Bishop of the Devil

After arranging the starting lineup, Richard was ready to return to his office and let the players continue training.

Richard is not prepared to think too much about this team's tactics at the moment.

With such a good defensive lineup, it would be a pity not to play defensive counterattack.

Moreover, the current lineup is not complete. It will not be truly complete until the start of next season.

It doesn’t make much sense to design any tactics right now...

Richard himself didn't expect this lineup to achieve any good results.

…

Seeing Richard turn and leave, Clark felt that he couldn't continue to stare blankly. He had to talk to Richard and find a sense of presence.

See if you can awaken Richard's "memory" and remind him of what he once said.

…

As soon as Richard walked into the office, Clark came.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Richard frowned and looked at Clark.

He actually still has some impression of Clark, but the impression is not particularly deep. After all, it happened a few years ago...

Clark has basically had no presence in the league these years, and Richard only remembers that this player was "used" by him in the draft...

As for what he said about Clark back then, Richard had almost forgotten all about it.

Basically every time Richard attends a press conference, he talks nonsense. How can he remember so much?

…

Clark's heart suddenly dropped. Good guy, Richard really didn't have a deep impression of him.

Something happened to you? ! There must be something going on...

"Coach, I..." Clark stood at the door, a little at a loss, mainly because he didn't know how to speak.

Ask Richard directly, when are you going to let me become the league's super insider? It seems a bit silly to ask this...

"Come in and talk." Richard asked Clark to come in, while he sat behind the desk and looked at Clark curiously.

…

"What happened? Young man, what do you think of your hesitation in speaking?" Richard asked with a smile.

He remembered that Clark had been used by him in the past, so his tone was quite good and not very harsh.

Seeing that Richard's tone was quite gentle, Clark felt a little more courageous.

"Coach, I want to ask if what you said before still counts?" Clark asked tremblingly.

Richard's brows furrowed into twists...

What did you say? What counts or not, why does Clark feel like a little wife who has been let down by him...

"Young man, haven't you heard of my nickname, Richard?"

"A promise worth a thousand pieces of gold, a promise worth a thousand dollars, that's me, Richard!"

"Everything I, Richard, say is known to the whole world, and there is nothing I can't do!"

Richard said quite proudly.

This is really what Richard is proud of. In the five years since he entered the league, basically everything he said has come true.

Upon hearing Richard's words, Clark suddenly became happy.

"Coach, do you still remember what you said at a press conference against the Bucks?"

"You said I am the younger version of O'Neal and Duncan!"

"You said I have shadows of Big Ben and Jermaine..."

"You said that under your control, I would become the top insider in this league!"

…

Clark recited all Richard's speeches at the press conference like a barrage of bullets.

Richard was dumbfounded. Is this really what he said? !

Good guy, why did I say these words in the first place...

Richard really can't remember clearly.

Seeing Richard frowning and thinking, Clark immediately reminded Richard.

"It was when the Trail Blazers beat the Bucks and had the largest single-game point difference in history..."

"George Karl said you were too weak to win, and then..."

Clark was so "considerate" that he even told Richard the reason.

Richard finally remembered, it seemed...

This is really happening!

He actually forgot about it. Thinking of this, Richard couldn't help but blush.

I boasted about my awesomeness, but only a few years later, I actually forgot about it.

Hey, that's not right...

What does Clark mean by reminding him of this now? !

Good guy, Clark wants to train him to become the league's top insider? !

After realizing this problem, Richard almost vomited blood.

This is embarrassing. When I was bragging about this, I really didn't think much about it.

After all, there are so many teams in the league. As long as they don't recruit Clark, then this awesome guy can hang there forever and no one can expose him!

But now he has forgotten about it and directly dived into Clark's Pistons team.

"Coach, if you still can't remember, there is a video of the press conference on TSN. When you joined the Pistons a few days ago, some fans remembered this. It is currently a very hot topic on TSN!" Clark reminded again.

Richard turned on the computer in front of him and logged into the TSN website...

Sure enough, on the homepage of the TSN website, the next super insider star - Zeon Clark - was written in big blood-red letters!

There is actually a video of Richard talking nonsense at the press conference.

"He's a younger version of Duncan..."

"He has shadows of Ben and Jermaine..."

"If I come to coach, he will become the top insider in the league!"

Richard's face looked extremely hot, as if he was bragging and was about to be exposed.

Not only that, there is an article below the video, written by an NBA reporter.

The article predicts that Clark will become the league's latest super insider under the training of the amazing Richard!

In the comment area below, countless fans are booing...

The foursome of Duncan, O'Neal, Big Ben, and O'Neal, Zeon Clark, will dominate this league!

Richard's mind went blank.

What should I do...

Are you admitting that you were bragging just to piss off George Karl? !

Richard simply threw away the idea, it was so shameful!

For a coach at his current level to admit such a thing would be more uncomfortable than killing him...

He, Richard, still wants to lose face.

Let him admit that he boasted about Clark, such a shameful thing, Richard would never be able to do it.

If no one paid attention to this matter, and Clark didn't come to see him, then Richard would probably pretend not to know even if he thought about it.

But now fans all over the world know about this matter, and everyone is paying attention to Clark, paying attention to this super insider that Richard calls, this super insider who combines Benji the Buddha and the Shark...

Richard can't even pretend to be dead!

What's more, now the master of suffering, Clark, has come to visit...

…

what to do? !

What else can be done is to find ways to improve Clark's strength.

"Ahem, Clark, I'm not talking about you!"

"You young people just don't have the patience!"

"Do you think I will forget what I, Richard, said..." Richard knocked on the table and said dissatisfied.

Clark was dumbfounded, how dare you say that you haven't forgotten? When you mentioned this to yourself just now, you looked clearly confused, as if you didn't know anything about it...

"The starting lineup I am giving now is only the starting lineup for the preseason!"

"You should know that I, Richard, never send out the team's main players in preseason games!"

"Don't worry, I never talk big words. If I said you would be a super insider, then you must be a super insider!"

"Go and train me well and give me 200% effort in training!"

"If I catch you being lazy, don't blame me for not admitting it!"

Richard waved his hand and asked Clark to go to training quickly...

Clark left happily. He was extremely glad that he came to talk to Richard. If he hadn't talked, I'm afraid Richard would have really forgotten about it...

It's okay now. Judging from Richard's tone, he will definitely help himself as much as possible!

I am finally going to get ahead, and then I will do what Richard said and put in 200% effort to train!

…

Clark left, and Richard sat in the office with a look of pain on his face.

This is very embarrassing. I boasted about my awesomeness in the past two years, but today I have to pay the price...

As the old saying goes, don't show off, or you'll be struck by lightning if you show off. This is quite true.

At least Richard feels uncomfortable right now. Normally, he really doesn't include Clark in his plan to rebuild the Pistons.

Mainly because Clark is in the final year of his rookie contract.

Originally, Richard was prepared to let him fend for himself. After all, when the draft starts tomorrow, there will be no shortage of insiders in the Pistons.

The four of Yao Ming, Boozer, Okur and Anderson are definitely enough.

But right now, Clark can't do it without training him. If he doesn't train him, he will be slapping himself in the face!

And it must be cultivated as quickly as possible, otherwise, those trolls will be unforgiving.

…

When Richard thought of training Clark, he immediately thought of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Skyhook.

But it is a pity that Clark is only 211 centimeters tall and does not meet the requirements. Otherwise, it is not impossible to let him use this prop first.

Not being able to use Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook doesn't mean that Richard can't make Clark rise. In fact, there is still a way.

At present, Richard has quite a lot of All-Star lights in his hands, but none of them are suitable for Yao Ming...

Ou's All-Star glory may have some effect on Yao Ming, but the improvement is not large. After all, Yao Ming is also a relatively versatile being. Where Ou is strong, Yao Ming is not bad either.

And if Ben has All-Star glory, and if he can inherit Ben's rebounding and defensive strength, then Yao Ming will become a real monster.

But the problem now is that Ben didn't get the All-Star honor. When Richard coached the All-Stars, he had already participated in the All-Star game once, so he didn't get the All-Star glory from Ben.

This is quite a pity...

Under such circumstances, it is not impossible to give Clark the All-Star Light to use. After all, Yao Ming does not have much use for these things.

…

Richard took a look and saw that he still had eight All-Stars on hand, including four for inside players.

They are Xiaoao, Brand, Rashid and Rahim.

These four people have their own characteristics. Both Xiaoao and Brand are traditional inside players. As for Rasheed and Rahim, they have similar names and somewhat similar playing styles. They both play outside. .

…

However, before letting Clark improve his strength, Richard had already made up his mind to let him sign a contract first to avoid things like Ricky Davis happening in the future.

This year is the last year of Clark's rookie contract, and he can renew his contract in advance.

Speaking of which, Richard actually doesn't know much about Clark's level under normal circumstances. Although he has a good understanding of NBA history, it is impossible for him to be so familiar with every player...

It's impossible to remember what all players' salaries would be under normal circumstances.

However, based on Richard's understanding of Clark's current strength, after his rookie contract ends, he will probably receive an annual salary of around 4 million in some weak teams.

Of course, it cannot be a long-term contract, it is more likely to be a short-term contract, such as 8 million US dollars in 2 years or 12 million US dollars in 3 years...

At this point, Richard's vision is quite vicious.

Under normal circumstances, Clark would have signed a two-year contract worth around US$9 million with the Kings...

After much deliberation, Richard decided to offer Clark a three-year, $12 million early contract extension.

After this season ends, the contract will begin next season.

…

At noon the next day, Clark appeared in Richard's office again. When he saw that Richard had prepared a three-year, $12 million contract for him, he felt a little bored.

This contract is really not that much...

"Coach, can you give me more..." Clark said in pain.

Richard shook his head, "This is the highest salary I can give you. If you are not satisfied, you can always find another job."

"Okay, okay, okay, this much is good..." Seeing that Richard's attitude was wrong, Clark immediately agreed.

This contract only lasts for three years. In Clark's view, as long as he succeeds in these three years, he will definitely not be able to get a maximum salary in the future.

No matter what, let's settle down under Richard's hands first...

…

Clark signed his name on the contract.

Richard thought for a while and took out Brand's All-Star Light. He was still a little reluctant to use Xiao Ao's All-Star Light...

In Richard's view, Xiao'ao is stronger than Brand, so the All-Star light is naturally more precious.

Clark's shortcomings are in offense and rebounding. Brand's offense and rebounding are both good. If he can inherit them, he will be quite good.

If he could inherit Brand's offensive level, that would be pretty good.

You must know that Brand averaged 23 points per game in his rookie season. He is definitely the top offensive player in the league!

Richard opened the player attribute viewer and took a look at Clark's attributes.

Speaking of which, Richard rarely uses this player attribute viewer. He mainly knows the abilities of each player, so there is no need to look carefully at their detailed attributes.

That is to say, it is necessary to check when it is time to improve their strength.

Now Richard was checking Clark's attributes, and he frowned more and more...

This attribute makes Richard feel a bit dreamy, and it really doesn't look like the attributes of a fringe player.

Single defense ability: 91

Assistance defense ability: 84

Rebounding ability: 75

CIC ability: 61

Offensive ability around the basket: 77

Shot blocking ability: 94

Free throw shooting ability: 67

The attributes of the inside line that he checked made Richard dumbfounded. Are these attributes of an inconspicuous player like Clark? !

Especially the strength on the defensive end is simply terrifying. Even if it is not as good as Big Ben, it has already reached the level of Xiao Ao.

The only thing that is worse than O'Brien is his rebounding strength and offensive strength.

However, this guy's offensive strength is actually not too bad when placed in the inside. At least he is already a good presence among blue-collar centers...

As for rebounding strength, this one is really poor.

"What's going on?" Richard frowned, unable to believe the reality in front of him.

The attributes of this product really opened Richard's eyes...

Richard didn't check Birdman Anderson's attributes, but he knew very well that even Birdman Anderson would definitely not be as good as Zeon Clark in terms of defensive attributes!

What a hell...

Richard frowned and began to think hard. There is no reason why such an attribute should not have any information left in NBA history.

Zeon Clark? !

After thinking about it for a long time, I still have no impression at all...

It's true that he has no memory of Clark at all. Even in Richard's memory, the player with Clark in his name only thinks of Jordan Clarkson.

Who is this guy? Richard frowned.

Seeing Richard frowning, Clark felt a little flustered...

"Coach, don't worry, I know you like strong defensive inside players, so this offseason, I increased my strength crazily and gained ten kilograms!"

"The new season will definitely not let you down!"

Clark said nonchalantly, to be honest, he was really scared of Richard...

In June, Clark learned about Richard joining the Pistons and immediately joined the gym.

If nothing else, he just does crazy strength training and muscle building.

The effect is quite obvious, and he is not a fool. He knows that only if he works hard enough can he win Richard's favor.

…

Richard nodded. Since he couldn't think of any information about this guy, he simply didn't think about it. Anyway, he already had this strange guy in his hands.

After thinking about it, Richard still used Brand's All-Star light on this guy.

This time the luck was not as good as Ricky Davis, but it was still acceptable.

"Congratulations to the host. The target player, Geon Clark, has inherited Elton Brand's rebounding and three-point ability. The time limit is two years!"

The attribute inheritance of the three-point ability is basically useless, because Brand himself does not have the three-point ability.

As for the improvement in rebounding ability, it is quite impressive!

The only flaw is that the time is a bit short, only two years, not reaching the upper limit of three years.

I took another look at this guy's rebounding attribute, which has been improved to 84 points!

Richard knows Brand's rebounding attributes, which are 91 points. Normally speaking, if he inherits 90% of his strength, Clark's rebounding attributes should actually be improved to 81 points.

But when Ricky Davis was promoted last time, Richard knew that this attribute inheritance was not calculated in this way.

The system has its own calculation method, which does not directly multiply the attribute value by 90%.

It's normal to think about it. For example, if a player has a full attribute of 100, a player with 90% of his strength will definitely not have an attribute of 90, but more likely around 94...

Anyway, Clark's rebounding ability has improved a lot, and Richard is too lazy to think about it anymore.

Now he has to focus on the upcoming preseason.

On October 2, the Pistons played their first preseason game against the Indiana Pacers, who are also in the Eastern Conference.

The arrangement of the alliance is actually quite interesting.

First of all, these two teams are quite close. If they are close, they will face a situation of competing for fans.

Usually when two teams meet in a game, they will definitely try their best to fight.

Followed by the Pacers' head coach Isaiah Thomas, who is the Pistons legend!