I'm not really a role player

Chapter 269 A Very Difficult New Season
The victory in the preseason doesn't mean anything, but for Li Ke, this victory means that he has won against Xiao Du.

At least, the psychological advantage has been established.

Looking at the game from Sam Vincent's perspective, the team's new tactics didn't go very well.

There are few counterattacks, too slow offensive rotation, too little running and passing, and excessive reliance on Li Ke's singles, etc., have been exposed.

After playing the China game, the Bobcats headed back to Charlotte.

Sam Vincent increased the intensity of physical training and tactical training during training.

He felt that the strategy was not executed smoothly due to insufficient strength...

The attention of the preseason is not high, but the game between the Bobcats and the Thunder, because Kenny Smith expressed his support for Zach Lowe and the Bobcats.

This was found by Mei Yangyang, who was in charge of the post-match program, and pulled it out for another analysis.

As before, Mei Yangyang still has the opposite opinion:
"Not to mention that there is too little to prove in a preseason game, just consider it a regular season. Who is the opponent of the Bobcats? Oklahoma City Thunder, the lottery team last season, what can they prove by defeating the Thunder? Does it prove that the Bobcats are better than the lottery team?"

Mei Yangyang shook his head, he knew that Lei Ting had been brought in by his words.

But he doesn't care, it's best, Thunderclap can also join the battle, isn't the heat going to rise?
Speaking of which, Zach Lowe is also very optimistic about the Thunder, and the reasons for his optimism are:
After Jirondo joined last year, the Thunder's record has improved significantly. If it weren't for the fact that the record in the first half of the season was stretched and they were already in the highly competitive Western Conference, the Thunder would have entered the playoffs long ago.

In the new season, the pattern of the West has changed drastically.

The Rockets have withdrawn from the playoff competition, and the Western Conference has a vacant playoff spot. Those who have a chance to get this spot may be the Suns who unexpectedly slipped last season, or the young Thunder who rose through the draft.

Zaklowe is more optimistic about the Thunder, because the Thunder are younger and more aggressive, and most importantly, the Thunder has no threat of injuries.

Mei Yangyang naturally wants to stand on the opposite side. He believes that the Thunder will still be a lottery team in the new season...

Speaking in this way, the first to be dissatisfied is the local media in Charlotte and Oklahoma City.

Charlotte's reaction wasn't too intense. After all, Mei Yangyang's evaluation of the Bobcats was not high, and it was still within the acceptable range.

It's just that the Charlotte Observer published an article, mentioning incidentally: "The Bobcats are already of ordinary strength, and the overall strength can no longer compete with the Celtics, Magic and Cavaliers? It's too early to say this!"

Oklahoma City is different. A young team aiming for the playoffs is expected to stand still, but it is still a lottery team and cannot be tolerated.

Considering that Oklahoma City has owned the Thunder just two years ago, and is eager for the first NBA playoffs in city history, Oklahoma City can't stand it even more if Mei Yang Yang is so belittled.

Oklahoma City Evening News reporter Trammell Weiss tweeted: "Stephen A. Smith better keep his mouth shut or he's going to get LOTS and LOTS of slaps!"

From these disputes in the media and public opinion circles, Li Ke understands why Stephen A. Smith is Yang Yi in the United States.

Both: the attribute points of the slapped face are full...

Li Ke felt that Mei Yangyang would definitely be slapped in the face, but with the Bobcats returning to the continent of America, the preseason journey continued——

Back in Charlotte's first preseason game, although they played at home, the Bobcats suffered a bitter defeat against the Bulls.

Just like the China game, the Bobcats couldn't play an overall offense at all.

Whether it is a quick counterattack or a positional attack, it has been severely fragmented.

Either Li Ke played singles, or Curry threw, or Hua Er also occasionally played singles, and Kenyon Martin and Jordan made occasional tip-ups.

The whole team fights on its own, without any cooperation, it's no wonder that the attack is good.

The bad offense was matched by the Bulls' decent defense, and this preseason game became a slap in the face.

Like a shark that smelled blood, Mei Yangyang pounced and told everyone: "It's a pecking game. After watching this game, I'm even less optimistic about Bobcats."

Emmm, the saying that chickens peck at each other has brought in bulls.

In the third preseason game of the new season, the Bobcats played another game against the Nets, and the Bobcats' offense was still going its own way.

Although he won, the scene was very ugly.

In the fourth preseason game, the Bobcats played against the weakened Magic, a very ugly loss.

In the fifth preseason game, the Bobcats played against the Bulls again and won an away game. The scene was still ugly...

At this point in the playoffs, no matter how slow Sam Vincent was, he understood what the problem was.

"Sheldon, your question."

In team training, Sam Vincent called Li Ke aside, very straightforward.

Li Ke nodded, and seemed to have no objection.

"I know, Sam..."

Although, deep down in his heart, Li Ke really wanted to complain: this wave, he took the blame for Sam Vincent.

After all, since last season, the Bobcats have always had a problem-the lack of players who can drive the team.

Last season, the Bobcats solved the problem by relying on Lao Ai's brief recovery and the introduction of Jack the Great.

In the new season, Sam Vincent threw all these jobs to Li Ke again.

But the question is, can Li Ke do these jobs?He can't do it!

To put it more thoroughly, Sam Vincent had no other way to play. He practiced the triangle offense for almost a season last season, and finally disappeared.

Back to the essence of the problem, that is, the Bobcats need to find a player who can drive the team.

Who else can it be, it can only be Curry.

"Steph Curry?"

However, just after Li Ke informed Sam Vincent of his thoughts, the other party shook his head: "His condition is too bad, it is better to rely on Gerrard than rely on him."

Indeed, so far in the preseason, Curry's poor state has been full.

In the first game against the Thunder, he and Xiao Du were brothers and sisters. He made 13 of 3 shots and scored only 11 points and 5 assists.

This game is considered good, at least not too many shots, scored in double figures, and also had 5 assists.

In the second game against the Bulls, Curry was directly ordered by Rose.

不仅被罗斯全场轰下30分8个助攻，自己也投了个17投4中，只得到12分，助攻也只有3个。

In the next Knicks, Curry found his form slightly, scoring 12 points on 6 of 18 shots.

In the game against the Magic, he also made 16 of 7 shots and scored a new high of 20 points and 6 assists.

But when he fought the Bulls again, he was immediately beaten back to his original form, making 14 of 5 shots and only scoring 14 points and 4 assists.

As far as the performance of shooting shots, and the performance of passing assists, expect Curry to provoke the burden of driving the team?
Stupid dream!

Sam Vincent shook his head. His decision was: "We should try the triangle offense again."

"What? Triangle offense?"

At that moment, Li Ke's eyes seemed to say: Are you kidding me?

However, Sam Vincent was serious and nodded seriously.

"But we don't have Shaq anymore."

"We also have Gerrard, who can also take on the task of being the central axis and supporting the attack."

Li Ke understood what Sam Vincent meant. In this wave, the Bobcats are not learning from the Lakers, but the Bulls.

Sam Vincent wants to use Li Ke as Jordan, Hua's second child is Pippen, Jordan Jr. is Rodman, Curry is Steve Kerr, as for Kenyon Martin, whoever he loves...

In short, every position seems to be on the right.

But Li Ke is still not optimistic about the triangle offense, because the times have changed and the future trend is that such a complicated offensive style as the triangle offense will definitely be eliminated.

In the memory of Li Ke's later generations, the Zen master has proved this point several times.

Sam Vincent is the head coach, he has the final say, and Li Ke's dislike is useless.

The original strategy of the triangular offense from Kuaiba whirlwind was decided.

In the last three preseason games, the Bobcats struggled even more.

Because of the triangle offense, their sense of offensive fragmentation is stronger, and they always send the ball to Li Ke after running to the side of the tactics.

Then, the team's offense became Li Ke's one-man show.

Against a bad team like the Knicks, Li Ke's singles was [-]v[-], and he could easily win.

Playing against a top team like the Magic, Li Ke's singles alone is not enough.

So, eight preseason games, 5-3 record, bad play, bad offense, bad everything...

It seems to confirm Mei Yangyang's point of view-the Bobcats in the new season have indeed declined a bit, and they no longer have the strength of the league's first-tier teams.

"The Bobcats have too many problems. Shelton can only play singles. Stephen Curry's draft seems to be on the old path handpicked by Jordan. Of course, the biggest problem is Sam Vincent. Since the Bobcats' championship season, I have been emphasizing that he is not a qualified head coach..."

Mei Yangyang expressed his opinion again, this time, Charlotte was unusually quiet.

On the other hand, ESPN columnist Bill Simmons wrote an article about the Bobcats when the season was really about to start, and his focus was on Curry:

"In the eight games of the preseason, Stephen Curry's performance was undoubtedly bad. His shooting was unstable and his pass control was casual. These are not big problems. Rookies should have an adaptation period. After passing this adaptation period, if these problems still exist, it is a big problem."

"The real big problem is that Stephen Curry's confrontation is too bad, too bad, especially against Derrick Rose, the confrontation between two point guards of the same age, but Stephen Curry was blown away by Derrick Rose..."

"Could it be that Michael Jordan's draft pick failed again?"

The public opinion before the start of the regular season is like this. TV media like Mei Yangyang always see the Bobcats' problems in a macro perspective.

Paper media like Bill Simmons are used to writing one column after another, and each one points out new issues.

If we summarize it a little bit, the current public opinion against Bobcats should be like this——

"Sina Sports": "Li Ke scored crazy points and tried his best. If the Bobcats want to win, they need their teammates not to hold back..."

Sports Illustrated: "Steph Curry: Lost in NBA muscle."

"Bleachers": "The God of Basketball Is Misunderstood? This is not the first time!"

"Charlotte Observer": "Give Stephen a little patience, he will be the future of Charlotte!"

All in all, all in all, the pressure has been given to Curry.

Before the start of the regular season, what Li Ke could see was the Curry who practiced hard, the Curry who was taciturn and no longer laughing, and the Curry who was struggling not to become a parallel importer...

Similarly, Li Ke also felt the pressure. He knew that this season, really counting, should be his first season leading the team alone.

The record is related to the outside world's evaluation of his ability to lead the team.

Stress, stress, stress...

The entire Bobcat training hall has been filled with pressure.

The regular season schedule has already been released as early as halfway through the preseason.

Although public opinion is looking down on the Bobcats, judging from the schedule, the status of the Bobcats is still very high. I have to say that this is Li Ke's influence.

In the opening game, the Bobcats played against the Lakers.

Since it is the Lakers, the home field for the game can only be the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The Bobcats still had a share in the next Halloween game. The opponent of this game was the Cavaliers, and the home court was changed to Charlotte.

Because this year's regular season started relatively early, there was a home game against the Knicks interspersed between these two games.

It seems that David Stern is well-intentioned, for fear that the Bobcats will have two battles with two strong teams at the start of the game, and they will collapse directly.

Put in a bad team, take it easy, even if the Bobcats lose all the focus games, the Knicks will be at the bottom.

The Christmas war also has Bobcats' share, and the opponent is the Thunder.

The Alliance's push for Li Ke vs. Xiao Du has been clearly revealed.

Ten years later, during the Spring Festival Wars, the league picked out a new opponent, the Detroit Pistons.

"David Stern understands! He even pays attention to the relationship between Serena and me. Does this mean that he wants to push Serena?"

To be honest, although Li Ke knew that he had a great relationship with Serena Williams about the schedule of the Spring Festival War against the Pistons, he was still puzzled.

After all, Serena will be pushed if she doesn't fight a game?No matter how you think about it, it's impossible...

Li Ke didn't know that after the Spring Festival last season, David Stern understood a truth: fans want to watch win.

Therefore, instead of letting the Bobcats, which may decline in strength this season, compete with top teams such as the Lakers and Cavaliers during the Spring Festival, it is better to switch to a weaker team to ensure the Bobcats' victory.

As long as the Bobcats can win, isn't the RMB coming in a rush?

In a season, from the opening game, to the Halloween game, to the Christmas game, and finally the Spring Festival game, the Bobcats will play against the Lakers, Cavaliers, Thunder and Pistons one after another, which is already full.

Under such circumstances, Li Ke actually thinks: "Every year is the opening game plus the Halloween game, and the beginning of the season will inevitably experience a devil's schedule. This league is a mess!"

Li Ke has no way to intervene whether to do it or not. All he can do is prepare for the new season with all his strength.

The opening game will be a difficult challenge for the Lakers.

Li Ke doesn't want to open the door, but it depends on whether the Lakers agree or not. It's very difficult...

(End of this chapter)