Chapter 71: New Brothers

On November 19, 2007, the Warriors were still at home against the Grizzlies.

Since entering the NBA in 1995, the Grizzlies have been synonymous with the belly of the fish, a team that has proven that there are no limits to fall, and the league's second-to-last and first-to-last records have been soft.

Because of the record, the team has been in the league for just 12 years, and it has changed the logo and the owner and the head coach, and even changed the home stadium once, moving from Vancouver to Memphis.

However, the team's record has barely improved in the past few years, and they entered the playoffs for two consecutive years in the 03-04 season and the 04-05 season, of course, they went to play soy sauce in both seasons, and they were swept out of the competition by their opponents before they finished the first round.

Grizzlies fans thought they saw the light of day, especially in the '05-06 season, when the team's boss Pau Gasol was selected as an All-Star, becoming the first person in the team's history. But the result was right that season, with the back NO 1 Stoudemire was reimbursed for the season due to a knee injury, and the team, which had finally improved a little in terms of performance, sank to the bottom again.

The bad luck continued, and last season, the Grizzlies held their breath to make a difference, only to have a healthy start with Gasol becoming a runaway teenager - he injured his left foot, so it was another depraved season.

However, last season was not without success for the Grizzlies, as Rudy Gay, who was acquired from the Rockets, grew rapidly and proved to fans that even if he can't be a superstar, he still has no problem being the tactical core of a team. In addition, Hakeem Warik, Terrence King, and Kyle Lowry have also made great strides, giving fans new hope.

This season, the Grizzlies have a new coach, and Suns assistant coach Mark Jafaroni has stepped in to take the helm of the team. With a new head coach and a new roster, the Grizzlies have big ambitions this season.

The Suns' record and box office double wins in recent seasons prove that the run-and-gun tactics are very marketable, Jafaroni is the No. 1 player in the assistant coach's bench of D'Antoni, and is believed to have received D'Antoni's true pass, and the Grizzlies invited him to take charge of the team, no doubt hoping that he can lead this team to play dazzling run-and-gun tactics.

From the perspective of the lineup, the Grizzlies are very suitable for running and shooting, they have crazy dunkers like Swift, calm point guards like Navarro and Lowry, all-round fighters like Guy, scoring maniacs like Stoudemire like flying squirrel, and most importantly, their core Pau Gasol is known as the most flexible interior player in the NBA, and everything looks good.

But after the start of the game, the cold reality gave the Grizzlies a disadvantage, so far the game, the Grizzlies have won only two games in nine games, and the record is once again at the bottom of the NBA, although the NBA has not been in the game for long, but they have already managed to get themselves out of the playoffs, and they have already booked a good spot in next year's draft.

The Grizzlies' problems were vividly exposed in this game against the Warriors, they wanted to play artillery tactics, they wanted to play Kombat Whirlwind, but they simply didn't have the ability.

Navarro is a good point guard, and although the Spanish national player and the core outside of the European basketball giant Barcelona team has just entered the NBA this season, he immediately showed good adaptability like his fellow countrymen, and he became the starting point guard of the Grizzlies in just five games.

Navarro has a lot of experience, tough nerves and a cool head, and he has a lot of good qualities. But he also has two shortcomings, and it is these two shortcomings that dethrone him:

The first point is that, like traditional European point guards, Navarro doesn't push fast enough, likes to look for opportunities slowly like a hungry wolf, and is very patient to grind opponents to death, which is no problem, and it is still a virtue for point guards, provided that they don't fit into the run-and-gun tactics. Another name for run-and-gun tactics is Kombat Whirlwind, look at Nash's advancement and passing, that's called a scalpel offense!

The second point is that this hard-working kid has only been in the NBA for less than a month, and he is a complete rookie like Chamberlain, except for a national team teammate Gasol, he is not familiar with everyone else, and he has not yet figured out their technical style, so if the pace of the game is fast, it is easy to make mistakes.

However, the Warriors are the best team in the league to play the whirlwind, faster than the Suns, Navarro was killed, and he made four turnovers in the first quarter, one of which was sent directly to Chamberlain, who was stunned at the time, and asked the old Nelson Navarro if he was their undercover agent after the game.

The rest of the Grizzlies are also not suitable for the implementation of run-and-gun tactics, especially Swift, that guy is a brainless person, and he will not have any offensive means except dunks, I really don't know why the Grizzlies used a list to pick him out.

Chamberlain likes this kind of rough brother the most, Swift was turned over by Chamberlain's hat after coming off the bench, he ate Chamberlain's four big hats in ten minutes, and then Chamberlain was embarrassed, he always wanted to ask Swift, are you here to find a hat?

Gasol proved that he was not suitable to be the leader of a team, the Grizzlies were suppressed by the Warriors to play like this, and he also showed no anger, if Chamberlain had been angry, he would definitely choose to fight to the death with the opponent, either the opponent died, or he himself died.

The Grizzlies' interior line is too bad, Swift's feet are very slow, he can't keep up with Chamberlain, Gasol can't keep up, but Chamberlain's strength is a street stronger than him, and he can push him into the audience with a flick of his arm. And the big battle with the Cavaliers in the last game made him feel angry, and the experience of leaving the court with six fouls early made him wait for a chance to vent.

This game was the opportunity, and as in the previous game, Chamberlain still played 30 minutes, but he scored a total of 22 points and 22 rebounds on 9-of-9 shooting and two free throws, in addition to 10 blocks. Fortunately, the old Nelson replaced him early, otherwise Chamberlain would have to take another 30+30 in this game.

In the last eighteen minutes, Chamberlain watched the game with relish on the bench, and he is now also paying attention to rest, 82 games in a season, if every game is 40 minutes or 45 minutes, he will definitely not be able to stand it.

There was no doubt that the Warriors simply won the game, slaughtering the Grizzlies to death 130-96.

"It's time for the Grizzlies to rebuild." Old Nelson sighed as he looked at the team's lifeless bench.

This is not a normal team, and if it loses like this, a normal team will already be angry, and it may even start a fight with the Warriors. But the Grizzlies' players didn't care, and Gasol, as the boss of the team, also talked and laughed with his fellow countryman Navarro, which really opened Chamberlain's eyes.

At the end of the game, Gasol came up and hugged Chamberlain very gracefully, patted him on the back and encouraged him, making Chamberlain cry and laugh, as if it was not he who blocked Gasol four times on the court just now? Otherwise how could this guy be so kind to him?

At the end of this game, the Warriors will welcome new teammates, Evans and Luis came to Oakland on the day of the game, but they have to undergo a medical examination, and they are now in a frozen state, and they cannot play yet, and the results of the medical examination will take two days to come out, and they will be able to play in the next game.

After the trade ended, the Warriors were back in good spirits, and when they returned to the locker room after the game, Chamberlain saw a big black man with a full beard and a hideous face, and a small man with a sharp beak and monkey cheeks smiling at him.

The two had fought and known each other before, Chamberlain went up and gave the two of them a bear hug, and Jackson and the others came in afterwards and hugged the two of them.

Evans was specially asked by Chamberlain to be his substitute, and the last time he played against the 76ers, Evans came off the bench for 20 minutes and has been entangled with Chamberlain. Although his defensive ability is average, his attitude is absolutely not to say, he is extremely positive, he defends Chamberlain close to every second on the court, and he does his best to scramble for every rebound, and he is definitely a qualified substitute.

"I propose that we go to a nightclub tonight to celebrate our new brother joining our team!" Jackson raised his right arm and shouted, the proposal was applauded by everyone, and Louis added with a smile: "Also to celebrate our team's big win tonight!" ”

Chamberlain patted his chest and promised: "Guys, all the expenses tonight are mine, brother, I have a treat!" ”

Now he has a big contract of eight million, and he is no longer the poor boy who has to calculate left and right for a beer, but he is usually very frugal, which can be seen from the fact that he still lives in the soul ballet slums, and after getting his salary, in addition to giving half to his family, he saves the remaining half. But sometimes he has to be generous, he just signed a big contract, and according to the rules of the NBA, he wants to invite his teammates to have a good game, so I can take this opportunity to express it today.

A wolf's howl rang out in the locker room, and Chamberlain invited Nelson Sr. and the assistant coaches, but they all politely declined, and it was impossible to party all night like the youngsters. Nelson Sr. was very reasonable, he just advised Jackson and the others not to cause trouble, but he didn't prohibit them from going to nightclubs, especially today's big win over their opponents, they really need to be celebrated.

Chamberlain invited Winnie again, he thought that this violent girl would definitely refuse, after all, they were going to a nightclub, but Winnie agreed, and after arriving at the nightclub, she was more familiar than Chamberlain, and was very familiar with the bartender, DJ and bodyguards, and a bunch of horses ran to pay allegiance.

Jackson and the others were still uncomfortable with the presence of a woman in Winnie, but everything changed after arriving at the nightclub, Winnie came forward, and they were free of the box fee tonight, and they only needed to pay for the drinks and the dancer's entrance fee. Don't underestimate this box fee, Chamberlain and these people asked for a big bag that can accommodate 50 people, and the six-hour box fee is a total of 8,000 US dollars, which is simply burning money.

Originally with the sexy Winnie, Chamberlain was also worried that some men would come to find trouble, but as soon as Winnie appeared, many men immediately honestly clamped their crotch and lowered their heads, there are definitely many people here who have suffered her losses, and the dancers call her 'big sister head' regardless of age.

After a night of carnival, at half past five in the morning, the drunken people left the nightclub, and Chamberlain paid the bill after the worst, spending a total of 6,500 US dollars, which was already considered to be saved by Jackson and others, because they knew that Chamberlain only got a month's salary, not a full salary, otherwise the lightest would have to be 10,000 US dollars.

Here is an explanation that in the NBA, player salaries are paid annually rather than weekly, and they are settled in a lump sum after playing a season. A player can be paid in full if injured, but if he is suspended, the player will be deducted from his salary for the corresponding game. But this is not the case with the salaries of rookie players, in order to prevent them from squandering uncontrollably after signing a big contract, their wages are paid on a half-month basis, and Chamberlain has just received a half-month salary.