Bishop of the Devil

The opponents in the next two games are the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns.

Both games are home games for the Buccaneers.

The Bucks fired their head coach George Karl last season and appointed former Trail Blazers star Terry Porter as the team's head coach.

Although Terry Porter is a Trail Blazers star, he actually has nothing to do with Richard. He entered the league in 1985 and played with the Trail Blazers until 1995, a full decade...

Richard only really joined the Trail Blazers in 1996, which happened to be a different time.

Later, Terry Porter wandered in the Timberwolves, Heat and Spurs for seven years, and then officially retired in 2002.

To be precise, this is a Spurs head coach and has nothing to do with Richard's head coach.

…

This is Porter's second season coaching the Bucks, and the Bucks' lineup has not changed much from last season.

Reed is the leader of the current Bucks team. The two previous leaders of the Bucks have been traded away long ago. It can be said that this is a Bucks in a rebuilding period.

Among them, Big Dog joined the Spurs this season. His choice is similar to that of Payton. He also wants to get a championship ring before retiring...

Not to mention, this guy's luck is really good.

Under normal circumstances, the Spurs really won the championship this season. The big dog only played nine games with the Spurs, and then he actually got a championship ring.

If you don't say it's annoying to compare people to each other, Malone's strength when he joined the Lakers was much better than that of a big dog, but he failed to win the championship. Instead, he was basically a useless big dog. He could win the championship. This is Life.

As for Ray Allen, he was traded to the SuperSonics and is now partnered with Rashard Lewis. With the overall strength of the Western Conference weakened, their team still has a good chance of reaching the top half of the Western Conference playoffs. of.

…

"Coach, it's really hard to live without a good inside line." Reed ran to Richard and said with a wry smile.

Richard also became happy, he could understand Reed's pain.

Reed has been with the Trail Blazers since he entered the league, surrounded by powerful insiders like the Auburn duo. After joining the Bucks last season, he was really in pain.

When he was with the Trail Blazers, there was no pressure on him to shoot. So what if he didn't score? With Auburn two rebounding!

Just pass the ball to the inside...

But now in the Bucks, he is having a hard time playing. It's not that there are no insiders in the team, one is Joe Smith and the other is Gazulic.

But the difference between the strength of these two insiders and the Auburn combination is really too big...

As a result, Reid doesn't dare to shoot anymore, and relies more on breakthroughs as his main offensive method.

Many fans who know Reid should know why Reid fell so quickly.

In the early days of his career, he was completely focused on shooting. As a result, starting from about 2005, he increased the frequency of breaking through the paint to cause damage.

Reed's physical fitness is not very good, at least compared to those devilish musclemen, it is not good at all...

This style of play was definitely too much for the body and increased the risk of injuries. Later, due to injuries, it gradually withdrew from the stage of history.

Now Reed is gradually starting to change his style of play and starting to focus on breakthroughs.

Richard wanted to dissuade him, but found that he could not speak.

When the team's inside rebounds are not strong enough, focusing on breakthroughs is undoubtedly the most correct choice.

Doesn't Reid know that this style of play will increase the risk of injury? Even a fool knows...

The basket is the most intense place on the court. If the confrontation is fierce, the risk of injury will naturally be high.

The reason why basketball in later generations is not as confrontational as in this era is actually because basically no team in later generations of basketball focuses on the inside. Without confrontation at the basket, confrontation will naturally decrease.

"Come on, man, I hope we still have a chance to join forces." Richard patted Reed on the shoulder and said with a smile.

He likes humble players like Reed...

Reed is not a black man who came out of the slums. His family conditions are the same as Carter's, and they are middle-class in old America.

…

The game on the field has begun, and the starting players of both sides have begun to appear.

Reid saw Milicic and stepped forward to pat Milicic on the shoulder.

"Young man, come on, we all think highly of you." Reed said with a gentle smile.

Richard is very optimistic about Milicic, which is not a secret among the West Lafayette gang.

Harrington also told several West Lafayette players he was close to that Richard asked him for help.

This kind of thing cannot be hidden in this small circle, and all the West Lafayette players know it.

Now that he saw Milicic, although Reid didn't know why Richard valued Milicic so much, he still stepped forward to encourage him.

Milicic nodded excitedly, these West Lafayette gang players are his seniors.

Being so encouraged by his senior, he felt very excited...

This also shows how much Richard values ​​himself. Otherwise, the West Lafayette gang, which occupies the top of the league, would not be able to encourage him so much.

Milicic was not wrong. Richard really valued Milicic quite a lot. It can even be said that he devoted more energy to Milicic than other West Lafayette players.

Although a lot of precious props were spent on Yao Ming, Richard didn't actually put too much energy into Yao Ming.

Yao Ming is a mature player with a mature mind. He can adjust to some things by himself without Richard having to say anything.

And Milicic is still quite young, he is not as mature as Yao Ming...

…

The game on the court has begun, and Reid showed his strong offensive ability.

Ariza is still too young when facing against Reed, and his disadvantages are fully apparent.

In just half of the game, Ariza received four fouls...

Richard also has a three-point shooter in Kapono who can be used, and he doesn't really care that Ariza is stuck in the quagmire of fouls.

This is a process that young defensive players must go through when they grow up.

Milicic's touch was not very good tonight, and his shooting percentage was a bit low.

The result of the game was of course predictable. The Pirates lost for the first time in team history.

That is to say, after Kapono came on the field to replace Ariza, he scored three consecutive three-pointers, making the situation less embarrassing. Otherwise, the Buccaneers might lose by more than fifteen points tonight.

Milicic took 17 shots and scored 17 points. Against Joe Smith, he did not have any advantage.

"God, I feel like Richard made a mistake this time?" Sir Charles asked Kenny Smith next to him with a dull look on his face in the TNT commentary room.

"You mean Darko Milicic?" Kenny Smith asked with a smile.

Buckley nodded...

He originally thought there was something shining about Milicic that attracted Richard.

But now it seems that there is really nothing shining in Milicic.

I won’t talk about the six preseason games in advance, just the Buccaneers’ opener.

Although Milicic's statistics are good, they were obtained against Walker. Barkley looked down upon players like Walker.

In his opinion, even in his current state, if he goes on the court to face Walker, he can probably score 20 points...

Barkley is not crazy, he really thinks so.

Against Joe Smith tonight, Milicic, as the main attacking point inside, only scored 17 points!

If you have no right to take shots and score 17 points, it would actually be acceptable. But now Milicic has taken 17 shots and only scored 17 points. This is unjustifiable in any case.

…

Now Barkley is speculating, guessing that Richard may be afraid that his golden brand will be ruined by Milicic, so he selected Milicic in the expansion draft, preparing to train it again to save his golden brand of talent selection.

The more he thought about it, the more likely this was, and he directly told Kenny Smith this idea.

The old American commentator is really a big talker. He can say whatever he wants without fear of losing his job.

In China, this aspect is just bad. If you talk nonsense, you will really be fired...

After listening to Barkley's words, Kenny Smith nodded. It seemed that this possibility was really quite high.

Otherwise, there is really no way to explain why Richard took Milicic.

Although no one knows the Pistons' protection list, they can generally guess that Josh Howard is definitely not on the protection list. The Pistons will only protect one, David West or David Lee.

Under such circumstances, Richard did not choose Josh Howard or Brother David, who were obviously stronger. This is really a bit abnormal.

There is only one explanation, and Barkley is right.

…

Early the next morning, Barkley's speculation was reported by the media. Coupled with Milicic's unspectacular performance last night, many fans actually believed the report.

Naturally, Milicic also read this report and was quite heartbroken and uncomfortable...

This feeling of being looked down upon would not be easy for anyone.

After Richard learned about this, he guessed that Milicic must be very upset now, but he did not do any ideological work for Milicic.

It is not a very clever way to encourage Milicic all the time. Sometimes, such an incident is needed to stimulate Milicic and make him realize his shame and then be brave.

…

Next up is a game against the Phoenix Suns.

Richard got the Suns' roster from Miles, including their starting lineup for the first two games.

What surprises Richard is that the Suns basically only lack one Nash, and then they will be the same as the seven-second Suns lineup under normal circumstances.

Stoudemire, Marion, Quentin Richardson, Barbosa...

Richard even saw a Japanese name on the Suns' roster...

Tian Wo Yongta.

Yuta Taguchi, known as the Jordan of Japan, once boasted that he would lead his team to defeat the Chinese men's basketball team within three years...

However, as the Chinese men's basketball team won the championship in the Olympics, he certainly did not dare to say this.

Richard became amused. He had never noticed the Japanese Jordan before. He only knew that South Korea's Ha Shengjin had entered the league and was selected by the Trail Blazers just like normal circumstances...

The Blazers chose Hesheng Town, presumably because they wanted to introduce an Asian face to commemorate Richard?

With Richard's relationship with the Pioneers, just a few words would definitely dispel their idea of ​​choosing Hesheng Town.

But Richard didn't do this because it was really self-destructive.

What is my identity, and what is the identity of that stick? Do I want to use my relationship because of this stick?

"I didn't expect that people from Japan and South Korea would enter the alliance this year. I really didn't expect it..." Richard said with a smile.

He was slightly impressed by Yuta Tianwu, but the impression was not deep.

All I know is that this guy is only 1.75cm tall. After playing four games with the Suns, he was not as good as Sun Yue.

To be honest, with Sun Yue's strength, he can really defeat Yongta Tianwo...