Chapter 111 The Best Rookie winner is...

At 2 p.m. that day, Barkley was interviewed live on ESPN at a hotel in Los Angeles.

"Charles, what do you want to say to Michael Jordan?" the reporter asked after sitting down on a chair in the room.

"I told him what I wanted to say a long time ago. I told him, hey, Michael, you shouldn't have come back a second time," Barkley said with a big mouth.

"Ha ha……"

The reporter almost bent over with laughter.

After both sides sorted out their expressions, the reporter asked again: "So for the upcoming playoffs, Charles, which team do you think has the best chance of winning the championship?"

Barkley said: "It is very difficult for Eastern Conference teams to win the championship. In terms of winning percentage, the Pistons, who are first in the Eastern Conference, are equivalent to the Lakers, who are fifth in the Western Conference.

I still favor the Spurs and the Lakers. In the second round of the Western Conference last season, the Lakers eliminated the Spurs 4-1. This season, the Spurs have made a comeback with great momentum.

The Lakers have an aging roster and lack of ambition after winning three consecutive championships. The Spurs will have a certain advantage. I think the Spurs have the best chance of winning the championship."

"So Charles, what do you think about the best rookie?" The reporter changed the subject.

Barkley was not surprised that the reporter asked this question, because when talking about the best rookie, Wolverine is a rookie that must be mentioned, and Wolverine's popularity has been high since he entered the league and swept the Pacers, and it became even higher after he ripped open his wardrobe with his bare hands at the All-Star Game.

"Whether in terms of personal data or team record, Wolverine should be the best one." He spoke honestly.

"Do you think Stoudemire, Yao Ming and Caron Butler are not as good as Wolverine?" the reporter asked bluntly.

Barkley laughed and said, "Apart from the facts, they are all the best. It's not surprising who gets the best rookie award."

"Ha ha!"

The reporter burst out laughing, but tried to suppress his laughter and asked, "What if we don't ignore the facts?"

Barkley immediately said seriously: "Let's not ignore the facts. Wolverine is definitely the best one. No one can deny this."

"So do you think he can reach the level of the four super centers?" the reporter asked again.

Barkley thought for a moment and said, “Of course his stats in his rookie season were not as good as those four, nor as good as Alonzo Mourning.

But I think it's because his basketball foundation is too poor. With his physical talent, if he had studied in high school and college in the United States and had a few years of professional basketball training, I think his performance in the rookie season would not be lower than these four."

"Are you so optimistic about him?" the reporter asked in surprise.

"Whether it's static talent, dynamic talent, or spiritual attribute, I have no reason not to be optimistic about him," Barkley said seriously.

"So what do you think is his biggest advantage in the interior?" the reporter asked.

"biggest advantage?"

Barkley muttered for a moment, then said, "Ability to fight back."

"confrontation?"

"Yes, confrontation."

Nodding, Barkley said: "Even if O'Neal is standing still, he can't shake Wolverine with his absolute strength and tonnage. He can only impact Wolverine when he is in motion.

While still in motion, Wolverine can still attack O'Neal. The first time they met, Wolverine dunked over the Shark and smashed the backboard.

At this point, he said with a surprised look on his face: "The strong confrontation ability allows Wolverine, who weighs only 115 kilograms, to have a great advantage under the basket, so he is the player with the highest proportion of offensive attacks under the basket.

Of course, his efficiency is not as good as O'Neal, but in terms of dominance under the basket, the Big Shark is definitely the best in the league's history, and it is unshakable."

……

At this time, in Tali Town, He Zhongqiu was doing shooting training.

His dribbling skills have reached level 70, which is more than enough for a center. He only needs to maintain this basic skill in the future. He no longer spends energy on training. His main focus now is on offensive techniques and shooting techniques.

Not far away, in the Knicks headquarters office building, team chairman and general manager Scott Layden sat in a big chair.

This season, the team's record has reached fourth in the Eastern Conference with 48 wins, compared to only 30 wins last season, a full 18 games more. The only change is the addition of the Wolverine.

At first, Holmes Lester's upper limit for the Wolverines' potential was Ewing, but now the potential shown by the Wolverines proves that Lester's evaluation was correct. This has made him more ambitious and he has the idea of ​​changing the head coach.

He has been with the Jazz for so many years and built a strong lineup of the Black and White Duo, but he has not fulfilled his dream of winning the championship. Now he hopes to continue to fulfill this dream with the Knicks.

Of course, this is also the intention of boss Dolan. Dolan has long believed that Don Cheney is not capable enough. If it were not for his support, the coach would have been replaced long ago.

"Mid-Autumn Festival."

“Xia is here.

"During the Mid-Autumn Festival, your shoes sold very well, second only to Jordan, Carter, McGrady, Kobe, Iverson and others in North America." Xia Song said excitedly.

"There are so many people whose sales volume is higher than mine?" He Zhongqiu said in surprise.

Xia Song was stunned. Seeing He Zhongqiu's exaggerated expression, he said unhappily, "Zhongqiu, your acting is a bit exaggerated!"

He Zhongqiu didn't seem to be shocked at all, and immediately said, "Brother Xia, please arrange it for me. I want to take an acting class every week."

"Are you serious?" Xia Song asked.

"Of course, I want to be an international action superstar eventually. How can I do that without some acting skills?" He Zhongqiu nodded.

"Well."

Xia Song agreed, and then said, "AND1's estimate was a little wrong. They thought that the main sales would be in our country, but they were wrong. Your shoes do sell well in China, but because they are too expensive, the sales volume is far lower than that in the United States."

"Our country is developing very fast. Maybe my shoes will be popular in the country in a few years," said He Zhongqiu.

"That's for sure."

……

"Snapped!"

Isaiah Thomas's phone fell to the floor.

It was like a dream. From the moment he received the call from Layden to the moment the call ended, he couldn't believe that the Knicks wanted him to take over the position of head coach.

The Wolverines just defeated the Pacers, and the management asked me to be the head coach. Is that a good thing? Could it be that the Wolverines want to bring me to New York and kill me in the locker room?

Layden asked him to meet tomorrow. Now he wants to make a plan about the Knicks. If Layden is not satisfied, he cannot be the head coach of the Knicks.

……

At 8 p.m., the official website of the NBA announced that a series of selections including this season's best coach have ended and will be announced on ESPN at p.m. tonight.

At around seven o'clock in the evening, He Zhongqiu and Philip finished their dinner. Nanny Mary cleaned up the dishes and the dining room and left.

She used to work three jobs, but now she only works for He Zhongqiu. He Zhongqiu raised her salary to $3,000 per month, which exceeds the average salary in New York.

Moreover, food and lodging are provided, so she doesn't have to bring her own meals every day like before.

But she doesn't live here because she has family to take care of. She drives back to Tully Town every night and comes here at seven in the morning.

Philip brewed a pot of coffee and turned on the TV to ESPN.

Although He Zhongqiu's English listening and speaking skills are barely okay now, he still cannot do without him because his reading and writing skills are not yet good enough. Working and living in the United States for a long time, English reading and writing skills are also very important.

Philip asked curiously: “Seriously, Mid-Autumn Festival, it’s only been two months, why did you break up with Anne Hathaway?”

"Look at the way you ask, there is only friendship between her and me, not love, so how can we break up?" He Zhongqiu said.

"Does she know that?" Philip asked with contempt.

"Then how should I know?" He Zhongqiu said.

"You are such a scumbag." Philip said with envy.

"She sometimes says the same thing to me." He Zhongqiu said indifferently.

"By the way, her health has not been very good these days. Is she sick?" Philip asked curiously.

He Zhongqiu said: "Well, Wellington, to tell you the truth, this is all my fault. My period was too long. She complained of severe back pain, frequent urination at night, and no energy to do anything.

I accompanied her to the hospital for a check-up, and it turned out that she was almost suffering from kidney failure.

I took her to see a Chinese doctor, who said she had severe kidney deficiency and told her to abstain from sex for three years, so we had to break up."

"I'm a quick shooter, why the hell am I asking this?" Philip was stunned, then he raised his hand and slapped himself in the face.

It was 8 o'clock and ESPN's o'clock NBA sports news began.

The first honor was the best coach, and the Spurs' record was first in the league, which was given to Popovich.

The second honor was the Defensive Player of the Year, or DPOY, which was given to Ben Wallace, who also won the title last season and is considered the defending champion.

The third honor was the Best Sixth Man, which was given to Kings backup guard Bobby Jackson.

The fourth honor was the Most Improved Player, which was given to Arenas.

Next came the turn of the best rookie, and the TV screens showed highlights of the games of the best players among the 02 rookies, including Yao Min, Stoudemire, and He Zhongqiu.

"Now I'm going to announce the list of best rookies..." The host paused here full of suspense.

At this time, He Zhongqiu, Stoudemire, Yao Ming, Butler and others in front of the TV were staring at the host's mouth, wishing they could get in and tear it open.

"He is from the New York Knicks, Wolverine congratulates you on the Mid-Autumn Festival."

When several people were getting impatient, the host quickly read out He Zhongqiu's name.

"Shet!"

Xiao Si cursed angrily.

"Ugh!"

Dayao sighed.

"Ha ha!"

He Zhongqiu laughed.

Then his cell phone kept ringing. Xia Song called to celebrate, followed by Dayao, and then some teammates.

The eighth call he received was from the recently retired Michael Jordan, who said to him, "Wolverine, this is Michael Jordan, congratulations on winning the Rookie of the Year award."

"Michael Jordan? Haha, idol, you actually called me, I'm so happy!" he said happily.

Jordan heard this and said angrily, "Don't say I'm your idol. I remember you kicking me out of the locker room. No one would kick out their idol."

"Ha ha!"

He Zhongqiu laughed and said, "Don't worry about the past, Michael. We need to look forward. By the way, you also won tens of thousands of dollars from me. We should find time to settle this account."

Jordan laughed angrily, you bastard, I don’t care about the advantage you took, but you keep the loss in mind, do you think I’m stupid?
While He Zhongqiu was on the phone, the host announced several winners of the data king titles.

The rebounding leader is Ben Wallace, with 15.4.

The assist leader is Jason Kidd, with 8.9 assists.

The block leader is Theo Ratliff, 3.2.

The steals leader is Allen Iverson, with 2.7.

The top scorer is McGrady, with 32.1 points.

The best rookie lineup was announced and He Zhongqiu was selected to the first team.

……

The first round series between the Knicks and the Hornets will start on April 4th. On the 20th, the team resumed daily training.

Having failed to make the playoffs last season, the Knicks were very cautious about this first-round series. After everyone arrived in the morning, a tactical meeting was held. In addition to all the coaches and players, important management also attended.

Even Antonio McDyess, the second highest-paid player on the team who had been recovering from an injury at home, showed up at the headquarters for the first time.

But he is still wearing a suit and using a cane, so there is no possibility for him to participate in the playoffs.

Owner James Dolan also attended the tactical meeting and sat with Redden.

He was very annoyed that the Knicks failed to make the playoffs last season, because without making the playoffs, the ticket revenue alone would have been a huge loss. He was very happy that they made the playoffs this year, and he would be even happier if they could make it to the second round.

He was unhappy when he saw Antonio McDyess, who was paid $1260 million a year but couldn't play a single game.

"Scott, Antonio still has one year left on his contract, right?" he asked, turning his head.

"Him? Yes, another year."

Layden was ashamed because he was the one who brought McDyess in, and he was written off after signing the contract, a two-year, $2600 million contract. This was an important factor in the boss's dissatisfaction with him.

"Can he recover?" Dolan asked.

"This? Based on the current situation, it's unlikely." Leiden said in a low voice.

Dolan fell into deep thought, because he thought of Larry Johnson and Luc Longley, two guys who have retired, plus McDyess. The three of them didn't play a game, didn't make any contribution, but occupied $2911 million in space.

This season, he spent nearly 60 million U.S. dollars on the salaries of these three people plus luxury tax.

Fortunately, the contracts of Larry Johnson and Luc Longley have expired, so he doesn't have to worry about next season. He only needs to consider McDyess' contract.

At noon, Layden and Isaiah Thomas met secretly in a hotel.

This matter cannot be discovered by the media. The playoffs are coming up. If the Knicks announce a coaching change, the consequences will be serious, so they can only meet in secret.

After the greetings, Layden got straight to the point and said, "Thomas, Wolverine will become the new core of the Knicks in the future, and I will build a young lineup around him."

Isaiah Thomas was not surprised. The Wolverines are very talented and have made great progress this season. This shows that there is a high probability that the Wolverines will realize their talents in the future. It is normal for the Knicks to build a team around him.

Layden continued: “I want to hear your thoughts now, if you were asked to coach the Wolverines, what would you do?
Please note that our goal is to break out of the east."

Hearing this, Thomas felt tremendous pressure.

His pressure comes from two aspects, the first is the Wolverines, and the second is the Knicks' target.

He witnessed with his own eyes that the Pacers he coached were beaten to a pulp by Wolverine alone. To be honest, just like Reggie Miller and those players, he also had a psychological trauma left by Wolverine in his heart. He didn't know if he was capable of coaching Wolverine.

The task of breaking out of the Eastern Conference is also very difficult. Even though the East is weak and the West is strong now, the Pacers he led were eliminated in the first round in the previous two seasons.

But now that he has the choice, he wants to give it a try. After all, he has an extremely tenacious personality and will never give up easily.

While organizing his words, he said slowly: "Scott, I have actually considered the Knicks' style of play with Wolverine as the core of the team."

"Oh……"

Raiden nodded and motioned for Thomas to continue.

Isaiah Thomas continued to speak slowly: "Since Wolverine is the core, it must be a center style of play. We can learn from the current Lakers style of play."

"good."

Layden couldn't help but nodded. The Lakers OK combination completed a three-peat dynasty, and their tactical style of play is indeed worth learning from.

Thomas added: "For the OK combination, the triangle tactics, in addition to the ball transfer, the biggest significance is the combination of inside and outside lines.

Then the Knicks also need an outside core to form inside-outside cooperation with the Wolverines, to attract defensive pressure for each other and to create offensive space for each other. "

"Yes, that's right." Leiden nodded again.

Thomas added: "When Wolverine grows up, Alan Houston and Madman Sprewell will be old, so the future outside core will definitely not be them. The Knicks need a younger outside core."

"Do you have any suggestions?" asked Raiden.

Thomas said: "At present, although Wolverine's skills have improved, his main ability is still in the restricted area, and his mid-range shooting ability is not very good.

Kurt Thomas and the mid-range shooting king make up for the mid-range shooting offense very well, which is also the reason why the Knicks have a good record.

So what I mean is that in the future lineup, there should also be someone who is good at mid-range shooting, and this person should preferably be our outside core.

Our outside core needs good ball-handling offensive ability, ball-handling breakthrough ability, passing ability, and vision.

By holding the ball and attacking from the outside, he can attract the defense and create space for the Wolverines in the low post, and the two form a good combination. "

"Kobe?"

Layden immediately thought of the number 8 in the OK combination.

(End of this chapter)