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The NBA stipulates that a coaching meeting cannot be held. Yang Rui invited the remaining two Raptors assistant coaches to dinner in his own name, intending to get in touch with each other. The physical trainer and the shooting coach don't change players or participate in tactics, so he didn't call.

During the lockout, everyone was in danger, players couldn't sign, and assistant coaches were hard to find. If Thibodeau hadn't voluntarily followed Yang Rui to Toronto, he would definitely be in trouble in the new season.

As soon as they met, Yang Rui clearly felt the malice from the former coaching staff. He was 196cm tall, and the 40-year-old black assistant coach Butch Carter was not pleasing to his eyes.

Last season, the Raptors waived Darnell Walker in the middle of the season, and Butch took over as the coach to coach 33 games, with a better record than the first half.

After the season ended, Butch waited happily for the team to negotiate a contract extension with him, hoping to continue to be the head coach of the Raptors. As a result, bad news came one after another. The Raptors signed Yang Rui and Thibodeau, and he was no longer even the first assistant. Without a salary cut, he couldn't get motivated at all.

During the meal, Yang Rui took the initiative to show his favor, but Butch ignored him. When talking about basketball, Butch started to speak up, repeatedly refuting Yang Rui's tactical intentions.

Yang Rui said that offense is the main thing, so he said defense. Yang Rui said that Billups should be reused, so he suggested using Alvin Williams. It seems that he wants to prove his value by using arguing, or he just vents not to be reused. resentment.

Yang Rui was not angry at all, and always had a smile on his face.

The other assistant was a small white man in his fifties named Jack Smiley.

The spelling of the surname is smiley, which can be translated as "happy, smiling". As the name suggests, he always has a faint smile on his face.

He gave Yang Rui a lot of face, and didn't say that he was mainly in charge of player training because he was a senior who relied on the old to sell the old.

The next day, Yang met with Glenn Gruward at lunch and asked straight to the point: "How long does Butch Carter's contract expire?"

"One year is a team option." Glenn said with a wry smile, "Why, you guys didn't have a good time talking about it?"

Yang Rui nodded: "Not only that, I can't communicate with him at all. This person gives me bad looks. Since it is the team's option, let's cut him. Two assistant coaches and a trainer are enough for the new season. I don't need a dragging assistant."

Glenn was taken aback, and persuaded: "Should I talk to him? It's hard to find experienced assistant coaches now. I don't know when this lockout will come. With the cancellation of training camps and preseason games, the players have no time to get used to it."

"Because there is no time to adjust, he has to go. Anyway, if he is really experienced, he can go to other teams to find a job, right? He doesn't even study the personality of the new coach he cooperates with, and directly provokes him. How can he arrange for the players? The tactics? We have Tom in defense, so we don’t need him. You can’t leave him to argue every day, right?” Yang Rui said bluntly.

"..." Glenn was speechless.

Yang Rui smiled and said: "I understand that you will consider it from the human aspect, but I have to make this request, because in the new season, we must lead the team to attack and lead the team to the playoffs. There must be no internal obstacles. Cut him, at most Butch Carter himself is uncomfortable, and if he doesn't leave in the new season, it will be me, the whole team, who will be uncomfortable. You don't want to see me and him have a conflict for a season, do you?"

"Okay, I'll go talk to him about terminating the contract." Glenn made a quick decision.

He knew that Yang Rui and Butch Carter could not coexist. But it's a little too domineering to drive away the teaching assistant once they meet each other. A young man showing such strength made him feel uncomfortable.

He can fully understand that Yang Rui is very gentle on the surface, but there is a wildness hidden in his bones. Everything in the past has proved that there is a price to be paid for provoking him. Butch made his temper find the wrong person.

"Thank you, I will stick to my previous bet, and I have a way to lead the Raptors to win. Young people lack experience, and their advantages are also obvious, that is physical fitness and explosive power." Yang Rui smiled: "I recommend Brad Miller, Will the team sign it?"

"certainly,

I will give him a two-year minimum salary with a team option for the second year. ’ replied Glenn.

"Okay, meat shield players must have it."

Because of the players' strike, the U.S. national team had to select talents from overseas to participate in the World Championships. Miller was lucky to be selected and won a bronze medal with the team. Miller's playing time is not much, averaging only 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, but his solid defensive skills and basketball IQ have attracted the attention of many scouts.

With his strength, he must be qualified as a substitute in the team, with good height and physique.

Yang Rui is optimistic about every newcomer, how to arrange tactics, and which direction to let them train, all have detailed plans. In this case, it is even more impossible for him to let his assistant dictate.

For example, Miller is suitable for supporting the offense and catching and shooting after the pick-and-roll. If Butch Carter insists on finding fault and asks Miller to go to the basket to show his footwork, play low offense, and show toughness, who has time to talk nonsense with him?

Glenn contacted Butch Carter in the afternoon and announced that the team had waived the final year of his contract. Team options, layoffs are just a matter of one sentence, and there is no need to pay liquidated damages.

Butch was dumbfounded on the spot, everything happened too fast, he was unprepared and began to give in. "Glenn, can I talk to Jerry Young again?"

"Do you know what he said about you? He said that you directly provoked the new coach you worked with without researching the personality. How can you arrange suitable tactics for the players?" Glenn said firmly. "You are no longer suitable to continue working on the Raptors coaching staff."

Butch was speechless, he only saw Yang Rui's age, and felt that this kind of coach who would go on a reality show was not dignified and easy to deal with. But he forgot that no matter how unreliable he looked, he was also the head coach, his boss.

Yesterday he gave Yang Rui a slap in the face, today Yang Rui directly gave him a saber.

Butch was laid off, so he could only complain to his former colleagues, call Smiley, and instigate that Yang Rui is such a dictator, and he will be attacked in the new season.

Smiley listened to each sentence in embarrassment and did not express any opinion.

He knew that Butch's words could not be trusted at all. He has a good relationship with his former coach Darnell Walker. After the original coach left, Carter often said how Darnell was useless.

Temporarily taking over as the head coach, Butch was also talking about running the train, saying that he wanted Camby to be the core of the team. As a result, Camby was still a blue-collar in the second half. He watched McGrady's performance in the All-Star Game and said he wanted to give McGrady more opportunities to perform, but McGrady's statistics did not improve in the second half.

At the same time, Smiley's impression of Yang Rui also deteriorated. He felt that this young man was too much. How could someone speak out at the press conference as soon as he signed the contract, and kill the former assistant coach as soon as they met?

If it were Smiley, he would choose to be patient and try to impress Butch with sincerity. He felt that Yang Rui had a low EQ and would not be a good person, and sooner or later he would stumble.

In fact, this is the reason why Smiley was only a teaching assistant until he was 50 years old. He pretended to be a grandson for most of his life, and he was used to it. This kind of person looks stable on the surface, but in fact they are mediocre and can't do great things at all.

Some people say that those who are too strong are easy to break, but those who are gentle are invincible; others say that to be successful, you need friends, and to achieve great success, you need enemies. .

Not being jealous is a mediocrity, and being indecisive is useless.