The Whip of the God of Basketball

While Garnett was experiencing the power of public opinion in big cities and Kobe was in deep image crisis, Foxx-Leon was training his summer league special teams in Orlando like nothing had happened.

The reason why Leon took these players to Orlando to start training camp in advance is to avoid the whirlpool of public opinion and select the Celtics' final patch with peace of mind.

A few days ago, Anji called him and asked him to help solve the problem of Garnett's number, but Leon refused with various excuses. It's not that he doesn't want to help, but he hopes to use this storm to rub off Garnett's too sharp energy. Leon can foresee that next season will definitely not be as easy as people think, and the problems he has to solve will far exceed expectations.

Of course, what Leon didn't expect was that Kobe came out and blocked Garnett's shot. Now the number incident was quickly surpassed, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the Los Angeles superstar.

This made Leon's originally nervous mood relax a lot, and he could completely focus his energy and attention on Orlando.

After three days of physical training, Leon finally started the team's basic tactical drills on the fourth day. Pick-and-rolls, air cuts, cross-positions, passes on the move, and low-post cooperation are all very basic tactical routines. This kind of training is repetitive and boring. Except for Dalembert, Bellman, and Alexander, who have played under Leon, everyone else has criticized it and feels that this kind of training really lacks quality.

"I practiced these things every day in high school, and I still practice these things now. Is this NBA-level training? I really regret coming to the Celtics training camp. I thought there would be any improvement. This is always Finals team, finals coach!" One player complained openly in the players' locker room after training.

There are many people who have similar thoughts to him. For these players who have not successfully entered the NBA, they are eager to get the opportunity to improve and hope to show themselves in the training competition within the team. However, Leon's training was so boring and basic. They neither felt improvement nor had the opportunity to show off, so they naturally complained.

Such comments within the team also affected the two newcomers. After training in the evening, several Celtics players took Diaw and Daniels to a restaurant near the training facility for dinner.

"I feel like my arms are sore. Is training in the NBA always so boring? I heard that the training of NBA teams is colorful, very scientific, and very efficient...how come our training is still like primitive society?" asked Celtics second-round pick Marquis Daniels in the restaurant. Daniels is originally from Orlando. He is very happy to go to Orlando to participate in the training camp this time. He also yearns for the famous coach Fox-Leon, but he did not expect that the training content would be so boring.

After hearing what Daniels said, Dalembert, Alexander and Bellman all smiled and said nothing. Dior wanted to echo Daniels, but when he saw that the other three seniors in the Celtics did not speak, He immediately stopped his mouth and smiled, as if he knew the secret.

At this time, Dalembert wiped his mouth and said to Daniels as a veteran player who had played for the Celtics for two years and was about to enter his third year: "Marquis, I kindly advise you. In a word, in the training of the Boston Celtics, you must abide by two principles. First, never doubt your head coach when he is Fox Leon; second, when you trust your head coach, When a coach has doubts, please refer to Rule 1."

Hearing this, both Alexander and Behrman smiled like idiots. Dalembert, an honest man who has always been slow with words, also learned to pretend to teach the younger generation. It seems that his two years in the NBA were not in vain. Dio understood something from it and silently lowered his head to eat the pasta on the plate without saying a word; while Daniels stared at his bulging fish eyes with a confused look on his face, not knowing what Dalembert was doing. Is this true or a joke?

On the fifth day, the last day of training before the rest day, the players were a little lifeless. The monotonous but high-volume training for several consecutive days made everyone a little discouraged. Only a few people still maintained full energy.

But when Leon told everyone that there would be a five-on-five full-court match today, everyone suddenly became energetic again. Indeed, the real game is what excites players and is an opportunity to express themselves. In addition to Fox-Leon, there are also several Celtics trainers who will guide this training camp. They are all experienced and provide personal guidance and are also assessors.

The players know that this is their chance to show off in front of the head coach and these trainers.

The team has a total of 11 players and is divided into two groups of five players each. Dalembert, as the guy with the longest experience in the NBA among the trainers, was assigned by Leon to take on the important task of scoreboarding, and he personally took on the responsibility. Referee.

The two rookies Boris Diaw and Daniels were divided into two teams, Alexander and Bellman were also divided on one side, and several other forward players joined together to form two complete teams.

With the whistle in his mouth, Leon launched a jump ball in the center circle, starting the first intra-squad match of the training camp.

The game has just started, and the players on both sides are holding back their energy and want to express themselves. Once they get the ball, everyone refuses to let it go, and the offense is messy and chaotic.

It wasn't until three minutes into the game that the two sides slowly adjusted their state and began the real offensive and defensive confrontation. But at this time, they discovered that there was something different about the referee Fox Leon.

In the fifth minute, a guy named Chris Boggs got a backcourt rebound on defense, and then he dribbled the ball directly across the half court. Seeing that the opponent seemed to have no intention of coming over to steal, he kept holding on all the way. The ball wandered into the penalty area and ended the offense with a small floater for two points. This was the first time Boggs scored in this match, a beautiful one-stop shot. After scoring the goal, he seemed a little proud and ran back unsteadily.

"Beep!" At this time, the whistle in Leon's mouth rang. Everyone was a little confused and didn't know what happened. There was neither a foul nor a timeout on this ball.

Leon stepped forward and took the ball, and then said to Boggs: "As a power forward, when you get the backboard, there is a teammate coming down quickly, one is nearby to receive the ball, and one is covered. Clip. You chose to dribble past half court, and first lost the opportunity to counterattack quickly. Then you took advantage of the opponent's defensive lack of understanding and scored two points. This is worthy of encouragement. This is a real two points, but in my case It doesn’t count. In my mind, this ball is a zero point. Because, you will never have such an opportunity in the NBA, you should pass the ball."

After saying that, Leon signaled Dalembert that the two points just now were invalid. Faced with this somewhat absurd decision, Dalembert truly implemented his purpose of never doubting his head coach and deducted two points from Boggs' team without hesitation.

The game continued, and the players from the two teams who had played wildly before immediately restrained their hands and feet. They didn't know that this weird referee had the power to directly blow off the goal. But there is no way, this is the Celtics training camp, everything must be listened to him.

Soon, the players figured out the rules of Fox-Leon's whistleblowing. First of all, if you get a rebound and don't pass the ball, you will be whistled for zero points; if you face a double team and force a single, you will score zero points. , Points will be deducted if the ball is not scored; points will be deducted if the ball is not scored when the ball is broken through and forced to face the assist defense, and points will be deducted if the ball is not scored; extra points will be deducted if the open shot is not made. If the two of them work together to find an opportunity to score a goal, extra points will be given. If they don't score, they will be given at least one point.

Such complex additions and subtractions not only make the players on the field suffer, they are timid when playing the ball. They not only have to score goals but also have to consider other things. Dalembert, who was on the sidelines even more miserable, flipped over the scoreboard, adding and subtracting for a while, which put his mathematical ability to a severe test. After a match, the players on the court were dripping with sweat, as if they had taken a shower wearing cotton-padded jackets. Dalembert, on the other hand, was so busy that he was dizzy and felt even more tired than playing on the court.

Of course, the scariest thing was Fox Leon. He used a set of improvised rules to whistle the entire game, and he whistled in a reasonable and well-founded manner, allowing the players to get to the edge of the whistleblowing rules. The control ability here has reached a terrifying level. You know, it takes years of hard work and learning for a referee to know the scale of the call, let alone create a set of rules for making penalties.

The effect of such a game is also obvious. From the beginning, the two sides fought independently, and in the end, there was no cooperation and forced cooperation. Although there were some deliberate elements, it also made these players realize that they were not here to prove How strong individual abilities they have, but to prove that they can contribute to a team.

"I'm very happy. In the last quarter of the game, every offense we made only had extra points and no deductions. In the past few days of training, I just want to tell you that if you want to gain a foothold in the NBA, please remember Live, discipline, tenacity, will, team, these are necessary elements. We don’t have superstars here. I can tell you clearly that it is difficult for you to have the opportunity to score 30 or 40 points in the NBA, but you There is still a chance to contribute to the team's victory there. Maybe some of you will not be able to actually play in the NBA in the end, but I sincerely wish you all can realize their dreams. I also hope that some of the 11 players here can One day in the future, use your own ability to control the game and win."

Leon ended today's training with these words. From now on, no one will have any criticism of Fox-Leon in the Celtics summer training camp. Being trained will be a dream for all future undrafted players.

At the same time, what Leon didn't know was that his words were deeply imprinted in the heart of a young man, and he would work tirelessly to realize his dream on the court. 6