Even though Billups and Kidders are quite active, it is still the main team that controls the rhythm and scores far more efficiently than the bench team.

Because in addition to the offensive end, the defensive end of Chi Liang also has a lot of achievements, he seems to incarnate Garnett, become the main team's defensive barrier, his positive defense, and has a strong sense of rotation, coupled with fast pace, long arms and anticipation, even if you can't block the opponent, you can still interfere with the ball's shot, resulting in a lot of trouble for the bench team's offense.

As they faced off, Coach Rivers stood on the sidelines with his hands behind his back, carefully observing the characteristics and strength of the players.

In this open match, except for Ji Liang, other teams of the main team may not be able to occupy the main position, and Rivers needs to observe their state before deciding the final starting lineup.

Ten minutes later, Coach Rivers began to make substitutions, bringing in some players who had not yet played.

In this match, Coach Rivers will need to carefully observe each player and then make the necessary adjustments to their strength, characteristics and form.

Soon, Ji Liang took the initiative to get off the field, this confrontation game no longer means anything to him, he has already shown his strength, no one can steal his limelight, it is better to give a few substitutes more time to perform.

"How?" After Ji Liang got off the court, Coach Rivers took the initiative to hand over a towel and then sat next to Ji Liang.

"It's ok, especially at the back! As long as you run in for a while, I believe you can play a strong strength! ”

Ji Liang took the towel and wiped his sweat casually, in fact, the competition didn't understand, he didn't sweat much, and he didn't play his full strength.

It can't be helped, the inside line of the substitute team is so bad that it almost makes him take what he wants.

"I think so too!" Coach Rivers nodded, his eyes were full of excitement, compared to other teams in the rebuilding period, the Nets' roster is quite good.

Suddenly, Chi Liang pointed to a player on the field and said, "By the way, that No. 5 rookie is good!"

The current Nets team has a total of two rookies, one of whom is Evan Eschmeyer, who was selected with the fifth pick in the second round this year, he is a rough center, his physical fitness is not very good, and his training value is not high.

The other is Corey Margety, who was traded from the Magic and is the No. 13 rookie in the first round this year.

The No. 5 rookie in Ji Liang's mouth naturally refers to Corey Margetty. Although this product is still very immature, it has good instant combat power, and if it is cultivated, it may be able to become an All-Star player.

Margeti's characteristics are obvious, he has excellent jump shooting skills, and the way he charges inside to cause a foul and send himself to the free throw line.

In addition, he plays hard and is not afraid of confrontation, whenever he sees an opportunity, he will try to grab every possession.

This time, the reason why Chi Liang reminded him was just to improve the strength of the team and increase the chances of winning.

With Chi Liang's reminder, Coach Rivers couldn't help but pay more attention to Margety, his eyes were naturally not blind, and he soon saw Margety's advantages and disadvantages not long after retiring.

"It's really a very good seedling, if you train it, maybe you can become a good scorer, it seems that the team has made a good deal!"

Coach Rivers retracted his gaze and sighed a little, the Nets sold Marbury to get Armstrong, Margetty and first-round picks from the Magic, and now it seems that the deal is not at a loss at all.

However, Coach Rivers frowned again and fell into deep annoyance, without it, there are too many good players in the Nets' backcourt.

In addition to the relatively immature Margety, there are six players in the backfield, including Billups, Armstrong, Gill, Kidders, Newman and Williams, all of whom have the quality to start.

Sometimes, there are too many good players and the coach gets a headache and he has to allocate their playing time.

The first joint practice lasted for a total of half an hour, and the Nets were mixed, with Ji Liang dominating the restricted area and the team's excellent outside depth. It's still the Nets' interior that worries, which may become a concern for the Nets.

In addition to Chi Liang, Cage's playing time is relatively limited, Muresan is too flawed, and Jamil Fayk, Jim McIlvain and Evan Eschmeyer are very poor, if Chi Liang or Cage are injured in the middle of the season, this will definitely become a major hidden danger for the Nets.

"A deal must be sought!" Coach Rivers sighed in his heart, he was going to go to General Manager Stefansky, not to ask for too good an inside, as long as he had a certain amount of immediate combat power.

In the following time, the team mainly focused on running in the lineup, also supplemented by corresponding tactics.

In terms of tactics, Coach Rivers is not obvious, that is, he does not focus on defense and light attack like Van Gundy, nor does he focus on attack and defense like D'Antoni, and the tactical aspect can only be regarded as decent.

However, Coach Rivers knows people well, is very good at blending teams, is easy to close the distance between the players, and brings the characteristics of 'nanny coaching' to the extreme.

Soon, half a month passed, and the preseason was about to start.

The 1999-2000 NBA preseason will run for 14 days from October 1 to October 14.

Generally speaking, there are 3 main characteristics of preseason games.

First, run in the lineup, enrich the style of play, and test the competitive state of new and old players. Each team has about 8 pre-season games, and in order to avoid the main players getting tired before they fight, the main players in this kind of game generally do not play more than 30 minutes, so it is also an opportunity for substitutes to take the opportunity to show themselves.

Second, warm up for the NBA regular season. In order to better attract fans to watch the NBA regular season and playoffs, the official will make full use of the preseason to build momentum for the regular season of the new season. In addition, many of the major preseason matches between the top teams will be televised locally or nationally and receive almost as much attention as the regular season.

Third, promote the NBA and expand its overseas influence. With the further maturity of the NBA's commercial operations and the acceleration of the internationalization process, the NBA has sent many teams to play preseason games overseas in order to cater to the tastes of international fans and expand overseas markets, and many countries have hosted such games.

In addition, the pre-season can also allow stars who have taken a break for a season to get back to their game, and since the competition at this stage is not intense, many big-name stars don't value it, and most of them go up and go through the motions.

That said, pre-season is the best chance for substitutes or fringe players, especially those who are likely to be cut, and pre-season is the last look at them.