I'm not really a role player

Chapter 287
The NBA changes head coaches very frequently. Every season, a large number of head coaches leave get out of class and new coaches take office.

For example, at the beginning of this season, Byron Scott, who only led the team to 3 wins and 6 losses in nine games, was dismissed from the Hornets.

Afterwards, Hornets general manager Jeff Ball acted as head coach until the end of the season...

To be honest, Li Ke was really afraid that Boss Joe would suddenly come up with the idea of ​​a part-time head coach. After all, they had discussed Larry Bird's career as a player, management and head coach before——

Boss Joe is already the GOAT in the player world, and the successful ones cannot be more successful.

In terms of management, winning the championship in 08, coupled with the successful drafting and operation of the past few seasons, is enough for Boss Joe to make up for his failures in the past, and even overflowed.

In the end, it was left to coach in person.

Fortunately, Old Joe didn't have the idea of ​​going out to coach, it's not that he didn't have the urge to compare with Bird.

Mainly, if he really wanted to go out to coach, Boss Joe would have to leave the South Coast to bask in the sun for the first day, show his gambling skills in Las Vegas the next day, and return to Charlotte to watch the Bobcats win the next game on the third day.

It will be difficult for Bobcats' new coach to take office so quickly if Joe doesn't leave the mountain.

After all, coaching changes are not something that can be accomplished overnight, but must be carefully selected.

The coaching change in the middle of the season is different from the coaching change at the end of the season. Many coaches are reluctant to take over immediately because of concerns about taking over midway, team chaos, and problems with performance.

For example, the Hornets are like this. During the coaching change at the beginning of the season, there was no suitable new coach, so Jeff Ball gave up on himself and chose to take care of himself. This area was brought to the end of the season.

However, unlike the Hornets, the Bobcats still have a lot of choices, such as——

Larry Brown who has been working at home for a long time, TNT commentator Mark Jackson who intends to transform, PJ Carlesimo who was dismissed from the Thunder last season, Doc Rivers who was dismissed from the Celtics the year before last, and Tom Thibodu who just dismissed from the Celtics two days ago...

That's right, Thibodeau is also out of class. Since he became the head coach of the Celtics, instead of improving, the Celtics have gotten worse and worse. Danny Ainge has been very patient. He decided to endure the failure of last season. This season, the Celtics' record has been hovering around fourth in the Eastern Conference.

In January, the Bobcats' record slipped, and they failed to seize the opportunity to enter the top three. They just became the difficult brothers in the East with the Bobcats, and they may even fall to fifth.

The fifth bull is aggressive and has been chasing the top four.In this case, Sibodu's dismissal is a matter of course.

When Thibodu dismissed get out of class, Mike D'Antoni will naturally take over. He has been waiting for this handsome position for a long, long time.

Li Ke was not very satisfied with these choices made by the Bobcats, because the names he wanted to see did not appear in them. For example, the current Pacers assistant and future Lakers head coach Frank Vogel, or the current Spurs assistant and future Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer...

Boss Qiao told Li Ke: "Of course I contacted these well-known assistant coaches who wanted to switch from assistant coach to head coach, but they all refused. Leaving the current team in the middle of the season and joining a new team full of unknowns is obviously not a good choice..."

To put it bluntly, once the transition is made, it means that their head coaching career begins.

The success or failure of the first coaching team is related to the success or failure of their entire coaching career.

Therefore, what Li Ke can see now, except for Mark Jackson, who is hungry, and Larry Brown, who has been out of work for a long time, are all losers who encountered Waterloo in their last coaching career.

Five choices, when Boss Qiao asked, Li Ke first ruled out two.

"I don't like Larry Brown, he's too strong, and PJ Carlesimo? He seems outdated."

"So, you rule out two, we can only choose from Mark Jackson, Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau..."

Old Qiao touched his chin, as if he was thinking, but the next second, he raised his head, and asked Li Ke again in a questioning tone: "Among these three, I'll give you a choice, how do you choose?"

"Well, I'll arrange a seat for them..."

Li Ke actually didn't want to interfere too much with the team's operations, so he chose to express his attitude, but not directly make a choice, and told Joe boss: "Doc Rivers ranks last, we don't really need a chicken soup coach, followed by Tom Thibodeau, his defense is great, but our problem is offense, and finally Mark Jackson..."

In other words, if Li Ke had to choose, he would choose Mark Jackson.

But Boss Joe's question came: "But the question is, Mark Jackson has the greatest uncertainty. Are you sure he is ranked first?"

Li Ke shrugged: "At least, neither Doc Rivers nor Tom Thibodeau is what we need."

Seems like this is the only way to go with no other options.

"Okay, then Mark Jackson..."

"No, Michael, the choice is yours. I just ranked them. Maybe Mark Jackson is the worst of the three of them. After all, as you said, he has the greatest uncertainty."

Boss Joe nodded, as if he had made a decision.

Meanwhile, the Bobcats also embarked on their first game without Sam Vincent coaching.

It was an away game against the Suns, and it was also the beginning of a wave of away games.

Bickerstaff Jr. is acting as the head coach. Before the game, the only tactical arrangement he can make is: "First, do your defense well, and second, give the ball to Sheldon, or carry out the offense of this game according to Shelton's ideas."

Hearing this, Li Ke even had the urge to call Boss Joe and tell him: "Hey, Michael, the coaching work can be over. We don't need Doc Rivers, Tom Thibodeau, or Mark Jackson. Xiao Gouba is the most suitable new head coach for us!"

Returning to a sane state, Li Ke knows Bickerstaff Jr. He knows that if Rivers is a chicken soup coach, then Bickerstaff Jr. is not even a chicken soup coach.

As far as this game is concerned, without the constraints of Sam Vincent, the Bobcats played a bit better.

The first is Curry. When he completely controlled the ball, he even played a tie with Nash.

After being hit by Steve Kerr, the Suns have never returned to their peak, but they are still the top team in this league.

In the case of Curry's performance, the Bobcats did not have a wave of suspense to end the game. On the contrary, under the impact of Nash and Stoudemire, they played inseparably. In the end, the game entered the decisive moment.

At the decisive moment, Li Ke took the lead, continuously using pick-and-roll singles to beat opponents, constantly rushing to the basket, and scoring consecutively.

The Bobcats continued to put pressure on the Suns. In contrast, Elvin Gentry made frequent NT operations on the Suns side, including withdrawing Robin Lopez in order to attack at critical moments, but in the end it gave Li Ke an easier breakthrough environment...

In the end, under the leadership of Li Ke, the Bobcats won a decisive victory.

Sam Vincent has just dismissed get out of class, and the new coach has not yet arrived, and the changes in the Bobcats are already obvious.

In fact, unlike most meritorious coaches when they were out of class, Sam Vincent did not receive a little bit of support. From this, it can be seen that public opinion has long recognized that there are problems with Sam Vincent's coaching.

Bill Simmons sent out his column long before Sam Vincent dismissed get out of class, analyzing the reasons for Sam Vincent's failure.

Now, in Sam Vincent's first game after class, the Bobcats defeated the Suns, proving the correctness of Joe's decision, and he posted another post.

"Sam Vincent's Bobcats, Sheldon's Bobcats alone, and then Sam Vincent's Bobcats, have not waited for the new coach to take office, and this has changed."

"In this game against the Phoenix Suns, Stephen Curry was in possession of the ball from start to finish. This was the biggest change before and after Sam Vincent got out of class. Obviously, the Bobcats knew how they should win the game. Only Sam Vincent didn't know. So, after he got out of class, the Bobcats were on the right track."

"Stephen Curry is undoubtedly a very talented rookie. His passing control and shooting are all top in the NBA. Some people think that he is just a Steve Kerr or Kenny Smith-style player. It is a big mistake. Stephen Curry's future is more like his opponent in this game, Steve Nash."

"The Bobcats, after Sam Vincent, have given Stephen Curry the chance to be Steve Nash."

"Stephen Curry is playing at the star point guard level, Shelton's pressure is greatly reduced, and the Bobcats have always been very good defensively. This victory comes as a matter of course."

"Perhaps, the Bobcats don't need to change their coaches. *** Bickerstaff's coaching is enough for them."

After such an analysis, Li Ke felt that Bill Simmons could be punished.

If the goal of the Bobcats is just to win 50 games in the regular season, Bickerstaff Jr. is indeed enough.

But the Bobcats' goal is the Gold Cup, and Bickerstaff Jr. is far from enough.

……

After the game, the Bobcats continued to wander west.

On the 28th, the Bobcats had a back-to-back battle with the Warriors.

The history line has started from the Warriors and the Bobcats, and a huge change has taken place. Curry went to the Bobcats, but the Warriors got James Harden.

Li Ke doesn't know if there are any Warriors with 73 wins and a runner-up. He only knows that Harden is not the core of the Warriors now. Harden may be the cornerstone of the Warriors, but now, he can only be Monta Ellis' substitute.

He came off the bench, played nearly 30 minutes in each game, and played the data and performance of the Super Sixth Man level.

But fans in the Bay Area have a lot of opinions on this, and the reason is: he is much worse than Jamal Crawford!
This is true. Looking at Keliu's performance to the Eagles, he is simply a god on the bench.

But the problem is, Young Master Deng is young!

In any case, in his rookie season, Deng Shao lived a life of "worse than death". In the team, he needs to compete with Monta Ellis, but it's okay if he can't compete, the team's record is still poor.

Outside the team, he will be pulled out to compare with Keliu who was in the Warriors last season.

On and off the field, he has no advantage.

Fans in the Bay Area may not be as harsh as fans in New York, but the full of malice still makes Deng Shao live in a bind, and he dare not open the nightclub mode easily.

All in all, Deng Shao is very envious of Curry on the opposite side.

In his rookie season, he was on a strong team, and he was still able to start. After the coaching change, Curry even owned the ball...

If it was the Bobcats under Sam Vincent, they might have lost this game, because in the previous game against the Suns, Li Ke would definitely be overdrawn.

But the current situation is that in the last game, Li Ke did go all out, but with Curry restraining him, he would not be overdrawn.

Li Ke, who was not overdrawn, immediately played his role against the Warriors this season.

This season, Li Ke played more and more inside.

On the one hand, his B-level mid-range shots are not enough, on the other hand, it is more efficient to break through the basket. Of course, Li Ke has to choose a more efficient scoring method.

This game is like this, the ball is in the hands of Curry, the Bobcats have been pulling the rhythm very well, Li Ke only needs to stand up when the team needs to score the most, break through the basket, or score in low singles.

Most of his attention is on the defensive end.

Monta Ellis is a nerve knife, but in this game, he was completely overwhelmed by Li Ke, and he didn't perform at all.

Bobcats physical fitness is not sufficient, they just rely on better defense, withstood the impact of the Warriors.

In the end, it was Li Ke's consecutive singles that took the victory away.

With back-to-back two-game winning streak, the Bobcats after Sam Vincent's get out of class seem to be really alive!
As Bill Simmons said, Bickerstaff Jr. is enough, and they don't need to choose another coach.

But soon, Lian Ke continued.

On January 1, the Bobcats lost to the Trail Blazers away.

Roy contained Li Ke, the big train Aldridge broke out, and the CIC almost killed the Bobcats.

On February 2, the Bobcats, who were completely overdrawn in the previous battle, lost to the Jazz with no power to fight back.

This wave of two-game losing streak told everyone, including Bill Simmons: The Bobcats still need a new coach.

……

At this time, Boss Qiao announced his final choice, a choice that was beyond Li Ke's expectations.

"Sheldon, the team didn't choose a new coach based on your ranking in the end, I'm sorry..."

Li Ke, who was rushing to Los Angeles with the team, received a call from Boss Qiao.

As soon as these words came out, everything became clear.

Old Joe's choice was obviously not Mark Jackson.

"Tom Thibodeau, or Doc Rivers?"

In fact, at this moment, Li Ke, who had reacted, hoped that the Bobcats' new coach would be Doc Rivers.

The reason was that it suddenly occurred to him that Sibodu was the master of dead grass.

Li Ke is not afraid that he will be killed, what he is afraid of is that the Bobcats' bench bandits will be used up this season.

In contrast, Rivers seems to do a better job of using role players.

"Doc Rivers will be the Bobcats' new head coach!"

I thought there would be a disappointed sigh on the other side of the phone, but Boss Qiao heard a breath of relief.

In any case, the outcome has been decided, Bobcats head coach, has been confirmed, will be taken over by Doc Rivers.

(End of this chapter)