play for it

Chapter 236 Let's talk again

As the night darkened, as fans, media reporters, and league technical personnel left, the AT&T Center Arena gradually became quieter.In addition to the staff who are cleaning the entire arena, only Yang Ke and Leonard are still practicing on the court.

I don't know how long it took, the staff who cleaned up also left the arena.At this time, old Jack, who was dressed thickly, walked slowly to the sidelines with the door lock in his hand.

Looking at the two young lads who were still concentrating on practicing, Old Jack shook his head with a bit of heartache. Enduring his drowsiness, he pulled himself together and was about to say something.

Suddenly, a wrinkled arm stretched out and pressed Old Jack's right wrist, and at the same time a familiar voice sounded: "Hey, old guy, let me lock the door once tonight, you go back and rest first !"

"Old urchin?!"

As soon as the old Jack looked up, he saw Popovich holding a large paper bag of food in his hand. He was a little surprised and asked quickly, "You haven't gone back yet?"

Shrugging helplessly, Popovich raised his head to the other side of the court, and said with a smile: "There is something wrong with those two little guys tonight. Of course I have to stay and enlighten them."

After a moment of silence, Old Jack didn't ask any questions, and put the door lock in Popovich's hand, then turned and left without looking back.In his eyes, both Yang Ke and Leonard are very good young men, and Popovich is better than him at being an elder on the growth path.

After watching old Jack leave, Popovich, who was holding the door lock in one hand and food in the other, walked to the side bench and sat down.Staring straight at the two practicing on the court, their wise eyes shone brightly.

…………

"Hoo! Hoo!"

Supporting his knees with his hands, Yang Ke bent down, sweat beads the size of particles kept falling down, and his eyes staring at the floor were a little blurred. He opened his mouth wide and greedily swallowed the air.

"Here, have some Gatorade."

A bottle of energy drink came into view. Yang Ke didn't have the energy to identify the owner of the voice. He raised his hand to grab the bottle, quickly unscrewed the cap, and started to drink.

After finishing a bottle of energy drink in a few seconds, Yang Ke felt relieved for a while. Looking up, he was stunned and asked in surprise, "Coach? Why is it you?"

"That's it."

With a sullen face, Popovich didn't answer Yang Ke's question, and pointed to the bench, "Where are some high-calorie foods I bought, go and replenish some energy for me, so as not to cause any troubles again." .”

"..."

Nodding, Yang Ke didn't make any excuses. He knew how bad his health was, so he immediately dragged his weak feet to the bench.

He didn't sit down, just stood aside like that, found a few burgers from the food bag, and ate them hungrily.After a while, Leonard was also brought over by Popovich, and he also ate the burger in silence.

Seeing that with the supplement of energy, all aspects of Yang Ke and Leonard's situation gradually stabilized.Popovich breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "Okay, I know Manu Ginobili's injury and the sense of powerlessness in tonight's game have a great impact on you."

"But it's normal. The Heat have developed some new routines. We didn't prepare enough. It's normal to fail and even have no clue."

While speaking, Popovich recalled the just-concluded game against the Heat, his face became very dignified, and he continued very sincerely, "To be honest, even if Ginobili was not injured, this game would have been fierce. There is no need to blame yourself."

Pursing his lips, Yang Ke didn't speak.The Big Three of the Green Army are going downhill, and the Big Three of the Heat are in full swing, and it is very likely that the Heat will go to the end in the East.

Yang Ke will never forget that he once promised someone that he would give her a championship ring, and tonight's game is like a preview of the finals.He absolutely cannot accept that there will be a sense of powerlessness when facing the Heat.

"We must not lose to the Heat."

Opening his mouth, Leonard's voice was hoarse.His hands were clenched tightly, his eyes were bloodshot, it was obvious that he and Yang Ke had the same attitude.

"Um?"

Unexpectedly, Popovich raised his eyebrows. Popovich was a little puzzled, why he couldn't accept losing to the Heat, and when he was about to ask, he suddenly remembered something.

Since this season, all the outsiders have said that the Spurs will join the Heat in the finals, and the Heat have a high chance of winning the championship.

At the beginning of this season, before Yang Ke and Leonard were fully recognized by the league and even the team, they seemed to make a promise to Alice that they would give her a championship ring...

Thinking of that cute little girl, Popovich slowly closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time before finally shaking his head and sighing incomprehensibly.

Opening his eyes again, Popovich managed to suppress the fluctuating emotions and kept calm as much as possible, and then continued: "In this case, you should pay more attention to combining work and rest. Parker and the others have already fallen. If you get injured again , perhaps we will not reach the end."

Taking a deep breath, feeling the discomfort all over his body, Yang Ke nodded slowly, and said directly: "There will be no next time."

After the fierce competition, their bodies are already very tired. It is not a good choice to go to extra training at this time.The effect is extremely low not to mention, and it is easy to get injured.The reason why Yang Ke and the others stayed for extra training tonight was because their emotional state was not right, and they would never do this in normal times.

Glancing at Yang Ke, Popovich had no doubts, after all, no player would not care about his health.Then he looked sideways at Leonard, with a flash of light in his eyes, and said, "Your shooting posture is ugly, and you don't have a crosshair. You better improve it."

"Well, I'm about to do that."

Leonard nodded in agreement and said succinctly.After this game, he has deeply realized the importance of outside deterrence.In particular, among the Spurs' current perimeter players, his shooting stability is the worst, which makes it difficult for him to accept, so he is very eager to improve.

It is difficult to improve the shooting posture in a short period of time, and Popovich did not have too much expectation for this, but he put forward higher requirements on defense, and continued: "You performed very well defensively, but I Knowing that you can actually do better, you have plenty of physical strength and can fully support more defenses."

"You know, some players don't need to stay close all the time, you can still let him take a step or two. This is not only a trick, but also a kind of experience. If you want to go further in defense, you have to learn to make trade-offs."

Listening to Popovich's guidance, Leonard lowered his head and began to think seriously, groping his chin with his right hand, deducing in his mind the possibility of such a defense.

clatter!clatter!clatter!
In the silent arena, there was a sudden sound of high-heeled shoes stepping on the ground, which made Popovich slightly stunned. He turned his head to look at the entrance, and a beautiful figure gradually became clear.

"Shipley? Why are you here?"

(End of this chapter)