The day after defeating the Raptors at home, the Knicks began preparing for the upcoming second road game against the Raptors. Between the two games, the league arranged a day's rest.
However, Lionel Hollins canceled the rest day and turned it into a training day because of serious defensive problems in the previous game.
For a time, there was a lot of dissatisfaction within the team, mainly because the gangsters were dissatisfied with Hollins' decision. Lin Yu and the group of young players who were already centered around him had nothing to do with the sudden increase and this training day.
Opinion.
Although there was an additional training day, Hollins did not arrange high-intensity training on this training day. He just spent some time practicing tactics in order to speed up the running-in process.
Because there was a game the next day, Lin Yu also chose to reduce the intensity of training. After practicing for a while, he sat on the sidelines to rest.
At this time, Hollins came over, as if he wanted to chat with Lin Yu for a while.
"While you were in New Orleans for the All-Star Game, I called Isiah Thomas."
Hollins opened his mouth and mentioned that he called the Smiling Assassin. Lin Yu was confused, but still smiled and asked: "Didn't he travel to Europe?"
"Yes, he said he is in Italy now, and then congratulated me on becoming his successor."
"very sour."
Lin Yu immediately judged that the Smiling Assassin's congratulations must have a sour taste. Hollins smiled, but did not deny it, and continued: "I accepted his congratulations, and then asked him, what about Zach Lang?
What do you think of Dov, a player who has gorgeous statistics but can’t lead his team to win?”
Lin Yu listened intently, and he suddenly wanted to know what the gangsters thought of Isiah Thomas's dealings with him.
"He didn't answer my question. Instead, he told me that he knew Zach was a cancer and a brush, but he still made the deal just because it could relieve Steve Francis of his even worse deal.
Contracts."
"I didn't get the answer I wanted, so I asked again, Zach has the ability but doesn't know how to use it correctly. Have you given him any guidance?"
"Isiah Thomas told me that he just asked Zach to do something again and again, but then he found that Zach didn't listen and the problems with other people on the team became more serious, so he gave up.
Zach’s guidance.”
Lin Yu was even more confused. Why did Hollins say this to him?
Soon, Hollins smiled and told Lin Yu: "So, from this, I came to a conclusion, that is, if you want to make Zach obedient, you have to follow his own wishes and motivate him."
Speaking of this, Lin Yu finally realized: "So, this is why you encouraged Zach in the last game?"
Hollins nodded and told Lin Yu: "Today's training is also for Zach."
Also for Randolph?
Lin Yu scratched his head and found that Hollins seemed to have his own ideas about training players, and he thought more deeply than Lin Yu.
Lin Yu can roughly guess the next step for Hollins to train Randolph.
After defeating the Raptors at home, the headlines reported by major media were:
"He scored another 37 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. China Lin led New York to a winning streak."
"New York's new king competes with the Dragon King, and the defense wins in the second half!"
"The Dragon King scored 34 points and 13 rebounds, lost to the New York Knicks, and gave his opponent two consecutive victories."
"..."
Almost all the headlines were occupied by Lin Yu, and Bosh also grabbed some. Mainly because this guy performed well in the first half, but his hips were stretched in the second half. His statistics throughout the game were not bad at all, which attracted some attention.
Even in the loss, Bosh still succeeded in making Randolph a backdrop. When this member of the 2003 Platinum Generation first entered the league, he was questioned about his soft style of play and his difficulty in becoming a great player. He was even rumored to be fierce.
The Dragons drafted Andre Bargnani and decided to abandon his rumors.
The result was that Bargnani had nothing to show for his two seasons in the NBA. On the contrary, Bosh relied on his outstanding performance in the past two seasons to gradually win back the trust of the Raptors management and gain recognition from all parties.
Recognition from all sides.
Lin Yu also knows that Bosh will soon usher in his peak season. Relying on his 24+10 performance in the season before joining the team, he became seventh in the MVP rankings for the season. If this trend continues, he will
Become the best power forward in the Mesozoic era and inherit the legacy of Duncan, Garnett and Nowitzki.
However, Bosh chose the most difficult road after all...
By saying so much, what I want to express is that even though Bosh lost, he still asked Randolph to serve as a background board, and it was the kind of background board that was not mentioned at all after the game.
Both are power forwards. Randolph was outplayed in the first half and regained some ground in the second half, but was ignored by a group of media who only looked at the post-game statistics: it was not Lin Yu who actually decided the outcome, but Lin Yu who improved himself in the second half.
Randolph.
Randolph obviously cares about this, and this is Lionel Hollins' opportunity.
After the training, Hollins did not directly announce the disbandment, but called Randolph's name and kept him.
When the training field was empty, Hollins clutched a handful of newspapers and magazines and read the media reports after the last game to Randolph, who was alone on the court.
There was nothing wrong with the report itself, but as he read it, Randolph's expression started to look wrong.
At this time, Hollins suddenly asked: "Zach, I can't remember clearly, what are your average statistics this season?"
This time, Randolph did not refuse to answer, but told Hollins angrily: "20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2 assists."
"Then let's take a look at the statistics of Chris Bosh, the so-called representative of the Mesozoic power forward in the media, who scores high points in the air... 22.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1 block. He doesn't seem to have any.
Much taller than you."
Hollins stated the data very plainly, stared at Randolph's expression, and continued: "I don't want to repeat anything, I just want to tell you, Zach, you are no worse than Chris Bosh, he is
In the Mesozoic Era, you are the same. If you want, you will be better than him, because he is a softie and you are not."
Zach Randolph frowned and did not respond.
Hollins didn't expect him to get a response. He patted Randolph on the shoulder and left without saying a word.
"Our opponent will be the Raptors in the next game. I hope your name will appear on the headlines of the next game."
Zach Randolph was still frowning, but after Hollins left, he also left immediately. Different from the previous arrangement after training, he went home directly.