The Whip of the God of Basketball

Leon called a long timeout, and another long timeout, so they only had one long timeout left in the second half.

The Celtics players gathered around Leon after the game, sweat was pouring out, and everyone looked unhappy. They were suddenly so far behind. This was the first time they had encountered this situation this season.

Leon held the tactical board in his hand but did not speak. A terrible silence fell suddenly near the Celtics bench, forming a circle of silence with Leon as the center in the noisy arena.

Sometimes silence is more disturbing and frightening than roaring.

Garnett pursed his lips and lowered his head, Pierce put his hands on his hips and looked at the sky, Arenas bit his fingers, Reed looked helpless, and PJ Brown kept wiping sweat.

In short, the sudden appearance of Leon, the sudden silence, and the embarrassing situation of being 16 points behind all made the Celtics players feel embarrassed to face the coach.

"Fu-ck..." The silence lasted for a minute, and Leon finally squeezed out a word through his teeth.

Although he was swearing, as soon as he said these words, the players seemed to feel much more relaxed.

"Your defense is a piece of shit. I remind you, this game must be won, especially Kevin. I don't understand why you seem to have no fighting spirit. Do you feel sorry for the fans here? Or do you think you are still a Timberwolf?" A player? If you think so, then I ask you to take off your Celtics fans and sit on the bench until the end of the game!" A minute of silence was replaced by a minute of explosion. Leon first put on the sluggish performance of Gané. He cursed loudly.

Just now in the taxi, he felt Garnett's mediocre performance in this game through the radio live broadcast. The mid-range miss and the fast break point loss just now were directly related to him.

After scolding people, Leon squatted on the ground with the tactical board. The Celtics players also squatted down and gathered around Leon. Leon looked at everyone and said: "I think our There should be no problem with the offense, but the problem lies with the defense. Next, we must get the score close before the start of the fourth quarter. Delaying it to the fourth quarter will only make us deeper and deeper. Therefore, I decided to use our experiment in advance. Defensive tactics..."

Carlisle heard Leon's words on the side and couldn't help but ask: "Are you going to use it early like this? Is it too hasty? If you don't use it well, it will just..."

Leon stopped Carlisle's next words and only replied: "Can the situation get worse than it is now?"

After saying that the timeout was up, Leon stood up, pointed to the bench, and was about to start substitutions.

On the other side, the Timberwolves were still immersed in the joyful atmosphere brought by the big lead, but Sanders obviously did not dare to take it lightly. He knew that the Timberwolves were very good this season, and the Celtics' lineup at the beginning really made him dare not underestimate it. watch for.

Especially the sudden appearance of Fox-Leon caused psychological fluctuations on both sides. Sanders knew that he had to stabilize the players' emotions at this time and even encourage everyone.

But how to encourage players may be what Sanders is least good at. His old-fashioned motivational words and smooth tone often put players into inexplicable embarrassment. When Garnett was still in the Timberwolves, it was Garnett rather than Sanders who boosted the team's morale.

After the timeout, the game restarted. Sanders did not change the team's lineup, but when he saw the Celtics' lineup, he was a little confused. What kind of lineup was this?

After the timeout, Leon replaced Arenas with Laga Bell, and replaced Pierce with James Posey. In this way, the Celtics point guard became Bell and the small forward was Posey. . When the team fell behind by 16 points, Leon actually took down two offensive figures and replaced them with two substitutes.

Especially Bell, he had almost no chance to play in previous games and played less time than Wang Zhizhi. Moreover, he was not a point guard. If he was asked to play point guard, Sanders doubted whether he could control the ball for half the game. .

However, the Timberwolves players could clearly feel that the momentum of the Celtics players who returned to the court was completely different from before.

Kevin Garnett held the ball in his hand and kept hitting his head with his teeth, as if he was trying to wake up his previous self.

When he returned the ball to the referee, Garnett's eyes were no longer hazy as at the beginning of the game, only firm and fierce. He hammered his chest hard, as if bidding farewell to his former self.

Posey served from the baseline, Bell took the ball, and then he passed the ball to Garnett, who controlled the ball for half the court.

"It's stupid to let Kevin control the ball. Although he has the ability, he is not a point guard after all." Sanders found it incredible when he saw Leon letting Garnett control the ball for half the game. He understands Garnett. He is indeed an all-around genius, but it is really difficult to understand why Garnett dribbles the ball through half the court with Arenas, Alston and Strickland.

Sure enough, Garnett dribbled the ball steadily through halftime, but the Celtics did not effectively organize the offense. Without Arenas and Pierce on the outside, the offense of this lineup was really a little anxious.

Garnett finished dribbling and then dropped to the low post. He rarely asked for the ball in his ribs and pushed away Walker behind him. Reed lobbed the ball into Garnett's hands.

Garnett held the ball and made a clean inside turn. Facing Milicic who was defending, he hit the board with a one-handed high throw!

However, such goals do not worry Sanders. He knows that Garnett is not the kind of super scorer who can score continuously. Sanders feels that the 14-point gap is quite stable.

But Sanders' peace of mind only lasted five seconds. The Timberwolves served from the backcourt and Bell defended Cassell. His defense was like brown sugar. At the same time, Reed was always swimming around Cassell, like a shark waiting for the smell of blood.

Soon, after halftime, Cassel suddenly found that he was forced into a blind corner!

He had to pass the ball, but the left side was blocked by Reid, and the right side...the right side was the sideline.

Walker tried to come up to meet him, but was greeted by the even more terrifying Garnett. Cassel made a mistake! Bell broke the ball from his hand, which is very rare for Cassel!

Bell passed the ball to Reid, and Reid didn't have any other thoughts. He dribbled the ball and ran all the way, pushed past Hassell's defense, barely dunked with both hands, and scored two more points.

Sanders was a little worried, but he couldn't call a timeout yet. He squatted down while standing. Next, they just needed to score a goal to stabilize the situation.

But this idea was shattered in two seconds.

Milicic made a mistake on the throw-in. Posey took the ball from Sprewell and easily made a layup, another two points!

The Celtics scored six points in a minute, while the Timberwolves didn't even have a decent shot and were intercepted for two consecutive goals.

Sanders became anxious. He stood up from the ground again and yelled at the players to pay attention. Sanders has reached the critical point now. If the Timberwolves can't score anymore and the Celtics counterattack successfully, he will call a timeout.

The Timberwolves players were also a little confused, because the Celtics' defensive position was quite strange. They were neither marking people nor the ball, but they seemed to be marking both people and the ball.

The players serving the ball were under a lot of pressure because it always felt like the Celtics players were blocking the passing lanes, as if every one of their passing lanes had been explored.

Only Cassel felt something vaguely in his heart. The Celtics' defense reminded him of the feeling he had when he faced the SuperSonics when he was with the Rockets. The Rockets were the biggest problem with the Sonics back then, but at this time the Celtics' defense The approach is very similar to the Sonics - an amoeba defense!

But it is different from the amoeba. The Celtics players' double-teaming and positioning are very erratic. They are not as clear inside and outside as the amoeba. The two outsiders are to pinch the ball holder.

When Cassell carefully dribbled the ball past half court this time, he began to observe carefully, trying to find some flaws in the Celtics' defense. As long as it was defense, there would always be flaws.

Yes, the Celtics' defense does have flaws, but with Cassell's ten years of experience as a point guard, he can't tell whether the Celtics' defensive formation is man-to-man, zone defense, or double-teaming. They are like a true amoeba, undergoing endless changes.

"Buzz!" The buzzer sounded when 24 seconds were up. Milicic reluctantly took a shot, and the ball hit the edge of the basket. He reluctantly made a shot at the buzzer, and Brown got the backboard.

This time, Garnett took the lead. He had already passed the midfield line and the free throw line. Brown made a long pass from a long distance, which is rare in the Celtics' offense.

But Garnett received the pass and no one, no one could stop him!

"Bang!" Garnett took off three steps away from the basket, glided and dunked with one hand. After scoring the goal, he was like a werewolf on a full moon night, looking up to the sky and roaring under the basket. He no longer cares about the eyes of the fans at the Target Center, and is no longer bound by eight years of emotions. Now, he is a Celtics player.

"Beep!" The referee's whistle sounded, and Sanders had to call a timeout. The Celtics chased for 8 points in two and a half minutes.

Leon straightened his hair, knowing that he had made the right bet again.