The Whip of the God of Basketball

After losing to Philadelphia, the Celtics conducted two days of targeted training in Waltham. With the help of Jimmy Young, Leon carefully edited the game against Philadelphia. Every turnover, every poor offensive pick and every defensive inattentiveness all came together and were shown to the players in the pre-practice briefing. Leon specifically put Antoine Walker in the first row and let him see every three-pointer he made in the game. There were a total of 11 goals and none of them were hit.

"If you draw a four-point line outside the three-point line, will your three-point shots be less? Because you ran to shoot four-pointers?" Leon satirized Walker unabashedly in the small meeting. Leon is not a person who likes to take advantage of words. There is an endless stream of trash talk in the NBA. He can collect a lot of trash talk after standing on the sidelines for two hours, but he is still willing to communicate with anyone in a normal and serious tone. It's just that this time he was really pissed off by Walker. He made 0 of 11 three-pointers, and almost every shot actually had a better choice.

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 getting along with them, and is supported by everyone. On the contrary, Leon is kind but never flattering to the players, has a straight and stubborn temper, but is very flexible when dealing with problems. In short, he acts very well. He neither makes the players alienate him because he is rigid, dogmatic, and impersonal, nor does he give people the image of a good old man who is easy to bully. In short, in the Celtics, there are no more than three people who dare to directly criticize the team's top star, and Leon is one of them, and Walker has nothing to say.

Although Walker is the number one star of the Celtics, he is not a boss at all in terms of personality. He is joking and laughing on weekdays, and his style on the court is also heavy on offense and light on defense. He doesn't have any airs off the court, he can hang out with every young player, after the game, he likes to hang out in bars and nightclubs, drink wine, dance and do things that rich people love to do, and he can do everything when he sleeps at night It's all good, then continue training and participating in competitions. Especially the team has Dennis Rodman, Chris Anderson, the old and the young, and two playboys. Together, the three of them can blow up a nightclub. Although he has superb skills on the court, he was also nicknamed "comedy" because of the slightly funny technical characteristics of his funny celebratory movements, which shows the personality of this gentleman.

So facing Leon's sarcasm, he bowed his head to admit his mistake, and at the same time couldn't help covering his mouth and giggling. 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 without thinking, "Because there is no four-point line", looking like a funny king.

In comparison, the other level of Gemini, Paul Pierce, is much more mature and stable. Especially after being stabbed in the summer, he has a new understanding and view of life and basketball, and he has also begun to use a more serious and serious attitude. Treat yourself to a career. So his face was very ugly throughout the small meeting. He was not complacent because he was the best player in that game and felt that he had escaped a catastrophe, but was frustrated because he could not lead the entire team well. Start to regard yourself as the leader of the team, pay for the victory and be responsible.

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 his prowess and scored 33 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. The quasi-triple-double data swept away the depression of the last game on the body of the Eastern Conference. In this game, he was very cautious in his three-point shots. He only made three shots but hit two. He gave full play to his talent on the offensive end. Together with Paul Pierce who scored 25 points, he led the team to a 105:95, 10-point advantage Easily defeat opponents.

But in the next game against the Utah Jazz on December 21, some minor accidents happened.

After experiencing the glory in the late 1990s, the Jazz inevitably declined step by step with the aging of Karl Malone and Stockton, but the strong two elders still persisted in Salt Lake City, and Karl Malone can still Efficiently and steadily playing 40 minutes and scoring 20 points, and the body that has been exercising all year round makes it impossible to feel that this is a 38-year-old veteran. Stockton's strength has been greatly reduced after experiencing a serious knee injury, but this season his state has recovered, and his scoring and assists are 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 are almost in their prime are friendly, but Malone still wears the Jazz jersey that has not changed for 20 years. Rodman changed himself into a new disguise like a chameleon. The tactically sound but obviously old Jazz struggled for three quarters in the North Shore Garden Arena, and was finally overwhelmed by the young and impactful Celtics in the fourth quarter. The energetic Arenas, Pierce, Walker and even Reed They all tirelessly attacked the Jazz's inside line. The Jazz's inside line dominated by rookie Jamal Collins simply couldn't withstand the spears of the Green Rangers. The point difference was suddenly opened to 11 points.

When Paul Pierce completed a beautiful breakthrough dunk on Malone's head and roared to the sky with both hands clenched, Malone, who had had enough, finally couldn't help swinging his iron elbow in the next attack. The chance of misplaced singles rushed to Pierce, reached the inside line with both hands holding the ball and directly raised his iron elbow, and hit Pierce's chin with a heavy blow with his left elbow, bleeding profusely for a while. Pierce was stunned. At this time, Chris Anderson was the first to rush out from the bench to fight Malone. Dennis Rodman stepped forward to hold Anderson, and then he pointed at Malone's nose and yelled at him. It's a bastard.

Ma Long looked indifferent, looked down at Pierce and patted him, and then walked to the locker room aisle consciously, while accepting the crazy shouts from the fans, he left the field with his head down. He was violated by the referee Foul expulsion. Malone's iron elbow has been rampant in the NBA for more than ten years. Countless players have fallen under his elbow, including some superstars.

Leon didn't have the time to argue with Malone at this time. Although Leon might not be a postman if he opened the ring to fight, he was more concerned about Pierce's injury now. Pierce's chin was hit like this, and he was stunned. The team doctor came up and performed an emergency bandage and resuscitation. Pierce slowly came to his senses. With the support of his teammates and staff, he sat on the sidelines for a while, feeling his mind cleared. Some just left the stadium, and it seems that they are going backstage to do a brain CT to see if there is a possibility of concussion.

The fans in Boston are well-informed. Such small accidents have long been ignored. The stadium quickly returned to normal, and the game lost its suspense. They have won two consecutive victories at home.

However, the Celtics' problems followed. In the examination after the game, Paul Pierce was diagnosed with a slight concussion and needed to rest for about a week before returning to the game, which means that he will miss three to four games. Contest. After experiencing difficulties at the beginning of the season and rebounding after the coaching change, the current state of the team tends to be stable. With a record of 12 wins and 12 losses, it just ranks eighth in the Eastern Conference, only one game away from the ninth-ranked Hornets. . And next, the Celtics will face a difficult schedule of four consecutive Western Conference.

In the past two years, the gap between the strength of the eastern and western teams has become larger and larger. The eastern team's away game in the west is almost a gift, while the western strong team's visit to the east is considered tourism and relaxation. The Celtics' internal strength is a flaw, and without the best attacker on the outside, this road trip can be described as ominous.

On December 23, the last home game before the road trip, the Celtics played against the Grizzlies in the Western Conference. The last dinner before the departure was decided after repeated discussions between Leon and Carroll before the game. Dennis - Rodman started in place of Pierce and then played Antoine Walker at small forward. However, this trick did not have a particularly significant effect. After the absence of Pierce, the team's firepower was greatly reduced. Dennis Rodman firmly restrained the young Paul Gasol, but without Pierce to restrain Sean -Battier, who rarely used offense to tear apart the Celtics' defense.

The game was not difficult but very anxious, the Celtics have maintained a weak lead, and the Grizzlies relentlessly fought until the third quarter when Carroll decided to replace Joe Johnson.

Carroll and Leon both knew when Johnson scored seven points in a row over Shane Battier with skillful dribbling and an unpretentious mid-range jumper and made a 2-plus-1. Among them, Pierce's replacement should have been found.

A person's destiny must of course depend on self-struggle, but opportunities and luck must also be considered.