Bishop of the Devil

After losing to the Pacers in the first game of the preseason, the Pistons' next opponent was the Atlanta Hawks, a bad team in the Eastern Conference.

If he loses to the Eagles in the preseason, Richard will probably die from pain.

On the afternoon of the game day, Richard found Laga Bell, the team's current starting shooting guard. He felt that he needed to do some ideological work for this young player.

When Bell walked into Richard's office, his heart was trembling...

Because in the first game of the preseason, his performance was really not good. He took six shots on the offensive end and only hit one three-pointer and one mid-range shot. The efficiency was quite low.

As for the defensive end, the effect he faced against Reggie Miller was also quite bad.

Now Bell is afraid that Richard will be disappointed with him and take away his starting position...

"Young man, sit down." Richard said to Lagabell in a calm voice.

Lagaabel sat nervously in front of Richard, waiting for Richard to continue speaking.

"Young man, what do you think of the contract I gave you?" Richard asked with a frown.

"It's a very big contract. This is a sky-high price contract that I never dreamed of!" Lagabel became more and more nervous.

When Richard mentioned the contract, that was definitely not a good thing.

In fact, in Bell's view, this four-year, $10 million contract is really a sky-high price contract.

Every day after signing the contract, he was grateful to Richard all the time.

"It seems you realize this is a pretty big contract."

"But do you think your performance on the field is worthy of this contract?"

Richard's voice suddenly became urgent and he asked Lagabell.

Lagabell's face was startled, and his whole body tensed up. He had seen the horror of Richard's anger with his own eyes.

"I gave you a contract worth tens of millions, just to let you be a spectator on the field?"

"Don't tell me that Reggie Miller is so powerful that you can't guard him!"

"He is so strong. An old man in his thirties, no matter how strong he is, how strong can he be?"

"What about the confrontation on the court? What about the physical contact? Have you seen Bowen's defense? Have you seen Artest's defense?"

"Where's your desire to win?"

"To tell you the truth, I gave you this contract just because I hope you can play the role of Bowen or Artest!"

"And now you have disappointed me quite a bit..."

Richard looked closely into Lagabel's eyes and spoke word by word.

He is indeed a little disappointed with Laga Bell at the moment. This young man is restrained on the court and cannot exert his due power on the defensive end.

Even if he is not required to be a choke monster, there must be at least physical contact during defense, right? !

What's the difference between an outside defender who doesn't dare to fight or make physical contact and a master of glare?

After listening to Richard's words, Lagabell realized the purpose of Richard looking for her today.

At the moment, he is actually quite confused about his position.

Although he has been in the league for two years, he has not found his position.

In a season with the Spurs, Popovich naturally wouldn't find a position for him if he didn't win a single game.

As for the one season with the Philadelphia 76ers, the situation was basically the same. Carlisle was not free enough to find a position for a fringe player who had basically no chance to play.

Now Richard has helped him find his position.

That is to grow in the direction of a perimeter defensive gate like Bowen or Artest.

There is no need for strong offensive firepower, the most important thing is to have outside defensive capabilities.

"Coach, I know what to do. I won't let you down again in tonight's game!" Lagabell said solemnly.

Although Richard's tone was a bit harsh, he also knew that Richard was doing it for his own good.

If he doesn't find his position on the court, Lagabel will be like a headless fly on the court.

Now Richard asked him to focus mainly on the defensive end, which can be regarded as pointing out the direction for his efforts.

"Well, that's right, but don't fall behind on the offensive end. Practice your open three-point shooting ability more often. Run as much as possible on the court and look for open three-point opportunities!"

"Nash is a master-level passer. As long as you can run out of position, his ball can be passed to you!"

Richard pointed out Laga Bell's offensive end again.

In fact, during Bell's peak years, he was with the Suns and was teammates with Nash.

As the starting shooting guard of the Suns, he averaged close to 15 points per game, relying on his active running and waiting for Nash's pass.

In fact, speaking of that Suns team, every player has benefited from Nash. Without Nash, their statistics will probably shrink a lot.

Richard didn't want Laga Bell to completely waste his offensive strength. This guy's open three-point ability is quite powerful.

His career average three-point shooting percentage has reached 40.2%. In the Suns' peak year, he even reached a three-point shooting percentage of about 45%.

This three-point shooting rate is quite terrifying!

Lagabell can be said to be the top 3D player in the history of this league, enough to rank among the top.

At least in Richard's impression, there may not be three 3D players who have been selected for the defensive first team and can reach Bell's level in three-point shooting!

If this guy can fully improve his defensive strength and off-ball three-point ability, Richard feels that this guy can play a considerable role in his lineup.

Even if it is not as good as Klay Thompson in the later Warriors, the gap will not be too big.

Thompson is strong in his terrible scoring explosiveness, and although Bell does not have that kind of scoring explosiveness, his defense is more stable than Thompson.

If he could reach his peak level early, Richard could even be granted an All-Star position!

"Work hard, young man, believe me, as long as you work hard enough, your name Laga Bell will appear in the All-Star lineup in the future!"

Upon hearing this, Lagabell's face turned red. Richard said that he had a chance to enter the All-Star? !

God! Now Lagabel just wants to call God...

For a young player like him in the league, being selected as an All-Star is an unattainable dream.

If anyone else had said this, Lagabell would never take it to heart.

But now it is Richard who is saying this...

Since Richard entered the league, how many All-Star players has he produced?

Too many to count!

When Richard first made Purdue's nine-star lineup, he once said that these nine players would become all-star players in this league in the future!

Because of this, Richard even had a fight with Larry Brown...

Ragabel knew this, but in fact he didn't believe Richard's words at all at that time.

But now a few years have passed, and more than half of the original Purdue nine-star lineup has been selected for the All-Star lineup. The remaining few players also have All-Star level strength. It is only a matter of time before they are selected for the All-Star team!

Now Richard said that as long as he works hard, he can become a member of the All-Star team in the future, and Laga Bell believed it!

Believe it beyond belief!

Thinking that he might become an All-Star, and even thinking that he might also become a member of West Lafayette in the future, Laga Bell was shaking with excitement!

"Coach, in tonight's game, I will make the opponent's backcourt players play a nightmare game!"

Lagabell clenched her fists and said solemnly to Richard.

…

At eight o'clock in the evening, the Pistons continued to sit at home, this time facing the Hawks.

The Eagles began to rebuild in the first two seasons, but they achieved some results.

For example, they got Pang Toutuo from the Green Kais, and then got Raheem from the Grizzlies. Together with the Jets Terry selected in the team's draft, their lineup has become quite impressive.

However, this lineup has just been put together, and no one knows what the specific effect will be.

Raheem was sold by the Grizzlies to the Hawks this season.

The Grizzlies have trained Raheem for five years, but during these five years, the Grizzlies have never made it to the playoffs.

If you look at the data, Rashid's data is really gorgeous. Since entering the league, his scoring average has never been less than 20 points in a season!

He was also successfully selected to the All-Star team last season...

But there are still problems with Raheem, and the Grizzlies also discovered these problems, so they simply sold him without breaking or establishing, and began to do their best to cultivate Pau Gasol.

Not only did they sell Raheem, they even sold Bibi.

Anyway, the sales are quite straightforward and thorough...

Rahim's problem is that his rebounding and defensive strength are not strong enough.

With an average of 40 minutes per game, Rahim only recorded eight or nine rebounds. This rebounding efficiency is really too low.

Among the inside players, they are almost in the middle and lower reaches.

Don't look at the fact that some inside players have five or six rebounds, but this does not mean that their rebounding strength is weak. If they are given 40 minutes of playing time, they can easily score more than 10 rebounds.

In addition to not being strong in rebounding, Rahim's defense is also a problem that cannot be ignored.

The defensive data is quite passable. He averaged 1.4 steals and 1 block per game, which is definitely acceptable.

But this is only low-level data. Looking at advanced data, Rahim was around 107 in the first two seasons.

In other words, the player he faced could score 107 points in 100 rounds!

This is really embarrassing for an inside player...

You must know that top interior defenders, such as Duncan, Ben or Garnett, their defensive efficiency can sometimes reach around 95 levels, which is not even a little better than Raheem.

Under this circumstance, the Grizzlies made a decisive decision, selling the core of the team they had spent five years building and starting a new rebuilding pace.

Anyway, this team is either rebuilding or on the road to rebuilding...

…

"Dudududu!" The game on the field began.

Richard didn't particularly care about winning or losing tonight. What he cared about most was whether Lagabell would change after his conversation!

If Lagabell can change, then the outcome of this game will be completely insignificant in Richard's opinion.

The starting players from both sides began to appear.

Rahim glanced at Richard awkwardly, his face a little red...

He actually didn't expect that the Grizzlies would trade him this offseason. Now that he was traded, he felt a little embarrassed when he saw Richard.

Iverson, Ben...

Well, I don’t have to be embarrassed, at least among the West Lafayette brothers in the same class, there is Brad Miller who is worse than me.

…

Raheem got the ball for the Eagles, and the Jets Terry advanced with the ball.

After the ball reached the frontcourt, Terry transferred the ball to Fat Tou Tuo outside the three-point line. The latter did not even hesitate and shot a three-pointer directly.

He really dared to shoot, and he really dared to score...

It was the Pistons' turn to attack, and Nash and Okur started a pick-and-roll again, but in the end the ball was assigned by Nash to Bell, who was running wildly.

The Hawks player who played against Bell was named DeMar Johnson. He was an unknown player. He was tall and thick. Looking at his figure, he looked more like a stocky center than a shooting guard.

Laga Bell's crazy off-the-ball movement had a good effect. Nash watched Bell running out of the space and passed the ball immediately.

Bell took a direct three-point shot and hit it hollow.

Richard stood on the sidelines, cheering wildly and encouraging the young man Laga Bell.

…

Nash's passing, after years of hard work, can almost be regarded as a master level.

Without the defensive ability at hand and relying solely on his accurate shooting ability, Nash would not be able to get a contract with an annual salary of five to six million from Nelson.

As soon as Lagabell ran out of the open space, Nash's ball had already arrived. This passing skill made Richard nod secretly.

When it comes to passing the ball, Nash is much better than Beard...

…

The two sides fought fiercely, and the situation was better than Richard thought.

Except for the three-pointer that Fat Tou Tuo hit in the beginning, the Hawks felt a little bad the rest of the time. Coupled with their awkward defense, it is definitely impossible to lead the Pistons in the score.

The Pistons are not that good right now, but the Hawks are even worse...

Looking at the defensive strength of the Eagles' three core players, you will know how bad their overall defense is.

Let's not mention Rahim for the moment. Almost everyone knows about Fat Tou Tuo's defense. Don't expect him to be energetic enough to defend.

As for Terry, his defensive enthusiasm is good, but he is also a fairly typical player who is strong in offense and weak in defense.

With his small body, he can compete with Nash...

With these three core players, one can imagine the defensive level of their team.

…

Richard was still paying attention to Laga Bell's defensive performance, but the embarrassing thing was that Johnson, his opponent, never had a chance to hold the ball.

Finally, in the fourth minute of the game, the Eagles' starting shooting guard got a chance to attack with the ball.

His body is actually more than enough to play as a small forward. After holding the ball, he directly collides with Laga Bell.

Bell saw that his opportunity to perform had come. Richard on the sidelines must have been paying attention to his every move, and couldn't help but follow him.

Confrontation and physical contact were what Richard asked of him.

Just after he got up, Bell didn't rush to get the ball, but held on to his opponent's charge without taking a step back.

Maybe it's because he hasn't found a chance to make a shot since the beginning, so Johnson just made a direct shot.

Bell saw that his opponent had the momentum to take off, and continued to exert force with his body, directly causing the jumping opponent to lose his balance.

He made a hasty shot while losing balance, and was directly caught by Bell in mid-air, and then quickly passed to Nash.

He still has a keen eye and knows that Nash is the team's head coach appointed by Richard. Not passing the ball to Nash at this moment is definitely an act of seeking death.

Nash's speed is quite good, otherwise, it would be impossible to have the nickname Son of the Wind.

After receiving the ball from Bell, he drove straight towards the frontcourt. Gerald Wallace and Laga Bell on both sides also quickly followed up.

At this moment, the effect of Gerrard's explosive physical fitness was reflected. Fat Toutuo looked at Gerrard's speed and gave up the idea of ​​returning to defense...

When the ball reached the frontcourt, Nash threw it high. Gerrard stepped into the paint area, jumped high, received Nash's pass in the air, and dunked into the basket!

Richard was stunned as he watched from the sidelines...

How do you look at this offensive round? It's a bit like running against the Suns...

The Suns team with Nash as the core in later generations almost played this way.

Nash controlled the ball and advanced quickly. After the ball reached the frontcourt, Laga Bell was responsible for outside shots, Stoudemire was responsible for inside shots, and Marion was able to play both inside and outside.

These players did not give their opponents a chance to calmly deploy their defense. They took action as soon as the ball reached the frontcourt and they saw an opportunity. This was the Suns' famous seven-second run-and-gun tactic.

Richard frowned and had some thoughts in his mind...

How about trying the run-and-gun tactic first this season?

Anyway, I don't plan to use any tactics this season. Now it's good to try out the run-and-gun tactics and practice first.

Once this idea took root, it immediately grew crazily in Richard's mind.

With Richard's current lineup, it sounds like he can really try running and gunning.

Nash and Laga Bell already exist, and Gerald Wallace can completely replace Marion. As for the lack of an inside lineman with strong physical fitness, Clark seems to be able to do the job.

But now that Clark is unable to play, he can make do with Anderson first.

…

The game was going on on the field, and after Bell was called over by Richard to have a cup of tea, he became much enlightened.

There is already a physical confrontation on the court, and Johnson, who is facing him right now, really doesn't have the ball, so Bell's defensive strength cannot be maximized. Otherwise, Bell's defense tonight will definitely give people a surprise.

Now that Bell has figured it out, Richard feels that it will be much easier to handle next time. He calls everyone over for tea...

In fact, even if it is a seven-second run-and-gun tactic, the defensive end must not fall behind.

Later, the defense of the run-and-gun Suns team was not bad. Look at the players in the starting lineup, Laga Bell, Marion, Stoudemire and French magician Diaw. No matter how bad this defense could be.

In other words, Nash is holding back the defensive end...