Hansen is an unsurpassable presence. Playing with such a presence is already a matter of immense pride.
At the end of the award ceremony, the banner representing the Cavaliers’ 2017~2018 season championship was unveiled.
From 2015~2016, then to 2016~2017, and the newly revealed 2017~2018, the three consecutive banners are the ultimate symbol of the Cavaliers dynasty.
This not only excited the fans present, but even the Kings players showed undisguised longing in their eyes. Orıginal content can be found at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩
Hansen said he wants to bring a championship to the Kings, but that might be another dynasty, or maybe more?
The award ceremony concluded amid the fans’ cheers, and both teams entered the opening ceremony after a brief warm-up.
The Kings, as the visiting team, appeared with the starting lineup: Hansen, Mitchell, Tatum, Sabonis, Stan.
Lue plans to have Hansen appear more in the small forward position, but that doesn’t mean starting with that lineup.
Just like when Malone used the "Deathly Five Small" as the Cavaliers’ trump card tactic, Lue is employing a similar strategy.
From Rivers to Malone, although Lue’s tactical level is limited, his learning ability is strong.
Cavaliers: Doncic, George Hill, Covington, TT, Jokic.
The Cavaliers encountered a disaster in this year’s preseason, as the originally designated starting point guard Dejounte Murray tore his right knee ACL in the first preseason game, ending his season.
With Murray out, Hill already being a veteran, the outside burden suddenly falls upon the rookie Doncic.
And it’s this rookie, at the beginning of the game, who gave everyone a big shock.
After attracting a double-team with a low post-up, Jokic distributed the ball to the outside Doncic, who faked a three-point shot to mislead Mitchell’s center of gravity, then dribbled quickly to break through to the inside.
His speed is not very fast, and upon seeing this, Sabonis turned to help defend, and the weak side Stan left TT to come over for support.
Yet at the instant a defensive encirclement was formed under the hoop, Doncic suddenly leaped up from the crowd and against two inside defenders.
When the ball smashed into the hoop at that instant, everyone present was dumbfounded.
Just like Jokic said, despite only playing a few preseason games, Doncic’s scoring skills are already impressive enough to amaze people.
Some see Doncic as someone who doesn’t run fast, doesn’t jump high, has poor static talent, and relies entirely on skills to play the game.
However, one thing easily overlooked is Doncic’s strength.
Though Doncic doesn’t appear very bulky, he was able to score frequently against those black and white bears in the European league.
More than that, when Mitchell broke to the hoop and his shot was disrupted by Jokic, the first player from the Cavaliers to charge out past the three-point line was Doncic.
After receiving Jokic’s long throw from the backcourt, Doncic displayed his top-level touch, tossing the ball in reverse under Tatum’s defense and scoring despite being fouled.
This second overall pick from Serbia had an unexpectedly remarkable performance at the start of the game.
At this moment, some even thought Murray’s injury was destined, because without Murray’s injury, Doncic wouldn’t have received so much ball possession at the start.
Then, upon landing, Doncic’s action caught everyone off guard.
He turned and shook his jersey’s front in Hansen’s direction.
The feeling was as if there was some grudge between him and Hansen.
Even Hansen was a bit surprised.
His impression of Doncic still lingered on Jokic’s remarks during dinner with Jokic yesterday.
But at this moment, he realized the situation was very different from that.
In "history," Wiggins was chosen by the Cavaliers and then immediately traded as a chip for Love to the woods, "Goji Berry Brother" played preserving style usually but exploded against the Cavaliers and James each time.
Because he wanted to prove trading with the Cavaliers and James was wrong.
Doncic’s situation now is almost identical to Wiggins’.
According to Jokic, Doncic is an extremely competitive player, even more eager than Wiggins to prove himself.
And there’s one more piece of information others didn’t know, that’s Doncic’s jersey number.
Doncic wore No. 77 in Europe because his idol, European star Spandaris, wore No. 7, and he wanted to shine like him in Europe, hence the choice of number.
If he was chosen by the Kings and not traded, he could continue to wear No. 77.
But after being traded to the Cavaliers, he could only change his number to No. 7.
Because although Hansen hasn’t retired yet, neither the Grizzlies nor the Cavaliers would allow any other player to wear No. 77 since it’s a number they plan to retire in the future.
Jokic was the first from the Cavaliers to react, running over to Doncic and bringing him into a hug with a very stern expression.
On one hand, he was maintaining his old boss as Hansen’s former sidekick, but more importantly, he knew Doncic’s behavior was sheer recklessness.
Originally, with such a grand show put on by the Cavaliers tonight, Hansen wasn’t inclined to go hard.
Considering the Cavaliers are stronger than the Kings, this championship night could claim a season-opening victory.