Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 8 Jim's New Assistant
It's been a full year since Brad quit his job as head of marketing operations at Eli Lilly, where he's been living in the basement of a friend's house, working odd jobs at restaurants to make ends meet while volunteering basketball at a nearby college.Although he has great love for basketball, his lack of physical talent is destined to prevent him from becoming a professional basketball player.

The NBA playoffs are in full swing, but the university campus is unusually quiet during the holidays, so when Jim appeared in Indiana and asked the gym administrator of Butler University if he could enter the gymnasium, the other party doubted his ears for a while .

"The executives of the Lakers don't care about their own team's playoffs. What does it mean to come here to visit the arena of an unknown college team?" The administrator is obviously not very impressed with the basketball level of his school. Confidence, only Bob Evans, Ralph O'Brien and Billy Shepard have been three NBA players for so many years, and it was all 50 years ago.

The only volunteer who comes to the arena on weekends is Brad. This young man under the age of 25 spends his free time in the video room every day, watching games and learning tactics.And the task of accompanying Jim to visit the arena can only fall on his head.

Jim has no interest in the dilapidated arena, and he doesn't have much to say about the history of the Butler University Bulldogs, but out of his professional ethics, Brad still introduces it to Jim in detail. with relevant information.

"Billy Shepard was the last player from Butler University to play in the NBA, oh, technically the ABA, and he only played three seasons in the league, with the Virginia Squires, San Diego Conquest Boston and Memphis SuperSonics, with a career total of 968 points..."

"Such a long time, such an unknown player, can you remember clearly?" Jim looked at the handsome young man in front of him who knew so well about such an unpopular history.

"Mr. Bass, as a staff member of the Butler University basketball team, of course I must understand the history of the team."

"I think Butler University will be proud of you, Brad. I'm going back to Los Angeles tomorrow. Would you like to have a drink together in the afternoon? I think we hit it off very well." Jim laughed.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bass, but I have to work in a restaurant this afternoon..." Brad whispered.

For a moment, Brad nearly blurts out and asks the person in front of him if he can get a job with the Lakers.But in the end reason prevailed.

"Brad, so you don't have a formal job at Butler University?"

"Yes, sir. I am a volunteer here. Although they don't pay me, I can watch the videos stored here at will. In my opinion, this is much more valuable than US dollars."

"So, would you like to be my assistant? I can guarantee that you can watch the footage in the Lakers archives at will, and I will pay you."

Brad once suspected that there was something wrong with his ears.

"Brad?" Jim repeated what he had just said before waking Brad up from the shutdown state.

What a joke!That's the Lakers! One of the most brilliant teams in NBA history!

Without too much ideological struggle, Brad made his own decision.

"You know, my current job is in charge of scouting, that is, young players and free agents. In this regard, IMHO, you still have a lot to learn, so your other identity will be South Bay The assistant coach of the Lakers, and on the game day at home, you can listen to the coaching staff of the Lakers, and you can arrange it freely on the training day, whether to watch the team practice or go to the editor to study the video..." Jim heard Bu Ladd replied in the affirmative, excitedly took the other party's hand, and began to talk about future plans incessantly.

Brad was a little puzzled, why this strange man in front of him was more excited than himself, was it because the Lakers swept the Timberwolves and entered the second round of the playoffs?

In the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, although Garnett tried his best and led the team in five statistics, but the overall strength gap was too large. Kobe and O'Neal were both overwhelmed in the matchup, and the Lakers swept the Timberwolves 3-0 without much effort, averaging as much as 20 points per game.

In another set of duels, the Jazz's two elders faced the young Mavericks Trident. Juwan Howard, who has a super junk contract, broke out and scored a double-double of 20 plus 10 in the first game. He successfully exchanged for Malone, allowing Nowitzki to bully Russell with his height.

As for the Jazz, Ryder still continued his unpredictable performance. Except for the icing on the cake and scored 23 points in the fourth game against the Mavericks, the other games were all making the team worse. It was inefficient and dissociated. Individual singles outside the system, coupled with sloppy defense, made Sloan very angry.

In the end, the Mavericks defeated the Jazz 3-2 and advanced to the second round, where they will meet the Lakers in the second round.

In the matchup between the Spurs and the Trail Blazers, with Kemp and Strickland abandoned, the fragmented Trail Blazers could not withstand the repeated bombing of the Spurs Twin Towers inside, and Rasheed Wallace paddled on the court , Davis and Sabonis have more than enough energy, the Spurs swept the Trail Blazers 3-0, and their opponent will be the Sacramento Kings.

In short, Jim returned to Los Angeles 3 days later than originally planned, and Brad, who had dealt with related affairs, appeared with him in the team training hall.

The team is preparing for the first game of the second round of the playoffs with the Mavericks. From the perspective of the lineup, the Mavericks have strong offensive firepower, including Michael Finley, who is said to be the closest to Jordan in physical fitness; he has excellent shooting skills and comprehensive offensive skills. German striker Dirk Nowitzki; fast break maniac, court poet, son of the wind Nash; Howard, one of the Michigan Five Tigers, and Bradley with a height of 2.29 meters on the inside.The head coach Don Nelson is even more famous as a mad scientist. The shark-slashing tactic he invented has made O'Neill furious many times.

After the Zen master assigned the training tasks, the teaching assistants started to execute them separately.Jim took Brad to Zen Master.

"Phil, this is my new assistant, Brad Stevens. He will be familiar with his work here in the next period of time. You can arrange some simple tasks for him now. I think Brad will be happy to help. .”

The Zen master took a deep look at Jim, and then at Brad who was full of vigor and confidence beside him.

"Shaq is practicing free throws, boy, please go over there and help practice."

　Thank you for your votes~
　　I have conceived a few lineups, but trying to be as reasonable as possible, it is still a bit difficult not to open forced transactions... I have to think about it carefully.

　　


(End of this chapter)