Bishop of the Devil

It has entered the regular season, and the starters of the teams that were rested in the preseason will naturally return to the team as normal now.

O'Neal participated in the team's physical test a few days ago, and the result was that his weight was pretty good. Although the tonnage was a little heavier, Richard was still able to accept it.

It's good if you don't eat Heise randomly. With O'Neal's body, if he keeps eating Heise throughout the offseason, the tonnage will probably be closer to 400 to 500 kilograms.

Now it seems that O'Neal still has some self-control.

"Shaq, have you watched Greg's performance?" Richard sat in his office and looked at O'Neal with a smile.

"Huh? Li, what do you mean? You think that kid is so good that you want me to come on the bench?" O'Neal's eyes almost popped out.

If Richard really asked him to serve as a substitute, he would probably go crazy on the spot and strangle Richard to death.

What level of player is O'Neal? He is recognized as the most dominant insider in history. Even though he is "old and fading" now, he still has to save face.

O'Neal can't afford to let a new guy come off the bench.

"Shaq, I didn't mean that. What I meant was, what do you think of this guy Greg?" Richard asked with a smile.

These words made O'Neal relax a lot, as long as he didn't play as a substitute. At least now, he definitely couldn't accept being a substitute. That was really embarrassing.

"This kid is very strong, Li. You have found a treasure this time. Although he is unlikely to reach the level I was at my peak, he is still better than that kid from Magic."

It is a well-known fact that O'Neal despises Howard...

Regarding Oden, O'Neal also watched two of his preseason games, and his performance was quite outstanding.

But if he wants to reach the level of his peak period, O'Neal feels that there is definitely no chance.

"You will be the starter for our Pirates, but we also need to train Greg. We may rest you for many games this season, so you have to be mentally prepared."

O'Neal nodded, he wished the team would rest him...

"Even if I take a rest, I will definitely still play in some important games, and you have to guarantee my playing time, such as tomorrow night's opening game, such as the Christmas game..." O'Neal put forward his conditions.

Richard nodded and agreed. O'Neill's request was not excessive at all.

…

At eight o'clock the next night, in the home team's locker room, Richard looked at the lineup of players in front of him and felt the urge to roar.

"Guys, tonight is the first step in our regular season journey!"

"This season, I have many goals. For example, at least four players must enter the All-Star lineup. For example, we must break the team's winning record, and preferably break the league's season winning record!"

"Of course, the biggest goal is to defend the title!"

“These goals require everyone to work together!”

"Shaq, Darko, Granger, Roy and Paul, the five of you will start tonight. I want to see a game that completely defeats the opponent!" Richard roared.

All the generals nodded solemnly.

Their lineup last season was enough to win the championship, and this season's lineup has been improved. Winning the championship is certainly not their only goal.

At half past eight, players from both sides began to take the field.

O'Neal is definitely the big brother of this team, and his popularity is still very high. The Pirates fans at the scene gave their own cheers after seeing O'Neal enter the game.

The appearance of new FMVP Milicic made the fans even more excited.

In the eyes of the fans, Milicic is really a good young man. The contract he signed with the Pirates was quite cheap, which gave the Pirates more salary space to adjust their lineup.

The Pirates' salary this season, excluding O'Neal, is 20 million, Milicic is less than 10 million, and the other players are all on rookie contracts. In fact, if the Pirates bring in another player with an annual salary of 10 million, it will be too That's totally fine.

After Richard appeared on the stage, the atmosphere at the scene reached a climax.

This is Richard's fourth season running the Pirates. In the previous three seasons, Richard has given Pirates fans huge surprises, winning the championship three years after the team was founded.

This season, fans firmly believe that Richard must have prepared bigger surprises for them.

…

"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle to start the game.

The fans in the stadium opened their eyes wide, and the new season officially began.

O'Neal walked to the midfield line and jumped the ball with Howard, but the young Howard won the ball, which made O'Neal a little unhappy...

In the Magic's offensive round, Jamal Nelson advanced with the ball.

Nelson is a short and strong pick-and-roll point guard with good offensive firepower, but lacks stability, which is commonly known as the nerve knife.

When the feel is smooth, the god blocks and kills the god. If the feel is not smooth, cut yourself three times first.

Paul doesn't really like to play against this kind of strong point guard. He prefers to play against the thin offensive point guard.

Fortunately, Nelson is not the core organizer of the Magic system. Their core organizer is Turkoglu in the frontcourt.

Richard is relatively familiar with the Magic's tactical system. When playing against the Magic last season, Richard insisted on implementing the strategy of strictly guarding Turkoglu.

By strangling Turkoglu, Howard's offensive power will drop by at least one-third!

…

After Nelson controlled the ball in the frontcourt, he passed the ball to Turkoglu. Milicic immediately used his taller and larger body to block Turkoglu's passing route.

In Richard's defensive strategy, Turkoglu can shoot, but cannot pass!

Once Turkoglu finds the opportunity to pass the ball to Howard, it will be difficult to handle.

Milicic completely blocked Turkoglu's passing route. In desperation, Turkoglu passed the ball back to Rashad Lewis on the outside.

Lewis caught the ball and shot, and hit a three-pointer directly from the outside.

This is the Magic's regular tactical system. The organization forward Turkoglu distributes the ball. The primary target is Howard. If Howard's distribution route is blocked, the ball will be distributed to Lewis on the outside.

…

When it was the Pirates' turn to attack, Paul lobbed the ball to O'Neal under the basket, thinking he could easily get an assist.

But he underestimated Howard's strength.

In any case, Howard is now one of the top three centers in the league. It was not a problem to beat Howard when O'Neal was at his peak, but at this point in time, it is obviously not that easy to easily score points on Howard's head.

After O'Neal caught the ball, he was about to turn around and hit Warcraft with his back. However, the attack failed and the rebound was grabbed by Howard.

…

It was the Magic's offensive round again, and this time the Magic's outside line was not so lucky. Nelson hit a mid-range shot and the rebound was grabbed by Milicic.

After the failure in the first offensive round, Paul naturally would not lob the ball to O'Neal.

Giving the lob to O'Neal in the first round can be seen as respect for O'Neal, an old veteran, and letting him play the first offensive round.

In the past three seasons, the Pirates have not focused on the inside line. Paul called Milicic to start a normal pick-and-roll rhythm.

…

After a few minutes, relying on the strong offensive firepower of the lineup, the Pirates gradually took the lead.

The offensive firepower of Richard's starting lineup is a bit too scary. Except for O'Neal, everyone else is good at shooting.

Especially Roy, the Yellow Mamba. After training in his rookie season, the offensive strength he has displayed this season is no less than that of the league's first-line shooting guard.

Paul's offensive level is also the best among point guards. There are only two or three point guards such as Nash who may be able to match Paul on the offensive end.

Needless to say, Granger's offensive firepower is as high as the Pacers' picks are today. Compared to the league's top small forwards like Pierce or James, there is a gap, but the gap is not big. Maybe it's a difference of 100 to 90.

Milicic excels in all-around, and his offensive firepower is not particularly strong, but he is far better than most power forwards in the league.

With four starters with such strong offensive capabilities, plus two of them with strong organizational skills, even if the Pirates' starting center is still Varejao, the Magic are definitely no match for the Pirates.

…

After seven minutes of play in the first quarter, the score was already gradually opening up.

It is difficult for O'Neal to explode in front of Howard, but it is certainly not that easy for Howard to play a second offense comfortably in front of O'Neal.

O'Neal's tonnage is destined to be unable to wreak havoc under the basket.

Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy frowned.

The Magic brought in Lewis this season in order to compete for the championship. If they want to compete for the championship, what will happen if they can't pass the Pirates?

The Buccaneers are already the strongest team in the Eastern Conference. The first thing that any team that wants to compete for the Eastern Conference championship needs to do is kill the Buccaneers, and then they have a chance to break out of the Eastern Conference.

But the current situation on the court made Van Gundy realize that with the Magic's current lineup, they are still no match for the Pirates in a normal matchup.

"Dudu!" Van Gundy called a timeout, and after giving instructions to the players on the court, a confident smile appeared on his face again.

The timeout ended and players from both sides returned to the court. O'Neal had not yet settled under the basket, and guard Nelson was immediately sent to the free throw line.

Needless to say, this is when Van Gundy started using shark-cutting tactics against the Buccaneers.

His idea is simple, that is, let Richard take O'Neal off the court, so that Howard can play his role under the basket and grab as many points as possible while O'Neal is off the court.

O'Neal's presence on the court severely limited Howard's offensive performance. Although Oden still had Oden on the Pirates' team after O'Neal left the game, Van Gundy didn't think that a new guy like Oden could do anything to Warcraft in a head-to-head duel. trouble.

It has to be said that Van Gundy had a good plan. In fact, if Richard was in Van Gundy's position, he would probably take the same countermeasures.

When Richard coached the Blazers before, he used this strategy when facing O'Neal.

…

O'Neal was sent to the free throw line. Even the fans in the stadium could see that the Magic was going to use the shark-cutting tactic.

To say that the tactic O'Neal hates the most is undoubtedly the shark-cutting tactic. Every time his opponent uses the shark-cutting tactic, he becomes extremely anxious.

But this time, O'Neal showed a rare smile, as if this free throw was something he had been looking forward to for a long time.

Richard also looked at Van Gundy with a smile. Van Gundy's shark-killing tactic might fail tonight.

…

"Uh-huh!"

O'Neal made a direct hit on his first free throw, but he was not so lucky on his second free throw and missed the basket.

Van Gundy was quite satisfied with one of two free throws, which was O'Neal's normal level.

If we continue to use the shark-cutting tactic, Van Gundy estimates that Richard will replace O'Neal in two minutes at most.

In the Magic's offensive round, Turkoglu scored again, this time in the hands of team shooting guard Bogans. The latter hit an iron, and the rebound was taken by O'Neal who was well positioned under the basket.

As soon as O'Neal got the rebound, Howard next to him immediately gave O'Neal a bear hug and continued to send O'Neal to the free throw line.

"Boy, your magic trick might become a joke tonight." O'Neal looked at Howard jokingly.

Howard shook his head and said nothing. He didn't want to have any conflict with Old O'Neal on the court.

Totally thankless.

If he wins, it will be said that Howard bullied the veterans. If he loses, it will be even worse. He can't even beat a veteran.

Moreover, Howard is not the kind of player who particularly likes to be violent on the court.