The Basketball Court Swordsman

Henson said that he was thinking about winning all the games this month. In fact, it was not just for the "pretend showdown" with Bird, but really had this plan. After all, the Pacers' remaining opponents since December are not particularly strong.

After a two-day break after the opening game, the Pacers ushered in their first away game of the season, challenging the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors' record last season was "second only" to the Cavaliers and Timberwolves, ranking third in the league from the bottom. In this year's draft, the Raptors picked Lithuanian center Valanciunas as the result of a bad season.

It's just that Valanciunas will not officially land in the NBA next year, so the Raptors' strength this season has not changed much compared to last season.

Facing the attack from the 2006 champion Ballari and the young Raptors "springman" DeMar DeRozan, the Pacers' iron-blood defense was able to cope with ease.

DeRozan could not find a feeling under George's defense. Although Valliari scored 21 points, it was not enough to dominate the game.

In the end, in the northern border of Toronto, the Pacers easily won 100 to 85, and the two consecutive victories started!

In this game, the Pacers still uphold their all-people style. Five of the team scored in double figures, Paul 21 points, George 18 points, West 14 points, Horford 12 points, Matthews shot 10 points. In addition, Leonard and Yi Jianlian also contributed 8 points each, not far from the double figures.

Paul's mastery of the ball, coupled with the Pacers' all-in-one style of play, made their offense more difficult to stop. At least, a team like the Raptors can't be stopped.

"This is the game we should have won. There is nothing to say." At the press conference after the game, Henson spread his hands, and as always did not give the reporter any valuable information.

On December 30, the Pacers returned to the home court against the Cavaliers. In this game, most fans hope that the new champion Kelly Irving can thwart Henson's arrogant fireworks.

The result is that the immature Owen was taught to be a man by Paul.

Paul did not relax his vigilance because Irving was just a first-year rookie. The "Queen Bee" who was eager for victory let Irving know what NBA-level defense is.

Although Henson can conclude that Irving will become a great player in the future. But at least now, he is just a younger brother.

108 to 83, the Pacers triumphed for the third consecutive game. Although Irving scored 20 points, his shooting percentage was only 33.3%, which is hard to be called excellent.

When the overall strength was not as good as the Pacers, Irving was still watched to death, and the Cavaliers had nothing to do.

6 Pacers scored in double figures, winning three straight!

"Pressure? No pressure, do you think we were under pressure today?" Again, Henson was at the press conference leisurely.

No way, fans of other teams can only continue to endure Henson's "arrogant fireworks".

On the last day of 2011, the Pacers played back-to-back away against the Pistons.

This is the first back-to-back game played by the Pacers this season, and it's back-to-back away. So the Pistons fans slogans "The Pacers pay the price" before the game started.

Perhaps it is really affected by physical fitness, and today West and George are in a different state. The former made 4 of 11 shots, the latter made 4 of 15 shots, and made 1 of 4 three-pointers.

The Pacers trailed by 3 points in the first quarter, as if the first team that could beat the Pacers finally appeared.

After that, Henson did not sit still, but adjusted the lineup. He increased the playing time of Yi Jianlian and Matthews to correct the inefficiency of George and West.

As a result, neither of them disappointed Henson. Yi Jianlian combined inside and outside to score a season-high 16 points. Matthews has been very stable last season. Playing off the bench is as practical this season, and 16 points are also accounted for.

In the end, the Pacers retreated in Detroit, giving the Pistons a four-game losing streak, and easily returning home with a four-game winning streak.

"Two of the Pacers started in bad condition, but Coach Henson told everyone: Don't worry, our lineup this season is thick enough to handle such a situation!"

"Their steady performance will undoubtedly be a well-deserved strong team in the East!"

After this game, there were fewer voices questioning Henson, but more voices praising him. There is no doubt that the Pacers have proven themselves through four solid victories.

After returning to Indianapolis, Bird brought good news to Henson on the first day of 2012.

"The shooting coach you wanted, Bruce Fraser, he promised me. This afternoon, I will arrange for you to meet him."

"Yes!" Hearing the voice of Libird on the phone, Henson couldn't help making a fist and swaying hard.

Now, the Pacers are truly ready for everything!

At 6 pm on January 1st, Indian Presspolis East New York Street, was located a very famous local high-end restaurant. The name of the restaurant is very simple and simple, it's called Vinda. But the dishes inside are really exquisite and delicious.

It's not the first time Henson has come here. Although he doesn't like to eat in these places, when An Jiali is there, Henson will drive his retro Jaguar and take his girlfriend out for a good meal.

"Mr. Henson, you are here." As soon as he reached the door, the waiter recognized Henson, a familiar customer. In fact, even if Henson doesn't eat here often, the waiter must know him. Henson is now a household name in the basketball city of Indianapolis.

Henson smiled and nodded in greeting, walked into the restaurant and went straight to the second floor. The private room inside was Bird's favorite.

When Henson walked into the private room, he saw that Byrd had been chatting very speculatively with a man with gray hair and big beard.

"Henson, you are finally here! Introduce, this is Bruce Fraser, who used to be my assistant coach in Indianapolis."

"Mr. Fraser, thank you very much for agreeing to our invitation." Henson was very polite once in a while. After all, the title "coach who shoots with Miller" is still very bluff.

In fact, Fraser's resume does not stop there. This man entered the industry in 1994 and his first stop as a coach was actually in Indianapolis. Of course, that's all in Reggie Miller's time.

In 2007, Frazier responded to his old college friends, when the Suns general manager Steve Kerr called to join the Suns and became a shooting coach. Mainly responsible for Nash's 1-on-1 shooting practice and training of other Suns shooters.

As everyone knows, Nash made 381 three-pointers that season, and his three-pointer percentage was as high as 47%! Up to now, that's also the record for Nash's career three-pointers in a single season. Behind this is inseparable from Fraser's efforts.

"I like watching Pacers games because you are very creative. Moreover, this is where my career started. I still have feelings for this place. Of course, what interests me most is this time my Job content. Jimmy Butler and Kawai Leonard were not great three-point shooters in college. And the players I trained before, such as Miller and Nash, they had before they met me. Good three-point shooting skills."

Fraser is also a talkative, and he is familiar with basketball when he talks about it.

"This particular job is also very interesting. After all, when I was playing basketball in college, I never shot a three-pointer. Because it wasn't until my junior year that the NCAA added three-pointers. But it still didn't stop me from knowing. Three-pointers and fine-tuning the players' shooting. So I believe that as long as you can carefully observe and find problems, even Jimmy Butler and Leonard can also practice shooting."

"I also firmly believe in this, Mr. Fraser. I hope the Pacers can reproduce the glory of the year with your help." Henson picked up the wine glass and bumped into the gray-bearded middle-aged man. .

A good coach with his own badge, Henson believes that Leonard and Jimmy Butler will become the kind of players he imagined.

After welcoming Fraser, the Pacers are still doing good things again and again. In the first game of 2012, Henson led the team to easily kill the Nets in New Jersey.

When the Nets owned Yi Jianlian, they were already a big team. Now that Yi Jianlian has moved from Washington to Indianapolis, the Nets are still the "bad net".

It also suffered from Deron, and his youth was almost consumed by the Nets.

But after this game, Henson no longer arrogant in front of the camera. He can't be arrogant now and can't let the players relax too much.

Therefore, he must take the lead in creating a serious atmosphere.

"We won beautifully today, but we can't be too complacent because we won a game. The excellent state must be maintained to make sense." Henson's speech at the press conference was different from the previous few times.

As for why you did it? the reason is simple. Two days later, on the East Coast, the Pacers will usher in the first opponent of the season-the Miami Heat!