The Whip of the God of Basketball

On the night of March 7, 2003, after the Boston Celtics played against the Los Angeles Clippers at home, Paul Pierce and his lover Rebecca Blazer went to the "Nightcrawler" bar in Boston. There they had an informal engagement celebration. Pierce did not appear on the court tonight. He missed two games due to a groin strain, but the Celtics still defeated the Los Angeles Clippers at home. They suppressed the Clippers' score to only 70 points, which was the most recent performance. They held the opponent's score below 70 for the third time in ten games.

Therefore, failing to participate in the competition did not affect Pierce's mood. He and Rebecca knew each other in high school and were together in college. Today, they have been in love for eight years. In this eighth year, Pierce finally decided to marry Rebecca. Becca had a right to marry her and settled down with her in the city of Boston.

Pierce's teammates all came to the night game. The night game did not make the players too tired to move, and the young people were still full of energy. In addition, there are many friends of Pierce and other sports figures in the Boston area, such as Red Sox pitcher David Wells, who loves nightclub life. The familiar and unfamiliar people all gathered together to play in "Nightcrawler" There was a lively party in the bar.

Pierce did not forget Leon. He heard that Leon had returned to Boston the day before yesterday, but he did not show up at the training hall. He tried to call Leon and hoped that he could attend the party, but Leon's phone number was Can't get through.

In the past month, Celtic players have not been able to see Leon again in Boston, but every night players will receive a call from Leon and talk to them about today's training or game. Leon is interested in almost everything. He knows everything, as if he has been with the players and never left.

The same was true for Paul Pierce. When he learned that Leon would not only be suspended but also take leave, he thought that Leon was going to leave the Celtics completely. He was the first one to call Leon. Inquiring about the situation. However, after receiving the guarantee that Leon would not leave the team, he relaxed and concentrated on the season.

In the eyes of Celtic players, Leon is a very special coach, not because of his coaching methods or special background, but because he has grown up with this group of players, especially young players, in three years. Long or short, the young people of the Green Army watched the scout who picked him step by step become the head coach. The emotion cannot be compared to that of a coach who suddenly landed in the air.

What's more, before the championship, Leon won the hearts of the players with a series of actions, inviting everyone to a house party, and fighting for the players on the court. For this group of fledgling boys, there is nothing better than this kind of behavior. Able to reflect emotions.

At the engagement party, more than one person asked Pierce why Coach Leon didn't come. Pierce had to keep explaining, "I can't get through his phone. You can try."

The party lasted until the early hours of the morning, and everyone was very high, but Pierce didn't drink a drop of wine. At this point, Pierce and other players were still very self-controlled. They just had fun and didn't drink much. There was also very little gambling now. Everyone just Chat, sing, dance, pick up girls. When Pierce was enjoying himself, a waiter came with a large bottle of champagne in his hand. He handed it to Pierce and said, "This is an engagement gift from a guest. Please accept it."

Pierce took the bottle and saw that it was a bottle of Laurent Perrier, a precious French champagne. A bottle should cost more than 900 US dollars. Pierce asked: "Do you know who he is?" The waiter shook his head and said: " He said he was your fan."

"Thank him for me!" Pierce said and put the champagne aside. He was not ready to drink this bottle of wine at the party, not to mention that he did not dare to open anything given by a stranger and had to take it home and inspect it carefully. Let’s talk about it later.

In this way, Pierce had a wonderful engagement party, and then he drove back to his place with his fiancée. After returning, he opened the bottle of champagne with Rebecca. Indeed, it was a very good bottle of wine. The vintage was just right and the quality was very good. Pierce drank two glasses with his lover and put the rest in the refrigerator. . Pierce was still thinking about who gave him such a good bottle of wine. If he could see him, he must thank him.

The next day, March 8, Pierce got up early. After washing, he got into his Mercedes-Benz S600 and headed to Waltham, the training base, because today would be Leon's first day after his suspension. , Tomorrow the Celtics will face the powerful San Antonio Spurs at home, and Pierce is eager to conduct effective training today.

Since Leon left, the Celtics can no longer complete simulated training without the ball. Pierce can feel that the team's offense is obviously not as smooth as before, and the tacit understanding between the players is decreasing. Of course, this is also related to the strategy of acting coach Cowens. The team began to focus on defense and used more slow positional offense to wear down the opponent. In the current league where handcheck is still popular, defense is still in favor. Even with the three-second defense rule, once both sides fall into position, it will still be difficult for the offense, especially for teams that lack strong attack points inside.

Only the second fast attack implemented by Leon can effectively avoid the power of Handcheck, allowing outside players to fully speed up and invest in the attack. Now players like Arenas, Reid and Williams miss Leon very much, hoping that his return can bring the team back to the tactical track of the past. Although the results led by Cowens are also very good.

However, in the fifteen games coached by Cowens, the Celtics have not cracked a hard nut. They suffered a disastrous defeat against the Sacramento Kings and also lost to the not-so-strong Houston Rockets. Among those opponents they won, Except for the Pacers, they are all teams outside the playoff threshold. Against teams that lack strength, the Celtics can rely on their offensive talent and Dick Hart's strong defense to deal with opponents, but there is no sign that they can compete against the league's top teams.

And when Leon's suspension ends, the Celtics will face strong enemies in succession. The Spurs are the first hurdle, and then the Nets, Pistons, and Lakers will come knocking on their doorstep. Some football critics are also waiting secretly to see. After Fox-Leon returns to the Celtics, if they lose to those powerful players and the team's record declines, then Leon will not be able to escape being scolded no matter what.

In this way, Pierce hit the road with messy thoughts in his mind. Not long after setting off, when he just drove to Newberry Street, he stopped at a red light in front of him. At this time, a policeman came and knocked on his car door. Pierce felt a little surprised. It is not a good thing to be knocked on the car door by the police in the United States. However, Pierce opened the car window and recognized that it was Peter Kalimula, a police officer from a nearby neighborhood. Pierce knew him.

"Hey Officer Kalimra, want a ride?" Pierce joked to the officer.

But the tall, fat police officer did not have a smile on his face. Instead, he leaned down and said to Pierce with a cold face: "Paul, one of my subordinates saw you at the Nightcrawler Bar last night, and the waiter gave it to you. A large bottle of champagne. Then, you are driving away from the nightclub in the evening. You know that drunk driving in Boston is very strict now. He didn't wear a police uniform yesterday, so he didn't cause you any trouble. You'd better pay more attention in the future. "

After hearing what the police officer said, Pierce shook his head and said loudly: "Someone gave me a bottle of champagne, but I didn't open it at all! I only took a few sips after I got home. How could I be driving drunk?"

However, Officer Kalimra had no intention of listening to Pierce's explanation. At this time, the red light had turned to green, and the cars behind him had started honking their horns anxiously. Pierce took off the brakes and drove forward. He could see Officer Kalimra's cold gaze in the rearview mirror. In the United States, it is not a good thing to be targeted by the police. Their violence and unity in law enforcement are world-famous.

"Fu-ck!" Pierce couldn't help but utter a curse word in the car. He encountered such a bad thing early in the morning. There has been a lot of negative news about Pierce in the media recently, most of which are about his love of going to bars and nightclubs. thing. In fact, this is all old news. Ever since he was assassinated, Pierce rarely went to places like that. If he wanted to go, he would go to places he was familiar with. I don’t know why these things were dug up again.

When Pierce arrived at the training facility in Waltham, several cars were already parked in the parking lot. It seemed that someone had arrived earlier, and Pierce also saw Leon's car. He walked into the training hall and heard the sound of basketball. He went into the locker room first, changed his clothes and walked onto the training field. Sure enough, he saw Fox Leon, who Pierce hadn't seen in a month, standing on the sidelines.

He walked forward to say hello to Leon, but when he walked in front of Leon, he couldn't help but stopped. He looked at Leon and said, "Oh... Fox, you... what's wrong with you?"