Legendary basketball manager

Chapter 661 Kings vs. Timberwolves, many rookies appear!

"coming!"

Ajiali said to Shen Fei excitedly.

At this point, the Kings players had already set foot on the field.

"Um...Isn't Cousins ​​coming in today?"

Shen Fei asked casually.

The summer league is generally a testing ground for rookies, and rookies who have just been selected, as well as rookies who have just been promoted to second grade, will participate.

"After discussion, the coaching staff felt that DeMarcus's level no longer needed to participate in the summer league, so he was not included in the squad."

Ajiali explained.

Although Cousins ​​is only a sophomore, he has become the core of this Kings team after Evans was suspended.

He was able to score 14.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in the NBA last season.

Not participating in the summer league at this level makes sense.

"He is really a bit of a bully playing this kind of game."

Shen Fei said with a smile.

"I'm looking forward to it. I don't know what Jimmy and Isaiah can do."

Ajiali looked at the court eagerly.

After trading for Roy and Lowry, she couldn't help but look forward to the Kings' rise.

If these two rookies really grow into All-Star players as Shen Fei said, then the king's revival is inevitable!

[If the team can reach the playoffs that haven't been made in many years under my management... then I have made some achievements, right? ]

Thinking of this, Ajiali couldn't stop being excited.

At this moment, a potbellied Caucasian man entered the arena and sat next to Shen Fei and Ajiali's box.

Shen Fei recognized it immediately, this is Tim Connery, the general manager of Timberwolves.

Connery also recognized Shen Fei.

As soon as they met each other, he took the initiative to wave to Shen Fei, and Shen Fei responded with a smile.

The two were just nodding acquaintances before.

So after greeting him, Shen Fei ignored him.

Unexpectedly, Connery is a familiar character.

Not long after sitting down, he said to Shen Fei across the seat:

"Shen, to be honest, I have always admired you very much, and I believe that you will become a legendary manager in the NBA. But I really don't understand your recent operations!"

"You traded Roy and Lowry to the Kings. It should be a helpless move, so we won't discuss it. But in the draft, why did you choose so many wing players at once? I don't quite understand .”

Connery spoke quickly, asking multiple questions like a cannonball.

Immediately afterwards, before Shen Fei could answer him, Connery continued:

"Look at the Derek Williams we selected. He has both offense and defense, good physical fitness, and accurate three-pointers. Have you watched ESPN's "Sports Science"? They specifically tested Derek's shooting speed, and the test results were better than Ray A. Ren is fast!"

"A team can play up to 5 players. If you choose so many wings, can't you just pick the best one or two in the end?"

"In terms of physical fitness, Derek is better than the Leonard you chose, right? In terms of three-pointers, Derek is no worse than Klay Thompson."

"He can do all the work of Leonard and Thompson alone. Isn't it easier for other teammates?"

Shen Fei understood now.

How could Connery appreciate him?

It's clearly because of the yin and yang weirdness, disgusting Shen Fei!

"Derek can't, it's not good enough."

Shen Fei said lightly.

"What did you say?!"

Connery did not expect that Shen Fei's response would be so simple and straightforward, and the content was beyond his expectation.

"There is also "Sports Science", which is a program that attracts people's attention, and it does not deserve to be called science at all."

"You don't really believe that Derrick shoots faster than Ray Allen, do you?"

Said, Shen Fei blinked at Connery, with a puzzled expression as if asking the other party: "You are not stupid, are you?"

Connery was scolded twice by Shen Fei, and he couldn't turn his head for a while.

He was obviously very angry, but he didn't know how to respond, his face flushed red.

Shen Fei was worried about making this visitor angry, so he turned his head and ignored him.

Ajiali couldn't help laughing while watching.

After getting along with Shen Fei for so long, she rarely saw Shen Fei's emotional ups and downs, and this kind of face-to-face confrontation was even more rare.

[It’s not good to provoke anyone, you want to provoke him...]

Seeing Connery's exasperated look, Ajiali shook her head.

"Fei, ignore him, the game is about to start."

Ajiali put her arms around Shen Fei's arm and said with a smile.

Shen Fei nodded, and turned his gaze to the court again.

............

While Shen Fei and Connery were bickering, the starting players of the Kings and Timberwolves had already stepped onto the court one after another.

There are actually many things to watch in this game.

For the Timberwolves, the No. 09 pick they selected in 5, the golden boy of the bullfighting country-Ricky Rubio officially landed in the NBA and started the first season of his career.

(The Timberwolves selected two consecutive rookies at the 5th and 6th picks. Among them, the No. 6 pick Flynn has been abolished and is now sitting on the Rockets' bench. By the way, Curry, as the No. After Lin, he was cut off by the Warriors.)

Connery came to watch the game today. In addition to watching this year's No. [-] pick-Derrick Williams, he also came for Rubio.

You know, in 08, Rubio, who was only 18 years old, performed well in the Olympics.

Especially in the final game against the beautiful country, Rubio did not lose the wind in the matchup with Paul, which surprised fans all over the world at that time!

After becoming famous, Rubio was selected again with a high pick.

However, the Golden Boy of the Bullfighting Country was very calm and chose to stay in Europe to continue to consolidate his basic skills. Today, two and a half years later, he officially landed in the NBA.

In tonight's game, he wore the No. 9 jersey and made his debut.

This will be his career debut!

Look at the starting lineup of the Kings.

In addition to sending Thomas Jr. and Butler, the Kings also sent a big white side-Hassan Whiteside at the center position.

The young center was almost waived by the Kings last season.

It happened that at that time, Shen Fei recommended Whiteside to Ajiali, which allowed the latter to stay in the team.

After that, Whiteside's playing time gradually increased, and at the end of the season, he became Cousins' number one substitute.

And Dabaibian did not disappoint.

After getting more playing time, his performance has improved significantly.

At the end of the season, the "Five Best Balls" often saw wonderful shots of Whiteside delivering hot pot.

The turning out of Whiteside also made Ajiali more convinced that any suggestion given by Shen Fei was very valuable!

Therefore, during the trial training of Butler before, even if JB did not perform well, Ajiali never wavered in her determination to sign him.

What she is most concerned about in this competition, besides the two rookies, is Da Baibian!

At this moment, Whiteside, who is the starting center of the Kings, is squatting in the middle circle, ready to jump the ball.

With the referee throwing the ball high, the game officially begins!

............

After the opening, several rookies of the two teams behaved more cautiously, and did not perform well.

Instead, the Timberwolves' No. 4 pick last year-Wesley Johnson played well.

He hit three-pointers from a 45-degree angle on the left and a bottom corner on the right to help the Timberwolves break the deadlock.

On the Kings side, "Big White Side" Whiteside's performance is also remarkable.

In the first quarter of the game, he sent two blocks in the paint, and with the opportunity of a pick-and-roll, he staged a good show of gliding and dunking!

As for the rookies who have received much attention-the second pick Williams, the golden boy Rubio, and the 60th guard Thomas who was selected with the 175th overall pick, only Rubio's few passes are commendable, and the other two are not. What a brilliant performance.

After the first quarter, the two teams tied at 20.

In this regard, A-Smith commented: "This is like a game played by a group of rookies. Those rookies in the last game were too outrageous."

In the VIP box on the stand, Ajiali looked a little depressed.

None of the game scenes she was looking forward to appeared, and Butler and Thomas Jr. were very silent.

"Don't worry, it's normal for these rookies to play in an NBA-level game for the first time, and it may get better in the next few quarters."

Shen Fei said.

Ajiali nodded, she still has this bit of patience.

............

The second quarter started soon.

During the break, Thomas Jr. got the coach's permission to dominate the ball.

Therefore, as soon as the second quarter came up, he started his own performance!

Facing the defense of the golden boy of the bullfighting country, Thomas Jr. accelerated and passed him.

After reaching the penalty area, Thomas Jr. faced Wesley Johnson, who was helping to defend, and hit a difficult throw!

22:20, the king takes the lead!

But before he had time to be happy, Rubio raised his hand to signal his teammates to quickly send the baseline ball.

After receiving the pass, the golden boy advanced at high speed and hit the ground with a smart one-handed pass on the way, accurately finding Derek Williams who was about to come down!

The latter took a big stride, went straight to the penalty area, took three steps, and jumped up...

"BANG!"

Taking advantage of the unsteady foothold of the Kings, the No. [-] pick staged a wonderful one-handed tomahawk dunk!

22:22, the two sides drew again.

The king was not in a daze either.

Thomas Jr. followed suit, and also signaled his teammates to send the baseline ball quickly.

And it was Jimmy Butler who served him.

At this time, Butler's face was still a little green.

No one can see that this big brother will become synonymous with "toughness" in the league in the future, and he can lead a group of substitutes to beat the team's double champion in the team's training game.

After receiving a pass from Butler, Thomas Jr. quickly passed the half court with the ball.

This time, Rubio was significantly more cautious on defense.

He took advantage of his size and kept pushing Thomas Jr. to the sideline, almost causing the latter to make mistakes.

In the blink of an eye, the little assassin jumped up vigorously and passed the ball back to Butler who followed up.

And defending Butler is the Timberwolves' No. [-] pick-Derek Williams.

Butler's first reaction was not to attack with the ball, but to find a suitable teammate to pass the ball.

At this time, Derek Williams also seemed to want to show his defensive skills.

He smiled lightly at Butler and said, "Come on bro, don't look around, dare you challenge me?"

Butler ignored him, but continued to observe his teammates' running positions.

But the rest of the Kings have been unable to run out of space.

Seeing the offensive clock ticking away second by second, Butler had to solve the problem by himself.

"I'm here to kick your ass."

Butler put on a three-threat pose and said to Williams.

"Come!"

Williams was not afraid at all, and patted the ground with his hands.

The fans at the scene were naturally happy to see this one-on-one situation, and spontaneously began to make noises.

Soon, Butler moved.

I saw him kicking the ground with his right foot suddenly, and then regardless of how Williams reacted, he directly dropped the ball and broke through to the left with a cross step.

It can be seen that Butler's movements are still relatively stiff, and the speed of the first step is not top-notch.

But he has good strength, coupled with his breakthrough very crisply and resolutely, Williams really failed to stop Butler.

After gaining the advantage of half body position, JB was unreasonable and slammed into the penalty area relying on Williams.

Then, Butler jumped to the three-second zone and raised the ball for a layup.

Williams was out of position at this time, so he could only jump hard and try to block the shot.

I never thought that this was actually a fake move by Butler.

Butler shook the opponent and then slightly bent his knees. He didn't take off until Williams fell, deliberately creating physical contact.

"Beep!"

The whistle sounded.

"And. One!"

Butler roared and threw the ball at the same time.

After two rounds on the backboard, the ball luckily fell into the net.

Two points scored, but also a penalty!

Butler singled out the opponent's No. [-] pick this time, and it was a great success!

"yes!!!"

In the VIP box on the stand, Ajiali jumped up from her seat, raising her arms and shouting.

After celebrating, she leaned over and gave Shen Fei a sweet kiss.

............

Then, Butler walked to the free throw line, made a steady hit and added a penalty, rewriting the score to 25:22.

Derek Williams shook his head silently, walked up to Rubio, and whispered:

"Can you pass the ball to me later? I want to hit back!"

Rubio did not refuse, and nodded immediately.

Ever since, after the offensive and defensive transition, Williams got the chance to single Butler in the low post.

The two are similar in size, with Williams a little taller and with a longer wingspan.

Generally speaking, with such an advantage, he can take advantage of the low positions.

But the development of things is quite different from Williams' imagination.

"Boom..."

"Boom..."

"Boom..."

After three consecutive hits, Williams suddenly found that instead of getting closer to the basket, he was pushed farther away.

"Did the No. [-] pick not eat? He's going to go out of the three-point line if he keeps playing like this."

In the stands, a fan said doubtfully.

Coincidentally, this fan was sitting next to Timberwolves general manager Connery.

Connery's face darkened after hearing this, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

On the court, after Williams found that the back play was invalid, he did not choose to pass the ball, but turned to face-up attack and continued to try singles.

I saw him swaying left and right a few times, then mobilized his whole body and made a crossover to Butler!

"Snapped!"

There was a crisp sound, but Butler predicted Williams' intentions in advance, and at the moment he finished changing hands and dribbling, he stuck out his right hand and dropped the ball with a knife!

"This guy can defend well! In one round, he continuously defended against Derek Williams' back-up and face-up attacks."

"On the other hand, this round was too humiliating for the No. [-] pick Williams...He couldn't get through Butler's defense at all, and was completely restricted when he had an advantage in size."

A-Smith commented duly.

And Butler's successful defense this time has also become a turning point in the game.

The morale of the Kings players has greatly improved, and they have become more active on both ends of the offense and defense.

Especially the little assassin - Isaiah Thomas.

In the next 2 minutes, he made sudden shots and scored 7 points alone, helping the Kings establish a double-digit advantage in one fell swoop.

In contrast, the Timberwolves.

Although under Rubio's organization, their offense is fairly smooth, but whether it is Derek Williams or last year's No. [-] pick Wesley Johnson, they all feel cold.

Especially when they encountered Butler's defense, the two made several shots but failed to hit a single one.

At halftime, the Kings led the Timberwolves 50:36!

However, when the fans thought that the Kings defeated the Timberwolves, which had many high-level rookies, and won the first summer league victory, the game changed suddenly in the second half...

In the third quarter, the golden boy Rubio broke out suddenly.

He is not good at shooting. After the start of the second half, he hit 3 consecutive three-pointers and instantly narrowed the point difference to single digits.

After Rubio shot away, the Kings did not dare to let the 175 Thomas Jr. defend him anymore, but let Butler, who performed well on the defensive end in the first half, match up with him!