Chapter 045: Training Camp and the Preseason Tournament That Started
On September 16, Li Ze drove to Ford Center Arena in Oklahoma City, today was the day of the team's training camp, and he didn't want to be late for the first day of training.
After parking the car in the parking lot, I saw the turtle full of vitality, and it seemed that this holiday was good.
"Hey, Bro, how is Spain, I see Nina has been posting pictures." Li Ze stepped forward and shook his fist with the turtle to salute him.
"It's amazing, the sun, the sand, the climate, the food, Nina loves it, but I still prefer Los Angeles." The turtle is also a seed of infatuation, and it is especially good for girlfriends.
"I want to go to Spain when I have the chance, you know, apart from Manchester United, my favorite is Real Madrid, and it's definitely good to go to the Bernabeu to watch a game."
Li Ze is a little yearning, after all, the Spanish sisters are also very enthusiastic.
"I still like basketball, how is your playing time in the new season, Coach Brooks will definitely not treat you badly, he has always taken good care of the rookies."
Turtle Turtle is still more concerned about his brother's situation in the team.
"Don't worry, even though I changed to point guard and started off the bench, I think as long as you have consistent playing time, these are not a problem." Li Ze said with a smile.
"With you to organize me rest assured, in UCLA was the most comfortable time for me to play, at that time I just needed to score and push to convert the offense, last year Brooks criticized me because of tactical problems, but this year fortunately with you, I can definitely play better!"
Turtle Turtle had some minor problems in college, easy to get started, tactical execution was not in place, and he couldn't grasp the offensive rhythm well, so it seems that he hasn't improved much.
As the two were talking, they had arrived in the team's locker room, most of the players had almost arrived, and everyone was bragging.
"Heyce, Kayce, how was the holiday?" Durant, who was scrolling Twitter, got up and bumped his fists when he saw Li Ze.
"Basically spent it in training, and I didn't want to mess up my rookie season." Li Ze was very modest, and most of his teammates in the locker room were not familiar to him.
"You've got to learn to enjoy life, Bro, and welcome to the Thunder!" Jeff Green also came over to make a statement, after all, they are also superficial brothers who have been together for a long time.
Sergi Ibaka also wanted to come forward to greet Li Ze, but he was still a little stumbling in English, but this was not difficult for Li Ze, and he greeted him directly in Spanish.
"Serge, I know you, Russell told me that your block is great!" Li Ze took the initiative to punch the young Ibaka.
"God, you speak Spanish, that's great, last year I had a hard time communicating in the team and my English was terrible." Ibaka was choked and said a lot.
The teammates on the side all looked at Li Ze with curiosity, a high-ranking rookie, handsome and rich, and had a good relationship with the core of the team, but he didn't expect to know foreign languages... Is this newcomer a monster?
At present, there are basically no old guys in the Thunder team, and center Nenad Kostic and forward Nick Collison are relatively old, and the atmosphere in the locker room is generally very good, and the old guys are not fighting with Li Ze.
"Okay, Sergi, don't get excited, Kayce, follow me on Twitter first, you guy has released his first single, and his popularity is rising rapidly, so please help me increase my fans."
Li Ze's recent fan growth rate has made Durant red-eyed, he currently has a lot of black fans, and he can't stand the high-intensity line every day.
"No problem, let's come together, let's take a break from each other!" Li Zezhi doesn't care much about Twitter fans or anything, his account is still operated by Chapman.
Rookie Byron looked at the locker room and warmly welcomed Li Ze, and felt a lemon in his heart, they are also rookies, why are you so good?
After the players changed into training clothes and came to the training hall, Coach Brooks nodded with satisfaction, yes, they were in good shape.
"Okay guys, the new season is about to start, we have to keep our shape, we start the preseason at home on October 5th against the Utah Jazz, and the coaching staff will announce the rest of the schedule."
"There may be some changes to our squad in the new season, but the playing time is won by the usual training performance, which I will not emphasize, just practice together today and start training tomorrow."
Coach Brooks has a high prestige on the team, and the players support him, and without the old fritters, the young players will be easier to manage.
After a full warm-up, the players began to practice together, which is currently mainly tactical training, and after Li Ze came to the team, he had to play point guard, which made a huge change in the team's second lineup.
"Very nice, Kayce! Ibaka, you should go down immediately after you cover so that Kayce can pass the ball directly to you to attack the basket, and you have to echo each other on the court. ”
What Coach Brooks appreciates most is Li Ze's understanding and execution of tactics, which is played with his brain and can clearly understand the situation on the court.
The coaching staff also found that Li Ze was almost completely integrated into the Thunder team, as if he had been training with the team for several months, passing the ball just right, and knowing his teammates' playing habits very well.
In training, Li Ze held the ball and asked Ibaka to block and dismantle, although the block was not strong, Li Ze still successfully broke into the inside line, Jeff Green has been covering him, but the left-handed dribble suddenly accelerated, and he was about to carry Jeff Green.
As soon as centre-forward Kostic wanted to come up and make up for it, Li Ze passed the ball through the gap between the two in the air to substitute defender Eric Maynor, who shot directly from the open space.
The 3-pointer hit the hollow shot, and Meno immediately signaled Li Ze to make a good shot.
Coach Brooks is satisfied, this is the advantage of the tall guard dominating the ball, with a wide field of vision and strong ball ability, and the ball was prevented by Meno.
Li Ze's ability to integrate into the team is also thanks to the multi-player training mode of the fantasy training space system, he has been playing training matches with these teammates in the space every day during this time, and he has long been familiar with their playing habits.
Presti nodded secretly when he saw Li Ze's performance on the sidelines, no matter how good Brooks said before, it depends on whether Li Ze can integrate into the team.
......
Half a month of intensive training, everyone also got to know each other briefly, in general, Li Ze feels good, at least he doesn't have to run errands and carry bags for the old guys, after all, the team's top card is Durant, this is a young team.
On October 5th, Ford Center Arena in Oklahoma City slowly began to come alive, and although the preseason game was not very useful, the local fans would still support it, after all, the ticket price was really cheap.
In addition to the local TV station, this game will be broadcast quietly, and the Celestial Empire will also be quietly broadcast, although Li Ze looks like an ABC, but the nationality can't be faked, so everyone pays attention to it in a low-key manner.
In the locker room before the game, Durant was still scrolling Twitter with high intensity, Li Ze was really curious, and couldn't help asking:
"Kevin, don't tell me you're arguing with Kuroko again."
"This guy has been hacking me, I have to teach him a lesson and let him know my strength." Durant explained to Li Ze while facing the line.
"Maybe you can open a trumpet to scare him, you're a big star, and tweeting in person doesn't fit your identity." Li Ze shrugged his shoulders and gave Durant an idea.
Durant raised his head violently, looked at Li Ze, and then laughed,
"Haha, that's right, I'll have to shoot him with a few more trumpets! Kayce, that's a great idea! ”
Li Ze suddenly couldn't complain, "Good guy, how much do you care about other people's opinions... Millionaires and netizens are on the line, it's outrageous! ”