On October 26, 2009, there was only one day left before the start of the new season.
After the training camp ended, the entire Warriors team was in high spirits and full of expectations for the new season.
At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, as soon as Deng Fang returned to the office after training, Cohan opened the door and walked in.
"Deng Fang, I heard that you have done a good job. Congratulations." Cohan said with a smile.
At first, Cohan didn't take Deng Fang seriously. He just wanted to give Upton some face and let Deng Fang play for a while. After the opening game, the two sides broke up amicably.
Unexpectedly, good news kept coming from general manager Tim, which surprised Cohan.
Of course, Cohan must be happy that the team has improved.
However, at the beginning of every season, everyone is full of hope for the future of the team, and most of it is good news.
As a weak team, it can win at least one lottery pick almost every year. If this lottery pick is not full of talent, if the team is not optimistic about him, how can it draft him?
Moreover, every big team will make some transactions during the offseason.
If you don't feel that the team will be better after the trade, how can the deal be done?
In short, no matter how bad it is, every team is full of hope before the start of the new season, and there is not a lot of good news.
Therefore, although good news continues, Cohan is still not optimistic about Deng Fang's coaching prospects.
Cohan's thinking is normal.
NBA head coaching is a very professional and work-intensive job.
Many famous coaches who have been coaching in the NBA for decades have been fired.
If the record is not ideal, the first thing that comes to mind is to fire the head coach.
How many assistant coaches have spent their whole lives in the NBA and still cannot become a head coach.
For a novice like Deng Fang who has never even played professional basketball, it is almost impossible for him to succeed as a head coach as soon as he comes up.
Unless a miracle happens.
What Cohan didn't know was that a miracle really happened to Deng Fang...
So it's not Cohan's fault.
Cohan believes that the good news about the team is mainly due to Deng Fang's miraculous healing ability.
So today he came to see Deng Fang specifically.
In response to Cohan's compliment, Deng Fang nodded and said in a very Western way: "Thank you!"
Cohan smiled and said, "Mr. Deng, I'm here to talk to you about the contract."
Deng Fang was a little surprised and made a listening gesture.
"Based on your performance, I think we need to sign a new contract." Cohan said: "I think you are more suitable to be the team's doctor, so I want to void the previous contract and sign a new contract."
Seeing Deng Fang frowning, Cohan quickly said: "Don't worry, the annual salary is at least three times that of the previous team doctor! Three million a year! You can make any other requests."
Deng Fang understood, but Cohan still didn't believe in his ability to lead the team.
But he was afraid that he would be poached by other teams after losing the opening game.
A person like Deng Fang with miraculous healing abilities is a priceless treasure to every NBA team!
Imagine no longer worrying about injuries to players on your team, and imagine no longer worrying about potential injuries to players during the draft. How exciting that would be!
So Cohan came here early because he wanted to keep Deng Fang.
Deng Fang smiled and said: "No need, Mr. Cohan, I am very confident in my coaching ability. We will not lose the opening game, and the team's record will not be lower than 50%."
Cohan frowned: "Mr. Deng, I know you are very confident, but it is not easy to be a head coach in the NBA. Although the annual salary is higher, it is very unstable. Unlike team doctors, although the salary is less, the salary is very unstable.
There is no risk and you can keep doing it.”
Deng Fang shook his head and said: "Thank you for your kindness, but I just want to be the head coach. I want to personally lead the Warriors to win the championship."
Cohan shrugged, with regret on his face: "Well, I appreciate your attitude very much. I also hope you can succeed, but please remember that once you are frustrated in leading the team and you can no longer be the head coach, the team will still welcome you.
If you stay, we can sit down and discuss the specific conditions."
Deng Fang nodded and said: "Thank you!"
Cohan shook hands with Deng Fang and left the room with regret.
…
On October 27, the NBA 09-10 season begins.
There are four opening games in total, all of which are highlights.
The first game is a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals, with the Green Army facing off against the Cavaliers.
Garnett missed the entire playoffs last season due to injury. After recuperation, the Celtics finally welcomed back a healthy Garnett this season.
After a fierce battle, the Celtics finally defeated the Cavaliers 95:89 and got a good start to the season.
Little Emperor James made 12 of 22 shots and scored 38 points, but he was helpless with four fists and ultimately lost the game.
The second game is the Wizards led by General Arenas versus the Mavericks led by Nowitzki.
In the end, the Wizards defeated the Mavericks 102:91.
The third game was a duel between the two teams in Los Angeles. In the end, the powerful Lakers defeated the Clippers 99:92.
The last game was between two teams that faced off in the first round of last season. The Trail Blazers finally defeated the Rockets 96:87, avenging their elimination from the playoffs last season.
As a weak team, the Warriors did not play on the first day.
The next day the Warriors will face the challenge of the Rockets at home.
Deng Fang led the coaching staff to watch the video and analyze it one by one, and then asked the assistant coach to assign tasks to each player.
Each team has its own defensive system and defensive strategy, but when facing different opponents, certain fine-tuning is still required.
Of course, this job is very troublesome and tedious, and many coaches directly leave it to assistant coaches.
Deng Fang is different. On the one hand, as a senior fan, he is very familiar with these players and does not need to put in too much effort.
On the other hand, he is also interested in doing these things - he used to want to watch the football even if he didn't pay for it, but now he has to pay to watch the football. Wouldn't it be great?
After the arrangement is completed, it is targeted training.
After the training, a large number of reporters gathered around.
Due to Deng Fang's shocking remarks during this period and the Warriors' frequent trading actions, many reporters are very interested in Deng Fang.
Reporters simply don’t like such a promising head coach!
Generally speaking, regardless of whether they are old enemies or not, and whether the opponent is really strong or not, as a rule, the head coaches of both teams have to talk to each other during pre-game interviews.
If the opponent is really capable, then it should be clear - "the opponent is the best in the league" and "the opponent is the most powerful team competing for the championship."
If the opponent's strength is average, then change the strategy - "the opponent's offensive firepower is very good", "the opponent's defense is very good".
Even if your opponent is at the bottom of the league, you still have to express your gratitude tactfully - "Although the opponent has been having a hard time lately, their lineup cannot be underestimated" and "The opponent is playing very energetically."
The reporters’ ears were almost scratched by these gossips!
So boring!
Look how good Deng Fang is!
People don’t care about this at all!
"The Warriors have undergone a lot of changes this summer. Most of the team now has new players, many of whom are first- and second-year rookies. In this case, what do you think is the winning rate against the Rockets tomorrow?"
"Ten percent! We can't lose!"
"Why are you so confident?"
"Because the Rockets are so different from us in terms of strength, there is no suspense!"
"So confident, how many points do you think we can win?"
"Let's start in 30 minutes!"
"What are your expectations for Curry's performance tomorrow?"
"Based on my contacts during this period, I think Curry is a very low-key player. As his first NBA game, Curry should not try his best, and the data should not be too impressive. At most, it will be broken.
A rookie debut record..."
"I heard that you strongly encourage point guards to shoot three-pointers, which is different from the philosophy of many coaches. So how many three-pointers do you think Curry will take tomorrow?"
"The more the merrier! Not letting Curry shoot three-pointers would be a crime!"
