The Whip of the God of Basketball

Texas, Houston, in Fox-Leon's few basketball memories in his previous life, the red here occupies a large area.

He was not a basketball fan in the past, but even those who are not basketball fans in China will more or less know about the Chinese giants and the red Houston Rockets that are active in the professional basketball arena on the other side of the ocean.

On the contrary, after becoming an NBA coach, Leon's impression of this place became shallow, because in the past in Boston, they only had the opportunity to play against the Rockets twice a year, and they would never meet in the playoffs, so for the Rockets, Leon didn't spend much time researching.

After coming to the Suns, the Rockets have become an important opponent of the Suns in the Western Conference. The two teams with very different styles will produce wonderful sparks every time they meet. However, in Leon's eyes, the Houstonians cannot be called a threat. For several consecutive years, they can only be called a quasi-powerful team in the Western Conference, but cannot reach the level of competing for the championship. In fact, they have won the first place in a row. Wheels are hard.

In Leon's view, the Houstonians' regular season strength is probably between 4th and 6th. There is no way to win the Western Conference crown at this level and ranking. Although the Houstonians once achieved the miracle of winning the NBA championship as sixth in 1995, throughout NBA history, since the NBA entered a new era in 1980, no championship team has fallen out of the top three in the regular season. , the Rockets are the only exception, but it doesn't mean they can always do it.

Third place is a hurdle, and it is difficult for the Rockets to overcome this hurdle in the Western Conference, because they have the Spurs in front of them, the Mavericks, two strong rivals in the same state, the Suns, a stable strong player, and the Lakers, who don’t know. When will the super team emerge?

So Leon really didn't take the Rockets too seriously, but Stoudemire seemed a little excited after arriving in Houston because he had to face center Yao Ming, who entered the NBA in the same year as him. In fact, the two had no intersection before entering the NBA. One was a black high school basketball student who grew up in the slums, and the other was a CBA giant who grew up in Shanghai. However, after the 2002 draft, the two inevitably became the most popular basketball players. People compare each other to each other, especially in their rookie seasons competing for Rookie of the Year. After clashing with each other in the game, people even called them "lifelong enemies."

But this is nothing more than exaggeration and exaggeration by the media. Soon people will find that the lifelong enemy of these two people is not each other, but their own bodies and damn injuries.

Having said that, Stoudemire is still very eager to play against Yao Ming. This 7-foot-6 super giant can always inspire Stoudemire's inner desire to tear up the basket. Nothing excites him more than dunking on a giant's head. Yes, although such behavior may cause you to eat a big pot.

The whole team arrived in Houston on the night of the 16th. After settling in the hotel, Stoudemire actually asked to go to the training hall to play for a while. He said that he needed to recover. However, his request was rejected by Leon. He asked Stoudemire to have a good rest. The team will have training at noon tomorrow and asked him to save his excitement for tomorrow's game.

Then, in the Houston night, Leon left the hotel and took a taxi to an Italian gelato restaurant in Houston where he had a date.

After arriving at the restaurant, in an inconspicuous corner, Leon met the person who invited him over - the current general manager of Houston and Leon's old friend from the Celtics, Daryl Morey.

I remember when Leon was with the Celtics, Morey was the one who was recruited into the team and carefully trained by Leon. His sensitivity to numbers and his serious and diligent attitude at work were very much appreciated by Leon. And his level of playing table tennis is also good, although it is still not as good as Leon. When leaving the Celtics, Leon actually hoped that Morey could inherit the position of Celtics general manager, so that he could leave a legacy in Boston and pass on some of his ideas.

But obviously, Angie didn't think so. After Leon resigned in 2006, Morey was also swept out. However, he can make a living wherever he goes with his skills. With the help of his old boss Wallace, Morey became the deputy general manager of the Rockets and Dawson's assistant. This summer, after the Rockets had a less than successful season, Dawson retired and Morey became the Rockets' new general manager.

After becoming the new general manager, Morey naturally has to do something, but for now, Morey has not done anything enough to change the Rockets' operations. After all, the NBA wants to make a strong team a It's not easy to be a championship contender, especially when you don't have many resources.

For small and medium-sized clubs, their biggest resource is draft picks. The Houstonians won Olajuwon with the precious No. 1 pick in 1984, and eventually won two NBA championships. ——This process took them ten years.

Now, they have another giant in their ranks, Yao Ming. He is very good, but he is obviously far from Olajuwon's level. As for McGrady, another superstar on the team, injuries have begun to plague him. After the start of this season, he has not come off the injured list and he will not play tomorrow against the Suns.

Under such circumstances, it is normal for Morey to be unable to make anything. Because of this, Morey took the initiative to invite Leon out for a meal tonight, wanting to discuss and communicate with his old boss. In fact, after knowing that Leon was coming back, Morey tried his best to invite Leon to coach in Houston. He knew that compared with other coaches, what Leon brought was not only pure tactical level and training, but also more. He has his own scouting resources, which is what Morey lacks most now.

But Leon still rejected Morey's invitation, not because he didn't like Houston, but because Leon thought he had no experience coaching low-post centers. Perhaps after coming to Houston, Leon can learn how to use a low-post player, but the Suns are obviously more in line with his views on tactical development. The low-level behemoths are disappearing one after another, and their role will become smaller and smaller. In fact, the Celtics' championship in 2004 already confirmed this - they did not have a true low-post attacker in their team.

Of course, this will not affect the friendship between the two. In Morey's eyes, Leon is a very respectable and incredible person. His style of behavior and operating techniques in the team have opened Morey's eyes and regarded him as his He is a role model and strives to carve out a career of his own in the Rockets.

So the two had a great chat after meeting at the ice cream restaurant. As they spend more and more time in this time and space, and stay in the NBA longer and longer, Leon has more and more old friends. When there are many old friends, people will start to become nostalgic, like to reminisce about the past, and look back on those times that did not seem so good, but are very delicious when recalled.

Of course, the topic between the two will inevitably come to basketball, and Morey very much hopes that Leon can give a fair evaluation of his operations in the summer. He knew that Leon must be well aware of the operational details of the remaining 29 teams, and his ability to control information has reached an astonishing level.

Sure enough, Leon thought for a while and replied: "I think I can only give you a C level for your operation."

This answer was within Morey's expectation. Getting a C grade is considered good, because they had no high-ranking picks in the draft, and there were no big fish to catch in the free market. A C grade was considered a passing grade.

Leon continued: "The best move is to trade for Luis Scola from San Antonio. This is good, it can reach B level, and you can steal them. Considering that you are robbing the Spurs, I will give you an A level. "Leon's words made Morey laugh out loud. The deal to acquire Scola was indeed a sign that the Rockets had spotted the Spurs' weakness and used relatively poor chips and some cash to acquire Scola, a forward full of spirituality. It made up for the Rockets' power forward problem that has been criticized for many years. It can be regarded as Morey's first deal after arriving in the Rockets, and it is also a very cunning and excellent transaction.

Leon added: "However, the signing of Steve Francis is only rated D. Of course, I know this is considered a sentiment of yours and can give you extra points in Houston. But I tell you, If there are no victories and championships in the league, all feelings are false."

The Rockets' only gain in the free market was Francis. This former Rockets boss has now fallen into obscurity. Morey extended an olive branch at this time, and this signing also gave him a lot of points. But from a basketball perspective, Francis is really exhausted. Injuries and illegal drugs have drained his body. From this point of view, Leon is definitely right, because he has the richest basketball skills in the league. of scouting resources.

Morey said: "Maybe he can still exert energy."

Leon said: "Don't think too much. As a manager, sometimes you have to look forward and find an opportunity to trade him. If the trade doesn't go out, I can consider helping you."

Morey looked at Leon and said nothing. He knew that if he wanted Leon to help, it would have to come at the cost of his comeback. After all, this is what making a deal with the devil is like.