Chapter 674 - 599: Team Core

Chapter 674: Chapter 599: Team Core

On the court, Hill looped out, and the Magic’s rookie point guard from this year’s draft, Jamal Nelson, made a decisive cross-court pass.

Hill caught the ball and immediately went up for the shot. Marion was guarding him so tightly that he was slightly off-balance, but the ball still dropped precisely through the hoop.

Su Jun subconsciously wanted to shout, "Nice shot!"

For the past few years, Hill had come to Phoenix every summer to train with Chen Yu’s team. During his time with the Pistons, his shooting range was limited, and he had almost no three-point ability.

But he had worked hard to develop it over the last two years.

Last season, he averaged 3.4 attempts per game and shot 34 percent, turning the three-pointer into a regular part of his arsenal.

You could say that after developing his three-point shot, Hill had truly become an all-around warrior with no technical flaws.

Su Jun turned to look at Chen Yu, a bit embarrassed.

A three from Tracy McGrady, a three from Hill, and a long two from Juwan Howard. The Magic went on an 8-0 run, pulling away with the lead.

But when Su Jun looked at Chen Yu’s expression, it was calm and unchanging, as if he didn’t care at all.

’He probably really doesn’t care,’ Su Jun thought.

With three consecutive championships under their belt, the Suns had seen it all.

Not to mention, after trading away a core player and taking pay cuts, the thirst for another championship wasn’t as strong as before.

"Coach Gong is a good man. Let’s not even talk about his coaching ability—I’m a layman in that regard, so I wouldn’t dare to make a definitive judgment. But from what I know of him, he’s a good person, responsible, truly loves basketball, and is willing to make sacrifices."

Su Jun seemed to recall something and said with a wry smile, "After he retired, he worked continuously for the National Team. He’s a down-to-earth person. In ’95, when Coach Jiang stepped back, the leadership had a talk with him, and he just shouldered the responsibility for the National Team."

"In ’99, the women’s team didn’t even make it to the Olympics. The leadership talked to him again, wanting him to coach the women’s team, and he went without a second thought. He immediately produced results, too."

"Now, after the Olympics, the women’s team finished ninth. I heard the higher-ups weren’t satisfied with that result and wanted to hire a foreign coach. They talked to him about stepping down, and apparently, he didn’t complain at all."

"What’s that saying? ’I’m a brick, to be moved wherever I’m needed.’ That’s the kind of person he is. Honestly, with his qualifications, if he’d gone to a club, he would’ve bought a house and a car and been living the good life long ago. With the small salary he earns from the National Team, it would be hard to even support his family if his wife’s business wasn’t doing well."

At this point, Su Jun said, "Doctor Chen, Coach Gong is the real deal. If you go to China, you could meet with him, have a good chat. Even if he doesn’t end up as head coach, he could work in youth development. He has a real knack for discovering players."

Chen Yu nodded, making a mental note. Su Jun could say what he would, but Chen Yu would still need to meet the man in person to get a better understanding.

Down below, the first half was over.

The Suns were trailing 51-58, down by 7 points.

In the second half, the Suns made several pushes but couldn’t close the gap.

With such a big lineup change, there were still some chemistry issues.

There was also the problem of ball distribution.

The old Suns were built around O’Neal, and even Hardaway would proactively work to accommodate O’Neal.

But after Nowitzki was traded here, as far as Chen Yu knew, he and Hardaway hadn’t had any in-depth conversations.

So on the court, a problem might arise: when Nowitzki had the ball, should he attack first, or should he pass to Hardaway?

This was the Suns. Nowitzki wasn’t traded here to be the number one guy.

The team’s leader was still Hardaway.

As the number two, he should be properly supporting the number one.

But with the Mavericks, Nowitzki had been the absolute core, the undisputed leader. He was used to being the top dog, so the adjustment was a bit awkward.

And Hardaway? He was used to being the second-in-command. With the ball in his hands, his first thought was probably still to pass to a teammate.

Watching most of the game, Chen Yu had already seen several instances where players with the ball were hesitant to shoot, passing it back and forth instead.

Noticing this, Chen Yu’s expression grew a little more serious.

’This is no small problem. If it’s not handled well, the team could fall apart.’

’And we can’t just smooth things over. A clear core needs to be established so both of them can play comfortably.’

But as for who should be the core, Chen Yu really couldn’t make up his mind.

Hardaway was getting older, but he was a hero of their three championships and one of the league’s top superstars.

In terms of star power and influence, Nowitzki was a considerable step down from him.

Nowitzki was younger and still had room to grow, but the 33-year-old Hardaway wasn’t so old that he needed to take a backseat.

’I’ll just have to go back and have a serious discussion with Brian and Skiles.’

Secondly, with O’Neal and McDyess traded away, the Suns’ interior defense had dropped a full tier.

Chandler was young and energetic, had the height, and was athletic, but could he compare to O’Neal?

O’Neal could intimidate a lot of players just by planting himself under the basket, without even doing anything.

As for Nowitzki, his reputation for being "soft" over the years wasn’t for nothing. In terms of defense, he couldn’t hold a candle to McDyess.

Howard, despite being young and inexperienced, was playing with vigor. He had probably already secured a double-double by now, especially on the boards. He’d snatched several offensive rebounds right over Chandler’s head for second-chance points.

This problem wasn’t easy to solve either. After all, they had made the trades, and the roster’s strength had declined.

There was one possible solution, though: moving Kwame Brown into the starting lineup.

Brown’s offense was a complete mess, but his defense was always on point.

During the preseason, Skiles had moved him into the starting five, and he played pretty well.

88-93. The Suns lost by five points. On such a celebratory day, starting the season with a loss felt somewhat anticlimactic.

And looking at the score, the problems were quite significant.

Last season, the Suns’ offensive firepower was among the best in the league, often scoring over 100 points.

points, to be honest, was a bit low.

Hardaway with 19 points and Nowitzki with 21—both had subpar performances.

You could only say that not only did they fail to stop their opponents, but their own offense never got going.

But after all, the roster changes were significant. It was all acceptable; they just needed to adjust slowly.

As for the other two opening night games, the Lakers beat the Nuggets 101-92 in a decisive victory. Kobe went off for 33 points, and Yao Ming contributed a top-tier stat line of 24 points and 13 rebounds.

Under the new rules, guards’ offense had indeed been strengthened. Half of Kobe’s 33 points came from driving layups or drawing fouls.

In the other game, the Bulls narrowly defeated the Pistons, 97-91.

With their two injured players back, especially Jay Williams—the second overall pick whom Chicagoans had high hopes for—he dropped 22 points and 8 assists in the first regular-season game, giving off a bit of a "reborn from the ashes" vibe.

This game was a bit earlier, so Chen Yu had found time to watch the media reports and highlights.

All you could say was that the Bulls really had a promising future.

Their frontcourt of Eddie Curry and McDyess, one young and one old, both big and tough, managed to hold their own against the Pistons’ dual-Wallace lineup, which was truly impressive.

On the wing, Luol Deng, whom they acquired in a trade this year, also performed well. He had defense and a good shot; his potential was promising.

In the backcourt, Jay Williams was paired with Schringer, and they also had Jamal Crawford as a super sixth man.

That was a really solid lineup.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to upset last season’s Eastern Conference champions.

After the game, Chen Yu didn’t rush home. He found Brian and Skiles.

Skiles had been about to watch game film with the coaching staff, but when he heard Chen Yu wanted to discuss confirming the team’s core, he immediately became serious.

"Chen, I’ve been thinking about this problem for a while. I was meaning to discuss it with Brian."

He had noticed this problem back in the preseason.

The men sat down, and after some discussion, they all turned to look at Chen Yu in unison.

Brian said, "Chen, you have a better relationship with them, especially Anfernee. He trusts you so much. You should go find out what they’re thinking first, and then we’ll make a decision."

In Brian’s view, no one was better suited to solve this problem than Chen Yu.