NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

"What?!"

On the evening of February 18, in the office of Spurs head coach Popovich, the old man was holding a report of the latest physical test data of the team's players, and his expression was no longer calm.——

"Is this Joey's physical test data today?"

Popovich looked up in disbelief and looked at the team's assistant coach Budenholzer who sent the report.

"Yes, sir!"

Holzer saw Popovich's surprised look and smiled bitterly:

"This is the latest physical test data that Joey contacted the team's physical test data analyst and team doctor to conduct for him after you returned to San Antonio at noon today.……"

【In terms of static talent - body fat percentage: 9.5%, palm length: 9.75 inches, palm width: 11.25 inches, barefoot: 206CM, height with shoes: 208CM, standing reach: 2.76 meters, wingspan: 223CM] There is no change in dynamic talent, except that the results of standing jump and three-quarter court sprint are better than those during the team tryout.

But... this static talent is even more abnormal?!

Popovich touched his chin and forced his old and rusty head to calm down.

Joey is already 20 years old, right?

He can understand that young players of this age will jump up in height, but he can't"jump" like this, right?

He has only been in the league for less than half a year, and his height has skyrocketed by six or seven centimeters. This height is enough to play directly in the inside!

But Joey is a thorough outside player with the ball in his hands.

Guard style, forward body... it's a good name——"Point forward".

Wait...

The old man hadn't had time to recover from the sudden"surprise" and suddenly remembered what Kobe had"unintentionally" teased Duncan in the locker room before the All-Star Game.——

"Greg has found an excellent successor for you. Maybe you will be like David and win another championship at the end of your career.……"

"But...that boy's template?"

"Hahaha...Magic is the totem of Los Angeles……"

His pupils contracted violently as he quickly grasped the key point!

"magician"——Irvin Johnson!

The old thief chewed the name carefully in his mouth...

Could it be that as those"blind" scouts said, I really picked up a"good friend" of the new era?

Popovich frowned and looked at the data report in his hand in silence.

Holzer, who was standing in front of his desk, thought he was worried about the"injury" that Joey's height might leave, so he hurriedly said"comfort"."：

"Don't worry, Greg. I asked Stacey (Spurs team doctor) when I came this afternoon. She gave Joey a comprehensive examination and the preliminary results of the MRI are out.……"

"Joey's body has always been in a very healthy and active state!"

When saying this, even Holzer himself felt strange. Normal professional athletes basically have some injuries, such as patellar band injuries, severe knee wear, joint inflammation, etc.

But no matter which part of Joey's body, it is intact like a medical"specimen", and there is no trace of sports injury at all.

(From a medical point of view, only dead people (specimens) have no injuries. This is a metaphor, brothers, please don't criticize.)

Holzer can only attribute this to the fact that Joey has been in the league for a short time and he pays more attention to physical maintenance.……

"I'm not worried about that!"

Popovich's frown did not relax after hearing this.

Instead, his expression became more serious.

It seems that Maji's first championship in his career was won when he served as the team's center...

(This is a foreshadowing, brothers who understand basketball can guess what the foreshadowing is, hehe……）

——————

On the evening of February 19, the San Antonio Spurs played their first game after the All-Star Weekend at home.

Facing the weak Sacramento Kings in the West, Joey had an explosion -

Popovich made a bold"change" in this game, promoting Joey to the starting power forward position, and partnering with the No. 21 rookie in the interior.

This move caused heated discussions among many fans before the game, and even the players of both teams could not figure out what the old man meant. It was not until the game started that they understood - the Princeton system!

That's right, after a day and a night of"hard thinking", Sima... No, the famous coach Popovich finally came up with a set of tactics that is most suitable and can best activate the current Spurs and stimulate the potential of both offense and defense!

That is to copy, not to borrow from the tactical system of the"Gorgeous Kings" at the beginning of the century.

Coincidentally, this Spurs is famous for its coordination of passing and cutting and overall cooperation. In addition, Joey, who can serve as the core point of the Kings' tactics (Vivac's position) at that time, plays as the team's power forward, which perfectly fits the key points of the"Princeton system".

After watching this game, the fans and so-called professional basketball critics almost went crazy."——

When will the Spurs, a team that emphasizes positional warfare and a high success rate in scoring, be able to launch such an offensive wave like mercury pouring down the ground?

When Joey stands at a high position to provide screens, as long as the ball is passed to him, with superhuman vision and more accurate passing methods than the league's top point guards... whether it is Parker, Green, Neil... or Dio and Duncan in the interior - as long as they get space through continuous off-ball movement, empty cutting and back-running, Joey's pass can always be passed to them just right, and then the Spurs can easily get two points! The

Spurs' offensive rhythm is no longer dragged throughout the game - smooth and coordinated passing, cutting and organization, no one dribbles the ball more, and no one has extra ball-holding movements. As long as the ball is in your hands, it is definitely a good opportunity to score in an open position!

""Paying attention to inside passing and inside command" is the tactical core of the Princeton system.

The system focuses on the four aspects of"space, reality, observation, and execution", requiring players to have excellent outside shooting ability, passing, and breakthrough skills on both sides, and at the same time, they must have excellent wisdom to interpret the game!

Coincidentally, looking at the current NBA league, no team except the Spurs can put together these"special" players!

The Spurs are a team with rigorous tactics and tacit cooperation that is almost like a military.

Joey plays as a power forward and serves as the core of the Princeton system.

It is like a lubricant that perfectly activates the Spurs'"war machine"!

The passing vision brought by the sudden increase in height is comparable to the passing and cutting organization ability of the top guards, enough to force the opposing team to expand the defensive area to the offensive range of the entire court, and the ability to assist and defend on the defensive end that makes all teams overwhelmed...

It can be said that compared to the real core of the"Gorgeous Kings" back then,"the ceiling of the European inside line""、"Vlade Divac, the"old hand" in the interior, Joey's only weakness is in rebounding.

Joey's speed of defense and awareness of assisting defense, and even the ability to shoot from the outside, are all things that Divac did not have back then...

However, this game was just an"experiment" for Popovich.

The result satisfied him very much!

Facing the current weak Kings, the Spurs"educated" them severely in the way of their predecessors.

While limiting the Kings' total score to less than 90 points, the Spurs team scored a total of 142 points.

A full 50-point difference!

On the Spurs side, Duncan had Joey's"help" and got many one-on-one opportunities in the interior. The old stone Buddha lived up to expectations, making 16 of 23 shots, scoring a season high, the first"40+", and finally getting a large double-double of 44 points and 16 rebounds. He returned to his"peak" directly!

And he faced two young potential interior players of the Kings - DeMarcus Cousins Spurs and Jason Thompson acted like a kid who couldn't play basketball in front of the No. 21 rookie. Not only were they beaten like a sieve on the defensive end, but they also"contributed" 6 blocks to Duncan, Joey and Split on the offensive end.

Parker and Manu also played the most efficient performance of the season tonight, with the former scoring 23 points, 2 assists and 3 rebounds, and the latter scoring 31 points and 4 assists.

Leonard, Green, Neal and Mills made 13 of 23 three-pointers, and the Spurs'"shooters" made the young Kings suffer today.

As for Joey, he broke the record for assists in the Rookie Challenge not long ago, and today at the home ATT Arena, he broke his personal career single-game assist record and the Spurs rookie single-game assist record (the"Little General" and Parker jointly held: 17 assists) - setting a new record of"24 assists in a single game"!

This is also another breakthrough in the single-game assist record of the 12th rookie!

(The previous number was a bit exaggerated, it was all set by Joey)

After the game, Joey was named the MVP of the game, and more than 17,000 fans at the ATT Arena cheered for their No. 3 draft pick for the first time."MVP"The sound!

Just like Popovich said - the legend begins tonight!