The raising of the championship pennant and the presentation of the championship ring have undoubtedly excited the fans.

Of course, those were just appetizers before. Everyone knows that the highlight of the day is the Grizzlies vs. Spurs match, a showdown between the old order and the new order.

The last time the Spurs won a championship was in 2007, and a few months after that, the old Big Three met in Boston for several years. But now, the Greenshirts have finally been able to resist the erosion of time, and in the summer pressed the rebuild button, Garnett, Pierce and Ray Brown. Aaron has left Boston. The Spurs, on the other hand, are also veterans, but they have retained most of the team from last season, and it can even be said that they have maintained the core team from 2007.

The San Antonio Spurs have been a championship-caliber team almost every year, and they have been one of the dominant players in the West.

But in the past few years, the Spurs' position in the West has been challenged by the West's up-and-comers. They were knocked out by the rising Grizzlies for the second year in a row, and last season they were knocked to the ground by the young Thunder.

This season, they desperately need to regain their footing as veterans in the West.

The most important point that such an aging team can maintain its dominance in the highly competitive West is actually the Spurs' "reverse growth" attribute.

"No. 21 Rookie" Tim. Duncan showed signs of slipping in previous years, but last season he suddenly put up a highlight of 23.6 points and 13.2 rebounds per 40 minutes, ranking sixth in the league in efficiency. In terms of production per minute alone, Duncan is actually not much different from his peak! He just couldn't play 40 minutes a game like he did back then.

And as the youngest person in the GDP portfolio, Tony. Parker is also long past his prime. It stands to reason that the "little sports car" that is not so fast should have slipped a long time ago. But last season, Parker's shooting percentage increased by 4.2 percentage points from the previous year, and even the three-point shooting rate was 35%! Parker's ball-holding percentage is the 4th highest in the league, but his true shooting percentage is better than that of the new generation of point guards such as Westbrook, Irving and Wall, who are ahead of him, ranking 7th!

Perhaps, this is the reason why the Spurs have been able to stay tall in the West. This year, though, Spurs are still one of the oldest teams in the league. But everyone expects Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili to continue their reverse growth.

Spurs players are eager to give their season a good start. While this is the home of the Grizzlies, there is no shortage of fans in Spurs jerseys in the stands cheering on their home team.

"The San Antonio Spurs are still the favourites this season, and seriously, as long as the GDP trio are not disbanded, they will always be the favourites!" Mike. Brin looked at the court with a grin, and as ESPN's ace commentator, he would naturally be there in this game that was broadcast live across the United States.

"Every year there are a lot of favourites, Mike, but there's only one overall winner. Trust me, the Grizzlies will explain at the game why they were able to hang the Honor Pennant in the arena. "Hubby. Brown continues to appear in Grizzlies games, and despite his age, he still loves the field.

"The Grizzlies will certainly not have an easy game because the new Grizzlies coach Dave Brown. Jogel is too immature compared to Popovich. Coach Jogel's left and right hands are Elston. Turner and Quinn in multiple leagues. Snyder. To be honest, the gap between the coaching staff of the two sides is quite large. If anything goes wrong on the court, Dave. Coach Joggle may not be able to deal with it in a timely manner. ”

Mike. Brin's concern is not unreasonable, although the Grizzlies have not changed much in the roster, the coaching lineup is almost equivalent to a change of blood.

The impact of changing a manager on a team is huge, from the system to the hiring strategy.

Although Jogel won the championship with the Grizzlies last season, he is only a defensive coach after all. Quinn. Despite his rich resume, Snyder has not coached in the NBA for long periods of time.

How strong is the Spurs' coaching staff? Popovich's right-hand man last season, Mike Brown. Budenholzer, who just announced his solo flight this season, was rushed by the Hawks to sign as head coach.

The Grizzlies' new coaching staff is what worries people the most.

The two starters stepped onto the pitch and there was not much difference between the two teams' starters compared to last season.

On the Grizzlies' side, it's still Conley, Link, Iguodala, Randolph and Gasol. Five starters, all of whom were named to ESPN's list of the 50 superstars of the 13-14 season.

On the Spurs' side, Parker, Green, Leonard, Duncan and Split are completely unchanged from last season.

After the referee's whistle, Split took the lead for the Spurs to attack the ball first. The cheers at the scene reached a climax, and the Grizzlies' journey for the new season finally began!

As soon as it came up, the Spurs' offense was smooth.

Timely conduction, exquisite running, tacit blocking and dismantling...... The spur is like a complex machine, with thousands of parts involved in every step. And you can never go wrong with these individual parts.

Link clings to Leonard, but his attention is on Parker and Duncan. If these two guys want to break through to the basket, Link will be the first to make up for it.

At this moment, Leonard suddenly ran back to the right three-point line.

Link didn't expect Leonard to be so aggressive, hasn't this guy's mission always been to defend?

But Link was still quick enough to react, and he quickly turned and ran towards Leonard. However, in the next second, the expressionless "stone man" stood in front of him.

Link was blocked by Duncan, and Leonard, who was in position outside the three-point line, received the ball and shot directly, which was very decisive!

It can be seen that the Spurs have increased Leonard's proportion on the offensive end this season. Last season, Leonard's offensive role was at a supporting level, but in terms of efficiency, he definitely deserved a heavier responsibility, and his singles and low-post ball-handling stats were great. Although the three-point shot is not very stable, the shooting rate is also above 37%.

What role Leonard will play on the offensive end this year has been key to whether the Spurs can go further. And the first attack of the new season, the Spurs seem to have given the answer.

Leonard took his shot calmly, and the quality of Duncan's cover was so good that even Link didn't get through it quickly every time.

Leonard didn't waste this precious opportunity, and he scored three points into the net! San Antonio Spurs take the lead at Federal Express Arena!

"The goal went in, and it was a goal on Link's head! Leonard is very calm and he is definitely one of the best potential small forwards in the league. Scoring on Link's head at the beginning, Leonard is really not afraid of strong opponents! ”

Mike. Bryn was full of praise for the expressionless Spurs No. 2, but not all young players can keep their composure in the face of Link.

Who is Link? That was last year's Finals without losing to James, and this summer he hammered Durant's presence at Rock Park.

Of course, some Spurs fans who are in front of the TV also believe that Link can hammer Durant at Rock Park this summer because Durant has been estranged from training for a long time and was caught by Link. As it stands, Link isn't that remarkable.

"Hey, my, mine." Link raised his hand and shook his head apologetically at his teammates.

Link didn't expect Leonard to make such a decisive move, otherwise he would have been able to get around the cover faster.

"But it's okay, I'll get this ball back." In the latter sentence, Link reassured everyone a lot.

Yes, you don't have to be the first to win a basketball game.

Changing the Grizzlies offense, it can be seen from Conley's meticulous organization that the Grizzlies' offensive rhythm is very slow.

Stevens occasionally plays a fast-paced role with the Grizzlies, but Dave Brown. Jogle's style is more traditional.

Relying on defense and slow-paced positional offense to strangle opponents, this is Dave. Jogle's coaching ideas.

After Conley approached the three-point line unhurriedly, Link suddenly became aggressive.

He circled to Conley's side to catch the ball, but Leonard clung to it, and his long arms were waving in front of Link. Even if Conley is called a top five point guard in the league by ESPN, it will be difficult for him to pass this ball to Link.

"Kawai has improved a lot! Not just offense, but defense as well! He's definitely the league's number one star killer right now! Look at this energy, he doesn't care who he is facing, he just wants to win! ”

Mike. As soon as Bryn's words fell, Link suddenly ran backwards and cut to the basket!

Leonard didn't expect Link's counterrun to be so fast, he just turned around and found that Link had already run several steps away.

This guy seems to be ...... Faster?

Link cut in backwards, fast but ...... Conley actually put the ball in, a beautiful pass! ”

Conley finds Link in the crack and shoves the ball into Link's hand. In basketball, it's not about the offense getting a chance if you make a successful cut, you have to see if the point guard can deliver the ball.

And just now, Conley has undoubtedly shown the strength of his top five point guards in the league.

In an extremely tight space, Conley stuffed the ball to Link. No one expected the ball to be passed so fast and so accurately. So much so that when Link got to the penalty area with the ball, Split didn't react yet.

In the blink of an eye, why did the ball come in!?

The Brazilian ran towards Link like crazy, and he raised his arms in the air to stop Link from making a layup!

However, in the next second, Link ignored Split standing in front of him and directly erupted!

Split only saw Link jump straight off the ground as if he had a rocket on the bottom of his foot!

He secretly screamed in his heart, but it was too late to avoid his doom.

Link and Split then collided violently. Although Split raised his arms high, Link still smashed the ball into the frame from the Brazilian!

There was silence for about a second, and then the volcano erupted!

"Split is the Split, Link is merciless! He completely ignored the height of the Brazilian, he completely ignored the center of the Spurs! God, this dunk was perfect! Split, he thought he would be able to stop Link from attacking the frame with his arms raised. As it turns out, such a block is too short! That's right, too short! ”

Link let go, landed on the basket, and glanced up at Split.

Split deliberately didn't make eye contact with Link, but his expression of being beaten to tears couldn't be hidden.

Link just felt so cool! Now that he wants to dunk and make a force, he feels a lot more energetic than before.

Are Duncan and Parker growing up in reverse? Now, let's see what real reverse growth is!

"You're next, boy. I haven't forgotten that three-pointer just now. After shutting down Split, Link pointed to the expressionless Leonard.

He's a man of grudges.