Union Center, Chicago.

The shouts of the players in the training hall came and went.

On the first day of training camp, the Bulls were all in place, and they were more excited than the other.

Last season's Bulls veterans are all aiming for a new season, and the new additions are also eager to try, after all, they joined the basketball god who played for the first team in the league.

"Bang! Boom! ”

Xu Yong and Ennis turned back after the confrontation and hit the shot cleanly, which also ended the confrontation between the starting group and the substitute group.

NBA full-court practice, a 12-minute quarter, starters, benches and bench will take turns to fight.

In the just-concluded game, Xu Yong led the starting group to a 30-10 straight end.

It's not that the bench group is too weak, it's that the strength of the starting group has improved too much.

Butler and Adams, in particular, have improved too much in one summer.

Adams has been able to suppress Hawes well, Butler has a stable step-back jumper, and combined with his [best civilian breakthrough], he can be regarded as able to stand alone in the game, not counting Rose, who has returned from injury.

Rose.

When Xu Yong got off the break, his eyes focused on Rose on the field.

Rose had just finished starting with the starting group when Thibodeau put him off the bench.

"Derek just came back, why did the coach start again?" Artest also ended up at this time, and couldn't help but turn his head to Xu Yong and ask.

Xu Yong smiled and didn't speak, but he could feel that Thibodeau's use of Rose was similar to last season, and more time would allow him to bring a bench lineup.

There is little pressure on both offensive and defensive ends of the staggered trip, which is instead protecting Rose.

And this year Rose is really different, he even looks like he's going to be a little bit really organized.

For this comeback, he must have put in a lot of effort behind the scenes.

But just then, Rose's breakaway was stealed by Justin Holiday .

Rose's breakthrough style is changing, and this is the biggest change in his style of play, he no longer seeks absolute speed, but uses his first step to grab position, and then plays with rhythm, which is a bit like Butler's direction, the difference is that he focuses more on rhythm than confrontation.

However, this change will not happen overnight, and he will need to adapt to the game.

Xu Yong looked around left and right again, and the Bulls were indeed strong this season.

In the point guard position, Rose starts, Hinrich comes off the bench, and there is an old Miller pressing the lineup.

If Rose can stay healthy this season, even if he changes his style of play to be less lethal, this configuration can be in the top 10 or even the top 5 in the league.

At the quarterback position, Butler starts, Foye comes off the bench, and the top 10 is not a big problem.

In the small forward position, he starts, James Ennis is on the bench, and there is Artest on the bench, which is a bit different from the strength of the starters and substitutes, but it is foreseeable that Butler will swing to play this position, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the top five.

In the big forward position, West starts, Johnson comes off the bench, and there is a rookie Kyle Anderson, which is barely in the top 15, but when it comes to hardness, it is definitely the first in the league.

In the center position, Adams starts, Hawes comes off the bench, and the veteran Mohammed, who has renewed his contract, which is the weakest of the five positions, but it is definitely enough to play last season, mainly depending on Adams' performance in the new season.

When the training session is over, the group returns to the locker room to take a shower and rest.

It wasn't long before Butler came in with a couple of pink school bags.

This immediately caused a whistle from everyone in the locker room.

One of the options for rookies to trick up, Anderson, they are blessed today.

At Butler's behest, Anderson and several other newcomers were asked to carry their bags on their backs for photos and had to leave the arena on their backs.

Anderson is very open, not only with a pose on his back, which is quite okay.

When the training was almost over and the players were leaving, Xu Yong was about to get up, only to see a pink schoolbag come into view.

"Boss, can I train along?" Anderson asked.

Xu Yong's face was puzzled.

"Steven said you're going to have a training session every morning before breakfast, and I wondered if I could join in on that." Anderson scratched his head as he spoke, and it was a bit too much for a rookie to ask of the team boss.

Xu Yong looked at Anderson, with a round and blunt jaw and a flat face, and although he was only one-eighth of Chinese descent, he looked .jpg Asian appearance.

"We'll have breakfast in the same place, but there's no room there."

Maybe it's because of blood relationship, Xu Yong has a natural liking for Anderson, coupled with Anderson's open personality, he didn't intervene in Anderson's joining the breakfast club, but he was telling the truth, there were only two rooms, and now Adams and Butler lived.

"Is there a sofa? I can sleep on the couch too. Anderson said right away.

Xu Yong was slightly surprised, although Anderson was only a rookie at the end of the first round, he still had the ability to rent a good house, and he was willing to sleep on the sofa.

It reminded him of Jeremy Lin, who had slept on Landry Fields' couch for a long time when he first arrived in New York as a temporary worker.

However, it can be seen that Anderson really wants to improve.

He nodded, but sleeping on the sofa is not an easy thing, when he and Harden went back to Tempe, they slept on a soft bed and had back pain, not to mention the sofa, so wanting to sleep and whether or not they could stick to it were two different things.

Half a month later.

Before breakfast on this day, Xu Yong and the others conducted strength training on the first floor as usual.

Anderson still looks energetic, and sleeping on the couch for half a month doesn't seem to have drained his motivation at all.

After the day's training, several people had breakfast together.

"Kyle, you can move to the first floor of my side tomorrow." Xu Yong said.

Anderson was stunned for a moment, a little unresponsive.

"But no one has lived over there, and you have to clean up the room by yourself." Xu Yong continued.

Anderson confirmed that what he heard was true, and immediately nodded vigorously.

It's not just that you don't have to sleep on the couch anymore, but it's that you can live in a room with the team boss when you first arrive, which is hard to come by.

After Anderson moved to the first floor of Xu Yong's side, he also became Xu Yong's driver by the way.

Xu Yongde admits that Anderson is now better at driving than basketball.

At this point, training camp is coming to an end and pre-season is underway.

The Bulls' game strategy has not changed much from previous seasons, with the main players playing the first half and then coming off the bench to play the first half.

However, the biggest change is that the Bulls have built up a huge advantage in the first half of several games, which allows the bench to work hard in the second half.

Then the Bulls won all seven games in the preseason.

Although the pre-season results are not included in the statistics, the strength of the team is already visible.

Not only did the main team and rotation play well, but the Bulls also found the 15th man who met the team's expectations in the preseason, Justin Holiday .

Justin is the eldest of the three Holiday brothers, but only fourteen months older than his younger brother Jrue Holiday.

Although he is 1.98m tall and has an elite reach of 2.15m, his overall talent is much worse than Holiday and he did not run until 2011 after finishing college, and ultimately failed.

The main reason for the loss is that he can't score as a scoring guard.

He averaged 5.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in his four years of college, and the only commendable thing was that he was selected to the best defensive team in the Pacific 12 Collegiate in the 2009~10 season.

After that, he mixed in overseas leagues, NBDL and NBA, and was a typical homeless man.

However, he played an impressive defensive game in pre-season, and with Thibodeau's side, there is a chance to get a foothold with the defense.

After the preseason, the regular season is about to begin, and as the favorite team, the Bulls are also highly watched by the outside world.

As soon as the public training ended on this day, the reporters rushed up, and Xu Yong was surrounded and couldn't get through.

"Do you have any box office expectations for the release of "Space Slam Dunk 2"?" The first reporter to ask was the question of the movie, Warner previously released a film pilot video, which caused a violent response, and the film is expected to be released in July next year.

"What day is today?" Xu Yong asked rhetorically to reporters.

"October 28th."

"What year?"

"2014."

"So you're asking a little too soon?"

His answer also drew laughter from other reporters.

"I think I can answer that question before the release next year, but for now, I'm just focused on the opening game." Xu Yong replied with a smile that the current situation of the team made him feel good.

"Earlier ESPN made a season strength prediction, and the Bulls were ranked first, before the Pacers and the Thunder, what do you think about that?" Another reporter asked.

"They're lined up like this this year?" Xu Yong asked rhetorically, he hadn't had time to pay attention to this yet.

"It shows that they know the ball." After seeing the reporter's affirmative nod, he nodded calmly.

This immediately caused a burst of restlessness among the reporters.

"The last time the Bulls were ranked first was in the 2011~2012 season." Just then, a local Chicago reporter spoke.

"Were we champions that season?" Xu Yong asked rhetorically after hearing this.

The other party nodded, and Xu Yong also laughed.

Now the other reporters are completely speechless, what else can they say? You just say that ESPN doesn't understand ball!

"The Bulls opener is against Miami, you've lost to them in the last two seasons, will it be any different this year?" Another reporter asked.

"As I said, no one will want to meet us in the new season."

"Do you mean the Bulls are going to win the opener?"

"Of course." Xu Yong nodded firmly.

On the opening day of the NBA, the number of games scheduled this year was the most in the past five years, reaching 12, with only six teams not playing.

And in these 12 games, there is no shortage of battles that fans pay attention to.

For example, Heat vs Bulls, Pacers vs Cavaliers, Mavericks vs Thunder, Warriors vs Spurs, etc.

The Heat vs. Bulls game was the first to take place, and the two teams have been rivals since 2010, and on a season level, the two sides have won twice each of the four times they have met each other in the past four seasons, and this year has become a bit of a king's mountain.

The game was on the Bulls' home court, and it also attracted a large number of stars to watch it live.

Among them, Kendall Jenner is very eye-catching, Jenner, who was only 19 years old at the time, officially entered the peak of her appearance, her biggest feature is that she looks in common with Eastern and Western aesthetics, and as a member of the Kardashian family, she has a small scale in hip development at a young age.

To say that the only fly in the ointment is that her front is too flat, there are no headlights for old drivers, and there is a little lack of passion for driving.

And sitting next to her is just the opposite, only 28 years old, but a pair of headlights are already very eye-catching, and he also has a delicate face, which can be called the representative of "angel face, devil body", is Alexandra Daddario, who has three-quarter Italian blood and one-quarter Irish blood.

She is the heroine of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and she has also appeared on the cover .jpg of GQ (American Men's Fashion Magazine) with her proud figure.

When the players on both sides entered, Xu Yong's appearance invariably attracted their attention.

Just like when reporters interviewed Xu Yong before, they would be the first to mention "Slam Dunk 2", the filming of this movie attracted the attention of a large number of people in the entertainment industry for Xu Yong, especially with his previous past scandals and even relationships with many women, it is difficult not to be noticed.

During the pre-game warm-up, Deng came over to greet Xu Yong.

This past summer, there have also been rumors between Deng and Noah, two Bulls veterans, and the Bulls, especially Noah, Foreman has actually considered making another trade similar to Yao Ming.

However, in the end, due to salary pressure, none of them were able to return to the Bulls.

Xu Yong also hugged Deng, and tonight they will not only catch up with their former teammates, but also directly face each other on the field.

After the warm-up, the scene entered the opening ceremony, and the starters of both sides appeared one after another.

"Now! Five-time NBA All-Star Vote King, Two-time Scoring Champion, Two-time MVP, Two-time FMVP, Two-time Championship Winner, 6'9" from Arizonada State University, No. 6, Satan ~~ Xu Yong! ”

When "Sirius" arrived for guitar solo and Edwards' classic intro sounded, the Union Center was in a state of flux.

The deafening decibels show the anticipation of Chicago fans for the new season.

And this is also the first time that Edwards has put Xu Yong's satan's nickname into a formal introduction.

Seo Yong also waved his hand to the cheers, and there was a fist clenching gesture at the end, sending the United Center into complete madness.

Feeling the madness of the scene, Wade unconsciously looked up, which gave him the feeling that it was like the advent of a new era.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lists of both sides were released one after another.

Heat: Money, Wade, Lore Deng, Bosh, Hibbert;

Bulls: Rose, Butler, Xu Yong, West, Adams.

Hibbert jumped the ball for the Heat, and Wade played the first offense with the ball in the frontcourt.

The Bulls' strategy was to shrink, and Deng got a shot from the perimeter, but he couldn't hit the shot.

Although Deng's strength is not necessarily weaker than Granger's, and even Granger is injured now, Deng has to win a lot, but basketball games pay attention to adaptability, and in terms of adaptability, Granger, as a 3D star, is much higher than Deng.

Adams jammed Hibbert, and Seo turned to take the defensive rebound and threw the ball straight to Rose.

However, the Heat retreated very quickly, except for Hibbert, the others did not rush to grab rebounds in the frontcourt at all, and it can be seen that Rose's return has made them much more wary of the Bulls' fast break.

The two sides moved to the front court, and the ball was in Butler's hands.

For Thibodeau, the first thing he has to think about when Rose returns is the issue of possession, and the opening round is also his answer.

The Bulls opened with a relatively simple pindown tactic.

Adams' solid cover blocked Deng directly, and Butler's pass was sent to Xu Yong.

The Heat showed excellent defensive rotation, and Wade struggled to defend at this point.

Xu Yong did not pause, directly faced Wade, who assisted in the defense, and completed the aerial work above Wade's head.

The basketball barely touched the net and fell into the bag.

The fans at the scene were stunned, this was a shot against the defense, but it looked like a shooting exercise.

Wade's eyes widened as well.

Xu Yong's reaction rate from receiving the ball to shooting is significantly faster and more decisive than last season.

It's a sign of absolute confidence in your shots.

Xu Yong stretched out his finger and pointed at Butler in the defense, signaling that he had passed a good ball.

This past summer, Butler practiced passing, except for the new technique of the step-back jumper.

Compared to last season, his passing accuracy has improved significantly.

The Bulls came out on top, but back on the back Posh picked up a pass after a pick-and-roll with Wade and hit a mid-range shot.

The overall strength of the Heat team has not decreased much compared to the previous two seasons.

And after the Bulls had the same tactics in the frontcourt, Xu Yong received the ball and was defended by Wade in advance, and there was no chance to shoot directly.

It's just that before Wade could react, Xu Yong had already quickly turned his back, and then turned around and leaned back after continuous hard chisels.

"Huh!"

This time, when the basketball went into the net, the ball grazed the net bag and made a crisp sound.

The sound reached the ears of the fans through the loudspeaker, and the scene instantly resounded with overwhelming cheers.

Xu Yong's offensive state at the beginning was also too good.

On the sidelines, Spoelstra held his hands on his cheeks and frowned.

The nature he felt was different from what the fans felt, it wasn't a matter of form, it was an oppressive force.

Seo Yong's score was too easy, as if Wade's defense was air.

But it's clear that Wade's defense is not bad, but Xu Yong's scoring consistency has been greatly improved.

Moreover, the Heat's offense failed to continue.

After Deng threw away his first three-pointer, Xu Yong consciously let him shrink to the basket, and his help defense successfully interfered with Wade's shot.

Hibbert was so uncomfortable that Adams couldn't jump, and West protected the defensive rebound, and then threw his hand to Xu Yong.

The Bulls played a fast break again, and the Heat's retreat was still fast, but Xu Yong's speed was faster.

When the fast break reached the three-second area in the front court, Xu Yong jumped up directly against Wade's defense, and after a confrontation, he pulled the lever in the air with one hand to avoid Wade's block and send the ball into the basket steadily.

(Wade: Why is it me every time?) ）

Once again, the scene was filled with cheers from the audience.

The Bulls opened 6-2 with the Heat, and these 6 points all came from Xu Yong!

"Honestly, I don't think the Heat have a bad defense, they're still one of the best teams in the league." On the commentary seat, Barkley was a little stunned when he saw this.

"But Xu's scoring makes them look like they can't defend." He went on to say.

"Man, it's a little strange to say, but I think Xu has officially entered his peak this season." O'Neill sighed from the sidelines.

It's not that he blows this time, but that Xu Yong scored too easily, and that feeling of obviously not playing at the same level.

And this feeling was only felt when he faced Jordan who came back.

Although this does sound a little strange as he said, after all, Xu Yong has already had a bunch of honors, which will make many people think that he has already entered the peak.

"I think the era of Xu is coming." At this moment, Kenny Smith on the side used a more accurate description.

Just as they were talking, Xu Yong suddenly pressed Deng, who received the ball, and made a quick shot to complete the cut to Deng.

He threw the ball to Rose as soon as he made a steal and followed up from the wing.

This reaction speed is too fast, and the Heat only have time for the outermost Chanmos to retreat and defend himself.

Rose finally passed the ball to Xu Yong, who took off after receiving the ball this time, and Chanmos mustered up the courage to jump to interfere.

"Bang!"

Chammos and Xu Yong had a physical confrontation in the air, and then flew out of the baseline like a falling leaf, while Xu Yong did not move in the air at all, and easily smashed the ball into the basket with one hand.

This time, Spoelstra directly called a timeout.

At this time, the Bulls fans on the scene were already excitedly sweating and doing a handstand.

Originally, their expectations for the Bulls were more on the comeback of Rose and the progress of young people like Butler and Adams.

Which Cheng thought, but it was Xu Yong who shocked them at the beginning.

And after so many rounds, even they really felt Xu Yong's ...... Dominance.

That's right, this word describes Xu Yong's opening performance too aptly.

You must know that the Bulls are facing the Heat, who have kept them out of the game for two consecutive seasons, and it is the Heat who have not changed much.

"No team wants to meet us next season."

The words at the end of last season's season are still in my ears, and Xu Yong, as the person who said this, makes people really feel the oppression of this sentence.

However, Xu Yong behaved calmly on the court, and he did not make a celebration after the dunk, but took the initiative to walk to Rose's side.

"Then he immediately affirmed Rose's pass.

It was as if he didn't care too much about his own performance and was more focused on his teammates.

This made Spoelstra, who picked up the tactical board on the sidelines, stunned, and looked at Xu Yong's back walking towards the half court with a peculiar look.

At this time, looking at Xu Yong's back, there were also Jenna and D'Addario.

Although they don't know that much about basketball, it's like not watching football and seeing someone score in a row and knowing that person is strong, but when you play a dominant player on the court, that feeling is very strong.

Not to mention, Xu Yong is now so famous in his own right.

After returning from the timeout, the Heat obviously strengthened their defense of Xu Yong, but this time there was a feeling that they were in the middle of the game.

Because just as they were doing so, Butler began to attack with Adams' pick-and-roll.

The [vertical jump rule] greatly weakened Hibbert's ability to protect the rim as a stump center, forcing him to shrink the basket, while Butler showed his offseason improved jump shot.

After hitting two consecutive shots, the Heat had to devote the rest of their defensive resources to him, and that's exactly what Butler wanted.

You must know that Thibodeau's positioning and requirements for him are to dilute the ball and organize the attack.

He sent back-to-back assists to West and Rose, and the Bulls were somewhat unstoppable on the offensive end.

Spoelstra couldn't help but start grabbing her hair.

The Bulls only have one more Rose on paper, the core players are still the same as those from last season, and even Butler and Adams are still young, but the offensive pressure is completely different.

Now the Heat's defense has made up for it and leaked the other side, and it can't be blocked.

In the end, he had no choice but to replace Hibbert with Brewer and play a small lineup to increase the speed of rotation.

This does do a better job in helping defense, but the disadvantage is that it loses rebounds, and it is crazy to lose.

Adams is good at grabbing rebounds in the frontcourt, and you put Bosh in front of him, so he doesn't get too comfortable.

And knowing that the Heat team has no center on the court, Xu Yong and West, the two forwards, are also fierce in rushing to the frontcourt.

On the field, after the Bulls played a personal wave from the opening by Xu Yong, they let Spoelstra change the lineup, and the Bulls still suppressed the Heat.

About 9 minutes into the first quarter, the score on the court was already 32-18, and the Bulls had a full 14-point lead.

At this time, the two sides entered the rotation, and Thibodeau replaced Xu Yong, West and Adams in one go, which is also very rare.

At this time, the Bulls were on the court, the backcourt was replaced early and then replaced, then Hinrich, the front line was Butler, who did not need to be off, and Johnson who came off the bench, and the center was Hawes.

Then just when the Heat felt that they could take it easy, Rose scored 2+1 on Joel Anthony with a beautiful layup after blocking and haus.

Looking at the leopard, you can see the offensive changes of the Bulls from this round.

While Butler is still on the court, he is more of a 3-and-D wing, with the ball in Rose's hands.

This change of possession is very clever, because simply choosing between Butler or Rose is easy to bring conflicts within the team, after all, no matter who is deprived of the ball, it will cause dissatisfaction among the players.

But now Thibodeau has cleverly chosen them all, but he has diverged in his time.

In fact, some clues can be seen from the configuration on the court, because in addition to Johnson's relatively weak three-point ability, the other three points, including center Hawes, have stable three-point ability.

And this distribution is also very reasonable, after all, even if Butler is durable, the physical consumption of holding the ball for so long is also very large.

Rose's play in this section is also wonderful, and his sudden switch of offense made the Heat side also uncomfortable, and his and Hawes's style of play to grab the first step after blocking and dismantling was also a little incomprehensible for a while.

By the end of the first quarter, the score on the court was 40-23, and the difference between the two teams was almost 20 points!

The fans at the scene watched in disbelief.

This is the Heat!

Even if it was a season opener, he was a little unprepared for the changes in the Bulls' style of play and strength, but Spoelstra's continuous adjustments did not work, which is difficult to explain.

This year's Bulls team has improved its strength by one notch compared to last season, and it is a big notch.

Or at this time, Xu Yong's sentence could not be more appropriate, the Bulls will be an opponent that no other team wants to meet this season.

At the end of the game, the score was fixed at 116-98, and the Bulls opened with a big win over their opponents over the past two seasons.

According to statistics, Xu Yong scored a game-high 30 points in the third quarter, plus 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

Although he scored a lot, he gave people the feeling that he hadn't made much effort.

Butler had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and if he hadn't only played three quarters, his 20+5+5 stats tonight would have been appropriate.

Rose also had 15 points and 4 assists, and although he was a starter, he was actually playing the role of the team's sixth man.

In addition, West had 11 points and 10 boards, and Adams had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Adams' 8 boards are worth talking about, because 5 of them are frontcourt boards, and he went crazy with the frontcourt boards when the Heat used a big four small lineup.

At this time, some people must wonder why he has grabbed 5 frontcourt boards, why is there only 3 backcourt boards?

This can be seen by looking at the rebounds of the rest of the Bulls, Adams often cares about the card people and does not close the board, and the rebounds are all in the hands of his teammates.

After the handshake, the Bulls returned to the locker room with a shout.

Such a hearty victory, and it is still facing the bitter master, it is really cool.

Especially Anderson, although he didn't play tonight, the feeling of lying down to win was also very cool.

However, compared to others, Xu Yong's expression at this time was very calm.

"Boss, why don't you look happy?" Anderson shouted and turned around to see Xu Yong sitting there, and couldn't help but lean over and ask.

"This is just the beginning."

Xu Yong's answer was calm, but it made Anderson more and more excited.

If this is just the beginning, what kind of record will the Bulls have this season?

I can't think about it at all!

At this moment, the team's equipment manager entered the locker room, and while changing Xu Yong's shoes, he handed over a note. [Note 21]

After Xu Yong opened it, he saw that it was a contact information.

He looked at the equipment manager suspiciously.

"This is what Ms. Jenner asked me to deliver." The equipment manager explained in a whisper.

Xu Yong handed the note back to the equipment manager and said calmly: "Next time you send a note like this, you will lose your job." ”

The equipment manager suddenly broke into a cold sweat when he heard this, although theoretically his work is not under Xu Yong's control, but with Xu Yong's status in the Bulls, it is a matter of opening his mouth to do this.

"I'm sorry, I see." The other party got up with the note and left.

When the equipment manager left, Xu Yong also got up and went to the shower.

Jenna was not interested at all, because the other party said that she was a celebrity, but in fact she was a high-level gun mount.

He doesn't want to be printed on a T-shirt with the rest of the players in the future and then be worn to the game and then greet him on the field, which is really low.

If it was Daddario, he could still think about it.

Of course, in fact, if it was a way to hand a note, he would have refused.

After all, he set a precedent, and after that, the other party sent notes every day, and he had to take the trouble to do so.

Now he is not the college student who was on the Devils' team.

After the press conference, Xu Yong returned to the locker room to prepare for a break.

I didn't sweat much today, so I won't go to rest, so I'll practice a little more.

But at this moment, his phone vibrated and he was a little surprised when he picked it up and looked at the caller ID, because it was Theron calling.

It wasn't a text message, it was a direct call, which surprised him a little.

They haven't been in touch since their last encounter in Paris.

That's normal, because essentially, they're just .love.

And the way Theron handled it was very adult and decent.

The phone was answered, but there was silence on the other side.

He thought something had happened to Theron.

After a while, he was about to hang up the phone and go back, when Theron's tangled voice came from there:

"I'm pregnant."

(End of chapter)