The Whip of the God of Basketball

The Celtics, who lost the first game, finally came out of the relaxed atmosphere of the first round. After the game, there was silence in the locker room. It was not very sad because it was only the first game and the series had just begun. The players are not yet desperate. But that relaxed and happy atmosphere has definitely disappeared without a trace.

Everyone was silently tidying up in the small away locker room. Pierce accepted the reporter's interview. In addition, most of the Celtics players refused. Leon participated in the post-game press conference. He was in the press conference. He was expressionless as always and seemed a little unconcerned, but after returning to the locker room, his face was as heavy as water.

"Everyone, gather at the training hall at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Detroit is not a fun place. I hope everyone has a good rest at night." Leon did not criticize anyone or make any summary. He knew that it would be useless to say more at this moment. . He will wait until tomorrow's training to improve the team's problems and hope to improve in the next game.

In addition to a relaxed mentality and poor condition caused by too long a rest, the Celtics also have some tactical problems. After returning to the hotel, Leon stayed in the room alone after dinner and watched the game video. For Leon, this was the most unbearable part of his job. He obviously lost the game, but he had to play again and again. Looking back, the worse the loss, the more you look back. This is undoubtedly a kind of torture for those who are competitive.

However, such a review can undoubtedly reveal many problems. First of all, the Celtics were unable to solve Ben Wallace, which was the key to the Celtics' first loss. Ben Wallace only scored 6 points in the game, but grabbed 17 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 3 steals, basically blocking the Celtics' outside breakthrough, and in the Celtics caused a lot of trouble in his signature counterattack.

This gave Leon a headache. In the regular season game against the Pistons, Wallace was a problem for the Celtics. Although he was only about 6 feet 7 tall, with an afro, he was only 6 feet 9, but he played center. , has no offensive talent and is an undrafted player. But he has excellent physical fitness, excellent jumping, strength, excellent defense and blocking, fast speed, large defensive area, and can keep up with many defenders and forwards.

From a defensive point of view, Ben Wallace's biggest flaw is that his single defense ability is limited by his height and bottom plate, and he cannot deal with those heavy low-post tanks. But the problem is that the Celtics just don't have a low-post attacker, so they are completely useless. I can't catch Wallace's clue. On the contrary, Wallace's defensive strengths are all based on the Celtics' tactical characteristics, fast movement and strong assist defense, which caused the Celtics to encounter a lot of trouble with their fast and short passing coordination.

Leon thought about repeating his old trick and asking Arenas to foul Ben Wallace. However, this strategy is difficult to work in the away game, and in a game of this level in the playoffs, the coach is very prepared. It is often an accident that a main player fouls out early. It is very difficult to deliberately achieve this effect.

Moreover, as the core of the Pistons' defense, Wallace is very good at controlling fouls, and Arenas is in such a bad state, maybe he will not be able to draw a foul, but will be exposed instead.

Leon repeatedly watched the video of this game, and then dug out the previous regular season video to review the past and learn the new. During the game, Wallace had a strong defensive presence. Pierce, who was in excellent form in the first round, was interfered with his jumper at the beginning. Then he was called for an offensive foul. He only scored two points in the first quarter and scored 17 points in the game. In the regular season wins, the Celtics always used three-pointers to penetrate the Pistons' defense. It seems that the Celtics' three-pointers must be opened.

But Leon doesn't think it's a good thing to pin all his hopes of winning on three-pointers in the playoffs. He must find another key breakthrough point to deal with Ben Wallace as the core. Only the Pistons' defense can.

Leon couldn't help but turn his attention to the power forward position of the Detroit Pistons. Their starter is Cliff Robinson. This veteran is 36 years old and can still shine in the starting position. This is different from him. The style of play is not irrelevant. When there were many muscular power forwards in the 1990s, he was ahead of his time and opened up the role of a three-point inside man. Relying on this less fierce confrontational style of play, he has been gaining a foothold in the league. According to his current condition, he can play until the age of 40.

However, he is indeed the weakest one in the Pistons' lineup. Leon must work on him, and by the way, Ben Wallace needs to stay on the bench longer.

……………………

Early the next morning, all Celtic players arrived at the training facility on time. Failure is sometimes the best motivation. A solid defeat let the Celtic players know that no matter what happens in the first round, The process has become a thing of the past. Now the two teams are standing on the same starting line and starting to move forward, and the Pistons are already one step ahead.

Before the start of training, Leon asked all members of the team to go to the video room to watch the video clips of the previous game. Most of them were the rounds in which the team's offense failed, how they made mistakes, how they were interfered with, and how they fouled. Every ball was like a needle prick, making the Celtic players feel uncomfortable.

"First of all, I want to ask you, where did your three-pointers go? I made 4 of 18 shots. I can change the team's style of play, but I can't help you throw the three-pointers into the damn basket. If not Solve your shooting problem, and everything else will be in vain." Leon first mentioned the shooting problem. After watching the video, the whole team began a morning shooting training.

Siegfried corrects each player's shooting action like a primary school student. Shooting is a skill that requires constant practice and consolidation. Solid muscle memory and good release feel. During the break, everyone slacked off.

In the afternoon, the team conducted tactical exercises, focusing on how to handle the ball more efficiently and concisely during quick counterattacks, as well as small-scale rotation strategies on the defensive end. After training, Leon asked Antoine Walker to have dinner alone in the hotel's cafeteria.

Walker's recent life is neither easy nor sad. A lot of things have happened this season. First of all, Walker's position as the team's number one star has been replaced by Pierce. Secondly, as Leon continues to make plans to strive for next season To Kevin Garnett, Walker can feel that his days in Boston are getting worse day by day. Therefore, he also felt a little frustrated and passive. Compared with the star-studded Pierce in the first round, Walker only averaged 19 points per game. Although he was still the second scorer on the team, his tactical role was already equal to that of Pierce. It's not the same level anymore.

Walker also thought about resisting. After all, he was the person with the highest salary in the team. However, facing the powerful Fox-Leon and his rapid increase in prestige in the team after the All-Star Game, Walker also discovered that he had a so-called conflict with Leon. Angie, in the final analysis, still wears the same pants as Leon, because they are both Auerbach's disciples.

Walker, who has an inherently unruly personality, is too lazy to fight for anything. Anyway, with over 100 million in assets in hand, Leon has never deliberately lowered his tactical status and prohibited him from taking action. He himself has no intention of fighting. The most fundamental thing is Yes, he was a little afraid of this coach in his heart. From the first day he became the head coach and started the training session, Walker was worried that one day his jaw would be broken with a fist.

However, Walker was not surprised that Leon invited him to have dinner with him. Anyway, on game days, Leon would find one or two players to have dinner and chat with him, and by the way, convey his requirements to the players. So Walker sat down and said bluntly: "Tell me, coach, what do you want me to do in the next game? Throw the damn three-pointer in, or defend well?"

Walker said as he started to eat the turkey salad on the plate, while Leon picked an orange and said, "I want you to beat up Cliff Robinson."

Walker smiled and said: "Coach, you know, you can't beat anyone you want to in the NBA. That guy Robinson is a veteran, and it's not easy to deal with him."

Walker is still a little bit dissatisfied with Leon. After all, he has been suppressed everywhere since he came, and he may have to leave in the end. Now that he is playing in the playoffs, and he wants to contribute, he comes to him to beat him up. He was not happy with who he was.

"So, are you willing to be beaten by Robinson like last year?" Leon stuffed the oranges into his mouth and said vaguely. The two teams met in the Eastern Conference semifinals last year. Also in the first game, Cliff Robinson scored 30 points and hit six three-pointers, completely defeating his opponent Walker and helping the Pistons win easily.

Hearing this, Walker was obviously brought back bad memories. He said: "But in the end we won, won the series! 4:1, 4:1!"

"But you let Cliff Robinson average 15 points per game and 10 blocks in 5 games. Do you know how many of them were given to you? And you didn't even have a single block, and you didn't have as many rebounds. Pierce. Do you know how old he is? 36. What about you? 26. He is older than me." Leon said to Walker in a serious tone, then wiped his mouth and left. He only ate one tangerine.

"I will beat him up, beat him up in minutes! Peel him like an orange, and then cut him into pieces!" Walker shouted at Leon, completely ignoring the strange looks from other teammates, who were always happy What happened to cheerful Walker.