basketball player

570 Chapter 568: Black Panther

one day ago
"Dong dong dong."

Henson, who was watching the game video in his office, heard a knock on the door.

"Please come in".Without raising his head, Henson yelled at the door.

Henson could guess that now that the training was over, most of the people who came to find him were members of the coaching staff.The purpose of finding myself should be to report the team's training situation today.

After all, the All-Star weekend has just ended, and Henson really needs to know the status of the players in real time.

"Boss, are you busy?"

However, when the visitor spoke, Henson immediately raised his head in surprise.Because this voice does not belong to anyone on the coaching staff, but to one of his players-Victor Oladipo.

"Not busy." Seeing that the visitor was different from what he had imagined, Henson immediately paused the recording, "What do you want me to do? Victor."

"I want to. um. talk to you."

"Of course that's good. What are you talking about?" Henson smiled kindly. He knew very well that having a player come to talk to you in private is no less important than directing the game.

At first, Henson worried that Oladipo was dissatisfied with his current role as a backup.If this is the case, Henson will have a very headache.Because now he doesn't intend to push Oladipo into the starting lineup, and he doesn't have any words to appease the players.

But as soon as Oladipo spoke, Henson immediately let out a sigh of relief.He came today, not to start the game.

"I feel a bit frustrated this year as an All-Star bench in the Eastern Conference. They chose Millsap instead of me. I don't know. I just want to be an All-Star once. I think I have this ability, but others just don't see it."

Oladipo began to pour bitter water on Henson, but Henson was not bored, but listened patiently.When a player is willing to pour bitterness on the coach, it actually proves that he has completely trusted you.

Henson knows Oladipo, and he's been underrated from start to finish.In the draft, the Cavaliers would rather choose Bennett than Oladipo because he is already a junior.

In the Magic, Oladipo was not appreciated by the management, and even played as a substitute.You know, playing as a substitute for the Magic and as a substitute for the Pacers are two completely different concepts.In the Pacers, Oladipo is a tactical substitute.But in the Magic, he became a real substitute because of the dissatisfaction of the management.

I thought that Oladipo would be able to find himself after returning to Indianapolis, which created brilliant Indianapolis in college.But I didn't expect that under Vogel last season, Oladipo also struggled very much.

After last season, Oladipo has also been questioned by all parties.Among them, even some local media in India who defended him incomparably at the beginning.

So as Henson said, Oladipo has always been underestimated.

"I know, this is actually very unfair to you. I am sure that you have the strength of the All-Star level. And this season, you have played really well. It's just that most people still don't want to admit it."

Oladipo nodded, and Henson's words literally said that he was heartbroken.

"But I have never underestimated you. I have always regarded you as the most important part of the team. Moreover, I also know what you are capable of. What you have to do now is to let others know what you are capable of, and then let those who did not choose you into the All-Stars regret it!"

"Then how can I let others know me too." Oladipo looked at Henson eagerly.

In fact, it is not too much for Millsap to be selected as an All-Star this year.It can be said that Millsap is the absolute core of this year's Eagles.And his average of 18.1 points per game is also a career high.

But it is certainly impossible for Henson to tell the truth. He is not a set of "kids" like Oladipo.

"In the next game, there will be a chance for everyone to remember you."

"Next game?" Oladipo's eyes lit up, "Our next game will be the Cleveland Cavaliers, right?"

"That's right, it's the Cleveland Cavaliers." Henson smiled, and unconsciously glanced at Korver whose movements were frozen on the computer screen.

This time, you've got a tough opponent, man.

※※※

Cleveland Cavaliers Quicken Loans Arena, this is Henson's second visit here this season.

In the three years before establishing the dynasty, Henson had no impression of Quicken Loans Arena.After all, the Cavaliers at that time were still a big team led by Irving.

But now, Cleveland has become very different.This small town finally has a professional sports league championship that belongs to them. Of course, they also have terrible competitiveness.

It can even be said that the existence of James has stretched the GDP growth of the entire Cleveland.The Cavaliers are undoubtedly a typical case of a small ball counterattacking a big market.

Henson stood on the sidelines, looked around, and found that half of the fans were wearing James' No. 23 jersey.On the streets of Cleveland just now, Henson also saw huge posters of James everywhere.

It is no exaggeration to say that LeBron James is the native emperor of Cleveland.

But today, Henson believes that LeBron James will not be the protagonist.Henson gave Oladipo a stage, and on this stage, he wants to be the protagonist!
"Victor, how are you preparing for the game?" During the warm-up interval, Henson beckoned Oladipo to his side.His scene also attracted the attention of the narrator.

"What is Coach Henson doing? Is it possible that today, he will push Oladipo into the starting lineup?" On the commentary stand, Mike Breen stretched his neck curiously.

"I'm excited, boss." Oladipo nodded beside Henson.

Of course, others didn't know what they said.

"Well, keep this excitement. Then, remember what I said to you before the game. When you come on the court today, your first task is to defend. You have to watch Korver first. I don't want to see him shoot 9 of 8 three-pointers. After you guard him, I will naturally give you the right to shoot, and then you torture his nerves. And prove to everyone that you are a fucking All-Star player!"

Even if it was just whispering in his ear, Henson's tone was full of confidence.

Oladipo nodded slightly, and since then, he has never taken his eyes off Korver.

Half an hour later, amid the cheers of the Cleveland fans, the game officially began.

During the jump ball stage, Henson saw that the Cavaliers' starting lineup remained unchanged.Irving and Shumpert at guard, Tristan Thompson and James at forward.Kevin Love took the fifth position and continued to do the work of opening up space and grabbing rebounds.

Since the two teams had just played against each other half a month ago, they knew each other very well.Just after the game started, James and Antetokounmpo dedicated two beautiful dunks to the fans.

James drove George hard with his body, then smashed Huashan and scored with a one-handed dunk.

After the pass, Antetokounmpo passed Tristan Thompson with a beautiful front change, and then dunked from another person under Love's weak block.

James is eager to break through the shadow of those three years, but don't forget that Antetokounmpo has always maintained his anger at the Cavaliers.He hasn't forgotten how aggrieved he was when he lost the last game.

The dunks of James and Antetokounmpo are almost the epitome of this game.

After that, the Cavaliers and Pacers fought back and forth.Just as Paul scored with a floater, Kelly Irving broke through with a butterfly step and made a layup.

Love received a breakthrough from James and made a long shot, and George used his favorite ball to break through the screen and hit an emergency stop jumper.

The three stars on both sides have played their worth, but because of this, the scores of the two teams have been rising alternately.

This situation lasted until the 7th minute of the first quarter, when James used a direct long shot after a dribble to make the score exceed three points again, Henson suspended the game.

"Good job, everyone! The Cavaliers played very well today, but we still bite the score. But believe me, this anxious situation won't last long. Victor!"

With Henson yelling, Oladipo immediately stood up and took off his training uniform, "Boss! I'm here!"

"When the rotation time is up, the Cavaliers will definitely replace Korver. Remember the task I gave you? Start on defense. Stare at him, let him fear you. Then, use your offense to completely open the score. Let those who underestimate you go to hell!"

※※※

Korver has been looking forward to this game for a long time. After all, half a month ago, he made 9 of 8 shots in the game, allowing him to surpass Kidd in the number of three-pointers made in the regular season and rise to seventh in NBA history.That night was a milestone night in Korver's career.

Tonight, meeting the Pacers again, Korver believes he will still be favored.After all, with James, Irving and Love attracting defenses for him, he can get a lot of easy shots.And when he was just warming up, Korver really felt that he felt pretty good.

The timeout ended, and when Korver came on the court, he too was cheered by the Cleveland fans.Everyone is looking forward to, looking forward to this white shooter's magical performance again.

But as soon as he played today, Korver felt a chill down his spine.He couldn't help turning his head to look at his opponent Oladipo, but found that the opponent was like a black panther, staring at him with bloodthirsty eyes.

"Just wait and see, the show is about to start."

Seeing Korver swallowed because of Oladipo's eyes, Henson smiled and sat back on the bench.

Don't use the Pacers as a cash machine, today may indeed be another career night.But this career night won't belong to Korver, it will belong to Victor Oladipo.

Henson would not allow himself to fail twice in the same place!

(End of this chapter)