The Whip of the God of Basketball

Michael Reid, after a period of discomfort early in the season, is becoming more and more used to his team's role-a shooter with strong defensive ability, so he has a strong desire to continue to participate in the game after the finger contusion, because He's terrified that if he's out for a while, he'll lose his sense of being on the court. Playing under Fox Leon is not easy. Behind his seemingly simple tactics are a lot of rules and training to maintain this simple beauty. This feeling is especially obvious for Reed. Among the five starting players, Reed can be regarded as the one with the lowest degree of freedom. His range of activities, running routes and even the timing of his shots have been planned by Leon.

In the first few games, Reid was very uncomfortable. He felt that his hands and feet were restrained. He could not control the ball like Arenas and Pierce in the offense, and he was not qualified to support and dispatch like Walker. He is an ambush, lying in ambush at the ambush point set by Leon. When he has a chance, he shoots cold arrows suddenly, and when he has no chance, he opens up space for his teammates. But when it comes to defense, he often has to face tremendous pressure. Leon always gives him the most difficult bone on the outside line, and sometimes even tells Reed clearly that the opponent's top scorer will be handed over to you alone. No one will help you.

So although the Celtics won a wave of victories at the beginning of the season and were in the limelight for a while, most of the spotlight was given to Pierce, Arenas, Walker and even Wang Zhizhi, and Reid became the one that was easily overlooked. You must know that last season, Reed was already the Celtics' No. 3 scorer, second only to the Gemini, but this season his scoring has declined, and his shots have plummeted. In the second fast attack, he ended fewer and fewer scenes, and the occasional piecemeal play became his offensive norm.

Reid was a little disappointed at one point, because he thought that Leon would be more reused after he became the head coach of the Celtics. In his mind, Leon was his godfather and his mentor in the NBA. But as Leon asked Siegfried to pay more attention to Reed's training and often gave him a small lesson, Reed began to realize his importance in the team.

The role Siegfried played in the Celtics is very similar to the current Reed, a tough defensive, tireless and precise shooter, so Siegfried often told Reed when he was training. In the days when he played for the Celtics in the past, it was said that he had a cracked brow bone and bleeding during the game, but he sat on the bench and listened to the coach's tactics like nothing happened, and then returned to the court after wiping off the blood. As a result, Siegfried also showed Reed the photo. In the photo, Siegfried was bleeding, but his expression was as indifferent as if nothing had happened.

In Siegfried, Reid felt the strength of a player who was once selfless, tough, and with a strong heart, and the great help he could bring to the team. At this time, that is, in December of 2002, Reid finally gradually adapted to his role in the team. Through off-ball simulation training, he became very familiar with his running position, opened up space to the greatest extent and caused damage to opponents. threaten. His defense became more and more impressive under Siegfried's training. Although his skills still need to be further improved, his mentality became stronger and stronger, and he became an out-and-out gate for the Celtics.

In 2003, at the beginning of the new year, Reed could feel that his condition was getting better and better, especially in the few games where Walker was injured, he took on more responsibilities on the offensive end, and scored consecutive games. Get a high score. In the first two seasons, he also paid great attention to training and using his offensive ability with the ball. He likes to rely on strength to fight closer to the basket. He learns from Pierce and wants to be as versatile as him. Now, he has begun to become a killer wandering outside the three-point line, quietly, and the right bottom corner is his best shot point. He was a little unhappy when Leon asked him to stick to this point, but now he understands that this is the best shot point that Leon chose for him.

But a bad finger contusion made him have to rest. The doctor's report indicated that, to be on the safe side, Reid had better rest for a week, so that he would miss at least the next three games. In these three games, Reid didn't want to miss any of them, because the team's opponents were the Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks. Reid wanted to test his quality as a shooter.

But when Reid found Leon after training on the 15th and hoped to play, the answer he got was "Practice your new technology well before playing."

"It's not an important new technology, but it's a little thing that Sig came up with. He found it while watching the game. He found it very interesting. He thought it could exercise my reaction ability and shot stability, so I took it. Come to practice..." Reid wanted to explain to Leon to get a chance to play, but Leon still refused.

"Don't care about a game or two chances, you have a lot of opportunities. A lot of people in this league don't take their opportunities, not because they don't get playing time, but when they play, they find that they have lost their grasp. The ability to live with opportunities. Pay attention to your injury, it will make you lose that ability, listen to the team doctor, and take care of your injury.”

Leon's serious advice dispelled Reid's plan to come back early, but the Celtics also have to pay a certain price for their comeback.

On January 16, the Celtics played against the full-line Indiana Pacers at home. This was the first meeting between the two sides this season. The head coach of the Pacers is Jim O'Brien, and the assistant coach is Vogel. Coupled with the fact that the general manager of the Pacers is the Celtics passing star Larry Bird, the love-hate relationship between the two teams can be said to have just begun. The game on the night of the 16th was as intricate as their relationship. Without Walker and Reed, the Celtics entangled their opponents in two overtime games at home. Until the last moment, the Pacers relied on Jermaine O'Neal A tip-in and Reggie Miller's only three-pointer of the game gave the Pacers a 99:94, five-point victory over the Celtics.

Leon and his Celtics had to settle for a painful loss. And then in Milwaukee, facing this depraved strongman, he was shot through by Ray Allen, Tim Thomas and Cassell. The three teamed up and scored 65 points. After losing Reid, the Celtics' perimeter defense seemed to have opened a hole. After the game, Leon, who was angry, dropped the tactical board for the first time in the locker room, and then punched the white board. A hole scared the entire team into silence.

Of course, if getting angry is useful, then NBA coaches are some of the most tempered people in the world. Leon was also fined $25 by the league for vandalizing public property at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Leon understands that the current Celtics' bench depth is still lacking, they are not fully prepared for injuries, and they are repeatedly defeated by the opponent's perimeter explosion. Leon can't help but miss Joe Johnson.

On the 20th, the Celtics finally ushered in good news. Antoine Walker returned to the court after a two-week truce. Although he has not been in Leon's future team building plan, he is also lazy. Confused and out of tune with Leon, but the current Celtics really cannot do without this Fat Toutuo. As soon as Walker returned, the Celtics defeated the no longer prestigious Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia. Walker's all-around performance of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists made his comedy dance steps staged again in the North Shore Garden.

On the 21st, Reid's finger contusion finally healed. He impatiently removed the gauze on his finger, participated in the team's joint practice, and told reporters in an interview after training that he would participate in The next Celtics game is against the Milwaukee Bucks.

…………………

On the 22nd game day, Leon was invited by Boston's local TV station CSNNE to participate in a small talk show to talk about his views on the current NBA. This is the first time that Leon has been invited by local media in Boston to participate in a TV show. For this reason, he took 40 minutes before the warm-up in the afternoon to record the show. The show will also be used as a warm-up show before tonight's game broadcast.

The person who interviewed Leon was the well-known CSNNE reporter and host Jessica Keriott. As a female reporter, she is very good at observing words and emotions and insight into the psychological state of the interviewee. At the same time, it is very good at asking questions based on current hot topics. So in the interview, Jessica very "appropriately" asked Leon his question-who is currently the best shooter in the league. In the consecutive games against the Pacers and Bucks in the central zone, the Celtics without Reed suffered a lot from Miller and Ray Allen. Germany returns, the Celtics will never lose to the Pacers and Bucks.

But Leon replied: "In my opinion, Ray Allen is still the best shooter in the league at present, and Reggie Miller is the best shooter in the NBA. Both of them are very good, but Ray is more Comprehensive, and Miller is more pure."

Jessica blinked her big eyes, looking at Leon and expecting him to say more, but Leon, who had a lot to say before, closed his mouth and didn't mention Michael Reed. Even if the beauty is present, Leon still has the expression of "don't even think about making me talk again", which makes the host feel a little bit resentful.

But before the night's game started, Leon put his big arms around Reed's bowed head in the locker room and said to him: "In my heart you will be the best shooter in the league, the best, in my opinion." That's what I thought when I picked you, Michael."