basketball player

Chapter 289 287: 10 Minutes of Insurance

The game against the Chicago Bulls was even easier than Henson expected. Although the Bulls just won a wave of two consecutive victories, facing the defending champion without Rose, it can be seen that the Bulls were a little discouraged from the beginning.

It would be a miracle that the Bulls could win a game they thought they couldn't beat from the start.Henson looked around the empty United Center, where there was no longer the smell of gunpowder as before.Tom Thibodeau sat sluggishly on the bench, losing to the Pacers no longer seemed hard for him.
Injuries, damn injuries.

In this game, George became the most dazzling star.He took 25 shots, hit 14 of them, and scored a game-high 34 points.

Seeing George play this kind of performance again, Henson is no longer surprised. After all, George's progress this season is obvious to all. For him, 34 points are just a matter of taking more shots or playing a few more minutes.

On the other hand, on the Bulls side, the "star" light is dim.The highest scorer in the team came off the bench. The "Little Potato" Nate Robinson Henson, who is only 1 meters tall, admits that Nate Robinson is indeed a surprise soldier, but if a team relies on him to score, then the team is not far from being finished.

"Henson." While Henson was idly counting the vacancies in the United Center, Vogel nudged him.

"Huh? Why, don't you say that the Bulls still have a chance to win back." Henson said, looking up at the big screen. 96 to 80, with one minute and 48 seconds left in the game.Well, I read that right, the Pacers are a lot ahead.

"I want to ask, why were you looking at Mark Jackson's elevator door on the plane yesterday? Thibodeau will not arrange such complicated offensive tactics."

"Oh, just take a look at it, it's nothing special."

Henson waved his hand and didn't continue talking, and Vogel didn't ask any more.

After more than a minute, the game ended, and Henson stood up and shook hands with Thibodeau.

Seeing Thibodeau face to face again, Henson found that this guy suddenly aged a lot.Presumably this season, Thibodeau's pressure is also very huge.From winning the best coach in the first year as the head coach to now unexpectedly losing the head star, Thibodeau's experience is really like a roller coaster with ups and downs.

Life is not easy.

Without speaking, Thibodeau just nodded slightly at Henson, and hurried back to the player channel.This back view reminded Henson of the Eagles coach Larry Drew, who was still very high-spirited in the first two seasons, but now he was on the verge of dismissing get out of class.It seems that the job of the head coach is really impossible to be smooth sailing.
Henson didn't know what it would be like to wait for his own end.

"Coach Henson, can I take some of your time?" The topics of the reporters and the cameras brought Henson's thoughts back to the court.

"Well, ask." Henson showed a faint smile again.

No matter what will happen in the future, grasping the present is the most important thing.

※※※

Although the game against the Bulls was easy to win, the physical fitness of the players was still a torture.The high-load game had just ended before the players had to board a plane back to Indianapolis.

Good thing the next game is in Indianapolis, and it's not even an hour to fly from Chicago to Indianapolis.

Most of the players fell asleep on the plane, but Henson's seat had a faint white light seeping from the computer screen.

"Henson, take a break." Vogel, who was sitting next to Henson, was covered with a blanket and had obviously taken a nap.

"Yeah." Henson just nodded slightly

"It's just the Trail Blazers. Physicality is important. Besides, we have 17 wins and 1 loss. You don't have to be like this."

"Hmm." The Chinese coach replied still absent-mindedly.

Vogel shook his head. Don't look at Henson's usual seriousness, but he actually works harder than anyone else.

Vogel couldn't help squinting slightly to look at Henson's computer screen, but to his surprise, what Henson was watching was still not the Trail Blazers game video.

This guy is still looking at the elevator door
※※※

When he arrived at Bankers Life Arena the next day, Henson had two big dark circles under his eyes.Everyone was shocked when they saw Henson's appearance. After asking, they found out that Henson didn't stay up late to watch the video after returning home yesterday, but suffered from insomnia.

"I just felt sore and uncomfortable in my spine, and the pressure made me feel sick and nauseous. So I couldn't fall asleep all night after tossing and turning." In the team doctor's office, Henson with dark circles under his eyes was telling the doctor about his situation.

"Henson, I can only give you one suggestion."

"What advice?"

"You need to get some rest, man. It's what you get when you spend all day watching video and taking notes, putting your spine on a nerve. A lot of managers have it, but believe me Henson, it's not good for you."

"Really? It seems that I have to apply to the league for another paid vacation." Henson smiled and waved his hand, then left.

After the whole afternoon, Henson stood by the training ground.It seems that Henson really attaches great importance to the game of the Trail Blazers and is also very vigilant.

Ten minutes before the end of practice, Henson gathered everyone and played a set of tactics that had never been practiced before.

And Henson believes that these 10 minutes are his insurance for the game.

※※※

At six o'clock in the afternoon, the team moved from the training field to the official competition field, and Henson also appeared in front of everyone with his own two dark circles.

"My God, look at how the back-to-back schedule has tortured our coach Henson?" Reggie Miller was dumbfounded the moment he saw Henson, and his mental state was comparable to Thibodeau's dull-eyed yesterday.

"God knows how many Trail Blazers game videos Coach Henson watched yesterday, but if I were Terry Stotts, I would be extra careful." Beside Miller, Jeff Van Gundy was not surprised by Henson's state.

After all, Jeff Van Gundy was a typical representative of "workaholics" when he was a coach himself.At that time, he often appeared on the court with big dark circles under his eyes.Worse than Henson was that Van Gundy's hair fell out badly due to staying up late. Fortunately, Henson didn't have any troubles in this regard.

After a while, the Trail Blazers players also entered the field to warm up.Different from the treatment received by other teams when they entered the arena, the Pacers fans at the scene gave the Blazers strong cheers.

All this is because of the No. 2 shooting guard of the Portland Trail Blazers, Wesley Matthews!
Matthews raised his arms and waved to the fans, excited to be back at Bankers Life Arena.Afterwards, Matthews ran directly to the Pacers' half court and hugged his teammates who had fought side by side.

"Boss, I'm back!" Matthews was grateful when he saw Henson.

"Go, go, warm up. I won't let you play comfortably in today's game." Henson patted Matthews on the shoulder.

Although he spoke viciously, Henson was somewhat relieved that an undrafted pick got a good contract because of his own discovery.Of course, he will not express these emotions in words.

"Don't worry boss, I won't let you down!"

"You should say this to Stotts. Tell me, how are you going to deal with me today."

"I can't tell you this, I can only remind you," Matthews said, looking around mysteriously, and then approached Henson's ear, "Be sure to pay attention to that Portland No. 2!"

"Go away!" Matthews' "precious" information was exchanged for Henson's reward for kicking his ass with a leather shoe.

The reminiscence time is over, and Matthews also returned to his own half to start warming up.Henson believed that Matthews really deserved his attention.After the Blazers became the main player, the guy's scoring average this season has risen to 15.2 points, which is not a small number.

Of course, Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts is more worthy of Henson's attention than Matthews.Stotts is not well-known in the coaching circle, but Henson knows very well that he is the kind of coach whose strength is greater than his reputation.

Stotts, who was born in 57, had a background as a professional player. Although he was in the low-level European leagues back then, he had more background than Henson.

Since 98, Stotts has been in the coaching staff of George Karl. As an interim coach in 05, he led the Bucks for one season.Of course, the most important thing is that Stotts assisted Carlisle in the Mavericks for four seasons in 08-12, and won a championship trophy with the team.The experience and knowledge accumulated in Dallas allowed him to finally formally establish himself in Portland.

Stotts' coaching has a great feature-competitiveness.

Most coaches start the season with a fixed rotation and expect players to fit into that rotation.Unless there are force majeure factors, the coach rarely changes the rotation plan.

But Stotts doesn't mind frequent changes in the rotation. In the Trail Blazers, only players who perform well enough can have stable playing time.Therefore, the rotation of the Trail Blazers often changes.You may have been an impregnable backup the week before, but as soon as someone else performs better, you immediately become a "water fountain manager."

Stotts wants players to stay hungry and then rely on performance to get playing time.This is why, no matter how strong the opponent is, the Blazers can always persist until the end.Because every game, the Trail Blazers players work very hard.Never give up until the game is over
They know very well that the head coach has been watching from the sidelines!If you don't work hard, he will replace you with someone who is willing to work hard in the next game!

Stotts looks bookish on the surface, but in fact his coaching philosophy is quite iron-fisted.

Although the Blazers' record of 8 wins and 10 losses is incomparable to the Pacers' 17 wins and 1 loss.But Henson never counted on the Pacers to win this game easily, if they really fought this Portland team to the last minute.
The last 10 minutes of rehearsal just now are very important.

(End of this chapter)