The Whip of the God of Basketball

At the beginning of October, the NBA preseason finally kicked off, which means that the offseason is completely over, and each team will be involved in the competition for the 2007-2008 season. Before the start of the regular season, the preseason will be a good opportunity for each team to experiment with lineups and tactics and allow players to adjust their status. On October 7, the Minnesota Timberwolves traveled to Turkey to play an overseas game against the Turkish Basketball Super League team Efes. Since then, other teams’ preseason games have also been scheduled.

The Phoenix Suns' first game is scheduled for October 12. They will challenge the Sacramento Kings away from home to start their new season. Before the game, speculation about the Suns' play style in the new season was already rampant. Kolo's column not only failed to quell people's speculation, but intensified the tributes from all parties. The reason is simple, because if Leon does not bring new playing styles and changes to the Suns in the new season, and just continues to attack and improve efficiency, how will the Suns achieve a breakthrough in the new season?

After all, many people believe that the Suns have achieved their best on the offensive end in the past three seasons. The Suns' more problems still lie on the defensive end. If the defensive problems are not solved, the Suns will not be able to break out of the Western Conference. Whether it's the Spurs or the Mavericks, they are both strong enough on the defensive end, only the Suns are lame. However, judging from the summer signings and draft, the Suns did not spend their attention on the defensive end.

Not only did they lose the best sixth man Barbosa, but they also let go of Kurt Thomas, the only defensive expert in the low post. All they introduced were old, weak, sick, short, poor and ugly. Regarding the performance and future of the Suns in the new season, People in Phoenix expressed their pessimism. In the new season championship expectations survey conducted by ESPN on October 11, the Boston Celtics continued to rank first. After successfully trading Reid for Ray Allen, the Green Army finally put together a super three-headed monster, which became a momentum. No two, comparable to acquiring Kevin Garnett in the summer of 2003.

The defending champion Spurs followed closely behind. After easily winning the 2007 championship, as long as they retain the trio headed by Tim Duncan and add Popovich, the Spurs will always have the strength to compete for the championship. The Dallas Mavericks, also from Texas, continue to maintain championship competitiveness. Although they suffered a heartbreaking defeat, Nowitzki is still at his peak. With an owner who can spend money, the Mavericks are still favored by many people. .

The fourth spot has often belonged to the Suns, but this year, it's reserved for LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers, who impressed with their stunning performance in the Eastern Conference playoffs last year. . Many people believe that the Eastern Conference is about to enter the era of James-Boston's three-headed monster. If the Cavaliers operate properly, they will have the strength to win the championship.

It was only at fifth place that the Suns' name appeared on the list, and it was obvious that the evaluation of the Suns was in a slightly pessimistic attitude, "Nash is another year older, and Stoudemire still won't let go. Marion still can't shoot, Bell still can't attack, Diaw can do everything but seems to know nothing, and they also lost Barbosa. The only positive thing I can think of is probably that they have Fox Leone, but look It seems that his operation in the summer will never be as amazing as in 2003. That time I almost wanted to take off my pants and offer my anus to him immediately."

At this time, ESPN's famous snake expert Bill Simmons commented on the Suns and Leon in a column. As a native of Boston and a die-hard Celtics fan, Simmons has always been a die-hard fan of Leon in the past. But when Leon left the Celtics and went to the Suns, his viper power could no longer be hidden. But even so, Simmons still expressed cautious optimism about the Suns. He said, "No matter what, I think Leon's arrival may bring the soul of a championship to the Suns. Don't forget that the last man who led the Phoenix to glory also came from Boston." .”

Simmons was talking about Paul Westphal, a mediocre player in Boston who took the Suns to the Finals as a player and coach. But Leon is different from Westphal. He has truly led the Celtics to a renaissance.

Even with such controversy, Leon continued to lead the team in high-intensity training. After the training, Leon required everyone to participate in group activities after the team's training, including dinners, gambling in Las Vegas, and visits to the Grand Canyon. In these activities, Leon showed his knowledge and carefulness. one side. It's not that the players have never been to these places, but the feeling of going alone and traveling with the whole team is still different.

In Nash's words, it feels like we are back in college and high school. The players must act in unison, train together, go to class together, and play together. Of course, all the expenses for the trip were paid by Leon alone, and his third-hand Toyota would no longer be able to keep. Sometimes Leon had to ask for money from his family. Khomeinis also complained to Leon, saying that he had been a coach for several years and had not earned much money, and now he was still paying for it.

Leon said bluntly that he would be rich soon, he would be rich soon. Khomeinis didn't know how rich Leon was, but as her agency grew bigger and bigger, she didn't care about the travel expenses. She just hoped that when the sun came to California next week, Leon could go to Los Angeles to visit. , after all, Khomeinis’s belly is getting bigger and bigger, and her due date is March next year.

Leon agreed wholeheartedly, and then on October 11th, he and the whole team took a plane to Sacramento. They will challenge the Sacramento Kings away from home on the night of the 12th to kick off the first shot of the season.

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Leon still remembers that when he was an assistant coach in Boston, his first coaching experience was a preseason game, pretending to be a head coach on the sidelines. He still remembers that the game was at home against the Milwaukee Bucks. Years later, Leon still attaches great importance to preseason games, just as he attaches great importance to summer league. Leon always believes that in the long NBA season, every stage is very important. The reason why many teams with seemingly strong lineups cannot reach the end in June must be because there are some problems during this long season. Whichever step is taken wrongly or poorly leads to the final result.

Therefore, no matter how inconspicuous the game is, Leon will be fully prepared. For games like preseason games where the results don't matter, Leon will set goals for the team and players before the game and ask them to complete the goals during the game without focusing on the results.

In the pre-game preparation meeting on the morning of the 12th, Leon first set a goal for Steve Nash, that is, he must score 30 points in this game. Hearing this request, Nash was a little surprised and said: "Are you kidding me? You keep saying you want me to win a scoring champion. Is it the preseason scoring champion?"

Leon said: "No, I am serious. You should also be able to feel in the recent training that I am increasing your personal offensive opportunities. Why do you think this is the case?"

Nash replied: "Let me kill the game at the end of the game."

Leon shook his head and said: "I really want you to win a scoring title, after all you work so hard."

Nash couldn't understand what Leon said, and the other players were equally confused. What Nash wanted most was a championship, not a scoring champion. And why does he want to be the scoring champion? He already leads the league in assists, and his style of play is to pass the ball first to the defender. In recent training, Leon has been emphasizing that Nash should increase his aggressiveness. Everyone thinks that Leon hopes that the Suns can have a reliable firepower at critical moments. Now it seems that he really wants Nash to be the number one on the team. Scorer? Who will pass the ball?

Nash is already 33 years old. His body will only decline faster and faster, and he has never appeared in the league as a scorer. In the eyes of many people, Nash's scoring ability is just the icing on the cake.

However, Leon did not explain too much. He assigned tasks to others. For example, Boris Diaw must complete three blocks, Stoudemire must hit more than 5 mid-range jumpers, and Bell must complete 3 breakthroughs. Basketball, Shawn Marion must grab more than 10 rebounds. For professional players, this kind of task distribution is a bit ridiculous, because everyone plays for victory rather than data, but since victory does not matter in the preseason, data does not matter.

In the afternoon, the team conducted simple shooting training. Now Leon also holds a concurrent position in the Suns, that is, the team's shooting trainer. When he was with the Celtics, Leon learned a lot about shooting training from Siegfried. Since Auerbach passed away and Leon left the Celtics, Siegfried once again chose to retire. . Now that he is back in Cleveland, Leon often calls to greet him. Leon knows how important shooting is for an offensive team.

After training, Leon asked the players to go out by themselves to relax and prepare for the evening game. He himself went to have dinner with D'Antoni. During the meal, D'Antoni asked: "Why did Leon give them tasks? I think it is like teaching high school players to play. Yes, during this time I have been It feels like you are leading a high school team. But it seems that they are all very obedient."

Leon nodded and said: "I am teaching a high school student team, so now I have to teach them how to play in a way that suits themselves and the team."

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