Chapter 105: Celtic's Twenty

? "Our goal in the new season is to reach the finals, which is better than last year."
This is Fox Leon’s bold statement to everyone at the Celtics boss change conference, and it hit the headlines of the sports pages of major newspapers in the United States in a day. For a time, this mysterious identity, a young man who has taken the position of Celtics coach in just two years, has become a hot topic in the American basketball circle. So much so that Auerbach’s announcement of permanent retirement from the Celtics did not attract much attention.
The Boston Tribune gave a pungent irony to Leon’s rhetoric, commenting that
regardless of whether it is realistic or not, most of the teams’ goals for the season are either down-to-earth to the playoffs, or directed towards the championship. Such a half-hearted goal of reaching the finals is as funny as a student who takes an exam saying that he wants to take second place. "This is the case from the local media in Boston, let alone other cities.
"A scout from the Southern District of Boston, without any basketball experience, took two years to create history and became the head coach of a professional team, and his remarks at the press conference are as impressive as his background. Feeling unprofessional... The source quoted from Sports Illustrated’s ball review column, written by John Hollinger..." On the plane to Ohio, Darryl Morey held the latest Cleveland Honest newspaper on the plane. A passage from the ball comment column was read to Leon sitting next to him.
"John Hollinger? I seem to be impressed. He seems to be very interested in data analysis and sells his data analysis philosophy in the commentary circle. He is very similar to Darryl." Leon did not care about the content of the comment. Enough negative comments have been heard these days. He had foreseen this a long time ago, as long as the media said something prone to controversy or ambiguity, it would cause tumbling and commotion like throwing fresh meat in a crocodile pond. He was more interested in Hollinger, the author of the review, than these clichés and critical criticisms.
Morey only smiled when he heard Leon’s words. He didn’t dare to show off in front of Leon when he mentioned data analysis. Although he learned more deeply and comprehensively than Leon in terms of analysis methods and theory, he couldn’t resist Leon’s meeting. Speaking!
At this time, there was news on the radio that the plane was about to land. Morey collected the newspaper, sorted out his belongings, and got off the plane. At 1:30 in the afternoon, Leon and Morey arrived at the Cleveland International Airport, but this was not their destination. After getting off the plane, the two immediately took a taxi to the Cleveland train station. Bought a train ticket to Mansfield.
The Great Lakes region in the United States is an old industrial area in the United States. Relying on the abundant water of the Great Lakes, as well as a large amount of iron ore and coal, it became the industrial heart of the United States in the early twentieth century. So the railway here extends in all directions. It has the densest rail network in the United States, and Mansfield is a hub of this network. It leads to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, Chicago and the Atlantic coast. So the two easily bought tickets to Mansfield. After an hour’s train journey and a half-hour ride, they finally arrived at their final destination at more than three in the afternoon. Mansfield Correctional Institution in the northern suburbs of Sfield.
"This place makes me feel cordial for filing." Standing outside the correctional facility, looking at this large correctional institution covering an area of ​​over 100 hectares, I couldn't help but think of the years I used to be. Of course Morey didn't understand what Leon was talking about. He was just strange. He said he would visit an important person during a business trip. Why did he come to the correction center now? Could this guy be serving his sentence?
Leon walked to the guard. Informing them of their coming, Leon had already called here to make an appointment to visit, so after a full body search, the two successfully entered this huge prison. But the person they were looking for was not in the prison cage, but in the social work activity room of the correction center. Under the guidance of the guards, the two came to the activity room and saw the person they were looking for, Mr. Larry Siegfried, who was counseling the prisoners.
"Who the is this guy? Don't sell it." Because of the psychological counseling inside, Leon and Morey had to wait at the door. Morey couldn't help but whispered to Leon. Before coming, Leon remained silent about the purpose of coming to Ohio. This is Leon's consistent style, not that he likes to play this kind of mysterious trick, but the multiple leaks of the previous team's strategy made him have to be vigilant.
At this moment, the door of the activity room opened. A bald black man in a blue prison uniform came out from the inside. He walked out the door, then turned and bowed slightly into the door before leaving under the leadership of the guard.
"Come in, two guests from Boston." Mr. Siegfried's voice came from inside, and Leon led Morey into the activity room. Only now did Morey see this Mr. Siegfried, a white man in his sixties. He was very tall, with a square face, and two sword eyebrows pierced into the sky to look heroic.
"Hello, Mr. Siegfried... This is Mr. Larry Siegfried, a former Celtic defender, great shooter and defender who partnered with Bob Cousy, eight consecutive championships. The hero of the Celtics, the representative of the Celtic player spirit." Leon introduced this Mr. Siegfried to Morey. He was an important member of the Celtics during the eighth consecutive championship. He wore the No. 20 jersey. A Celtic player with superb shooting skills and tough defense.
Hearing Leon's compliment, Siegfried smiled and shook his head, and moved a seat for the two of them. After the two of them sat down, he took out a pipe from the drawer and lit it in his mouth. He took a beautiful sip and said: "Arnold didn't say in the letter that you are a good flatterer. He said that you often speak bad words. It made him shameless. Hahaha..."
Hearing this, Leon couldn't help but smile, and he responded: "The world has praised Arnold too much, and I don't need me to compliment him anymore. But you, have the ability that is not known to many people, can give Kai The Celtics bring more help. I am a straightforward person. This time, I just hope you can come out and serve as the assistant coach of the Celtics. Now we are very scarce in the position of assistant coach. "
The purpose of Leon’s visit this time is to invite this veteran of the Celtics history to be the assistant coach of the Celtics. Now the Celtics are lacking in the position of assistant coach. Leon has become After the head coach, only Dick Hart is left. They urgently need a professional and talented assistant coach to assist Leon. Auerbach arranged everything before he resigned. The first inheritance he left for Leon was to recommend Larry Siegfried as the team's assistant coach.
However, this does not mean that Siegfried will not hesitate to follow Auerbach’s assignment back to Boston to assist Leon, although Auerbach wrote a letter to Siegfried, euphemistically I hope he can consider this matter, but Leon still needs to come to Mansfield personally to convince the stubborn old man in the correctional facility. Now he is quite satisfied with his work as a psychotherapist in the correctional facility, and has no desire to return to basketball.
"I don't know if you know the story between me and Cincinnati. They chose me that year and I didn't want to go there. After that, no matter how people there hated me, I didn't go to Cincinnati to play. Because I didn't want to go." Siegfried mentioned the old story of his participation in the NBA draft. He was studying and playing at Ohio State University. The University of Cincinnati in Ohio and Ohio State were rivals in the same state. So after being selected by the Cincinnati Royals in the draft, Siegfried refused to report to the Royals. He would rather go to ABL. The Cleveland Pipers are also unwilling to join the Royals to play in the NBA. After spending two seasons with each other, the Royals finally traded Siegfried to the Hawks and Siegfried was able to enter the NBA.
Siegfried is such a very, very stubborn person, but his words did not frighten Leon. He said unhurriedly: "Your stubbornness is well-known in the world, but there is also one thing that everyone knows, that is, you are A person who values ​​friends very, very much. The reason why you can join the Celtics is because your good friend and alumnus John Havlicek recommended you to Auerbach and persuaded you to give up high school The coach’s job is to play in the NBA.
As he said, Leon took out an envelope from his briefcase and handed it to Siegfried.
Siegfried took the envelope and saw the cover read "Dear Siegfried—your good friend John Havlicek." There is no doubt that Havlicek 40 years ago Persuaded Auerbach to recruit Siegfried, 40 years later, Auerbach used Havlicek to ask for this love. UU reading www.uukanshu.com
Siegfried's eyes hesitated a bit, he took a sharp breath of cigarette, then sighed, lost in thought, he began to recall the passionate years of fighting on the court in his mind. The peaceful life in the correction center is certainly quiet, but as a basketball player, there is an unquenchable flame in his heart.
At this time, Leon took out another letter from his briefcase and arrived in front of Siegfried. Siegfried took a look. The cover said "Larry Siegfried received— —Bill Sharman." This is a letter from Bill Sharman to Siegfried. When he refused to go to the Cincinnati Royals, the Cleveland Pipers signed him, and the piper’s The head coach is Bill Sharman. This pioneer of NBA jump shot technology has given himself a lot of benefits in basketball, especially in shooting, during his two years of coaching, allowing him to benefit his life in the subsequent NBA championship career.
Seeing these two letters, Siegfried knew that he was already gracious, but he still said: "Perhaps I can accept your invitation, but... I really don't know what else I can do. Basketball is completely different from the past, speed, strength, tactics, I'm already an antique."
Leon stood up from his chair and said firmly: "But there are two things you can teach young people, accurate jumpers, and strong defense!" (To be continued.)