The Godfather of Basketball

The first opponent of the Rockets Summer League is the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls traded the No. 4 pick from the Trail Blazers in this year's draft, and then selected Tyrus Thomas, an insider with explosive physical talent.

The Bulls played well last season with Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, and Ben Gordon, forming a new "trident". Complete, the only thing missing is an inside scoring point, which is why they selected Thomas.

Thomas' physical fitness is at the historical level. He flew to the sky in college and was known as the Vince Carter of the inside.

Such excellent conditions also made the media have high expectations for him, calling him one of the brightest stars in this summer league.

But Tang Tian knew that Thomas lacked offensive skills and was a replica of Swift.

So before the game, he had already arranged for the team to push him out of the three-second zone, and everything else was not a problem at all.

In addition to Thomas, there is another player in the Bulls team that is quite eye-catching, not because of his strength, but because he is Quintelle Woods, who was expelled from the team by Tang Tian before.

Woods was expelled from the team after failing to play a game. He was quite upset in his heart. In front of the reporters before the game, he directly attacked Tang Tian: "A rookie, with a bunch of trash players, still won the championship? What about the yellow race? He shouldn't be in this league, he should get out of this league after this game!"

Woods' words were full of sarcasm and even racial discrimination, but this did not lead to a big wave of protests, on the contrary, more and more fans watched the excitement.

In 1966, Dan Haskins, the "Godfather of Black Basketball" in the United States, broke the color boundary and allowed blacks to appear on the basketball court. Low.

Most of the American fans were waiting to see this Rockets team being brutalized, and then Tang Tian was kicked out.

Tang Tian's head was still dizzy, and he just sat on the bench and watched from the beginning of pre-match training.

When the game was about to start, Thibodeau saw Tang Tian was still sitting, so he couldn't help but came over and asked, "Should I ask the team doctor to show you?"

Tang Tian waved his hand: "It's okay, just fight like you did during training."

The performance of a team, three points depends on on-the-spot performance, and seven points depends on off-court training. This Rockets training is almost the same. Even without his command, they are already strong enough.

And among the players of the Bulls, he is familiar with Thomas and Sefolosha, who they selected at the 13th position. The team's ability is very limited.

Thibodeau didn't know this, he shook his head, and then went to prepare for the game.

The game was played at the Thomas \u0026 Mack Center, the home stadium of the University of Las Vegas, which can accommodate up to 18,000 people.

The NBA Summer League is also an expansion of the NBA's influence, allowing those who can't afford tickets to watch an NBA event up close. The tickets are very cheap. Even though it was the first day of the game, it also attracted nearly 5,000 spectators to watch the game. Most of them are local students.

There are also commentary seats on the sidelines. The commentators for this game are Royce White from the University of Las Vegas and his partner Jeff Stein.

The game started immediately, and the starting players from both sides appeared one after another.

For the Rockets, the starting center Chuck Hayes, the power forward Paul Millsap, the small forward Steve Novak, and the outside line is the double control of Will Bynum and Jose Barea guard combination.

As soon as this combination came out, it attracted a burst of ridicule from the commentator Seawhite.

"God, what kind of lineup is this! The two insiders are less than 2 meters tall, and the outsiders are two short 1.83 meters tall. Are you sure this can play the game?"

The fans on the sidelines were also laughing. Many of them came to see Tang Tian's jokes. This starting lineup has already begun to touch their jokes.

"At least this is a good start for the Bulls. Tyrus Thomas is going to experience the feeling of "Shark" O'Neal playing inside." Stein also joked.

"beep!"

With the whistle of the referee, the game began immediately. Thomas jumped to win Millsap and gave the Bulls an offensive opportunity.

Thomas reached the frontcourt and directly reached out to the defender for the ball.

He is very confident in his physical fitness. When he was in college, his physical talent alone was enough to crush everything.

It was Millsap who defended Thomas.

Glancing at the inside line who was a head shorter than himself, he chose to attack with the ball without saying a word.

He had heard about Tang Tian before the game, but now he didn't expect Tang Tian to use such a short player to defend him, it was like delivering food.

"The Bulls take the lead!" Seeing the matchup on the field, White in the commentary seat couldn't help cheering in advance.

"boom!"

But at this moment, the situation on the field suddenly changed.

Thomas did not push Millsap as easily as expected, but stopped the ball after a confrontation.

The audience was stunned, and Thomas himself was stunned.

This short player doesn't look tall or strong, but his strength is terrifying.

Thomas' attack came to an abrupt end. Before he could make another move, Millsap suddenly reached out and knocked out the basketball in his hand with a "snap".

Steal the ball!

Tang Tian smiled at this time.

Millsap, who just entered the league, has not yet developed so many offensive methods. What allows him to gain a foothold in this league is his excellent strength and wingspan.

Millsap succeeded in stealing the ball, the Rockets quickly pushed the fast break, Barea and Bynum were two small men who were on hot wheels.

Sefolosha is known for his defense, but faced with the cooperation of the two defenders, he lost sight of the other. In the end, Bynum scored an easy fast break layup.

The Rockets go first.

The fans on the sidelines were also dumbfounded, so fast!

"damn it!"

Thomas cursed, and when it came to the Bulls' offensive round, he wanted to pass the ball again.

After realizing that Millsap was no weaker than himself, he called his inside partner to do a pick-and-roll and switched to Hayes.

You can't bully Millsap, but it's always okay to bully you, an ultra-short insider. You must know that basketball is a sport for tall people.

Thomas turned his back directly, ready to use his body to eat Hayes hard.

Tang Tian couldn't help reaching out and touching his nose at this moment. It would be a bit funny for Thomas to hit Hayes like this.

But other people don't think so. They are all mourning for Hayes. Most of the ball was smashed away and then a slam dunk. They can finally see the terrifying strength of Thomas, a beast.