Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 228 228. A series of big wins at the beginning, the embarrassing situation of the Timberwolves, McGrady's hidden dangers, and Jafaroni's choice

As the Grizzlies beat the defending champion Timberwolves by 25 points in the opening game, the outside world was shocked by this news.

No fans could have imagined that the Grizzlies would humiliate the defending champion with such a hearty victory in the opening game.

And this is when Luke has been training in the fourth quarter and has not sent a regular lineup, otherwise the Grizzlies will only win more in the opener.

Before the start of the season, the Grizzlies have undergone a summer of operations and transactions, and the entire lineup has undergone earth-shaking changes.

In this regard, some fans believe that Luke will lead the Grizzlies to complete the counterattack in the new season, at least it is not difficult to reach the playoffs.

After all, the word Luke is too important in the coaching world, even "Zen Master" Jackson can't be compared with Luke who is now in full swing.

Even though Jackson led the team to win the next nine championship rings in his career, everyone knows that the era of Luke has come.

But even so, the Grizzlies can suddenly transform from a team that ranked last in the league last season to a league powerhouse that beat the defending champion by nearly 30 points in the opening game.

This huge contrast still makes the fans unbelievable, and even shocks the fans.

In addition, compared to the big victory of the Grizzlies in the opening game, what shocked the fans even more was the resignation of Timberwolves coach Jaffroni at the new press conference after the game.

If the victory of the Grizzlies can be credited to head coach Luke, then Jaffaroni's resignation is very colorful.

After three years in the NBA, countless coaches have been dismissed by Luke himself. There are probably nearly ten coaches who have been dismissed because of Luke's relationship.

However, it is the first time in NBA history that a coach like Jaffroni resigned voluntarily because of only one game.

Some fans speculated that Luke's big victory in the opening game destroyed Jaffaroni's confidence, making Jaffaroni not confident enough to coach the Timberwolves.

After all, at the last moment, the sound of get out of class resounded throughout the Timberwolves home court.

For a newcomer like Jaffroni who has just stepped into the circle of head coaches, this kind of scene is undoubtedly frustrating.

Some people also speculate that Luke led the Timberwolves to a high level in the past few years. After the defeat in the first game of the season, Jaffroni deeply realized the gap between himself and Luke, so he could not bear the huge psychological pressure. He resigned at the post-match press conference.

I want to use this method to preserve my future head coaching career, avoid being dismissed by the Timberwolves management after coaching a few games, and completely block my future.

After voluntarily resigning from get out of class, Jafaroni can return to the position of assistant coach to continue his studies.

But once the management is voluntarily dismissed because of the team's poor record, then for a rookie like Jafaroni, it will be more difficult to become a head coach in the future.

Some people say that Jafaroni is a smart man, but his offseason choices were too reckless. He only thought that coaching the Timberwolves would be a chance to reach the sky in one step, but he forgot that coaching the Timberwolves would also kill him at the bottom of the sea.

Some people also questioned that Jaffaroni's psychological endurance was too poor. Just because he led the team to lose to the former Timberwolves head coach by nearly 30 points in the opening game, he did not have the courage to face the next challenge.

But no matter what the reason for Jaffaroni's resignation, the fact that Jaffaroni was dismissed by Luke is now in front of the fans.

It is foreseeable that Jafaroni's dismissal will not only become the hottest topic of discussion in the league in the near future, but at the same time, it will become more difficult for the Timberwolves to apply for a new head coach.

Originally, few highly qualified coaches were willing to take over the Timberwolves during the offseason. Now with the occurrence of Jaffroni's incident, I believe that no coach is willing to challenge the position of Timberwolves head coach.

Even a group of rookie coaches who were eager to try didn't want to ruin their entire career just because of one season.

For the Timberwolves, who can become the team's next head coach will become a big problem, and if there is no other way, McHale can only come down to coach in person, or forcibly promote an assistant coach to take this position.

However, McHale and Raymond are both foxes who have practiced for thousands of years. They know very well what it means to take over the Timberwolves at this juncture.

It means that once you can't lead the team to a rebound, your future in the team will definitely be affected, and you will even become the second Jaffroni.

Now this situation is simply a big pit in front of McHale, even though Luke can't be blamed for this matter.

It can only be said that Luke has brought the Timberwolves to too high a height in the past three years, and led the Grizzlies to play such an eye-catching dominance in the new season.

When the two things are combined, the position of Timberwolves head coach is no longer the best place for rookies to be gilded, but has become a time bomb, and it is a bomb that may detonate the future of his career at any time.

…………

"Lu, you really killed me this time. Mark was the right head coach I finally found in the offseason. As a result, he resigned after only playing one game in the new season."

"Now what do you tell me to do in this situation, you have to think of a way for me, otherwise I will really die this time."

After connecting to McHale's call, before Luke said a word, McHale began to complain at length over there.

After working together in the Timberwolves for so many years, Luke can guess without thinking that McHale must have the expression of a bitter woman now.

The fact that McHale was able to make this phone call to himself for advice is enough to prove that McHale has been pushed to the edge of a cliff at this time.

At least the next decision is likely to affect the position of the general manager under him.

In fact, Luke did not expect Jaffroni to resign after the game, making such a decisive and crazy decision.

Thinking in another way, Luke felt that if he put himself in Jafaroni's position, he would definitely not be willing to make such a choice, at least he would not consider leaving until the end of the road.

Now this situation has not only exceeded the expectations of everyone outside, even Luke, who has God's perspective, is very helpless.

Who would have thought that after Luke left the Timberwolves, even finding a head coach would become a major problem for the Timberwolves, to the point where no one in the entire league dared to apply.

If these words were told to the outside world before Luke left the Timberwolves, the outside world would definitely think that Luke was arrogant and exaggerated.

But now this has become an undisputed fact.

"Sorry, I didn't expect this to happen either."

"Actually, I was restrained enough in the opening game, but Kevin's state has really declined seriously. If there is no accident, no matter who takes over the team next, the team's record in the new season will probably plummet."

"If there is really no way to deal with coaching, you can find some coaches in the Development League or NCAA who want to step into the NBA threshold."

"Then Raymond holds the real power behind the scenes. After all, if you can't find a coach with real talent for the position of coach, then it's the same for anyone who wears this identity."

Luke felt both amused and helpless and said, "But the biggest problem for the team at the moment is Kevin's state at this point."

"As an old friend, I would like to give you a piece of advice. If Kevin has been unable to regain his status, then you must deal with this matter decisively, otherwise your position may be very dangerous."

Hearing Luke's suggestion, McHale fell silent on the other end of the phone. It was not until a long time later that McHale sighed helplessly, "Hey, I hope I don't go to that step."

"Otherwise, with Kevin's influence in Minnesota, even if trading him will make the team better, I will definitely be criticized in a short time, and I will not be able to take off the hat of cold-blooded and heartless in the future."

.........

In the next two games, the much-anticipated Grizzlies defeated the Golden State Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics at home.

Both the Warriors and the Sonics are typically strong in offense and weak in defense. The two teams have always relied on offense to win. As for defense, it can only be regarded as incidental.

Although the Grizzlies are also an offense-oriented team this season, the Grizzlies' defense has never been weak.

Whether it's the "small steel gun" Lowry on the back line, Gerald Wallace on the front line or the double Gasol on the inside, the defense of these people can be regarded as the first step in the league.

Especially Gerald Wallace and Gasol Jr. are capable of competing for the existence of DPOY.

It's just that compared to winning the game defensively, the offensive ability of this Grizzlies shocked other teams, especially the offensive firepower of the Grizzlies' second team, which has become one of the reasons why the Grizzlies have attracted much attention in the new season .

After the two stars Ray Allen and Lewis left the team, the Supersonics have officially entered the rebuilding phase, and now the entire Supersonics are rebuilding around first-year rookie Kevin Durant.

Durant's personal offensive ability is good, but Durant, who has just entered the league, needs a lot of shots to stimulate his potential.

Today's Durant is far from being a threat in Luke's eyes, at least he still has a very big gap with the historical scorer of later generations.

From the beginning of the first quarter, the Grizzlies had an advantage throughout the game, and even at the end of the third quarter, the Grizzlies once led the Sonics by 37 points.

However, in the fourth quarter, Luke replaced all the main players as usual, and sent Milicic and Boykins and other fringe players to fight.

Leading the team to win the championship for three consecutive years has already made Luke's comparison a lot weaker. Unless Luke has a purpose and wants to score a historical level in a certain game, Luke is also willing to leave a way for the opponent to survive.

As for the game with the Warriors, the Grizzlies also beat their opponents by 17 points. Old Nelson, who made 18 three-pointers in the game, couldn't find North.

I can only sit off the court and sigh one after another, regretting that I failed to persuade the management to win Luke to join the Warriors during the offseason.

Last season, the Warriors made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, which caused a lot of trouble for the Timberwolves led by Luke.

But this season, with the departure of "Slam Dunk King" Jason Richardson, the Warriors did not reinforce players in the summer, which is equivalent to losing a very important member of the lineup.

This has also caused the Warriors' combat effectiveness in the new season to be far inferior to last season. If nothing else, it may be difficult for the Warriors to have a seat in the top eight positions in the Western Conference this year.

With the victory over the Supersonics and the Warriors at home, the Grizzlies got a [-]-[-] start, and Memphis fans fell into a brief madness.

At the same time, there are more and more reports about the new season of the Grizzlies from the outside world. Even the topic of discussion has changed from whether they can make the playoffs to whether they can compete with teams such as the Celtics and Lakers for the championship. s position.

It is worth mentioning that McGrady's personal performance in the first three games was not as explosive as expected by the outside world. He averaged 21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal per game, and his shooting percentage of 43.2% can only be regarded as quite satisfactory.

反观保罗加索尔场均22.5分11篮板4助攻2次封盖的数据无疑更加出色，并且保罗加索尔的投篮命中率还达到55.6%堪称是非常高效。

McGrady's consecutive wins at the beginning of the season did not encounter too many outside doubts, but compared with previous seasons, McGrady's competitive state has indeed declined this season.

Luke, who had discovered this scene early on, just frowned thoughtfully.

Under normal circumstances, McGrady has also declined since this season. For the Grizzlies, McGrady has never been the most perfect team building core, but it is indeed difficult for Luke to find a replacement for McGrady.

Luke himself doesn't know whether he will take McGrady in the middle of the season, but Pau Gasol's performance has exceeded Luke's expectations, which makes Luke very pleased.

In addition, the rookie players Kyle Lowry and Gasol Jr. who were put on the starting lineup by Luke also contributed good personal performances.

Especially on the defensive end, the two have made a lot of contributions to the team, which is the fundamental reason why the Grizzlies were able to beat their opponents in the first three games.

Of course, what surprised the fans the most was the pitchers on the bench. So far, Mike Miller, Kapono, and Novak have all made more than 40% of their three-pointers.

In particular, Kapono shot 56.2% of his monsters, ranking first in the three-point shooting percentage.

In the last game in October, the Grizzlies narrowly beat the Indiana Pacers by three points at home.

In this game, the excellent offensive and defensive performance of the Pacers caused a lot of trouble for the Grizzlies. Among them, Danny Granger, who the team intends to support as the head star, even made 17 of 13 shots and handed over 31 with an almost heaven-defying touch. The performance of 7 rebounds.

The white shooter Mike Dunleavy also started a three-point shooting mode with Mike Miller from beyond the three-point line. Together, the two made as many as 9 three-pointers, which pushed the rhythm of the entire game very fast.

It was the excellent offensive touch of Dunleavy and Granger that made the Grizzlies unable to open the score until the end of the game when Wallace and Tracy McGrady hit a mid-range shot each. With this victory, the opening record improved to 4 wins and 0 losses.

It is worth mentioning that O'Neal, who was the all-powerful power forward in the early years, was brutally beaten by Pau Gasol.

整场比赛小奥尼尔用14投4中的效率只交出9分4篮板的数据，面对保罗加索尔时不仅丝毫没有优势，防守端还被保罗加索尔轰下24分。

After the game, seeing Jermaine O'Neal's face of dissatisfaction but obvious helplessness, the fans knew that another player in the league would fall from the altar.

And Paul Gaso will also replace O'Neal's position and become one of the best power forward players in the active league.

…………

When the time entered November, when the fans wanted to see when the Grizzlies would usher in their first loss of the season, the Grizzlies management took the lead in giving everyone a surprise.

On November 11, local time in the United States, the Grizzlies management issued a document announcing that the former Timberwolves head coach Mark Jafaroni had officially joined the Grizzlies coaching staff and became an assistant coach next to Luke.

And Jafaroni also said at the press conference held by the team that he was deeply impressed by Luke in the opening game. It may not be a wise choice to leave the Timberwolves, but it must be a good choice to be an assistant coach next to Luke. A precious treasure.

The joining of Jafaroni made the discussion outside more restless. If it is said that Jafaroni's voluntary resignation caused a lot of shock to the outside world at that time.

So Jaffroni's choice to join the Grizzlies afterwards made fans even more unexpected.

What kind of charm does Luke have to make Jafaroni make this choice? After all, Jafaroni's choice will definitely bring him a lot of negative effects.

If he can't improve himself in the Grizzlies, Jaffaroni is likely to become a joke.

But as Jafaroni himself said, leaving the Timberwolves may not be a wise choice, but serving as an assistant coach next to Luke must be a valuable asset.

(End of this chapter)