Chapter 12: The Pre-Season Tournament

  Yefeng and Gabriella went downstairs to the restaurant to eat and chat, they had a great conversation.

  Gabriella had just arrived in the United States and although she had met some friends through Neil, they were mostly men who played American football, and there was no one with whom she could confide. She felt a bit lonely. After chatting with Ye Feng for a while about the entertainment industry, she was extremely surprised.

  Ye Feng is well-versed in the entertainment industry's various celebrity gossip news. Which star got drunk, which one took drugs, which one had plastic surgery and was a mistress, he knew it all like a professional entertainment journalist.

  Gabriella sighed: "If I didn't know you played basketball, I would have thought I was sitting with paparazzi. Your personality is completely different from what Neil said."

  "He said what is my personality?"

  "He said you're a violent person and always reminded me to be careful around you. You leave early and come back late every day, I thought you were introverted and didn't like to talk, but it turns out you're so gossipy...... sorry." Gabriella covered her mouth and laughed.

  Yue Feng scratched his head and said, "Ximan (which had become Neil's nickname) doesn't understand me. I'm probably too eager to win the game, that's why I became so fierce, it's the same when playing basketball."

  Gabriella said lightly: "You know a lot, but you seem to dislike Hollywood and actors?"

  "Hollywood has a lot of dark secrets, the atmosphere is very bad, it's a fake place. I don't like some actors, because almost everyone here has had plastic surgery, whether male or female, as if living here means you have to get a facelift. If they don't explain clearly, their children will think they're illegitimate."

  Gabriella blinked and asked: "Do you have a favorite star?"

  "Taylor Swift, that new country singer, I don't know if you've heard of her songs, it's like a diary, gives people a very fresh feeling."

  Gabriella knew Taylor and laughed: "So you think I can be a star?"

  It's possible, but that was in 2012. Ye Feng couldn't bear to strike her down and smiled: "I need to understand your acting skills before I can make a judgment. When I have time, maybe I'll go watch you audition."

  Gabriella smiled: "Okay, I'll watch your game too. I don't quite understand basketball, so I won't be able to give you any advice, but I can cheer for you."

  "Thank you. We have preseason games in other cities, so I'll be leaving LA for a while. When the regular season starts, you can come watch me play live."

  Both of them found a sense of friendship in each other, male and female partners, working together without feeling tired.

  The 119-game preseason schedule for the 2007-08 NBA season has been released, with 21 cities hosting games that are not home to an NBA team. Garnett will travel with the Celtics to Rome, Italy.

  There are many games to be played abroad this year. On October 11, the Grizzlies will face off against Unicaja Malaga, while the Raptors take on Real Madrid.

  October 17, the Orlando Magic will play against the Cleveland Cavaliers in China, and Howard and James will bring surprises to Chinese fans in Shanghai. On October 18, the Magic will face the Chinese men's basketball team, where fans can see Yao Ming and Dwight Howard's classic confrontation. On October 20, the Cavaliers and Magic will also head to Macau.

  The NBA is a commercial league and the preseason is becoming more commercialized.

  The Lakers won't be traveling abroad for games, and on October 10th they welcomed their first opponent, the Golden State Warriors. Both teams are based in California, relatively close to each other, and the game was held in St. Louis. This city is located along the middle reaches of the Mississippi River, the longest river in the United States, at the center of the continental United States, almost at the geometric center of the country, with significant strategic importance geographically. St. Louis hosted the third Summer Olympic Games in 1904, unfortunately without an NBA team.

  The Warriors last season created the Black Eight Miracle, 4-2 upset eliminated the Mavericks who ranked first in regular season, making Nowitzki lose face completely. This season, the Warriors' strength has declined somewhat, and they sent away Jason Richardson during the off-season. People generally think that the Lakers are stronger.

  In the locker room, the players gathered together chatting and laughing, the atmosphere was relaxed.

  Ye Feng's face was solemn, with over 10,000 spectators in attendance today to watch the match, he hoped to make a good showing in the first game, if the preseason games were not played well, it would be difficult to get playing time in the regular season.

  "Hey, Ye, you gotta relax, or else it's gonna be like the first time you trained and that would be too funny. Your opponent, Harrington, is good at offense, likes to shoot from outside, if you guard him, I think you can hold him off."

  Fischer also said: "As soon as you come on the field, actively run and position yourself. If you can create space, I will pass the ball to you."

  "Thank you, I will do my best."

  Everyone stood aside, Kobe asked in a low voice: "How's your mid-range shot? Can you make high-position shots after covering?"

  Ye Feng smiled awkwardly, telling the truth. "When I practice, I can only guarantee a 50% hit rate."

  "Not enough, keep practicing." Kobe nodded lightly and stopped talking.

  The atmosphere inside the arena was already very intense. In the stands, there were many fans holding up signs supporting either Kobe or Davis. For St. Louis fans, who rarely get to see a live game, this was like their Mardi Gras.

  The game was broadcast live on TNT, with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith providing commentary courtside. The arrangement was made to boost ratings, allowing people to watch the game while listening to Barkley's trash talk.

  Since the 2006 playoffs when the Lakers were overturned by the Suns with a lead of 3-1, Barkley has been calling Kobe "selfish". His point is that the more shots Kobe takes and the higher he scores, the more games the Lakers will lose. He's too selfish, only for his own stats.

  When facing the media, Barkley said Kobe was just being ridiculous, a player shouldn't take more than 30 shots in one game, while Kobe sometimes takes over 40 shots in one game. In the 2005-2006 season, Kobe averaged 27.2 shots per game, Jordan led the league in shot attempts for nine consecutive years, and never averaged more than 23 shots per game.

  However, before the game started, Barkley didn't mock Kobe, he and Smith discussed Ye Feng together.

  Smith laughed and said, "Today in the Lakers' lineup there is a Chinese-American player named Ye Feng who is very popular among Chinese fans. He was a star football player from California, nicknamed 'Hungry Wolf'. Previously, he suffered an injury that occurs once in a hundred years, being struck by lightning, it's said that this injury was the main reason he wanted to switch to playing basketball, and now he says he will only play indoor games, haha."

  To motivate fringe players to play harder in the preseason, the Lakers signed Ye Feng without holding a press conference and remained secretive, planning to announce it after the preseason. Barkley was unaware that Ye had already signed, saying with a laugh: "If he wants to play indoor games in the future, he'll have to sign with the Lakers first. The Lakers have many inside players, I think it's hard for them to sign someone who has no game experience at all. It's already a miracle that he can represent the Lakers in the preseason."

  Smith laughed and said, "Yue's physical quality is very good. Some experts say that his physique has already reached the limit of Chinese players. Interestingly, the Lakers also drafted Sun Yue this year, but Sun Yue did not make it to the preseason roster. He probably won't land in the NBA until next year. The Lakers' front office thinks Sun Yue isn't yet adapted to the NBA rhythm, but how could they think that a rugby player is better than a professional basketball player who has played for several years?"

  Barkley laughed: "Let's see how he performs today, I also want to know what level he can play at."

  The two commentators are just a microcosm, with many people paying attention to Ye Feng's performance, especially Chinese fans.

  The players took to the field. When Kobe took the stage, he received the loudest applause and cheers, his own popularity surpassing that of the entire Warriors team, directly turning St. Louis into a Lakers home court. When the Warriors took the field, only big-bearded Davis received some applause.

  After warming up, the starting players of both teams stood in the middle circle. The Lakers' starters were the same as last season: Bynum, Fisher, Kobe, Radmanovic and Odom.

  The Warriors have star point guard Stephen Curry, shooting guard Monta Ellis, small forward Stephen Jackson, power forward Al Harrington and center Andris Biedri??. On paper the Warriors look pretty good but once you take a look at their bench it's all over. The only players on their bench that are truly reliable are Azubuike, Pietrus and Barnes, everyone else is either nearing retirement or can't get off the bench.

  Biedrins dunked over Bynum and the game was on.

  The Warriors showed fans what they're good at in the first quarter, a fast break. Davis passed to Monta Ellis. Ellis didn't wait for screens, lowered his center of gravity and accelerated past Fisher into the paint for an easy score. 0-2.

  Lakers attack, Davis defends Kobe, the two teams' star players start to confront each other head-on. Kobe is closely guarded and chooses to pass the ball. Odom's high-position mid-range shot is off. The Warriors immediately counter-attack quickly after grabbing the rebound. Ellis shakes off Fisher and makes a jump shot. 0-4.

  The Warriors' opening rhythm was very fast, Monta Ellis's performance of 16.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game last season earned him the most improved player award, with a shooting percentage as high as 47.5%. He is a good player, but his weakness is that he is too thin and has poor defensive confrontations.

  The Lakers mainly used a grinding lineup, with Bynum starting and Kobe not being the primary scorer.

  Bayern's low attack in the summer training has improved, and for the first time in a single game against Biedrins, he used his hook to score. After scoring, the substitute players on the bench applauded him.

  Both sides came and went, the rhythm was very fast. There were still 3 minutes and 15 seconds left in the first quarter, the Warriors requested a timeout. The score was 17-21, the Warriors led by 4 points.

  "Zen Master" Jackson chose to adjust the lineup, replacing Kobe, Fisher, Odom with Vuja?i?, Farmar and Yue.