NBA peak

Chapter 75 You are the only seedling in the NBA...

On the last day of the game, Nas organized the players' last training session.

In this training session, Nurse did not use the regular three-group lineup of starters, substitutes, and benches. Instead, he made Van Vleet, Ge Feng, Lowry, Siakam and Ibaka into a group.

Ge Feng was confused by Nas's sudden change of formation.

After the training game, Nurse nodded with satisfaction, and then announced to them that the Raptors will start the game against the Grizzlies in the preseason, five of them.

Ge Feng and Siakam glanced at each other.

Damn, it's only been one game and we're starting?

Nas, how dare you think.

Ge Feng and Siakam will definitely cherish this hard-won starting opportunity. For them, starting is the best opportunity to test them.

If Ge Feng and Siakam perform well, they will have a high probability of being squeezed into the regular season rotation.

This is very tempting.

Of course, if their starting performance collapses, they will be pushed to the bench by Nurse.

In that case, I don't know when the next opportunity will be.

Ge Feng would definitely not miss such an opportunity.

Back in the locker room, Ge Feng received a strange call.

"Strange, who is the number in China?"

Ge Feng felt a little strange when he saw a string of numbers on the phone.

"Hello? Who is it?" Ge Feng answered the phone decisively.

"Hey, Ge Feng, it's me, Zhou Ling'an."

On the other end of the phone, there was a sweet, standard mandarin voice.

"It's Sister An, hello, hello. It's so late, what can you do if you call me?" Ge Feng's attitude immediately became much more cordial when he heard Zhou Ling's voice.

It is also a blessing to meet fellow villagers in a foreign country.

Zhou Ling'an's tone became a little hesitant, and Ge Feng could tell that something must have happened to Zhou Ling'an.

"What's wrong with you, Sister An? Do you need my help?" Ge Feng asked.

"No, it's not a big deal. That's it. I think there is something you should want to know about. According to the internal information I got, the Lakers management decided to lay off Yi Jianlian."

Hearing the news of Yi Jianlian's dismissal, Ge Feng was shocked.

"Why? Didn't he perform very well?" Ge Feng asked in surprise.

"I don't know the details. There is one more thing I want to tell you. Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin, who entered the NBA at the same time as you, have returned to China. They did not qualify to play in the NBA. Now you are the only one left in the NBA..."

Ge Feng was silent for a long time after listening.

This is the case again, time after time, year after year, when Chinese players come to the NBA, they are always so unpopular.

In fact, there are many Chinese players who are no worse than Americans.

Chinese fans always have high hopes for players from their own country, but it is a pity that Chinese players will always be pushed back to their country for various reasons.

Ge Feng now knows what it's like to be a single seedling.

In the current NBA, Ge Feng is the only Chinese player left to support him.

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Ling'an's voice came again: "Ge Feng, in fact, it's good for your development that they left the NBA. Now all domestic resources will be tilted towards you. As long as you play hard, you will be famous in the NBA one day. I just hope that you will not give up no matter what difficulties you encounter. Our Chinese basketball really can't stand it. If you need any help in the future, just come to me. This is my private number. If you have any difficulties, you can tell me. I really don't want to be in the NBA. Not a single Chinese person by name."

Zhou Ling'an's words gave Ge Feng great comfort.

How happy it is to be able to hear a few words from domestic fans far away from home.

"I see, thank you, Sister An, I will not give up on the NBA. One day, I will let Chinese names appear on the MVP list of the NBA Finals. At that moment, I will share it with you." Ge Feng calmed down and said firmly.

"Hmm, um! Come on!"

After Zhou Ling'an finished talking on the phone with Ge Feng, she walked alone to the balcony of her luxury villa in the United States, quietly blowing the evening breeze.

A few meteors flashed across the sky, and Zhou Ling'an silently made a wish: "I hope that Ge Feng can realize the basketball championship dream that Chinese fans dream of as soon as possible."

On the second day, due to the game at night, Nass did not arrange physical training, but just told the players some tactics.

Finally, the time for the game is approaching.

Ge Feng and his teammates changed their clothes together, and then came to the home of the Raptors, the Canadian Airline Center Gymnasium.

Compared with the Quicken Loans Center in Cleveland, the Raptors' home court is also a lot shabby.

Because it is a preseason game, the Raptors' home attendance rate is less than 1%. Although the team has sold tickets very cheaply, there are still not many fans willing to come to watch the game.

The Raptors' opponent, the Grizzlies, can also be regarded as an immortal team in the league.

In recent years, although the Grizzlies have successively acquired a group of powerful players such as Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Randolph, and Tony Allen, due to years of weakness, the Grizzlies fans are not very enthusiastic, and they will not fly all the way from the United States to Canada to watch the game.

The whole game looked like a small game held by some company, very bleak.

When Ge Feng walked onto the field, he gave a wry smile.

"The last match was still the enthusiasm of the stormy waves, but this time it has become a cold underground ice cellar..."

The Grizzlies players came to the stadium one after another, and when their players saw the attendance rate of the Raptors was so low, they also felt very disappointed.

Among the active players of the Grizzlies, the most famous is Vince Carter, who was also one of the four major shooting guards.

But that was a thing of the past after all, and now Carter is old, and he no longer has the style of flying dunks from others.

Vince Carter played off the bench for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies' starting lineup is the team's core guard Mike Conley and the league's best defensive first-team guard Tony Allen. The forward positions include Paul Gasol's younger brother Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Jay Michael Green.

Last year, the Grizzlies were the most injured team in the league, not one of them.

The Grizzlies' starting five were all injured. As a result, last season, the Memphis Grizzlies had the sixth-worst number of three-pointers attempted in the NBA, the fourth-worst number of field goals made, the second-worst three-point shooting percentage, and the second-worst number of assists. Only the Lakers were worse than the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies are inherently weak, coupled with the low attendance rate and exposure rate since the establishment of the team, these two factors contributed to the fundamental reason why Nas dared to make a bold attempt to put a rookie in the starting position.

However, this year, the Grizzlies have played their best, and there is still hope for the playoffs in the future.

But that is something that can only be determined after the regular season. Before the start of the regular season, no one can see the Grizzlies who are almost bad.

The faces of the Raptors players are all covered with contempt, but Ge Feng will not underestimate the enemy.

Ge Feng's career in the NBA is like walking a tightrope. If he doesn't take a steady step, he will be doomed at any time.

Ge Feng couldn't afford to lose.

(End of this chapter)