First game(1)

As expected the Knicks quickly announced a statement saying that they wanted to fulfill Dante's wish of playing in the NBA after they found out that he had passed the required physical data.

So they signed Dante with a 10-day short contract.

As you can guess, everyone was not optimistic about his entry into the NBA.

The media are basically all saying that Dante is making basketball as his rebound afte the breakup while praising the Knicks generosity.

It's a good thing Dante never paid attention to these things. He opted to continue his training.

Unfortunately, Dante found out that as his stats get higher, It became even harder to raise them.

Case in point when he checked them, right before he was about to report to the team.

Dante Strife

Age: 18 years old

Height: 1.96 meters

Wingspan: 2.08 meters

Weight: 93 KGS

Overall rating of ability value: 65

Evaluation: professional athlete, a fringe player for the NBA.

FEATURES:

[Must score shots]: 50

[Must take rebound]: 5

[Must block]: 6

[Must steal]: 10

Dante managed to raise his weight by 3 kilograms, Although it was 2 kilograms short from the intended 95 kilograms but considering that he did it in over a month without compromising his speed, It can already be considered a great success.

Now that he is about to report to the team, he was hoping that with the team's systematic training, his overall ability value will finally reach 70 making him a qualified bench player in the NBA.

October 28, 2008 Knicks Training hall.

As expected, when Dante came to report to the team, no one really took him seriously. Except for the assistant coach who gave him a rundown about the teams situation, They practically left him on his own.

Well, you can really count on a rotten team when it to comes to being rotten. On the contrary, This only fueled Dante's desire to conquer this place.

Unfortunately, In the in-team training Dante only managed to play as a substitute, no one really trusted him with the ball and Dante was too disdainful to waste his precious skills in a team scrimmage.

Soon it was time to end the training so that the players can properly rest for the opening game tomorrow. So the day ended uneventfully for Dante.

******

The next day, October 29, 2008 Madison Square Garden, New York.

7:30PM

As expected of the rich New York fans, the opening game is basically packed to the brim.

There enthusiasm for the game is second to none. No wonder this place can be called the basketball mecca in the world.

After the warmup, Without further ado the game quickly started, with both sides sending out their starters.

Knicks: Jamal Crawford, Chris Duhon, David Lee, Zach Randolph and Quentin Richardson.

Heat: Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem, Shawn Marion and Dwayne Wade.

Dante had a feeling that he won't be playing tonight. As evidence by the result of the first quarter.

Although Haslem managed to win the jump ball, passing the ball to their point guard Mario Chalmers who passed it to Beasley for a fast break. Sure enough, Beasley made a 2 point lay-up at the rim.

The rest of the time, it was like they were possessed by the black mamba, the leagues professional blacksmith. For 2 minutes at the start of the game, The heat were making the basket sing the duang~ song.

If it weren't for coach Spoelstra to call a timeout. which somewhat managed to improve the touch of the heat team. They finally managed to bite the score 27-28 with Knicks leading by one point.

Unfortunately, It was clear right from the start the Heat collectively did not feel well in this game. That by the end of the first half the score was already 45-60. The Heat trailed by as much as 15 points.

Sure enough, After Dwayne Wade left the game, 1 minute and 25 seconds before the end. The game ended 115-120, with the Knicks win making the home fans celebrate. They thought that it was a good omen to win the first game at home.

If Dante knew what they were thinking, He would praise them for being right. Because with him here, The team is bound to win the next games.

Although the Heat lost this game, no one would really think that they are weaker than the Knicks. It was obvious from the start that they collectively did not feel good in this game.

Still a win is a win, So in a happy mood the team was sent home by the head coach D'Antoni, who told everyone to gather tomorrow for their trip to philadelphia.

As expected no one paid attention to Dante except for the reporters which he quickly avoided.

*****

7:00 PM, October 31, 2008 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia.

As Dante entered the arena alongside the other bench players. He quickly noticed the sea of white with red streaks here and there, and the lively scene like a festival is extremely noisy.

Countless fans came to the scene wearing white jerseys. They hope that the Sixer's will win this game, offsetting their lose from the last game.

After the two sides warmed up, the coaches of both sides arranged the tactic, and the game began soon with each side sending their starters.

Knicks: Jamal Crawford, Chris Duhon, David Lee, Zach Randolph and Quentin Richardson.

76er's: Thaddeus Young, Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala, Samuel Dalembert and Elton Brand.

In the first quarter, Elton brand started the game with a 2 point jump shot then after David Lee missed a 2 point jump shot. Iguodala also made a 2 point layup at the rim. The Sixer's lead Knicks by 7 points making the score 31-24.

In the second quarter, This time, it was still the same as the first quarter, except that It was Lou Williams who showed his strength, the man who will be hailed as the best six man 3 times in his career. The Sixer's expanded the lead into double digits at 60-48 as they entered the second half.

In the third quarter, The defenses of both sides strengthened. This made the Knicks finally missed shots in a row but the same cannot be said for their opponents. Almost everyone bloomed in the offensive end in Sixer's team with Andre Miller even made 3 of 3 consecutive shots. This again expanded their lead to 19 points making the score 91-72.

With the point difference as high as 19 points, everyone in the Knicks team was dismayed. They've been behind since the first quarter. Their inside line was basically useless. The teams defensive rebound trailed the opponent by 17. This means that the Sixer's had 17 more chances to shoot than them.

In the fourth quarter the Sixer's tactics were more obvious. They basically just did more damage on the inside with either Miller or Williams scoring a 2 point layup at the rim.

Under the Sixer's fierce offensive, The Knicks have no chance of winning!