basketball player

Chapter 41 040: As expected

At 7:19 on the evening of July 09, it has been a month since Henson became the head coach of the Indiana Pacers.At this time, he was sitting on the bench, his eyes fixed on the court.In the Las Vegas Summer League Finals, the Pacers made it here thanks to their fantastic first and fourth juniors.But the finals is obviously not Henson's goal, and he has already told Bird: If you can't win the championship in Las Vegas, you can replace it.

He also said this to reporters, but no one believed the rookie coach.The Las Vegas Summer League is no better than the Orlando Summer League. If you want to win the championship here, you can't just talk about it.

Countless reporters are waiting to see Henson make a fool of himself, but for now, the Pacers have the upper hand.With 8 minutes left in the game, the Pacers took an 8-point lead.Throughout the summer league, the Pacers ranked first in the league in three-point attempts, first in three-pointers made, and second in fast break points, second only to the Washington Wizards with John Wall.

The general game scene is like this: Hibbert grabs a defensive rebound and makes a long pass, which is a defensive counterattack.The Pacers' four outside lines are usually a rain of three-pointers, and the game has been ruined.On the defensive end, as Henson said, other teams did not take advantage of the Pacers' perimeter.And Hibbert averaged 3.2 blocks per game in the summer league, which also made his inside a veritable no-fly zone.

In the semifinals, the San Antonio Spurs tried to control the rhythm and block the shooting space.As a result, the Pacers surprisingly performed well in the positional battle.Hibbert can shoot the ball, use him to initiate pick-and-rolls, and Henson has a myriad of play options.The Pacers have no offensive weaknesses. Holiday, Matthews, George, Green, Hibbert or Stephenson all have strong scoring threats!
The only thing that makes Henson feel a little uncomfortable is that George is not comfortable playing at the four position.He originally wanted to make George an all-round forward, but now it seems that George does not have the ability to swing freely in the third and fourth positions like Daniel Granger.George's style of play tends to be more outside. After all, he has never done anything in the fourth or fifth positions since he was a child.Therefore, after the official start of the new season, Henson will not let George go inside again.Perhaps it is a wiser choice to let Granger go to the fourth position.

But fortunately, I tried to do this in the summer league, which is at least better than finding out that it was inappropriate during the regular season.

At this time, there was a burst of laughter from behind Henson, and Stephenson made a three-point shot under the opponent's tight defense.Henson sighed. This was Stephenson's fifth three-pointer in summer league.

"What is this kid doing!? After he went up, he has made two consecutive offensive shots!" Vogel sat next to Henson and scolded angrily. If he was the head coach, he would have been standing on the sidelines and yelling.

After Stephenson cast this three non-stick, there was also a trace of anxiety in his eyes.His eyes unconsciously squinted at the team's bench, but Henson sat on the bench with a calm face.

Henson noticed Stephenson's eyes, so he applauded Stephenson first, and then pressed his hands down to signal him to stabilize the rhythm.

Henson's movements and expressions can always calm people down quickly. During the summer league, Henson showed a cold face most of the time.But every arrangement of this guy can bring immediate results.These young people were afraid of his indifference, but at the same time they trusted him very much.So when Stephenson was about to be scolded, Henson just told him to calm down, which undoubtedly really played a role, rather than adding fuel to the fire.

For someone like Stephenson, he is not afraid of being scolded at all. The more you scold him, the more anxious you become. If you don’t scold him, he will feel uncomfortable all over, and only then will he realize that he has done something wrong.
"He's just too excited, give him some time, it's not the first time." Henson spread his hands, but his butt still didn't leave the bench.

After the Raptors attacked, they failed to get a chance for several passes on the outside.Because Henson sent such a small lineup of four, their infinite defenses made it impossible for the opponent to crack.The four outside lines, each of which is not weak in single defense ability.

In the end, the Raptors had to let Ed Davis cover and prepare to play Hibbert, a slow center, in a misplaced position.

However, Ed Davis's screen is not tough, to be exact, Stephenson's stick defense is too tough.He squeezes his way in front of the screen and doesn't allow a dislocation to develop.

Although the pick-and-roll was not completed, Ed Davis immediately went down, preparing to use his greater mobility to catch Hibbert by surprise.

The Raptors guard immediately stuffed the ball straight in. Davis was about to dunk vigorously, but the basketball was oppressed by a huge force and was nailed to the backboard abruptly.

"The pick-and-roll sucks." Henson complained suddenly, and Hibbert once again staged a nail-biting hat!

Seeing this situation, Stephenson immediately rushed to the frontcourt, and Hibbert used his vision to make a long pass.By the time the Raptors players reacted, Stephenson had already run halfway.

With a light one-handed dunk, Stephenson couldn't help but smile towards the bench after landing.

Henson also laughed and applauded Stephenson, "What am I saying? He just needs time."

On the next goal, the Pacers did not play fast, but stabilized and played a round of positions.Hibbert held the ball and went inside. Ed Davis, who is only 2 meters tall, has been abused by Hibbert today so that he can't take care of himself.So far in the game, Hibbert has scored 08 points, 18 of which came from the three-second zone, 10 from mid-range shots, and 4 from free throws.

Hibbert's huge offensive threat today forced the Raptors to double-team early.Sure enough, just as "Black Yao Ming" took a step back, the Raptors double-teamed.

"Pass, pass" Henson muttered silently. He knew that Hibbert wasn't that kind of stupid big man. This guy's basketball IQ is not bad. I hope he can see George in the vacancy.

Sure enough, after seeing the double-team coming up, Hibbert passed the ball to the right wing George with a hook posture.

The Raptors power forward immediately rushed back, but George used the moment when the opponent's center of gravity was all forward to accelerate the breakthrough, and then made an emergency stop at the mid-range position to shoot a jumper, and the basketball hit the net hollow!
Tall and long arms, soft touch, and sharp sense of smell, Henson didn't miss it. To be precise, it was the data analysis module that didn't miss it.George is a natural scorer, and he even hopes to become the team's first scoring point in the future.Although he wasn't the brightest player in the summer league, Henson knew that he couldn't be fat if he ate one bite.George deserves to be cultivated well, and Henson even wants to use the medal for accelerating the development of potential on George.

But Henson didn't do it in the end, because he felt that George was not the best person yet.Just like Holiday, who was selected last year, Henson always felt that they were still short of breath.

Stephenson's fast break and George's emergency stop jumper allowed the Pacers to widen the point difference to 12 points. At this time, there were only 3 minutes before the end of the game.

Until this point, Henson had only moved his ass off the bench for the first time since the second half.

"I can't take it anymore, my butt hurts from sitting on it." Henson patted his butt, walked to the sidelines and yelled.

"There are still 3 minutes left, and I will stabilize the point difference. If anyone messes things up, the preseason game will not be played!"

Hearing Henson's voice, everyone cheered up again.Because they knew very well that this guy, Henson, would definitely do what he said.If he says he won't let you play in the preseason, it's certainly not scary.

So, with Stephenson and Hibbert's meat grinder-like defense, coupled with the double guns of Holiday and George, and the sudden long-range shots of Green and Matthews, the Pacers abruptly expanded the point difference to 20 points!Instead of stopping at the last moment, they became more courageous as they fought.

The Raptors' defense is like a rag full of holes in front of the Pacers, and they can't stand it at all.Ed Davis, the core of the Raptors' summer league, also made a background for Stephenson's dunks.

The moment the game ended, everyone in the Pacers jumped up excitedly.After four losing seasons, the Pacers desperately needed this kind of morale-boosting victory.

Vogel happily huddled with the players. After all, the Las Vegas Summer League champion has a much higher gold content than the Orlando Summer League champion last year.

In the crowd, Vogel glanced at Henson, only to find that Henson was still standing quietly on the sidelines.

Maybe for him, all this is not exciting at all, it is just expected
(End of this chapter)