the great gatsby

Chapter 257 Beyond Basketball!

Gatsby has learned from the experience of the Knicks in his previous life. First of all, he worked hard to manage the atmosphere in the locker room of the team, creating an atmosphere of unity and hard work. As long as new players join, he will definitely try to help them integrate. As for those Sting, Gatsby will clean them out, whether it is Nate Robinson or Eddie Curry, as long as it hinders the atmosphere of the team, he will not show mercy;
The second is to sort out the relationship between the management. He originally wanted to sort out the contradictions between the management, Donny Walsh and James Dolan, Donny Walsh and D'Antoni, D'Antoni and James Dolan, but later found that There are many contradictions in it, and it is wishful thinking to rely on his strength to sort it out, so Gatsby simply gave up this effort, and instead adopted the method of uniting these people around him:
——D’Antoni’s relationship is easy to do. His philosophy is very similar to Gatsby’s. Although there are still many differences, Gatsby’s excellence makes D’Antoni willing to discuss with him. Gatsby can do his best Influence D'Antoni;

——James Dolan is the owner of the team after all. As long as he sees that it is good for the team, he will not be too stubborn. James Dolan can see all the changes that Gatsby brought to the Knicks Here, Gatsby has gained his confidence;
——On the contrary, Donny Walsh, the general manager who has made a lot of contributions to the Knicks, has some problems. Wanting to be firmly in control is not a bad thing for the general manager, but Donny Walsh and Gatsby have conflicts in what they want to do, not only wanting to trade Gatsby, but also I want to trade some superstars, regardless of whether this superstar can bring benefits to the Knicks.

There is no way to reconcile this kind of conflict. Gatsby wants to select some suitable and outstanding rookies, but Donnie Walsh's vision is still limited by the times. He will not understand Gatsby's choice, and the general manager is Those who control the power of the team, sometimes even the boss is difficult to intervene, so Gatsby simply took advantage of the conflicts between D'Antoni, the coaching staff, and owner James Dolan to suppress Donny Walsh and let Donny Walsh In order to keep his throne, Shi made some compromises in the draft and trade.

The whole process is comparable to Gongdou, which means that Gatsby has a vision that transcends the times, so that he can control these seemingly chaotic situations, and this makes all kinds of Nix who are full of depression shine again. In the movie, Gatsby seems to be busy with training, playing games, and advertising and running business, but his efforts can never be called painstaking efforts!
Some of these things can be glimpsed later in Dan D'Antoni's memoir:
"...the Knicks are terrible, Isaiah Thomas and James Dolan signed those terrible contracts that make fans feel sad, the locker room problem is like a ticking time bomb at any time, the mutual mistrust between the front office, this Everything is dragging the Knicks toward hell.

But all this changed after the arrival of Gatsby. It is hard to imagine that Gatsby was close to being traded several times in the first season, but things after that were not very noteworthy from the outside. Things, it seems that overnight the Knicks became a harmonious locker room, a championship team with a very close relationship between the management, everyone is on the way to the pursuit of the championship, but what you don’t know is that in it How much of a role Gatsby played.

Of course, some things can be said, and some things cannot be said. I can roughly describe it. Whether it is the atmosphere of the locker room, the smoothing of the relationship between the management, or the draft and trade, Gatsby has played a more important role in it. than you can imagine.

In the next ten years, I have been looking for why Gatsby is so wise. I have been thinking hard to no avail. I can only ask Gatsby for help. He was unwilling to reveal it at first, but under my entanglement, he suggested I went to read a Chinese novel, oh, the title is "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

After studying for many years, I realized that Gatsby's vision is beyond the times. I admire his mind and his overall view. Gatsby's greatness is not only in his performance on the court.

Although Isaiah Thomas is not good at the position of general manager, I very much agree with his words: The ultimate secret of basketball is not on the court, but outside the court.

Gatsby was able to achieve such a great achievement, not only he achieved on the court, his impact covered all aspects...”

Dan D'Antoni is the brother of Knicks coach Michael D'Antoni. He has always been Michael D'Antoni's right-hand man. Gatsby has been with the Knicks throughout Dan D'Antoni's journey, so his words are credible Yes, it was only then that people realized that the already great Gatsby was just the tip of the iceberg. The real Gatsby was so great!
Of course, these are all things to say later, let’s go back to the game between the Knicks and the Boston Celtics. The decline of the Celtics is not only the aging of the starting lineup, but also the reduction in the thickness of their bench. Only the big baby Davis, Nate Robinson, Daniels and Vaughn Weaver can stand out in the field, but the rotation lineup composed of these few people is not cheap against the Knicks.

When the Knicks rotated with Stoudemire, Jeremy Lin, Stephenson, Tyson Chandler and Wilson Chandler, Celtics fans were surprised to find that the Celtics' bench was gone The clouds are scattered, but the Knicks can stand up more on the bench!

Although the two Chandlers are not good at attacking, the defense built with one inside and one outside looks tougher than the Celtics. The two rookies Jeremy Lin and Stephenson have shown extraordinary abilities. Jeremy Lin is good at organizing and sorting out. Offensively, Stephenson's impact caused the Celtics' backcourt to complain, and the situation was even worse than when the starter was on the court.

Coach Doug Reeves had no choice but to let the starters return to the court early. If it was some weak team, they would lose if they lost. But the Knicks are obviously the main enemy of the Celtics in the playoffs, threatening Not even under the Miami Heat, against this kind of team, Doc Reeves can only fight.

The victory or defeat of this game is not only a regular season victory or defeat, but also a psychological advantage in the playoffs. This is very important for the Celtics, and even more important for the Knicks. The Knicks were eliminated by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals , this game is to break the psychological weakness of the Knicks against the Celtics. If the Knicks pass this level, their rise will be smoother. If they cannot pass this level, they will be even more difficult in the playoffs!

(End of this chapter)