Chapter 118: Sluggish Silas

July 7, Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the hotel late at night, Silas frowned and looked at the player list in his hand, and whispered to himself:

"Wesley Matthews, good at threes and defense...Reggie Williams, impactful, versatile small forward...Anthony Tolliver, stretch four...Where did this guy come from Larry? These people found? They are all undrafted."

A few days ago, Silas was appointed by Zhang Yu as the Warriors' chief assistant and became the team's interim head coach for the Las Vegas Summer League.

This afternoon, he led the team to this world-famous casino.

Several players invited by the Warriors also came here to join the team and prepare for tomorrow's game.

The summer league is not so particular and does not require serious preparation. It is more about giving rookies, undrafted picks, and free agents a chance to perform.

Every year in the summer league, there are players who are favored by the team because of their outstanding performance, and thus get a formal contract, gain a firm foothold in the NBA, or marginal substitutes play luxurious statistics and enter the team's stable rotation.

For the team, they only have a few ways to discover players such as the draft, summer league, and pre-season training camps.

The draft conference is limited by draft picks, the preseason training camp is too late, and the summer league can inspect more than a dozen rookies and free agents in the team in consecutive games, and each team also attaches great importance to this.

That's why Silas was very dissatisfied.

Curry is understandably absent from the Warriors' roster for summer league this year.

With the level of Curry playing in the NCAA, he doesn't need to participate in the summer league to prove himself.

But Larry Riley dispatched a lineup dominated by Butler, Lowry, and CJ Watson, and except for the three undrafted players who were recruited into the team, the rest of the players didn't even participate in the draft. To make up the numbers.

Although the summer league doesn't pay much attention to winning or losing, but soon after the team changed hands, Zhang Yu invited old Nelson from the position of head coach as soon as he took office. Larry Riley found such a group of players for him, in case the game scene is ugly , what should Zhang Yu do if he doubts his ability?

Silas knew that Zhang Yu was very dissatisfied with the team's coaching staff, and there would definitely be personnel changes. His position as chief assistant was not stable.

He put down the player report in his hand and shook his head:

"It also highlights the characteristics of each person. If they are so strong, how can they be undrafted?"

Silas was very suspicious of Larry Riley's bold words. These players didn't even have video footage of the game. Where did Larry Riley know their technical characteristics?

He seemed to have seen the scene where the Warriors lost to the Rockets in tomorrow's opener.

Silas let out a long and irritated sigh, but he squinted at the player report on the table, and picked it up again.

The game is imminent, and he has no time for the team to run in, so he can only line up according to the characteristics of the players marked above.

Silas picked up the pen and paper, read the player's report, wrote and drew on the paper, and kept chanting:

"Lowry is good at attacking and passing the ball... Heh, Matthews, Tolliver, and Williams are all good at shooting three-pointers. Larry knows what the boss likes... Butler's shooting is also very good, it seems I still have to run away..."

...

The next day at 2:40 pm, COX Arena.

The game between the Warriors and the Rockets has reached the fourth quarter. Silas stood on the sidelines, looking at the field with a dull look, his face full of disbelief.

"Toliver received a pass from Lowry and made an open three-pointer. It's a good shot! This is his fifth three-pointer in this game!" The commentator shouted loudly.

Silas slowly raised his head, and the score of the two teams was displayed on the big screen in the middle of the stadium - 74:53. The Warriors led the Rockets by 21 points. With only 7 minutes left in the game, the Warriors almost The victory is locked.

After Anthony Tolliver made a three-pointer, the Rockets launched an offense, but the perimeter defense under the joint efforts of Butler and Matthews was very tough, making the Rockets' offense extremely difficult.

Especially Butler, although he only scored 6 points through air cuts and fixed-point open three-pointers in this game, he contributed 5 steals and 2 blocks on the defensive end, and there are many successful defenses that cannot be reflected in the statistics. is extraordinarily bright.

This time he successfully blocked the Rockets' shot and passed the ball to Lowry.

Lowry held the ball and launched an assault. He was like a cannonball bursting out of the barrel. His short body rushed to the frontcourt with a strong impact, carrying the opponent into the inside, but he did not recklessly finish the finish , but passed the ball after attracting the defense.

Matthews received a pass from outside the 45-degree three-point line on the left. He didn't hesitate at all. He pulled up and shot, and the three-pointer went into the net!

Looking back, the Rockets fought indiscriminately, and everyone did it by themselves with the ball in their hands, without any rules.

Under Silas' arrangement, Butler, Matthews, Lowry, and Reggie Williams were like four mad dogs, taking turns sweeping and biting wildly, making the Rockets' offense return without success again.

This time the Rockets players retreated quickly and did not give the Warriors a chance to break fast. After Lowry advanced to the frontcourt, he had to slow down and switch to a positional battle.

He tried to break through, but the Rockets blocked Lowry with multiple people, and Lowry took advantage of the opportunity to distribute the ball to Reggie Williams on the weak side.

After the latter received the ball, he launched an attack without hesitation!

The defensive attention of the Rockets players is on Lowry, and they don't have the defensive sense of the Warriors. Although the coach also emphasizes the rotation to fill the position, the gap left is very large and was caught by Reggie Williams Chance.

He rushed into the interior unimpeded all the way, and the opponent's center quickly came up to help defend, but Reggie Williams rushed forward bravely, jumped high, and dunked the ball into the basket hard through the Rockets center!

Bang!

After Reggie Williams landed, he raised his head to the sky and let out an angry roar, hammering his chest heavily, as if all the frustration of wandering around for several years had been vented in this dunk.

After the goal was scored, there were only 6 minutes left, and the point difference had been opened to 25 points. The Rockets called a timeout and surrendered.

Warriors players swarmed up and celebrated around Reggie Williams. After returning to the bench, they all embraced Silas enthusiastically, talking and laughing loudly with each other, and the atmosphere was very relaxed and harmonious.

Unlike the Rockets players who are wary of each other, for fear that the other party will steal their performance opportunities, the Warriors players are very satisfied with Silas' tactical arrangements and feel that they can play their own characteristics in the tactics, although most of the time the ball takes turns. The control is in the hands of Lowry and Watson, but several people have no objection to it.