The Whip of the God of Basketball

　　 There was a debate within the Celtics before the draft. It came from Danny Angie and Leon over whether to choose Arenas or Joseph Ford. Angie prefers Ford from the prestigious North Carolina school. He believes that compared with Arenas, Ford is more like a "Celtic", a pure team-first player. In the history of the Celtics, they have never had a single-season scoring leader. Team supremacy is their style.

But Leon does not care about the "team first" philosophy or the so-called more Celtic descent. His criteria for selecting players are ability and potential. He has a hundred ways to prove that Arenas is a better player. It is totally unacceptable for Leon to choose a player who is much worse just because he is more "selfish" and "maverick" in his playing style.

In the end, Wallace was on Leon’s side. Although he was also a little inclined to Ford, he eventually defeated his IQ with reason, and standing firmly on Leon’s side did not cause the Celtics to follow the old ways. Lose a good newcomer.

　　 After coming to Boston, Arenas didn't get the treatment he thought he deserved. He didn't seem to be a key training target in the team, and the coaching staff basically put him in a stocking state. Especially when Leon, who selected him, he would rather spend time chatting with Michael Reid on the sidelines than helping Arenas in shooting training.

So when Arenas stepped on the floor of the MCI Center, all he was thinking about was what Leon said to him. He wanted to prove himself in front of Leon, prove how good he was, and prove that he was in a restaurant in Los Angeles. Saying to himself "I will choose you with the 21st pick" is a hateful and boring joke, which hurts his self-esteem.

　　 However, it is impossible to win by relying on self-esteem in the NBA. It requires superior skills and a stable mentality. When Arenas touched the ball for the first time after coming on the field, he seemed too frizzy. Facing the defense of the Wizards opposing players, he dribbled the ball three steps beyond the three-point line, and then suddenly a stepped breakthrough, and then Emergency stop three-point jumper.

　　 Arenas has a broad and strong arm, which makes shooting movements smaller and very fast. And in training, he can often shoot some long-range shots, but he was still too anxious about the shot. He shot too fast and didn't have enough force. The ball hit the front of the basket. Jordan grabbed the backboard and launched a quick counterattack. Chad Hamilton made a layup and the Wizards were close to the score.

"What is this guy doing..." Carol stood on the sidelines and scratched his head. After just accepting the team, he couldn't make much tactical adjustments. He just hoped that the morale and attitude of the team could be improved, but Arenas really hurt his own with this ball.

But Arenas’s dizzy head still didn’t seem to have a fever. As a point guard, he would do it alone again in the next offense. He made a simple pick-and-roll with Batty in the high post and went straight to the basket from the center. He is not used to the left side, because Jordan is on that side. Jordan came over to make up the defense, Arenas faced Jordan forcibly into the three-second zone, and then tried to hold the ball to layup. As a result, he failed to pick the basket with his left hand. The shot was obviously lighter and the rebound was again taken by Jordan. But this time the Celtics retreated quickly, and did not give the Wizards a chance to strike back.

However, two consecutive offensive misses made Carol unable to sit still. He sent Arenas up to make trouble. Carol, who has always been gentle on weekdays, couldn't help but move towards Arenas. Shout: "Calm down kid! Look at your teammates, don't just have the basket!" This is the pressure on the head coach that can make anyone irritable and irritable.

　　 There was also a trace of anxiety in Arenas's eyes. His eyes slanted toward the team's bench. If O'Brien was there, he would have been replaced. This time he looked at Leon. Leon sat there with a calm face. He seemed to notice Arenas's eyes, first made a gesture of encouragement at Arenas, and then pressed his hands down to signal him to stabilize his mind.

　　 Leon's movements and expressions seem to be magical, and they can always calm people down quickly. This is of course related to getting along on weekdays. Leon has always been a cold face and few words, but his descriptions and predictions are often scary. The players secretly respect and fear him, and at the same time they trust him very much. he. When Leon says "Calm down", it always works very well, like pouring cold water on the opponent's head.

"Give him some time to adjust. Gilbert is a bit too excited. He will enter the second team later and he will play." Leon also reassures Carol. The new officer took the first place today. War, the pressure is really not small.

As Hamilton missed a jumper, Walker picked up the rebound and the Celtics once again got an offensive opportunity. At this moment Walker threw the ball to Pierce and let him control the ball for half the time. It seems that Arenas was not calm just twice. It made his teammates distrust him. But after halftime Pierce still passed the ball back to Arenas. Arenas has a few kilograms. Apart from Leon, Pierce knows best because the two have participated in training camps in Los Angeles in the summer. The stubborn little teammate Pierce was deeply impressed.

　　 This time Arenas held the ball again. He didn't rush to launch an attack, but watched the ball from the front. The noisy environment of the MCI Center and the thoughts that had just been in his mind were all cleared at this time, and he calmed down. The Wizards' defense is not tight, and they don't have a good perimeter defender. Michael Jordan used to be the best perimeter defender in the world, but he is 39 years old. Just now he could rely on experience to help prevent Arenas, but when Arenas relied on Antoine Walker's pick and roll from the right side When he got inside, it was too late for him to defend.

　　 "The speed is really fast, the pick-and-roll is really bad." Leon sat on the sidelines and watched Arenas hit the inside line and said with emotion again. As early as in Arenas University, Leon had carefully observed his first step, very quickly. Now in the NBA, the hard training in the summer gave him a stronger first step, the kind of explosive start, although slightly reckless due to lack of skills, but it has an unstoppable momentum.

　　 He hit the basket and scored a layup directly on the opponent's head. Jordan could only look at his back and could not do anything. The Celtics completed three consecutive offenses by Arenas, two failures and one success. Arenas' bold and at the same time singular style was unobstructed. His wildness seemed to be released after O'Brien finished class. Fortunately, he is not so dizzy because of this. On the contrary, he has become more active in defense after the offensive is successful. Even though it seems that he must not practice the basic defensive skills in Arizona in the past few years, but as Dick Hart thinks Yes, defense is a job whose attitude is more important than skill.

Arenas had enough chances to play in the first two quarters, and he played very enjoyable on the court. After three separate attempts, he began to cooperate with his teammates and began to try to create opportunities for his teammates, like a real point guard. . But if there is a chance to challenge Jordan directly, he will never let it go. At halftime, he actually scored 14 points, 3 assists and 1 steal. Although he did not complete the idea of ​​a three-pointer on Jordan, he definitely grabbed the spotlight of the twin stars in the team. In front of his breakthrough, the Wizards' defense was like a piece of rags, and Kwame-Brown's appearance was just a background for Arenas.

On the way back to the locker room during the intermission, Leon patted Arenas on the back and asked: "How do you feel? Did it hurt?" Arenas rarely showed his bright smile and brows. Stretching like Santa Claus, he nodded, obviously this was his best first half since entering the NBA.

"Then what do you gain apart from the data? How do you feel about our offense? How do you defend? How do the Wizards feel about you? Have you found any loopholes in their defensive end? How do you feel about Michael Jordan's state and how he competes with him Didn't learn anything, kid?" Leon's subsequent questions made the smile on Arenas's face disappear. Any NBA player has a unique understanding of basketball, but it is much harder to get a rookie to answer these questions after the half-time game is over than to make a three-pointer in the midfield. UU reading www.uukānshu. com

Looking at Arenas who was silent, Leon said: "You are a point guard. If you only have the basket, the defender in front of you, and the teammate closest to you, you won't be a great player. Even if you are in Jordan hits a three-pointer on the head. It’s not that no one in this world has ever hit a three-pointer on Jordan’s head. So, forget what I said to you when I was on the court, and put it into the game in the second half. Brown, they learn, you will gain." After saying that Leon and Arenas returned to the dressing room together, at this time the Celtics only took a 5-point lead. Arenas' outbreak did not really drive other teammates to play. On the contrary, some unreasonable shots exposed the lack of rebounding ability of the Celtics. Dennis Rodman still didn't get a chance to play in the first half, but Leon has persuaded Carol to try Rodman in the second half to make up for the Celtics' shortcomings in rebounding and defense.

Antoine Walker felt bad tonight, but his contribution in other areas was not outstanding except for the offense. Leon’s evaluation of "the pick-and-roll is really bad" in the first quarter refers to Walker. He really hopes to cut outside after the pick-and-roll. It seems that the further away from the basket, the stronger his desire to attack. Although the Celtics have been suppressing the Wizards in the first half, they have not been able to really open the score because they lost too many rebounds, like being scored by a second offense, and they often lost points in the first half. appear.

　　 This is the most important reason why the Celtics have been criticized for their operations in the summer. Their inside line is too weak, and now they have to pin their hopes on a 40-year-old 6-foot-7 power forward.

　　 And Leon, still waiting.

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