the rest, only noise

Chapter 1551 Why did we become like this?

The crowded lineup turned the Celtics into a volcano.

One of the boldest decisions Bird made was to lock Wade in the sixth man position.

The question is, since ancient times, which team's sixth man can average 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists per game?

Wade is obviously better than Ginobili, but the gap is very small, and besides Ginobili's own strength, his style of play and matching are flawless.

According to Bird's plan, Wade must first learn to move without the ball in the first three years of his career.

As a result, Wade evolved in his second year.

Then there is a question, if Wade's strength can play the core, why should he practice off the ball?
Thinking bigger, if Wade's strength is similar to that of Lu Wuxia, who of the two of them is one and who is two?
This terrible idea made Bird hold Wade down.

Wade has not publicly expressed his dissatisfaction, but there have been substitute players complaining about too much concentration of the ball.

Because Wade is completely the core style of play, he is not as good at organizing as Lu Wuxia. In essence, he is an offensive second position.

Wade still chose a moderate way of competition.

And Boozer completely wrote "I want to start" on his forehead.

In the first month of the Celtics new season, 90% of the team's unhappiness was related to Boozer.

He complained about the number of shots, playing time, tactics, Gasol, and even Yao Yueban—because the Chinese big man couldn't support Gasol like he thought.

Bird pointed out Boozer's upper position: as long as you can organize and defend like Gasol, the starter is yours.

Boozer: I can't do it.

Byrd: Shut up if you can't.

Boozer: Deputy Goute is really unreasonable. Can such a person be a coach?

At this time, everyone in the management thought of the advice given by the scouting director Andy Greer when he decided to choose Boozer: "This person has a bad character."

It is undeniable that Boozer contributed a lot to the Celtics' championship last season, but now it is so ugly to play in the starting lineup, which makes people grit their teeth with hatred.

Bird asked Ewing if he could trade Boozer.

How could Ewing have an idea at this time?So he asked Louis up.

Louie's answer was ambiguous.

If there is an equivalent return, it is certainly feasible to trade Boozer, but if he is traded to appease the atmosphere in the team, it will definitely not be exchanged for an equivalent return.

Louie hoped that Bird would think of a way to temporarily restrain Boozer, the bad-tempered Mustang.

However, the stability of the locker room is Bird's biggest shortcoming.

He advocates the three-year responsibility system for coaches, not because he really thinks that it is not good for coaches to coach for more than three years, but because the three-year cycle happens to be when rookies become mature, and new contracts must be signed when the old contracts end. A point in time of achievement or failure.

At this time, newcomers want to stand out, old people want to be stable, some people want to seek big contracts, some people want to get a higher status, all kinds of desires mixed with unsatisfiable needs will turn the team into a terrible melting pot.

In Los Angeles, Bird couldn't do anything about it, he just left.

What Louis wants is not to solve the problem, but to temporarily stabilize the locker room, but this is not so easy.

In mid-December, the Celtics announced that they would reach a six-year, $6 million contract extension with Yao Yueban.

Unconsciously, Yao Yueban's NBA career has entered the fifth year, which is the last year of his rookie contract.

As a highly anticipated super center before the draft, after entering the NBA, although he did not rule everything like the hype before the draft, he has fulfilled his expectations. He won the championship with the team last season and was selected to the second team for two consecutive years. He is the most reliable inside cornerstone of the Celtics.

Yao Yueban's contract renewal means that the contract renewal negotiations between Paul Gasol and Andrei Kirilenko will also start.

Gasol was the No. 2001 pick in the same class as Yao Yueban, and Kirilenko landed in the NBA in the summer of [-], and they are now in their fifth year of career.

Under Louie's behest, the Celtics and Kirilenko reached a four-year, $4 million contract extension with player options.

Finally, Gasol's contract extension.

If the Celtics and Gasol officially re-sign, Boozer will explode.

This means that the Celtics will build a bench around Yao Yueban and Gasol as the inside core, and Boozer is unwilling to continue to substitute for Gasol.

In order to lower Bird's blood pressure, Louis thought of a compromise, for which he rushed to Boston to meet Gasol.

Louie was frank and honest, saying that once the contract extension is completed, the team can only trade Boozer. At that time, it will be difficult for them to exchange for a substitute of the same level.

If the Celtics pursue consecutive championships, it is the best choice to keep Boozer until the end of the season.

Gasol wondered, what if Boozer was still making trouble for the starting job?

Louis shrugged: "I'm not a coach. This is Larry's job, and it's also your job. You have to let him understand that this season's starter can only be you."

Gasol was very moved by Louie's proposal, and was also surprised that Louis dared to let him enter the free market.

"Aren't you afraid that I will join another team in the summer?"

"Then I can only congratulate Carlos for officially becoming our starting power forward."

Then, Gasol asked to the core: "If I accept this offer and re-sign with the team next summer, what will Carlos do?"

Louis smiled lightly, "I'll make him shut up."

At that time, Louis looked like a mafia boss stained with countless blood.

Gasol was horrified by this.

In the end, he accepted the plan provided by Louis.

At the end of December, before the arrival of the new year, Gasol's agent announced that the renewal negotiations with the Celtics had been suspended, and the two sides would keep the dialogue window until the end of the season before deciding on each other's future.

As soon as the news came out, Bird immediately called Louis, and he hoped that the team would keep Gasol.

So Louis told him all about his plan, and Byrd was surprised that he now needed to wrap things up.

Bird found Boozer, implicitly hinting that the team had made a choice between Gasol and Boozer. Specifically, he could read Gasol's agent's statement.

Maybe Bird's expression is wrong, maybe Boozer's way of understanding is wrong, or, this person is just plain stupid and bad, Boozer's contempt for Gasol is more than ever, but it's not Too much pursuit of starting, because he knows that after this season is over, the Spaniard will leave.

Of course Boozer is willing to wait this year, but he wants others to know why he is willing to wait this year.

When a bigger gap was torn between Gasol and Boozer, many dusty memories reappeared in Louie's mind.

What has been, will be again.

Looking back, the same thing happened time and time again with different teams, in different eras.

Louis no longer contacts the team, nor does he go to watch the game. He usually pays attention to the news of the Celtics, knowing what happened in the team is enough.

At the end of January, the Celtics had an intra-team conflict. Gasol and Boozer fought their fists. Wade and Ginobili's starting battle was also fierce. However, no player who claimed to be the boss stood up to stabilize the morale of the army. De began to lose control of the team.

The Celtics were ripped day after day, but still won 60 games, second only to the Heat with 67 wins, ranking second in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics beat the Pistons in five games in the first round of the playoffs, and then fought seven games against the crippled Knicks in the semifinals.

If McGrady and Webber can play, maybe the Celtics will fall in the semifinals.

Facing the strong Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics' season came to an end.

When the team lost two consecutive games with a huge double-digit point difference, those hidden contradictions broke out completely.

The young Lu Wuxia had never played such a depressing basketball game.

The Celtics team that made him happy has long since disappeared, and everyone is complaining, even Yao Yueban threw the towel because of the low number of shots.

Lu Wuxia didn't understand, what is more important than consecutive championships?
Why is it so difficult this year that they were able to do it last year?

Why did this team, which was able to complete a 1-3 to 4-3 reversal against the Knicks a year ago, become so hideous?
For the first time, the Son of God who lived in the clouds faced people's hearts directly, and he couldn't bear it.

So in the third game of the Eastern Conference finals, Lu Wuxia took everything, scored 48 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, leading the team to a victory, but this only delayed the funeral.

In the fourth and fifth games, although Lu Wuxia scored 30 and 45 points respectively, the Celtics were defeated.

4 is better than 1
The defending champion was beaten helplessly.

On the way to the locker room, Lu Wuxia met his father, and he asked, "Dad, why did we become like this?"

The father, who seemed to have lost any interest in basketball, asked back with a mocking smile: "Don't you know? That means you didn't lose enough."

(End of this chapter)