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After the preseason, the Wizards coaching staff discussed the lineup again.

The starting four players are confirmed, Stoudemire, Marshall, Jordan, and Wesley. They had no idea whether to use Hamilton or Raja Bell as the shooting guard.

In the preseason, Bell's performance was very eye-catching, with a three-point shooting rate of 41.2%. His shooting position is relatively fixed, just at the right bottom corner and 70 degrees, but the bottom corner is very important.

The coaching staff is unanimously optimistic about Bell's defense. When he signed with the Wizards in the summer, he weighed only 93 kilograms. When tested again after the training camp, he had reached 96 kilograms, and his confrontation ability was strengthened.

Bell is very active on the defensive end. He will use a nubuck-style entanglement to defend scorers in isolation. He has a low center of gravity, moves quickly, dares to confront, and is also good at chasing around the screen.

When it comes to defense in a basketball game, attitude is the most important. Anyone with a body can become a qualified defender as long as he concentrates on defense and is not afraid of expending physical energy. It is not as difficult to practice as offensive skills.

Bell has made great progress with the 76ers. Larry Brown is good at training defensive players and setting up defensive systems, and his reputation is well-deserved. He had just joined the Knicks, and he defeated the Wizards in two games in the preseason relying on defense. This was without Yao Ming, and he used the Knicks' core lineup from last season.

Of course, there is no doubt about Hamilton's strength, and he is not suitable for playing as a substitute. He comes from a family of long-distance runners, has top-notch running ability without the ball, shoots from the three-point line without blind spots, and has a playing style that never stays in one place for more than two seconds. For many players, they would rather guard Kobe than Hamilton. After all, this is a basketball game, not a marathon.

On the defensive end, Hamilton is full of ribs. He is 198cm tall and weighs only 84 kilograms. He has poor confrontation but strong mobility, strong harassment ability, and is good at preventing face-to-face breakthroughs. If Hamilton brings a substitute, the offense will be better in the second quarter.

This is a sweet trouble. The Wizards have strength and have many players who can play.

In the end, everyone decided to let Hamilton start. After all, his shooting point is not fixed, he can guarantee two-point efficiency, and he can also consume the opponent's energy. There is really no need to limit playing time for such a person with unlimited physical strength. Moreover, Hamilton's offensive efficiency with the ball is low, and his cooperation with Alston may not be tacit.

In this way, starting Wesley can reduce his running and be a fixed-point shooter for a period of time. Bell's task is also relatively simple. In the second quarter, he just needs to stand in the corner and draw out the defense.

In the evening, Yang Rui chatted with Maggette online and assigned him a task to study the playing style of Lakers legend Jerry West at home.

"His style is different from mine, right?" Maggette suspected that she heard wrongly.

What is there to study about this?

"You can find some videos and introductions about him on the Internet. What I want you to learn is breaking through and drawing fouls. As long as you can do this well, averaging 20+ per game is just around the corner. Think carefully about how a white man with poor confrontation can get so much Free throws.”

"Ah ha? Then let me look for it." Maggette said excitedly.

Jerry West is 193cm tall and weighs 84kg. He has made 10 first-team appearances and is considered one of the top five shooting guards in league history and the NBA's logo man.

But as a white man, West's physical fitness is not worth mentioning in modern times, and Hornacek is stronger than him. His body was ordinary for that era, but he became a superstar. Looking at the data, you will find that the reason for West's success is not only his accurate shooting, but also because he is the first "King of Ten Thousand Porcelains" in the history of the league.

Among the guards who have averaged more than 10 free throws per game in a single season, Jerry West has the second most, with 4. West still holds the record for free throws per game by a guard as of 2018; In his peak season of 1965-66, he averaged 12.4 free throws per game.

He averaged 9.4 free throws per game in his career, with a shooting percentage of 81.4%. Even in the year he retired, he averaged 6.4 free throws per game. His free throw numbers in the playoffs were even higher, averaging 9.8 per game in his career and 14 per game in the 1965 playoffs. His ability to deceive fouls is at its peak, and he will definitely be hacked in the Internet age.

The ultimate in porcelain, the league's logo, and Harden can't show up, who can compete with him?

Maggette averaged only 4 free throws per game last season. His shooting percentage is about the same as in his peak period, and his style of play is the same. The difference is that he draws too few free throws. Yang Rui pointed out a clear path for him to help him understand the big move in advance and strive to become a strong man averaging 10 free throws per game.

The first official strength list has been announced.

Ranked first is the Kings in the Western Conference. Yang Rui read the news and immediately felt that this was good news. This season, except for the Nets and Bulls, which are stronger than his previous life, other teams have become weaker.

The Kings are now missing Gerald Wallace, Mike Bibby, and were forced to renew the contract of Jason Williams. Center Divac is one year older and his movement speed is definitely slower. Even so, they still look the most promising.

The Spurs ranked second, missing Stephen Jackson and Tony Parker, and adding Jamal Tinsley and Brian Russell. The Jazz veteran finally chose to go to the Spurs to compete for the championship at the end of his career.

The Nets ranked third, the Raptors, who were missing two stars, were fourth, followed by the Mavericks, Bulls, and Pistons, and it wasn't until eighth place that it was the Lakers' turn.

The Lakers lineup has not changed much, except for the retirement of veteran Richmond, but the strength list is based on the recent strength of the team. "Big Shark" O'Neal will be out for a long time due to injury.

In the summer, the media revealed that O'Neal once again refused to renew his contract in advance, and people suspected that O'Neal would leave the Lakers.

Kobe wants to seize class power and become the boss, and the conflict between the two may break out at any time. Experts analyze that O'Neal will use his free agent status to force the team to leave in 2003, and only one of him and Kobe can stay.

At the end of last season, the team doctor checked and said that O'Neal had hallux rigidus, which is a dislocation of the joint at the base of the big toe. It was caused by worsening arthritis that was severe enough to require yet another surgery. His toes are very painful, which has affected his jumping and other movements.

O'Neal had three options. The first was to undergo another minor surgery that had previously had no effect; the second was to undergo an operation that would keep him out for two to three months; and the second was to undergo a surgery often performed on ballet dancers' feet. , that kind of surgery is more complex, but more thorough.

O'Neal chose to have the last surgery and had to rest for six months, which meant that he would not officially return until January or February.

This was recommended by "Zen Master" Phil Jackson, who has always suggested that the management renew O'Neal and send Kobe away. He and O'Neal analyzed their relationship, and O'Neal agreed to the operation.

Jenny Buss revealed the inside story of the management to "Zen Master". Jim Buss and Kupchak were already preparing to trade O'Neal in the summer, leaving Kobe as the core of the team. They are all worried that O'Neal will become a completely free agent next summer. If they don't agree to the big contract O'Neal demands, he will leave and the Lakers will get nothing.

Jenny and Jim both wanted to succeed the old Buss as president of the Lakers, and they were divided into two factions, fighting openly and secretly. Old Bass's retirement must be within the next few years.

The Wizards are ranked 16th and the team's morale is high. The regular season hasn't started yet, but the team's popularity has increased, and experts and fans are starting to think they can make it back to the playoffs.