Chapter 131: 7 year itch

Kevin Garnett certainly didn’t know that this sneak shot and the news report of
Eating Inside and Outside
was a ghost made by Fox Leon behind his back. Leon has always been a decent and serious person in his impression. Maybe he didn’t. It is not clear whose mantle Leon inherited, and what kind of methods the Celtics once had.
These events before the game undoubtedly affected Garnett's performance on the court. He appeared with some small emotions in the game against the Celtics at the Target Center on the 9th night. This resulted in the Timberwolves being beaten by the Celtics from afar in the first quarter and was beaten 10:2 at the opening.
It can be said that after the start of the new season, any team that has just met with the Celtics will be a little uncomfortable with the Celtics' style of play. Their speed is too fast. It's not that the players run fast, but the tactics are completed quickly. Their tactics are very simple and efficient, without too complicated running positions and screens. Often a clean pick-and-roll or hand-to-hand, the ball holder will directly shoot. In addition, the Celtics have a very high percentage of mid- and long-range jump shots. The shots on the outside are more confident than the other, and they will never be soft when they have a chance.
Such a fast-acting whirlwind caught the well-behaved Timberwolves by surprise. Soon Philip Sanders called a timeout to adjust the state of the team. Undoubtedly, their preparations were not particularly adequate, and they did not start from the Celtics' first few games. The clues can be seen in the performance of the game.
Garnett also quickly adjusted his mentality and was no longer affected by the secret shooting incident, and devoted his energy to the game.
Leon is sitting off the court and he is still very confident in this game, because from the lineup and play style, the Timberwolves are not dominant. The Celtics’ biggest weaknesses are inside defense and low post offense, while the Timberwolves are not good at inside offense. Although Garnett is a 20+10 top power forward, his offensive power in the low post is not strong at first, and more to stand up. Jump shots and perimeter mid-range finish offense, more efficient but not lethal.
So although Walker is a big colander, Leon is also assured to let him go against Garnett. Anyway, Kevin can't easily kill anyone.
Another insider of the Timberwolves is the Slovenian Nestorovic, a tall center with a good defensive low post. The Timberwolves chose to follow the trend of hoarding insiders in the west and have experienced five years of NBA training. He is already a qualified low-post defender and rebound guard. Unfortunately, facing the Celtics' almost non-existent inside attack, his meaning is nothing more than running back and picking up rebounds.
And his speed was too slow. After the first quarter timeout ended and returned to the court, the Timberwolves had some improvement in offense. Hudson and Garnett on the outside began to cooperate continuously, using breakthroughs and mid-range to open the Celtics' defense to score points and catch up. But in defense, Nestorovic can't keep up with the Celtics' speed at all, often before he has time to find his defensive position near the three-second zone, the Celtics shot. Consecutive victories have made Celtics young people confident in their play and jump shots. Shooting is a technique that requires self-confidence, and the Celtics are not lacking in confidence.
Philip Sanders didn’t realize until the second quarter that if Nesterovic was placed on the court, there would be no use for him to return to run to reduce weight and consume physical strength. Sanders finally replaced the inner Strovic. Replaced forward Trent, so that Garnett will top the center position. Although Garnett doesn't like playing center the most, the Celtics are also a non-center lineup, and a big kite like Tony Barty can only be considered a half center.
In this way, the Timberwolves' situation is better. They relied on Garnett's two jumpers and Strickland's three-pointers to reduce the point difference to 5 points when the Celtics were in the rotation at the beginning of the second quarter. But Leon didn't seem to be in a hurry. He didn't change into the main team early, but continued to let the second team led by Eric Williams, Cole and Johnson support on the court. He was waiting. Waiting for Philip Sanders to replace Garnett.
Garnett took a break at the back end of the first quarter, then played at the beginning of the second quarter, then went down for a short rest in the middle, and then played until the end of the second quarter. This is how Sanders uses Garnett. The purpose is to allow Garnett to bring the second team and the opponent's second team to play a fight, to a Tian Ji horse racing, after all, the Timberwolves' bench lineup is really a bit bad, Kendall Gill, Greer Trent , Rod Stokeland, and all are some players who have played well in the league and can now be eliminated by the league at the end of their career.
Watching Garnett carry a broken second team. The defensive end actively defends and protects backcourt rebounds, and the offensive end keeps screens for teammates and assists with the ball. Leon is a bit sad for this All-Star power forward. What kind of teammates are they and what kind of lineup. Leon is convinced that if the Timberwolves team eliminates Kevin Garnett, it may be the same level as the NBDL championship, and it is estimated that it will win by a narrow margin. It's all old, weak, sick, and the Timberwolves management's extremely bad player operations and draft operations in recent years have caused this team in the small ball market in the north of the United States to sink. Including the loss of the multi-year first-round draft pick for Joe Smith to enter into a secret agreement, this was a fatal blow to a rebuilding team.
Leon watched Garnett doing everything he could on the field, just like he did for the team in the past seven years, struggling to maintain the team at the edge of the playoffs, and then in the playoffs Eliminated by a strong team in the first round, went home to fish, and waited for the next year. This story has been going on for six full years. This year is the seventh year. Judging from the current situation of the Timberwolves, their destiny will not change much. There will be no big deals, no superstars coming back, no genetic mutations in players, they may reach the playoffs again, and then come back in the first round, seven years, seven-year itch.
"Beep!" The referee's whistle interrupted Leon's thoughts. Chris Anderson fouled while defending Garnett. Garnett walked to the free throw line and made two free throws to help the Timberwolves catch the point difference to only 3 points. Minute. But at this time Sanders can no longer let Garnett stay on the court, he needs to let Garnett rest for a short time, just one and a half minutes.
At this time Leon also made the decision to substitute. He immediately took Paul Pierce and Arenas, the two most explosive scoring players in the team. Leon whispered a few words in Pierce's ear, instructing him to strengthen his personal offense after playing, to stabilize the situation within a period of time, and stir up a new round of offensive storm for the team.
Sure enough, Pierce received the ball for the first time since he came on the court. At his familiar 45-degree three-point line, he received a pass from Tony Barty and took a three-pointer, but the ball was slightly wide and hit the left side of the basket. Chris Anderson struggled to grab offensive rebounds. After Garnett was off the court, no one could stand up to him and prevent him from grabbing offensive rebounds. After grabbing the ball, Anderson has no intention of attacking himself. Unless there is no one in front of him three meters, he will pass the ball as soon as possible. Pierce didn't leave his original position after conceding the ball. He still made a catch and shoot posture. Anderson threw the ball out of his hand. This time Pierce made another three-pointer!
Pierce, who had adjusted his center, made the ball hollow into the net this time, with a three-pointer, and the Timberwolves who had just approached the score were hit.
"Without Garnett, this team is nothing." Leon saw Pierce score a goal and sat back on his bench. One round of offense, the Timberwolves with Garnett and the Timberwolves without him are two teams. If Garnett is on the field, he will first put pressure on Batty and will not let him pass the ball to Pierce so comfortably. Secondly, he won't let Anderson grab the offensive rebound so easily. Even if he does, he will actively fight to delay Anderson's outward pass and provide time for outside players to make up for the miss.
But without Garnett, the Timberwolves’ defense was riddled with holes. At the same time, the Timberwolves’ offense also lacked a selfless sharer and organizer. The Celtics suddenly used Pitino’s full court press. For a while, Arenas succeeded in stealing the old Stokeland, and then single-handedly attacked and scored two more points. The difference between the two sides was opened to 8 points. Garnett’s previous efforts were ruined in tens of seconds. Sanders had to complain to the players reluctantly, then spread his hand and shook his head. Sometimes he didn’t. Knowing how to train this group of tattered leaves, a clever woman can hardly cook without rice.
Sanders still gritted his teeth and persisted for a minute. With the help of a short timeout, he put Garnett on the field again, and the Timberwolves' situation stabilized again. It’s just that Garnett’s biggest flaw is that his scoring ability is slightly inadequate compared to other super insiders~EbookFREE.me~ The scoring power is poor, the scoring method is single, and the attacking ability has not reached the historical level, no matter how he screens for his teammates. The ball, the Timberwolves are at this level. Even so, Garnett also sent out 4 assists in the first half and 6 assists in the whole game. His passing level within the pass is undoubtedly the best in the league.
By the third quarter, when the Celtics played a 19:6 super attack wave, Leon knew that the game was over. There is never a lack of miracles in the NBA, but miracles also have prerequisites. The Timberwolves currently seem to have no conditions for miracles. When the Celtics made 30 three-pointers and hit 14 of them, the Timberwolves made eight three-pointers. They are so mediocre, mediocre players, mediocre tactics, mediocre style of play, only the fans here are enthusiastic and loyal enough, coach Philip Sanders is a good enlightenment mentor, the only outstanding highlight is the Timberwolves. The only sign of this is Kevin Garnett.
When the Celtics defeated the Timberwolves by a big score of 114:99, Leon first shook hands with Sanders, then immediately walked to Garnett and stopped him. Leon did not speak, he watched the loss. Garnett, whose eyes were a little lonely behind the ball, shook his hand tightly, then gave him a strong hug, patted his and left, and went to celebrate the victory with the players.
The player's career has several seven years. (To be continued.)