The Whip of the God of Basketball

After Carroll became the head coach of the Celtics, Leon was no longer just a mere assistant coach in the team. With O'Brien's resignation, Vogel also bid farewell to Boston. On the day the players forced the palace, he was in a state of complete confusion. Vogel didn't know about him until O'Brien held a press conference to express his resignation as head coach. His assistant coach title was also revoked.

As a result, the task on Leon's shoulders became even heavier. He not only had to undertake the daily training plan, but also became the Celtics' offensive tactics coach. He had more say in the team and could directly affect the main team. Coach Carroll's formation.

On the evening of November 24th, Leon rushed back to the field after visiting Auerbach. The team's starting lineup has been released. Tony Batty returned to the starting lineup, Steve Kerr returned to the bench, and the first The starting point guard became Eric Steckleland. However, Leon has long suggested that Carroll can try to use Arenas more in this game. Leon's explanation is that "his shooting and breakthrough ability can greatly improve the team's offense."

Leon's suggestion is not unreasonable. After losing Kenny Anderson, the Celtics' aggressiveness at the point guard position has been greatly reduced. This is very fatal for teams that focus on outside offense. Without a three-threat point guard, it's going to be hard for perimeter teams to open up their offense.

The reason why Leon picked Arenas in the draft is that he can have the strong firepower of a shooting guard after transforming into a point guard. In the first few games of the new season, Arenas showed an incomparable desire to attack every time he played, but he was always suppressed by O'Brien. Now he is like a beast that is about to break free from the cage, waiting to bite his opponent.

"Concentrate your attention and give them a good look. Now we are a brand new team. Keep your spirits up and don't be disturbed by any outside world. Our goal is only to win. A good start is the beginning of victory!" Before the game is about to start, Carroll is doing the final mobilization, and he seems to be familiar with the set. The current Celtics are in a difficult stage. They are about to usher in a wave of five straight away after changing the coach, and this is still back-to-back, facing the Washington Wizards who are also desperate for victory.

However, for Carroll's slightly dry motivation, the players seemed a little listless. The changes in the team and back-to-back fatigue made the players a little unwilling to fight. For a team, once the overall lack of desire to win, The combat effectiveness will plummet, especially in the away game, which requires a strong desire to win and a high degree of attention.

Leon stood on the periphery of the player circle. His attention was not on his own players, but on Michael Jordan at the other end of the field. This myth of the second comeback now looks a little fatter. The performance at the beginning of the Wizards season was not satisfactory, but this could not stop the fans from coming to the arena to watch Jordan's enthusiasm. This is the charm of the NBA's first superstar.

"Look over there, who is it? The most dazzling superstar ever, everyone's idol, what can make you feel more excited than fighting him and beating him? If you are so listless, then just sit on the bench and sleep .” Before the appearance ceremony, Leon pointed to where Jordan was and said to everyone. Nothing makes a player's heart race more than beating a childhood idol, and hearing Leon's words gave Celtic players a boost.

After speaking, Leon beckoned to Michael Reid, let him come to him, then motioned him to lower his head and said to his ear: "Attack Michael Jordan, attack him at the beginning, use your shooting and Break through, don't hesitate. If you're afraid of him or back down, I'll kill you." After speaking, Leon patted Reid on the shoulder, signaling him to relax.

"Come here, Paul, come here." Leon called Paul Pierce over again. Now Leon can call anyone in the team, which is not something ordinary assistant coaches can do. "Give Reid some space and opportunities to attack Jordan. If he can't, you will come. Remember, to provoke Jordan, I hope this game can become a chaotic battle." After speaking, Leon also patted Pierce's shoulder, the player induction ceremony is about to begin.

Only then did Leon sit back on the bench, and Arenas leaned over and asked, "What do I need to do?" He saw Leon ordering Reed for a while, and Pierce for a while, and he couldn't help himself. Yes, and Leon replied: "Sit well off the court."

…………………

The game started on time at 7:00 p.m. It was Carroll's first time standing on the sidelines as an NBA head coach. He never expected to become a head coach like this. He didn't even have a proper suit ready. , but had to wear a suit and tie rented from the hotel. He seemed a little nervous, not knowing whether he should stand on the sidelines or sit on the bench first. When the game actually started, he fidgeted even more, but the Celtics' good start quickly calmed him down.

The Celtics' offense felt pretty good at the beginning. Michael Reed was very active on the offensive end. He kept running without the ball at the beginning of the game, making figure-of-eight movements around Batty and Walker, and received a Steckleland's pass hit the game's first mid-range, two-pointer.

Leon watched Reid's bold offense off the court and couldn't help but squeeze his fists. Reed's improvement over the past year is quite obvious. Compared with last season, his off-ball ability and catch-and-shoot technique have improved. He has made great progress, but Reed's personality is relatively shy and introverted. As a shooting guard, he lacks enough aggressiveness, which makes him less aggressive in the game, and he is always not reused by the head coach at critical moments. Leon would like to use the opportunity of this game to make Reid bold, face the best shooting guard ever on the planet, and try his best to fight him.

When Reed made a second mid-range shot from the same position with the same movement and the same shooting form, Jordan was furious. Jordan is famous for being competitive on the basketball court. A second-year rookie hit two consecutive jump shots on his head, which is intolerable for Jordan. Leon could hear Jordan start trash-talking Redd from the sidelines and beckon his teammates to pass the ball to him on the next play.

Sure enough, Jordan began to ask for a position in the low post on the right side. Reed was stuck behind Jordan. Chris Whitney took aim for a while and passed the ball to Jordan. The audience became restless. Obviously Jordan wanted to sacrifice his signature The fadeaway jump shot. Sure enough, after leaning twice tentatively, Jordan made an unexpected outward turn and backward jumper. Most people predicted that he would turn inward. He was already jumping not too high, and the angle of backwardness was large enough. , but the ball still fell into the basket steadily and made a two-pointer. After scoring the goal, Jordan pursed his lips and nodded to Reid, and Reed tried to avoid Jordan's gaze as much as possible, and ran across the half court quickly with his head covered.

"If it were me, I would layup on his head." Arenas, who was sitting on the side watching the game with his chin in his hand, muttered. He is completely different from Reed in character. Reed was selected in the first round, but he always thought that he should be a second-rounder. On the contrary, Arenas, he was selected in the 21st place, but he thought he should be the No. 1 pick. But the Wizards holding the No. 1 pick chose Kwame Brown, and now that unlucky guy is sitting on the bench just like himself in a daze.

Then Reid couldn't score anymore, because Jordan was staring at him, and he began to use the energy he had when he was elected the best defensive player to keep an eye on Reed. No matter how Reed moved, he couldn't find a shot. The Celtics' offensive focus shifted to the duo of Paul Pierce and Antawn Walker.

In the middle of the first quarter, the Celtics took a 17:9 lead with 8 points. Pierce was unstoppable at the small forward position. Hamilton, who was defending him in a misplaced position, was no match at all. The Wizards had to adjust their defensive strategy and began to let Jordan Go defend Pierce and let Hamilton face Michael Reed, who is similar to himself. After a timeout, Carroll decided to start to enter the rotation. The timing was similar to that of O'Brien. The first game should not make the players too unaccustomed.

"Gilbert! Come here, get ready, remember to control the rhythm when you play, we are leading now, pay attention to the quality of the first pass, don't blindly feed the ball to Pierce or Walker, and see the opportunity." Carroll decided to replace Ali Nas, and asked him to ask the point guard.

However, he didn't know that Arenas didn't listen to a word of his words. At this time, he only echoed the two words Leon said to him on the bench just now, "You will play later, remember Jordan picked Kwame Brown, so you're going to shoot a 3 on Jordan...a three on Jordan...a three...a three..."