Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 65 65. The playoffs are approaching

The next day, the league directly announced the penalty results for the game between the Timberwolves and the Pacers.

Of course, all those who were punished were Timberwolves, and Stephen Jackson was only fined $15000.

As for the Timberwolves head coach Luke, who took the lead in beating someone, he was the main person who provoked the conflict. After the league made a decision, the league finally banned Luke for 3 games and fined him $35000.

In contrast, Eddie Griffin, who came out of the bench and wrestled with Stephen Jackson, was much worse.

Considering that Griffin has participated in court fights more than once this season, this time Griffin rushed into the court as a non-player to fight Stephen Jackson.

So for Eddie Griffin, a habitual brawler, the league directly imposed an 8-game suspension.

This punishment is not harsh enough. You must know that the last time the Timberwolves and the Pistons broke out on the court, Hassell punched Rasheed Wallace's balls and was suspended by the league for 7 games.

From this point, it is not difficult to see that the league's tolerance for Eddie Griffin is basically zero.

In the eyes of others, Griffin is a militant. The Timberwolves’ several court fights were related to him. There was a sense of beating Luke.

Regardless of the reason for the stadium fights this season, the Timberwolves are the team with the most conflicts on the court so far.

And there have been conflicts with several militants such as the Pistons, Spurs and Pacers behind him. This situation is really a headache for the league.

If it weren't for the Timberwolves' excellent record this season that kept them showing their faces in front of the media, the league would want to have a good talk with the Timberwolves. Can't they love peace on the court? !

This conflict caused many fans to discuss it on the Internet, because the person who participated in the fight this time turned out to be Timberwolves coach Luke, which was something fans did not expect.

Fans only know that Luke is a crazy coach with a hot temper and a cruel personality, but the fans really didn't expect Luke to be so crazy.

Just because Stephen Jackson sprayed a few more trash words on the Timberwolves bench, Luke ushered in a head-on blow.

This kind of vengeful character is really worthy of the title "lunatic".

As for Eddie Griffin, the name is even more famous in the league. If Eddie Griffin was just a genius in the past, then this season Griffin has completely thrown his face in the league, making fans remember Live the name.

It's just that the reason to remember is not because Eddie Griffin played well, but because Eddie Griffin fought fiercely!

In the eyes of most people, Griffin is the kind of dangerous player who takes drugs and races off the court, and is flammable and explosive on the court, but in the eyes of Timberwolves fans, Griffin is simply Minnesota's gold medalist!

Because of the existence of Eddie Griffin, the Timberwolves don't have to be afraid of other teams' black hands on the court, and they don't have to worry about players being hurt.

From this perspective, head coach Luke and Eddie Griffin are really a match made in heaven...

...............

"Fortunately, it was only suspended for three games. Don't be so impulsive on the court next time. You are the soul of this team."

"If it's the playoffs, I hope you can focus on the overall situation. This kind of matter can be resolved by the players themselves, even if Stephen's mouth is really stinky."

In the office, General Manager McHale handed a cut cigar to Luke, and the words he said changed from the initial reprimand to the current admonition.

McHale was a player, and a Hall of Famer.

So McHale is very clear that everything Luke does is to protect the team. Even though Luke may seem like a heinous bastard to outsiders, for a championship team, there must be someone in the team to play the role. the wicked.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to make it to the playoffs. Today's era is not bad. In McHale's era, the team didn't dare to step into the finals without two villains.

"Originally, I didn't want Eddie to do it, but I didn't expect this guy to be more conflicted than me."

"I am a coach and he is a player. You should be very clear that doing too much of this kind of thing will affect him."

"But now it seems that this guy is a militant in his bones. I don't know if this is a good thing." After taking the cigar, even Luke showed a look of helplessness on his face.

Obviously, Eddie Griffin's thorny attributes are a bit tricky even for Luke to control. No wonder this guy died young at the age of 26 in his previous life.

Now it seems that all this is not unreasonable.

"Forget it, there are still more than one month for the playoffs to come, you should take these few days as a vacation and relax."

"Salary will be paid during the suspension. The boss Glenn asked me to convey this sentence to you."

"If I remember correctly, Latrell should be back in half a month. The fans and owner Glenn have high expectations for the team this season."

"I hope you can lead the team to create team history this season. After all, the playoffs are the real battlefield." When it comes to the playoffs, even McHale has a look of melancholy on his face.

For the former NBA star who has been successfully selected into the Hall of Fame, McHale knows the difference between the regular season and the playoffs.

Especially when the Timberwolves also ranked No. [-] in the Western Conference last year, but were eliminated by the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, McHale's mentality was not at all optimistic.

Even though this year's Timberwolves are more dominant than last year, Luke's ability to lead the team is also much better than the old Sanders.

"Well, I'm really looking forward to the playoffs." Taking a deep puff on his cigar, Luke squinted his eyes slightly in the smoky environment, subconsciously showing a sneer on his face.

…………

Head coach Luke is suspended for the next three games, and Timberwolves will be temporarily taken over by assistant coach Raymond.

Raymond has served as an assistant coach in the Timberwolves for many years, and has been an assistant to the former head coach Saunders before.

Even when he learned that Luke would replace the old Sanders as the team's head coach for the new season, Raymond was full of opinions at first and ignored Luke, the new head coach.

But as the season gradually progressed, Raymond was completely convinced by Luke. This was not because he succumbed to Luke's despotic power, but because Luke's coaching philosophy on weekdays simply made Raymond admire him.

As an assistant coach, Raymond is best at defense, including the current defensive system built by the Timberwolves with Garnett as the core.

From the perspective of defense alone, Raymond is definitely a guy who is not inferior to Jeff Van Gundy, but this guy only has defense in his mind, and he knows nothing about offense. All his energy is concentrated on the defensive end.

This kind of serious partiality and lack of commanding ability is doomed that Raymond will not become an excellent basketball coach, at most he will climb to the top in the position of defensive assistant.

However, as the saying goes, everyone has their own ambitions. From the daily exchanges between Luke and Raymond, it can still be found that Raymond is satisfied with his current life.

And he doesn't want to be a head coach very much. To paraphrase Raymond's own words, he prefers to stand behind the scenes and contribute instead of being pushed forward to take the blame.

Luke is really speechless about Raymond's thoughts, but it has to be said that people like Raymond are destined not to face unemployment in the NBA.

Perhaps Raymond has never had anything to do with making a fortune in his life, but Raymond is one of the few guys in the NBA who can actively choose to work until retirement, because this guy is too stable!

In Luke's personal impression, Raymond's stability is even more stable than the later McMillan who "steady the old dog".

At least McMillan had the desire to be a head coach during his tenure as an assistant coach, while Raymond was simply satisfied with the status quo, and he really didn't have any ambition.

If it weren't for the defensive system that Raymond built is really strong, Luke really wants to spin him out of Minnesota!
"Being a salted fish is obviously my dream, but you were the first to complete it?"

.........

In the three games in which Luke was suspended, the Timberwolves changed their previous crazy normality, and their playing style on the field became stable, and it can even be said to be a "dog"!
As the Timberwolves lost yet again to the Jazz in Game [-], assistant coach Raymond managed to lead the team to a dismal [-]-[-] record in Luke's absence.

The only game he won was the Eagles, who won the last place in the league. It is conceivable that if even Raymond could lead the team to lose this game, then McHale would definitely scold his own mother for not know.

After all, the record of one win and two losses almost made McHale go berserk, but if Raymond is not an acting bishop, McHale wants to pack up and let him go!

As of March 3, the Timberwolves had a record of 19 wins and 54 losses.

With only one month left before the end of the regular season, the gap between the Timberwolves and the Suns and Spurs behind them is not very big.

However, considering that Luke will return to coach in the next game, and Madman will also usher in a comeback in early April, it is not too difficult for the Timberwolves to keep the No. [-] position in the Western Conference.

What really makes fans look forward to and struggle is the performance of the Timberwolves in the playoffs. No matter how you say it, this is Luke's first season coaching an NBA team.

No one knows whether Luke can withstand the pressure to lead the Timberwolves in the playoffs and still push all the way so domineeringly.

Even a veteran coach like Sanders was weak in the playoffs, so as the playoffs approached, people found that the Timberwolves were not only under pressure from the players led by Garnett.

As the head coach, Luke will also be under tremendous pressure from public opinion.

Outside public opinion can promote Luke to the altar overnight. Similarly, once Luke leads the team to perform poorly in the playoffs, Luke's end will not be better than the old Sanders.

Especially when the Timberwolves already had the No. [-] record in the Western Conference last season, the playoffs are the focus of the entire Minnesota!
(End of this chapter)