Cavaliers’ first opponent in the Sumr League was the Lakers.
The Lakers were one of the few teams whose strength was even inferior to that of the Cavaliers in this Sumr League.
As defending champions with a stable roster, they didn’t have room to cultivate rookies, and they had traded their first-round pick this year to the New York Knicks.
The only player on the team with so notoriety was Adam Morrison, the third overall pick in ’06.
Morrison was Jordan’s first project after becoming a shareholder of the Bobcats, and the first player he chose with Bird as the model.
In his first year, Morrison averaged 11.8 points with a shooting percentage of 37.6%, stabilized at 36% for 4.5 points in his second season, and his figures plumted to 1.3 points after being traded to the Lakers last season.
Having played for three years and still participating in the Sumr League, it was his retro shoulder-length hair that left a deeper impression on people than his basketball skills.
However, the match between these two weak teams managed to completely fill the venue, which could accommodate three thousand people.
There was even a considerable number of dia reporters present.
If one didn’t know better, they might have mistaken the Lakers for the Clippers.
Griffin, the number one pick of the Clippers this year, had an explosive style and dunks as easy as drinking water, causing his popularity to surge.
During the warm-up, Hansen’s cara ti was unceasing.
The venue was also filled with waves of booing.
Hansen’s "popularity" in this Sumr League was on par with that of the top draft pick.
Malone shook his head as he watched from the sideline; he had heard about Hansen’s stunt at the press conference.
Yet looking at Hansen now, laughing and joking with his teammates on the court, he seed entirely unaffected.
Reflecting on Hansen’s eloquence on the plane, for a mont Malone couldn’t quite figure him out.
The Sumr League had no opening ceremony; after the warm-ups, the starting players took to the court.
Cavaliers were on the offense first, Conningham received the ball at the high post, made a quick change of direction and pulled up for a jump shot – swift as a cut.
This power forward from Villanova University had mature skills, and if it weren’t for his barefoot height of just around 2 ters, he wouldn’t have fallen to the 30th pick of the first round.
Five minutes into the ga, the Cavaliers led 12-8, with Conningham scoring 8 points on his own.
Although he committed two fouls, it was fortunate that the Sumr League allowed 10 fouls before ejection.
Hansen, aside from one assist, had no other stats to his na.
This wasn’t because he was intentionally creating negative buzz, but because he was still adapting to the intensity of the ga.
NBA scouts might make the wrong judgent, but their reports were mostly professional.
The lack of high-level competition was an issue for Hansen during his NCAA days, and aside from tactics, the intensity of the Sumr League was higher than that of the NCAA in all other aspects.
Note that here, NCAA refers to the First-tier Alliance.
So it was sowhat unrealistic to expect him to dominate the ball and swing like he did at Barry University right from the start.
"Am I seeing things, or is number 77 on the court?"
"If he retires now, he could go straight to TNT to take over for Charles Barkley."
"You’re right, at least he’s a ’handso guy.’"
Comntators for the Sumr League were set up, and the two at the comntators’ table had already started bantering.
Morrison felt like his chance had arrived.
He knew why so many fans and dia had turned up tonight, and Hansen seed not to be adapting well to the intensity of the Sumr League gas.
If he could capitalize on this, he could return to the spotlight.
The ball made its way to Morrison, who didn’t shoot imdiately as before but instead called for a pick and roll, bringing Hansen in front of him.
The mont Hansen appeared in front of Morrison, the venue erupted with jeering whistles.
Everyone in the stadium wanted to see Hansen embarrassed, and Morrison was helping them achieve it.
Hansen felt sowhat sentintal when he saw Morrison.
He was no stranger to him; in fact, he was quite familiar.
Not because of his mories from a past life, but because they had both played for Gonzaga University.
Although they did not overlap, as "Hansen" entered Gonzaga in 2006, the sa year Morrison entered the NBA.
But Morrison was a legend at Gonzaga, averaging 28.1 points in his junior season, and he beca the NCAA Scoring King.
Then he had done so as a diabetic.
It wasn’t discrimination but a kind of respect; competitive sports are brutal, and the disease could be fatal, yet he managed to achieve this level.
Hansen respected Morrison, but he wasn’t so enthusiastic as to sacrifice his own achievents for the sake of others.
On the contrary, seeing Morris’s choice, he felt the timing was just right.
Morris initiated the offense, full of feints in his dribble penetration.
They said his template was Bird, but his style of play was actually more like Paul Pierce.
Only his feints didn’t work.
Hansen was quick on his feet, quick to react, and he didn’t gamble by reaching in.
Realizing he couldn’t fool Hansen with feints, Morrison opted for a post-up play and a turnaround fadeaway at last.
That was his signature move.
He jumped up, accompanied by gasps from the spectators.
One had to admit, that with his throwback hairstyle, there was a faint resemblance between Morrison and Bird at that mont.
"Bang!"
But the next second, his shot was emphatically blocked by Hansen and sent flying out of the court!
The gasps turned into a stir.
Morris’s physical attributes were just too poor; his jump height simply couldn’t support a significant fadeaway.
"You’ve chosen the wrong person," Hansen looked at Morrison.
It was a reminder.
But what Morrison heard was trash talk.
After the ball was thrown in from the sidelines, he drove at Hansen again.
This ti his penetration was decisive, a fake shot at the free-throw line following a step to assault the basket.
"Bang!"
Then, his shot was once again swatted by Hansen, out of the court.
The audience was stunned; had Hansen blocked Morrison twice in one play?!
Although Morrison wasn’t exactly a successful NBA player, he had still played three years in the NBA!
"I told you, you’ve chosen the wrong person," Hansen reminded again.
Morrison may have compared to Pierce, but he lacked the latter’s strong build and outstanding upper body strength, rendering his feints aningless against a physically superior defender.
The Lakers’ offensive possession ultimately ca to nothing, and turning back to offense, Hansen took the ball, ca off a Cunningham screen, fired a three-pointer, and scored his first Sumr League point.
The intensity of a match is a comprehensive concept; it’s related to the player’s ability, tactical literacy, refereeing scale, and more.
Hansen took five minutes to adapt to the on-court refereeing scale, so he wouldn’t have the sa problem of excessive fouls as Cunningham. That was the foundation for his defensive power.
Then, he also found that Sumr League matches hardly had any tactics, aning simple tactical plays could create opportunities and set the foundation for his offense.
Amidst the restless noises from the fans, Hansen’s presence on court began to rapidly grow.
Especially defensively, he could exert imnse pressure not only on his opponent but his help defense was also omnipresent.
The Lakers, not strong to begin with, were directly forced into a lengthy scoring drought.
Malone watched this scene with delight.
Ever since Mike Brown beca head coach of the Cavaliers, the team had transford into a defensively oriented one.
That was the reason they had made it to the finals in 2007.
Last season, they allowed an average of 91.6 points per ga, the lowest in the League.
This ant that to get a chance in the Cavaliers, you had to be good at defense first.
Hansen, as an outside player and rookie, could play defense this effectively.
At this mont, Malone thought it didn’t matter if Hansen was a little mouthy because the Cavaliers needed a player like him right now!
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