The Whip of the God of Basketball

Jaskevicius immediately recognized the person in front of him. He was the legendary NBA coach, former Celtics scout, assistant coach, and head coach, and now the new head coach of the Suns, Fox Leon.

I am very impressed with this coach Jaskovicius, because since he came to the Pacers, he has known that the Pacers have been shrouded in the shadow of Leon and his Celtics from beginning to end. He finally left in the summer of 2006, Kevin Garnett was reimbursed, the Pacers saw hope, and then sent themselves to the Western Warriors.

"Let me guess, do you want me to join the Suns? Oh, come on, I don't want to waste time in the NBA anymore. If it were a year ago, maybe I would be interested in joining the Suns, but look at me in the Warriors . You can say that I lack ability. Well, even if I don’t have enough ability and am not suitable for the NBA, I still prefer to go back to Europe. I am already thirty years old and I want to play ball!" Leon just said hello, what? Without saying anything, Jaskevicius fired an unknown anger at Leon.

After listening to Jaskevicius venting, Leon said nothing. He just handed him a cup of coffee and said, "The coffee is a bit cold. I ordered it for you when I came here."

Jaskovicius touched the coffee cup handed over by Leon, and it was indeed cold. It seemed that he had been waiting for him for a long time. He immediately felt sorry for his anger just now and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have treated you so well." Feel free to get angry, you just...I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I want to go back to Europe."

Without giving Leon any chance to speak, Jaskovicius directly stated that he wanted to return to Europe. During this period, he has rejected invitations from several NBA teams. It seems that this European king is a bastard. Determined.

Leon smiled and did not persuade. Instead, he picked up the newspaper in his hand, pointed at the cover and asked: "What do you think is the difference between Manu and you?"

Manu is Manu Ginobili, the Argentine Eagle and one of the most successful foreign players in the NBA. Known as White Jordan, he is one of the best guards in the league with the most bizarre style of play.

This question has been asked to Jasikevicius many times, as he is often compared to Ginobili as a failure as an international player. However, seeing Leon's sincere attitude, Jaskovicius still held back his patience and said: "Manu's playing style is completely different from mine. He is very imaginative and can always play incredible shots. And I, Pretty average, but my three-point shot is better and my passing is going to be underrated.”

Leon nodded and said: "Have you ever thought about why there is a player like Manu in a team as old-fashioned and boring as the Spurs?"

"There are always exceptions, and flowers must be supported by green leaves." Jaskovicius said.

"That's right, so you can't perform well in the Pacers. The style of play there is more boring than yours, but why can't you perform well in the Warriors? They are very unrestrained and fast." Leon asked again road.

Jaskovicius had already been brought to the road by Leon and continued: "The Warriors are fast, but they fight more individually. Everyone is strong, fast, and has strong personal abilities. Old Nelson gave Our guidance is that if there is an opportunity in front of you and a teammate has a better opportunity, then you'd better shoot, because the better opportunity may disappear when you pass the ball. And you know, I It's not fast, and I can't keep up defensively. I can't guard Dirk like Stephen Jackson."

Hearing Jaskevicius repeat what Nelson said, Leon couldn't help but laugh, and he laughed very happily. When Jaskovicius saw Leon smiling like this, he couldn't help but laugh. As a result, the two of them sat on their seats and laughed for five minutes.

After laughing, Leon didn't say anything more. He just handed his business card to Jaskevicius and finally said: "There used to be a point guard in Dallas. He was thirty years old and his defense was very poor. After the season... His performance in the game was very bad, and his boss didn't want to renew his contract, so he came to the Suns, and now he is a two-time MVP winner. Of course, his defense is still very poor. You know, Phoenix is ​​a very magical place, Phoenix, Reborn in the fire, it will be even more brilliant.”

After speaking, Leon left the cafe, leaving Jaskevicius sitting there alone and lost in thought. On the table was the newspaper left by Leon, "The San Antonio Spurs won the 2007 NBA Championship." Championship, Tony Parker became the first foreign FMVP in NBA history."

……………………

After coming out of the coffee shop, Leon went straight to the San Francisco Airport. In fact, recruiting Jaskevicius was not his most important task. On the contrary, it was a relatively minor task. While the entire Suns team is busy preparing for the new season, Leon also needs to recruit for his coaching staff.

Unlike in the past when Auerbach arranged manpower for himself, after arriving in the Suns, Leon needs to arrange everything himself. However, Leon's goal this time is very clear. He is not planning to communicate with those famous assistant coaches one by one, nor is he planning to seek help from Steve Kerr - in his opinion, it will be fine if Kerr does not help. . Leon's idea is simple, get rid of the Suns' original head coach D'Antoni, and then keep the Suns' past assistant coaching team intact.

There may be one more assistant coach, and that is D'Antoni. Anyway, Leon has had managers who tricked the original head coach into becoming an assistant coach.

When D'Antoni met with Cole and the boss in Phoenix before, D'Antoni did not show up. The main members of the Suns assistant coaching staff, such as Dan D'Antoni and Gentry, all have a good relationship with D'Antoni. If Mike can be dealt with - D'Antoni, they will definitely stay in the Suns.

Moreover, Leon also very much hopes that D'Antoni will stay so that his work can be easier.

After arriving at the San Francisco Airport, Leon boarded a plane to Virginia. He was going to visit D'Antoni's home, the Suns' meritorious coach. Before going, Leon wrote a solemn letter to D'Antoni, clarifying his thoughts, and told D'Antoni that he would visit his home a few days after the finals.

In the past few years, Leon's personality has changed a lot, especially after marriage and the birth of his daughter. His personality has become more tender and gentle, and has become less cold. More than a year of coaching college basketball gave him a deeper understanding of basketball and the position of coach.

The reason why he chose the Phoenix Suns was not just because he owed Steve Kerr a championship. This choice included his new thoughts and concepts about basketball. During his years with the Boston Celtics, he almost pushed defense to the extreme. Especially in 2005, the terrifying "Boston Wall" almost made the entire league despair and almost reached the point of "ultimate defense."

Their game against the Spurs in the Finals set a record for the lowest score in the history of the NBA Finals. The much-anticipated matchup between Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan eventually turned into a slugfest, with the two players at exactly the same time. The top players don't even average more than 20 points per game. Moreover, this round of the finals created the lowest ratings record for the NBA Finals in the past ten years, which was a cliff-like drop compared to the 2004 Lake-Kai game.

Of course Leon couldn't control that much and continued his strategy in 2006. However, this year Arenas and Diaw left, the Celtics suffered injuries, and the team encountered many, many problems. In the end, it relied on Paul Pierce's personal ability and Dragging Kevin Garnett with an injured leg, the Heat won the hard-fought game. Then in the finals, Leon easily defeated Johnson, who lacked adaptability, and won three consecutive championships.

However, after completing three consecutive championships and lighting up a cigar, Leon felt tired and empty. Then Kevin Garnett had a season-ending surgery, then Ainge wanted to send Michael Redd away, and P.J. Brown announced that he would Retired in 2007. The most fatal blow was Auerbach's death in October 2006, and Leon's spiritual support in Boston collapsed.

Finally, he chose to leave and go to college to find the beauty of basketball. In school, he met a group of lovely basketball youths and reaped the fruits of his marriage. Now his ambition has been rekindled.

"The plane bound for Richmond, Virginia is about to take off. Passengers please fasten your seat belts and turn off your cell phones. I wish you a pleasant journey."