Bishop of the Devil

When he heard that his name was not in the starting lineup for the new season, Thomas suddenly turned pale.

Being kicked out of the starting lineup is self-evident.

Either it means that he has fallen out of favor with the head coach, or it means that the team no longer needs him, at least he does not need to play so many minutes.

Thomas was puzzled as to what was wrong with him. He obviously performed very well last season. As a rookie with the 60th overall pick, he averaged 12.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game. data……

No one can find fault with such a piece of data.

But even so, such an outstanding performance still failed to secure himself a starting position...

Richard glanced at Thomas's expression and sighed in his heart, feeling a little sorry for Thomas.

Last season, based on the lineup at hand, Richard planned to use Stevens' offensive system, and he still has the same plan now, but because of the joining of Chasing Green, from the perspective of the team's interests, Thomas Jr. will definitely He can't be put into the starting lineup.

Under this situation, Richard was considering whether to trade Thomas.

Of course, if you stay in the team, it's not impossible. If you stay in the team, Thomas can lead the bench lineup to open up the situation.

After much thought, Richard was still reluctant to sell Thomas and decided to wait until the season was over.

Richard didn't have high expectations for the team last season, but that won't be the case this season.

This is his third year taking over the Clippers, and he can't get another round trip no matter what.

Although the Clippers' lineup is still far away from winning the championship, Richard must lead the team as far as possible in the playoffs.

The entire month of training in September was quite effective. The main reason was that the starting players were very familiar with the tactical system. In addition, Leonard and Thompson had grown in strength after a season of training.

Generally speaking, the shooting percentage of players in their rookie season is relatively embarrassing. For example, Kemba Walker, who was sold by the Warriors before, had a very embarrassing performance in his rookie season. However, starting from his second season, his shooting percentage has improved significantly. improvement.

This is true for many players, such as Durant, whose shooting percentage in his rookie season was also relatively low...

Thompson is definitely an anomaly. He hit the league's top shooting percentage from the start. Last season, he averaged 15.1 points per game, 44.1% from the field and 41.7% from three-point range.

Many professional shooters may not be able to hit this level of shooting throughout their careers.

With such a high shooting percentage, the reason why he scored only 15 points is actually related to Thompson's lack of experience.

As a newcomer, his ability to find shooting opportunities is definitely not as good as that of veterans. After this season's training, Thompson will definitely make great progress in this aspect.

Richard is still very optimistic about Thompson. In the coming season, Thompson will definitely have an explosive period.

Under normal circumstances, Thompson's shooting percentage was quite abnormal in the first few seasons after joining the Warriors...

This guy's career three-point shooting percentage has never been lower than 40% in any season!

In the first year after joining the Warriors, he averaged 12.5 points per game, and in the second year, he improved to 16.6 points...

Now that Thompson is with the Clippers, it is estimated that the improvement will not be too small. In the new season, Thompson is likely to average more than 20 points per game.

…

On October 3, the preseason begins.

Nothing can be seen from games like the preseason. After six preseason games, the Clippers had a record of 3 wins and 3 losses, and Richard didn't care much.

What really matters is the upcoming regular season schedule.

Is the Clippers a mule or a horse this season? It’s time to get out of the way.

…

Stern has completely retired. After Xiao Hua took over Stern's position, he gave Richard a big gift as soon as he came on stage.

The official opening game prepared by the league is for the Clippers to sit at home to meet the challenge of the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers!

The Lakers are definitely the hottest team in the league today. They won the championship last season, and this season they introduced Howard and Nash. Almost all fans in the league are watching them closely, looking forward to this game. Start fighting.

In this way, the ticket sales for the Clippers' home court can be imagined.

This is definitely a great gift from Xiao Hua to Richard. To be honest, it is actually more appropriate for the Lakers and Spurs to play this game.

But if Xiao Hua arranges it this way, no one will find fault. After all, the Lakers and Clippers faced each other in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, and Richard has many fans. They also want to see Richard take over the Clippers. In the third season, what level are the Clippers currently at?

Fans are extremely familiar with Richard's coaching career.

Coaching the Trail Blazers, he started winning championships in his third season, and won three championships as soon as he won.

Coaching the Pistons, he started winning championships in his second season, and won two championships as soon as he won.

Coaching the Pirates, he started winning championships in his third season and won four championships.

Taken together, Richard's team will begin to show its ability to win championships in its third season, and the Clippers will certainly not be an exception now.

…

Before the game started, both teams warmed up.

Kobe is in a pretty good mood. The team has recruited two big players for him, which gives Kobe enough confidence to defend his title.

"Boy, you have to work hard tonight. If you don't work hard, the game will probably enter garbage time in less than three quarters." Kobe walked past Leonard, patted Leonard on the shoulder and said with a smile.

Leonard chuckled strangely...

Leonard has been living at Richard's house throughout the offseason and goes to training every day.

Richard also specifically contacted Kobe and asked Kobe to take Leonard with him when training at four in the morning...

As a result, according to Leonard, Kobe was a liar. He arrived at the training ground at 3:50 and waited until 6 o'clock to see Kobe's shadow.

After this offseason of training, Leonard looks stronger. Coupled with his long arms and big hands, he looks more intimidating on the defensive end.

Seeing Kobe joking with Leonard, Richard couldn't help but smile at Kobe and said, "So confident? It would be ugly if we lose in a while."

"Losing? That's impossible, coach. I really can't think of anything the Clippers can do to beat our Big Five!" Kobe said with a hearty laugh.

Richard smiled wryly and waved his hands. Now that Kobe was in a good mood, he stopped irritating him. It is estimated that after playing the first two months of games, he would cry sometimes.

…

"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle to start the game.

People from both sides started to play. When Kobe saw that the Clippers had Sun Yue starting the game, he couldn't help but say hello to Sun Yue.

He has a good relationship with Sun Yue. The two have played against each other in international competitions, and now they play in the same city. Coupled with Richard's relationship, the two will hang out from time to time.

When Nash saw that the Clippers put Sun Yue at the No. 1 position, he couldn't help but feel pain in his face...

If Thomas plays the main point, he won't be too worried, but now Sun Yue is very difficult to deal with.

In terms of height, Sun Yue is fifteen centimeters taller than Nash. In terms of speed and strength, the 38-year-old Nash is completely at a disadvantage...

He felt that even if he relied on his teammates' pick-and-roll, it would be difficult for him to find a comfortable shot opportunity. It was not impossible for him to accidentally get blocked by the No. 1 player with the height of No. 4 in front of him.

The most glorious moment of Nash's career was actually not with the Suns, but the two years he played under Richard.

In those two years, Nash won the only two championship rings in his career.

…

The referee blew the whistle and the centers from both sides jumped the ball. Howard's physical fitness was still among the top among the centers. Horford failed to win the jump, allowing the Lakers to get the ball in the first offensive round.

Nash controlled the ball slowly and advanced toward the frontcourt. He was so old that he couldn't move any faster even if he wanted to. If he really had to get up and play quickly, he probably wouldn't be able to stand it after 25 minutes.

Sun Yue opened his arms and stood one step in front of Nash.

From such a distance, if Nash takes a shot, he can jump up at any time to interfere or even block the shot.

And if Nash relies on his teammates to set up a pick-and-roll, this step will be enough for Sun Yue to bypass the pick-and-roller.

After Nash's ball reached the frontcourt, Gasol pulled up to the high post and set up a pick-and-roll for Nash.

But before Nash could take action, Sun Yue had already bypassed Gasol without losing his position at all.

Richard stood on the sidelines and nodded with satisfaction. Not to mention, in the past few years, Sun Yue has really improved a lot on the defensive end.

Having ample playing time with the Clippers and participating in various large-scale international seasons, Sun Yue has accumulated considerable defensive experience. Now he is very smart in defending Nash.

It is naturally impossible for Nash to take action. How to take action in this situation?

His jumping is not very good, and he is 38 years old. He is taking action against a player who is 206 centimeters tall and in his prime. Isn't that giving away shot-blocking data?

With a direct pass, Nash passed the ball to Artest, who was running without the ball.

Now Artest is also starting to play more without the ball.

After receiving the ball, Klay Thompson, who was opposite him, immediately blocked Artest and did not give him any space to shoot.

Under normal circumstances, Artest is actually not that violent. He would not hit someone on the head with his big elbow just because of such a defense...

(Harden: MMP? Are you sure?)

Seeing that he had no room to shoot, Artest prepared to pass the ball to Kobe.

But what he didn't expect was that his rough pass was cut off by a long arm.

After Leonard chipped the ball, he immediately passed a long pass to Sun Yue, who immediately turned his head and started a counterattack.

Leonard and Thompson followed closely behind and ran towards the frontcourt.

Kobe and Artest also immediately fought back to defend. As for Howard, Gasol and Nash, their ability to defend against quick counterattacks is almost negligible.

A 3-on-2 situation formed in the frontcourt. Sun Yue did not dare to push the ball forward. After the ball entered the three-point line in the frontcourt, he immediately passed the ball to Leonard.

Leonard watched Kobe and Artest rush towards him, and without saying a word, he passed the ball to Thompson who was standing outside the three-point line.

"Whoa!" Thompson raised the knife and hit a three-pointer.

…

"Awesome! It's really awesome! The defensive counterattack ability of the Clippers' third young master is simply amazing!" Barkley couldn't help but praise him after seeing this offensive and defensive round.