The Whip of the God of Basketball

The three-plus days at Santa Monica Community College went by very quickly, where Leon thought deeply about the art of defense. Although he made astonishing remarks on the first day and proposed exhaustive ways to solve the contradiction between amoeba defense and man-to-man marking, all of this was only at the theoretical level, and Leon's mathematically proficient brain only constructed a It is extremely difficult to implement the basic model in training, especially for your own players to understand your ideas.

Therefore, Leon did not spend too much time struggling with solving the problem of ultimate defense. Instead, he turned himself into a sponge and absorbed the decades of experience and knowledge from Gergulic.

Although both were born in Pennsylvania and have strong defensive qualities, Gelgulic and Hart still have some differences in defensive philosophies. Hart has played for Eastern Conference teams all year round. His defensive strategy has a strong Eastern style, emphasizing physical contact, willpower, and controlling the rhythm to reduce scoring.

Gelgulic has been working as an assistant coach in the Western Conference. His defensive philosophy is more aggressive, and strong defense is more about creating better opportunities for the offense. Therefore, Gergulic's defense will not suppress the rhythm. On the contrary, it will increase the rhythm through crazy squeezing to create a large number of quick counterattack opportunities. The Sonics are his masterpiece.

These two defensive ideas that belong to the same clan but branch out in different directions gave Leon a lot of room for thinking. Over the course of three days, six people used videos and live drills to deeply discuss the relationship between offense and defense, and how defense affects the outcome of the game. As for the specific tactical issues, everyone has rarely touched on them, and they are only used for examples and understanding.

Three days later, after studying, the five of them faced a small test, which was to participate in the famous Drew League in Los Angeles.

Gelgulic has already been in contact with the organizers of the Drew League. They will choose a game on the weekend and let his students compete against each other as coaches of the two teams.

Because there were five people, rookies like Biskstaff who had no coaching experience were automatically excluded from watching from the sidelines, while the other four people were divided into two groups.

Logically speaking, already-famous coaches like Leon and Carlisle should lead separate teams for confrontation, with Stotts and Brown serving as assistant coaches.

But Gelgulic asked for a draw, and Leon and Carlisle were paired together, while Brown and Stotts were paired together.

When it comes to who should be the assistant coach, Leon seems very generous, saying that Carlisle is the best coach and he should be the head coach and assist himself.

On the day of the Drew League, the game was held in the basketball gym of Charles Drew High School. This amateur league, founded by Ervin Willis in 1973, has a lot of freedom and can add new members at will before the start of the game - as long as he can pass the review. Over the past thirty years, this league has continued to grow and began to attract more and more famous players. Although its level is not high, the positive, positive and healthy atmosphere here continues to convey the correct basketball values. This is what makes the Drew League different from other street leagues, and it is also the basis for its development and growth.

When Leon and his team arrived at Campton Drew High School in South Los Angeles, they found that the basketball hall here was packed to the brim. Apparently there were big-name stars coming to play here today.

Leon's sharp eyes were the first to see a familiar face, which was Baron Davis. He also saw Leon squeezing in from the gate, and his originally smiling face froze for a moment.

However, Leon knew that Baron Davis would not be so popular when he came here. At least more than 500 people came to the scene, and Davis's popularity was not up to this level.

Sure enough, Leon saw other stars on the other side of the court, the star from the Magic and this year's popular league scoring champion, Tracy McGrady.

The arrival of Fox and Leon and his team added fuel to the already hot arena. Although the coach is far less popular than the players, the topic of coach Leon is different. He has made headlines no less often than ordinary players.

It’s not often that coaches come to the Drew League, and some reporters knew there would be something good to watch today.

The difference between the Drew League and ordinary street or business leagues is that there is no DJ yelling to introduce players, nor playing weird music. This is basketball, and everyone and every player are equal.

Therefore, neither McGrady nor Davis will receive special treatment, and neither will Leon. Everyone is doing the pre-game preparations like ordinary players or coaches.

Carlisle and Leon soon faced a problem, that is, they were not familiar with the people on their team at all-except for Tracy McGrady, who was on Carlisle's team.

In this year's playoffs, the Pistons had just made a huge comeback and eliminated McGrady's Magic. Carlisle knew exactly how to deal with McGrady, but he couldn't figure out how to use him.

At this time, Leon had been scribbling on a piece of paper beside him. After about ten minutes, he handed the paper to Carlisle.

Carlisle took the paper, and there was a clear table on it, arranged according to the jersey number of each player in the team. The player's height, position, and weight were marked at the back. There was even a note at the back that stated some of the player's characteristics. Features. For example, he can shoot better, be fast, etc.

Carlisle thought that Leon had got the list of players in advance, but Leon told him that these were the conclusions he came to after spending ten minutes observing the players warming up. Carlisle looked at Leon with a look like a monster and began to plan the game. preliminary plan.

Of course, this kind of coach who rushes to the shelves cannot implement any targeted tactics. The Drew League itself is also an amateur league, and the players' tactical literacy is also average. So Carlisle formulated a basic tactical direction based on the table given by Leon.

When the game really started, Carlisle discovered that any tactical direction was useless, and the players forgot about everything while playing. Especially for a super player like McGrady, he and Davis have their own tactics on the court.

At this time, the role of on-the-spot command comes into play. With Leon's automatic video recorder, Carlisle can get immediate feedback on problems and then give instructions to the players.

The players on the field are obsessed with the authorities. As soon as the professional coach gives guidance, he immediately makes changes and the results are seen.

There was some rustiness at the beginning, but then the cooperation became more and more smooth. With McGrady on their team, they were already better than Davis. Under the command of Leon and Carlisle, they quickly opened up the score from the beginning of the second half.

On the opposite side, Brown and Stotts lacked experience in how to command such a team. At the same time, although Davis was a point guard, his shot selection was extremely poor. Their team quickly fell into a one-on-one fight.

In the end, Leon's team easily won the game. After the game, fans and reporters rushed to the court to get the signatures of McGrady and Davis. This time Leon and Carlisle were completely left out.

"How about we go to Boston together and win the championship with me?" Leon said to Carlisle while packing his things. Surrounded by crowds of fans, Leon said this as if he was joking.

"No, I want to win a championship of my own." Carlisle sighed, shook his head and rejected Leon.

Leon also smiled and said nothing. He knew that Carlisle was still a bit arrogant.

The game is over, and this short training session has come to an end. The six people had a meal near Drew High School and said goodbye. In the future, they will realize their coaching dreams in different ways at their respective positions on their respective teams.

Leon drove his eight-hand Chevrolet back to Santa Monica Beach, met with Khomeinis, had dinner together, and walked and chatted on the beach.

Khomeinis told Leon that she would focus her career in Los Angeles. Leon expressed his support for her and offered to share his scouting resources with Khomeinis, but Khomeinis refused. .

After that, Leon returned the rental car and bought a ticket to return to Boston the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow he would go to Redondo to talk to Bill Sharman about the number.

The very next morning, Leon received a call from Angie, who told him that Carlisle had called and expressed his willingness to join the Celtics.

This result was just as Leon expected.

"What a arrogant ghost!"