Barkley said: "It was Clyde's own choice, but I believe it was the best option for him to stay. ”

"I'm sure we're going to win the championship first, and when that day comes, I want to see Clyde come back, it's his hometown, and I hope we can all win the championship." Big Dream said.

"Do you think he's a traitor?" The reporter asked.

The two looked at each other and shook their heads.

……

In San Antonio, David Robinson was so depressed that he was about to shut himself up.

The Spurs have become one of the most ordinary playoff teams in the West, and they are not competitive in the playoffs at all, and he has not even touched the floor of the Western Conference finals over the years.

This time it was even worse, because he didn't have a good rest because of the Olympics, he had a back injury and had to miss the regular season in November, which made him see no future.

……

In the afternoon, Zhou Quan picked up the airport.

"Husband."

The temperature was very low, only six degrees, Zeng Lixi walked out in a black fur, followed by three company subordinates and a female teaching assistant, and when he saw him, he smiled and quickened his pace.

From a jerky little girl who just walked out of school, it only took one year to show the temperament of a strong woman, Zhou Quan is also strange, how did Zeng Li, who is not very ambitious, complete this transformation.

Now Zeng Lixi is very concerned about the development of coffee shops, and in a few days Seattle will open two more directly-operated stores, and then he will return to China, and the coffee shops in the capital will soon open.

Her changes, of course, come from the huge pressure brought to her by Zhou Quan's excellence, forcing her to work hard, otherwise she actually prefers to drink coffee every day, taste tea, sing and sing, play yachts, study beauty, practice sleeping Dangong, and then double cultivate with Zhou Quan, so that the leisurely life of cultivating immortals is her favorite.

……

On November 1st, the new NBA league season began, and the 96/97 season opener kicked off.

On the 30th, the SuperSonics flew to Salt Lake City to challenge their old rival Jazz in the opening game.

That night, at almost ten o'clock, when I was going to sleep, the system issued the season mission.

"Please complete the three consecutive championships and win the finals FMVP; Bonus, the host's body ages 30% slower. ”

"Great!"

With Zhou Quan's willpower, he also cheered for this reward.

Then a second prompt appeared: "If the host completes three consecutive championships, it means that the host has become the strongest basketball player on this star, and the system will no longer issue tasks, but only update the host's information." ”

"That's fine, that's fine." Zhou Quan said secretly.

Evening 1st, Delta State Center Arena.

CCTV broadcast the opening game live, NBC broadcast it live across the United States, and more than 100 TV stations around the world purchased satellite signals.

In addition, nearly 200 media reporters applied to enter the scene for interviews.

At eight o'clock, the two teams announced their starting lists.

Sonics: Leitner, Rodman, Schramf, Jose Hawkins, Zhou Quan

Jazz: Ostertag, Karl Malone, Brian Russell, Jeff Hornacek, John Stockton

Zhang said: "The Jazz's starting lineup has changed a little, but there is no reinforcement, but the original bench has been put into the starting lineup. ”

Xu Jicheng nodded and said: "The starting center Ostertag was a substitute last season, he was the No. 28 pick in the first round last year, with height, 218 cm, tonnage of up to 130 kg, rebounding and blocking ability is okay, offense is not good, and the supersonic Matt Geiger is about the same strength, but the movement ability is not as good as Geiger, more similar to Luke Longley's meat shield." ”

Zhang Li continued: "Small forward Russell was also a substitute last year, and the No. 18 pick in the second round in '93 didn't have much strength.

Overall, the Jazz are still supported by the Black and White Twin Devils and the Jeff Hornacek Three Musketeers. This lineup has been around for several years, and the tactical system should be more mature. But this lineup can play other teams, but it can't play supersound. ”

Xu Jicheng said with a smile: "Basically, as long as the opponent team is a point guard who controls the ball and is responsible for organizing the offense, it must be restrained by supersound." Only those who play small forwards like the Bulls can avoid being restrained by Zhou Quan. ”

Zhang Reasonable smiled: "Stockton's physical fitness is not good, he can't run fast, he can't get rid of Zhou Quan, and he has no strength, so he can't resist Zhou Quan, so he can play other point guards, but he can't bite Zhou Quan."

This is Tianke, he was born to be restrained by Zhou Quan, and he was restrained more than other point guards, in front of Zhou Quan, he couldn't show the demeanor of a top point guard at all, and he was very embarrassed every time. ”

Xu Jicheng said: "In today's opener, Leitner played the starter, and the glider played as a substitute, and Zhang guided, what does it mean?" ”

Zhang reasonably analyzed: "Letnara should be followed by the postman when he goes out, Ostertag is too tall and heavy to follow."

Without the postman under the basket, the Jazz's restricted area defense will be weakened a lot, which should be the reason for Leitner to start.

As for the glider, his offensive efficiency was not good in the first two seasons, and I think he is more suitable to play as a substitute, and when he plays the bench, he faces less defensive pressure, and the offensive efficiency should be improved. ”

Xu Jicheng said: "The supersonic bench lineup in the new season is very strong, with gliders and McMillan on the outside, Sam Perkins and Matt Geiger on the inside, and by the way, the veteran Cummings can also play." ”

"Yes, there are as many as 10 players in the SuperSonics' important rotation this season, which is stronger than last season's bench lineup, which was generally only nine in rotation last season, with three fringe players. With one more important rotation, the playing time and pressure of the main team will be less, and the burden will be less. Zhang Li said with a smile.

In the tunnel of the players, the two teams met at the starters.

"Postman, why didn't I see you and Jordan and Barkley in my title defense last time?" Zhou Quan asked curiously.

The postman said angrily, "What are you going to do?" ”

"Watch me win!" Zhou Quan said with a smile.

"Haha......"

Rodman laughed.

The postman glared at Zhou Quan and asked, "Look at the media in Seattle and say that you bought a farm of tens of thousands of acres in Brazil?" ”

When he said this, he looked envious, because his farm was only two hundred and thirty acres, which was completely incomparable.

Zhou Quan shook his head and smiled: "I didn't buy it, that place is prone to flooding, and I don't have the energy to take care of it." ”

"Tekken ......"

At this time, the away team came out, and when Zhou Quan finally went out, there was quite warm applause and cheers in the center of Delta State.

"Tell me, are you my basketball fans or my boxing fans?"

"I'm a basketball fan."

"I'm a fan of yours."

"Iron Fist, I'm both."

"Iron Fist King, let's fight with Iron Michael next year, I'm really looking forward to it!"

On both sides of the exit aisle, a number of fans took his jersey and shoes and asked him to sign them, and he signed two of the young fans.

At half past eight, the game officially began.

Leitner and Ostertag jump balls, supersonic offense.

Leitner looked at the postman who was following him, and without even glancing at the penalty area, he ran directly to the left three-point line, and the postman followed.

Schramf also went to the left wing, also stopping at the three-point line. He was on top, and Lightner ran to the bottom left corner.

Rodman goes to the basket and plays opposite Ostertag.

On the right flank, only Jose Hawkins.

Zhou Quan held the ball across the halfway line, Stockton tried to press closely, his left elbow was crossed in front, and he pushed forward directly against Stockton, which was quite easy.

After half a month of weight gain training, his weight has increased from 92.5 kg to 93 kg, and the data on the system shows that his strength has increased from 87 to 88, and nothing else has changed, and his ability to resist injuries and illnesses has not changed.

Stockton suddenly grabbed sideways, but Zhou Quan reacted the fastest, and as soon as he turned around and broke through, he burst through.

"Playing Stockton, it's that simple." Zhang Li praised.

Zhou Quan hit the free throw line, forcing Ostertag to take a step out of the basket, he combined the ball and jumped out, Ostertag jumped up to block, and the next moment, he turned the shot into a throw.

"Rodman ......"

Xu Jicheng shouted, and the next moment, he shouted excitedly: "It's in, Rodman catches the ball and makes a layup and hits a ball." ”

Zhang Li said with a smile: "Zhou Quan made a sudden Stockton too quickly and easily, and he didn't give the Jazz a chance to shrink his defense at all."

But if they shrink their defense too early, Zhou Quan's passing will also make them suffer, which is why the Jazz can't defend Zhou Quan. ”

Xu Jicheng said with a smile: "This ball allows us to boldly guess that this season's Jazz still can't play the supersonic." ”

Zhang Li smiled: "It should be said that with Stockton, his team can't play Zhou Quan, unless the other four positions are superstars." ”

"Haha......"

Both of them laughed when they said this.

The game was exactly as the two expected, the Jazz really couldn't play the supersonics, and the supersonic only needed three quarters to seal the victory.

Zhou Quan punched in the third quarter, blew up Stockton on the offensive end, locked him on the defensive end, and the Jazz couldn't defend again, lost the offensive engine again, and lost his temper.

In 30 minutes, he made 11 of 15 shots, 1 of 2 three-pointers, 3 of 3 free throws, and scored 26 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 5 steals, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls, shooting 73.3% from the field.

After only playing for 30 minutes, Zhou Quan felt that his condition was average, and he mainly scored by breaking through, so the efficiency was very high, but in fact, the shooting feeling was average, and he had only been resuming training for half a month, and he still needed some time to recover.

In addition, the state of his teammates is also average, that is, he restrained Stockton too much, otherwise he would not have won so easily.

After the game, Karl Malone returned to the dressing room, in a very bad mood, very silent, and did not say a word.

The Jazz are a team aspiring to win championships, but when it comes to the SuperSonics, how can he be in a good mood?

Jerry Sloan wants to keep him with the Jazz for three years, but how can he be willing to do so in this situation?

After taking a shower, on the way to the press conference with Stockton, he said, "John, I know you're not happy that I'm applying for a deal, but man, we don't see any hope here, can you understand my feelings?" ”

"I didn't stop you."

Stockton was silent for a moment and then said, "I know it's my problem, I can't help him on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends." ”

"Alas! I don't understand, if the Bulls can bring in Mutombo, why can't we bring in stars? After the postman had said this, he did not speak again, and the only sound in the corridor was the footsteps of the two men.

No, there were the footsteps of three people, and Jerry Sloan's.

He knew very well that the postman's words were not said to Stockton, and that if the postman had said these words, he would have said them to Stockton a long time ago, and this was said to him.

But unlike the Bulls, the Jazz have a first-class ball market, 40 national live broadcasts, a huge playoff income, a large number of sponsors, a top-three attendance in the league and expensive ticket revenue, what does the Jazz have?

Even if the Bulls' salary this season is 31 million, even if Jordan's 24 million is removed, the salary of the whole team is as high as 55 million, which is the highest salary team in the league.

Counting Tekken's $13.5 million salary this season, the supersonic team combined for 40 million is almost the second in the league.

The Jazz's total salary this season is only $25.2 million, and even the space is still 1.3 million that has not been filled, and they are not qualified to compete with teams like the Bulls and SuperSonics.

The Bulls form a real triumvirate such as Jordan, Pippen, and Mutombo, although the SuperSonics do not have so many giants, but they are also All-Star teams, and there are several All-Stars with an annual salary of five million dollars, and the Jazz's salary is only half of theirs, how to compare?

The postman was not willing to rot at Jazz, and he was not reconciled.

But he knew that the postman really wanted to leave, and if he forced him to stay, he would only deviate from Germany.

But if he doesn't force it, the team he has spent years working on, the team that already has a championship level, will disintegrate in an instant.

After the supersonic game and the press conference, they rushed back to Seattle overnight because they had back-to-back games against the Trail Blazers tomorrow night.

On the night of the 2nd, the team defeated the Trail Blazers with some difficulty and won the opening game for the second in a row.

On the 3rd, the league announced the best of the week for the first week, giving Zhou Quan.

Next, the No. 5 defeated the Hawks at home to make it three wins in a row.

But No. 7, the SuperSonics lost to the Suns on the road, and then in back-to-back road games on the No. 8, they lost to the Spurs.

On the 8th, the MVP rankings were officially announced for the first time.

Jordan first, Olajuwon second, Zhou Quan third.

On the 11th, the team defeated the Kings on the road, completed a wave of two losses and one win on the road, and returned to Seattle.

At this time, the SuperSonics are 4-2, tied for third in the West with the Lakers, who are also 4-2.

First in the West is a mosaic with a six-game winning streak, and second is a five-win, one-loss Jazz.

The Eastern Bulls are also on a six-game winning streak, followed by the Heat and Knicks.

In the first six games, Zhou Quan averaged 31 minutes per game, played some time control, averaged 28.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 10.5 assists, 4.4 steals, 2.5 blocks, 2.4 turnovers and 2.2 fouls per game, and the shooting rate was 50.5%, and his state was not as good as last season.

Of course, this data is still the first in the league's personal data, only Jordan's 29.6 points are slightly higher than him, the rebounding is slightly higher, and the other four data are a cut below him.

On the 12th, the league announced its Week 2 Best of the Week, given to the Nuggets' Dalle Ellis.

This week, Ellis played 27.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 0.6 steals while shooting 52.4% from the field.

The media rated the performance of each team in the first two weeks, and the SuperSonics rated the lowest of the six teams in Pot 1.

(End of chapter)