As we all know, the NBA is divided into two divisions, East and West, and each year the East and West champions are decided first, and finally the finals are staged.

However, under the East and West divisions, there are three divisions each, the East is divided into the Atlantic, Southeast and Central Divisions, and the Western is divided into the Southwest, Northwest and Pacific Divisions, each with five teams.

After the removal of the division championship standings, the divisions have been mentioned less and less.

The Dallas Mavericks are in the Southwest Division, and the other two teams in the Texas top three are the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets, and the other two teams are the Memphis Grizzlies in Tennessee and the New Orleans Pelicans in Louisiana.

The Dallas Mavericks' first preseason game was against the New Orleans Pelicans in the same district.

This game is neither a home game nor an away game for the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans.

It was a neutral venue match set in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Obviously, this small city with a population of only about 200,000 cannot afford to support an NBA team at all, and can only hope to arrange a game here in the annual preseason schedule.

Before the morning departure, Coach Carlisle announced that Nowitzki, Bogut, Matthews, DeLong and Devin Harris were two seasoned veterans who would stay at the Dallas training ground and would not have to travel with the team.

The fact that these five players stay in Dallas means that other players can get more playing opportunities, especially those members who have not yet been finalized whether they can make the Dallas Mavericks' 15-man roster, and their excellent performance in the preseason is their ultimate bargaining chip to stay with the team.

At the same time, it undoubtedly set the tone, and Dallas didn't care about the outcome of the game at all.

Coach Carlisle did not lead everyone to analyze the Pelicans' preparation before the game, which can also be seen, after all, the Pelicans' main players will definitely not play for long.

Moreover, even if the Pelicans play the whole game, they may not be able to take advantage of the Mavericks.

Whenever the Pelicans are mentioned, it is inevitable to mention its previous name, the New Orleans Hornets, and the Charlotte Hornets in the hands of the current owner Joe.

The earliest Hornets team, the stadium location in Charlotte, can also be said to be the Charlotte Hornets, the team moved from Charlotte to New Orleans in the 02-03 season, so the New Orleans Hornets appeared, Chris Paul, who was still the queen bee at the time, belonged to the New Orleans Hornets.

The team that is now in the hands of Jordan, the god of basketball, was called the Charlotte Bobcats when it was first formed in the 04-05 season, because the name Hornets was occupied.

In 2013, the New Orleans Hornets finally found a new owner and changed their name to the New Orleans Pelicans.

The name Hornets was liberated, and Charlotte proudly changed its name to the Hornets.

Therefore, Chris Paul, who was born in the Hornets, inherited from the New Orleans Pelicans, has nothing to do with the Charlotte Hornets in Jordan's hands now.

If Paul's jersey were to retire one day, it would only be with the Pelicans, not the Hornets.

Today, the core of the New Orleans Pelicans has long been the powerful bushy brother Anthony Davis.

However, the New Orleans Pelicans had a disappointing record last year.

In the 14-15 season, they went 45-37 and stepped on the threshold to enter the playoffs in eighth place in the West, and then they unsurprisingly lost to the champions of the season, the Golden State Warriors.

After that, they fired former head coach Monty Williams and professionally hired Golden State Warriors assistant coach Alvin Gentry as head coach.

Alvin Gentry, who has served as the head coach of the Heat, Pistons, Clippers, Suns and other teams, really doesn't have many accolades as a coach, with a career coaching win rate of only 46%, and he has only made the playoffs twice.

However, he may well be one of the best offensive coaches in the entire NBA league, and during Nash's time with the Suns, who led the Orange Storm, he assisted mustachioed Mike D'Antoni as an assistant coach for the Suns, and he was the lead assistant coach for the Warriors, a rather shadowy championship team.

After Coach Gentry became head coach last season, the Pelicans unsurprisingly switched to small-ball play.

It's just that the Pelicans did not usher in the imaginary outbreak, but once again fell into the abyss that they just climbed out, and the 30-52 record is really embarrassing for the Pelicans new coach!

But this achievement, it seems that he can't be blamed, the Pelicans' glass bottles are too easy to break.

The one who has made the most stable starts is a player who is more familiar to Chinese fans, Omir Asik!

That's right, in the 13-14 season in the Houston Rockets with Jeremy Lin, Harden, Howard, Parsons and others, the white fat man who couldn't run fast, couldn't jump high, moved slowly, and once played 10+10 data, but now he can barely collect a few rebounds as his main contribution to the team.

Even Asik, who has made the most consistent appearances, has only started 64 games, making a total of 68 appearances this season.

In addition to him, the one with the most starts is Brother Thick Eyebrows, and when he can play, there is no doubt that he is the starter, but Brother Thick Eyebrows only played 61 games in the end, and then the most stable starts dropped to 46 games.

Among the other key players, Terek Evans has played only 25 games this season, Eric Gordon has played 45 games and Holiday has only played 65 games.

There were 21 players who played for them last year, which shows how serious their injuries were last year.

Probably only the old man Popovich has the ability to bring such a team into the playoffs, but if the old man leads this team, I'm afraid there won't be so many injuries.

After all, the Spurs players are going to be eaten some spoiled food at every turn, and then they can't play with food poisoning, or they have toothaches, throats, hip tensions, and all kinds of strange reasons, and it is difficult for the team to have a large number of injuries.

Coach Gentry, who was once an assistant coach with the Spurs with the old man Popovich, has arrived at the hotel early with the Pelicans.

The black coach, who is still in his 60s, looked at the roster of players in his hand and really wanted to greet all the 18th generation of Pelicans management.

Look at what you've been up to this offseason!

Eric Gordon, who averaged 15 points per game in the previous three seasons and shot more than 40% from three-point range, did not stay, and Ryan Anderson, the No. 4 power forward who averaged 17 points per game and shot 38 three-point percentage in his career, did not stay.

This is the type of player you need most to play small-ball tactics, and when the injury is healed, they all run away, and they don't have time to use it!

The question is, they all ran to the Rockets, who is the head coach of the Rockets? That's D'Antony, the mustache of the sun's orange storm!

And the Pelicans' offseason recruitment, with a few cheap contracts to find a few spare tires, is done, Lance Stephens looks like a good player! Perhaps the best signing is to use the No. 6 pick to select a rookie with excellent shooting ability, Buddy Hield, but can the team count on a rookie?

Coach Gentry let out a long sigh, he could already foresee the Rockets' good record!

And what about pelicans? Take advantage of the fact that others don't care about the outcome in the preseason and get a few more wins!

There will be a few more chapters on the weekend, and there should be three more tomorrow.