I was determined to be bad, but I went straight to the Basketball Hall of Fame

Chapter 559
On the night of December 12, the Cavaliers played against the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

In addition to James and Irving, the biggest highlight of this game is the new Cavaliers coach Steve Kerr.

Other than that, there wasn't much to watch about the game.

The Pistons are already dust of history.

Joe Dumars built a championship lineup based on experience and some luck, and it was finally proved that there is indeed more luck.

After the Five Tigers completely aged and fell apart, the Pistons have frequently made stupid moves in the past two years.

On the one hand, Dumas's vision and operation problems are related to the decline of Detroit city on the other hand.

The whole city of Detroit went through bankruptcy, and there were unemployed people everywhere.

With the transfer and decline of industries, a large number of industrial workers left as many as they could, leaving mostly black poor people.

How can these people have the economic strength to spend on sports and entertainment?
Violent crimes and drugs are rampant in the city. Many single-family villa areas that were once wealthy have become abandoned places, where homeless people, poisonous insects, and poor people temporarily live.

The team has changed owners, and the management has been disorganized from top to bottom.

The championship has become an unattainable dream, and the most important thing for the team at the moment is to survive.

Therefore, after the disintegration of the Pistons from the Five Tigers, the main direction of signings is to recruit those outdated big-name stars.

For example, Iverson and McGrady, in order to sell more tickets so that the team can survive.

Maybe Joe Dumars also knows that former balloon stars like Iverson and Tracy McGrady, firstly, their strength has been greatly reduced, and they can no longer make any waves, and secondly, their playing style is seriously inconsistent with the city of Detroit.

The image of the Pistons for a long time is tough, iron-blooded, grassroots, and defensive.

Stars like Iverson and Tracy McGrady, who are known for their gorgeous offense, are simply not acclimatized in the Pistons.

But Joe Dumars had no choice. For the sake of the football market and the box office, he had to make such a bad move.

And the result was not satisfactory, Iverson and Tracy McGrady only made a short stay in Detroit, and they had a very unpleasant time here for various reasons.

For example, a superstar like Iverson came to the Pistons but had to play as a substitute, and his No. 3 jersey was worn by Stuckey.

Iverson's life in the Pistons has been unsatisfactory. Iverson's fans have always hated the Pistons.

As for McGrady, he was involved in the struggle between the old and new players of the team, and in the end he didn't fall well, and stayed for a season and left.

All kinds of deeds show that the Pistons, a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference that has reached the Eastern Conference Finals for six consecutive seasons, is now rotten, and there is no sign of improvement.

Such a team was box office poison at its peak, let alone now.

The ratings of tonight's game are really all supported by the Cavaliers.

In Kerr's first game as a newcomer, he still hadn't figured out how the team should play. Anyway, he just pretended to call a timeout, gave the players encouragement and that's it.

The specific tactical arrangements are still handed over to Mike Brown and the assistant coaching staff first.

The assistant coaches of the Cavaliers seem to have little interest, and there is no mood and passion for the game.

Because they all know that once the emperor and courtiers, Steve Kerr enters the Cavaliers, they will definitely be cleaned and replaced.

This is different from the Clippers. The core character of the Clippers is Min Congda, and Min Congda can use whoever he likes.

And Kerr must recruit the assistant coach he likes and is suitable for.

Kerr did think so, and during the game, he kept thinking about which assistant coaches to recruit.

The game against the Pistons itself is not much to watch. The Pistons lack bright spots in terms of offense and defense.

Their backcourt Brandon Knight has a certain combat effectiveness, and the inside line Mark Hill is very dynamic.

Monroe on the inside has a good offensive footwork, and Drummond on the bench has great potential.

But in Kerr's view, the Pistons' team building ideas are completely outdated, behind the current version and future trends.

For example, a short and low-post offensive insider like Monroe has ordinary defensive lateral movement and likes to score points in singles inside. This is simply the insider version of 20 years ago.

Although the Clippers also have an early version of Randolph, Randolph has matured in his 30s, and his role in the team has become more functional and marginalized in the past two years. The arrival of Anthony Davis also means that Randolph has a successor.

Monroe is a rookie player selected by the Pistons. This year, the Pistons also won a center like Drummond who is heavy and lacks the ability to support and organize. It is enough to show that the Pistons are behind the times in terms of development strategy.

With James and Irving in control, the rhythm of the game is firmly controlled by the Cavaliers.

And the morale of the Cavaliers is quite strong tonight, they have full confidence after just beating the Clippers.

Kerr's only clear instruction to the Cavaliers tonight is, "If you have the opportunity to shoot three-pointers as much as possible, don't be afraid."

This is somewhat different from Mike Brown.

Brown's requirements for three-pointers are still cautious, and he must have absolute certainty before making a shot.

The first thing Cole did when he came to the team was to further untie the perimeter players.

The Cavaliers actually have very good shooter resources. Irving, Green, Battier, and Miller are all outstanding three-point shooters.

The Cavaliers should play their role, first to improve the efficiency of scoring, and second, like the Clippers, they have to expand their offensive space.

As a result, the Cavaliers broke out with a three-pointer in the third quarter, and a wave of 15:0 offensive climax opened the difference between the two sides to as much as 19 points.

The game lost its suspense from here, and the Pistons had no chance of a comeback because their offense was too traditional.

Now scoring in the NBA is gradually becoming easier, and the number of outside three-pointers is gradually increasing.

In order to keep up with the rhythm and pace of the game, the team must attack, otherwise it will be difficult to catch up once it falls behind by more than 10 points.

As the pace of the game accelerates and the number of three-pointers increases, the fluctuation of the point difference between the two sides will further increase.

For example, in a game in the 90s, it might be 10 points ahead, and the game lost its suspense.

It is difficult for the lagging side to catch up to the score, and it is also difficult for the leading side to further expand to 15 or 20 points.

The situation is different now. Like the top teams in the league, the Clippers, Lakers, Heat, and Thunder, even if they are behind by 15 points, as long as there is enough time, they can come back.

Similarly, if your rhythm and speed can't keep up, the point difference will be further widened, and you will be widened by 15 points or 20 points, and you will die in the end without any suspense.

By the fourth quarter, there was not much suspense in the game. After half of the game, the Pistons replaced the main players and came on the bench, and the game entered garbage time.

Cole also called a timeout at this time, replacing the main players such as James and Irving.

James is obviously in a good mood, sitting on the bench chatting with his teammates very happily.

He thought to himself: "Mr. Smart came to Cole, and the changes to the team are quite significant. The three-pointers are more determined and more, which is a good thing. But, he said that I should play the fifth position? This...is this not a joke?"

The conversation with Kerr before the game kept James in his heart.

He agreed not to take the fourth position, but in the end, he directly sent me to the fifth position!
You are really considerate, do you want me to die?

Although James is strong, he has historical physical fitness among NBA players.

But James is not very used to playing inside, because his technical level is not enough.

Playing inside, the physical foundation is one aspect, and many people will ignore the technical foundation.

For example, like Charles Barkley, a typical short insider, only 198, shorter than James.

But he is like a fish in water inside, and he has won the rebounding champion, relying on his extremely solid inside basic skills.

If you only rely on brute force to survive inside, one is inefficient, and the other is easy to get injured.

James has always been learning outside play, and his inside skills are not solid.

Today, the fifth position is more and more withered, and tends to be role-oriented and functional.

Let James play the fifth position, and the emperor distributes the frontier?There is no such reason.

But although James was unhappy, he was a little worried. Could this be Smart's order?
James still knows Smart's tactical level. He hits the nail on the head and has immediate results every time.

So does he want to listen?
Thinking about it, James sat on the bench and began to bite his fingers.

The Cavaliers easily won this game, achieved three consecutive victories, and moved slightly forward in the Eastern Conference rankings.

After the game, the Cavaliers returned to Cleveland non-stop, and they will face the Bulls on the 5th.

The Cavaliers' schedule at the beginning of this season is not friendly, there are too many away games, and the home court is broken by away games.

At the beginning of the season, the Cavaliers experienced a wave of six consecutive away, with more losses than wins, and low morale.

After that, home games and away games were mixed, and there were no more than two consecutive home games. This made the Cavaliers players suffer from traveling on planes and buses.

Kerr came to Cleveland with the team, and he hurried over to serve, all by himself, with a change of clothes. His family was already in Phoenix.

The Cavaliers did not arrange accommodation for him in time, so they could only temporarily stay in a hotel near the training hall. Kerr settled it himself, and then the team would reimburse him.

This made Cole shake his head again and again, and couldn’t help complaining to Mike Brown, who was traveling with him: “The logistics of the Cavaliers are really bad enough. After the plane arrived at the airport, the bus had to wait for half an hour to arrive. And the players have to carry their own luggage and find a way to go home by themselves. Has no one made overall arrangements?”

Mike Brown was surprised: "Does the team still send players home? We used to be like Steve."

Kerr recalled his playing career with the Bulls and Spurs, and when he was the general manager of the Suns, it seemed true. Everyone landed on the plane, or after the bus arrived, they went back to their respective homes and did what they should do.

The team is a place to work, not kindergarten.

Kerr pursed his lips and said, "But...but it's different in the Clippers. After we arrive at the destination, whether it's going back to Los Angeles or away, from the players to the coaches, we don't have to use our brains or think about anything, just follow along."

This is called no harm without contrast.

Min Congda is in Los Angeles and gives Sloan enough money every year to provide logistics services.

Therefore, the Clippers' logistics is the best in the league, and it really makes the players feel that they are not on the journey.

You don't have to worry about anything, you don't even have to move your mind, just follow along.

Reporters sometimes photographed the Clippers players on the road, most of whom were wearing headphones and playing with their mobile phones without worrying about anything.

It is this kind of "fool-style" full logistics service guarantee that allows players to save their energy to the greatest extent and devote themselves to the game.

Of course, this protection costs money.

Cole opened a room to stay, reported his safety with his family, and then made a few phone calls to give his favorite assistant coach candidates.

On Dec. 12, Kerr coached the Cavaliers' first practice session.

In a simple tactical training session, Cole conducted a group confrontation according to his practice in the Clippers.

During the group confrontation, Cole made it clear that James should play the fifth center in his team.

"LeBron, you play center."

James spread his hands, his face was confused, but he had to obey.

In the previous communication, James made it clear that he would not play the fourth position, and Cole agreed.

But James didn't say that he didn't play the fifth position!
Although he could refuse again, but after thinking about it, he is the new coach after all, or sent by his adoptive father, wouldn't it be bad to refute it?

James also called Min Congda last night, saying that Cole suggested that he might be allowed to play the fifth position.

Min Congda thought for a while, and said: "Listen to him, he has a set of designs. But if you really play the fifth position, you have to think about it carefully. This is definitely not an ordinary fifth position. There is a difference. Think about Marc Gasol."

Marc Gasol is now an atypical five-position center for the Clippers.

He rarely appears in the low post, but a lot of support in the high post with the ball.

He has a wide range of attacks and various methods, making every center who is facing him miserable.

James' basketball IQ is very good, but his basic skills, sense of position on the court, and some tactical awareness can't be said to be horrible, but to say that he has a congenital disability, which is incomplete.

Because he lacked the link of university studies and quickly entered the professional league, the training in this area was not enough.

Similar to Kobe, after many years of honing, he has a very, very detailed tactical awareness.

Even so, some bad habits left by Kobe when he was young will still hurt the team.

From this point of view, players such as Jordan, Duncan, and Curry who have stayed in college long enough have fewer such problems.

When defending, James performed well, because the Cavaliers don't have a serious low-post master.

But on the offensive end, let James not be the first ball handler, in the low post, on the ribs, as a screen, support or roll, he is a little messy.

Cole has been observing quietly, looking at James' slightly embarrassed look, thinking that there is still a lot of work to be done.

But if you think about it, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

(End of this chapter)