The Whip of the God of Basketball

For an NBA head coach, stubbornness seems to be a common problem for most of them. Everyone, especially fans, on-site commentators or TV commentators have discovered the team's problems and are anxious to get angry for the ball. When the team comes up with suggestions, most head coaches always look unmoved and allow the problem to continue to expand.

Adelman is one of them. He is famous for his rigidity and stubbornness in tactical adjustments, so his team often has an advantage in the situation and is suddenly chased by opponents until it collapses. The most famous one is Game 6 of the 1992 Finals. With a lead of more than ten points in the fourth quarter, he was chased all the way by the Chicago Bulls' substitutes. In the end, he lost the game and lost the opportunity to drag the Bulls into the third quarter. A chance to fight seven times.

Leon knew this very well. He even knew that Adelman's call for a timeout may not be because the Kings were chased by the Celtics for 6 points in a row, but because it was time for him to make a substitution.

Sure enough, Adelman replaced the main players after the timeout, and the game restarted. The Kings did not make any major changes in their playing style. They did not double-team Arenas, did not send additional rebounders to protect backcourt rebounds, and did not Deliberately improve the defense to suppress the Celtics offense. They continued to play a smooth offensive coordination, trying to use passing and running to open up the Celtics' defense.

Leon still feels a bit of a headache. He is good at finding tricks, but not good at competing with opponents. When Popovich faced Leon's Celtics in the finals in June, he insisted on "I don't care what you do." Come, I'll just go all the way" strategy, using Tim Duncan's point well, vigorously and thoroughly. As a result, the Celtics, who had advantages in other positions, were beaten alive by Duncan and the Spurs.

Now, Adelman is acting like I'm going to fight mine, and you're going to fight yours. He has no intention of competing with Leon on his tricks. He just wants to compete with him on his internal strength and the players' tactical qualities and training results.

So after experiencing a wave of explosions in the early part of the second quarter, the Celtics and Kings were in a stalemate again. The Kings offense was still very smooth, and the Celtics felt better and better. With Arenas's After outstanding performance, the Celtics finally overtook the score before the end of the first half, ending the first half with a one-point lead of 59:58.

"Although Adelman's reaction has been criticized, we must see his merits as a coach. There is no distinction between teaching and learning. Watching their games, you can imagine that their training must be very detailed and serious, and he is very willing to develop players. potential. As someone who has been playing in the professional arena for many years, I need to tell many fans some experience. You can intuitively judge a player's strength through his performance on the field, but most of the judgment on a coach's level comes from Off the court. What you see on the court are only the results, not the process. Most of the coaching efforts are reflected off the court. Adelman is undoubtedly excellent...I'm going a bit far, let's talk about your views, Tom... "Bill Walton praised Adelman greatly during the intermission. Indeed, it is impossible for a coach to achieve what he does today without two brushes.

If Leon listened to Walton's explanation, he would definitely nod in praise, because he is also aware of Adelman's difficulty. This difficulty is not reflected in the battle of wits and courage, but in the unwavering courage and consistency. He is determined, and perhaps he has suffered countless failures because of this persistence, but he is still eager to use his own ideas and beliefs to win his own victory and championship.

During the halftime break, Leon seriously discussed the strategy for the second half with Carlisle, Cowens, and Siegfried. In fact, their performance in the first half was good. Except for the unsatisfactory defense and lack of enthusiasm, the Celtics still played at a high level in offense, and Anderson also had a brilliant performance on the defensive end.

Carlisle believes that the team should make adjustments on the defensive end, strengthen the defensive intensity, and strive to open up the gap in the third quarter to establish a victory; Cowens believes that it is best to maintain the current state and let Arenas and Garfield, who feel good, Nate continued to contribute, and then went to a decisive battle with the Kings in the fourth quarter, using the players' talents to determine the victory. Siegfried's suggestion was the simplest - let Michael Reed play more in the second half.

"How much does Michael pay you every month? You are basically his personal trainer now!" Dave Cowens joked after hearing Siegfried's opinion, and the players in the locker room also laughed. stand up.

Indeed, although Siegfried is the team's shooting coach, if you want to say who does the most tricks for him, it must be Michael Reed. After all, Pierce and Garnett both have their own full-time shooting trainers. Arenas is so confident that he does not need a shooting trainer. In addition, Reid is a pure and excellent shooter. He also wears the No. 20 jersey and has a very good personality. Due to Siegfried's appetite, the two have almost a master-student relationship in the team.

Siegfried was not angry. He just said calmly: "Adelman's teams always fall at the hands of super shooting guards." After Siegfried said this, the locker room suddenly became calm. few.

Leon scratched his head. There was not much time for halftime. The opinions of the assistant coaches were only for reference. They would not get into endless debates. The final decision still rested with the coach. Regardless of whether it changes or remains unchanged, the Celtics' goal is still to win, and Leon is also confident of winning this game because the players are in good condition, both mentally and physically. If they persist until the last five minutes, he wants 8% Ten sure to win.

But now, Leon is looking for a point to break the game. He doesn't want to compete with Adelman, and he doesn't want to wait until the last five minutes to let Pierce resolve the battle with singles. Siegfried's words reminded him that he set his sights on Michael Reed, a low-key and simple shooting guard who entered the NBA with him and trained him for four years.

"Michael, I need you to score more points in the second half." Leon said to Reid.

………………

If Arenas's problem is that he is too confident and has too many ideas, then Reed is just the opposite. He has a slight sense of inferiority and simple ideas. This is related to his Christian family background and also because he was relatively unknown in college. , which is related to not being favored in the draft.

Reid was grateful to the Celtics and Leon for choosing him, so he was particularly impressed by Leon, who also changed his original destiny. He began to develop in the direction of a defensive shooter and achieved good results. Last year, he successfully squeezed out Eric Snow and was selected to the All-Defensive Second Team, becoming the first player since Dennis Johnson in the 1986 season. , the second Celtics player selected to the All-Defensive Team.

At the same time, he is also an important shadow killer in the Celtics system on the offensive end. His three-point shooting percentage and number of hits began to rank at the forefront of the league last season, and he is one of the best three-pointers in the league. This reflects his hard-working and low-key personality, and his willingness to spend a lot of time and training to quietly hone his defensive skills and three-pointers.

Therefore, when Leon told Reed that he needed to score more points in the second half, Reed was a little surprised. He looked at Siegfried, and the old man shook his fist at him, hoping that he would cheer up.

But in the second half, when the Celtics continued to create one-on-one opportunities for Reid, Reid kept hitting the iron. He seemed a little unaccustomed to suddenly becoming the main attacker. Even when playing against the Pistons and when Carlisle joined Alston, the Celtics had Pierce as the main attacker and Reed as the secondary attacker. In four years, he rarely took the initiative to become the team's first offensive option.

This caused the Celtics to fall behind in the third quarter. Siegfried became a little anxious and told Leon that he should let Michael use the tactics he was used to.

Leon refused. He insisted on keeping Reid on the court and giving him enough shooting opportunities. He said, I don't want to let Michael lose the opportunity to become the league's top shooting guard just because of the gain or loss in one game.

After hearing these words, Siegfried calmed down. He calmly looked at Reed's anxious expression on the court, and decided to wait patiently for Reed's transformation like Leon until he realized his former ideal.