noveldrama
Chapter 946 946 563 GOAT Doesnt Care_2
Chapter 946 946 563 GOAT Doesnt Care_2
?Chapter 946: Chapter 563 GOAT Doesn’t Care_2 Chapter 946: Chapter 563 GOAT Doesn’t Care_2 On the wing, there were Jae Crowder and Chandler Parsons.
After losing Chris Bosh and DeAndre Jordan, the interior line had returned to its 2007-08 season status, becoming their weakest link.
However, it’s normal for a team to have flaws; a perfect roster is actually quite rare.
At present, the SuperSonics’ priority was to finalize the starting lineup for the new season as soon as possible.
To be precise, they needed to find the fifth starter.
The first four were already settled: Yu Fei, Roy, Irving, and Stoudemire.
Coach Lu decided to move Yu Fei back to the small forward position and let Roy and Irving share ball-handling duties. As for the fifth starter, he hoped to choose a power forward.
Therefore, the final choice would be between Parsons and Carl Landry.
The SuperSonics were famously generous to “mercenaries,” and Landry soon experienced the same “happiness” that Bosh had.
Coach Lu appreciated Landry’s defense but disliked his blue-collar style. Thus, without considering his contribution on the defensive end, he directly promoted Parsons to the starting lineup.
As for Landry’s feelings, Coach Lu was still going to “take care” of them.
“Carl, I believe you could start on most teams. But those teams won’t win championships. Our goal is five consecutive championships. You understand, right?”
The rough Landry couldn’t withstand Coach Lu’s smooth-talking and voluntarily accepted the role of the sixth man, smoothly following the path Bosh had taken.
Soon enough, however, a new problem emerged.
The issue of Irving’s ball-handling rights was pressing.
From the looks of it, Coach Lu was willing to compare Irving with Allen Iverson, referring not only to their explosive scoring ability but also to their visibly superior dribbling skills compared to others.
Moreover, although both possessed exceptional ball-handling capabilities, their styles were completely different. Iverson, with top physical qualities under the same conditions, could make unanswerable wide changes of direction, while Irving’s approach relied on rhythm and seamless transfers between his left and right hands.
Irving was naturally left-handed, but was urged by his father Drederick to play with his right hand from an early age, eventually leading to ambidextrous skill. This allowed him to pose a balanced threat with both hands when attacking and, even without Iverson’s physical prowess, made it difficult for opponents to guard against him.
On the third day of training camp, Irving led the White Team to a victory over Roy’s Red Team, amassing 27 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists on his own, earning a round of applause.
Even Vice-President George Karl, who usually didn’t favor offensive guards, couldn’t help but marvel, “Kyrie’s talent is unteachable.”
“Unteachable” is a neutral word in the context of professional basketball.
It generally carries two meanings: one is praise for skill, as Karl’s remark about Irving, and the other is a doubt about personality, such as when Yu Fei first arrived in D.C. and was rumored to be “uncoachable.”
Karl noted that Irving’s skills were so exceptional they were unteachable, implying between the lines that the team needs to give him more ball-handling responsibilities so he can improve quickly.
If Irving gets more control of the ball, Roy will have less.
At the start of the season, Coach Lu faced a difficult dilemma once again.
On the seventh day of training camp, a notable event took place at the Furtado Center.
Training had just ended when Irving approached Yu Fei with a ball, saying, “Fei, one-on-one, you up for it?”
“There he goes again!” Roy exclaimed.
This summer, while Team USA trained in Las Vegas, Irving, as a member of the practice squad, made the same request to Kobe.
“Did Kobe agree?” Yu Fei had also heard about that.
Roy said, “He did. They agreed on a wager (50 thousand US Dollars), but the rules and location are to be determined.”
Yu Fei laughed, “I won’t make it so complicated.”
He glanced at Irving: “Let’s start.”
Out of the grace of a senior player, Yu Fei decided to let Irving go first.
Thus, the brazen rookie from the SuperSonics, unabashed by the Greatest of All Time, bypassed Fei with an outstanding rhythm change, switched hands in the air to avoid the block, and scored off the backboard.
“You can’t stop me!” Irving said excitedly. “Nobody can!”
On the next play, Fei tightened his space against Irving’s dribbling. Unexpectedly, the youngster twisted, leaned back for a tough shot, and made it again.
Suddenly, Fei remembered that due to the lockout, Irving entered the League a year later than in the main timeline, so his immediate combat readiness should be judged at a second-year level.
And Irving might be one of the NBA stars he was most familiar with, of course he knew what a second-year Irving was capable of: an average of 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists per game, leading the Cavaliers to the dubious honor of the NBA’s all-time number one draft bust.
Of course, the mishaps in the draft couldn’t be blamed on him, and the poor team performance was a common issue with offensively specialized guards who neglected organization and lacked the ability to uplift their teammates.
Put him on a weak team, and he could lead the team to contend for the number one pick, but on a strong team, such as next to James, he could even match Curry fifty-fifty.
Thinking this, Fei’s focus and defensive intensity increased.
Irving relied on his dribbling rhythm again to gain half a body advantage and tried to finish with a layup, but this time, Fei’s chasing block followed close behind, forcefully pinning the ball against the backboard.
“There are many in the league who can block you like that,” Fei said casually. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself, young man.”
“It’s okay!”
Irving turned around and said something that almost made Fei lose his composure: “I can stop you!”