The Whip of the God of Basketball

In the nearly three months since he came to the Celtics, Leon has learned everything related to basketball, ranging from history to the role of players' knee pads. He has never touched the scope of basketball tactics.

Although he showed his unparalleled talent in basketball skills and tactics when he was in Marshfield, which benefited from his super memory ability and deduction ability, Auerbach always warned Leon not to be a basketball player. When scouting, read books related to basketball tactics, and don't learn skills and tactics in your daily work.

Auerbach hopes that he will focus on identifying and judging players' abilities, and be able to understand the basic laws of basketball, which is why he goes to the state library to read books every day in Boston.

As a basketball person who has not experienced the baptism of college basketball and professional league, the lack of direct and immersive experience of basketball is Leon's congenital deficiency. Auerbach hopes that he can make up for it as much as possible in video and written materials these flaws.

As for basketball tactics, Auerbach knew that Leon had a superb memory and he could remember all the basketball tactics in his mind as long as he followed the tactics rules and diagrams in the book.

But let him learn the tactics on paper but not give him the opportunity to use them. In the end, he is likely to be bound by the rules and regulations of tactics, becoming a tactical analyst who can only talk about tactics on paper, but unable to become a head coach who plans strategies.

"The knowledge of basketball tactics is not written in books for you to take as your standard since the invention of basketball by Professor Smith. They are constantly being discovered and summarized in the practice of basketball competition. If possible, I hope you can summarize the basketball court by yourself When you have your own experience, then refer to the precious knowledge of the predecessors, that kind of learning will be more meaningful." This is what Auerbach wrote in a letter to Leon .

That's right, Auerbach, an old antique, still doesn't use text messages in this era, but insists on handwriting letters and letting the postman deliver his instructions.

After Leon received the letter, he stacked the letter paper neatly, then set fire to it and flushed the toilet. After all, he has all the important things to write down in his mind, and this passage will guide Leon for a long time.

…………………

The Celtics' training camp will last about four weeks in total, and about two weeks after the start of the training camp, that is, on October 11, the NBA preseason will kick off with the training camp up.

For two weeks, whether it is long or not, everything in the training camp is familiar to those old players. What they really need to care about is whether their state can support themselves in the team. status.

For new players, two weeks is still too short, especially rookies, before they have time to adapt to everything in a professional team, they will be pushed onto the field.

The Celtics have a total of eight games in this preseason, all of which are against Eastern teams. They will play at their home court, at the TD North Shore Garden, where they will welcome the rising star of the East, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Because there was a game on the night of the 11th, the training volume of the training camp was halved. After a simple shooting practice and physical training in the morning, Pitino announced his disbandment and asked to gather at the TD North Shore Garden at around 5 p.m. One hour of joint practice, of course, at that time the training will not be led by him, but will be handed over to O'Brien.

Obviously, Pitino is gradually losing his power. Auerbach is constantly eroding Pitino's prestige and leadership through influence. He revealed to reporters that he will miss the first game of the preseason due to physical reasons, and O'Brien will be in charge of the team's command.

O'Brien became the interim head coach, Vogel served as the interim assistant coach, and Leon also assumed the title of the second interim assistant coach and will appear on the bench.

"Assistant coach, temporary, and second, this is the coach with the most attributive words I have ever seen. I have been a temporary worker for much longer than a regular worker in my life. Maybe it is also temporary just like my life. Right..." Seeing his name on the team roster submitted by the team, Leon couldn't help but joked. It actually makes sense when you think about it, his current life is really temporary.

However, the Celtics have to face a new trouble, and that is O'Brien's physical condition.

If Pitino had to be "unwell" due to pressure, then O'Brien was really unwell. After seven or eight days of continuous training, the physical load of the assistant coaches was also quite heavy, especially their throats. Roaring at high decibels every day.

O'Brien has been feeling uncomfortable in his throat since yesterday. On the 11th, his throat was red and swollen. It was obviously an upper respiratory tract infection. He felt as if a piece of cotton that was constantly absorbing water was stuffed in his throat, which was both blocked and dry. He could no longer command loudly during training, he could only draw on the tactical board and explain the training content to the players with a normal voice.

O'Brien asked Chris Wallace for advice, and Wallace believed that it was impossible to allow Vogel or Leon to direct the game, and he could not allow Pitino to "break his promise" in the head coach's seat, so Our clever Mr. Wallace came up with a very good idea. He decided to let O'Brien write down the contents of his instructions on a note, and then handed it to Leon or Vogel, and let them shout to the court. Players on listen.

This sounds like a feasible solution, so the only question is, which one has a louder voice, Leon or Vogel.

…………………

At five o'clock in the evening, many players have arrived at the arena on time, except for Dennis Rodman, who did not come to the training in the morning. According to Leon's news, because there is a game today, Rodman went to a nightclub overnight last night Dadan went, and he must be catching up on sleep during the day. As for whether he will come to participate in the game at night, it depends on Rodman's mood.

However, Rodman's recent training attitude is still quite good. Although he arrives late and leaves early every day, he is very devoted to training, and he also obeys the coach's arrangement and gets along with his teammates in harmony. And there was no trouble in Boston, just drinking and playing with women, which was the same as he was in any city. Especially after he knew that it was Auerbach who decided to hold a separate signing meeting for him, he publicly expressed in the media that he was willing to do his best for Auerbach.

Of course, not many people would take what he said seriously, but at six o'clock he still appeared in the Celtics' large locker room at the North Shore Garden Arena. Leon looked at his sleepy eyes and knew that he must have been tossing around for a long time at night, and he ran directly to the arena just after waking up during the day.

"I thought you went to the away locker room." Leon joked to Rodman, and Rodman listened and said: "I don't want to go into the away locker room in Boston again in my life."

The Celtics' away locker room in the past has always been known as terrible. During the Pistons period, Rodman visited Boston many times in the playoffs. At that time, they were still playing in Boston Garden Square. Dirtiest, shabby, inhuman locker room ever. Thinking about Rodman now makes me shudder.

"I heard you're an assistant coach, kid." Rodman said to Leon while changing clothes. Today Leon wore a light gray suit and a yellow striped tie. Slightly curly hair, the whole is a personable Italian model.

"That's right, it's just temporary, the second temporary assistant coach. My main job is the megaphone. O'Brien's voice is not very good today." Leon responded, at this time he was sorting out the information of the entire Milwaukee Bucks team , This year, the Bucks have made a slight reinforcement on the basis of last year's main lineup. There is no big deal, and there is nothing to gain in the draft. However, according to industry observations, if there are fewer injuries this season, the Bucks' record is likely. There will be a big improvement, so Leon's most important job is to collect information about the Bucks through the preseason.

Because of being late, Rodman did not catch up with the team's joint training before the game, but he still appeared on the team's starting list. This is also what Auerbach meant. There's no point in being on the bench.

It is completely different from the training venues used in the summer league. The TD North Shore Garden Arena is an official NBA venue in the true sense. The cost can accommodate 20,000 spectators. Leon stands on one side of the court and looks up to see the auditorium on the other side. topmost.

A huge arena.

As the time approached the game, more and more people were in the stadium, the lights were turned on one by one, the staff was busy setting up all the facilities, the reporters were all in place, and the technical desk was doing final adjustments. The referees are discussing something, the players are warming up on the field, the coaching staff is chatting, and the audience is chewing popcorn and drinking soda.

The real NBA game is about to start like this.