The post-match review discussion ended, and the Supersonics players were gathered together to chat, waiting for the coach to finish the meeting.

This is always the case, but after this review discussion, Doug Collins came to the main position again, attracting the attention of the players.

"We have finished our first month of the new season and the running-in is very smooth. It's very happy. I'm proud of you, but it's the first month. We can't become arrogant because of this. And we are facing a difficult problem... We have as many as 9 players over the age of 30!"

When Doug Collins talked about the key points, he deliberately lengthened the tail sound, and after the players were focused, he said the key content he wanted to say.

Kassel, Jason Williams, Tony Kukoc, Much Brecklelo, Dell Curry, Hornersek, Jordan, Schramf, Sam Perkins and other nine people were not very calm at this moment.

Even Cassel is 31 years old. Although his condition seems to have just reached the peak of his career, he doesn't know how long his condition can last.

Jordan and Malone's situation is so special. More than 99% of players will suddenly collapse after they reach the age of 30, even if they are strong before.

Especially recently, there has been an indefinite off-season due to renal failure, and the time for Grant Hill to come back has been delayed.

Doug Collins paused for a few seconds and continued: "Compared to our running-in, I have always been more worried about health issues and the impact of physical strength on my condition. As an athlete, after playing for so many years, there must be various injuries that continue to affect..."

Doug Collins said this and the players all empathized with it.

Moreover, they believed that Doug Collins really understood them, not just talking.

Because Doug Collins was once an NBA player, and his career was more brilliant than any player except Jordan, Zhang Hao and Schramf.

How excellent is Doug Collins's player age? The No. 1 pick in the 73rd class, three All-Stars, and averaged 17.9 points per game in his 8-year career... But at the age of 30, he was forced to retire due to injury.

"So, before the season started, I was discussing with the coaching staff and management how to minimize the potential for injury and ensure the continuity of the state. Finally, I thought of a feasible method." Doug Collins laid the foundation for a long time and finally expressed his purpose.

Indeed, what Doug Collins said was exactly what the veterans of the Supersonics team were worried about.

Their Supersonics have Jordan, plus the original Zhang Hao, Kassel, and Ben Wallace, whose defensive efficiency has soared as the core, and it looks like there has been a drastic change from last season.

But with Travis Best and Jason Cafe traded back to Kukoc, signing Jordan and Hornersek, they became one of the league's oldest teams.

They are facing problems that they grow old before they are strong.

Not only veterans, but young players such as Artest and James Percy also want to know what Doug Collins said.

Doug Collins saw the reaction of the team members and was very satisfied. He said: "I originally planned to wait until Christmas before starting to execute, but our running-in progress was faster than I expected, and you were even better than I thought. In addition, Jason's hamstring strain and Muqi's ankle sprain all made me feel the pressure. We must make a decision as soon as possible. After discussing with the management, I decided to implement our physical distribution plan!"

Physical distribution plan?

Most of the Supersonics players are veterans, so they are naturally knowledgeable, but it is the first time they have heard of this basketball term.

While the iron was hot, Doug Collins continued: "We decided to let players with similar characteristics alternately play in the next game, off-season.

We will arrange 4-5 players to take turns in each game. My idea is to control the activated roster players to 10.

The purpose of this is to allow veterans to reduce the number of games, but when playing, they can ensure a more stable playing time, which is conducive to maintaining the continuity of the game state, and ensuring sufficient rest.

Doing so can also give young players more opportunities to perform. The growth of young players is the key to the longer continuity of our overall strength.

This may affect our regular season record to a certain extent, but now our record is too good and our performance is too good. Even if it affects it, it doesn't matter to us, because...

We have Aix.

Right, Aix?”

After being named, Zhang Hao nodded and responded: "That's right, in the playoffs, the veterans can play in a healthy game, which is more important to me than sharing the pressure for me in the regular season. And I believe that the talent and ability of young teammates will definitely help me more this year!"

The teammates all saw it, and Zhang Hao must have known about it in advance.

But this is not important, and I have said this, so of course I agree! It’s not a bad thing.

Although the veterans want to make more contributions in the regular season, they are right to hold their thighs, but they don’t want to be pure thighs. If they can win the championship, they hope to mention in the championship information this year that they are an important part of the championship.

However, what Zhang Hao said was a sharp-tongued playoff, which was far more important than providing greater help to Zhang Hao!

Without Jordan, Kukochi, and not building a defensive system around Ben Wallace, Zhang Hao can lead the team to win 57 wins. What Zhang Hao needs is to get more help in the playoffs.

...

Doug Collins is actually just notifying the players, but coaching is not just about formulating a good strategy to execute. Many things are recognized by the players, otherwise even if they are enforced, there will be subsequent troubles.

For example, Larry Brown's military style and iron-blooded defense are all good coaching concepts, but Larry Brown was in a mess at the end of coaching for each team.

After receiving positive feedback from the players, Doug Collins began the first round of rest.

The injured Muqi Breckle and Jason Williams must have to rest for at least a week. The next game will be Dell Curry and Kukoc, which will allow Sam Perkins and Schramf to play this season for the first time.

There must be an impact, and there are adjustments. James Percy was notified that his playing time would increase significantly and he would use more of his three-point ability.

James Percy has the potential to become a shooting defensive forward. After the pre-season this season, the Supersonics have been strengthening their three-point training for him, and Horacek is surrounding him almost every day.

But before today, James Percy had a lot of complaints in his mind. During training, he focused on training, but in the first 15 games, he averaged only 11 minutes of playing time, basically only played at the end of the first quarter and in the first half of the third quarter, or it was garbage time.

Now, seeing Dell Curry get more opportunities to perform when he takes a rest, he finally understands the team's purpose.

In this regard, James Percy’s idea... accept it!

In such a team with the only goal of winning the championship, he is originally a little transparent person. The team has a clear way of using him and targeted training is already very good.

On the other hand, after the team meeting, Zhang Hao was called to the general manager's office and heard what Larry Harris said...

"What? We got Bryant in the deal?" Zhang Hao was as calm as he was, his eyes widened.

Larry Harris responded a little embarrassedly: "I haven't finished talking yet, it's Bryant Stich."

"Uh..." Zhang Hao was stunned.

Scare him!

If Kobe is replaced, then he will have to lose 5 first rounds in the next 10 years? Artest, James Percy, and Ben Wallace will probably be left.

But why is there a little bit of loss?

Larry Harris thought to himself, 'You're thinking about nothing', but he still said it was serious: "We are not making a deal. We are going to compensate the first round pick in 2001 to the Celtics. They are ready to buy our first round pick in 2001 and complete the buyout with Bryant Stich."

"Our team's first round pick in 2001? Am I ours or the Nets?"

"us."

"I get it...wait, we have a place to sign free agents?"

"We have agreed to Cory apply for retirement."

"oh……"

...

On the morning of December 1, 2000, the Celtics spent $300,000 to acquire the Supersonics' first-round draft pick in 2001, and sacked Bryant Sticch, who entered the NBA with the 13th pick in the 92nd first round.

Last night, Bryant Stich had already arrived in Seattle after he negotiated a buyout with the Celtics. After the league officially passed the buyout this morning, he came to the Supersonics to try out, mainly for health checks and detailed tests of technical characteristics.

Zhang Hao also went to the stadium two early, training for three points while paying attention to Bryant Stich.

"Bryant Stitch, SGPG, 30 years old, 196 cm, 94 kg, ability evaluation 76... In the 2000-2001 season, the Celtics played 16 times, 8 times, averaging 9.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game... shooting percentage is 45.1%, three-point shooting percentage is 37.6%... shooting percentage is 1.2 three-point shooting percentage is 1.2... "

"Bryant Stitch, who was selected by the Nuggets with the 13th pick in the first round in 1992, averaged 12.2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.3 steals in his 8-year career..."

‘The condition is well maintained! I have been a very good role player throughout my career, with three points, good defense, quick attack with the ball, but very good ability to pass the ball after cutting, this is just for winning the championship!

However, 13th pick, Bryant...emmm...'

Yesterday, Zhang Hao had already learned the details of Bryant Stitch.

The Celtics decided to start a bad journey again in the middle of last season with clear goals.

Bryant Stitch signed a five-year contract of $22.59 million in the summer of 1996, with a salary of $5.92 million this season.

During the offseason, the Celtics used their first round picks, plus two contracts totaling $6 million and both had two years left, and the deal was Bryant Stich.

In addition to focusing on the draft, the Celtics also put it in the free market next year. After trading back to Stich, the Celtics will be able to free up 6 million US dollars in the next summer. There are still some players in the 1998th class who signed a three-year contract. In addition to the 1998th class, some Mesozoic superstars also have contracts expire in 2001.

Bryant Stich played 16 games before being bought out, with a remaining salary of $4.765 million this season. He gave up 1.765 million of them, and reached a buyout agreement with the Celtics for $3 million.

Then, the Supersonics completed a buyout with Corey Benjamin and signed Bryant Stich with a minimum salary of 650,000 US dollars in valid one-year.

On the other hand, Corey Benjamin completed the induction procedures and became a member of the Supersonics Trainer Group.

After getting started, Corey Benjamin started work happily and helped Zhang Hao train.

After a set of three-point shooting training, Zhang Hao said to Corey Benjamin, who was picking up the ball: "Didn't you say you don't dislike you? Why are you still retired?"

Corey Benjamin still looked so careless: "It's not good to occupy a position, it has nothing to do with you. I found that I have the talent to be a trainer. I have already planned this. Now I'm getting two salary, so I'm so happy."

"Don't you want to get the championship ring? As a player."

"I am not as paranoid as you. The championship ring I got as a trainer is not a champion? Your eyes are really narrow.

And, without my help, could our deal go so smoothly? It was so easy to convince the Celtics to buy out Bryant Stich? It all depends on me, do you know?" As he said, Corey Benjamin showed his iconic sarcastic expression.

Zhang Hao really can't refute this. There are several families in North American sports, including the Persons, Benjamins, and Kyle... Maybe the players are not very famous, but there are always players playing in the four major leagues, and more people appear in the management, such as the former Pacers and Spurs All-Star pitcher Chuck Person, who was selected in the 1986th pick. His brother and younger brother have played in the NBA. His cousin once played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. His uncle is the vice president of commercial operations of the Los Angeles Kings.

The Supersonics' press officer is Chris Kyle, and the Nets' press officer is Antoine Kyle. The business management staff who pushed the Hornets to move away from Charlotte are Jamison Kyle. The Celtics also have a 95-time selected Chris Kyle JR, the Supersonics' press officer's child.

I don't know about these things, and no one in the public notices them.

Although these players with backgrounds still have to rely on their strength to perform when entering the professional arena, there will always be more opportunities.

Generally speaking, these players with backgrounds are quite low-key in this regard, and some people just smile and pass it.

Only Corey Benjamin, who has such a thick-skinned face...

Zhang Hao was moved by Corey Benjamin's words.
To be continued...