The Basketball Court Swordsman

The Atlanta Hawks, Henson had already drawn a big red circle on the date of November 16 when he played against the Rockets.

The Hawks missed the playoffs for eight years, worse than the Pacers. But after drafting Horford and trading for veteran point guard Mike Bibby, the Atlanta Hawks began to make an impact in the playoffs, and they indeed reached the Eastern Conference semifinals for two consecutive years.

But even so, the Atlanta Hawks are still not satisfied. Especially this summer, after they spent 120 million US dollars to renew Joe Johnson, the Eagles management did not want 120 million US dollars only in exchange for a second round result.

So the Hawks fired Mike Woodson this summer, and Woodson’s assistant coach Larry Drew took office. It seems that this script and Henson really have some similarities.

In fact, Larry Drew’s coaching journey is much more bumpy than Henson’s. Since 1992, Drew has served as an assistant coach for five teams including the Lakers, Wizards, Nets, Pistons and Eagles. After 18 years of work as an assistant coach, Drew finally took the position of head coach!

And you have to know that before becoming an assistant coach, Drew had played in the NBA as a player for 10 years, and he played exactly as a point guard. Even for such a person with a professional player background, it took 18 years from assistant coach to head coach! But Henson’s Bachelor of Statistics, from scout to head coach, took only three years!

Therefore, in Drew’s mind, he somewhat looked down on Henson. Drew has been doing basketball-related careers all his life, but what about Henson? He is just an “outsider” who wants to divide a piece of cake. Drew believes that his exquisite tactical arrangements and pre-match preparations will surely bring the speculator of Henson back to his original form!

This summer, after learning that Giron would trade Horford to the Pacers, Drew publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the deal. But surprisingly, Roy Hibbert did show good quality this season. This 2.18 meter tall black tower has given the Eagles a lot of help on the defensive end. On the offensive end, he can also use his mature low post skills to score frequently.

As Bird told Geelong during the trade, Hibbert has grown into an all-star center.

This summer, the Hawks’ failure to chase “Big Shark” O’Neal and the renewal of Joe Johnson’s premium contract have caused them to be criticized by many experts. But the deal with Horford alone is rarely mentioned now. The reason is very simple, Hibbert perfectly replaced Horford’s position, and the Eagles also liberated their extremely tight cap space.

Drew didn’t think the deal was a bad thing now, and he sent Roy Hibbert to Atlanta, and that wise Henson Joe might suffer the consequences!

At the same time, in the tactical meeting room of the Conseco Arena, Henson was working with the members of the coaching staff to make plans for the next game. Although the Eagles have Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, two figures who often appear in the top five goals, in fact, the Eagles are not the most powerful offense, but their defense.

On offense, the Hawks can’t even find a player who can average more than 20 points per game. But defensively, the Hawks’ starting five players are very tough.

Mike Bibby, Johnson, Josh, Marvin Williams and Hibbert, these guys are the kind of masters who are not afraid of physical confrontation. What’s more, there are meat grinders like Pachulia and Morris Evans sitting on the bench for the Eagles.

The Hawks have achieved 6 wins and 4 losses this season by virtue of their tough defense and clear division of players. So Henson believes that the most important thing to deal with a team like the Eagles is to disintegrate their defense!

To disintegrate the defense, we must first start from the inside. After all, inside defense is the core of every team on the defensive end. And Henson knows Hibbert very well. If Hibbert is placed in the penalty area, the impact on the Pacers will undoubtedly be huge.

Bring out Hibtera…It seems that Horford will play a key role in this game against the old owner…

When leading the team to play adversarial training in the afternoon, Henson found that Horford still prefers to finish offense in the middle distance and the three-second zone. After all, the three-pointer is a new skill Horford developed at Henson’s request this summer, and before that, Horford almost never shot outside the three-point line. After all, not all coaches are like Henson, a lunatic, who would want their center forward to go out and shoot three pointers.

After ten minutes of confrontational training, Henson stopped it. In terms of Hibbert’s large defensive range, Horford’s mid-range is not enough. Because even in the mid-range position, Hibbert can quickly return to the defense. To completely pull the inside line, Henson’s only way is to make Horford’s position higher, mentioning beyond the three-point line!

“Al, you can try more three-pointers. Be confident, your three-pointers in the first few games are pretty good. In the next game, I need you to make room for others. If Heber If you don’t save it, your three-pointer will lead us to victory.”

“I…” Horford scratched his head, “I’m afraid I won’t make it.” Hoffer is still a center after all. If Henson said that Stephenson would make three-pointers crazy, Stephenson would definitely be excited. Take off your pants on the spot.

This is also due to his character. Although Horford is already an All-Star player, he is still a bit unconfident. He is usually introverted in the locker room.

“It’s okay. The three-pointer is not as stable as the mid-range shot and the offensive under the basket, so you feel that you are not shooting accurately. But in fact, your three-pointer shooting rate in these games has been as high as 38%. You know. What is the concept of 38%? For Joe Johnson, your ex has shot 29% from three-pointers this season. Even so, he has to shoot more than 5 three-pointers in each game. I am not. It’s just a tactical need for you to keep shooting from beyond the three-point line. After Hibbert is pulled out, it’s easier for you to break through or cut.” Henson patted Horford on the shoulder and used it at the same time. Lost the ability to increase player morale by 30%.

Some players, like Stephenson, you have to suppress him. And some players, such as Horford, you have to encourage him to do crazy things instead.

Horford nodded, “I will try more when I train later, boss.”

Henson also smiled, it seems that the speech technique is working.

Before the adversarial training began, Henson summoned everyone and laid out in detail the tactics to be used against the Eagles. The team’s overall idea is still to play fast, play space, and shoot shots. The overall idea is absolutely unchangeable. After all, players cannot adapt to the new tactical system at once.

But on the basis of keeping the general idea unchanged, Henson made some bold changes. He not only wants Horford to shoot three pointers, he even needs Horford to support the offense in the high post. In other words, Holiday will be a scorer in the next game. And it’s Horford who is in the high position to distribute the ball!

If Hibbert is successfully pulled out, the other four people will have to intersperse and attack the penalty area. In this way, Horford stands in a high position and is the pass point with the best vision.

The training lasted until six o’clock in the afternoon, when Henson was thankful, the Pacers had two days to prepare for the game. Two days are enough time for him to use some new tricks to pry open the Hawks’ defense.

After returning home from get off work, Henson lay on the sofa and watched TV and waited for takeaways. By the way, he talked with An Jiali on the phone. Since Henson’s sudden confession on the day of the dinner, the number of calls between the two has become more frequent and the duration of each call has become longer and longer. After eating dinner later, he will continue to watch the latest Eagles game video.

At this time, eSPN TV is broadcasting a talk show. Henson unexpectedly discovered that the person interviewed was his next opponent, Larry Drew.

“What kind of coach do you think the new head coach of the Pacers, Henson Joe, is, do you recognize his coaching level?” On TV, the reporter asked old Drew such a question.

“He is a coach with a unique style, but he is doing a dangerous thing, that is, blurring the boundaries of the five positions on the basketball court. Many people have not discovered this, but I have recently studied Coach Henson. Can you say Horford is the Pacers center? No, he sometimes shoots outside like a guard. Can you say whether Daniel Granger is playing inside or outside?”

Hearing this, Henson couldn’t help admiring Drew. Blurring the boundaries of the five positions, this summary is very beautiful, worthy of a lifetime basketball career.

“But the five positions on the basketball court cannot be obscured. This is because basketball has been destined since the invention of Professor Naismith. I will show Coach Henson the power of the five positions. It’s much better than his amateur blurring.”

Drew, who has worked as an assistant coach for 18 years, is merciless. In fact, it’s not just Drew. Most academic coaches actually hold prejudices against Henson, the “outside man.”

Henson turned off the TV, not because he was angry, but because his takeaway arrived…