Chapter 89: Pierce's substitute

After losing to Philadelphia, the Celtics conducted two days of targeted training in Waltham. With the help of Jimmy Young, Leon edited the game against Philadelphia in detail. Every mistake, every bad offensive choice, and every absent-mindedness on the defensive end all come together and show them to the players in the small meeting before training. Leon specially put Antoine Walker in the first row and let him see every three-pointer he made in the game, a total of 11 goals, no hits.
　　 "If you draw another four-point line outside the three-point line, will your three-point shots be less? Because you ran to shoot the four-pointers?" Leon satirically satirized Walker in the small meeting. Leon is not a person who likes to take advantage of words. There is an endless stream of trash talking in the NBA. He can collect a basket of trash talking two hours on the sidelines, but he is still willing to communicate with anyone in a normal and serious tone. It's just that this time he was really off by Walker. With 0 three-pointers in 11, he actually has a better choice for almost every shot.
　　 This is the difference between Leon and O'Brien when they were assistant coaches. O'Brien chose to be a good person, a friendly coach who is good at comforting players and players and is supported by everyone. Leon, on the contrary, is kind to the players but never pleased. He has a stubborn temper, but he is very flexible in dealing with problems. In short, he acted very well, neither let the players think that he was rigid and dogmatic and unreasonable and alienated him, nor would he give people the image of being good and bully. In short, in the Celtics, there are no more than three people who dare to directly criticize the team's top star. Leon is one of them, and Walker has nothing to say.
　　Walker is the number one star of the Celtics, but in terms of his personality, he is not a boss at all. He is joking and joking, and the style of the field is also focused on offensive and defensive, often taking small steps and lazily. He doesn’t have any arrogance off the court, and he mixes with every young player. After the game, he likes to hang out in bars and nightclubs, drink wine and dance, do something rich people love to do, sleep at night and do everything. Everything is fine, then training and participating in competitions. In particular, the team has Dennis Rodman and Chris Anderson, an old one and two young people, and the three of them can blow up a nightclub. Although he was superb on the court, he was given the nickname "Comedy" because of his funny celebratory movements and his slightly funny technical characteristics. From this we can see how his personality is.
　　 Therefore, facing Leon's irony, he lowered his head to admit his mistake, and couldn't help covering his mouth and snickering. He thought Leon's metaphor was quite interesting. So when a reporter asked him why he likes to shoot three-pointers so much, he replied "because there is no four-point line" without thinking about it.
In comparison, Paul Pierce, another level of Gemini, is much more mature and stable, especially after being stabbed in the summer, he has a new perception and perspective on life and basketball, and he has also begun to adopt a more serious and serious attitude. Treat your career. Therefore, his face was very ugly throughout the small meeting. He did not feel complacent and escaped because he was the best player in that game, but was frustrated that he could not lead the whole team well. Start to think of yourself as the leader of the team, pay for victory, and take responsibility.
Regardless of the difference between the two, the effect of this small meeting and targeted training is quite significant. In the next home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Walker showed great power and scored 33 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. The quasi-three-double data swept away the depression of the last game on the belly of the Eastern Conference. In this game, he made three-pointers very cautiously, only three shots but two hits, giving full play to his offensive talents, and Paul Pierce who scored 25 points to lead the team 105:95, 10 points advantage. Conquer the opponent easily.
　　 But in the next game against the Utah Jazz on December 21st, some small accidents happened.
After experiencing the glory of the late 1990s, the Jazz will inevitably decline step by step along with the aging of Karl Malone and Stockton, but the strong elders still persist in Salt Lake City, and Karl Malone can still do He played efficiently and steadily in 40 minutes and scored 20 points. The body that has been exercising all the year round makes people hardly feel that this is a 38-year-old veteran. Stockton suffered a serious knee injury after his strength was greatly reduced, but his form this season has recovered, with points and assists picking up. But the Jazz is no longer the Jazz who made two finals against the Bulls.
In this regular season in Boston, Malone once again met his old opponent Dennis Rodman. The two old guys who were nearly unconvinced are much more friendly, but Malone still wears the same jazz jersey for 20 years. Rodman changed his disguise like a chameleon. The rigorous but obviously old Jazz struggled for three quarters at the North Shore Garden Arena, and was finally overwhelmed by the young and impactful Celtics in the fourth quarter, such as Arenas, Pierce, Walker, and even Reid with plenty of energy. They have tirelessly attacked the Jazz's inside line, and the Jazz inside line dominated by rookie Jamal Collins can't withstand the spears of the Green Rangers. The point difference was pulled to 11 points.
When Paul Pierce made a beautiful break dunk on Malone's head and screamed at the sky with his fists in both hands, Malone, who had been fed up, finally couldn't bear to swing his iron elbow in the next attack. He used it once. The chance of misplaced singles rushed to Pierce, hitting the inside and lifting his iron elbow directly with the ball in both hands, and his left elbow hit Pierce's chin with a heavy blow. Pierce was completely stunned. At this time, Chris Anderson was the first to rush out of the bench to fight Malone. Dennis Rodman stepped forward and grabbed Anderson. Then he pointed to Malone’s nose and cursed him. It's a raise.
Malone looked indifferent. He looked down at Pierce and patted him, then walked consciously to the locker room passage, accepting the crazy scolding from the fans, and left the stadium with his head down. He was violated by the referee. Deported for a foul. Ma Long has been in the NBA with an iron elbow for more than ten years, and countless players have fallen under his elbow, including some superstars. He has never been polite. Once he is in a hurry, he will vent his anger.
　　 Leon didn't have the time to argue with Malone at this time. Although Leon is not necessarily a phony postman if he opens the ring to fight Leon, but now he is more concerned about Pierce's injury. Pierce's jaw was hit like this, and the whole person was stunned. The team doctor came up to do an emergency bandaging and resuscitation. Pierce slowly came to his senses. With the help of his teammates and staff, he sat on the sidelines for a while, and felt his mind sober. Some left the court, and it seemed they were going to do a brain CT in the backstage to see if there was a possible concussion.
The Boston fans are also well-informed. Such small accidents have long been ignored. The stadium quickly returned to normal. The game also lost suspense. The Jazz lost their minds, lost the ball and lost, the Celtics He won two consecutive victories at home.
However, the Celtics' problems followed. In the post-match inspection, Paul Pierce was diagnosed with a minor concussion and needed a week of rest to return to the game, which means that he will miss three to four games. game. After experiencing difficulties at the beginning of the season, to the bottoming out after the coaching change~EbookFREE.me~ The current team's state is stabilizing, with a record of 12 wins and 12 losses ranking just eighth in the East and ninth. The Hornets have only one win margin. And then, the Celtics will face a difficult schedule of four consecutive West West.
　　 In the past two years, the difference between the strength of the Eastern and Western teams has grown. Eastern teams to the Western Conference to play away games are almost giving away heads, while the strong Western teams to the Eastern Conference are regarded as traveling and relaxing. The Celtics' original internal strength is a flaw, and without the best attacker on the outside, this road trip can be described as horrendous.
On December 23, the last home game before the away trip, the Celtics played against the Grizzlies in the West. The last dinner before the departure was decided after Leon and Carol discussed repeatedly before the game. Dennis- Rodman replaced Pierce in the start, and then let Antoine Walker play the small forward position. However, this trick did not have a particularly significant effect. Without Pierce, the team's firepower was greatly reduced. Dennis Rodman had restricted the young Paul Gasol, but there was no Sean pinned by Pierce. -Battier, rarely used offense to tear apart the Celtics defense.
　　 The game was not difficult but very anxious. The Celtics kept a weak lead, while the Grizzlies kept fighting until Carol decided to replace Joe Johnson in the third quarter.
When Johnson scored 7 points on Sean Battier with a skilful dribble and unpretentious mid-range jumper, and scored a 2 plus 1, Carroll and Leon knew that the trip to the West In, Pierce’s substitute should have been found.
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