basketball player

Chapter 63 062: The 18-year old rookie

For the Atlanta Hawks, Henson had drawn a big red circle on the date of November 11 as early as when he played against the Rockets.

The Eagles missed the playoffs for eight years, worse than the Pacers.But after selecting Horford and trading veteran point guard Mike Bibby, the Atlanta Hawks began to attack the playoffs, and they did reach the Eastern Conference semifinals for two consecutive years.

But even so, the Atlanta Hawks are still not satisfied.Especially this summer, after they spent $1.2 million to renew Joe Johnson, the Eagles management didn't want $1.2 million to just get a second-round result.

So the Eagles fired Mike Woodson this summer, and Woodson's assistant coach Larry Drew took office.It seems that there are some similarities between this script and Henson.

In fact, Larry Drew's journey as a head coach was much more bumpy than Henson's.Since 1992, Drew has served as an assistant coach for the Lakers, Wizards, Nets, Pistons and Eagles.After working as an assistant coach for 18 years, Drew finally took the position of head coach!

And you must know that before becoming an assistant coach, Drew played in the NBA as a player for 10 years, and he played precisely as a point guard.Even for such a person with a professional player background, it took a full 18 years from assistant coach to head coach!But Henson, with a bachelor's degree in statistics, only took three years from scout to head coach!
Therefore, in Drew's heart, he looked down on Henson somewhat.Drew has been doing basketball-related careers all his life, but what about Henson?He is just an "outsider" who wants a piece of the pie.Drew believes that his exquisite tactical arrangements and pre-match preparations will definitely be able to beat the speculator Henson back to his original form!
This summer, after learning that Geelong traded Horford to the Pacers, Drew publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the deal.But what is surprising is that Roy Hibbert has indeed shown good qualities this season.The 2-meter black tower helped the Eagles a lot on the defensive end. On the offensive end, he can also use his mature low-post skills to score frequently.

As Bird told Geelong during the trade, Hibbert has grown into an All-Star center.

This summer, the Eagles' failure to chase "Shark" O'Neal and the renewal of Joe Johnson's premium contract have caused them to be criticized by many experts.But only the Horford deal is rarely mentioned.The reason is simple, Hibbert perfectly replaced Horford's position, and the Eagles thus liberated their extremely tight salary space.

Drew doesn't think this deal is a bad thing now, and he sent Roy Hibbert to Atlanta. That smart Henson Joe might suffer the consequences himself!

At the same time, in the tactical conference room of the Conseco Arena, Henson was working out plans for the next game with members of the coaching staff.Although the Eagles have Joe Johnson and Josh Smith who often appear in the top five goals, in fact, the best thing about the Eagles is not their offense, but their defense.

In terms of offense, the Eagles can't even find a player who can average more than 20 points per game.But defensively, the defense of the Eagles' starting five is very tough.

Mike Bibby, Johnson, Josh, Marvin Williams and Hibbert, these guys are the kind of masters who are not afraid of physical confrontation.What's more, there are meat grinders like Pachulia and Maurice Evans on the Hawks bench.

The Eagles have achieved 6 wins and 4 losses this season by virtue of their tough defense and clear division of labor.So Henson believes that the most important thing to deal with a team like the Eagles is to disintegrate their defense!
To disintegrate the defense, we must first start from the inside.After all, inside defense is the core of every team on the defensive end.And Henson knows Hibbert very well. If Hibbert is placed in the restricted area like this, the impact on the Pacers will undoubtedly be huge.

Pull Hibbert out. It seems that Horford will play a key role in this game against the old owner
When leading the team to play confrontational training in the afternoon, Henson found that Horford still prefers to end offenses in the middle distance and the three-second zone.After all, the three-point shot is a new skill that Horford developed under the request of Henson this summer. Before that, Horford, the insider, hardly shot outside the three-point line.After all, not all coaches are like Henson, a lunatic who wants his center to run out and shoot threes.

After 10 minutes of confrontational training, Henson called it off.In terms of Hibbert's huge defensive range, Horford is far from enough to reach the mid-range.Because even in the mid-range position, Hibbert can quickly return to the basket.To completely empty the inside line, the only way Henson can do is to raise Horford's position higher, beyond the three-point line!
"Al, you can try more three-point shots. Be confident, your three-point shooting percentage in the first few games is not bad. In the next game, I need you to open up space for others. If Hibbert doesn't make a save, your three-point shots will lead us to victory."

"I" Horford scratched his head, "I'm afraid I won't make a shot." After all, Horford is still a center. If Henson told Stephenson to shoot three-pointers like crazy, Stephenson would be so excited that he would take off his pants on the spot.

This is also due to his personality. Although Horford is already an All-Star player, he is still a little unconfident. He is usually introverted in the locker room.

"It doesn't matter. The three-pointer is not as stable as the mid-range shot and the offense at the basket, so you feel that you are not shooting accurately. But the fact is that your three-pointer percentage in the past few games has been as high as 38%. Do you know what 38% is? Your ex-Joe Johnson, this season's three-pointer percentage is only 29%. Even so, he has to take more than five three-pointers every game. After Burt is pulled out, it will be easier for you to break through or make an air cut." Henson patted Horford on the shoulder, and at the same time used the words to increase the morale of the players by 5%.

Some players, like Stephenson, you have to press him.And some players, like Horford, you have to encourage him to do some crazy things.

Horford nodded, "I'll try more in training later, boss."

Henson also smiled, and it seems that the rhetoric has worked.

Before confrontation training began, Henson called everyone together and laid out in detail the tactics to be used against the Hawks.The general idea of ​​the team is still to play fast, play space, and shoot. The general idea must not be changed. After all, it is impossible for players to adapt to a new tactical system at once.

But on the basis of keeping the general idea unchanged, Henson made some bold changes.He not only needs Horford to shoot three-pointers, but even needs Horford to support the offense in a high position.In other words, Holiday will be a scorer in the next game.And it is Horford, the fifth position, who stands in the high position and distributes the ball!

If Hibbert is successfully pulled out, the other four will have to run through the penalty area.In this way, Horford stands in a high position and is the best pass point with a view.

Practice lasted until [-] p.m., and to Henson's credit, the Pacers had two days to prepare for the game.Two days is enough for him to use some new tricks to pry open the Eagles' defense.

After returning home from get off work, Henson lay on the sofa watching TV and waiting for takeaway, and he talked to An Jiali on the phone by the way.Since Henson's sudden confession at the dinner party, the two have talked on the phone more and more frequently, and each call has become longer and longer.After eating later, he will continue to watch the latest video of the Eagles.

At this time, ESPN TV is broadcasting a talk show.Henson unexpectedly discovered that the person being interviewed was his next opponent, Larry Drew.

"What kind of coach do you think the new head coach of the Pacers, Henson Joe, is? Do you recognize his coaching level?" On TV, the reporter asked the old Drew such a question.

"He is a coach with a unique style, but he is doing a dangerous thing, which is blurring the boundaries of the five positions on the basketball court. Many people have not discovered this, but I have done some research on Coach Henson recently. Can you say that Horford is the center of the Pacers? No, he sometimes shoots outside like a guard. Can you tell whether Daniel Granger plays inside or outside?"

Hearing this, Henson couldn't help admiring Drew.Blurring the boundaries of the five positions, this summary is very beautiful, as expected of a person who has spent his entire life in basketball.

"But the five positions on the basketball court cannot be blurred. This is the destiny of basketball since Professor Naismith invented it. I will let Coach Henson see that the power of the five positions performing their duties is far superior to his amateur blurring."

Drew, who has worked as an assistant coach for 18 years, is merciless. In fact, not only Drew, but most academic coaches actually have prejudices against Henson, a "layman".

Henson turned off the TV, not because he was angry, but because his takeout arrived
(End of this chapter)