"Guys, tomorrow is going to be the first regular season game, and now we need to make a rotational roster."

At the end of the team's practice, Keith Smart called everyone in, and as soon as he spoke, he immediately caught the attention of the players, all but those who were already certain to be in the rotation.

"Tyreco, DeMarcus...... Thomas. Smart read the names one by one, and when Robinson's name was called, there were already 12 people on the list, and at this time only Li Tian, Middleton, and Whiteside were left.

"Chris!" Keith Smart called out the last name.

Li Tian and the three of them showed puzzled expressions almost at the same time, but Middleton was puzzled with surprise.

Smart's choice was unexpected by Li Tian, who thought Smart would choose Whiteside, but in the end it was Middleton.

What puzzled Li Tian the most was that since Smart chose a player on the front line, why didn't he choose him, but Middleton? Whether it's summer league, preseason or usual training, Li Tian thinks he is better than Middleton.

Keith Smart left after speaking, and the other players also walked to the locker room, Whiteside glanced at Middleton and said to Li Tian: "Lee, it seems that your guess is not accurate. ”

"Lee!" Everyone had already left, except for Robinson, who saw that Li Tian was a little lost.

Now that he has entered the NBA, the opportunity to play will come after all, thinking of this, Li Tian immediately packed up his mood, his basketball road has never been smooth sailing.

"Let's go, Thomas, I'm fine." Punching Thomas Robinson in the body, Li Tian said with a smile.

…………

On the last day of October, Sacramento, the home of the Kings, which had just been renamed the Sleep Train Arena, was almost 100 percent occupied. This is the first game of the regular season of the new season for the Kings, and the opponent is the Chicago Bulls.

did not make it to the rotation squad, Li Tian naturally could not appear on the scene, and when the other players were fighting the Bulls on the court, Li Tian and Whiteside sat in the locker room to watch the live broadcast.

As a basketball fan, although he has become a player, Li Tian's love for watching games has not changed, so he was immediately fascinated by the game as soon as it started.

Another reason for this is the presence of Richard Hamilton in this game, because the core of the Bulls, Rose, was injured in the playoffs last season, and Hamilton played a more important role in the offense in this game, and at this stage, as Li Tian, who has a similar style to Hamilton, Hamilton's performance in the game can naturally bring Li Tian some touch.

In the middle of the game, Hamilton was constantly using his running to disrupt the Kings' defense, and it was clear that none of the Kings' players could keep up with Hamilton, so they had to use other players to help defend the defense.

However, for the Kings, who have not yet established a very good system for defense, once they need to separate two players to defend Hamilton, the defense of the rest of the position is prone to leaks.

The Bulls are already good at defense, and the King's offense is extremely difficult under the suppression of the Bulls, and the Bulls' offense cannot be limited at this time, so the scene is completely at a disadvantage. At the end of the first quarter, the Kings had fallen behind by six points, and if it weren't for the Bulls' own shooting touch, the margin would have been even greater.

Hamilton's performance made Li Tian feel a little excited, although his physical fitness and offense with the ball are still very average at this stage, but with excellent off-ball running and stable outside shooting, it will also help the team to a certain extent.

At this time, Li Tian secretly regretted in his heart, if he could play at this moment, he should be able to perform both offensively and defensively, he is very experienced in the defense of this kind of off-ball running player, and in terms of offense, he also believes that he can help his teammates open up space with Hamilton.

It's a pity that Li Tian was not able to enter the rotation list in this game, and he was destined to not get the opportunity to play.

"It's boring, Lee, you look fascinated." Whiteside, who was on the side, was obviously not as energetic as Li Tian could see.

Just at this time, Li Tian turned his head and spread his hands at Whiteside and said, "Besides watching the game, what else can we do?" ”

"It's so frustrating not to be able to play." Whiteside scolded.

"Hassan, you're going to get your chance." Li Tian comforted and said: "You have excellent talent, you just need some opportunities to show it." ”

"But that damn chance never came, to hell with that shit talent." Whiteside was in a terrible mood when he thought that several rookies could get a chance to play, but he didn't even make the rotation.

Li Tian didn't speak, he didn't know how to comfort this big man, Whiteside did have talent, Li Tian felt that if he had such a talent, two years of hard work was enough to gain a foothold in the league, but in fact, many talented players did not play in the NBA.

Li Tian is not good at commenting on these people, he feels that he is not qualified to do so, because he has not played a real NBA game himself.

Throughout the game, Li Tian watched very energetically, and the only regret was that the king lost in the end. At the end of the game, the score was fixed at 93:87, and the Kings lost to the Bulls and lost the first game of the season.

The loss in the first game of the new season, and the fact that the team didn't seem to show much improvement, was undoubtedly very disappointing for Kings fans

As the schedule progressed, fans were increasingly disappointed, with 10 games and only 2 wins and an 8-year-old record, finishing at the bottom of the West Conference.

Compared with the team's record, Li Tian wants to see when he can get the opportunity to play, after all, the King's record last season was not too good, and he also had a certain psychological preparation before joining.

Li Tian has been looking forward to his real first NBA game, but after a month in the blink of an eye, he is still outside the rotation list, Whiteside is in the rotation due to James Johnson's injury, and Li Tian seems more and more lonely.

Originally, some domestic media noticed that the King had a Chinese player, but the King only won 4 wins and 11 losses in 15 games, and the record continued to be bad last season, and Li Tian did not enter the rotation list for a long time, so there was not much media attention.

There is no media attention, no game to play, this situation is undoubtedly very different from Li Tian's imagination of the NBA, although he also understands that the NBA is fiercely competitive, and it is not easy to make a name for himself, but the crux of the problem is that he does not even have the opportunity to compete now, until now, he has not entered the team's 13-man list, and the loss in his heart can be imagined.

Li Tian has never been a complaining person, since he started practicing basketball, every opportunity has been obtained through hard training and perseverance. Although Li Tian was disappointed by the big gap in his heart, Li Tian did not give up on himself, but devoted himself to training.

Of course, there is another reason why Li Tian thinks that he can't get the opportunity to play, maybe the coach feels that he is not good enough, so Li Tian trains more and more. In addition, on days when there are no games or team training, Li Tian also insists on training by himself every day, and Li Tian hopes that his training attitude can impress head coach Keith Smart.

Although Li Tian's training could not be effective immediately, coupled with the previous two or three months of training, Li Tian could still feel some changes in himself.

For example, he has more muscles, his strength has improved, and in addition, his shooting seems to be a little more consistent than in college.

These days, Li Tian also looks at the iron book every day, and what makes him feel helpless is that since the first page was unsealed on the day he got it, there has been no change in the iron book in the next few months. If it weren't for the display of "unsealing the first page" and making Li Tian guess that there was still "the second page" and "the third page", he would have suspected that this was a disposable.

After entering December, there was finally a turnaround, the veteran Francisco Garcia was injured, and now the Kings have two injured players on the team, and if they want to make up 13 players, Li Tian will have to enter the rotation.