The Whip of the God of Basketball

There was a debate within the Celtics before the draft, from Danny Ainge and Leon, about whether to choose Arenas or Joseph Ford. Angie is more inclined to Ford from the famous North Carolina school. He thinks that compared with Arenas, Ford is more like a "Celtic", a pure team priority player. In the history of the Celtics, they have never had a scoring champion in a single season, and team supremacy is their sticking style.

But Leon doesn't care about the concept of "team first" or the so-called more Celtic blood. His criteria for selecting players are ability and potential. He has a hundred ways to prove that Arenas is a better player. It is totally unacceptable for Leon to choose a much worse player just because he is more "selfish" and "maverick" in his playing style.

In the end, Wallace was on Leon's side. Although he was a little inclined towards Ford, in the end he used his reason to overcome his own IQ, and stood firmly on Leon's side so that the Celtics did not follow the old ways. Lose a quality rookie.

After coming to Boston, Arenas didn't get the treatment he thought he deserved. He didn't seem to be a key training target in the team, and the coaching staff basically kept him in a stocking state. Especially Leon, who chose him, would rather spend time chatting with Michael Reid on the sidelines than helping Arenas with shooting practice.

So when Arenas stepped on the floor of the MCI Center, all he could think about was what Leon had said to him. He wanted to prove himself in front of Leon, to prove how good he was, to prove that he was in the restaurant in Los Angeles. It hurt his ego to say to himself "I'm going to take you with the 21st pick" was a nasty, boring joke.

However, it is impossible to win by relying on self-esteem in the NBA. It requires outstanding skills and a stable psychology. When Arenas touched the ball for the first time after he came on the court, he seemed too frizzy. Facing the defense of the Wizards opponent, he dribbled the ball in three steps outside the three-point line, and suddenly made a step breakthrough, followed by Pull-up three-point jumper.

Arenas has a broad and strong arm, which makes the shooting movement smaller and very fast. Moreover, he was often able to shoot some long-distance shots during training, but he was too anxious about the shot, and the shot was too fast and not powerful enough. The ball hit the front of the basket. Jordan grabbed the backboard and launched a quick counterattack. Chad - Hamilton layup, the Wizards approaching the score.

"What is this guy doing..." Carroll stood on the sidelines and scratched his head. After accepting the team, he couldn't make too many tactical adjustments. He just hoped that the team's morale and playing attitude would improve. But Arenas really hurt his own people with this ball.

However, Arenas' dizzy head still didn't seem to have a fever. As a point guard, he once again went it alone in the next attack. I am not very used to the left side, because Jordan is on that side. Jordan came to defend, Arenas forced into the three-second zone against Jordan, and then tried to hold the ball for a layup. As a result, he missed the basket with his left hand. The shot was obviously light, and Jordan got the rebound again. But this time the Celtics retreated quickly and did not give the Wizards a chance to counterattack fast.

However, Carol couldn't sit still because of two random attacks in a row. He didn't send Arenas up to make trouble for him. Carol, who is usually gentle, couldn't help but move toward Arenas Yelling: "Calm down boy! Look at your teammates, not just the basket!" That's the pressure on a head coach that can make anyone cranky and irritable.

There was also a trace of anxiety in Arenas' eyes. He squinted at the team's bench. If O'Brien was there, he would definitely be replaced. This time he looked at Leon. Leon sat there with a calm expression on his face. He seemed to have noticed Arenas' eyes, first made an encouraging gesture to Arenas, and then pressed his hands down to signal him to stabilize his mentality.

Leon's movements and expressions seem to have magical powers, which can always calm people down quickly. Of course, this has something to do with how we get along in daily life. Leon has always shown people with a cold face and few words, but his descriptions and predictions are often scary accurate. The players secretly respect and fear him, and at the same time trust him very much. he. When Leon said "Calm down", it always had a good effect, like pouring a basin of cold water on the opponent's head.

"Give him some time to adjust, Gilbert is a little too excited, he will enter the second team later, and he will perform well." Leon also comforted Carol, the old man took office today as the first Fighting, the pressure is really not small.

As Hamilton missed a jumper and Walker picked up the rebound, the Celtics got another offensive opportunity. At this moment, Walker threw the ball to Pierce and let him control the ball. Let teammates also have distrust of him. But after halftime, Pierce still passed the ball back to Arenas. Arenas weighed a few pounds. Pierce knew the whole team better than Leon, because the two had participated in the training camp together in Los Angeles in the summer. I am deeply impressed by this stubborn teammate Pierce.

This time Arenas held the ball again. He didn't rush to attack, but dribbled the ball in front of him. The noisy environment of the MCI center and the thoughts that had been lingering in his mind just now were all emptied at this time, and he calmed down. The Wizards' defense is not tight, and they don't have a good perimeter defender. Michael Jordan used to be the best perimeter defender in the world, but he is 39 years old. Just now he could rely on his experience to help defend against Arenas, but when Arenas relied on Antoine Walker's pick-and-roll from the right When he reached the inside, it was too late for him to make up the defense.

"The speed is really fast, and the pick-and-roll is really bad." Leon sat on the sidelines and watched Arenas enter the inside line with emotion again. As early as in Arenas University, Leon carefully observed his first step, very fast. Now in the NBA, the hard training in the summer gave him a stronger first step, the kind of explosive start, although a little reckless due to lack of skills, but it has an unstoppable momentum.

He went to the basket and scored a layup directly over the opponent's head, and Jordan could only look at his back with helplessness. Arenas completed the Celtics' three consecutive offenses, with two failures and one success. Arenas' bold and independent style can be seen at a glance. After O'Brien got out of class, his wildness seemed to be released. Fortunately, he was not so dazzled by this. On the contrary, he was more active in defense after the offense was successful. Even though it seemed that he hadn't practiced the basic defensive skills well in Arizona, but as Dick Hart thinks Yes, defense is more about attitude than skill.

In the first two quarters, Arenas got enough chances to play, and he played very enjoyable on the court. After three times alone, he began to cooperate with his teammates and began to try to create opportunities for his teammates, like a real point guard. . But if there is an opportunity to challenge Jordan directly, he will never let it go. After halftime, he scored 14 points, 3 assists and 1 steal. Although he didn't complete the idea of ​​pulling a three-pointer on Jordan's head, he definitely stole the limelight from the Gemini in the team. In front of his breakthrough, the Wizards' defense was as bad as a rag, and Kwame Brown's appearance was just a background for Arenas.

On the way back to the locker room during the halftime break, Leon patted Arenas on the back and asked, "How do you feel? Did you play hard?" Arenas rarely showed his bright smile, frowning Stretched like Santa Claus, he nodded, apparently this was his best first half since entering the NBA.

"Then what else do you gain besides the data? What do you think of our offense? How about our defense? How do you feel about the Wizards? Have you found any loopholes in their defense? How do you think Michael Jordan is? Didn't you learn anything, kid?" Leon's barrage of questions made the smile on Arenas's face disappear immediately. Any NBA player has a unique understanding of basketball, but it's much harder to ask a rookie to answer those questions after halftime than it is to get him to hit a 3-pointer from midcourt.

Looking at the silent Arenas, Leon said: "You are a point guard. If you only see the basket, the defender in front of you and the teammates closest to you, then you will not become a great player. Even if you It’s not enough to hit a three-pointer on Jordan’s head. It’s not like no one in this world has hit a three-pointer on Jordan’s head. So, forget what I told you when I came on the court, and devote yourself to the game in the second half. Brown and the others learn, and you will gain something." After speaking, Leon and Arenas returned to the locker room together, and the Celtics only had a 5-point lead at this time. The explosion of Arenas did not really drive other teammates to play. On the contrary, some unreasonable shots exposed the Celtics' lack of offensive rebounding ability. Dennis Rodman still didn't get a chance to play in the first half, but Leon has persuaded Carroll to try to let Rodman play in the second half to make up for the Celtics' shortcomings in rebounding, defense and other details.

Antoine Walker felt bad tonight, but his contribution in other aspects was not outstanding except for offense. Leon’s evaluation of "the pick-and-roll is really bad" in the first quarter refers to Walker. He really hopes to cut outside after the pick-and-roll. It seems that the farther away from the basket the stronger his desire to attack. Although the Celtics have been suppressing the Wizards in the first half, they have been unable to really open the score because they lost too many rebounds. Such morale-damaging losses like being succeeded by the second offense often Appear.

This is the most important reason why the Celtics' operations have been criticized in the summer. Their inside line is too weak, and now they have to pin their hopes on a 40-year-old 6-foot-7 power forward.

Leon, on the other hand, is still waiting.