Bishop of the Devil

When Richard realized this problem, he pondered for a long time, but in the end he couldn't think of any good solution.

However, he knew that Richard's Rule No. 3 must not continue, otherwise, he would be the biggest victim.

However, if he wants to get rid of Richard's Rule No. 3, Richard has no good way at the moment. He can only take one step at a time.

…

The NBA preseason is over. The Pistons did not face any strong opponents in the preseason. Although Richard did not become the main force of the team, all the players who appeared were newcomers. In the end, they won 4 wins and 2 games. A good negative record.

The only thing that makes Pistons fans a little distressed is that the performance of the newcomers selected by the Pistons this year is pretty good, namely the second pick Milicic and David Lee from Purdue, whose performance is a bit disappointing.

After these few preseason games, Milicic, as the second overall pick, played a long time in the first game, but ended up with only 7 points and 5 rebounds...

You must know that David West, who appeared with him, scored 22 points and 11 rebounds even though he played for about the same amount of time. This gap is simply too shocking.

In the next few games, although Richard gave Milicic some playing time, he didn't get much playing time.

Looking at this posture, could it be said that Richard is preparing to abandon Milicic? !

It seems that this possibility is really possible. After all, the Pistons really have no shortage of centers. With Yao Ming as a big player, it is obviously difficult for Milicic to get ahead.

As for Purdue product David Lee, it seems that fans understand why his draft stock is not high.

Compared with the powerful insiders in the Pistons, David Lee's strength has no advantage at all and is completely inadequate.

And looking at the attitude on the court, it doesn’t seem to be particularly positive and not working hard...

He played in the first two preseason games, but was immediately put on the bench by Richard and was not given any more playing time.

Although the performance of these two players did not meet expectations, Pistons fans did not pay much attention to this matter. Anyway, the depth of the Pistons' current lineup has reached an unfathomable level. These two people are just watery. Anyway, the Pistons Players can't use it all.

But Richard will definitely not tolerate this kind of thing happening. This is destroying his own brand.

Apart from Yao Ming, Milicic is the highest-ranked player Richard received in the draft...

If Milicic fails, then Richard's golden signature in the draft will be ruined for himself.

So Richard will never tolerate this kind of thing.

…

When Milicic joined the team, Richard had already seen Milicic's personal attributes, which were quite good.

Especially the potential on the defensive end is basically at the same level as Clark, and the potential on the offensive end is also quite high, slightly worse than Yao Ming...

With such potential, Richard was confident that he could develop him into the league's top center.

The reason is simple. Milicic's personal skills are quite comprehensive. He is a typical seven-foot European big man.

If you think about European big players, such as the Gasol brothers, you can generally see the technical characteristics of this player.

Especially compared to Gasol, Milicic has more similarities. They both have flexible footwork, can be inside and outside, and have strong defensive capabilities. They are very suitable for use as an inside pivot.

And Milicic's speed is much faster than Gasol, which gives him more possibilities on the court, and sometimes he can even serve as a small forward...

Countless fans sigh when they mention Milicic. The reason is because they really feel that Milicic has been delayed. If it weren't for Larry Brown, Milicic would never be like this. desolate.

After he couldn't survive in the basketball world, he even became a professional boxer.

After being sold to the Magic by the Pistons, he achieved an astonishing blocking efficiency. In half a season, he averaged 20 minutes of playing time per game, but averaged 2.1 blocks per game.

No wonder his shot-blocking attributes are not weaker than Clark...

…

Richard naturally has high hopes for Milicic, hoping to develop him into a super center before leaving the Pistons.

But after these few preseason games, Richard found that things didn't seem as easy as he thought.

Milicic is quite taciturn. Not to mention greeting the old players in the team, even the newcomers who join the team with him can't find a common language at all, and he is very at odds with his teammates.

On the contrary, he is an optimist like David West. Both new and old players like him very much. He will naturally pass the ball to him first on the court, and his statistics are naturally very good...

When Richard saw Milicic's condition, he immediately thought of the domestic player Yi Jianlian. I'm afraid Yi Jianlian's condition was similar to Milicic's at that time.

Not good at speaking, it is difficult to quickly integrate into the team.

Yao Ming is much better than them in this regard. Even without Richard, Yao Ming's cheerful temperament can get acquainted with his teammates as quickly as possible.

…

Richard can actually understand Milicic's autism. This little guy actually had a very miserable childhood.

He comes from the Serbian Republic of Yugoslavia. The word Yugoslavia is probably very familiar to people in the country. Even if they don't know what happened there, they definitely know that it was a war-torn place.

Milicic's father participated in the Bosnian War when he was a child. He was completely raised by his mother. In order to supplement the nutrition for little Milicic, his mother sold iron and bought a cow in order to feed Milicic. Drink milk.

A dilapidated training hall, with NATO bombers flying overhead from time to time. This kid's childhood was a bit miserable, which led to his current personality of being taciturn and wary of others.

However, his miserable days ended after he was introduced to the Moscow team by Richard. He received a relatively generous salary from the Moscow team, and he could live a life without worrying about food and clothing.

This is also the reason why he promised to play for Richard. In his opinion, it is not impossible that his basketball talent would be buried without Richard.

…

Richard knew that this kind of character developed since childhood would definitely not change in a day or two, so he could only take it slowly.

Anyway, the Pistons don't really need an inside line. The inside line is enough. Even if Milicic really fails in his rookie season, it will have no impact on the overall strength of the Pistons.

On the contrary, when the expansion draft comes, the Pistons may not put Milicic on the protection list because of his poor performance. In that case, Richard can easily take him off.

Richard is quite confident in Milicic's future. What Milicic needs to change now is not a technical issue, but his character.

If the Pistons really don't put Milicic on the protection list by then, Richard might actually take Milicic.

Knowing that the inside line is so tight, and Richard is a crazy inside coach, it is really possible to choose Milicic, and then start building the team with Milicic as the core of the inside line.

After thinking about this, Richard is no longer anxious. If Milicic goes through some hardships in his rookie season, it may not be of any benefit to Milicic. Let's just leave it like this for now and wait until the season is over.

…

Milicic is not Richard's main headache. His real headache is David Lee.

David Lee may have been stimulated by this draft. He was listless and unhappy.

He became the lowest pick in the draft for Purdue West Lafayette players, and the outside world was quite unfavorable to him. It was believed that if Richard hadn't missed his old relationship, I'm afraid David Lee might have been selected at the bottom of the second round. …

He has little talent, average team leadership ability, and no bright spots in his personal statistics. David Lee is directly called the most mediocre player produced in West Lafayette.

Some media even announced that West Lafayette’s legacy in the NCAA has ended, and I’m afraid no more West Lafayette players will be born in the future.

Despite all the slights from the outside world, David Lee himself feels that he is right. Now he is starting to give up on himself.

Of course, Richard was quite anxious. If David Lee continued to give up on himself like this, then he would be guilty of a big sin, which would be tantamount to harming David Lee's career.

David Lee's career is naturally not comparable to those of super giants, but he is definitely an All-Star player with more honors.

He has been selected to the All-Star twice in his career, and also entered the best third team. In the 14-15 season, he also won the championship with the Warriors. It is a completely perfect career.

If he starts to give up on himself now, he may not be able to win any of these awards in the future.

…

The day before the regular season opener, the Pistons, a superpower in the Eastern Conference, naturally attracted much attention in the opener. The league arranged for the New York Knicks to face off against the Pistons.

The Knicks will naturally not be an opponent of the Pistons, but the key point is that they have a big market, so they can get involved in these high-profile games such as the opening game and the Christmas game.