The rest is just noise

Before heading to Philadelphia, the Celtics coaching staff had some debate about the starting lineup for Game 3.

In line with the principles of democratic discussion, Bill Fitch allowed Louis, K.C. Jones and Bob McKinnon to speak freely.

K.C was very cautious. He didn't say who would be replaced. He only said that the number one position must be replaced.

"We need someone with better defense to step up!" K.C said righteously.

Then, Bob McKinnon took the initiative to speak: "I looked at our data, maybe we can consider putting Chris Ford at the No. 1 position. His shooting ability is very good, and he averages 1.5 steals per game.

, which is the highest among all defenders!"

"Other than that, I don't think the lineup needs to be adjusted anymore." MacKinnon believes that changing a defender can solve the problem.

Ford has a nickname, "Crazy Bomber". In the first year of the three-point line era, he averaged one goal per game with a 42.7% shooting rate. His efficiency and production were second to none in the league (Bird averaged one goal per game).

0.7 goals, 40% shooting rate).

The problem is that he is not an orthodox No. 1 position. He is very close to the No. 2 position, but is limited by his height and has to switch to the No. 1 position.

The 76ers' defensive intensity and his ball-handling ability will most likely not be able to pass Cheeks's level.

Louis has prepared a lot for today's discussion.

"I don't think our defensive problems can be solved by changing a defender."

Louis' words were serious, and Fitch didn't expect that he had any thoughts about it.

"Lu, this is not a scouting job. Be careful what you say!" MacKinnon is different from Louis. He has been in this industry for most of his life.

Now 53 years old, he has ABA coaching experience and also served as a firefighting coach for the Brofa Braves for a period of time.

In terms of experience and coaching ability, he is better than Louis in everything.

Louis, a 19-year-old brat with no coaching experience and no background as a player, dares to speak nonsense here?

"Bob, I think there is no essential difference between scouting work and coaching work. What we have to do is to maximize the strengths of the players and amplify the shortcomings of the other players." Louis smiled implicitly, "I give

All suggestions are based on my understanding of each other, rather than based on experience and qualifications and data that may not always explain the problem."

McKinnon's expression suddenly changed: "What do you mean?"

"I don't mean anything else, I just think your suggestion is a bit superficial..."

"Kid!"

"Okay!" Fitch looked at Louis, "If you have any suggestions, just tell me."

"You all know that I am very interested in data, but the data I am interested in are not basic data such as scores, assists, and rebounds. Everyone here has been involved in this sport for many years, and you should also know that many players do not have data.

The response is so good, the data can be deceiving." Louis smiled lightly, "Therefore, we must put aside these very deceptive basic data and seek higher-level data."

McKinnon was dumbfounded, and Fitch was even more confused: "Advanced data?"

"I have a friend who likes the NBA very much, but he doesn't want to be deceived by the gorgeous data. He is studying a data that can better reflect the value of players to distinguish real gold from scrap metal. Therefore, he invented a method called defense.

Data on victory shares." By the way, that friend's name is Lu Ruohe, that's me.

Louis' speech is challenging the perceptions of Fitch and others.

"The calculation method of this data is to calculate a player's performance in the game based on the opponent's score, offensive rounds, offensive boundary value (the league's average score per possession), the average score of each team in the league, and the number of possessions.

How much contribution does defense bring?" Louis said, "Many 76ers players rank among the top 20 in the league in this data, so their defense can rank among the top three in the league."

"What's gratifying is that Larry's defensive win shares rank first in the league so far in the playoffs. This is far beyond my expectation and illustrates his comprehensiveness." This new initiative proposed by Louis

The numbers surprised others on the coaching staff.

"In addition, Dave is also among the best, but his size is too disadvantageous for the fifth position. We should let him play the fourth position."

Fitch asked: "Who's going to play center?"

"Bill Laimbeer."

"What?!" McKinnon yelled, "Are you crazy? Bill has played very little time in the playoffs. Even if his defensive win shares are very high in the playoffs, it doesn't explain the problem!"

Louis had known that there would be such a statement, and this was his purpose.

"No, Bill is not ranked in the DWS (Defensive Win Shares) data rankings. As I said, this is a rigorous data. We have taken the lead in eliminating those players who do not play much playing time."

"I chose Bill because Dave's size struggled against Philadelphia's interior, and Cedric was more of a three, and it was difficult for him to compete with Caldwell Jones and Daryl Dawkins -

Since none of them work, why don't we try using Bill?"

"His size, rebound protection and rough inside style may bring unexpected surprises."

Laimbeer may be the Celtics player Fitch dislikes the most.

In Fitch's eyes, his style and conduct were no different than a bad person.

MacKinnon couldn't accept Louis' advice at all. Laimbeer was the player he hated most because he always complained and liked to fight against all coaches except Fitch, because only Fitch had the power of life and death.

"Kid, you admire Bill so much because you introduced him to the team! He doesn't look like a Celtic from the inside out, and he never protects the team's image. He is a selfish person.

You bastard, if you let him start in such a crucial game, isn't it a waste of personal gain?" MacKinnon pinned an unbearable hat on Louis' head.

Louis laughed at MacKinnon's accusation.

"There is a saying in China, 'To promote a virtuous person, do not avoid relatives'. I admit that Bill and I have a very close relationship, but I do this not because of our relationship, but because I really believe that he can lead the game.

To contribute, in addition to that, I also hope to have John Long as a substitute."

"Although his defense is good, it is not as good as MLC (Karl). Moreover, the team does not have the conditions to design corresponding tactics based on his shooting. It will be difficult for him to display his ability in this series."

"We must have the courage to burn everything in order to improve the quality of our defense. If we only think about making small fuss for stability, the situation will not only not improve, but will get worse." Louis said sarcastically, "There won't really be anyone.

Do you think it's all Knight (Archibold's) fault that our defense was so bad?"

Fitch has a problem. Maybe he shouldn't have this meeting.

The suggestion given by Louis is difficult to refuse, but it is not easy for him to change the starting lineup on such a large scale, and to ask Archibald and Maxwell to sit on the bench. Otherwise, they will be resented.

.

"Louis, how do you want to convince them?" Fitch tried to pass the blame.

Louis is very happy to see that Fitch knows that this kind of thing is annoying. It turns out that he also knows the consequences of annoying people, so why does he still do so many annoying things on weekdays? However, he will not be responsible to the end. For today

He was so busy at the meeting that he couldn't sleep for a few days. He was looking for calculation formulas and information, and he also spent money to hire graduate students majoring in mathematics for help. Now he was given suggestions and asked him to do several tasks that were about to be completed.

The thought work of the guy who came up with the starting lineup?

He's done it all, so what's Fitch going to do?

Therefore, he decisively refused: "This is not my job."

If possible, Louis would like to change his job with Fitch. He doesn't need to find a way to get DWS at all, he can just substitute the person who shouldn't start.

Although there was a heated debate with McKinnon at the meeting, which also caused the other party to have negative emotions towards him, Louis has indeed changed from a nominal teaching assistant who followed and studied to a real person who can participate in discussions and make suggestions.

Teaching assistant.

This is a huge change.

K.C Jones saw this and did not expect Louis to enter the decision-making level of the coaching staff so quickly.

According to what he and Auerbach envisioned, it would be at least two or three years before Louis was familiar with assistant coaching work and could use his talent as a scout to bring advice and help. Why now, he seems to be better than himself and Bob in the coaching staff?

MacKinnon is useful in total?

"What a big kid!"

K.C criticized Louis countless times in his heart, and asked with a smile on his face: "Lu, let's go, I'll treat you to dinner!"

"That's so embarrassing." As he said that, his steps were brisk. He said he was embarrassed, but his body's reaction was proactive.