Chapter 1139: Chapter 362: The Lion and the Rabbit
"You should ask Erik about this, you should trust his professional judgment."
"No, Roger, I want to hear your opinion."
Kevin Garnett was willing to listen to Roger’s opinion on such a crucial career decision. It was something to be proud of to be trusted like this. However, Roger also knew that what he said next could potentially change history.
"You know, I generally aim to win a championship with the teams I’ve been with, leaving no regrets. But if the team doesn’t share that vision, going it alone will ultimately yield nothing."
"I understand, Roger."
Hanging up the phone, Roger sighed deeply, unsure of what impact this call would have on history this time.
However, Roger believed it was reasonable for Garnett to leave Minneapolis.
Because it was clear that the Timberwolves just wanted Garnett to help sell tickets rather than investing much for a championship.
If Sprewell and Cassell both took pay cuts to renew their contracts, and Garnett instead left quietly on his own, that would be a different matter.
This summer would still be restless, but Roger now only wanted to peacefully enjoy his vacation.
After all, this summer would be especially busy.
The week-long vacation passed quickly, and as soon as it ended, Roger embarked on his first national team training camp journey.
He and Yao Ming joined Team China’s training camp in Los Angeles. The team would first train in the United States for a while before heading to Athens together.
On the first day of training, Roger didn’t put on any airs.
Aside from bringing his training team, he was no different from other players on Team China.
He brought Jeff Hornacek to join the coaching staff of Team China as an assistant coach, and brought Joe Abunassar and his trainers to form a training team.
Moreover, Roger’s training team was shared with the entire team, not just for him alone.
Thus, the coaching staff and training team of Team China now had a roughly 50-50 mix of Americans and Chinese.
Regarding bringing in his team, Roger faced no obstacles.
Because this year’s head coach of the Chinese men’s basketball team was Roger’s old acquaintance, former Lakers coach "Silver Fox" Del Harris.
As an American coach, he certainly wanted to cooperate with an American team.
So, this year’s Team China was in a sense a "China-U.S. coproduction" performance.
On the first day of the training camp, Roger got along well with his teammates.
Zhu Fangyu was extremely enthusiastic, introducing Roger to each of his teammates.
When mentioning club teammate A lian, he repeatedly emphasized: "That kid is a bit introverted, but he’s obedient, doesn’t smoke, drink, or fool around."
Clearly, Roger’s arrival had energized the entire training camp.
Previously, how did Chinese players feel about participating in the Olympics?
Facing some of the world’s top superstars, we just needed to do our best.
But now, the world’s greatest superstar was their teammate.
So, "do our best" turned into "give our all to win."
Everyone was already looking forward to the first Olympic game, because the first match was against the United States team. Everyone wanted to know what they could achieve in this game.
It seemed to happen quite often in international competitions that Team China was in the same group as the United States team, and this year was no exception.
But this year’s outcome might not be the same as usual.
At the press conference following the first day of training, Del Harris was very excited: "The landscape of world basketball is changing. We all know the Dream Team no longer holds a monopoly. With the greatest player by my side, why shouldn’t we think about winning the gold medal?"
"Del, do you think this team has the strength to challenge the Dream Team?"
"You’ll know the answer in the first game."
"Roger, are you getting along well with your teammates?"
"Of course, we have a lot of common topics to talk about. It’s not difficult to integrate with my own countrymen." Roger’s answer was very official.
However, the reporters weren’t quite convinced by this answer.
As everyone knows, Roger has long played in high-level leagues, and is known for setting high standards for his teammates.
Although Team China also had several NBA players, most of the players couldn’t compare to NBA players in terms of skill level.
Could the world’s current number one basketball player really tolerate this?
When Michael Jordan participated in the Olympics, he was surrounded by superstars like himself, so he never faced a challenge like Roger’s.
How would Roger lead a team whose overall strength was not dominant to victory?
How would he synchronize with a team far less skilled than himself?
In fact, this was indeed a challenge.
In today’s training, Roger discovered that many tactics commonplace in the NBA couldn’t be executed in the national team.
For example, certain three-point strategies, even when opportunities arose, Team China’s shooters were still far less consistent than NBA-level shooters.
For example, certain cut strategies, with the athletic abilities of Chinese players, it was difficult to use off-the-ball movement to break through defenses.
So after today’s training, Roger and Del Harris discussed strategies.
On the offensive end, Team China’s tactics were to be as simple as possible, because complexity was simply impractical. Roger and Yao Ming would engage in many one-on-one plays, consuming a lot of ball possessions. Instead of letting others take errant shots, it was better to let them conserve energy for defense.
On the defensive end, everyone had to rigorously execute tactics, doing their utmost to fulfill their duties. Other role players needed to reserve 80% of their energy for defense.