unfinished glory

Chapter 171 Preseason and Lineup
The team has only been running in for a week, and it's time for the preseason.

The opponents arranged by the league for the Grizzlies are not very strong, which is also in line with their consistent positioning as a weak team.

The Grizzlies will play a total of 7 games against six opponents. The schedule is Rockets (away), Wizards (home), Bobcats (home), Magic (away), Heat (away), Rockets ( Home) and Trail Blazers (home).

For a team like the Grizzlies whose lineup has changed too much from last season, the schedule of more than half a month can just help the team adjust their tactics and run the lineup.

At present, the team's main lineup has been determined, and the team will still be a defensive team in the new season.There are two defensive players in the team, Li Chongxiao and Battier, and the main point guard Conley in the new season is also above the standard in defense.

As for the two insiders, Gasol's defense is still passable, but Milicic's defense is terrible, so Carlisle once wanted to put Gasol, who has a better defense, on the post.

In this lineup, Li Chongxiao also got the core position and unlimited firepower he dreamed of. He had been in the league for four years before he got the chance to lead a team.

Judging from this experience, Li Chongxiao and McGrady are very similar.And after entering the league, Li Chongxiao was also called "McGrady" for quite a long time.

It was only after he continued to achieve success and won the FMVP that people suddenly discovered that "McGrady" had grown to the same level as McGrady, and even greatly exceeded the team honor, so this nickname was never mentioned again.

I don't know if the alliance arranged for solo Li Chongxiao's first preseason game against the Rockets based on this consideration.

Under the current circumstances, the Rockets are also full of conflicts within the Rockets, and there is no harmony after the trade of Yao Ming.

Last season, McGrady was very satisfied after the team traded Yao Ming, and his enthusiasm for playing has increased a lot.Moreover, he is very optimistic about the ability of the new center Bynum, and believes that with a little polishing, he will be as strong as Yao Ming, not to mention his future potential.

After Bynum got several double-doubles in a row, McGrady also called Kobe, mocked him for his ignorance, and gave himself an All-Star boy for nothing.

In fact, he did not underestimate Bynum's ability, but underestimated Bynum's temper.

The former Lakers center, who was subdued by Kobe and dared not resist even pointing his nose and saying no, swelled up after the Rockets achieved a little bit.

Bynum not only blatantly contradicted McGrady in the locker room, but also found the team's head coach and management, demanding to establish himself as the core of the team.

The contradictions in the previous round have not been eliminated, and a new round of contradictions has begun. The Rockets finally finished their adjustment and began to win, but then fell into chaos, and their record plummeted.

Infighting was the main reason why the Rockets failed to make the playoffs last season.

After one summer, this season has not yet started, this contradiction has not weakened in the slightest, but has intensified.

是选择30岁、上个赛季拿到31.5分的超级巨星麦迪，还是选择22岁、上赛季场均17.8分11.1篮板的潜力内线拜纳姆，这是摆在火箭面前的一个问题。

In this game, the contradiction between the two can be clearly seen.Tracy McGrady and Bynum played together on the court for 16 minutes without passing a single pass to each other.

At the same time, the Rockets don't have any tactics, just individual singles.

Li Chongxiao rejected Carlisle's suggestion to let Battier defend McGrady as the main defense, and went into battle by himself, one-on-one with McGrady on both ends of the offense and defense.

After all, he was the scoring leader last season. Although McGrady's defensive skills were greatly reduced, allowing Li Chongxiao to easily score 24 points, but he himself scored 21 points in a row.

The two outside players played like an exhibition game, and the inside was also brilliant.The inside line of the Rockets is the combination of Bynum and Scola, against Milicic and Gasol.

In the first half of the game, the two sides were evenly matched and tied at 49:49.

After verifying the main lineup, the head coaches of both sides frequently replaced substitute players in the second half to observe their status and decide whether to trade and sign.

With a few minutes left in the final quarter of the game, the Grizzlies made a move and led the Rockets by 11 points.When McGrady saw this number, he became angry and asked to play. Bernie Bickerstaff naturally did not dare to violate the meaning of the core of the team.

McGrady played a group of substitute players and even water dispenser players. Naturally, he quickly tied the score. Less than 1 minute before the end of the game, the score became 92:92.

By this time, no one wanted to lose, and Li Chongxiao was ordered to play.After he got the ball, he raised his right hand to indicate tactics.After he counted to five, the team dispersed, leaving him to take McGrady one-on-one.

After spending 18 seconds, he started dribbling.When McGrady was concentrating on defending his breakthrough, he made a "Mc-style dry pull" and hit a three-pointer.

McGrady was furious, and this ball was a face-to-face provocation.In his opinion, after Li Chongxiao became the leader of a team, his skills did not improve much, but his temper increased a lot.

In the next round, he also took the ball and wanted to single-handedly hit Li Chongxiao.

But Li Chongxiao's defensive ability, whether in terms of physical or experience, is much higher.He guards McGrady's shots and takes a casual attitude towards driving.

In anger, McGrady didn't think too much about it. He just wanted to pay back one, and fell into Li Chongxiao's trap. After tossing for a long time, he couldn't make a move.

Seeing that the time was coming, he could only stick to Li Chongxiao and forcefully shoot a fadeaway jumper.In a hurry, the basketball hit the rim.

The rebound was picked up by Bynum, who ignored McGrady's constant waving from outside the three-point line and chose his own hook. McGrady was so angry that he only jumped outside the court.

The ball went wide under Gasol's active defense. Matt Barnes rushed in to grab a rebound. With a long pass, Li Chongxiao in the frontcourt received the ball and played a rebound dunk.

McGrady didn't care about defending Li Chongxiao at all, but rushed over and pushed Bynum, asking him why he didn't pass the ball.

Bynum, who was pulled away by his teammates, was not a good one, and he responded coldly: "You can't make a shot anyway, so what do you want the ball for?"

……

After winning the Rockets, the Grizzlies ushered in several more home games.In the game, the team gradually established the main lineup and the team members.

At this stage, the framework of most teams has basically been set up, and the main transactions and signings have also been completed. The remaining sporadic transactions and signings are just supplementary lineups.

The Grizzlies are like this, but the Rockets have a big deal brewing.

After the first preseason game, Tracy McGrady and Bynum publicly blamed each other in front of the media, completely torn faces, leaving the team forced to choose between the two.

In the mind of Rockets owner Alexander, "Yao Qianshu" can't compete with Tracy McGrady, let alone Bynum who is new to the team.

The Rockets made a one-to-one deal, sending Bynum and a bunch of unused players in exchange for the Heat's O'Neal, a trade exception and three unprotected first-round picks in the future.

The Heat's new season will start with Wade + Bynum, coupled with the No. [-] pick Beasley, they will become the upstarts in the Eastern Conference, and Pat Riley will be full of energy in an instant.

The O'Neal + McGrady combination formed by the Rockets also gave people unlimited room for imagination.

Especially when they met the Grizzlies again, O'Neal scored 26 points and 16 rebounds to help the team win this preseason game, proving his worth.

McGrady was very happy. Even O'Neal, who openly declared at the press conference that only half of his skills were left, was stronger than Yao Ming: "I have begun to look forward to the finals. What Kobe once had, I have a chance now."

Li Chongxiao, who only played 12 minutes, didn't care about it. The Grizzlies finished the preseason and finally decided on the roster before the start of the regular season.

Gasol Jr. (No. 32)
Darko Milicic (No. 3)
Gasol (No. 16)
Hakim Warrick (No. 21)
Adonal Foyer (No. 30)
Battier (No. 31)
Corey Brewer (No. 22)
Darius Miles (No. 13)
Li Chongxiao (No. 6)
Mike Miller (No. 33)
Matt Barnes (No. 9)
Conley (No. 11)
Lowry (No. 1)
Greg Buckner (No. 7)
　Thanks to the book friend "Poor ghost with no money 8806" for the reminder, the number of the jersey is repeated, and it has been corrected.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)