basketball player

Chapter 81 080: There will always be new problems
Although Horford and Mike Roberts are indeed two insiders who meet Henson's tactical requirements, sometimes the Pacers will also expose the problem of insufficient frame protection.

Especially at the point of Mike Roberts, he was often caught and beaten by the opponent.The Pacers lost to the Lakers twice this season. In addition to Kobe's outstanding performance, there is another reason that the Pacers can't limit the Lakers' twin towers.

But if there is a center who has excellent frame protection ability and can run and jump without slowing down the team's offensive rhythm, this problem will be solved easily.

Chris Anderson is undoubtedly a perfect candidate.

"Anderson has more and more troubles off the court, which makes Crazy Karl very unhappy. In recent games, he has begun to reduce Anderson's playing time. Last season Anderson averaged 22 minutes per game, but this season his playing time has plummeted to 16 minutes. Russian center Mozgov's playing time is increasing. All these show that Anderson is losing the trust of the head coach in the Nuggets." Unlike Herbert, he is an owner who knows basketball well.

"Anderson's contract with the Nuggets is still several years away. The only way we can get him is through a trade. But to be honest, George Karl will definitely open his mouth. If we don't agree, he will not trade Anderson even if he puts Anderson in front of the water cooler." Henson understands George Karl's behavior very well. Except for Anthony, he will not make any loss-making business.

As for Anthony, even if the Knicks or the Nets don't give the Nuggets anything, Karl hopes that Anthony will leave early.

"The contract between Anderson and the Nuggets does have a few years left, but what if the Nuggets can't fulfill the rest of Anderson's contract? A new round of labor negotiations is underway, and I have also listened to several meetings. The new amnesty clause makes me very concerned. If a team is dissatisfied with a player, they can amnesty a player before the start of the season. No matter how many years the player has with the team, his salary will not be included in the team's salary cap."

"You mean, if we have patience, we can directly sign Chris Anderson next summer without paying any chips!" Henson is very smart, and he is very clear about the relationship between this new clause and Anderson.

"That's right, you know old Carl, if Anderson continues to make trouble like this, the Nuggets will most likely pardon him." Vivek nodded approvingly, the most comfortable thing about talking to Henson is that it doesn't take much effort.As long as you are casual, he can understand.

"But if that's the case, we'll have to wait until next season to see Chris Anderson in a corn jersey."

"So what? Building a team is not something that can be done overnight. You can start looking for the players you want from now on. After this labor negotiation is over, I believe that the free agent market will definitely be chaotic. At that time, I don't want my money to be spent or all wasted."

Vivek's words made Henson smile knowingly.Because of the passage just now, you can understand it as: "In the free agent market next summer, you can sign freely. I will worry about the money!"

"By the way, there is one more thing." Vivekben picked up the knife and fork and was about to start, but suddenly remembered something.

"Chris Paul seems to want the Hornets to trade himself. Although it has not been made public, there are already rumors. The Hornets are in chaos recently. The owner is selling the team, and Paul's early contract extension has not been followed. Many teams are already preparing chips. After all, Paul is one of the best guards in the league. Do you think we have any chance in this matter?"

"Chris Paul?" Henson looked at Vivek in surprise. He never thought that his team would have something to do with Paul.

※※※

After Christmas Eve dinner, Ranadive and his daughter took their leave.Originally, Henson thought that he would spend this Christmas in misery alone, but he didn't expect to spend a festival in his home that would keep him warm throughout the winter.

But that night, Henson didn't sleep well all night, his mind was full of things about Chris Paul.

If what Vivek says is true, this is the Pacers' golden opportunity to land a superstar.But if he wants to get Paul, Henson will inevitably have to send his beloved player away with his own hands.Maybe Granger, maybe Horford, maybe anyone
This isn't playing NBA 2K, where Henson trades players with impunity.But in the face of real people, the transaction is not a cold data exchange.

On one side is the strongest point guard in the league, and on the other side is his lover.The palms and backs of the hands were full of flesh, which made Henson sleepless.

Henson still decided to put this matter aside, after all, the current rumors about Paul wanting to be traded have not yet been written off.
※※※

The next day, Henson spent a day with Anjali in Indianapolis.Henson did not return to the team until the 25th.

An Jiali's Christmas vacation was not over yet, so she temporarily stayed at Henson's house.

On the afternoon of Christmas Day on the 25th, the team resumed training.Henson wore a prominent white scarf around his neck, which was a Christmas present from An Jiali.On the training ground, several people have already started shooting to warm up.After seeing Henson, everyone was also very enthusiastic.

"Merry Christmas, boss!"

"Hello, Coach, how was your Christmas?"

Henson also greeted everyone, and he was very pleased that the players hadn't caused him any trouble during this time, especially Stephenson.

However, after the training started, Henson's original happy mood was swept away in an instant.Because after a few days of vacation, the state of the players seems to have become very bad.

Young teams will always face various problems, and frequent ups and downs are one of them.After all, young people don't know how to adjust themselves like old fritters.After a few days of indulgence, even Holiday and George, who have been working extremely hard, beat people up.

Henson expected the players to adjust right away when they played the next day.But it turns out that things are not as simple as they imagined.

On December 12, after Christmas, at the Conseco Arena, the Memphis Grizzlies slaughtered the Indiana Pacers 26-104.No one or any fan would have thought that the Pacers, whose morale was boosted before Christmas, would give them a big defeat after Christmas.

The game entered the rhythm of Memphis from the very beginning. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph made the Pacers unable to defend. They scored 19 points together in the first quarter!Gasol's high play and Randolph's tonnage made Horford and Granger suffer in the three-second zone.

Under the leadership of the "Black and White Bears", the outside group of the Grizzlies began to show their power in the second quarter.Since Henson asked for a defensive contraction, Rudy Gay, Conley, Mayo and others seemed to have been unsealed, mid-range shots, three-pointers, fast breaks, everything.

In comparison, the Pacers did pretty badly in the first quarter.Holiday was flying around the field like a headless fly. From his shooting and dribbling, it can be seen that this guy is completely out of shape. He missed all 4 shots in the first quarter and scored no points.

Although the team leader Granger is full of vitality, but in the face of Randolph, the inside gate of the Grizzlies, Granger is like a piece of soft cake, easily crushed by the steely Randolph.He tried to drive to the dunk twice, but was eventually slapped by Randolph.

The poor feel of the Pacers spread like an infectious disease to every player on the field. Whether it was a quick counterattack or an open shot, the players wasted a lot of very good opportunities.Even Dunleavy, who has been playing steadily, played in a mess today.The low shooting percentage made the Pacers' best offensive method completely ineffective. Henson had to watch the team being slaughtered by the Grizzlies at home.

After the game, Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins shook hands with Henson with a happy face, and said to Henson, "I'll give you a piece of advice, coach. I have to say, you can't solve the problem of low-post offense by shooting."

Hollins' words may be just a kind reminder, but the siege of reporters after the game was quite vicious.

The low shooting percentage of the Pacers in this game just happened to pinch Henson's life goal, which can make the media make a big fuss.

"The Pacers died tonight because of the lack of efficient and stable offensive methods. When their three-pointers misfired, the situation on the court was indeed a bit ugly. Relying on Horford's post-up offense is really insignificant. After all, he is a small center. He can't cause enough damage like Marc Gasol, or attract a lot of double-teams to create opportunities for his teammates. The magic of Coach Henson may come to an end here."

"Shots alone don't win games, and the Grizzlies and Hollins definitely gave Coach Henson a vivid moment."

"Coach Henson's unconventional tactical arrangement finally taught him and his team a lesson. How to deal with the Pacers? It's very simple. You only need to send two big men who can play low offense and you can win."

The inside crush of the loss to the Grizzlies pushed Henson to the forefront for a while.Among all the doubts, only two people stood on Henson's side and said a few words for him.One is Pacers president Larry Bird, and the other is Pacers small owner Vivek Ranadive.

But this kind of standing in line to excuse one's own people is obviously not convincing.

In the locker room after the game, Henson flew into a rage, criticizing the players who had completely lost their form because of the holiday.

But on the second day, the training status of the players was still bad, and the training atmosphere did not seem to be so good.

The reality is really not NBA2K game.If you want to really lead these living players well, it seems that it is not enough to just know what they are good at and just be able to formulate tactics.

How to solve this problem now?Henson scratched his head, feeling overwhelmed for the first time since becoming a head coach.

(End of this chapter)