Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 192 Iverson's Retirement Tour?Poach Lu Shuai?Philly teaming up?Three parties profit?

At the press conference, Heat coach Spoelstra had a black face all the way, and after a few words, he led the players to leave in a hurry.

The Heat and the Supersonics themselves are the biggest favorites to win the championship this season. Fans of the two teams had many quarrels on the Internet before the match. Although there are more fans supporting the Supersonics, the Heat have stabilized the situation by virtue of their superstar effect, and public opinion has not fallen behind. A clear disadvantage.

But as the Heat were slaughtered by the Sonics in the Christmas game, everything will change now. The Heat will definitely be attacked by more public opinion in the future, and their mental pressure will increase sharply.

The bad situation of the team makes the head coach Spoelstra unhappy. For him, this is no less than a disaster. It is likely to overturn his position as the team coach.

Compared with the oppressive Heat, the Sonics players were all in a good mood when they were interviewed, answering the reporters' questions with a smile on their faces.

Durant didn't add insult to injury, but he reiterated the team's slogan of winning the championship, and he has more confidence in the Sonics' goals this season.

With a smile on his face, Lu Yong commented on the game to the camera. "The players played very well tonight and presented a wonderful Christmas game for the fans, but this is just a regular season, and greater challenges are yet to come. The Supersonics are ready at all times to impact the confidence of the championship Never wavered."

After the press conference, Lu Yong became more optimistic about the prospect of the Supersonics winning this season.

The loss of the Heat proved a truth, no matter how strong the star's personal ability is, it is difficult to solve all problems without a good lineup configuration.

Role players are not the key to competing for the championship, but when two championship teams face off, the fate of the game is often determined by the competition between small people. Only when the lineup is reasonable enough can the league be crushed in the true sense.

The Big Three of the Heat seem to have a bright future, but the lineup configuration of the entire team is unreasonable. The most scoring player on the bench turned out to be Eddie House, who was ruthlessly rejected by the Supersonics during the offseason.When a player who was selectively ignored by the Sonics becomes the Heat's scoring leader off the bench, the gap between the two teams' lineups is obvious, and this cannot be made up by stars alone.

强如常规赛打出72胜的公牛也不仅仅只有乔丹、皮蓬和罗德曼这组铁三角，替补席上的库科奇和史蒂夫-科尔同样都是极品球员，首发控卫罗恩-哈珀更是在加盟公牛的前一个赛季里还能砍下20.1分6.1篮板4.6助攻和1.9次抢断的悍将。

Without this group of seemingly inconspicuous teammates working behind the scenes, it would be difficult for Jordan and Pippen to lead the Bulls to the championship no matter how strong they are.

The biggest problem for the Heat now is that only the Big Three can instigate the offense, and the individual abilities of other players are very limited. Starting point guard Arroyo and center Ilgauskas combined can contribute an average of 10.6 points per game, which is not as good as the Supersonics Substitute Budinger scored more points alone, not to mention the group of substitutes who only received a basic salary. This is the gap between the two teams' lineups.

This is the reason why Lu Yong has never put the Heat in his eyes. In contrast, the Spurs in the West pose a greater threat to the Sonics. This year's championship will probably fall into the hands of the Western Conference team.

On the second day, the outside media praised the Sonics one after another, consolidating their position at the top of the league. With a record of 26 wins and 4 losses, they ranked first in the combat power rankings.

After the Heat lost, the gap between them and the Supersonics has widened. Unless they can play a wave of winning streak later, it will be difficult to catch up before the All-Star weekend.

Worst of all, the Heat have to compete with the Bulls behind them for the No. [-] spot in the Eastern Conference. The record advantage is not obvious, and they may fall to No. [-] in the division at any time.

On the 28th, the Supersonics defeated the Magic 112-97 at home. Yao Ming started the game against "Warcraft" Howard. He continued the tradition of eating and sleeping and playing Warcraft. He scored 24 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. He made 15 of 9 shots. He made 5 of 2 three-pointers and 4 of 4 free throws.

Even though Howard has been in full swing in recent seasons and has been elected as the best defensive player for two consecutive years, he is still weak when facing Yao Ming, who has strong lower body strength, and his dominance is greatly reduced. It is much more difficult than playing against the All-Star insider Noah up.

霍华德这场球打的非常挣扎，出战37分钟，16投6中，罚球12中5，只得17分9篮板2助攻1盖帽，命中率不足40%。

Sitting on the sidelines, Lu Yong thought this scene was very interesting. Howard, who always likes to use his body to overwhelm his opponents, felt his legs go weak when he met Yao Ming.
The next day, the Sonics lost back-to-back to the Hawks 107-116.

The substitute players felt cold. Only Dayao scored in double figures and suffered the fifth loss of the season.

The Sonics, which lost five games, are still unrivaled in the league, with a record far ahead of the second-placed Spurs.

The Lakers, ranked third in the Western Conference, have lost 9 games, and even the Spurs, who are second in the Western Conference, have lost 7 games.

In January, the top three teams were the Sonics, Spurs and Heat.

The old enemies of the Lakers and Celtics gradually began to fall behind in the middle of the season. Although the ranking is still stable in the top three in the division, the record is much worse. It is not easy to reach the top three in the league.

Relying on the advantage of the depth of the lineup, the Sonics have players who stand up to take over the game in almost every game. The multi-point offense is very aggressive, averaging 118.2 points per game, ranking first in the league.

This season, Lu Yong has learned a lot from his mistakes. Since the Christmas game, he has firmly controlled the playing time of his players. The main players have taken turns and never played in games with a big lead. He puts the health of the players first.

Because the Sonics often clocked out of get off work in three quarters, Durant's data dropped slightly due to the impact of playing time, but even so, Durant, who averaged 27.6 points per game, still topped the MVP list and became this year's All-Star vote leader.

James ranked first in the number of votes in the Eastern Conference, followed by Howard. Both of them had more than 200 million votes. Even if they were overwhelmed by Durant, their popularity was still very high.

76ers star Iverson ranked third in the Eastern Conference's backcourt in the All-Star vote, behind Wade and Rose, and has a high probability of being selected as a substitute this year.

It is worth mentioning that, relying on the votes of Chinese fans, Supersonics substitute center Dayao has reached the No. After his death, he is expected to become the first player in the league to be selected as an All-Star as a substitute since Kobe.

Dayao's popularity in the country is ridiculously high. Even though the league has adjusted the proportion of fans' votes, Yao Ming still easily defeated his opponents in the same position to lock in the starting lineup.

The most important thing is that the Sonics have a huge advantage in this year's record. American fans and the media also voted for Yao Ming a lot, which makes him the starting center in the Western Conference.

Throughout January, the Sonics have defeated many strong teams such as the Spurs, Mavericks, Hornets and Celtics.

Although he was also won by the Spurs and lost to the Knicks in an upset, but before the All-Star Weekend, he still secured the top spot in the league with a record of 41 wins and 7 losses.

The Supersonics not only have outstanding strength in the second team, but also have strong singles ability of the core players. Whether Durant, David Lee or Yao Ming are all outstanding players in each position, even if they don’t feel good, they can also rely on their personal involvement. team.

Halfway through the season, the media generally believe that the Supersonics are expected to break the team history record of 68 wins and 14 losses this season, and coach Lu Yong is also very likely to win the second best coach in his career and become the best coach award twice in league history The coach with the shortest time.

In February, the annual All-Star weekend is held at the Staples Arena in Los Angeles. This is the 60th All-Star event in NBA history.

The Sonics have multiple players in the game this year.

Budinger, Beverly, Jeremy Lin participated in the Rookie Game, Durant, Yao Ming, Noah, David Lee participated in the All-Star Game.

Because of the intense competition in the backcourt in the West, "Martial Saint" Jackson lost to Manu Ginobili in the end and unfortunately lost the selection. Even so, the Supersonics still had four All-Stars selected, and the number of selected players tied for the first place with the Celtics in the East. .

Western starters: Paul, Kobe, Durant, Duncan, Yao Ming.

Substitute seven: Noah, David Lee, Griffin, Nowitzki, Paul - Gasol, Ginobili, Deron - Williams.

Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks before the All-Star weekend, so this year he will appear as an All-Star in the Eastern Conference, and the Western Conference has lost a strong player in vain.

With the best record in the league, Lu Yong became the coach of the Western Stars and will fly to Los Angeles with the players.

Eastern starters: Rose, Wade, James, Stoudemire, Howard.

Seven substitutes: Rondo, Ray Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Anthony, Bosh, Joe Johnson.

The coach of the Eastern Conference is Heat coach Spoelstra. This is the first time in his career that he has served as the coach of the All-Star team, and it is also the first time in NBA history that the All-Star coaches are all Asian.

For the annual All-Star Weekend, most people have a playful mentality. Take advantage of this time to relax. Very few people will worry about team affairs during the All-Star Weekend.

But there are exceptions to everything. Allen Iverson, who was in Philadelphia at this time, found the team owner Joshua Harris.

Knocking on the door of the boss's office, Iverson sat down on the sofa after entering the room, and said to the man on the opposite desk: "Our record this year is too bad, and next season will be when I hold a retirement tour. I don’t want the team to fail to make it to the playoffs, and I need the team to do something this summer, which is related to the future of me and the team.”

"What?" Harris asked.

"Poach people from the supersonic hands."

"Dig people from the supersonic?" Harris frowned slightly. "Who do you want to poach? It won't be Kevin Durant, right? If so, I advise you to give up. The Supersonics can't let people go. They will definitely renew the contract immediately."

"It's not the players, but their head coach, Lu. He signed a one-year contract with the Supersonics in the summer. After the contract expires this summer, we can go off the court and grab people. His vision is first-rate and he trains players. His means are also commendable, if he is willing to serve as the coach of the team, I believe that the 76ers will become very competitive next season, plus the gimmick of my retirement tour, it will be beneficial to him, me and the team.” Iverson suggested with a serious face.

Although Iverson is no longer at the peak, but the number of fans is not small at all. He will hold a retirement tour in the 76ers next season, and the 76ers will definitely attract a lot of attention.Lu Yong's ability to turn decay into magic during his tenure as the coach is well known. If he is willing to join the 76ers, all three parties will benefit a lot next season.

The team has gained benefits, Iverson has gained popularity and fame, and Lu Yong has the opportunity to become the first person in history to win the best coach in a row, and his attention is far higher than that of coaching the Sonics.The premise is that the 76ers are willing to provide Lu Yong with a higher salary contract and show more sincerity than the Supersonics.

The general manager of the team, Ed Stefanski, frowned when he heard the words. He didn't like Lu Yong very much, especially since the media frequently reported that Lu Yong was in charge of the Sonics and was the general manager as the head coach. After taking power, he disliked this young man who competed with the general manager for his job even more.

However, Iverson's current status is not only a player, but also a "shareholder" who has potential business cooperation with team owner Harris. Before the situation becomes clear, Stefanski is not easy to offend him, so he can only remind him.

"I don't think Lu will leave the Sonics, right? The Sonics are the biggest favorites in the league this year. If he leads the team to win the championship, will he still be willing to leave Seattle? Even if he wants to change his environment, he will probably consider coaching a strong team. Instead of us, who are at the bottom of the ranking, the attraction of management with high salaries should not be too great."

"No, no, Lu is a smart guy. He will definitely see the benefits of my retirement tour next season. For him, this is a great opportunity to enhance his historical status, whether it is the opportunity to win the best coach again or the ratings. As long as the management is willing to delegate power to him and offer high salaries to recruit people, I think he will be interested. I will talk to him in person when I arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow. If he intends to join the team, I hope you can prepare for it as soon as possible.” Iverson said firmly.

Boss Joshua Harris looked calm, no one knew what he was thinking, just nodded slightly to Iverson. "Okay, Alan, then you can talk to him first. If you can talk, everything else will be fine."

Joshua Harris is an out-and-out businessman. For him, it doesn’t matter who is the head coach of the team. As long as it can bring benefits to the team, he will not object to Iverson’s proposal to tie a dog on the coach’s bench.

Iverson will hold a retirement tour with the 76ers next season. He is a cash cow with great value. Harris does not want to have conflicts with him at this time. There is no need to worry too much about such trivial matters.

After all, the current head coach of the 76ers, Doug Collins, is not considered a famous coach, and he is far behind Lu Yong. Even if Lu Yong is not poached, the management has long wanted to replace him.

(End of this chapter)