basketball player

Chapter 30 030: The Sorrow After Christmas
In the game before Christmas, the Pacers lost to the mighty Celtics by 9 points.The point difference did not faithfully reflect the gap between the two teams on the court, because if the Celtics hadn't replaced the third team at the last moment, the Pacers would not have been able to close the point difference to single digits.Moreover, Kevin Garnett, one of the "Big Three" in this game, has not played due to injury. If the "Wolf King" is there, the Pacers may lose even worse.

Jim O'Brien sat on the bench, eyes dim.He has clearly restricted the Celtics' shooting percentage to a very low level, but why can't they win the game?

The Celtics' team shooting rate today was only 38%, and their three-point shooting rate was only 30%.It stands to reason that the Pacers' defense should be very successful today.

But the fact is not what O'Brien saw. The Celtics' poor shooting percentage was mostly due to the fourth quarter of the game.In the first three quarters, the Pacers' defense was not as good as O'Brien thought.And the Pacers' own offense is really horrible.The person with the highest score in the team is actually Troy Murphy, the functional fourth position.After Daniel Granger was absent, the Pacers' offense had no leader at all, and anyone who got the ball would throw it away.

当然，步行者队的进攻也不是毫无亮点。本场比赛替补出场了22分钟的朱.霍乐迪，以4投4中的三分球和71%的总体命中率砍下了15分。22分钟15分，霍乐迪今天绝对打出了水平。

But coach O'Brien ruthlessly took Holiday because he allowed Rondo to break through twice, killing the Pacers' only bright spot on the offensive end.

When Holiday was replaced, he was extremely frustrated. He had tried his best, so why couldn't he impress the coach?But no one noticed that every time Holiday was off the court, Pacers assistant coach Henson Joe would give the rookie guard a smile.This smile and that trust are the reasons why Holiday has been persisting.

Under the "smart" guidance of coach Jim O'Brien, the Pacers lost again without a surprise. 9 wins and 18 losses, four consecutive losses.Amidst the cheers of the Celtics fans, no one cared about the disgraced boys from the cornfield.

After returning to the locker room, the atmosphere was still lifeless, without the slightest bit of joy before the holiday.

"Henson, go to the press conference for me today, I'm not feeling well." O'Brien muttered, and removed the neck tie that made him blush.

"As you wish, Jim." Henson did not refuse, he was too lazy to confront O'Brien now.Because there was no need to fight on his own, the head coach, who had been completely crushed and blinded by the pressure, was not far from getting out of class.

Henson knows why O'Brien is still here, because former Pacers president Donnie Walsh promised to give O'Brien three years.After Bird came to power, he did not easily destroy this commitment, and frequent coaching changes are indeed a kind of harm to the team.

But this year is already the third year. With O'Brien in this state, it may be very difficult for the Pacers to make it to the playoffs.Three years later, when the promise expires, Bird will certainly not be relentless.And when the time comes, O'Brien will not have any excuses.Laying off Dennis Posey was just a warning to O'Brien.

A cycle of three years is an unwritten rule in the NBA coaching circle.Back then, Bird did not win the championship for three years, so he would choose to quit by himself.

Henson now only hopes that O'Brien will not use Holiday, you know, he is a future All-Star guard
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Another "expected" loss, the players boarded the team bus with glum expressions.Starting today, the Pacers have no games to play for 3 days, which can be regarded as a Christmas holiday.

Earl Watson and Danny Jones were discussing where to play cards for Christmas, Troy Murphy was laughing into the phone, Dunleavy was still studying his assets, and that guy Hibbert was just looking out the window shyly.

Only Zhu Holiday, he bowed his head and said nothing.Henson could tell that Holiday was the one in the group who wanted to win the most, and the one who wanted to prove himself the most.

Today he scored 22 points in 15 minutes, but he was still stuck on the bench.And this is not the first time this has happened this season.

A rookie's growth environment has a decisive impact on his progress.The only thing Henson can do now is to appease Holiday as much as possible and not let him give up on himself.

"You played well today, and you shot a good three-pointer. It seems that the extra practice this morning was not in vain." Hearing Henson's voice, Holiday couldn't help raising his head.

"You think so too? But Coach O'Brien said I shot too many three-pointers." Holiday was excited at first, and then lost for a while.

"It doesn't matter. If you can shoot three-pointers so accurately every game in the future, Mr. O'Brien won't say anything about you. Don't force yourself to change your own style of play, be yourself, be your best self."

After hearing this, Holliday smiled slightly, feeling warm in his heart.

"By the way, Mr. Henson, I hear I hear you live alone in Indianapolis."

"That's right, I'm a poor bachelor." Henson laughed at himself. He has officially turned 30 this year, which is definitely considered an "old" bachelor in the United States.Every time he thought of this question, he would recall the night when An Jiali was drunk at his home.If he could choose again, Henson would definitely want to be a bad guy that day.

"In that case, can you come to my house for Christmas? I often mention you to my mother, and she said she would like to meet you." Holiday sent out the invitation shyly.

"Sure, no problem, I'm alone anyway. Work hard, you still have a long career, buddy." Unexpectedly, Henson agreed very readily.

After all, if you can only work alone at home during Christmas, it would be too sad.

So on December 12, Christmas Day, Henson got into Carter's taxi with a lot of presents.At this time, Indianapolis has been covered with snow, the windows of the houses along the street are covered with Christmas decorations, and Christmas trees with flashing lights can be seen everywhere on the street, and the festive atmosphere is extremely strong.

In this terrible season, maybe only Christmas day can make Henson feel a little better.

"For you, Carter, Merry Christmas, thank you for not leaving me on the highway." As soon as he got in the car, Henson handed a small gift box to the driver.

"You still prepared my gift? Hahahaha, thank you Henson. By the way, how does it feel to be an assistant coach?" Carter looked at Henson through the rearview mirror again. He couldn't believe that the "cleaner scout" who was too poor to pay for the car had now become the assistant coach of the Pacers.

"It's not very good. It's better to be a scout to be comfortable. At least as a scout, you don't have to get up early every day to report to the team."

"That Jim O'Brien guy is hard to serve. He lost to the Celtics in the last game. Holiday played so well. I don't know why he wants to limit Holiday's playing time." Carter complained as he drove, "I said a long time ago that Bird should kick that damned guy out."

"Trust me Carter, changing coaches at will is not good for the team. Wait, this team can't stay like this forever, and Bird will not agree to it."

"Maybe you will become the head coach? Hahahahaha." Carter joked with Henson.

When Henson arrived at Holiday's house, the family had already enthusiastically prepared dinner.After just half an hour, Henson seemed to have figured out why Holiday was so good.

Holiday's father once played at UCLA, and his mother is even more powerful. Not only did she play in Arizona when she was young, she is now the coach of the Campbell University women's basketball team.Holiday's two brothers also play basketball, which can be said to be an out-and-out basketball family.This kind of family basketball atmosphere is hard for others to get.

"Mr. Henson, today's turkey will be cut by you. Thank you for your help to Jules in the team. Jules often said that without you, he would have given up a long time ago." Toya Holiday, Zhu Holiday's mother, she is obviously very grateful to Henson.

"Your son is excellent in his own right, ma'am." Henson said, cutting open the belly of the turkey. "Merry Christmas, everyone."

"Merry Christmas!"

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The happy Christmas only delayed the death of the Pacers. After the time entered 2010, O'Brien's work still had no substantial breakthroughs and progress.

On January 1, the high-profile Daniel Granger finally recovered from his one-and-a-half-month injury and made his official comeback.O'Brien is also very happy, Granger is his savior, and his comeback will definitely save the team's poor performance.

However, in Granger's first game back, the Pacers lost.It can be seen that Granger has not entered the competitive state well, and scored 36 points in this game with only 19% shooting.What O'Brien didn't expect was that after Granger came back, the team experienced the longest 8-game losing streak in the season!

It's not that Granger didn't play well, but because of O'Brien's defensive thinking, the Pacers' offense changed from no one to use at the beginning, and now four people watch Granger play alone.Henson is willing to walk home on his head if this wins.

The bad results continued until March. On March 3, the Indiana Pacers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in an away game, and they won the third consecutive defeat of the season.

At this time, the regular season is only over a month away, and the Pacers' record is 21 wins and 45 losses!Let alone the playoffs now, O'Brien may not even get the 36 wins of last season!
After one season, the record was even worse than last year, and O'Brien knew that he was desperate.His grades have not improved, and the three-year deadline has expired. O'Brien has also become a dangerous employee hovering on the verge of being fired.

So after today's game ended, O'Brien found Henson disheartened, his eyes glazed over.

"Henson, can you show me your training plan again."

O'Brien knows that his goal now is not the playoffs, but to find a way to keep his job!For this goal, he is willing to try any possibility, even begging that Chinese teaching assistant!

Henson wasn't surprised at O'Brien's request.He has known for a long time that this day will always come.

"As you wish, Jim." This is the most Henson said to O'Brien.

(End of this chapter)