one in the team can guard him except Payton. Three points... No, there is still one, and that is the newcomer Shane Battier.

Newcomer Sean Battier integrated into the team very quickly, and under the training of McMillan and Payton, his already quite good defensive ability was further improved and improved rapidly.

What surprised McMillan even more was that Battier was a player like Sakuragi Hanamichi. Although his characteristics were not as outstanding as Sakuragi's, he was more comprehensive.

On the court, Battier is like a kind of universal glue that can fill any loopholes in the team. His ability to help defend and catch the opponent's loopholes is quite strong.

He has the ability to bond the team and has the temperament of a deputy leader. This is the type that is most urgently needed in the SuperSonics rotation. After all, in the new season, McMillan plans to minimize Payton's playing time in the regular season. In order to protect the veterans and give them reasonable rest, and on the other hand to train the newcomers, another deputy team leader is needed.

Battier is obviously very competent at this point. During the absence of Lin Dong and Sakuragi, he has been able to lead the second team and compete with the first team led by Payton.

This is definitely a strong reinforcement for the Sonics.

Another member of the SuperSonics, Chandler, has come out of the hospital and gone home to rest. His recovery is also very good. He is expected to return to the court to follow the team and return to daily training at the end of this year. If he recovers well, he may even return to the gym. There is a chance to catch up with the playoffs next April.

McMillan can already imagine this year's Sonics core team.

There are Chandler and Sakuragi Hanamichi on the inside, two stable shooters in Battier and Iguodala on the outside, Payton on the organization, and NBA king Lin Dong...

This lineup is only stronger than last year, and it also increases the depth of the main bench.

This is all good news.

But there are also bad ones.

For example, the SuperSonics were forced to directly lay off Vin Baker at the end of September.

Although they dealt with a huge salary burden of 12 million per year, they failed to use All-Star players like Vin Baker to trade for a big bargaining chip before the contract expired. This was undoubtedly a loss-making deal for the Sonics.

In fact, Bob and Yang Dong had previously thought about signing and then trading, but after contacting and asking around, no league team was willing to take over Wen Baker at this time.

It's not that no one in the entire league is optimistic about Vin Baker, after all, he is a former All-Star insider, but everyone knows that Vin Baker is useless to the Sonics. He barely got any playing time in the playoffs last season. Players and The team almost broke up, and everyone also knew that the contract between the two would expire at the end of September.

The Sonics will never spend money to renew Vin Baker's contract, so why trade with the Sonics and let the Sonics get a free advantage and continue to strengthen? After their contract expires and Vin Baker becomes a free agent, wouldn't it be nice for interested teams to negotiate directly on their own? Except for a salary, everyone doesn't have to pay anything extra. Only a fool would trade with the Sonics at this time.

And this attitude also made Bob and Yang Dong completely give up their plan to sign first and then trade.

If they continue to sign Vin Baker, other teams will sit back and watch with laughter as the SuperSonics put on a big burden in vain, and they will never give the Sonics an equivalent transaction for Vin Baker.

After all, the SuperSonics are the public enemy of the league today, the one that all teams are counting on to defeat, and there is nothing they can do about this kind of thing.

What worries McMillan is Payton's condition.

Although he performed brilliantly in Game 7 of the Finals and seemed to have recovered well from his knee hydration problem afterwards, when formal training began, McMillan could feel a slight decline in Payton's condition.

There is nothing wrong with the way he plays, and there seems to be nothing wrong with his knees, but he is just not as aggressive as before.

Probably because he is getting old... but also because after winning the championship and taking revenge on Jordan, this old guy who had been holding back his anger for eight years finally vented his anger and at the same time vented the last breath of anger in his heart.

In fact, McMillan understands this quite well.

Anyone who has been holding back the energy for eight years will relax, and for a 34-year-old veteran, after such relaxation, he may not be able to return to form.

Fortunately, the experience and technology are there after all. Even Payton, who has completely relaxed, is still the undisputed second-in-command of the Sonics.

But it seems Bob doesn't think so.

McMillan heard that the guy had reminded Yang Dong more than once that Payton was no longer at his peak, and the team should quickly consider taking advantage of Payton's ability to play and have value, and that he still has two more years left in Payton's hands. A two-year contract, seek a trade before next season, trade Payton for a younger point guard, and use the ball with Lin Dong to make a longer-term dynasty plan.

For example, Bosh of the Mavericks or Kidd of the Nets. This year's Payton is definitely qualified to be traded alone, and it is possible to negotiate, but that may not be the case next year...

McMillan was quite disgusted with that guy. Although he knew that Bob's suggestion was the most beneficial to the SuperSonics team, and the team that had just won the championship was most taboo about discord between generals, he still couldn't help but feel disgusted.

Fortunately, Yang Dong did not listen to his advice. Instead, he said something to him: Winning the championship is a meritorious person, and the SuperSonics will not abandon any meritorious person.

Although I don’t know if Yang Dong deliberately leaked these words, but anyway, McMillan is very grateful for this, and it also makes the SuperSonics now become one, with a sense of unity, and the atmosphere in the team is harmonious. Got one.

………………

After Lin Dong returns to the team, the NBA's new year's schedule is about to begin.

This year's NBA preseason has only one European division event, and the Spurs and Kings went there. After all, the Spurs' Manu Ginobili and the Kings' Peja are both European players, and they have more appeal and market in the local area, but they have nothing to do with the SuperSonics.

The Sonics also have six pre-season warm-up games scheduled, against three teams, one at home and one away. The first game is against the Kings, the second against the Wizards, and finally the Charlotte Bobcats.

This arrangement, whether it is a warm-up or not, is actually for the purpose of getting tickets.

The game against the Kings was really a warm-up. Although the Kings made it to the playoffs among the Western Conference powers last year and finished second in the regular season, among the current NBA powers, their true strength can only be regarded as mid-range or above. A bit of a team.

It's just a preseason game, there's no need to find the strongest team to fight to the death, and they may not be willing to fight you.

As for the second game against the Wizards and the last against the Bobcats, the former was a team that had just completed a tiebreaker with the SuperSonics in the finals, and the popularity of the previous finals was still there; the latter was a team that had just been acquired by the God of Basketball and played against them. It seems like they are still trying to get rid of the popularity of last year's finals, and it can be regarded as helping the Bobcats, who have just been acquired by the basketball god, to increase their popularity.

This kind of warm-up match is completely different from the last time the Sonics played against the Wizards in Yanjing.

It's just a warm-up. The rookies who were enthusiastic in last year's preseason have now become veterans and can just sit back and play casually.

This year's regular season will start on October 22nd. Based on the SuperSonics' ranking last year, the first few games were all weak teams. For Lin Dong, who had just experienced the Asian Championships, this whole period It is equivalent to a rest period.

However, during this 'rest period', several things worth mentioning happened.

Mito Yohei spent a lot of money to poach Master Huang, who was originally in Chinatown, and the physical therapy shop that had been struggling for a long time was finally opened.

WWF, the way of water and fire!

The spa shop has an American fantasy name, which is quite novel in the eyes of Americans.

Coupled with the endorsement of the ancient skills of the mysterious ancient country in the East, it seems to have covered it with a mysterious and fantasy veil. In addition, the SuperSonics is almost a full-team platform. Payton has become a free image ambassador and is even accepting it. During the interview, he used his own personal experience to help create a wave of free advertising for WWF, introducing their new spa method that combines acupuncture with various things. Coupled with the not-so-expensive price, many middle-class people in Seattle flocked to it.

The current turnover is quite considerable. According to rough calculation, the net profit in the first month has reached 50,000 US dollars, and the overall turnover is in a period of continuous rising growth. As long as nothing unexpected happens, it is expected to reach 100,000 US dollars within half a year. Monthly turnover is not a big problem either.

Compared with Lin Dong and Mito Yohei's current total investment of nearly 2 million, the annual return rate has reached between 60% and 80%. This makes Mito Yohei and Sakuragi Legion very motivated, which can be regarded as a big investment. A happy event.

Secondly, the Seattle Storm, a team affiliated with the SuperSonics, ushered in a wave of "new people."

A Dragon Country player, He Ning, was Lin Dong's teammate during the trial training with the Magic Sharks.

Although he was recommended by Lin Dong, there was obviously no behind-the-scenes operation.

With the team's salary cap of 170,000 in the second-tier league already maxed out, there is basically no money to play here. The team is in charge of food, and the little money given to the players is only enough for pocket money.

Compared with the long-term contract that the Magic City Sharks had planned to give He Ning, the one-year short-salary contract of 15,000 yuan here is really not a way out.

But I still let him come here. The main purpose is to cultivate and learn. This guy currently has a pretty good 3-pointer, mainly because he came here to adapt to the intensity of confrontation.

The second one is a Japanese player, Akira Sendō who originally belonged to Mitsui Heavy Industries of the Japanese J-League.

Mitsui Heavy Industries is originally the team of Mitsui Hisashi, and as the current star of Mitsui Heavy Industries, this is also a gilding and learning. The intensity of NBDL is definitely much stronger than the Japanese J-League.

Of course, there are two salaries, one is the insignificant annual salary of 8,000 US dollars in the Storm team, and the other is the 3-year annual salary contract of 750,000 US dollars that he originally had at Mitsui Heavy Industries. The team gave him a one-time salary. Buyout.

Anyway, as long as the money is enough, the fishing guy can buy the fishing rod of his choice without any scruples. In addition, Seattle also has the sea, so Akira Sendō has no objection to this.

The other remaining player is also from Japan.

Compared with the previous two, this one really has some weight, the former Charlotte Bobcats main rotation player-Rukawa Kaede.