The opening three-pointer in basketball

Antonio is a small city of 200,000 people. Even if the population of the city's suburbs and nearby towns is added up, there are only about one million people here.

It can't be compared with New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston.

In terms of population, they are not even as good as Minnesota, and there are not as many universities in St. Anthony, and there are not as many young people.

However, such a small city also has the top professional basketball team, and this is the Spurs.

To a certain extent, the Spurs and Timberwolves are quite similar.

They are all small city teams, and none of the owners are super rich.

Investment is limited.

But the Spurs met Popovich, and the Timberwolves did not have such luck.

Popovich is both the head coach and manager of the Spurs.

All Spurs player transactions must be approved by Popovich.

Under such circumstances, the Spurs have almost no bad transactions, and all of their transactions are very reasonable.

And after Popovich introduced Duncan, this team was like a rocket on wind, soaring into the sky and becoming the top team in the league.

The Spurs' regular season this season was successful. Their regular season record was second only to the Timberwolves, ranking second in the league.

But the record in the second round of the playoffs obviously failed to satisfy Popovich.

Although the playoff journey has ended for almost a month.

Although the players are flying all over the world and traveling everywhere.

But Popovich still can't let it go.

He carefully watched the game between the Thunder and the Timberwolves.

He felt that if it weren't for the help of the referees, the Thunder would have been eliminated by the Timberwolves 2-4 at most.

The name of the Third Young Master of Thunder sounded very resounding, but the three of them failed to unite at all.

The three of them have always been fighting alone.

More importantly, the defensive attitudes of the three people are very bad.

Popovich was very unhappy losing to such a Thunder team.

He thought it was their mistake and bad luck.

If it happened again, they would never lose to the Thunder.

Moreover, the Spurs met the Timberwolves three times in the regular season, and they swept the Timberwolves 3-0.

The Spurs' team defense happened to be able to strangle the Timberwolves at other points besides Bai Yi, making it very uncomfortable for Bai Yi to catch the ball.

If the Spurs really get past the Thunder, then they have a great chance of defeating the Timberwolves.

As for the Heat, the final Eastern Conference champion, Popovich still looks down on them.

James, Wade, and Bosh do sound bluffing, but the Heat are too stable and they don't have explosive scoring power.

It's like the game against the Timberwolves, leading by 17 points in the first half, only to be caught up later.

Popovich really hates it. He should be more serious during the regular season so that they won't be caught up by the Timberwolves at the last moment of the regular season.

Then they are the team at the top of the regular season standings.

In the playoffs, the matchup situation is completely different.

Popovich believes that in that case, the championship this season will most likely belong to the Spurs.

Today, he watched the third game between the Timberwolves and the Heat. He saw Bai Yi chasing points alone in the second half, leaving the Heat helpless.

Popovich laughed to himself at first, but then he thought about it carefully.

Even if you are as experienced and experienced as him, you can't help but feel panic.

How old is Bai Yi?

twenty one years old?

Such a rookie actually won the regular season MVP, the best defensive player, the scoring title, and the steal title in his first year in the league. He has a high probability of leading the team to the championship.

This strength is too strong.

Then the Timberwolves will continue to strengthen in the future, and Baiyi will become more mature.

Then wouldn't the entire alliance fall at Bai Yi's feet?

Popovich felt horrified just thinking about it, and he didn't want this.

He thinks Duncan still has energy, and he still wants to lead Duncan Ginobili and the others to win two or three more championships?

Of course, the Spurs also have problems, that is, the players are too old and too slow.

Especially facing a player with such a fast pace like Bai Yi, it will definitely be very difficult.

But who doesn’t have a dream yet? What’s more, they are the Spurs, and their core is Duncan, who ranks eleventh in league history.

Thinking of this, Popovich suddenly understood that if he still wants to lead the Spurs to compete for the championship in the next few years, the Timberwolves may be their biggest stumbling block.

This must be addressed.

We need to improve both offensively and defensively.

Just as he was thinking about it, a call came from a senior scout from the Spurs.

"Coach, I sent a video to your email. You can take a look. We found a very good kid."

Popovich nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, Walker, I trust your judgment."

Walker followed Popovich's veteran. Popovich had just entered the league, and Walker worked with him.

Popovich admires the working ability of this old subordinate very much.

He then turned on the computer and clicked on the video. This was an NCAA game video.

The protagonist of the picture is a very young boy.

He is about 2.03 meters tall, with broad shoulders and slender hands.

This young man's external conditions are very good. He has the body of a natural basketball player.

Let’s look at this young man’s game again.

You will find that this guy has a very good defensive awareness, and he seems to be very accurate in the mid-range.

Of course, there are also shortcomings. He doesn't seem to play very coherently, playing frame by frame, as if watching a movie and there will be lags.

But this is also the boy’s unique rhythm.

Because of this ability, it is difficult for a young man to be easily restricted.

In this game, the young man showed great strength.

Excellent athletic talent, stable mid-range, active defense, and good defensive awareness.

Such a good player is so rare.

Popovich only read it once and decided that this was the talent he wanted.

He hurriedly called Walker back.

"Walker, what's his name?"

"Coach, this young man is called Leonard. We all think he is a super player with the potential to become a superstar in the league."

Popovich heard this and had a bad feeling in his heart. After all, such an outstanding young man would probably be ranked high on the rookie list, but the Spurs did not have a high-ranking draft pick.

"Then what's his current ranking?"

"Coach, don't worry. If we can't win for a player, I won't recommend it to you. He is currently ranked around fifteen, which is not very high. We can definitely operate in advance."

Popovich was a little confused, "Isn't he among the top three with such strength?"

"No, most scouts think his scoring ability is not good."

Walker laughed, "But we are optimistic about him."

When Popovich heard this, he couldn't help but laugh.

In addition to Anthony, Durant, Jordan and other absolutely talented players, they were killing everyone in the NCAA and they were killing everyone in the NBA.

Other players, most of them dominate in the NCAA, but when they come to the NBA, they are nothing more than a drinking fountain.

Scoring ability during the NCAA era doesn't count at all.

"Okay, you immediately arrange for someone to contact Leonard. I want to see him play for the Spurs next season."

With the addition of new blood, Popovich is very excited. He believes that if Leonard can grow up quickly, they will be able to compete with the Timberwolves.

It is not impossible to defeat Bai Yi.