The role players on the media day are also very confident, and the tone of the newcomers is generally the same, with Zhou Xuan here, the Knicks are a strong team.

Andre Bletcheken's base salary is to see Zhou Xuan come, and Scola is also very excited to become a partner with Zhou Xuan. Although the two failed to compete at the Olympics, Scola was full of praise when he mentioned his performance. "He's too strong. Without him, I think the Chinese team would have qualified from the group at best. He can change a team. ”

The next day, ESPN commented that the Knicks' lineup configuration is very reasonable, except for Chandler, who can only play center, several interior players can play two positions. The arrival of Scola and Cleche could bolster the low post attack, Parsons could play in the No.4 position, and the forward line was also full of talent. The Knicks don't have big names, but they're definitely not weak. The most important thing is that Zhou Xuan connects the whole team, and he also has Billups as a substitute after he gets off the field.

Some media also said that the Knicks, as the defending champion, have a lower lineup than last season, but the interior bench is stronger than last season, and their reinforcement is not in place. With this kind of roster depth, it's hard to beat the Nets and the Heat.

There are also media comparisons between the Knicks and the Clippers in the new season. The Clippers brought in Caron Butler, Jamal Crawford, and Grant Hill. There are also Jordan Jr. and Griffin on the inside. Coupled with strong bench Barnes, Bledsoe, Kenyon Martin and others, the lineup is stronger than the Knicks no matter how you look at it. Under Paul's tandem, the Clippers may become a dark horse in the new season.

Amid the doubts, the Knicks' preseason training camp began.

The players rallied, and Knicks owner James Dolan gave a brief speech to recognize the contributions of last season's players and encourage them to work hard for the defending title.

Not to mention whether he can defend the title, Mullin has been very successful in bringing in and trading players, not only avoiding the luxury tax, but also winning the championship. Knicks salaries are also under the luxury tax this year. On the surface, it may seem like a bit of a cut, but Mullin is deliberately controlling the salary space. His goal is to develop stars, and when Leonard, Matthews and others renew their contracts in the future, the team will not have any pressure, and the tactical run-in will be better. That's how the Spurs go, not piling up stars and giving newcomers a chance. With the same four championships, the Spurs cost the Lakers half of the money.

And although the Celtics triumvirate won a championship, they were destined to miss the dynasty. The Heat are even worse, they haven't reached the finals in two seasons.

Zhou Xuan greeted his new teammates one by one and chatted with Jeremy Lin a few more words. As a Chinese-American who grew up in the United States, Lin's parents are both Taiwanese and can speak some Chinese, but they are not fluent, so the two switched to English.

At the end of the conversation, Zhou Xuan whispered: "Everyone is Chinese, I personally hope you can stay." ”

This sentence made Jeremy Lin happy. Zhou Xuan wanted him to stay, which almost certainly meant that he could stay.

Zhou Xuan doesn't like Lucas III, he is only 180CM tall in shoes, has poor confrontation, makes opponents take what he wants on the defensive end, and was even jumped over his head by James to complete an empty dunk. He doesn't think such a player can help the team. As for the offense, Zhou Xuan has Nick Young and Billups, how can there be a chance for Lucas Jr. to attack with the ball?

Jeremy Lin's figure is about the same as Zhou Xuan, at least he won't let people vote casually in front of him after the misplacement, before 3. 1 point 1. The 5 assists are a bit dismal, and he averaged just nine minutes per game last season. 7 minutes.

Zhou Xuan is also optimistic about Jeremy Lin, which is that the information says that he worked around for 10 days and lived directly on the sofa of his teammates' houses twice, so he didn't give up, which shows that he really likes basketball and has amazing perseverance. If Sun Yue had this mentality, he wouldn't have played an exhibition match so quickly.

The strength and conditioning coach took the lap, and then the players practiced passing, shooting, and then the group confrontation.

The first session of the season is an open training session. In the stands of the training ground, the audience was already full, and from time to time a bold Chinese girl shouted "Zhou Xuan, I announce you!" ”

In order to run in, although there were many games in the summer, Zhou Xuan still decided to participate in the preseason, just to control the playing time. Tickets for pre-season games are relatively cheap, and many fans will cheer for them, and if he doesn't play, it will become a bit boring. He can stay, but he has to make an appearance.

The Mavericks will let Yao Ming rest completely during the preseason, for which Yi Jianlian can get some opportunities to play, at the World Championships, Yi Jianlian's statistics are not very beautiful, averaging only 11 per game. 2 points 6. 1 rebound, but he is very desperate on the defensive end, and he is the hero of the Chinese team winning the silver medal, plus he has a tacit understanding with Yao Ming. The Mavericks gave him a base salary contract, and he had another year to prove himself.

The players are divided into two teams, black and white.

Zhou Xuan, Nick Young, Copland, Scola and Bleche are on the white team.

The black team is Billups, Matthews, Leonard, Anderson, Chandler.

D'Antoni is in charge of the white team and Woodson is in charge of the black team.

This is to let Zhou Xuan bring four newcomers. D'Antoni has a purpose in arranging this, Nick Young is famous for not passing, and with Zhou Xuan, he can't grab the ball, as long as he runs to catch the ball and shoot. The four of them are all newcomers, in order to let them complete the run-in with Zhou Xuan as soon as possible.

On the Black team's side, there are several players from last season, Gabilups, an experienced veteran. D'Antoni wanted to see if the other starters in the team could guard against Zhou Xuan.

After the start, the two teams fought fiercely.

Under Zhou Xuan's organization, the white team's offensive efficiency was super high. He played in the Olympics and was away from the pitch for less than two months and quickly regained his form.

Positional attack: Scola and Bletchela to the perimeter double block. Anderson's defense breakthrough is still not good enough, Zhou Xuan scored two breakthrough layups, one mid-range shot, and assisted Scola to score in the middle of the shot, and Bleche scored in the low post after cutting into the air. Nick Young also hit a three-pointer on the fast break.

The Black team Billups rested for a full summer, dribbling the ball over half court to his teammates, and he waited for an opportunity on the periphery, but to no avail.

Woodson arranged for Leonard to play the low post and Matthews to attack with the ball, and the two could play like this but it didn't work well. Anderson had to withdraw, single-handing Scola with less experience and no technical advantage. Chandler maintained his usual style, grabbing rebounds, defending, and picking up leaks under the basket.

After playing for 10 minutes, Zhou Xuan led a group of newcomers by a large score.

Last season, Zhou Xuan was able to win with substitutes, and this time he cooperated with a group of newcomers very tacitly. In fact, it's not a tacit understanding, but a simple play, and then relying on the ability of the star. Fans can't imagine so much, what they see is that Zhou Xuan played last season's main team and did not fall behind.

After Zhou Xuan got off the court, Lance Stephenson began to compete with Nick Young, relying on his personal ability to play alone, and no one could defend against the other party. The game took on a different style.

The fans also enjoyed watching it. Nick Young is known as the "singles king", although he is not a star, and his heads-up ability really has nothing to say. Having such a player in place can greatly alleviate the weakness of no one on the outside in the second quarter to attack with the ball.

Miller's offensive ability has weakened last season, and everyone else is a little worse. Nick Young is like a poor man's version of Kobe, daring to fight, with a low hit rate and much higher cost performance. One Kobe Bryant's salary is up to ten Nick Young.

Stephenson spent the summer in the Drew League, on the streets, and on amateur players. In training, people have also seen his progress. How to arrange the playing time of the two, the coaching staff has to use some brains.

Stephenson, who has been on the fringe for two seasons in a row, is already out of his illness, and he is competing with Nick Young to get more opportunities in the new season. is a little bigger than the fame or Nick Young, plus Matthews, Battier and others, Stephenson's situation is very bad. He doesn't want to sit on the bench for another season, and although he has signed a four-year contract without the risk of losing his job, he still wants a big contract.

Parsons has also improved, "Gao Fushuai" breaks through to the basket, divides the ball, and is proficient in all three-point points from the perimeter. He's still easy to get past when he's defending, and the offense really works. It's not a big deal to leave Jamison, Parsons and Jamison have studied for half a season, and the two have some similar playing styles. Jamison is better at playing the lower post, and Parsons is more accurate at three-point shooting, each with his own strengths. In contrast, D'Antoni prefers to be accurate in three-point shooting.

The one who did worse was Jeremy Lin. He made 0 of 3 three-pointers, and his mid-range shooting was not accurate enough, but he did a good job of passing in the offensive and defensive transitions, and he worked the defensive end.

D'Antoni said to Mullin next to him: "If Lin can't shoot threes, let's find a way to trade for a bench, he can't play in the system." ”

Before Mu Lin could speak, Zhou Xuan raised an objection and whispered: "I think he's not bad, he plays very hard, and the three points are not accurate, maybe it's just this one, let's see." And I think he might be trying to behave, a little nervous. It's important to launch a fast attack with a pass. ”

Once the pass is good, let Nick Young receive the ball to exert offensive power. Jeremy Lin doesn't need to be aggressive in attack, as long as he can shoot when he gets the chance.

Training camp has just begun, and there are only two defenders on the inspection, one of them, or both of them. D'Antoni admires Lucas Jr. a little more.

Lucas shoots really well, and he averaged 23 per game in the 2006 Summer League. 4 points 7. 6 assists 1. 4 steals were selected to the All-NBA team. But his presence on the floor almost equals less individual defense, just running back and forth.

D'Antoni smiled and asked, "Because he's Chinese, you want him to stay?" ”

"It doesn't matter who it is, I've been through him too, living in a terrible place, practicing hard to take the chance. The look in his eyes reminded me of myself when I first came to the United States. He has goals and is willing to work hard, and as long as such a person is given the opportunity, it is easy to make progress. We have a lot of people in the team who can play, and there is no need to change the famous player, with me and Chauncey not many opportunities to play. Zhou Xuan analyzed.

Mullin nodded: "What Stephen said also makes sense, why don't you take a look at it first." Give him a non-guaranteed basic salary contract, and if he doesn't play well in the medium term, he will be laid off. ”

"Okay." D'Antoni compromised.