Hayes, who played less than 10 minutes in practice before being substituted, has been playing relaxed, and now the coach simply replaces him to give the new signings a chance to perform.

BLU Billups was also quickly replaced. He and Hayes represented their national team at the Olympics, so the coaching staff is ready to give them both a good rest and adjust.

The NBA schedule is long, and in addition to technique, physical strength is also very important. Athletes are more susceptible to injuries when they compete at high intensity with insufficient physical strength.

Durant became the most eye-catching man on the red team that day. He had a great touch today and scored the highest score of the game. A lot of it was Gerard Wallace who hit a jumper with a defense in front of him.

"I threw too quickly, but his talent is really good. The jump is high, the shot point is also high, it is difficult for the average player to block, if he can ensure the hit rate, it is a killer move that is difficult to defend. I don't know what Mayo will do with the Trail Blazers, but we shouldn't lose money on this deal. He must be trained with great pride. "D'Antoni is very happy with Durant's performance. In a fast break, Durant also performed a one-handed dunk with a flat head, fully showing his super physical fitness.

"If he can play in the number two position, it will increase the team's attacking power. However, he still has a lot of problems in defense, he is not close to people, and he is easy to shake up...... In short, he only relies on talent in defense, these rely on experience, and he should improve in the future. ”

Durant's scoring ability is impressive. Gerard Wallace also admitted that his jumper was too high to block.

Azubuke defensively is excellent but average offensively, and after watching Durant's performance, D'Antoni is ready to put him in the starting lineup to play the No. 2 position to try the effect.

As a result, the Bobcats' starting five are all top scorers except Camby. Camby can also hit mid-range shots and even three-pointers, but his shooting stance is too weird.

Every time he shoots, Camby prepares for a long time, completely carrying the ball behind him, and then shoots, and the left hand suddenly leaves at the moment of the shot, which is actually a one-handed shot. The whole set of his shots is like a slow-motion replay. This kind of shooting action that makes people squirt rice, I really don't understand who taught him.

According to Camby himself, he can't change his shooting moves, otherwise he won't be able to shoot.

The Bobcats' rookie didn't perform as well as they could on the first day of training.

Brook Lopez, who had high expectations, couldn't find his groove at all on the offensive end. The back-frame offense can't squeeze into the interior, and can only shoot in the high post and on both sides of the three-second zone, which is a bit similar to Yao Ming, but the shooting percentage is very low. When defending, he is also too soft and afraid of confrontation.

Marc Gasol was also average. His speed is too slow, his bounce is mediocre, and his rebounding is mainly based on his height. In the confrontation with Camby, he didn't have many options.

"Brooke [Lopez] was so nervous. In training camp, he shot better than that. D'Antoni said: "As long as he can be accurate and strengthen his confrontation ability, he has a very future." Mark (Gasol): I think he needs to lose weight. D'Antoni said.

"Brooke defends well, or maybe it's because Bagnani and Gasol don't attack very well, and he looks good." Van Gundy laughed.

The best rookie performance is still Anthony Morrow. His shooting touch is so good, as long as he has free time, he maintains a super high shooting percentage, but unfortunately his defense is air-level. If it weren't, D'Antoni would have wanted to put him in the starting lineup, and with him in ambush on the outside, it would be easy to get open shots as long as Hayes attracted the pack.

Van Gundy was very unhappy with Morrow's defense, almost to the point where he couldn't bear it. In addition to his poor physical confrontation, he also does a terrible job of marking. It is not entirely unreasonable to fall to the end of the second round without a candidate.

Van Gundy proposed: "Let the dietitian arrange a recipe for him to gain a little weight, so that at least he won't suffer a lot when he fights." Otherwise, he will become a loophole for the opponent's attack. ”

"Hmm. However, as a second-round rookie, he has performed very well. He doesn't have a good shot like Nash and will definitely help the team in the future. ”

It's not that easy to gain weight. Some people are born thin and it is useless to eat. And if you gain weight, your shooting feel may decrease. Van Gundy attaches great importance to the confrontation in defense, and he also asked Yao Ming to gain weight back then, but Yao Ming's confrontation ability has improved, but the burden on his body is greater than before, resulting in a fracture of the stress surname, which can be said to also have Van Gundy's "credit".

George Hill is the underdog against Rondo and needs to improve in terms of organization. After watching his performance, D'Antoni and Van Gundy also agreed that he still needs to work out, and it is also a defensive problem, with Hill just relying on speed to defend, which can be a problem when defending against pick-and-rolls. His strength is also that he is good at shooting.

Not being good at pick-and-roll defense is a problem for almost all rookie players, and maybe it's because the defensive intensity in college basketball is too much worse than in the NBA. Not a single one in this regard satisfied Van Gundy.

Soon another week passed.

Hayes and Billups were the most relaxed people in training, and the two just moved their bodies properly to sit and rest and chat on the sidelines, doing their jobs as assistant coaches.

In order to better adapt the young players to the rhythm of the NBA game. The preseason coaching staff is not going to put Hayes and Billups on the field, leaving the opportunity entirely up to the newcomers.

There's a lot of competition on the Bobcats, and the rookies train hard. Lopez and Gasol practice their steps to the basket every day, and Durant and Wallace often go head-to-head.

Rondo, for his part, has been practicing shooting, but it hasn't worked out well.

Billups has a very high opinion of Rondo. He believes that if he shoots well, he will definitely become an All-Star in the future.

Hayes's impression of Rondo has also been selected as an All-Star, but Chris Paul is still a lot worse than Deron Williams. If Rondo trains his shooting ability to the average in the league, he can be on an equal footing with Delon. Rondo's astonishing arm length and defense are among the top 5 point guards. If Rondo could shoot, he could have scored 15 points and 10 assists. However, in 2010, Rondo did not practice shooting well, and even dared to let him go two steps when the Lakers defended in the finals.

Of course, Kidd is not good at shooting, and still became a superstar, Rondo chose to develop in the direction of Kidd, putting passing first, and scoring mainly relying on breakthroughs.

Originally, the Bobcats coaching staff planned that if Billups could not be brought in this season, they would put Rondo in the starting lineup to focus on development, and make Felton a backup for Rondo. Because of the comprehensive strength analysis, Rondo is more promising than Felton, not wasteful, active in defense, and has more advantages than disadvantages.

Hayes was glad that Billups was here, and Rondo was good, but he was never favored and didn't get a chance. If he is allowed to start with confidence, it will be very difficult for the Bobcats to renew Rondo when the contract expires. Now that Billups is holding down Rondo, he can only play as a substitute and will not be able to attract the attention of other teams next year, and will not jump ship with a high salary like Calderon.

Billups started and used his experience to help Rondo improve, and when Billups was too old to play, Rondo could step up and continue to be competitive in the Bobcats' backline. Hayes and Rod Higgins and Jordan have all talked about it. At the end of the season, Rondo has one year left on his contract as a team option. Bobcats can extend Rondo early while executing the final year of his contract, giving him a long-term contract.

On October 11, 2008, the pre-season began. Hayes and Billups watched the Bobcats game off the bench against the Grizzlies.

Even without the two main players, the Bobcats still had the upper hand in the game. A 52-46 lead at halftime. The best performer on the offensive end is still Durant, who is much more accurate than last season.

"Kevin, like Fan, is an example of you. I heard him say that he didn't have a break this summer, and he has been practicing shooting, and the results are good. Van Gundy said next to Hayes.

'If I had played, it would have been easier for me to play, and now I would have taken the lead. There's nothing to be happy about either, the grizzlies are too weak. Hayes laughed.

"Chuck, look at what you've been thinking about just now?" Billups asked with a smile.

"Think about how many wins we're going to get this season, and if we can break the Bulls' record of 72 wins. We should also make that a regular season goal. Hayes laughed.

"That record is not so easy to break, and if we can do it, it will be perfect to win the championship again this year. However, I think the Bobcats' defense is not as good as the Rockets last year. Van Gundy laughed. In 2007, Hayes won 70 games with the Rockets and was unbeatable defensively.

"The protection may not be as good as the rockets, but the offense is definitely stronger. Chauncey (Billups) is here, and I'm now 80 percent sure of surpassing the Bulls' 72 wins. It's just that you can't say that when you face media interviews, that's too arrogant and won't do us any good. Hayes shook his neck, looked at Billups and said seriously.

Billups was stunned, there can be such self-confidence in the alliance, I'm afraid there is only Hayes in the alliance.

Billups smiled: "Even if the Bobcats have you, me, Gerrard (Wallace), Marcus (Camby), Durant's ability is not bad, I want to have the strength to compete for the championship, but is 72 wins possible?" ”

"As long as you play triangle offense, it's possible. The Bobcats were eliminated by the Magic last season, and I got caught up in the opponent's bag almost every game. At least two people followed when they caught the ball. Calderon's three-point shooting percentage looks very high, but in fact, he is relatively accurate only in a few positions, so he rarely runs the position, and after passing the ball, he stands in place and waits for the pass to be shot, so that the position is dead, and it is difficult to involve the opponent's defense. Corunna's shooting hasn't been consistent either. This year the Bobcats have Mike (Miller), you, Kevin (Durant), Andrea (Bagnani), and Anthony (Moreau), and you all have very accurate three-point shots. Opponents can't be unscrupulous enough to trap me, and if they don't, I can score 40 points in a game. I'll pass the ball to you, and if it's an empty spot, don't you have the confidence to throw it in? Hayes was confident. As long as there is a shooter on the outside, he has the confidence to beat any opponent with a triangle attack, because the opponent can't defend him one-on-one.

"Your faith is too much. I also thought that this tactic would give the Bobcats the best record in the league, but you have more confidence than I do. Billups also said seriously: "As long as there is an open space, I will definitely throw the ball in." ”

"Also, we have the most bench depth in the league. Van [Weaver] has a good mid-range shot and a quick breakaway, and he and Corunna may be able to play in other teams, but we are just substitutes. We defended much better than we did last season. You, I, Marcus, Gerrard, Kevin and Corunna also work well in defending the No. 2 position, and as long as we can work together, our defense can also be in the top 5 in the league. Hayes laughed: "We're simply invincible, as long as the team doesn't have serious injuries like last season, even if the streak is broken, I don't think it's surprising." ”

"I believe in you." Van Gundy said lightly.

(To be continued)