basketball pope

Chapter 445 [Two grasshoppers on a rope]

At the end of August, the members of the Lakers' coaching staff were also confirmed.

Yang Rui invited Jeff Hornacek from Washington to Los Angeles.This time Hornacek happily agreed. He followed Yang Rui to gild. If the Lakers win the championship, he will definitely become the head coach of a team in the future.

However, Hornacek is not the team's first assistant coach. He is inexperienced and is currently good at teaching players to shoot.

Yang Rui asked Kupchak to dig in Lionel Hollins, an experienced Grizzlies assistant coach. He was an assistant to veteran coach Hubie Brown last season and his contract just expired.

Hollins agreed to the Lakers' invitation. He knew that even if the old coach Brown retired, his chances of taking over as the Grizzlies' coach were slim to none, because he was the Grizzlies' defensive coach, and the Grizzlies owner wanted the team to strengthen its offense to attract fans.

He helped the Blazers win the 1977 championship as a player, and was named to the All-Defensive Team and All-Star team.After retiring, he worked as an assistant coach, and in the 99-00 season as a transition coach for the Grizzlies, coaching 60 games with a 30% win rate.

Hollins' specialty is building a defensive system. In Yang Rui's previous life, he stayed up until the 08-09 season to coach the rebuilt Grizzlies, and soon brought the Grizzlies back to the playoffs and trained a number of excellent defenses. player.

Now he is doing well. Battier and Posey are outstanding in defense, but because they are young and less popular, they have not been selected for the best defensive team.Under his training, Davis' defensive ability has also been affirmed.

Yang Rui also appointed a retired point guard as an assistant.

Scott Brooks is 180cm tall and weighs only 75kg. He looks like an ordinary person. After retiring in 2001, he has no teaching assistant experience.

Yang Rui's reason for looking for Brooks is that he has high IQ as a player and has the potential to be a coach.This reason is far-fetched. Brooks entered the NBA in 88 because of his poor physical fitness. He played 7 starts in his entire NBA career, averaging 4.9 points, 1 rebound and 2.4 assists per game.He averaged only 13.6 minutes per game, made 4 shots, made 1.8 shots, and hit 45% from the field and 37.2% from three points.

Brooks' biggest flash point is that he got a championship ring with the Rockets in the 93-94 season.Such a person, no matter how you look at it, is very ordinary.

Kupchak doesn't care so much, Yang Rui said that if he wants this person, he will find it.

The unlucky person was former Lakers player Brian Shaw. Kupchak recommended Yang Rui to be an assistant coach, but was rejected.

Yang Rui knows that Brian Shaw has no ability at all. He has been with the Lakers for many years. His only specialty is kneeling and licking Kobe. As the head coach's spare tire, he finally got the opportunity to coach the Nuggets in 13, 56 wins and 85 losses. Sadly dismissed, the winning rate is 39.7%.

On September 9, the Lakers got another good news. The court officially acquitted Kobe Bryant, and the Eagle County case ended here.

The result is nonsensical, because the underwear worn by the "QJ" girl Caitlin Faber at the time found the DNA of three men, including Kobe's DNA, during a DNA test.This can't be explained at all, and the jury didn't want to believe the girl, so in the end they could only withdraw the case, and Kobe settled out of court for $3 million.

The case has been tossing for more than a year, and the efficiency of the court in Eagle County is the worst in history.According to media analysis, the reason why the lawsuit took so long is related to local customs.

The local people in Eagle County get along very harmoniously, and it is one of the areas with the lowest crime rate in the United States. In 2003, there was only one crime case. The local judicial organs firmly grasped this only opportunity, proving that they are not idlers. rice...

On the morning of September 9, Yang Rui called Kobe Bryant.

Before Kobe was in a bad mood, Yang Ruicai didn't take the initiative to contact him. They were all in Los Angeles and it was time to meet.In the new season, they must have a good relationship.

Yang Rui will not be like Byron Scott when he was with the Nets. The first thing to do when he sees the core of the team is to get down.He knew very well that he and Kobe were two grasshoppers on the same rope.

As long as Kobe Bryant puts up good data, the Lakers' record improves, and Yang Rui has a better chance of winning the best coach for the fourth time in a record-breaking time.

As for trading Kobe, it was just a talk between him and the old Buss, in order to better control Kobe.If he really asks for a deal, Yang Rui will only offend the old Buss. Who can replace Kobe with similar strength and commercial value?Old Bass definitely doesn't want to.

Therefore, unless old Bass and Yang Rui are both cross-travelers, and they were disgusted by the group of brain-dead Kemi in their previous lives, they would not do this.

The two briefly exchanged a few words, and Yang Rui asked with a smile, "Do you have time in the evening? How about having dinner together? You bring your wife, and I will also call your girlfriend."

"Of course." Kobe paused and said, "I'll treat you."

"No, how can I propose a meal for you to treat?" Yang Rui said with a smile: "You're welcome, when you spend money in the future, I have prepared a small suggestion that requires you to spend money."

"Uh……"

"Let's talk more at night."

In Yang Rui's previous life, Kobe was demonized by many people because of the negative news off the court and his poor record in the later stages of his career. For now, Kobe can still communicate.

The Lakers failed to establish a dynasty with three championships. Kobe was much more low-key and obviously lacked confidence. Even O'Neal, who won the MVP of the regular season and the MVP of the finals, would not dare to say how strong he is, let alone after retiring like Yang Rui did in his previous life. Shouting "OK group is the strongest in history."

Last season, Kobe would listen to the coach's arrangement of running tactics, but when he couldn't win, his mind was easy to heat up, so he made it by himself.

Kobe became a cancer later in his career because he was unwilling to accept the fact that he was getting old and his state was declining, insisting on the past style of play and refusing to change to give the ball to young teammates.

In terms of personality, Kobe is indeed very similar to Jordan, which Yang Rui appreciates.

In the evening, Yang Rui invited Kobe and his wife to eat Kobe beef at KAGAYA, a famous western restaurant in Los Angeles.

Authentic Kobe beef costs $25 per ounce, and a normal 16-ounce steak costs $400. The dipping sauce for the steak is also very particular, and the taste is far better than the average steak.

This meal, plus red wine, cost nearly $5000, and it was full of sincerity.Kobe Bryant immediately felt that his relationship with Yang Rui became closer. "It turns out that you also know this store, and I like it very much."

"I've been here since I moved to Los Angeles. I hosted a food show. When the boss saw me, he was afraid of being exposed and rushed to give me a membership card." Yang Rui laughed.

In Japan, about 5500 cows are sent to the Kobe beef certification department for certification every year, but only about 3000 cows can be certified as Kobe beef, which is a very rare and high-end ingredient in the world.

It was not until the end of 2012 that Kobe beef was legally exported to the United States. Therefore, the owner of this store is a guy who smuggles Kobe beef through special channels. Only celebrities in Los Angeles can eat it.

After chatting for a while, when the dishes came, Yang Rui smiled and said, "Kobe, I have set a few goals for you for the new season without authorization. I hope you can achieve them."

"What goal?" Kobe thought he was going to talk about tactics and asked very seriously.

Yang Rui smiled and said: "I hope you can average 35 points per game to win the scoring title, win the regular season MVP, and play a little more selfless in the playoffs to help your teammates play, because the opponent will definitely prevent you from scoring, you If you add more passes, it will have a surprising effect.”

"What?" Kobe was stunned for a moment, showing a bright smile he had never seen before.

Yang Rui's cake is too big, it will kill him.

(End of this chapter)