basketball player

Chapter 107: Chapter 106

50 wins, this is undoubtedly Henson's regular season goal this season.Of course, he's targeting 50 wins not because of Bird's car, but because of his playoff plans.

If the Pacers can't get 50 wins, they are destined to meet the Heat, Bulls, and Celtics in the first round.The Pacers don't want to go home in the first round, so they must strive for 50 wins and rank fourth or fifth in the Eastern Conference.

So 50 wins is not a icing on the cake for Henson, but a necessary condition.

If you want to get home court advantage in the playoffs, 50 wins may not be enough.After all, the Magic now has one more win than the Pacers. If the Magic continue to do so, then with only 50 wins, they will definitely not be able to surpass them.

Although the regular season has reached the end, Henson and the Pacers still have no room to relax their vigilance.

After killing the Knicks, the Pacers' next three games were extremely difficult.

Facing the Celtics and the explosive Jeff Green, the Pacers suffered a 12-point defeat.Then the Pacers won the victory against the No. 42 Bulls in the East, but Rose's terrifying [-] points really made Henson break out in a sweat.

But not long after winning the Bulls, the Pacers lost to the Grizzlies with the Twin Towers.This is the second time the Grizzlies have won against the Pacers this season. Their twin-tower lineup can restrain the Pacers' small lineup, which is something Henson can't help.

After three games, the Pacers lost 2 and won 1.Perhaps for Bird and the fans, such a result is not unacceptable.But for Henson, who is eager for 50 wins, or even more than 50 wins, the situation is a bit dangerous.

As a result, Henson spent more and more time studying game videos these days, and he had to ensure that he would not make mistakes in tactical arrangements.If the team's poor results are caused by their own mistakes, Henson will certainly not be able to forgive himself.

Under the united efforts of the Pacers, the Pacers won four consecutive victories in one fell swoop after March, defeated the Nets, Bobcats, Pistons and Kings respectively, and raised their record to 3 wins and 46 losses.It can be said that 25 wins is no longer a problem for this year's Pacers.

The only question is whether Henson can get home-court advantage.

So far in the game, the Magic's record has become 47 wins and 26 losses. They have played two more games than the Pacers.The Knicks' record of 35 wins and 38 losses at this time will definitely not be able to catch up.

In other words, if the Pacers do not get overtaken by the Eagles in Waterloo, then their opponent in the playoffs will be the Orlando Magic with Dwight Howard!
Magic is indeed easier to deal with than the Celtics, Heat and Bulls, but they are not easy to pinch soft persimmons.Henson wants to improve the probability of promotion, home court advantage is essential.

This wave of four consecutive victories allowed the Pacers to lay a perfect foundation.But at this juncture, the Pacers met the Celtics for the fourth time this season.

"Celtics, Celtics, I hate Celtics." Henson sat in the small conference room of the coaching staff, and they almost threw up watching the Celtics game tape.

The Celtics have played against the Pacers three times this season, and the Pacers have lost 2 and won 1.

Although the giants of the Celtics are quite old, after all, they are a team that just played the finals last season, and the background and foundation are there.

Just relying on the opponent's age alone cannot guarantee that the Pacers can defeat them every time.

"The Celtics are still fighting for the No. [-] spot in the East. I'm afraid they won't take a break in the next game. If they want to win, it will be a tough battle!" Vogel studied the ranking situation in the East. For now, the Bulls, Heat and Celtics still have a chance to compete for No. [-] in the East.

"Rotating? I didn't expect them to take a rest. Damn Rivers, that rooster's voice is so exciting every time he meets me." Henson recalled the embarrassment of Rivers when he defeated the Celtics in his last game. Even if the champion coach had to take a rest, he would not take a rest in the game against the Pacers.

"Then do we want to win this game with all our strength? Let me talk about my thoughts, Henson. The playoffs will start in more than half a month. If we are exhausted now, it will not be a good thing. Let me say, some games that are too difficult, we can simply give up. Anyway, we have achieved our goals this season. People think we can't make the playoffs, but now we are ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference! Henson, this is already very remarkable!"

Vogel's idea is not unacceptable, he is only for further consideration in the playoffs.But entering the playoffs as the fifth in the East but being swept out in the first round, what is the difference between that and the eighth in the East?
Henson's idea is to go further, and Vogel's idea is to complete the goal.These two ideas are not right or wrong, it's just that the two coaches have different perspectives on the season.

Henson tried hard to ponder Vogel's words, and suddenly had an idea.

"Well, you really reminded me, Frank. Listen, let's say this in unison during the media opening period this afternoon."

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A wave of four consecutive victories has made the Pacers in an extremely good state.This, Henson can see from the training.

This is the case with young teams, the more wins the better.But once you start losing, it's hard to regain momentum.

In the afternoon of training, Henson on the sidelines clapped his hands, "Okay, don't run tactics! Let's take a rest, the reporters will be here soon!"

Henson kept it secretive, obviously not wanting to reveal his strategy to the media.

Ten minutes later, reporters flooded into the training ground in the Conseco Arena.The media opening period is the only opportunity for reporters to enter the training ground to shoot and interview.

"Coach Henson, what kind of strategy do you plan to use against the Boston Celtics in the next game? Do you think your team has confidence in this game?" There are quite a lot of reporters around Henson. Although Henson usually doesn't answer questions seriously, his humorous style of speaking is unexpectedly popular among fans.

So even knowing that Henson had nothing useful coming out of his mouth, reporters were happy to hear his bragging.

"In the next game, I may rest a few players. The competition has been too intense recently, and we must start preparing for the playoffs." Henson looked serious, but the reporters were shocked.

Why isn't this guy bragging?

"Roll rest?"

"That's right, rest, every team will do this, right? Why are you so surprised? Besides, even if we fight the Celtics with all our strength, we may not necessarily win. Instead of risking players to get injured in the regular season, I prefer to let the players stay in the playoffs."

"Then Coach Henson, can you tell me which players you will rest in the next game?" The reporters put their microphones close to Henson's mouth.

"Of course I can't say this, because maybe even I will have to take turns!" Henson blinked at the camera, and the reporters let out a sigh of relief.

That bragging Henson is back, which means he's still in his head.

The opening hours for the media were not long, and the reporters were cleared out in a short while.The bustling training ground fell silent again in an instant, and the players also took advantage of this time to rest.

"Guys, have you rested? Answer me, what is our goal for the next game!?" Henson clapped his hands vigorously as he said, signaling the players to continue training.

"Our goal is always to win!" The players answered in unison, and the empty training ground was filled with loud echoes, which boosted everyone's morale.

"Well, now, let's continue training for victory." Henson nodded with satisfaction, and went to fuck off!
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"Rest? Huh, only a fool would believe that guy's nonsense!" On the other side, Doug Rivers also got the news that Henson planned to have a rest for the next game.

"However, what he said is quite reasonable."

"There's a reason!" Rivers waved his hand, interrupting his teaching assistant.

Since the last time he stepped into the Conseco Arena proudly but left in embarrassment, the champion coach never dared to look down on Henson.

"Henson is insidious and cunning. He is a villain! He thought that saying that would make me let my guard down? He really treated me like an idiot!"

"Tell all the players, never let your guard down!" Rivers turned his head and looked at his Celtics on the training ground. We are a championship-level team!
You actually plan to use this kind of trick to fool me, who is the idiot between us?Henson Joe!
(End of this chapter)