The Pope of Basketball Community

Chapter 341 [Spiritual invincibility, Yao Ming’s dilemma]

At the end of the game, many Celtics players returned to the locker room without congratulating their opponents.

Jim O'Brien shook hands with Yang Rui gloomily and turned away, unwilling to say a word.

Bad memories were brought back to O'Brien. From the 1997-2001 season, he served as an assistant coach for the Celtics. The team was slaughtered by the Raptors more than once. Rick Pitino's resignation was directly related to this. Now, it's his turn to lead the team and be brutally abused, but the team led by Yang Rui has become the Wizards.

Know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger. On the contrary, he will definitely die a very miserable death. The Celtics also regarded the Wizards as the same team as last season. Before the game, they studied how to deal with Jordan's singles and prepared to attack from position. This was a big mistake.

Last season, Wizards coach Doug Collins was too conservative. He has had brilliance, but more of a disgraceful side.

In the late 1980s, the Bulls under his leadership gradually declined, and immediately ushered in their own dynasty after he left; in the Pistons under his leadership in 1997, the players on the team began to disobey his orders; later he took charge of the Wizards, and Jordan came back. Still failed to achieve any results.

Yang Rui is different from Collins. He dares to use people and likes to attack. He arranges tactics with the purpose of breaking through the opponent's defense. He believes that offense is the best defense and can easily defeat a bad defensive team.

The coaching staff did not put Haywood, Thomas, and Barnes on the roster for the opening game because their offense was poor. The Wizards exploded with all their offensive power, shocking Jordan who came off the court early to rest and was watching the game from the sidelines.

Barkley, who was responsible for commentating the game, was a little embarrassed. Before the game, he said that the two teams were about the same strength and could win. As a result, the Celtics were beaten one-sidedly.

Only three players from the Celtics scored in double figures. Pierce had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, and Walker had 12 points and 9 rebounds. The two shot 0 for 6 and 1 for 6 from beyond the three-point line respectively.

Backup point guard Shamond Williams scored 10 points and made 2 of 2 three-pointers.

The biggest performance gap was with starting point guard Delk, who scored all 8 points in the first quarter. After that, he only sent out two assists and grabbed one rebound.

Six players from the Wizards scored in double figures, and four players scored 20+.

Stoudemire made 8 of 12 shots, 4 of 5 free throws, 20 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist; Jordan made 8 of 14 shots, 5 of 5 free throws, 21 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists; Maggette made 6 of 14, three points He made 0 of 2 shots, 10 of 10 free throws, and scored 22 points and 6 rebounds; Boozer made 9 of 14 shots, 3 of 4 free throws, and scored 21 points and 11 rebounds; Hamilton had 12 points and 3 assists, and Wesley had 10 points and 4 assists.

at a press conference,

Jordan, who rarely comments on others, was in a good mood and talked a lot.

"This is a miracle. Once Jerry came, the Wizards changed. Last season we didn't know how to win at all and the offense was very bad. Today, we actually played such a game. I like the rhythm of the team now. .”

The reporter interviewed Yang Rui and asked him to evaluate the team.

Yang Rui said: "The players fulfilled the pre-match requirements of the coaching staff and performed very well. A big victory over the opponent in the opening game boosts morale, but this is just a regular season and we should not be proud of it. This will be a difficult season. , Michael’s knees no longer allow him to do difficult moves like he did when he was young, and I was shocked when he dunked in the first quarter.”

The reporter asked: "Is his knee injury serious?"

"It's an old injury. He can play, but he must be careful. You know, last season, his cartilage was almost worn out, and he had to be drained three times for water accumulation. The team doctor also repaired his cartilage wear, so I would rather see him use it. The basket ends the offense."

A reporter immediately followed the topic and asked: "Do you think Jordan has the physical condition to play the entire season?"

Yang Rui smiled and said: "To be honest, I don't know. I told him, Michael, you are 40 years old and are not the best player anymore. Even if you don't accept it, your body will accept it first, so you must You have to listen to me, pass more and dunk less. Everyone has seen the result, he still likes to force himself."

The reporter asked: "You proposed the selection of the two interior rookies. They performed well today. Is there anything you want to say to them?"

"You guys played very well, you are worthy of my fancy." Yang Rui smiled and boasted a little.

The reporter asked: "Do you have anything to say about the Celtics?"

"The regular season is still very long. I wish them good luck." Yang Rui kept a low profile and did not provoke his opponents.

This big victory was because the Green Army's defense was too poor and the Wizards players were convulsed. The team cannot be so fierce in every game. This is not the time to brag.

The Wizards made many media headlines that night. Fans all knew that Yang Rui had created another miracle. He changed teams and still maintained the tradition of winning the opening game.

Fans launched a heated discussion on the Internet.

"If the Celtics win so easily, the Wizards will definitely make the playoffs."

"Who else says that basketball coaches are useless? Look at the statistics of Jerry Young's rookies. After leaving the Raptors, he can still train super rookies."

"It's interesting. In the past, it was Jordan who led others to win championships. Now it's finally someone else's turn to lead Jordan."

"The Wizards only averaged 92.8 points per game last season and are predicted to improve by more than 15 points this season."

Chinese fans spare no effort in praising Yang Rui. Most people believe that he is already the top coach in the NBA. This is indeed true in terms of annual salary. It seems to be only a matter of time before he becomes the best coach in NBA history.

At the same time, there are also many Chinese fans who feel sorry because Yang Rui failed to coach Yao Ming, and some people scolded Larry Brown on the Internet. This is of no use. Brown cannot read Chinese, and North American fans did not scold him.

Yang Rui checked online news at home and found that Yao Ming was in trouble when he first entered the NBA, just like in his previous life.

The Knicks defeated the Pistons in the first game of the regular season 87-86 on the road, but Yao Ming only played 11 minutes, made 0 of 1 shots, did not score a point, and grabbed two rebounds.

Grant Hill returned this season and was in good form, and "Madman" Sprewell finally chose to stay on the team.

The Knicks are also full of talents inside, including Yao Ming, Ben Wallace, Kurt Thomas, Osela Hanington, Clarence Witherspoon, etc.

The only weakness of the Knicks is still the point guard. They have no salary space to sign in the free market and can only rely on Howard Eisley and Charlie Ward.

Yao Ming has been busy all summer, training and warming up with the national team, playing in the Four Nations Invitational Tournament, and then competing in the World Championships. In 8 games of the World Championships, Yao Ming averaged 21 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 blocks per game, and was eventually selected to the best team.

However, Yao Ming's outstanding performance in the international arena failed to impress Larry Brown because he missed the preseason and was not familiar with his teammates. His English is not good enough. With a translator, who will pass the ball to him in this case?

Brown attaches great importance to defense. When he saw that the styles of Yao Ming and Ben Wallace did not match, he made him a substitute. When the team needs to attack, Brown first thinks of Hill and Sprewell to arrange outside tactics.

Many Chinese fans feel bad. Coach Larry Brown, from the time he coached the Nuggets in 1976 to now, has always used outside players as the core of offense and inside defense as the main focus. There is no precedent for bringing out inside stars.

Yang Rui read the news and comments and suspected that Yao Ming was going to be in trouble.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like