Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 382 Courage
After retiring, Karl Malone lived like a real American farmer.

In his hometown in Louisiana, driving an 18-wheel truck to transport timber, or holding a shotgun and bow and arrow, and hunting in the mountains with friends has become his daily life.

On the contrary, basketball, which used to be the main theme of his life, gradually faded out of life at this time.

Malone looked a little surprised when he received Jim's call.

After he announced his retirement, Jim did not try to keep him on the coaching staff of the Lakers, but he thought that his basketball career was completely over, and now it was time to do what he liked, not only Jim's invitation, Malone even The Jazz's proposal was also rejected, but only agreed that coach Jerry Sloan would go to Salt Lake City every summer to help train the big men in the team.

"Are you in trouble? Mr. President?"

"As a friend, can't I simply greet you?"

"Hahahaha, I have also played for the Lakers for a year. I know your style of conduct. I will never chat with people about anything. If I have something to say, what do I need to do? But the words are up front, if you If you are invited to be a coach, my answer is the same as before."

"Don't worry Carl, it's another thing, you know, the general manager of the Celtics is now replaced by Danny Ainge, this guy is smarter than a ghost..." Jim told Malone the plan on the phone . "...So I hope you can talk to coach Jerry Sloan. He still has a say in the team's decision-making. Of course, Mitch will also negotiate with the Jazz in accordance with normal procedures. If you trust me Judgment, please help coach Sloan to facilitate this transaction, which is definitely beneficial to the development of the Jazz."

"I'll talk to Coach Sloan, but it's up to him to believe it or not. It's best not to have too much hope."

"I trust Coach Sloan's judgment. Thank you, Carl."

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

The Lakers are a guest at Tennessee to challenge the Memphis Grizzlies.

In the offseason, the Grizzlies let go of the overpriced point guard White Chocolate Williams and shooting guard Bunche Wells, and signed former Trail Blazers guard Damon "Little Flying Mouse" Stad with two minimum salaries. Meyer and scrambler Bobby Jackson complement it.

Although Jerry West tried his best to deal with it, Memphis, as a small ball market, still showed the shortcomings of not being attractive to players. Both Damon Stoudemire and Bobby Jackson have begun to decline. Williams and Bunch Wells are not on the same level when they were playing in their prime, and the team has become a bit top-heavy.

The result of the game also fully illustrates this point. Although Pau Gasol and Amare Stoudemire both contributed 20 plus 10 data, it is still difficult to prevent the Grizzlies from losing. Germany scored a career-high 47 points, completely blowing up Grizzlies guard Antonio Burks, helping the Lakers beat the Grizzlies 118 to 92.

Next, sit at home and face the New York Knicks, who are not doing well recently.

Last season, the Knicks had a bad record, and the team with high hearts danced their checkbooks in the offseason. In addition to poaching the Sonics center Jerome James, they also reached a deal with the Chicago Bulls, who urgently need to release salary space , sent Michael Sweetney, Jermaine Jackson and Maurice Taylor.The Bulls got Antonio Davis, who still has a one-year, $1 million contract, and Eddie Curry, who just signed a six-year, $1300 million contract.Then it traded Nazr Mohammad and Bralo Sandev for Quentin Richardson from the Suns.

Today, the Knicks lineup looks incredibly strong, Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson, Zach Randolph and Eddie Curry.Coupled with rookies Nate Robinson, Channing Frye and others, they seem to be aggressive and want to counterattack the Pacers and Pistons and return to the top of the Eastern Conference.

What gave them courage was not a certain Malaysian female singer, but the new head coach Larry Brown, who was recruited from the former club Detroit Pistons. Pen.

In the opening game, the Knicks defeated the Kings, a traditional strong team. Six players from the team scored in double figures.

Subsequently, the Knicks went all out and captured the Utah Jazz's Devil's home court, allowing Deron Williams to make only 13 of 2 shots and was dubbed a parallel importer.

It's a pity that the Knicks' honeymoon period ended after just two games. Larry Brown's character flaws were exposed. Rookie Nate Robinson was scolded during team training and his mentality collapsed and he covered his face and cried bitterly, which made many players Dare to be angry but dare not speak.

The one who dared to speak out is of course the head guard Stephen Marbury. The lone wolf is not a good person. In addition, he had a relationship with Larry Brown during the Dream Six team. He learned that Larry Brown When the news that Brown would coach the Knicks, he once begged Isaiah Thomas to trade himself. He was unwilling to play under Brown, but the smiling assassin believed that his personality charm could resolve the hatred between the two parties, so he rejected Ma. Brie's trade request, and drew a bunch of pies for Marbury.

What the assassins didn't expect was that Brown aroused dissatisfaction among the players just 10 days after the start of the new season.

Marbury began to act recklessly on the court, or he would take 30 crazy shots, or he would not take a single shot for the entire quarter, which made the two big insiders Zach Randolph and Eddie Curry miserable. People belong to the end point, need teammates to feed the ball, and are not good at defense at the same time. Putting two people on the field at the same time is simply a disaster.Although the two meat walls look fierce, the Knicks' defense in the penalty area is basically useless.Coupled with the fact that Quentin Richardson and Crawford are both strong offensive and weak defensive models, the Knicks fell into chaos at once.

A wave of five-game losing streak, and the losers were weak teams like the Trail Blazers and Warriors last season and rebuilding teams like the Celtics full of recruits.

In the face of his old opponent Larry Brown, Don Nelson did not intend to save him any face.

The Knicks only resisted for 5 minutes before fully surrendering their guns. The players were scattered on the court, each collecting their statistics.Larry Brown was so angry that he replaced all the starters three minutes after the start of the second half and announced his surrender.

Bryant only played 23 minutes, made 14 of 11 shots and scored 25 points. In the second half, Odom played well with a substitute. pair.

The Lakers beat the Knicks 133 to 76 by 57 points, discrediting the Knicks from top to bottom.

(End of this chapter)