the rest, only noise

Chapter 1540 Reid's Prophecy (two chapters in one)

Lu Wuxia's "rampant" did not arouse the fans' disgust, because everyone knew that he was working on the effect of the show.

Anthony's response on Buzz was a continuation of the show.

Moreover, Anthony also needs this kind of program.

Originally, in a place like Utah, it was boring enough. If I didn't find something happy for myself, wouldn't I be suffocated to death?

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan doesn't appreciate the Internet bickering.

The Airborne Jazz's Steve Nash said: "Melo has brought a lot of fun to our lives."

After the start of the new season, the performance of two teams far exceeded expectations.

One is the Utah Jazz, who has won all seven games and is ranked first in the Western Conference.

The other is the Suns. After Penny Hardaway came to Phoenix, he seemed to be five years younger.

The arrival of Penny allowed Milicic to find the thigh.

The 2003 rookie itself is a high-profile silver generation. Before the draft, Milicic was called a super talent comparable to James, which made the Suns ignore him. As a result, his rookie season can only be regarded as unsatisfactory.

Averaged 11 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block per game, shooting 46% from the field.

It’s not bad to say it’s bad, but it’s definitely not good if it’s good.

Just make it look okay.

Considering that Lu Wuxia was selected for the first team in his rookie season, Milicic, who was "okay", could not satisfy the fans at all.

You only need to think about the emotions of the Kings fans who watched the team miss Doncic to know how rough this is.

Milicic's performance is not as good as expected, and the most important thing is that his heart is not on the basketball court.

Over the course of a season, Milicic has caused countless scandalous news and gossip related to nightclubs.

However, the arrival of Penny allowed Milicic to relax a bit.

Under Penny's command, Milicic only needs to use his talent to perform well. He is currently averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. Sun fans finally don't dislike their No. [-] pick so much. Although he is not as good as Wish, he There is still progress.

Lu Wuxia gradually became the benchmark for the 2003 rookie class.

This position should have belonged to James.

It is said that the children of the poor are in charge of the family early, but James is in a weak team, but he has not yet taken care of the family. Selected for a while.

Fans believe that James has a promising future.

But no matter how optimistic the fans are about James' future, the future they can imagine for the latter is only what Lu Wuxia did in his rookie season.

For them, James can do this level is enough.

And Lu Wuxia did this kind of thing in his rookie season. What kind of concept is this?
The hype of the media, the praise of the critics, and the praise of various legends made Lu Wuxia come to a status in the world that did not belong to him early.

The flawless popularity reminded Louie of Jayson Tatum in his rookie season.

In Louie's view, what Wuxia did was similar to what Tatum did in his rookie season.

Looks strong, yet obviously green, and is having a surprisingly great season.

In terms of difficulty, what Tatum did may be even more difficult.

In his rookie year, Tatum took the Celtics without their best and second-best players to the Eastern Conference Finals and played seven games against a crippled Cleveland James team.

The Celtics' lineup, where Flawless is, is complete.

The flawless selection is a god-making movement composed of many factors.

The first is that in recent years, the number one position of the League has withered.

Penny suffered injuries last season, Kidd performed well in the Spurs, but his record and statistics are not as flawless, Steve Nash is not even the best point guard on his team, Payton is old, Sam Kasser Billy, Baron Davis, Steve Francis, Mike Bibby and the like have always been a little behind. Everyone seems to vote for anyone, and it seems that they are playing 18+8 per game in their rookie year. +8, and Lu Wuxia increased the team's winning rate by nearly 30%.

Driven by various factors, Lu Wuxia was selected for the first team, but this honor does not mean that his own strength has reached the top five level in the league, but the result of many reasons.

In the eighth game of the new season, the Celtics challenged the Jazz away.

After this game, there will be only one team left in the league to maintain a complete victory.

The Jazz have put together a strong starting lineup.

They use Nash as the core, with Szczerbiak, Anthony, Bosh, and Troy Murphy.

Since Murphy is a rare multi-faceted development insider who can support and shoot three-pointers, after recruiting Nash, Jerry Sloan abandoned the old UCLA offense in all aspects, learned Louis' "beautiful basketball", and created A five-outer dynamic blocking and cutting offensive system was systematically designed to make the rest of the team perfectly match Nash.

The Jazz started the new season with a seven-game winning streak, as evidenced by their league-high 122 points per game.

Nash played the performance of the No. 21 point guard in the Jazz. He is currently averaging 5 points, 11 rebounds and 190 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage reached [-].

In the battle against the Celtics, Nash also relied on a soft long-range shot, scoring 32 points and 14 assists in a single game.

However, Nash's performance failed to bring the Jazz a victory.

Because while Nash's personal offense is eye-catching, it is also the defensive loophole that Lu Wuxia, Parker and Wade focused on.

In this case, the Jazz need a second burst to win.

That burden fell to Anthony.

However, Anthony seemed to be obsessed that night. He only did one thing in the audience, broke through to the basket and gave Yao Yueban a cap.

Anthony's unremitting behavior of sending shots allowed Yao Yueban to record a career-high 9 blocks in a single game.

In the Kaijue battle, Anthony made 17 of 2 shots in a single game.

Bosh behaved more like that hot spot. He beat Gasol on a one-on-one level, but he didn't have enough possession of the ball. He falsely scored 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Jazz lost to the Celtics with a big score of 22 points. .

Lu Wuxia, who won the game without exerting much effort throughout the whole process, joked about Anthony to the media: "I have been encouraging Melo to break through, but I am very disappointed. He gave up doing it from the fourth quarter. Our The big man missed a chance to block in double figures."

Celtic began to enter the form of the devil.

While Lu Wuxia's possession ratio has decreased compared to his rookie season, his average assists per game have not decreased.

This data shows that Lu Wuxia's thinking in handling the ball and organizing offense has become clearer.

Yao Yueban began to become a top insider at the All-Star level and above. Every game, he relied on the pick-and-roll to shoot three-pointers, followed the pick-and-roll to eat cakes, and a small amount of low-post offense. He averaged 24 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2.4 blocks per game.

He is the most efficient finishing machine at the fifth position in the league, and he is also the insider who interferes with the opponent's shots the most in the three-second zone. 30 minutes), rebounding is slightly worse (the team only needs him to block). However, these weaknesses of his can be made up by the Celtics' amazing lineup depth.

The most practical problem facing the Celtics is how to keep an improving young player from feeling anxious about too little possession and playing time.

Parker complained about possession issues.

Bird gagged him with the fact that Lu flawless had fewer ball possessions than he did.

Boozer complained about playing time.

Bird said, if you can compete with Gasol, I will let you start.

Ginobili and Wade's sixth-man rivalry is about to overwhelm the bench.

This overflowing talent and bloated depth of the main rotation made Bird tired.

At the end of November, the Celtics' winning streak was ended by the Spurs.

Under normal circumstances, it is difficult for the Spurs to beat the Celtics.

However, when Allen Iverson scored a career-high 65 points in a single game, made 30 free throws, and knocked out Yao Yueban and Kirilenko, why did the Celtics win?

"I have full respect for the AI ​​tonight." Lu Wuxia said, "However, if I can get a free throw every time I break through the paint, I will also make the Spurs respect me."

The league said: Well said, but fined.

Lu Wuxia was fined [-] US dollars for not being subtle enough.

For this reason, Wuxia called his father, he wanted to know how to sanction this kind of blatant whistle blowing referee.

"Did I tell you the story of when I knocked out the referee with a punch on the court?" said the loyal old man. "You were not born at the time, but the referee dared to speak rudely to me in front of your mother. You know, although I am an honest and honest person, I also have a bottom line that cannot be trampled. That bastard crossed the line, so I knocked him down with a punch."

Lu Wuxia: "So I should punch the referee? The consequences are serious, right?"

"If you do this, your future will be ruined, but I am different. Everyone knows that I am loyal. Even if I punch the referee into the ICU, I must have difficulties, so I did not receive any punishment in the end."

Lu Wuxia: "So powerful? Then what should I do?"

"It's very simple, as long as you are honest like me." Louis taught, "Son, you have to know that even if honest people like us are blown by the referee, we shouldn't mock them at the press conference. If I It's you, I'll say 'AI's free throws are so cool, I can't get enough of them'."

Time flies, came to 2005.

Louie is 45 years old, and despite his claim that men are forever young, he does feel that his energy is not what it used to be.

Moreover, the ordinary days have passed for a long time, and you will find that time passes quickly.

When he was coaching before, he felt that time passed very slowly.

Because every day was busy at that time, work had a kind of magic, it could slow down the pace of time passing.

On the contrary, when people are free, even if they just stay at home, time passes very quickly.

Louis returned to leisure, and he still did a good job in the operation of the team.

The Celtics, who have completely changed their marketing strategy, have also become a gold-swallowing beast. Although their gold-absorbing ability cannot be compared with the Lakers, Knicks and other teams, compared to other small-market teams that rely on league dividends to survive, it can be said that they are It was very successful.

When the New Year arrived, Louie began negotiations with the owner of the Fleet Center.

The lease between the Celtics and the Fleet Center will expire in the summer of 2005. If it is replaced by Louie's predecessor, they may make do with it and renew the contract with the other party.

But Louis knows very well that the live experience of the home game will greatly affect the fans' desire to spend money.

Last year, Louis negotiated with the owner to improve the facilities of the Fleet Center, but when he heard that he needed to spend an extra amount of money for this, the other party refused.

Now, the two sides ushered in the contract year. The Celtics, who have achieved the second record in the league through the youth storm, are a popular team with a full home court.

You know, the owner of the Fleet Center also participated in the split of the tickets.

Because the Celtics did not make money at the beginning, the Gaston family proposed to offset some of the funds with the sales dividends of some home games in order to save some rent. Considering that Bostonians are still loyal to the Celtics, they agreed. up.

Due to the team's good record and Louie's efforts to improve the game experience of the fans as much as possible, the average ticket price of the Celtics continued to increase, allowing the owners of the Fleet Center to also earn a fortune.

Therefore, they are very willing to continue to cooperate with the Celtics.

But Louis didn't want to, because there was more than one gymnasium in Boston, and he couldn't afford to cooperate with this group of short-sighted ghosts who were allowed in but not allowed out.

As a result, the negotiating parties changed their offensive and defensive positions.

Now is the time for the other party to show sincerity.

However, since the season has just progressed to 1/4, the two sides are still arguing.

Louis is not in a hurry. While releasing rumors that the home court may be changed, he contacted the local builder for an appointment to discuss the possibility of building a large-scale comprehensive stadium in the center of Boston in the future.

This matter is very complicated, involving many documents and certificates that need to be approved by the government. Leaving aside professional issues such as the design of the gymnasium, the approval of division and land use needs to be reviewed and approved by many agencies.

However, Louis is not in a hurry to accomplish this.

Because the construction of a new arena itself is a long-term plan, it is estimated that it will take one or two years after the government's procedures are completed, and then the construction team will design, plan, calculate costs, and start construction. It will take five or six years to complete.

In other words, regardless of whether to renew the contract with the Fleet Center, Louie needs to sign another home lease contract for more than five years.

At the end of January, the league announced the selection list for this year's All-Star Game.

The Celtics have three players selected to the All-Star, namely Lu Wuxia, Yao Yueban and Wade.

Lu Wuxia is not the only second-year player selected to the All-Star.

In addition to Lu Wuxia, there are James from the Cavaliers, Anthony from the Jazz and Milicic from the Suns.

The selection of Milicic is a major controversy in this All-Star squad.

Once upon a time, the center was the most competitive position in the NBA. However, the new generation of players has not reproduced the prosperity of the previous generation.

Due to the emergence of a large number of parallel import centers like Michael Olowokandi, Marcus Camby, and Eddie Curry, the insiders of the new generation are pulling hips one by one, looking at the West, and more than Milicic There are not no strong centers, but there are not many, like Jamal Magloire and Brad Miller, they both have good immediate combat power and considerable data, but Milicic is the top four team in the West. Effectiveness, and averaged 16 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.

It's all about knocking, but apart from him, there are no good candidates.

"Imagine Kwame Brown and Tyson Chandler being the best American centers of all the under-24s."

Louie also joked about the decline of inside talent at lunch this week.

However, apart from teasing the declining center today, the most important topic came from a senior agent.

His name was Ted Jarvis, and he wasn't a regular at the luncheon, but Louie remembered that he had been a few times.

Although Jarvis is a sports agent, Louis is not familiar with him because his main clients are coaches.

Except for the crumb coaches like Larry Brown who look at the bowl and the pot, generally speaking, the negotiations and contract renewals of coaches are not as troublesome as players.

Jarvis' clients are primarily college coaches.

Originally, his affairs would not be the focus of the luncheon, but isn't the NBA ushering in a new team this year?
It is the Bobcats team that has attracted the attention of many media.

The Bobcats themselves are not worth seeing, but their uniform group is very interesting.

Michael Jordan, who holds 15 percent of the shares, is the president of the Bobcats, while Benjamin Wilson, who also holds 15 percent of the shares, is the vice president of the Bobcats.

Although Wilson and Jordan have positive and negative points, they have basically the same authority in the management.

They are not typical VPs.

Wilson was not Jordan's subordinate.

Moreover, Wilson and Jordan have very different attitudes towards the team.

Jordan believes that the work of the management is mainly the operation of the offseason, and Wilson has followed Louis for many years, and he knows that a good management should pay attention to the team's movements all the time.

Therefore, during the season, Jordan could leave his post without authorization for his own private affairs, and Wilson became the de facto GM of the team.

When he heard that Wilson was the Bobcats' current director, Auerbach said flatly, "Benj is going to screw things up."

Louis naturally supported Benj unconditionally: "I don't think so?"

"Definitely," Auerbach said affirmatively. "I have nothing negative to say about Benj. I believe he's a smart guy and a good guy, but is he really willing to put in the effort to build the team? Working in an office, going to games in person, scouting players, calling around asking about trades, making decisions against your will when necessary?"

From what Louie knew of Wilson, he might have done these things.

"I think he'll do that," Louie said uncertainly.

"This is just the most basic job of a GM." Auerbach said sharply, "Maybe he wants to, but I think for him, this will be a job that is different from playing ball. It is very difficult. There are already plenty of distractions in the game. Also, he's always been a hit-and-miss guy, and a stellar career doesn't do a GM any favors."

Auerbach's words made Louis ponder for a while.

Jarvis spoke out about his negotiation process with Wilson.

What Louis didn't expect was that although Wilson was a good boy when he played under him, he was very aggressive and stingy when he became a GM.

Jarvis's employer is a prestigious college coach who is very willing to challenge the NBA.

His annual salary in college was $100 million.

Wilson prepared a salary of 5 million US dollars for 300 years for this person, and the first negotiation between the two parties broke up unhappy.

In the second meeting, Wilson "happily" gave a salary of 5 million US dollars for five years. He thought it would be enough to pay such a college coach who had not proven himself in professional basketball. The average salary of coaches has not been reached.

Louie not only improved the status of the coaches, but also increased the salaries of the coaches. Moreover, it is impossible for other college coaches to leave their comfort zone without a salary increase to coach a team that seems to be bad for a long time.

Then, Jarvis quoted the employer's psychological price: an annual salary of 400 million, and even a penny less.

According to Jarvis' dictation, Wilson said with a cold face: "I won't give you an extra penny."

Jarvis told this story in the hope that Louis would forgive him.

He attaches great importance to the lunch meeting, and he does not want to be removed from the lunch meeting because he offended Wilson and indirectly offended Louis.

Louis was silent for more than ten seconds, and finally said helplessly under Auerbach's playful gaze: "It sounds like Benj is a bit of an amateur, what happened afterwards?"

Jarvis said truthfully: "Although Benj raised his annual salary to 180 million US dollars, it is still far from our psychological price."

Louis sighed: "I believe you have tried your best."

Seeing Louis express his understanding, Jarvis was relieved a lot.

For the luncheon regulars, sitting here is not only a status symbol, but also hides many rare social opportunities.

Because there are not only sports professionals, but also politicians, soldiers, lawyers and doctors who come to the luncheon. Everyone who attends the luncheon expands their social circle in all aspects.

Just when Louis was thinking about whether to find a chance to chat with Benj about his experience as a GM, Auerbach said, "Have I told you the story of Adolph Rupp? He is much more stingy than Benj." up"

PS: Today's two chapters are both transitional chapters, the main line has not been promoted, so I simply put them together.The combination of the two chapters means that there is no second update today.

(End of this chapter)