svetikya Chapter 561 The Knicks reunite, a completely new roster is released.
Chapter 561 The Knicks reunite, a completely new roster is released.
After both teams changed their clothes, a dejected Jackson sat in midcourt with a flip scoreboard next to him. Of course, the Knicks' training facility had an electronic scoreboard, but Jackson, having nothing better to do, kept pestering Don Nelson to play basketball.
Old Nelson could only give him a job to keep him from bothering him.
The team's rookie Nate Robinson, who was drafted this year, took on the role of referee. The big-mouthed little guy enthusiastically put on his whistle and prepared to blow it.
"My rule is, whoever has the ball inbounds it." Lin Tian shamelessly passed the basketball to Smith at the baseline, letting him inbound it. As for the basketballs that Anthony and others on the other side were also holding, Lin Tian said: I'm the boss, what I say goes.
There was nothing they could do but throw all three or four basketballs to the sidelines and wait for Lin Tian to inbound the ball.
"Let's play like we do in the regular season." Lin Tian received the ball from the baseline and began to advance towards the frontcourt at a leisurely pace.
In the first round, he immediately had Stoudemire come up to help him screen. After the two crossed paths, Lin Tian advanced towards the inside. However, Stoudemire did not cut into the inside as usual, but instead triumphantly opened up space for Lin Tian on the wing.
Lin Tian didn't hesitate. He bounced the ball behind his back, and it came to Stoudemire's hands. Stoudemire took the ball and immediately pulled it up and threw it!
"Bang!"
After a muffled thud, Stoudemire's mid-range shot bounced off the rim and missed.
"FUXX!"
Stoudemire cursed and shook his head regretfully. On the first attack of the game, he didn't get to show off his newly mastered special move to his teammate.
"Good shot." Lin Tian didn't rush in to contest the rebound.
There's no need for a training match. Just have some fun, warm up, and see how everyone's level is.
Although Stoudemire missed that shot, judging from his technique—catching the ball, jumping, shooting, follow-up motion, and hand shape—he's practiced quite well and has definitely worked hard on his mid-range game.
"Amaretto, you have to make that shot! Otherwise, I'll be too embarrassed to show my face as your coach." Houston on the other side was laughing as he moved around. Clearly, Houston deserves a lot of credit for Stoudemire's significant improvement in shooting.
Ward dribbled the ball all the way up the court, but before he could even start organizing the offense, Anthony impatiently shouted at Ward, "Charlie, Charlie, switch! Switch!"
Ward had no choice but to move quickly toward Anthony, and after a hand-to-hand exchange, Lin Tian was now matched up against Anthony.
"What special moves have you learned? You really want to fight me one-on-one?" Lin Tian was relaxed and carefree. If you want to play, then let's play!
"I'm no longer afraid of that bastard Artest's special move!" After saying that, Anthony turned around, stuck out his big butt, and arched it towards Lin Tian.
"Bang! Bang!"
After two hard drives, Anthony drove all the way into the three-point line from outside.
"Which bastard taught you this skillless and emotionless back-to-the-basket style?" Lin Tian, his backside stinging from Anthony's blows, couldn't help but yell, "Make that bastard treat me to dinner tonight!"
"It's Charles!" Anthony said triumphantly, then turned sideways and bumped into Lin Tian with his shoulder, successfully creating distance. He quickly adjusted his footing, then picked up the ball and threw it!
Or rather, you want to throw it away as soon as you pull it out!
"Snapped!"
Unfortunately, Lin Tian was the one who met him. Seizing the opportunity, Lin Tian slapped the ball out of Anthony's hand, glanced back, and quickly passed the ball to Smith, who had already started running wildly.
Smith dribbled the ball quickly to the frontcourt, then suddenly stopped at the three-point line, while also stylishly performing two crossover dribbles to stabilize the situation.
Next, it's time to pull out the weapon!
This guy, whose three-point shooting percentage was less than 20% last season, actually dared to try a three-pointer in the game!
"Whoosh!"
With a crisp crack, Smith let out a wolf howl, excitedly turned around, and shouted to his teammates, "From now on, you'll call me Three-Point Guy!"
Lin Tian was shocked!
The player who improved the most during the offseason was actually Smith?
They've even mastered 3-pointers?
But no sooner had this guy finished celebrating than old Nelson stood up and yelled, "Stop! Stop right there! You, Josh, get down! Stephen, you go up! Josh, you go pick the cards!"
"How many times have I told you, no pull-up threes! Your three-point shot isn't even as steady as my dad's been with Parkinson's for 20 years. You're going to shoot pull-up threes? You're not allowed to shoot this kind of thing unless your shooting percentage is over 85% in practice!"
"Okay." Smith pouted, looking unconvinced, but still obediently sat on the sidelines, letting Jackson, who wanted to play basketball, take the court.
Seeing Old Nelson's attitude, Lin Tian finally breathed a sigh of relief. Goodness, it turned out that getting in was the unexpected!
On the other team's attack, Anthony once again couldn't wait to find Lin Tian, sticking his butt out again. Then this guy exerted force again. This time he learned his lesson and no longer shot mid-range shots. Instead, he drove all the way to the basket and then forced a turn to shoot directly.
This time it finally hit the mark.
"I saw Yao Lin, and I became stronger."
"You have the nerve." Lin Tian didn't even bother to reply to him: "A 203cm guy like you is fighting against a 191cm guy like me, and you have to sit under the basket before you dare to shoot! Try shooting two more mid-range shots and see if I can turn you into an idiot."
……
The training match proceeded quickly, and since there was no real winner or loser, both sides played quite relaxed, focusing on showcasing what they had practiced hard over the summer.
However, since everyone had only practiced for a few days, they couldn't demonstrate many of their skills at this point.
You haven't mastered it yet!
They want to show off what they've worked hard on all summer, but when will they get it?
At the very least, they need to get into training camp and undergo a whole summer of rigorous training before they can be officially brought out on the NBA court!
On the NBA stage, countless talents will pay countless blood and sweat and work crazy day after day in order to make a name for themselves here, or even just to stay here.
Behind all those so-called "not working hard" and "not putting in the effort" lies countless hours of crazy training and countless days and nights.
However, everyone's talents are different, and everyone's role is different.
In the league, there are players like Lopez who transformed themselves from traditional centers into three-point shooters, and there are also players like DeAndre Jordan who suddenly increased their free throw percentage from 50% to 75%.
Of course, there are also those who practice their whole lives but never manage to develop new moves or make up for their weaknesses.
But regardless of ability, whether a player can use a new move on the field and whether it will have an effect depends on the player's talent and ability.
As for players like Stoudemire and Anthony, they are clearly top-tier talents. They have talent, and this summer they have the desire and motivation. So when they want to become stronger, that summer of hard training is definitely enough!
For example, while the previous paragraph was still rambling on about some unknown nonsense, this paragraph has already reached September.
Training camp for the 2005-2006 season has begun!
The Knicks have regrouped!
Their summer mini-camp lasted for about a month and disbanded at the end of August. Some players chose to rest, while others chose to combine work and rest and continue to train. But no matter what they chose, the entire New York nightlife scene was in a state of chaos.
This summer, the Knicks, who used to be a big fan of nightlife, haven't been coming to party much.
This led to a sharp decline in the revenue of top-tier venues.
Therefore, at this moment, the people who most hope the Knicks will win the championship and let the players have some fun are the owners of various nightclubs.
Keep it up!
We absolutely have to win!
And you absolutely have to come and play!
The Knicks players all replied: No problem, got it!
Then they threw themselves back into intense training!
If the small training camp in August was about identifying and addressing weaknesses in each player's individual characteristics, and although everyone was together, they mostly trained individually, looking for weaknesses to improve and strengths to enhance, then the training in the main training camp was team-based.
Don Nelson's goal is to reunite the players who were playing independently during the offseason into a cohesive team, bringing everyone together again and helping them rediscover the feeling of playing together and being teammates.
Of course, based on each player's progress and the addition and departure of new and old members, Nelson also prepared some brand-new tactics for the team.
Ultimately, the Knicks' playing style hasn't changed much this season; there have only been minor improvements.
Their playing style in the new season will still be attack, attack, and more attack!
They still want to be the best and most insane offensive team in the NBA! Their initial goal is still to keep the Suns in check and become the hottest run-and-gun team in the league.
On the last day of training camp, Nelson clapped his hands, signaling everyone to come over: "There are only two hours left in training on the last day. Our first preseason game is the day after tomorrow. This whole summer, none of you have gone out to play or rested much."
"So, today, with everyone here, let's have another practice match."
"The game will be played between two teams for 20 minutes. The team with the higher score can change and leave after the game. You guys can go out and have fun tonight! And for the next three days, there will be no training! You bunch of bastards, you can do whatever you want!"
"Long live!"
Wow!
"The coach is the best!"
"I'm going to unleash all the energy I've had all summer!"
Amid cheers from the players, Nelson continued, "As for the losing team, after the game, they'll stay on the court to clean up the equipment, tidy up, turn off the lights, lock the doors, and then..."
Old Nelson paused with a wicked grin, then said, "And then you can go out and have some fun! There's no training for the next three days, so you can play as much as you want! Go and have a good time!"
After Old Nelson said that, several guys who were initially very nervous were completely relieved. It's just cleaning! What kind of punishment is this!
Then, the entire stadium erupted in a frenzy of shouts and celebrations.
The Knicks' morale soared.
"Then, let's split into teams!"
As soon as Old Nelson finished speaking, the people on the court automatically split into two groups.
This is the team's fixed group for the past month of matches, and the overall strength is quite balanced.
Of course, this is not their training lineup. If it's for tactical drills and training, Nelson would still divide the players into a starting group and a substitute group so that the players can have better teamwork.
But now, it's the usual grouping of "betting on something" or "playing something".
In other words, it's time for a real fight!
Speaking of this, we should also mention the Knicks' current roster composition. After discussing with Walsh, Don Nelson decided to keep a 14-man roster for the time being. They deliberately left a roster vacancy, wanting to wait until mid-season to see if there were any positions or opportunities that needed to be strengthened.
We'll talk about replacing the missing people when that time comes.
As for now, the team has no players with training camp contracts left in the squad, and only 14 players remain in total.
Center forwards: Mehmet Okur, Alonzo Mourning, Nazir Mohammed
Power Forwards: Amar'e Stoudemire, Josh Smith, Michael Swettney
Small Forwards: Carmelo Anthony, Gerald Wallace, Trevor Ariza
Shooting Guards: Allan Houston, Matt Barnes
Point guards: Lin Tian, Charlie Ward, Nate Robinson
The team's 14-man roster is really not much different from last season's roster! Among the main rotation players, only Stephen Jackson received a 4-year, $2800 million contract from the Warriors and chose to join Golden State, but he has now left.
In addition, some fringe role players have chosen to join or leave.
In addition, although Walsh had to give up on Jackson after several choices, letting him go to Golden State, he still tried his best to keep all the remaining key players whose contracts had expired.
Ultimately, besides the fact that the Knicks couldn't match his $700 million annual contract, another important reason for letting Jackson go was that the team had plenty of talent at the 2-3 positions and didn't need another one.
As for the other players, Walsh chose to extend Stoudemire's contract a year early, and the two sides reached a four-year, $58 million rookie maximum contract extension. In the absence of the Rose Rule, Stoudemire's contract is definitely quite generous!
At the same time, Stoudemire became the first player in the lackluster 02 draft class to receive a max contract extension. As for the others, they will probably have to wait a while.
Stoudemire's contract will take effect at the start of next season.
In addition, although the team had no choice but to let go of Jackson, they dared not let go of Okur, who was the 43rd pick in the 01 draft but only entered the league in 02 and whose contract had also expired.
Jackson has a replacement, but Okur's attributes are so unique that there are hardly any comparable replacements in the entire league.
Walsh originally hoped to retain Okur with a four-year, $20 million mid-level exception contract, but unfortunately, another team came along and Walsh had to reluctantly match up with a four-year, $30 million contract offered by the Suns, another team in the league that had been eyeing Okur for a long time.
Because of this contract, Okur has become the team's second-highest paid player this season.
In addition to Okur and Stoudemire, the team also retained backup forward Gerald Wallace with a two-year, $8 million contract and forward Matt Barnes with a three-year minimum salary.
In addition, after re-signing Okur and Wallace, the team's total salary increased by $1100 million this year. The Knicks, who did not have to pay the luxury tax last season, will have to start paying the luxury tax this season.
Of course, it's only a little bit for now.
When Stoudemire's big contract takes effect next season, that's when the Knicks' luxury tax will skyrocket. Don't forget, Lin Tian's contract is worth double the luxury tax!
That's when the other owners in the league really love the Knicks. All the luxury tax you, Dolan, pay will belong to them then.
Thus, thanks to Walsh's efforts, the Knicks have fulfilled the bold statement made by Lin Tian and Don Nelson at the last press conference of last season.
This year, they will use last year's roster to compete for the championship!
Of the 10 players with the most playing time last season, 9 have stayed with the team. It's no exaggeration to say that the Knicks are the most stable team in the league during the offseason! Their current roster is absolutely the same as before!
Nobody can find fault with them!
Apart from internal contract renewals.
The team made four noteworthy reinforcements.
First, Allan Houston, after being sidelined for the entire last season, has finally recovered in the summer and is ready to play in the new season.
Although this guy has been plagued by injuries for the past few years and has hardly played any serious games, the "Mid-Range King" relies on shooting and positioning. With his off-ball skills and Lin Tian's ability to feed the ball, as long as he doesn't suffer any more injuries in the new season, he will definitely have no problem supporting the team at the shooting guard position.
Although his defense has essentially dropped to zero after several major injuries and his advancing age, making him incomparable to Jackson, fortunately, Don Nelson doesn't require him to have defensive abilities.
His offensive ability is definitely stronger than Jackson's last season. The Knicks' firepower in the new season is destined to be even more insane than last season!
Additionally, the team traded a future second-round draft pick to the Magic for last year's 43rd overall pick, Trevor Ariza.
Ariza, who joined the league straight from high school, had a bumpy season with the Magic last year. In the first half of the season, because the team had McGrady and Hill, he had no chance at all and was just sitting at the end of the bench watching.
In the second half of the season, with McGrady's departure, he was put in the rotation for a time, and even started more than 10 games.
Unfortunately, the results were poor. He was completely unprepared for the NBA, both physically and mentally. By the end of March, Ariza was once again benched by the head coach and returned to the sidelines, where he didn't get any further opportunities until the end of the season. (End of Chapter)