one-handed ball

Chapter 253 Team Training
On September 9, according to Yahoo Sports, NBA veteran Allen Iverson will join last year's championship Timberwolves.

"God decided that the Timberwolves will be where I will continue my career. I have met Timberwolves superstar Zheng Ke, general manager McHale, owner Glenn Taylor and the next coach Randy Whitman." The text appeared on Iverson's Weibo, breaking the rumors that he was about to play in Europe.

According to Yahoo Sports reports, the Timberwolves will provide Iverson with an annual salary of 350 million US dollars a year, and the contract between the two parties will be signed within the next 24 hours to 48 hours.

This is undoubtedly not a small earthquake. Although Iverson did not have a good time with the Pistons last season, it is undeniable that he is still one of the most influential stars in the NBA, and his every move is still being watched. Young people imitated him, and he was worshiped as a god by the younger generation of street teenagers in the United States.

The combination of Iverson and Zheng Ke is exciting and confusing at the same time.

Is Iverson, who averages 17.4 points per game and needs a lot of ball possession, really suitable for the Timberwolves?Are Zheng Ke and Iverson really in tune?Will Iverson settle down as a bench player?

Experts have questioned this, and most people are not optimistic about the cooperation between Iverson and Timberwolves, and believe that Iverson will destroy the good chemical reaction of Timberwolves.

This made Iverson, who was reading the newspaper, very upset. You know, when he met Zheng Ke two days ago, he patted his chest and promised that he would obey the coach's arrangement.

"These stupid birds know nothing." Iverson angrily crumpled up the newspaper and threw it into the trash can.

He really hopes that he can win the championship ring, so in the conversation with Whitman, even if he was told that he might play as a substitute, he admitted it.After all, he had already expected it before coming here. The Timberwolves' starting lineup is close to perfection. It is impossible for Billups and Afflalo to play as a substitute. When he came to the Timberwolves, he was ready to play as a substitute. .

For Whitman, how to use Iverson will be an important research topic for his new season.

The Timberwolves lineup for the new season has basically been determined. At the end of September, McHale called all the Timberwolves players and began to take photos of the players.

Point Guard: Billups, Kyle Lowry, Ty Lawson
Points: Efflalo, Allen Iverson, Marcus Thornton
Small forwards: Ke Zheng, Mike Miller, Corey Brewer

Power forwards: Kevin Love, Taj Gibson

Centers: Brad Miller, Kris Anderson, Nikola Pekovic
As the so-called strong soldiers and strong horses, no matter where they are, they have good reserves. In the Timberwolves' lineup for the new season, there is no one who is useless. Look at the drinking fountain players. Whitman also said in the first group meeting that there are no new players here. Veteran players can only be divided into those who are in good or bad form. Those who are in good form can increase their playing time, and those who are in poor condition can only be benched. For the Timberwolves in the new season, all work is centered on the record.

Whitman's remarks revealed a message that the Timberwolves in the new season will no longer focus on cultivating young players as in previous seasons.If young players want to play, they can only add points to their state through usual training and field performance, so as to win Whitman's favor.

As soon as this move was made, all the soldiers instantly felt Whitman's powerful aura.Whitman, who has also experienced ups and downs, has also changed a lot. These domineering words really made the Timberwolves stand in awe.

Within a few days, the Timberwolves started their first open team training game.

Lowry, Billups, Zheng Ke, Mike Miller, Gibson, Chris Anderson, Pekovic are one group of players, and Iverson leads the team as another group of players.

Pekovic's performance makes people feel bright. He is like a super meat shield in the interior. Even if he competes with Love for rebounds and positions, he will not lose at all.The understanding of space and the sense of position on the court are first-rate, which is simply a natural barrier.

Zheng Ke intended to show off in front of the new boys, but the two boys didn't buy it directly, and Afflalo and Brewer double-teamed when they came up.

"Are you also double-teaming in the training match?" Zheng Ke was forced to pass back to Billups.

"Hey." Brewer showed a natural expression, "It's an open training match anyway, look at the reporters next to them carrying cameras, don't double-team, are they waiting to be exploded?"

Zheng Ke: "."

In addition to Pekovic's performance, Gibson's performance is also very good.He was very active in several offensive rebounds, and staged several dunks with Zheng Ke's assists.For the Timberwolves, who are relatively less powerful in offensive rebounds, the arrival of Gibson is a good supplement.

However, Ty Lawson and Marcus Thornton, the two outside rookies, performed unsatisfactorily, perhaps because the Timberwolves' outside defense is too strong. In the matchup with Lowry and Afflalo, the two rookies It was completely at a disadvantage, and there were a series of problems such as being too sticky to the ball and making too many mistakes.

Although Zheng Ke didn't show much, he still let the Iverson team feel his aura. After reading their defense, several breakthroughs completely tore their defense line, causing great lethality.

"Heavier, stronger, and fiercer." Billups gave a sharp evaluation after watching Zheng Ke fight in and out.

The coaching staff and the Timberwolves staff kept records in their hands, recording all the data of the first match. This is precious information and will not be disclosed to the public, so as not to be known by the opponent. Targeted arrangements are made in advance according to the Timberwolves' data.

In the next few days, the Timberwolves began a closed training camp.

The first is to make an all-round physical fitness measurement and health measurement for all Timberwolves players.Before the start of each season in the NBA, each team will do similar work. On the one hand, it is to see which players have completely relaxed themselves during the offseason. On the other hand, it is to grasp the physical condition of the players and make targeted recovery. train.

The first is the basic physical condition measurement.

Zheng Ke's barefoot height is 203.4 cm, with a wingspan of 218.8 cm, a weight of 101.3 kg, and a standing height of 2 meters.

Zheng Ke's weight change was surprising, and Whitman frowned unconsciously, "Could it be that Zheng Ke, who has always been self-disciplined, also fell during the offseason?" Caused by intemperate eating and dropped training.Whitman didn't speak, he looked at Zheng Ke, wanting to see Zheng Ke's next physical fitness measurement.

Zheng Ke took the lead in measuring strength.

Zheng Ke, whose strength attribute has climbed to 90, directly chose the 180 kg barbell, and several young rookies almost didn't fall out of their eyes.

Ty Lawson pushed Thornton aside with his elbow: "Marcus, am I right? Boss Ke chose the 180kg barbell?"

"It seems to be the case." Thorn couldn't help swallowing, and looked at Zheng Ke motionlessly.

"call!"

Zheng Ke is lying on the machine, with his legs bent, his feet on the ground, and his hands holding the barbell.He slowly lowered the barbell to his chest after inhaling, and pushed the barbell out when he exhaled.

Under the gaze of everyone, Zheng Ke pushed 15 times in one breath, and then got up from the equipment.

He shook his arm and murmured: "It seems to be lighter."

Everyone around fell down, and Tai Gibson, who was behind him, hurried over and pushed Zheng Ke away: "Boss Ke, are you still letting our insiders live, and quickly go to test other things."

Zheng Ke left the strength measurement area with a smile, and walked to the bounce test area.

Here, several young players are competing for their jumping ability. Brewer, Afflalo, and Chris Anderson are jumping around and jumping around.Mac Miller on the side could only smile wryly and watch them show off his jumping ability. In this respect, he was completely useless.

The arrival of Zheng Ke made these guys calm down a lot. With a light leap, he touched the 3 meter mark in no time.

92cm bounce in place!
In the subsequent run-up bounce, Zheng Ke jumped out of a height of 104, completely blowing up Brewer, Afflalo and others.

After Whitman received the physical data of the Timberwolves soldiers, he showed a satisfied smile. Zheng Ke's various data increased slightly. It seems that his weight gain should not be due to indulgence.

"These rookies selected by Kevin (McHale) are really good." After checking the body data, Whitman found that these rookies are very good. Ty Lawson's physical fitness surprised him the most. His four points The three sprints reached 3.12 seconds, which is a top-level speed in the NBA. "If he wasn't too short, he would be another Iverson."

(End of this chapter)