basketball player

Chapter 137 135: It's time to get serious

Henson said that what he considered was to win all the games this month. In fact, it was not just for the "pretentious duel" with Bird, but really had this plan.After all, none of the Pacers' remaining opponents since December is particularly strong.

After two days of rest after the opening game, the Pacers ushered in their first away game of the season, challenging the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors' record last season was "second only" to the Cavaliers and Timberwolves, ranking third from the bottom in the league.In this year's draft, the Raptors selected Lithuanian center Valanciunas as a result of a poor season.

It's just that Valanciunas will officially land in the NBA next year, so the strength of the Raptors this season has actually not changed much compared to last season.

Facing the attacks of the 06 No. [-] pick Bagliari and the Raptors' young "spring man" DeMar DeRozan, the Pacers' iron-blooded defense handled it with ease.

DeRozan couldn't feel it under George's defense. Although Bagliari scored 21 points, it was not enough to dominate the game.

In the end, in Toronto in the north, the Pacers easily won 100 to 85, starting with two consecutive victories!

In this game, the Pacers still adhered to their style of all soldiers.Five of the team scored in double figures, Paul 5 points, George 21 points, West 18 points, Horford 14 points, Matthews scored 12 points.In addition, Leonard and Yi Jianlian also contributed 10 points each, not far from the top double.

Paul's ball-handling master coupled with the Pacers' all-people style of play made their offense even more difficult to stop.At least, a team of the Raptors' level is unstoppable.

"This is a game we should have won. There is nothing to say." At the press conference after the game, Henson spread his hands and, as always, did not give reporters any valuable information.

On December 12, the Pacers returned to home against the Cavaliers.In this game, most fans hope that newly promoted No. 30 pick Kelly Irving can frustrate Henson's arrogance.

As a result, the immature Owen was taught by Paul to be a man.

Paul did not relax his vigilance because Irving was just a first-year rookie. The "queen bee" who was full of desire for victory let Irving know what NBA-level defense is.

Although Henson can conclude that Irving will become a great player in the future.But at least for now, he is just a younger brother.

108 to 83, the Pacers won their third straight game.Although Irving scored 20 points, his shooting percentage was only 33.3%, which is hard to call excellent.

In the case that the overall strength is not as good as the Pacers, Irving is still considered dead, and the Cavaliers have no chance at all.

Six Pacers scored in double figures and won three consecutive victories!
"Pressure? No pressure. Do you think we played under pressure today?" Once again, Henson was leisurely at the press conference.

There is no way, fans of other teams can only continue to endure Henson's "arrogant fireworks".

On the last day of 2011, the Pacers played back-to-back away games against the Pistons.

This is the first back-to-back game played by the Pacers this season, and it is back-to-back on the road.So the Pistons fans put up the slogan "Let the Pacers pay the price" before the game started.

也许真的是受到体能影响，今天韦斯特和乔治的状态都不咋对劲。前者11投4中，后者15投4中，其中三分球更是4投1中。

The Pacers trailed by 3 points in the first quarter, as if the first team that could beat the Pacers was finally about to emerge.

After that, Henson did not sit still, but adjusted the lineup on the field.He increased the playing time of Yi Jianlian and Matthews to correct the inefficiency of George and West.

As a result, neither of these men disappointed Henson.Yi Jianlian scored a season-high 16 points through a combination of inside and outside. Matthews had already performed very steadily last season.

In the end, the Pacers retreated in Detroit, gave the Pistons a four-game losing streak, and went home easily with a four-game winning streak.

"Two people in the Pacers starting lineup are not in good shape, but Coach Henson told everyone: Don't worry, our lineup this season is thick enough to deal with such a situation!"

"With their stable performance, they will undoubtedly become a strong team in the Eastern Conference!"

After this game, there were fewer voices questioning Henson, but more voices praising him.There is no doubt that the Pacers have proved themselves through four solid victories.

Back in Indianapolis, on the first day of 2012, Bird had good news for Henson.

"The shooting coach you wanted, Bruce Fraser, he promised me. I will arrange for you to meet with him this afternoon."

"Yes!" Hearing Bird's voice on the phone, Henson couldn't help clenching his fist and waving it vigorously.

Now, the Pacers are truly ready for everything!

※※※

At 1:1 p.m. on January 6st, Indianapolis, East New York Street, is located a very well-known high-end restaurant in the local area.The name of the restaurant is very simple and plain, it is called Vida.But the dishes here are indeed extremely delicate and delicious.

This is not the first time for Henson to come here. Although he doesn't like to eat in these places, when An Jiali is around, Henson will drive his retro Jaguar and bring his girlfriend out for a good meal.

"Mr. Henson, you are here." As soon as he arrived at the door, the waiter recognized Henson as a regular customer.In fact, even if Henson didn't dine here often, the waiters definitely knew him.Now Henson is a household name in the basketball city of Indianapolis.

Henson smiled and nodded, walked into the restaurant and went straight to the second floor, where the private rooms were Bird's favorite.

When Henson walked into the private room, he saw that Byrd had already chatted speculatively with a man with gray hair and beard.

"Henson, you are finally here! Let me introduce, this is Bruce Fraser, who used to be my assistant coach in Indianapolis."

"Mr. Fraser, thank you very much for agreeing to our invitation." Henson was very polite once in a while. After all, the title of "the coach who practiced shooting with Miller" is still very bluffing.

In fact, Frazier's resume does not stop there.This gentleman entered the industry in 94, and his first stop as a coach was actually in Indianapolis.Of course, that was all in the era of Reggie Miller.

In 2007, Frazier responded to the call of his old college friend, then general manager of the Suns Steve Kerr, to join the Suns as a shooting coach.Mainly responsible for Nash's 1-on-1 shooting practice and the training of other Suns shooters.

As a result, everyone knows that Nash made 381 three-pointers that season, and his three-point shooting percentage was as high as a terrifying 47%!Until now, that is also the highest record of three-pointers made in a single season of Nash's career.Behind this, it is inseparable from Fraser's efforts.

"I like watching Pacers games because you guys are very creative. And, this is where my career started, and I still have feelings for it. Of course, what interests me the most is the content of my work this time. Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard were not good three-point shooters in college. And the players I trained before, such as Miller and Nash, they already had good three-point shooting skills before they met me."

Frazier is also a chatterbox, and he is even more familiar when talking about basketball.

"This special job is also very interesting. After all, when I played basketball in college, I never took a three-pointer. Because the NCAA didn't add three-pointers until I was a junior. But it still didn't stop me from recognizing three-pointers and training players' shots. So I believe that as long as they can carefully observe and find problems, even Jimmy Butler and Leonard can practice shooting."

"I also firmly believe in this, Mr. Fraser. I hope that with your help, the Pacers can regain their former glory." Henson picked up the wine glass and bumped into the gray-bearded middle-aged man.

With an excellent coach and his own badge, Henson believes that Leonard and Jimmy Butler will become the kind of players he imagined.

※※※

After ushering in Frazier, the Pacers are still doing good things. In the first game in 2012, Henson led the team to easily kill the Nets in New Jersey.

When the Nets had Yi Jianlian, they were already a big team.Now Yi Jianlian has moved from Washington to Indianapolis, but the Nets are still the "rotten net".

It's also hard for Deron, and his great youth is almost consumed by the Nets.

But after this game, Henson stopped being arrogant in front of the camera.He can't be arrogant now, and he can't let the players relax too much.

Therefore, he must take the lead in creating a serious atmosphere.

"We won beautifully today, but we can't be too complacent because of a victory in a game. It is meaningful to maintain an excellent state." Henson's speech at the press conference was quite different from the previous few times.

As for why?the reason is simple.Two days later, on the East Coast, the Pacers will usher in the first opponent of the season that can be called an opponent-Miami Heat!

　The monthly ticket is over 400. Thank you, readers, for the fourth update today as promised.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)