On January 7th, US time, the Celtics were defeated at home by the Hawks, who were full of firepower from the outside.
The next day in back-to-back away games, the exhausted Celtics lost again to the Wizards, who also had full perimeter firepower. After two consecutive losses, the Celtics' record dropped below 50% again.
The team's record keeps falling all the time, and even Doc Rivers' big heart can't stand it anymore.
On the training day, Celtic's training was in full swing, and every player was training very seriously.
When it comes to training alone, Doc Rivers is very satisfied. Lin Yu, who trains diligently, has inspired the entire Celtics team to train enthusiastically.
Before Lin Yu's arrival, Brian Scalabrine, who was the first to arrive and the last to leave the training facility every day, was the hardest working player on the Celtics, but White Mamba's hard training did not inspire his teammates.
It wasn't until Lin Yu started practicing frantically four times a day that the team's coach began to doubt his life, which gradually affected his Celtics teammates.
Every time the Celtics lost, Pierce would stay at the North Shore Garden Arena and practice until he was exhausted before going home;
Tony Allen, who suddenly started working hard a few days ago, is the third one to arrive at the training facility every day and the last one to leave...
The Celtics' training enthusiasm is high, but the team's record has never improved.
In the lively training hall, amid the shouts and shouts, Danny Ainge stood on the sidelines wearing a training uniform.
Doc Rivers frowned. Ainge rarely came back to the training ground. He obviously came with bad intentions.
"Danny, what's up? Are you planning to guest coach?"
Jim Bravo and Doc Rivers are one, and he also knows very well that Angie's presence here means trouble is coming.
He was joking and contradicting Angie.
Angie smiled, turned around and stood next to Rivers without speaking to Jimmy Bravo.
"Doug, the board of directors is dissatisfied with the team's record. They don't want to see the team always wandering on the edge of the playoffs. The Celtics with Paul Pierce, Gariki Davis, should be at the top of the Eastern Conference.
A strong team, just like last season."
Angie said this without any emotion.
Rivers, who was never good at hiding his feelings, suddenly frowned, completely showing his dissatisfaction.
"Hey, Danny, what you said is very irresponsible. You should understand that compared to last season, we are missing Anthony Walker and Gary Payton!"
"But there is also an additional Chinese forest."
"Chinese Lin can only make up for Gary's role, but not Anthony's. We still lack a second scorer who can adapt to Paul."
"So far this season, Ricky is averaging 18.6 points per game."
"That's the data I asked him to play as a substitute. He couldn't play with Paul. Danny, you are the general manager of the team. You should understand that two players with similar styles cannot be on the court at the same time to form a 1+1 equal to
2’s role.”
"So, what are you trying to say? I shouldn't send Anthony away?"
Ainge's rhetorical question, Rivers remained silent and stopped answering. Danny Ainge understood what Rivers was thinking.
"I will try to find a deal and find a scorer that suits Paul."
Putting down these words, Anji was ready to leave.
Rivers took this opportunity to make another request: "I also need an experienced center."
"no problem!"
Danny Ainge left, looking unhappy.
"fxxk, what the hell is Danny Ainge thinking? Is the team's poor record your problem? Doug?"
Jim Bravo was very angry watching Angie leave, but Rivers gradually returned to his normal state. He shook his head: "He just wants to find someone to take the blame. In fact, he has a grand plan. If the plan succeeds,
, he will be the best general manager in this league."
"Grand plan?"
"That's right, didn't you notice, Jim? Danny Ainge gave away all the expiring contracts that the team could give away. Last year, Anthony's contract expired. He squeezed out the last value of Anthony. He signed first and then traded Anthony.
Sent to Miami in exchange for a batch of draft picks."
"Now, the only thing left on the team is the garbage contract of Reeve LaFrentz. In addition, the contracts we have are all high-quality contracts, including the one with an annual salary of only $5.91 million but averaging 18.6 points per game.
Ricky.”
"Of course, the best one should be Lin. His salary this year is only US$800,000."
"So, Danny Ainge has carved out a huge amount of cap space?"
"There is also a group of young players who are currently in trouble. We have to sacrifice the record to train these young players until we train them to have extremely high value. At that time, Danny will trade them.
It’s time.”
"Trade them for superstars?" Rivers said this, and Jim Braver understood: "So, we are taking the blame?!"
He became even more angry. To put it bluntly, Ainge was using Rivers and his coaching staff to sacrifice their record and train young players.
Of course, Angie is also using those young players, but for this group of young players, it should be a mutually beneficial thing for these young players to get a lot of playing time, perform outstanding personal performances, and then be traded.
Because this group of young players will get playing time that other teams cannot get.
In one or two seasons, Ainge's grand plan will be launched, and Ainge will become the best general manager in the league.
As for Rivers, if the public opinion environment is relatively peaceful, he will stay and continue to coach, but if the public opinion environment becomes very bad, Rivers will become the scapegoat.
"Don't think so much, Jim, just work hard to improve your record. We have to work hard to stay, and then enjoy the fruits of Danny Ainge's generous efforts. We will be successful."
At the end of the regular training day, Lin Yu took a shower, went to the team restaurant to get three or four long hot dogs, and finished eating to prepare to continue training.
Tony Allen stayed again, and Lin Yu said hello.
"Good evening, Tony."
"Good evening, Lin..."
Tony Allen hesitantly moved to Lin Yu's side, watching Lin Yu pick up a basketball from the basket, raise his hand and throw it, and hit it accurately with a swish sound.
He finally couldn't help it anymore: "Hey, Lin, can you do me a favor?"
Lin Yu stopped. After a few days of curiosity, he could finally explore the reason why Tony Allen always stayed for extra training.
"You know, before you broke out, I have always been the best perimeter defender in the Celtics. I never thought that my defense was worse than yours, but recent games have told me that there is a gap between you and me.
, seems to be as wide as the Atlantic Ocean.”
"Can you tell me what else is wrong with my defense?"
So Lin Yu understood it immediately.
In recent games, the Celtics lost games because Lin Yu locked down the opponent's star player, and then the opponent's second and third scorers broke out together.
Even when Tony Allen comes on the court, he can't guard the opponent's second or third scorer, let alone the opponent's star player who has been guarded by Lin Yu.
This comparison made Tony Allen realize that the gap between him and Lin Yu seemed to be very big.
In fact, Lin Yu's evaluation of Tony Allen's defense in the 2005/06 season was that it had more than enough energy but far less skills. There is obviously still a way to go before it reaches its peak.
"Tony, your defense...emmm..." Lin Yu thought for a moment and changed his words. "How should I put it? Sometimes you rush too hard. It looks very powerful and can scare some people, but it is actually very difficult.
It is easy for smart opponents to find opportunities. I think you should first try to steady your pace and fix your defense line on your own side. On this basis, keep an eye on the basketball in the opponent's hands, and then when the opponent actually takes a shot,
Instantly, deliver a fatal blow."
"Is this okay?"
Tony Allen seemed to understand, but Lin Yu patted him on the shoulder: "Try it, Tony, maybe it will work. Of course, it may still have no effect. After all, there are different types of defense. If it has no effect, it means
My style doesn't suit you, you need to find a style that suits you."