On August 10, the NBA board of directors held a meeting and proposed a package of amendments to the NBA rules, in which the "joint defense illegal" rule is expected to be eliminated next season, and the legitimacy of regional defense will be recognized.

As soon as this news came out, Zhang Qiu and O'Neill immediately raised their hands against it!

Zhang Wei said: This rule is a joke, joint defense is the most stupid rule in basketball, there is no one!

The new leader of the martial arts alliance was the first to stand up and resolutely opposed this rule.

Zhang Wei can think that the NBA allows joint defense, then he will have at least two people around him next season if he doesn't get the ball, and this is still playing Nima coins!

Zhang Qiu's reaction was so big, everyone knows his thoughts, some people outside have already called this rule the "Koala Rule", and he is the one the alliance wants to cut this time.

For a long time, the NBA has uniquely advocated man-to-man defense and no joint defense, which has provided conditions for individual performances of stars to a certain extent, and Zhang Yi is one of the biggest beneficiaries.

However, this particular defensive rule is likely to be a thing of the past, and the decision to change the rules of the game has largely been passed at this meeting, the most important of which is that the NBA will allow joint defense and eliminate illegal defense.

The initiator of the new rule change, Suns Champion Clangaro, who has been scolding him at home for several days, believes that the change will speed up the pace of the game, reduce individual heroism on the court, and attract more fans and improve ratings: "It will be the most meaningful change since the introduction of 24 seconds of offensive time." ”

It's a fart!

Many (Zhang and O'Neal) felt that this would not be an improvement, because with the advent of the joint defense, there will be fewer and fewer aerial walks like Jordan's in the game, and Zhang and O'Neal will smash Huashan after overturning the entire defense line and smashing Huashan inside.

Zhang Fu has publicly stated that isolated games can bring out the greatest power of stars and are the cradle of star creativity. And the emergence of joint defense will deprive the NBA of a lot of creative games, and if he really plays like this, he will have to think about playing baseball.

Coincidentally, O'Neal also scoffed at the NBA's decision, even describing it as "disgusting."

The fat man apparently also had in mind the idea that allowing the NBA to defend would make him a target for opponents to contain without the ball, which would be a threat to his interior supremacy. Of course, the joint defense is not useless for the interior, especially since his interior defense will be greatly strengthened as a result.

Many people have thought that the emergence of the joint defense will be a boon for Mutombo, Big Ben, and even international players, who have a great range of defense, and who are familiar with the joint defense on the international stage, who are very comfortable with the new rules and can even help their teammates adapt to the rules.

Zhang Yu threatened to play baseball, which was just a vent, so he wouldn't play baseball. However, for the time being, this rule obviously has the greatest impact on him, and last season's media predictions really came true, and they came so quickly!

David Stern said: He can't help it, and he doesn't want to weaken Zhang Mao, and when it comes to the playoffs in the future, he will play his life and go to unlimited singles, which is likely to be an unsolvable situation.

Therefore, although the baby koala is the NBA's money printing machine and cash cow, he still has to tear it and not let the situation get out of balance!

In fact, anyone with a discerning eye knows that the NBA has made a series of changes to the rules this time, and it is really a last resort and must be slashed.

In recent years, NBA game scores have been declining, and the team's over-reliance on star players has become increasingly serious, and the court will always fall into the embarrassing scene of one person playing and four onlookers, which is the main reason.

In the future, allowing zone defense will bring great changes to the face of the NBA, and will also make the NBA further integrate with international basketball, which is the general trend, and Zhang Fu is just speeding up the pace of change.

A week later, the NBA's board of directors quickly held a second meeting.

This time, in addition to determining the legitimacy of joint defense, the board of directors of 29 NBA teams also made other suggestions to de-escalate conflicts, such as the "3-second defense" rule, which means that a defender can only stay in one defensive position for 3 seconds at a time, unless he is in close proximity to the defender; The time for the team to advance from the back court to the front court has been reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds; Redefine the meaning of "incidental physical contact" to reduce the controversy of foul play after physical contact, etc.

If the NBA and international basketball are the same as the joint defense, then he is really cut too hard, so it is estimated that even Jordan will stand up and protest.

Now with these additional rules, especially the "3-second defense" rule and the redefinition of "physical contact", this is undoubtedly an encouragement for the outside player to attack with the ball, but it makes it easier for him to break through to the basket, and the joint defense seems to be a bit of a meaning.

NBA commissioner David Stern made another public statement after two meetings: "For a long time, the NBA practiced 'one-on-one' defense, but it was easy to create a situation where one or two players were alone and the other players were watching. These new rules will give the NBA a new look, and our goal is to make the game faster, more dynamic, and better-looking. ”

A day later, Lakers owner Buss, who returned from the meeting, also revealed that the NBA board of directors will have a final vote next week, and it seems that the changes are expected to be passed by more than two-thirds and implemented starting next season.

ESPN quickly listed the revised rules of the tournament, with a total of six rules -

1. Legalization of regional defense, that is, joint defense is allowed.

2. Add a three-second defense rule, that is, the defender can only stay in the paint area for 3 seconds at a time, unless the distance between the attacking player and the defended player is kept within one arm's length.

3. The time for passing the ball through half court has been shortened from the original 10 seconds to 8 seconds.

4. Reduce the fouls caused by accidents and speed up the pace of the game.

5. No·handcheck, that is, outside defenders are not allowed to touch offensive players with their hands and exert force.

6. Allowing an athlete to touch the basketball while on or above the basket after hitting the basket, i.e., interfering with the legalization of the ball.

Zhang Yi protested for a long time, in fact, he was just making a show, and now his goal has been achieved, in addition to the new joint defense, the league also has no handcheck and defense for three seconds to compensate. In this way, in fact, the power of joint defense has been greatly reduced, and it is not the real joint defense of international basketball, although the restrictions on him cannot be said to be none, but it is far less than imagined, and even a little bit of encouragement for outside players to attack.

Think about it, if a teammate has an interior player who can pull out and shoot, plus the three-second defense limit, wouldn't a defensive player like O'Neal have to leave the box to defend?

At this time, as long as he held the ball and rushed in, the fat man would not have time to return to the defense.

Now it's not just Zhang who is thinking about the changes brought about by the new rules, but the managers of each team are looking at how these changes will change the game in the future. How can they use the new rules to their advantage?

However, it is foreseeable that in the future, there will be many changes in the way the NBA plays, and it is likely that even the technical development direction of the players will change. At least interior players can't be without mid-range shooting ability, those blue-collar players must have a certain amount of mobility, outside stars will become much more difficult to mix without the ability to hold the ball, and point guards also need to strengthen their ability to take the initiative to attack......?

The league's series of rule changes filled the month of August, with brain-opening ideas pouring in, and more buyers for Nielsen, who is known as the "mad scientist," including the Bulls, who are eagerly looking for a successor for the Zen master.

Of course, Zhang Fu is cheating again, he changed his training plan in time in September, and began to frantically simulate games under the new rules in the virtual space, playing at least two high-intensity new rules playoffs every day, this first-mover advantage is really too cheating.

"I can't just be brutal anymore, this joint defense still works, I must learn to grasp a better breakthrough opportunity and seek a better breakthrough route."

'My role in defence has also been strengthened and I can use my mobility to help forward aggressively, which will make the defence more solid in the box.

"The three-point shot seems to have become more important, and it seems that the three-point training in the future can only be strengthened, not relaxed, otherwise it will be difficult to get enough offensive space."

'The threat of pick-and-rolls is still huge, but to improve off-ball coverage, the flanks and the baseline are more important, and I have to remind my teammates to work together in that regard."

"Lao Mu has really become more awesome, and Big Ben seems to be more suitable for the joint defense system, but Mason's role has been reduced, and O'Neal's interior line can now be offset by a numerical advantage, and there is a way to deal with him without hard resistance."

“…………”

Zhang Fu found many differences after the rules were changed in the virtual system, and sure enough, it was a generation of versions of a generation of gods, and in the future, under the new rules, black and hard seemed to be not as easy to use as high and fast, and this version of the NBA would become faster in rhythm, the range would become longer, and the defensive intensity would become more collective...... But what remains unchanged is that the individual ability of the star can still influence the game, and it seems that no matter how much the NBA changes, the role of the star will not be weakened, although the new rules give team basketball a better possibility, but in fact there is still more emphasis on the individual ability of the star.

In fact, to be sure, the new rules make the stars have to be able to integrate into the group, those stars who can only play alone will have no future, and if you want to win the championship, you have to make your teammates better, or know how to use your teammates to make yourself better.

While Zhang was busy adjusting to the new rules, he also took the time to pay attention to the two games released by his company in July and August - "Monopoly 3" and "Fallout 1".

Dragonborn's Forza Motorsport release in June didn't receive the expected sales, and in three months, only 600,000 units were sold on PC and 1.2 million on consoles, adding up to less than two million units.

Well, it's not a small amount of sales for a game with nearly two million units, but Forza Motorsport has clearly dropped a lot compared to the previous games released by Dragonborn.

In July, Dragonborn's "Oriental Studio" released the casual and easy-to-play "Strong Chess Game" game "Monopoly 3", which finally recovered in sales.

This generation of "Monopoly" is a new work after Taiwan's Daewoo was acquired and merged, and after having abundant R&D funds and manpower, the target market is no longer Asia's one-third of an acre, and its production is far from comparable to the previous two generations.

The third generation of "Monopoly" has changed from a puzzle orientation to a strategic orientation, but it still does not lose all the characteristics of this generation's original, and it has been well received by European and American gamers as soon as it came out.

This is actually an inevitable result, "Monopoly" is actually the gamification of the graphic board of the strong hand chess game, which can be traced back to the physical version of the big landlord released in the United States in 1904, and the history is very long.

This type of graphic game has been suitable for all ages since its inception, and is suitable for families and friends to sit together for entertainment, and there are now many beautifully crafted physical and powerful chess games on the European and American markets, even simple PC games.

Relying on ICQ's pop-up magic weapon, Dragonborn easily let its own "Monopoly 3" seize the market. At present, "Monopoly 3" is indeed the "strong hand chess" game with the richest mechanics and the most excellent gameplay, and the sales are naturally much better than "Forza Motorsport", selling more than two million copies worldwide in just one month.

The hot sales of "Monopoly 3" have long been expected by "Dragonborn Games", and it is already a small number of more than two million copies sold in more than a month, and it is expected that there will be at least three million sales this year.

Now, to the surprise of Dragonborn Games, they also sold Fallout 1 after its release in August, which surprised the head office. In particular, the game's freedom, plot and gameplay are highly recognized by the media and game fans, and it has only been on sale for less than half a month, and the hats of "epic" and "classic" have been buckled one after another.

In IMDB's gaming ratings, Fallout 1 has reached an astonishing 9.5 points, and the word-of-mouth has received almost unanimous praise, and its sales are only higher than that of Monopoly 3. The result of such a bumper harvest of word-of-mouth and sales immediately made the "Infinity Studio" led by Filgus Uquerkhart famous!

Looking at it now, after the independence of "Dragonborn Games", three consecutive works have actually been successful, especially "Monopoly 3" and "Fallout 1", no wonder Zhang Mo would rather let Microsoft participate in ICQ than let people get a piece of the "Dragonborn Game".

Of course, the newly established "Dragonborn Search" is also an area that Zhang Mo does not allow outsiders to participate in, but for the time being, no one knows what kind of monster this search engine that looks a little rudimentary will develop into in the future.

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On September 28, the NBA's preseason training camp for the 97-98 season will be launched, and players will be free to move around before that, anyway, the team's coaching staff will be completely off in September, after all, the coaches will also have a rest.

However, some of the training hall can still be used, and the janitor does not have that much off, as long as the players want to continue training during this time, they can still use part of the training hall between 9 am and 5 pm.

Of course Zhang Qi will not go to the training hall so Lo, he has already changed his residence, there is half a complete indoor training hall in his garden, which is not only fully equipped, but some of the equipment used for physical training is even more advanced than that in the Lakers training hall, which is basically a private customized version, and he doesn't care about this little money.

Therefore, he trains at home by himself during the offseason, and he doesn't even need to find a sparring partner during the day, anyway, he will conduct confrontational training in the virtual system, and in reality, he only needs to do physical training and non-confrontational technical training.

The Lakers' preseason training camp roster has also been released for a long time, with last season's players and a few new signings just signed participating, and the rest are those international players, as well as five Development League players, adding up to a total of 20 players, which is relatively small among the teams.

There's still a lot of pressure on Ginobili and Battle, they're too young, and those players in the Development League are more experienced and physically fit into the NBA, and now they can't say they'll make the final squad.

The Lakers are actually more inclined to young players, their main framework has been built, Wilkins and Darrick have supplemented the Lakers' forward line and point guard, and the rest of the people are used to guard the water cooler to put it bluntly.

The summer market is almost over in September, and there have been a few star changes in between, but the Lakers don't care much about teams that don't threaten them anytime soon.

It wasn't until September 20 that the Lakers were caught in a trade from the 76ers, not because they took advantage of anything, but because the SuperSonics they traded with traded Jose Hawkins for third-year star Stark House.

"Is the 76ers stupid for this kind of brain-dead trade?"

Zhang Qi is a little uneasy, he just said that supersonic can only be a-stirring stick in the West, but if this deal is completed, Seattle-people will not only be able to be a-stirring stick.

Stackhouse has been ridden under him since the original trial, but this guy still has the strength, once the supersonic strengthens the No. 2 position, he is eligible to upgrade from a-stirring stick to a roadblock, and has the qualification to be promoted to the championship group.

The other teams in the West are also unhappy with this deal, they already have too many strong teams on their side, plus a supersonic, wouldn't it be that five or six teams have the strength to compete for the championship?

At this moment, even the Lakers can't help but think about how cruel the competition in the Western Conference will be in the new season, which is really hell mode.

The 76ers said that they were very aggrieved, and they didn't want to trade the potential Starkerhouse, but their two guards are now red as soon as they meet, and the conflict between the two has reached the point of affecting the team's locker room and unity, basically: with me without him, the two must go to the extent of one.

It just so happened that the 76ers grabbed Jim Jackson, one of the former Mavericks 3Js, a guard with a bit more talent than Stark House, and while there are rumors that this man has a big personality problem and could easily affect the unity of the locker room, this will only be his third team change after all.

The 76ers feel that since Stackhouse can't keep it, it is better to grab Jim Jackson first, so as not to make the team's strength decline too serious.

So the supersonic picked up a big bargain for nothing, and although Starkerhouse's character was not very good, at least it was much better than Jim Jackson. Payton is another skillful boss, Iverson, a rookie, can't stop Stackhouse, but Payton has the ability to make Stackhouse willingly be a little brother.

Therefore, this season's supersonic is not strong enough except for the center position, and the rest of the positions really have no shortcomings!

At this moment, count the strong teams in the West except for the Lakers, the Clippers, Spurs, SuperSonics, and Jazz, these four teams have the confidence to compete with the Lakers in the new season through the summer reinforcement.

Of course, Ma Long, who is said to have lost 25% of his lung function, may not be so confident.

But after all, it's not a kidney missing, and this blow shouldn't be able to defeat Ma Long.

"That's right, I'd better be careful when I meet that bastard again."

Zhang Wei agreed, he failed to abolish Ma Long this time, and he had to be extra careful the next time they met, who knows if that guy will find a chance to retaliate back?