The Basketball Court Swordsman

The NBA regular season is over and the fierce playoffs begin again. But like the previous three years, the Pacers have entered a holiday state after the regular season. For four consecutive years, the Pacers failed to make the playoffs. Since Bird took office, this is the second year in a row that the team has been locked out of the playoffs.

Of course, Bird has not gained nothing this season. At least he really saw the potential of Holiday, and saw the miracle of 10 victories in the last 14 games. Most importantly, he saw an extremely perfect head coach candidate.

After the regular season, the Pacers got a tenth overall pick in the draft lottery. The Pacers' performance in recent years is indeed very embarrassing. They are always only one step away from the playoffs, and the high draft picks often have little to do with them. This position is not too high, so that the Pacers can neither select a super rookie, nor can they attract big stars to join.

This is the reason why many teams now choose to go straight to the bottom, because this is not good for rebuilding.

Although the 10th overall pick this year is better than the 13th overall pick last season, to be honest, it's not much better. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, the Kentucky Geminis, must not be able to airborne Indianapolis. And several popular chickens in this year's draft, Evan Turner, Greg Monroe, Wesley Johnson and others, are unlikely to fall to the tenth overall pick.

This kind of inferior draft pick is the most test of the team's ability, because it means that you have to pick a real genius from a bunch of college geniuses that were not so special. Last year they selected Holiday with the thirteenth overall pick, and this season, under Henson's guidance, the Pacers targeted the sophomore player from the NCAA second-tier league, Paul George.

From the beginning of the season, Henson and Silas noticed George. When Henson became the official assistant coach of the team, Silas also continued to send Henson videos of George's game. So for Paul George, Henson can be said to know this guy well.

In this year's joint training session, Paul George's quality was indeed satisfactory. By Daniel Granger, he can be a very good "3D" player, just to fill the Pacers' lack of strength in the second position.

Of course, in addition to allowing Granger and George to coexist, Bird also proposed an idea, that is, to use Daniel Granger and Paul George to trade the Nets star center Brook Lopez, but this idea suffered. To Henson's strong opposition.

First, Granger must not move now. He is the Dinghai Shenzhen in the locker room. He has both qualifications and strength. If he leaves, the entire Pacers team will lack a leader. The veterans do not have leadership qualities, and the young people have too little qualifications. Seeing what the team looked like without Granger that past season, Henson dared not try again.

Second, Henson firmly believes that Paul George will become a better player than Granger and Lopez.

"He will be more than just an All-Star!" This is what Henson repeatedly emphasized in front of Bird.

Can a small star in the second-tier league surpass the NBA All-Star level? If someone else said such things, Bird would definitely laugh mischievously. But if Henson said so, Bird would have to think twice.

The joint trial is in full swing, and what is unusual is that the reporters did not find the shadow of Pacers coach Jim O'Brien in this joint trial.

The people leading the team are Henson and Frank Vogel, and Jim O'Brien was photographed by reporters on vacation in Hawaii.

It’s not uncommon for the team’s head coach not to visit the joint trial site in person. Do you see Phil Jackson now have time to come to this shabby place to watch young people play?

But the Lakers are the championship team. They don't have too much task in the draft, so there is no need to worry about "Zen Master". Unlike the Pacers, the more awkward the pick, the more it is necessary for everyone to work together to find the most suitable player. As a result, O'Brien was on vacation like a champion coach, while the two assistant coaches were busy.

O'Brien thought at first that Bird didn't need to operate this draft himself, but later he discovered that things didn't seem to be that simple. It's more like being left alone, completely separated from basketball affairs!

Looking at the golden sand and blue sky in front of him, O'Brien suddenly felt completely lost. Could it be that his last 14 games and 10 victories last season still failed to impress Bird?

Bird is not stupid. He knows who the Pacers are to be attributed to for their outstanding performance at the end of the season. It can not be said that O'Brien did not have any credit, but his contribution is definitely not as great as Henson!

And after this season, Donny Walsh promised O'Brien the three-year deadline. In three years, O'Brien has done nothing except to bring three embarrassing draft picks to the Pacers.

While O'Brien was still sitting under the coconut tree thinking, his cell phone suddenly rang.

O'Brien saw Bird's name on the caller ID, and his mood instantly fell to the bottom.

"Bird...Is everything going well in the joint trial..." O'Brien's voice was trembling slightly, in fact his whole body was trembling slightly now.

At first he thought that Bird wouldn't let himself deal with draft matters because he didn't need him to go out in person, but now after receiving this call, he seems to understand everything.

Larry Bird also made this decision after discussing with his assistant Pritchard for a long time. He gave O'Brien three years and he had done his best.

"Sorry, Jim, you are out." Bird had thought of a lot of greetings, but as soon as the phone called, Bird didn't want to say any more nonsense.

O'Brien's head suddenly "buzzed". It was not the first time he was fired, but never had he been fired so suddenly.

Seeing O'Brien not speaking for a long time, Bird continued, "Last night and this morning, I had a long meeting with the senior management. We all agreed that the team's performance did not meet expectations, and the team's construction seemed to be out. Some questions. After discussion and consideration, the management decided to change the head coach."

Byrd's words are simple and clear, but they are very heartfelt. O'Brien knew that if Bird said everything to this point, it meant that there was no room for reversal in this matter.

Everything came so fast. A few minutes ago, O'Brien was still enjoying his sunny vacation. But now, he has become an out, the first one out this year!

"So, has everything left to Frank Vogel next!?" O'Brien obviously couldn't accept the reality, and asked loudly in surprise. O'Brien is very clear about Vogel's strength, but he really can't accept his assistant coach to replace his position.

O'Brien seems to have forgotten that he himself, as an assistant coach, defeated the famous coach Rick Pitino, who was successful in the NCAA but struggled in the NBA, and officially started his career as a head coach. .

This is the professional rule of the coaching circle!

Although O'Brien was a little angry when Vogel pushed him out, but at any rate Vogel was the one brought out by himself. Unexpectedly, what Bird said next made O'Brien even more unacceptable.

"No, Frank is still the team's assistant coach. The person who will take over your position is Henson Joe."

It's not difficult for Bird to imagine that O'Brien must be out of ears now.