Author: Feng Yuanhua

In the preseason, the SuperSonics are scheduled to play four games. These four opponents are the Grizzlies, Nuggets, Jazz and Trail Blazers.

All teams are from the northwest region of the United States, and they are basically divided according to the principle of proximity.

The games against the Nuggets and Trail Blazers were at home, and the other two games were played on the road.

Each team has made its preseason appearance, and similarly, the SuperSonics also visited General Motors Arena on October 16.

Speaking of the Grizzlies, they are actually somewhat similar to the SuperSonics. They have indeed been somewhat turbulent in recent years.

A few years ago, the team had just changed owners. Unlike the SuperSonics, the Grizzlies were somewhat turbulent.

There is no way, the Grizzlies are a new team after all, and there are no influential stars in the team.

The SuperSonics have Gary Payton and Wang Hao to stabilize their morale. Who can they rely on? Mike Bibby?

Especially now, Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley is very unfavorable about Vancouver's football market and prospects.

It is said that he is already seeking to move the team back to the United States, and seems to have the support of the league.

It was under this situation that the Grizzlies' military morale was already in a mess and they had different thoughts.

The players did not concentrate enough on the game, and the fans did not have the intention to come to the scene to cheer.

So, when the game started, there were only a few fans in General Motors Arena.

This scene made the Sonics players dumbfounded. Although it was a preseason game, this was too exaggerated.

108:86

In the end, the Sonics won the game without bloodshed.

As for Wang Hao, he only scored 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

There was no way, he only played for 18 minutes in total, and he had just finished warming up when he was already substituted.

It's normal. For preseason games, it only has two functions: to find game status and to examine the lineup.

The main lineup has been determined, but the substitute lineup still needs to be examined.

As for the state of the game, before the warm-up is over, I have already thrown in two three-pointers. This state is very hot.

Next, the SuperSonics faced the Nuggets at home.

This time, Paul Westphal was even more rude and only allowed Wang Hao to play for 10 minutes.

It is estimated that if this was not at home, he would not have let Wang Hao play.

Old coin...oh, no, the old fox is causing trouble again.

Sure enough, when they challenged the Jazz away from home, Wang Hao really didn't play.

Not just him, including Gary Payton and Gorilla Ewing, both of whom have also been sitting on the bench.

When facing the Trail Blazers at home, it was still the same, and the three of them made a symbolic appearance.

In fact, it's not just the Sonics who are doing this, the Blazers are also doing the same, and the starters basically don't play much.

By the way, I would also like to mention that there was a player in the original Trail Blazers lineup that Wang Hao paid more attention to, O'Neal Jr.

In fact, if the Sonics can bring in O'Neal Jr., it will definitely be a very good choice.

It's a pity that O'Neal Jr. signed a new contract with the Trail Blazers last year, and the contract amount was not small.

It is definitely unrealistic to win over O'Neal at a small price.

To put it bluntly, Wang Hao does not make the decision for the Sonics.

The SuperSonics management does sometimes ask Wang Hao for his opinion, but this is just an attitude.

For example, every time there is a trade or draft, the management will ask Gary Payton for his opinion.

However, they may have suggestions but not make decisions.

Only if their suggestions are good and the management is satisfied can they be implemented.

Just like this year's draft, the Mavericks were drafted again, and the draft picks were not high, one was the 17th pick, and the other was the 43rd pick.

So when Wang Hao has suggestions, they will seriously consider it and observe the players.

After seeing the performance of Quentin Richardson and Michael Reid, it seems to be pretty good, so go for it.

However, if this is a big draft year, or in other words, the draft pick is relatively high, in the lottery, or even in the top three.

Do you think Wang Hao’s suggestions are useful?

O'Neal Jr. went to the Pacers and has laid the foundation for the Pacers' rise. It just depends on when Artest will be in place.

However, Wang Hao is not worried.

Because of Wang Hao's appearance, he reminded Artest more than once not to be so angry.

We even analyzed with him what kind of tragic experiences people would face once violence occurs on the field.

When Artest heard this, he vowed that he was a peace-loving man and would never fight on the court.

However, this is just a matter of listening.

To put it bluntly, even if Artest can control his temper, what about O'Neal's injury?

O'Neal Jr. is not a glass man, but he is also plagued by injuries and has never had a full season.

You know, even Yao Ming had two seasons of perfect attendance and played more than 80 games in three seasons.

Only O'Neal played more than 80 games in one season, and only played more than 70 games in only 6 seasons.

You know, as a high school player, O'Neal's career spanned 18 seasons.

There are too many injuries to core players, which is definitely a big blow to the team.

In the end, the Sonics achieved a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in the preseason, and the only game they lost was to the Trail Blazers.

After all, the Trail Blazers were playing at home, and with so many fans watching, they still replaced the main players at the last moment.

The Sonics' bench performed well, but there was nothing they could do against the Blazers' starting lineup, which was obviously stronger.

Let me add that in the four preseason games, Wang Hao, Gary Payton, and Gorilla Ewing only played more than 10 minutes.

So much time was given up, and the role players were fully inspected, and the results seemed to be pretty good.

The first is Rashard Lewis. After two seasons of polishing, he finally looks good.

In four preseason games, he was the Sonics' leading scorer, averaging 18.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

As a big man who can fully release the space on the court, he looks pretty good.

Then there are the two rookies, Quentin Richardson and Michael Reed, who performed pretty well.

Quentin Richardson has a certain ability to attack independently and has good breakthroughs, while Michael Reid's three-pointers are very accurate.

Is not this nonsensical?

After practicing with Wang Hao for a month, if you still can't make any progress, that would be a big problem.

Coupled with a backup point guard Anthony Carter, it can provide very sufficient firepower on the bench.

In addition, there is PJ Brown, who can definitely play center and replace Gorilla Ewing at certain times.

Rashard Lewis will also serve as the power forward at certain times. In fact, this position is more suitable for him.

At the small forward position, Lewis is too slow.

Don't forget that there is Brent Barry. This veteran can help the team to a great extent whether he is starting or coming off the bench.

In addition, there are at least three centers of various heights and weights sitting on the bench.

Some are black and hard, and some are big white bears.

That's right, these were specially prepared by the Sonics, and there's no need to hide them, just to deal with O'Neal.

As long as they can hold O'Neal to a certain extent when they play, they can also get a few fouls.

This is very worthy of their salary.

Now, all teams have made adjustments and are waiting for the start of the new season's opening game.

October 31st, US time, is already November in China time, and the NBA starts as scheduled.

The first thing to start is naturally the Lakers vs. Trail Blazers. The fans in the Rose Garden Arena are ready for revenge.

When the Lakers walked into the arena, they were greeted by a roar of boos.

It has to be said that the NBA officials did not go too far and arranged for the Blazers to play at home instead of the Lakers.

According to NBA regulations, the Lakers will receive championship rings in the first home game of the new season.

Watching their opponents award championship rings and watching the championship flag rise must make the Blazers players sick.

After all, if they could work harder, have better luck, and get 6 more points.

So they are the ones who win Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, they are the ones who reach the Finals, and they are the ones who win the championship.

It's a pity that there is no what if in the world.
To be continued...