Chapter 218 Marriage

Latest website: On the 2nd, the Knicks go to the away game.

Rookie Chauncey Billups rushed directly to the first away game and met the team at the Phoenix hotel.

"Boss."

As a rookie who had just entered the league for half a season, Billups immediately said hello when he saw Zhao Dong.

"I need your passing, proper mid-range shots, and outside defense. Can you do it?" Zhao Dong asked directly.

"able."

Billups said quickly.

In fact, his confidence is not enough, because he was abandoned by the Celtics and his home team, which greatly dampened his confidence.

His current technical characteristics are that he takes a lot of shots and three-pointers, but his shooting rate is average, and his personal desire to attack is very strong. The primary responsibility of the point guard in this period is to sort out the offense and organize the offense, so his style is very different and can be called Point guard cancer.

Celtics coach Rick Pitino's coaching style is actually suitable for him. This coach's style is somewhat similar to Nelson's, pursuing small-ball free play and fast-paced offense and defense. But Billups, who has just entered the league, He was still adapting to the strong competition in the league, so he didn't perform well, so he was put on the shelf.

Zhao Dong added: "Our Knicks' current tactics are positional warfare and small ball fast break play in parallel. Play whatever is suitable. If you can't play fast break, we will play positional warfare. This will be the same in the future. Pay equal attention to offense and defense, combine speed and slowness, and pay attention to strong confrontation. and defense.

You may not be used to this kind of intense confrontation yet, but that doesn't matter. The most important thing for you at the moment is passing the ball, which is the quick pass during the transition between offense and defense.

In a positional battle, I will take over the ball, and the defensive pressure and confrontation you face will not be that great, so I need you to make more accurate outside jumpers instead of throwing them blindly. On this team, your shots are limited and you have to remember that. "

"clear."

Billups said nervously.

Zhao Dong is not sure that Billups can do it. Now Billups is just a rookie, completely unbalanced in offense and organization. He has not practiced three-pointers, so he can only ask for his passing. There is no need for anything else. superior.

In the previous life, Billups' career failed in the first few years, and then he was saved in the Timberwolves.

Met Lil Brandon, an aging All-Star, and taught him how to play.

Most people think that he got the opportunity in the Pistons, but in fact, the Timberwolves were his transformation period, and he was already very strong before joining the Pistons.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Zhao Dong. Although his offense and organization can be balanced and he is qualified to teach Billups how to play point guard, he has no such interest.

He was different from Jordan in this respect. Jordan was chasing Pippen with a whip. Pippen could be said to have been forced out by Jordan.

Zhao Dong does not have such a strong desire to control and believes that training teammates is what the coaching staff should do. He is not willing to intervene and only does what he should do.

As for Fordson, he had a violent temper that the coaching staff couldn't suppress, so he was forced to take action. Moreover, he didn't practice with him every day, but only every now and then.

After playing the next two away games, we entered the All-Star weekend.

Zhao Dong returned to New York and began to prepare for the wedding.

The release date of Silver Demon is set for the 7th, but the promotion has already started. Various large photos of Zhao Dong wearing Silver Demon have been erected in many places in New York City.

In particular, the close-up shot of him smashing the backboard and diving to steal Grant Hill occupied all the most eye-catching places, including Times Square.

But now the US market is secondary, the main market is still domestic, which is the basic market. Chen Jian has returned to China to take charge of the overall situation. The US branch is doing business here, and Huang Zhiwen is watching over here.

On the 5th, he went to the airport to pick up his father, Zhao Zhenguo.

"Dad, you can decide Lindsay's nationality. The old man has told you to do it. If you don't do it, he will do it for you." Zhao Dong said on the way.

"What did the old man say?" Zhao Zhenguo touched his head.

"Yeah." Zhao Dong nodded.

"Well, you are so big. If you dare to lie to me, can your grandfather say that? The old man has never walked through the back door in his life."

Zhao Zhenguo slapped Zhao Dong gently on the head. If Zhao Dong hadn't been driving, he would have kicked him.

"Hehe..." Zhao Dong chuckled.

"Weiwei's mother is Chinese. You have a business in Beijing and have a lot of investment. After you get married, there are still conditions for her naturalization. There is no need to go through any backdoors."

After teaching his son a lesson, Zhao Zhenguo thought for a moment and then said, "But that requires you and her to get a marriage certificate in China. It's not easy to do now and it's not in line with the policy."

"There's no rush, as long as it can be done." Zhao Dong smiled.

"Recently, some domestic media are targeting you. There must be someone behind it, and it has a great influence. I can't help you with this. You should pay attention here."

Zhao Zhenguo reminded.

"I understand." Zhao Dong nodded.

On February 6th, Zhao Dong and April Lindsay held their wedding at the Long Island Cathedral.

There were quite a lot of people attending the wedding, including everyone from the New York Knicks and New York Jets, league president and vice president Lanier Prova who attended the ceremony on behalf of Stern, the management of Stony Brook University, and the Seawolves Friends of the team and even a group of ex-girlfriends also attended the wedding. Twenty die-hard fans of Zhao Dong were specially invited, agent Ringo Wells, as well as Sun Zhenping and Zhang Lili from CCTV, as well as managers from several companies. layer.

Finally, an uninvited guest arrived at Zhao Dong's villa before they were going to church.

"Dayao, what are you doing here?" Zhao Dong said in surprise when he saw Yao Min appearing in front of him.

"Brother Dong, if I don't come today, won't my parents scold me?" Dayao said with a smile.

"You can play well this season, but you're still too young. If you play two or three more seasons at Duke, you'll be almost there. You'll have no problem getting the No. 1 pick." Zhao Dong said with a smile.

"Me? I won the top prize? Haha, no way?" Dayao said with a smile.

"Why not? When it comes to a young year, you can get the number one pick a lot. Even if it's a big year, you still have a chance to win." Zhao Dong said with a smile.

He calculated that after his junior year in the draft, it would be 2000. The No. 1 pick that year was Kenyon Martin. After his senior year, the No. 1 pick in the draft in 2001 was Kwame Brown.

If these two people meet a blind man, they will always pick Yao Yao, right?

Of course, Jordan is really blind. If history does not change, if Jordan retires and becomes the boss, and meets him, it may not be Yao's turn to be the number one pick.

"Is it possible for Duke to win the championship this year?" Zhao Dong asked.

"Several of our starters are freshmen and are not strong enough, but we can definitely make it into March Madness," Dayao said.

Zhao Dong knows that Dayao's starting teammates, Battier, Boozer, Brand, etc., are a bit weak on defense, but the offense should be good.

Even Battier was not a defensive warrior in college, but an all-around player who also had the ability to hold the ball and attack that he later lost.

With such a lineup, strong in offense and weak in defense, it is indeed difficult to win the championship in the freshman stage.

However, Duke is also a top-tier NCAA team this year. March Madness is a knockout tournament. With strength and a certain amount of luck, it is not impossible to win the championship.

As the person whose influence in the league is second only to Jordan, Zhao Dong's wedding naturally received crazy hype from the media.

On the way to the church, several television interview vehicles followed me.

The wedding ceremony was solemn and simple. After it was completed, it symbolized that Zhao Dong and Lindsay became an official couple.

"Zhao Dong, I will hand over Aiweier to you. I hope you can abide by the promise you just made and love and protect her throughout your life."

Mrs. Dorisa said seriously and expectantly.

"I promise."

Holding Lindsay's hand, Zhao Dong also said very seriously.

After returning to the villa from the church, they made some arrangements. Zhao Dong and Lindsay kowtowed respectfully to their grandparents, parents, and served tea.

"When I go home next year, let's have some fun again. Let's just do this today. It's too busy." Li Meizhu said helplessly.

"Yes, we'll do it when we get home, and invite hundreds of people from the whole alley to have a good time." Zhao Dacheng shouted.

After a wedding night, Lindsay rested at home the next day, and Zhao Dong started today's work without stopping.

Today is the release day of the Silver Demon Generation.

The early publicity has been going on. With Zhao Dong's influence, even though many league stars doubt the quality of the Silver Devils, many fans are still looking forward to it.

There are three stores in New York City, one in Manhattan, one in Long Island, and one in Brooklyn, but six sales points were arranged. In the early morning, before the time came, fans lined up in long queues at all the sales points.

At nine o'clock, Zhao Dong came to the sale point in Manhattan and used a Chinese ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially launch the sale of the Silver Devil Generation.

"Boss, we will definitely succeed." Huang Zhiwen said excitedly.

"good."

Looking at the enthusiastic fans, Zhao Dong also felt that this was a good start.

The Silver Devils are no mere appearance. They have both appearance and connotation. Coupled with his influence, basketball shoes like this will definitely be chased.

At noon, Arntelem arrived at the hotel carrying a bag.

He is Kobe's agent. He queued up all morning to buy the Silver Devils, which took more than five hours.

Arriving at Kobe's room, Kobe opened the shoe box with some anticipation. The first time he saw the Silver Devils, he uttered one word: "Cool!"

"Cold, brutal, and with a strong sense of mystery, it seems to have magic power." Looking at the Silver Devil, Kobe sighed.

"Remember, Kobe, you can only wear it at home and don't let others see it." Arntrum warned.

"Of course."

Kobe nodded while putting on his shoes.

"Very comfortable!"

This was his first feeling after putting it on.

After jumping a few times, he said in surprise: "It's great. I feel like it allows me to jump higher. And the cushioning performance when landing is very good. It protects my feet very well."

"Is it really that good? Compared to your signature shoes?" Arntrum said in surprise.

"Huh?" Kobe hesitated for a moment, but nodded and said: "Better than my shoes. But I want to try again."

“The grip is really good, I won’t slip no matter how I run.”

In the next few minutes, he repeatedly tossed the Silver Demons, and finally sighed: "It's a pity that I can't wear them during the game."

Arntelem shrugged and laughed: "Addi pays you eight million dollars a year, of course you can't wear it."

"Arn, buy me ten more pairs. I want to keep them." Kobe suddenly said.

"Now? No, no, there are too many people queuing up. This is Feilong's base camp. Kobe, go back to Los Angeles and buy some more. There are also Feilong stores there."

Arntrum shook his head quickly.

"Okay." Kobe smiled.

In fact, just like Kobe, during the All-Star period, many NBA stars who came to New York had people quietly buy the Silver Devils. After all, the Silver Devils were really attractive to them.

Currently, Silver Magic sells directly and has no distributors. In the United States, it only has stores in a few major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Houston.

At five o'clock in the afternoon that day, Zhao Dong received statistical data. The sales data in New York City was 86,000 pairs, and the total sales in other cities were 160,000 pairs. The total sales volume reached 250,000 pairs.

There are several grades of the Silver Demon generation, and the average price can reach fifty dollars a pair, which is still very expensive in this era.

"cheers."

This number is worth a drink. It's only been a day. You can imagine that the sales volume of Silver Demon will soon exceed one million.

Zhao Dong is particularly happy that in addition to his base in New York, sales in other cities are also good, which means that his influence is no longer limited to New York.

"Hughes, do other cities adopt the form of dealers or direct sales?" He asked Hughes Wallace, the general manager of the American branch.

"Boss, my plan is to continue to expand some direct sales stores in other major cities, focusing on dealers in second- and third-tier cities. This way our fixed investment can be reduced and the establishment of a sales network can be accelerated."

Hughes Wallace said.

Zhao Dong nodded. He didn't know much about these things and wouldn't care too much about them. He just wanted to know.

When he returned home in the evening, Chen Jian reported the domestic data.

It was released in China yesterday. Due to the time difference, it was one day early. I was too busy last night and did not submit it. I only submitted it today.

There are now more than 160 direct sales stores in China, with a total sales volume of 1.23 million pairs.

However, the domestic price is very low, only one-quarter of that in the United States, so the sales amount is similar to that in the United States.

It was getting dark at this time, but the office of the president of Nike headquarters was still brightly lit. Many managers stayed here, waiting for the news they wanted to know.

"Seize!" There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Philip Knight said solemnly.

"Mr. President, our people have obtained the data."

It was Knight's assistant Morley who came in and said seriously: "86,000 pairs in New York, 250,000 pairs in the United States, and 1.23 million pairs sold in China."

"What?"

"How can it be so high?"

Everyone was surprised and started talking.

Phillip nodded and said: "The appearance of the Silver Demon generation is indeed very unique, and its performance is also very good, even better than ours..."

He didn't want to admit it, but he knew that the performance of the Silver Demon generation was indeed better than that of Nike shoes, but he couldn't go on talking about it at this point.

"President, our Golden Demon generation is already in production and will be launched soon," someone said.

Philpnight shook his head helplessly and said: "I have seen the samples. In order to avoid lawsuits as much as possible, the R&D room made some small changes to the appearance, but these changes have lost most of the feeling of the Silver Devil. , a bit nondescript. Moreover, we cannot achieve the performance of the Silver Demon generation, and we...cannot master their technology."

Everyone looked at each other, never expecting that there was more advanced sneaker technology in the world than Nike.

"The media in China have been aggressively attacking Feilong, but I didn't expect it to still have such a large sales volume." A senior executive from the public relations department said angrily: "Those media are a bunch of rubbish. They control public opinion, but they can't do anything about a player. .”

Philip Knight said at this time: “For the current plan, in addition to executing the established plan, we must also strengthen our own publicity, promote our own stars, and stabilize our own market share.

In addition, it would be best if we could poach some superstars from Adidas and Reebok. For example, Kobe Bryant is playing well this season. This young man has a lot of character and his playing style is a bit like Jordan. He is from Adidas and was hired here.

In addition, for every potential rookie, I need you to make the most detailed evaluation and never miss anyone. "

"Yes, Mr. President." Everyone said.

Similarly, Adidas headquarters is also holding relevant meetings regarding the release of Silver Magic.

That evening, at almost six o'clock, the New York branch of Feilong Sporting Goods Company announced yesterday's sales volume of the Silver Devil generation to the media, causing a shock in the media.

Then, when the U.S. stock market opened the next morning, Nike shares gapped three points and opened lower, Adidas gapped four points lower, and Reebok was even worse, gapping seven points and opening lower. Other shoe companies with even smaller shares, The day started with an even worse start.

"The wolf is crying! The super cool Silver Devils generation, a new basketball shoe giant is being born!"

The New York Times reported: "There is no doubt that the Silver Devil generation has been loved and recognized by fans. It has the coolest appearance and the best performance, and Feilong's continued increase in popularity and influence will also help it further By increasing its importance among fans, it will cut off its own piece of the pie from established companies such as Adidas and Nike."

"Produced by Feilong, the Silver Devils generation, super cool basketball shoes are your best choice."

New York Sports reported: "Superstars rule the league, Jordan rules the superstars, and Feilong defeated Jordan. He will become the superstar who rules the league after Jordan. With his blessing, the Silver Devils generation will be more and more popular." fans love and love it, and its sales prove that."

A lot of New York media have done a lot of coverage on the Silver Devils generation, which has attracted more fans' attention.

Today is the day of the All-Star Game, but this year's All-Star Game does not have the dunk contest as an appetizer, but a two-goal contest.

Last year's dunk contest was so bad. Isshiki's windmill made everyone vomit, so the league canceled the dunk contest.

Fans and media are still looking forward to this year's main game.

Not only the matchup between the Eastern and Western All-Stars, but also the rivalry between Zhao Dong and Jordan in the Eastern All-Stars made them feel that there was something to watch, and that there might be a drama of internal strife.

As for the postman and Zhao Dong, the media and fans are also looking forward to something happening between them.

Then there are Jordan and Kobe, which are also a highlight.

In short, in this year's All-Star Game, the media and fans have a lot of expectations for the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

There are many successors to Jordan, but Grant Hill has never played a highlight moment, and his personality is not like Jordan's. Anfernee Hardaway is too fragile, but this season's Kobe has shown something like Jordan.

There are rumors that Kobe was specially selected by Stern to join the All-Stars, so that he and Jordan could face off in the All-Stars, so this attraction does have a certain appeal and market.