Basketball Legends: Strikers Are King

On January 6, Vogel took a plane again to join the team members who had arrived at the away game early.

After leaving the airport, everything Vogel saw was green. Seeing the clover patterns filling the streets and alleys, Vogel felt heavy in his heart.

That's right, their second opponent in two consecutive away games is the Celtics.

In 2008, the Celtics spent half of their team to acquire Kevin Garnett from the Timberwolves. The Big Three formed by him, Pierce, and Ray Allen defeated their old rival Lakers that year and won the championship.

Although four years have passed, the rising Big Three of the Heat and the Bulls led by Rose will not ignore this established and powerful team in the East.

"Coach, you're here!"

Seeing Vogel push through the door and enter, the Pacers who were resting between training turned to the door and said hello to him.

"Well, you train first."

Vogel looked at each other and the assistant coaches, then led them to the corner.

"Look, your face is sallow."

Stephenson immediately whispered to George:

"It seems that I got a lot of scolding yesterday."

"Maybe you're tired from catching a flight? Let's train."

George picked up the basketball on the ground and threw it to Stephenson.

"Tell me, what happened again?"

Stephenson muttered and turned around to prepare for shooting practice.

Qitian and Granger also looked at each other, shrugged and continued training.

"Nothing serious,"

Seeing the questioning looks in his assistants' eyes, Vogel coughed lightly and continued,

"I did some thinking when I went back."

"Discovered some improvement directions for the team's tactics."

Upon hearing this, Brian Shaw quickly asked:

"How do you want us to change it?"

Vogel knew that he had gone astray, waved his hand and explained:

"It was not forced by the management. It was a decision I made after watching the game video last night."

He turned to look at the people training and said:

"I have decided that from now on the team's offensive focus will be on the inside. West and Hibbert will be our tactical focus."

"What?"

Dan Bok asked doubtfully:

"What about Grizz?"

Vogel nodded and said:

"I knew you would have questions about this, and this is my decision after careful consideration."

Then he explained to everyone:

"When playing against the Heat, Griez could almost only compete with his opponents offensively. The important task of defending James was left more to George."

"This is also the main reason why the opponent's shooting guard breaks out."

Brian Shaw seemed to grasp Vogel's point, continuing:

"In other words, focus on attacking inside and focus more on defense on the outside?"

"That's right."

Vogel nodded with satisfaction.

"However, one of Hibbert and West on the inside is affected by physical strength, and the other is 32 years old. What should we do about physical problems?"

Danbok asked again.

Brian Xiao's eyes lit up and he said:

"Then let them rest, and let George and Griz play more in the transition period!"

"That's not...oh I see!"

Danbok suddenly realized it and said:

"Let the interior line play first, and then the striker will take action in the connection period. At the last critical moment, let the interior line who rested in advance go into battle together with the strong striker!"

The tactical arrangement in this transition period is clearly the Heat's tactics in the last game!

Vogel interface said:

"Yes, this is the lesson I learned from the last game to improve our team."

"We do have enough resources to allocate."

Brian Shaw turned to look at Hibbert, who stood out from the crowd.

"Moreover, our inside advantage is also our magic weapon against the Heat."

"Now that everyone agrees, let's do this for the rest of the simulation training."

Vogel concluded his speech and then led the coaching staff to the training ground.

…

The North Shore Garden Arena was packed with fans, who were patiently waiting to watch a new game.

"thunder!"

"Kevin!"

"Pierce!"

As the Celtics players entered the stadium one after another, the Green Army fans cheered and shouted to them.

"Why do I seem to hear..."

Qi Tian pricked up his ears in confusion, but did not hear the sound just now.

Granger, George and others looked at each other and smiled, and said to Qi Tian:

"Is it a word that begins with N?"

"Yes, yes."

Qi Tian asked tentatively:

"Wouldn't you be offended?"

Granger replied:

"Every black person who comes to Boston for the first time will have this feeling."

He then asked Qi Tian like a test:

"Did you know Russell was discriminated against in Boston?"

"true and false?"

Bill Russell is a Celtics legend who is known as the "King of the Rings" because he won 11 championship rings as a player.

The Celtics were at their peak when they were coached by the Cardinals, with Bob Cousy and Russell on the team, and they won an unprecedented eight consecutive championships.

"Boston is the best symbol of white supremacy."

Sure enough, seeing Qi Tian's shocked look, Granger laughed and explained to him.

Russell was often insulted for no reason in Boston, made things difficult for him by the police, and his family members were harassed even when he went out to play away games.

Even at the celebration banquet for winning the championship, Russell and other black players had to celebrate at two tables separate from the whites.

Not to mention that after Russell went on a trip for three days, his home was ransacked, with words such as "nigger" written on the walls, and the intruder even peed on his bed and other insults.

"Oh, by the way, I heard that Bob Cousy retired and the attendance at Boston's home games dropped by more than 1,300 people."

"It seems like they were just introducing Pierce. Garnett and the others shouted twice when they entered. It's already a small matter."

Granger concluded his speech in a feigned lightness.

"Tsk, it's really..."

Qi Tian really didn't have any suitable words to say for a long time, so he could only shake his head again.

Seeing Granger also looking sad, George said:

"But young people today have improved a lot. When I went to nightclubs in Boston, the white girls were very enthusiastic..."

"Ahem."

Granger coughed loudly and stopped George's words.

"Everyone is angry, don't say this."

George nodded clearly and gestured to Qi Tian, ​​hinting that he would explain to him in detail later when he had time.

After a while, head coach Vogel summoned everyone and began to lay out tactics:

"Today, our offensive focus will be on the inside."

He turned to look at Granger and George and said:

"The first principle for the forward and back lines is to provide the ball for the inside and defend well at the same time."

George opened his mouth, and then under Granger's signal, he and his teammates nodded and agreed to the coach's arrangement.

“Solidarity!”

The team members shouted their slogans in unison.