The Rest, Only Noise

Before heading to Philadelphia, the Celtics' coaching staff had some debate over Game 3's starting lineup.

Bill Fitch gave Louie, K.C. Jones and Bob McKinnon free speech in the spirit of democratic discussion.

K.C is very cautious. He doesn't say who to change, only that the number one must be replaced.

"We need someone with a better defense to come up!" K.C said righteously.

Then, Bob McKinnon took the initiative to speak: "I looked at our data, maybe we can consider putting Chris Ford at the one position, his shooting ability is very good, and he is averaging 1.5 steals per game. , which is the highest of all defenders!"

"Other than that, I don't think the lineup needs to be adjusted anymore." McKinnon believes that changing a guard can solve the problem.

Ford, nicknamed "The Crazy Bomber," made a 42.7 percent field goal per game in the first year of the three-point line, leading the league in both efficiency and production (Bird averaged a goal per game). 0.7 goals, 40% hit rate).

The problem is, he is not an orthodox No. 1 position. He is very close to the No. 2 position. He is only limited by his height and has to switch to playing the No. 1 position.

The 76ers' defensive strength, his ability to hold the ball is likely to be unable to pass the level of Cheeks.

For today's discussion, Louis has prepared a lot.

"I don't think our defensive problems can be solved with a single defender."

Louie's voice was heavy, and Fitch didn't expect him to think about it.

"Lu, this is not a scouting job. Be careful what you say!" Unlike Louie, McKinnon has worked in this industry for most of his life.

Now 53 years old, he has coaching experience in the ABA and also worked as a firefighting coach for the Brofa Braves for a while.

In terms of experience and coaching ability, he is better than Louis in every way.

Louis, a 19-year-old kid with no coaching experience and no background as a player, dares to speak out here?

"Bob, I don't think there is an essential difference between scouting and coaching. What we need to do is to maximize the strengths of the players and magnify the weaknesses of the opponent's players." Louis smiled implicitly, "I give All advice is based on what I know about each other, not based on experience and qualifications and data that doesn’t always tell the story.”

McKinnon's face changed suddenly: "What do you mean?"

"Nothing else, I just think your suggestion is a little superficial..."

"Little devil!"

"Okay!" Fitch looked at Louie, "Just tell me if you have any suggestions."

"As you all know, I'm very interested in stats, but the stats I'm interested in are not basic stats such as points, assists, and rebounds. All of you here are people who have been in this sport for many years, and you should know that many players don't have stats. If the response is so good, the data will deceive people." Louis smiled lightly, "Therefore, we must put aside these deceptive basic data and seek higher-level data."

McKinnon was dumbfounded, and Fitch was even more at a loss: "High-level data?"

"I have a friend who likes the NBA very much, but he doesn't want to be deceived by flashy statistics. He is researching a stat that can better reflect the value of players to distinguish between real gold and scrap iron. Therefore, he invented a method called defense. Victory contribution data." By the way, that friend's name is Lu Ruohe, that's me.

Louie's speech is challenging Fitch and others' perceptions.

"This statistic is calculated by estimating a player's presence in a game based on the opponent's points, possessions, offensive margins (the league's average points per possession), the league's average points per team, and the number of possessions. How much the defense brings." Lou said, "There are a number of 76ers who are in the top 20 in the league in this statistic, so their defense can be in the top three in the league."

"It's good to know that Larry's defensive win shares have ranked first in the league in the playoffs so far, which is far beyond my expectations and shows his comprehensiveness." The data surprised the rest of the coaching staff.

"Other than that, Dave is also at the top, but his size is too bad for the five, we should let him play the four."

Fitch asked, "Who's going to play center?"

"Bill Ranbir."

"What?!" McKinnon exclaimed. "Are you crazy? Beal played very little in the playoffs, even if his defensive win shares are among the top, that doesn't tell the story!"

Louis had known for a long time that there would be such a statement, and that was his purpose.

"No, Beal doesn't have a rank in the DWS (Defensive Win Shares) stats, I said, it's a serious stat, and we've taken the lead in excluding players who don't play a lot."

"I chose Bill because Dave's size struggled against Philly's interior, Cedric was more of a 3, and it was difficult for him to play against Caldwell Jones, Daryl Dawkins - since None of them can, why don't we try using Bill?"

"His size, rebounding protection and brutish interior style may bring unexpected surprises."

Laimbeer may be the Celtics player Fitch dislikes the most.

In Fitch's eyes, his style and conduct were no different from a bad guy.

McKinnon couldn't accept Louie's advice at all, and Laimbeer was the player he hated the most because he was always complaining and liked to play against all coaches except Fitch, because only Fitch had the power to kill.

"Kid, you don't respect Bill so much because you introduced him to the team! He doesn't look like a Celtic from the inside out, and he never maintains the team's image. He is a selfish person. The bastard, you let him start in such a crucial game, isn't it a personal waste?" McKinnon put an unbearable hat on Louie's head.

Louie laughs at McKinnon's accusations.

"There's a Chinese saying, 'You don't avoid relatives'. I admit, Bill and I have a very close relationship, but I do it not because of our relationship, but because I really believe that he can lead in the game. to contribute, and on top of that, I'd like to have John Long coming off the bench."

"Although his defense is good, he is not as good as MLC (Karl), and the team has not yet been able to design corresponding tactics based on his shooting. His ability is difficult to exert in this round of series."

"We must have the courage to break the boat to improve the quality of our defense. If we only think about making small noises for stability, the situation will not improve, it will get worse." Louis sneered, "There will be no real people. It's all Knight's (Archibald's) fault to think our defense is so bad?"

Fitch had a problem, and maybe he shouldn't have had the meeting.

Louie's suggestion is hard to refuse, but it's not easy to get him to make such a massive change in the starting lineup, and to have both Archibald and Maxwell on the bench, it's not an easy task, and it will arouse their resentment. .

"Louis, how do you want to convince them?" Fitch tried to throw the blame.

Louie was very happy to see that Fitch knew that this kind of thing was annoying. It turned out that he also knew the consequences of being annoying. Then he did so many annoying things on weekdays? However, he will not be held accountable to the end. For today's meeting, he was so busy that he couldn't sleep for a few days. He was looking for formulas and materials, and he was paying for the help of graduate students majoring in mathematics. Now he has given suggestions and asked him to do those immediately. Gotta get the idea of ​​the guy out of the starting roster to work?

Let him do it all, what does Fitch do?

So he decisively refused: "It's not my job."

If possible, Louie would like to change his job with Fitch. He doesn't have to find a way to get DWS at all, just substitute the people who shouldn't start.

Although there was a heated debate with McKinnon at the meeting, which also caused the other party to have negative feelings towards him, Louis did indeed change from a titular teaching assistant who followed his studies to a real teacher who could participate in discussions and make suggestions. teaching assistant.

This is a huge change.

K.C. Jones saw it, and did not expect Louie to enter the decision-making level of the coaching staff so quickly.

According to his and Auerbach's assumptions, Louie is familiar with the work of assistant coaches and can bring advice and help with his scouting talents. At least two or three years later, why does he seem more in the coaching staff than himself and Bob? Does McKinnon all add up?

"It's really a little devil!"

K.C criticized Louis countless times in his heart, and asked with a smile on his face: "Lu, let's go, I'll treat you to dinner!"

"That's so embarrassing." That's what he said, but his footsteps were brisk, and his mouth was embarrassed, but his body's reaction was active.