Because of the ability Stevens has shown, Temples also took his opinion into account when selecting the assistant coach.

After listening to his opinion, Demps also approached Tang Tian before making a final choice.

As a result, Stevens and Tang Tian had the same idea, and they both felt that the most suitable person among the four was Alvin Gentry.

However, there are subtle differences in the thinking of the two.

Stevens is interested in Gentry's ability, who is known for his offense.

Last season, the Pelicans' defensive system was not yet formed, and the team needed defensive coaches.

But now that the team's defensive system is in place, and Stevens is a defensive guru himself, he needs an offensive assistant coach.

Gentry was the second run-up after D'Antoni during his time with the Suns, averaging 109 points per game in the Western Conference finals.

This average of points per game was terrifying in its time.

This is also the reason why Tang Tian chose Gentry, of course, this is not all.

Another big reason for his choice was that Gentry has been an assistant coach with the Warriors for the past two seasons.

He and Ron Adams play one offense and one defense, and they can be called Kerr's right-hand man.

Now recruiting Gentry as the No. 1 assistant coach has weakened the Warriors' coaching staff.

And for the Pelicans, having an assistant coach who is familiar with the Warriors' system will help them a lot in the playoffs.

Just like Brown last season, with him, the Pelicans did more to limit James with half the effort.

The two sides negotiated a contract, and the Pelicans immediately held a press conference for Gentry to welcome him to the team.

After the Pelicans' press conference, the Warriors were quick to respond.

They poached the Pelicans' assistant player development coach Royce to become the team's second assistant coach.

The season hasn't even started yet, and this turnover between the coaching staff of the two teams is the NBA's version of Game of Thrones.

The scene of deception made the fans full of interest.

But this is also the NBA, and there is not much emotion in the business field, especially for coaches who have not many employment opportunities.

Tang Tian saw all of this, but he didn't care too much about Royce's departure.

People go high, Royce didn't make the right choice, and Royce's departure has little impact on the Pelicans coaching staff.

Stevens + Gentry + Nash, these three talents are the core of the Pelicans' coaching staff in the new season.

At this time, Tang Tian was interested in the two signings of the Nets and the Mavericks.

The Nets signed Allen Guo with a training camp contract, and the Mavericks signed Ding Yanyuhang with an unguaranteed contract.

After the Chinese team won the gold medal in Rio, some people said that Guo Allen and Ding Yanyuhang tried to impact the NBA.

Now it seems that the two of them listened, and they both succeeded!

While neither of them has any guaranteed contracts, at least the two will be on the NBA preseason stage.

This is a breakthrough for themselves, or for Chinese basketball itself.

You must know that the only non-inside players who can enter the NBA before are Sun Yue and Tang Tian.

Even if he got the training camp contract, Liu Wei was the only one.

Time flies, half a month has passed in a blink of an eye.

On October 2nd, the door to the 2016~2017 season was officially opened, and the first to start was the NBA preseason.

The Pelicans had a lot of personnel changes in the summer, and half a month was not enough time for Stevens to adapt, and this preseason game was mainly about running in the roster and training new talents.

The Pelicans' first game of the preseason was against the Mavericks.

Carlisle's thinking is similar to Stevens's, both sides played mainly in the first half, and they were both practicing tactics and not going all out.

What can be clearly felt is that Conley's joining has significantly improved the strength of the Mavericks.

Conley can attack, play, and defend, much like Billups of the Pistons back then, and can be said to be the most suitable point guard for Carlisle and the Mavericks.

The Pelicans' preseason opener was also a surprise, with their offense significantly faster than last season.

The tactics of positional warfare have become simpler, and the speed of defensive counterattacks has increased significantly.

It is foreseeable that the Pelicans' points per game average in the new season will definitely rise.

At half-time, the two teams were tied at 55.

In the second half, both sides coincidentally changed to the bench.

Both teams have made big changes to their bench lineups in the summer, with the main players running in the first half and the second half opening to inspect the substitutes.

Just over 7 minutes into the third quarter, both teams changed their bench players one after another.

On the Pelicans' side, Brogdon and Siakam both got a chance to play, while on the Mavericks' side, Chinese player Ding Yanyuhang also got a chance to play.

When Ding Yanyuhang changed to the field, there was a burst of whistles and cheers at the scene.

Because of Tang Tian, the current Chinese market in New Orleans is the best in the United States, and there are quite a few Chinese who come to watch the game.

Tang Tian has been chatting with Davis about new tactics in the first half of the game, and when he saw Ding Yanyuhang on the court, he also set his eyes on the field.

The Mavericks are a championship team, and it is too difficult for Ding Yanyuhang to stay.

But if you have a dream, you will chase it, regardless of strength, Ding Yanyuhang's choice is very gentlemanly.

Brogdon broke through Ding Yanyuhang and scored easily after the confrontation.

The Mavericks' offense didn't work, and after Brogdon signaled to pull away, he then burst Ding Yanyuhang and hit the basket to make his foul.

These two balls allowed Ding Yanyuhang to experience the cruelty of the NBA.

In the national team, he doesn't need to take on defensive tasks, he just needs to receive Tang Tian's pass on the offensive end and score the ball as much as possible.

But in the NBA, he is a defensive breakthrough in the eyes of opposing players.

And he's pretty confident in his physical confrontation, and he's at a complete disadvantage against a pitcher like Brogdon.

In the end, the Pelicans played better off the bench and won 106-93 over the Mavericks to get their first preseason win.

Brogdon was a standout performer, scoring 20 points and six assists on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range.

Being able to sort out the attack, also find the defensive weaknesses of the opponent on the field, and have a strong mental quality, his performance has made Stevens very satisfied.

Ding Yanyuhang had a terrible performance in his NBA debut, playing 7 minutes and he made 0 of 2 shots, did not score, only 1 board, 1 assist and 2 turnovers.

After the game, Tang Tian took the initiative to pull Ding Yanyuhang and said some words of encouragement.

Ding Yanyuhang's mentality surprised him.

Although he was a little disappointed, Ding Yanyuhang's fighting spirit did not decrease.

"Brother Tang, I'm just here to improve myself, I can't do it, I will choose to play in the Development League for a year, I'm here for the NBA."

Ding Yan Yuhang's words were loud, and Tang Tian couldn't help but give him a thumbs up after hearing it.

With this determination, whether or not it succeeds in the end, it is worthy of admiration.

Moreover, Ding Yanyuhang began to impact the NBA much earlier than in history, plus there are no injuries to worry about, so there is still a great chance.