basketball player

Chapter 639 Chapter 637: A Summer's Progress
"Henson Joe will retire completely!"

"This time it's a real farewell!"

"It's unbelievable that he chose to leave again at the pinnacle of his career..."

"His retirement is a major loss to the NBA!"

At the end of September, the NBA preseason training camp has begun for half a month.More than half a month has passed since Wade announced that he would dance the last dance and Henson announced that he would complete the last lap.

However, even after so long, the news of Henson's retirement is still happening every day, and the enthusiasm remains high.

Among them, some regret, while others cheer.

But I believe that the most bitter person at this time must be LeBron James.

I'm fucking in LA and you're telling me you're retiring?

???

James must be very anxious in his heart at this time.

But in any case, the pace of the new season is approaching.In addition to being Henson's last season, this season is also considered to be the most competitive season for the championship in recent years.

Needless to say, the Warriors and Pacers, these two giants are still favorites to win the championship.And other teams in the league have also quietly risen this summer.

Faced with such a situation, what people are most concerned about is how the Pacers will line up after losing Paul?
Neither the Pacers official website nor Henson gave any answers. They just regularly posted a few training photos of the players on the official Twitter, and a few photos of Rondo inviting everyone to play cards.

It has to be said that Rondo's hobbies in this area are similar to Paul's.Henson sometimes finds it strange that Rondo and Paul should become good friends, why is he always so jealous when they meet?
The reporters are very concerned about the Pacers' formation, so they are also looking forward to the Pacers' performance in the preseason.

However, Henson didn't want to take the lead in showing his strength in the preseason. He decided to collect it first in the preseason, even if he lost all.

So, at the beginning of October, in the first game of the preseason game, the Pacers VS Suns, people were shocked when they saw Henson's starting lineup.

"Rondo, Danny Green, Stephenson, Siakam, and Lopez? Is this the Pacers' starting lineup for the new season? Is Coach Henson serious?" Reggie Miller sat in the commentary seat, looking at the completely unreasonable starting lineup with a look of confusion.

Sure enough, the game ended with the Suns winning.The sun's potential rookie German Booker scored 32 points. In the first game of the preseason, he would like to mention a good statistic.

In the next few games, the Pacers' record is still poor.

Playing the Magic, Henson changed. The starters were Brogdon, Oladipo, George, Siakam and Antetokounmpo. Of course, George and Antetokounmpo only played for less than 25 minutes before taking a rest.On the Magic side, Vucevic had 28 points and 13 rebounds, smashing the Pacers.

109 to 95, the Pacers have lost two games in a row, and their offense seems to be out of order.

Game [-], against the Knicks.Henson changed his starting lineup again, and to everyone's surprise, Derrick Rose was actually the starting number one this time.
Then, Tim Hardaway II scored 36 points and beat the Pacers.

The defending champions lost three games in a row in the preseason, and the entire league was boiling.

"After losing Chris Paul, the Pacers' offense is not systematic at all!"

"I don't know if Coach Henson has given up resistance, because the Pacers didn't play at all in these three preseason games!"

"Perhaps, the emergence of the five-star warriors and the departure of Paul have made the Pacers lose their confidence. They are playing very weakly, and they cannot play the regular season in this state!"

Sitting in the office, watching the news that criticized the Pacers every day, Henson was very proud.

He lost on purpose, he was never a coach who cared about winning or losing the preseason.Everyone didn't play seriously in the preseason, so the effect of training was not as good as training.

When the regular season starts, when the whole world thinks that the Pacers are going to die, he will make the Pacers a blockbuster.

"Henson, confrontational training will start soon." While Henson was reading the newspaper, Becky Harmon knocked on the door of his office.

"Thank you, Becky, I'll be right over." Henson smiled slightly and put away his phone.

It's time to see what the real state of those guys is like.

※※※

At first, Antetokounmpo was still very uncomfortable.But after almost a month of hard training, the Greek has become accustomed to the offensive method of catching the ball from the bottom line and directing his teammates to run all the way.

With the dual help of Nash and Henson, Antetokounmpo's ability to read the game has improved a lot.In this attack, he first handed the ball to George, and then immediately gave Bogdanovic an off-ball screen.

After the Croatian shooter ran away, Antetokounmpo pretended to cut in to attract the defense, but George passed the ball to Bogdanovic.

The Croatian hit an open three-pointer and added another three-pointer for the main team.

Henson applauded with satisfaction off the court. Although Antetokounmpo did not attack directly in the attack just now.But his command, screens and cuts are all in place.

That's what Henson wanted, to spread the burden of playmaking on everyone.In this way, there is nothing wrong with letting Antetokounmpo play point guard.

But not long after the main team was happy, Derrick Rose used his breakthrough to pull back a victory.

Since the training camp this year, Rose has been in excellent physical condition.There's no doubt that those Henson badges worked on Rose.

The most noticeable effect of health was Rose's long-lost self-confidence.Although his first step is no longer as fast, his change of direction can't be compared with the past.But for a confident Rose, the breakthrough is still very sharp.Henson is delighted by his ability to finish around the rim.

In this year's summer training camp, Henson used his "training camp badge" to improve the offensive ability of Antetokounmpo and George with the ball, and the last spot, Henson used it on Oladipo.

After re-signing Oladipo last year, Henson's plan was to give him greater responsibility.And if Oladipo is trained to shoot, he can occasionally play off the ball.

Just as Henson was thinking, Oladipo received a pass from Siakam and made a decisive shot from beyond the three-point line.

Oladipo's improvement in shooting stability is visible to the naked eye. He is no longer the "little Wade" who can only take the ball and rush towards the penalty area.

Of course, it's not just the three of them who have made progress.

Kuzma's offensive selection is more reasonable, and the offensive stability is better.Brook Lopez's three-pointers are more accurate than before, and he is used to being an anti-aircraft turret.There is a tacit understanding between Siakam and Tucker, and the insiders of the small lineup can be handed over to them.

Green, Stephenson and Brogdon continued to be stable without any decline in status.

Can such a Pacer compete with the five-star Warriors?Henson didn't know.But at least, it won't be powerless to fight back.

Inside the practice facility, out of sight of reporters and fans, everyone on the Pacers is hard at work.Everyone thought the Pacers were definitely doomed?Well, just wait and see!
It's true that I'm about to retire, but I haven't retired yet!

As long as I'm at Bankers Life Arena, there will still be my legend here!

Back in the office after practice, Henson drew a red circle on October 10th.That day was the opening game of the NBA, and the Pacers' first opponent of the new season will be the Timberwolves with Jimmy Butler and two top picks!

The poor Minnesota Timberwolves will be the first to experience the taste of the Pacers' full firepower.

Think you can get rid of me by running west?Sorry Jimmy, I'm afraid I'm embarrassing you again!
(End of this chapter)