The invincible kryptonite of basketball

The All-Star Game will last for a weekend, and there will be about 4 days of rest before and after. This is absolutely good news for the Spurs.

During the training, the players communicated a lot with each other, accompanied by smiles from time to time, and seemed to be in a good mood.

But not everyone, Jefferson has been very serious since the beginning of training, and sat on the sidelines early to rest before the training was over.

After training, the players all went back to the locker room to take a shower, and Jefferson was still sitting there in a daze.

At this time, a local reporter from Minneapolis spotted him and walked over.

"Hey, Richard, you don't seem to be in a good mood?" the reporter asked after passing by.

"No, why? The team has a good record. We are now No. [-] in the Western Conference." Jefferson said with a forced smile.

"But you don't look very happy." The reporter said with a smile.

"Okay." Jefferson glanced at the reporter, then said with a wry smile.

"Is it because of playing time? If I remember correctly, you played for only 15 minutes?" the reporter asked.

As a reporter in this industry, if you want to be excellent, you must be prepared.

Jefferson smiled wryly, it wasn't 15 minutes, but he said it was 13 minutes and 24 seconds, which was his season low, and he only got 3 shots in total.

He complained to Popovich about playing time after Ginobili returned, but it didn't work.

On the contrary, he was trained by Popovich and his playing time was further compressed.

The complaints in his heart have been accumulated for a long time.

After being scolded last time, he didn't even have room to complain with his teammates. At this time, it was only him and the reporter, and he finally couldn't hold back.

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on, I'm in good shape, I'm in good shape," Jefferson said.

The reporter was instantly excited when he heard it.

The Spurs team is harmonious, and there are few news that can be tapped, but this one seems to be an absolute big news.

"You're the fourth-highest paid player on the team, behind Duncan, Ginobili and Parker, but you've played the fewest minutes in the rotation."

The reporter continued.

Jefferson nodded with a wry smile.

"What happened? Even rookies like Don and Leonard outperformed you." The reporter asked more and more questions.

"I don't know, that's the coach's decision, I don't know what happened."

Jefferson shrugged helplessly.

What the reporter said just now really resonated with him. If it is GDP, even if it is Green, he thinks it is acceptable.

But now his time is more divided by Tang Tian and Leonard.

"Maybe the team wants to train new players. You know that the core of the team is not young." The reporter continued.

"Maybe." Jefferson smiled helplessly.

"But it's not fair. People who were sacrificed, like you, are still at the top."

Jefferson nodded, glanced at the reporter, and wished he could hug her in his heart, what he said was really sweet.

The reporter had already got what he wanted, and now he said with a smile: "Be patient, I believe your hard work will win you playing time."

"Maybe." Jefferson nodded with a wry smile.

At the end of the interview, Jefferson was in a good mood after finding someone to confide in, and then got up and left the training hall.

That night, in the locker room of the visiting team, the Spurs players were all changing their clothes, preparing for the upcoming game.

Manu Ginobili was talking sarcasm, and Parker was reminding the players that everything looked the same as usual.

"boom!"

At this moment, the door of the locker room was pushed open forcefully, and Popovich walked in with a gloomy expression.

The team members looked at Popovich in surprise. This was probably the first time they saw the old man put on such an ugly face this season.

Not even when the team is losing.

Don't know what happened.

Budenholzer walked in, coughed twice, and announced the coaching staff's decision.

"Richard Jefferson will not play tonight, Don will replace him at small forward."

Tang Tian's popularity in the team is very good. His entry into the starting lineup is something worth celebrating, but looking at Popovich's face, no one can celebrate.

"why?"

After changing his clothes, Jefferson suddenly stood up and said, Popovich is really deceiving people too much.

"What did you say yourself in front of reporters, do you want me to repeat it here?"

When Popovich saw the news, he was out of breath, and he didn't save Jefferson's face at the moment.

Chapter 192 is first released! (5/5)

After Popovich finished speaking, Jefferson fell silent.

He didn't think much of it when he told reporters, but when Popovich mentioned it now, he realized he had made a big mistake.

Dissatisfaction with playing time is common in the NBA, especially with players on big contracts like him.

Even the locker room or complaining to the head coach is acceptable.

But it absolutely shouldn't, shouldn't be mentioned in front of the media, because what it involves is the image to the outside world.

When he said that, it was tantamount to saying that there was disharmony within the Spurs team, which would put a lot of pressure on the entire team, even the management and coaching staff.

This is why Popovich is so angry.

The team members looked at each other and didn't know what happened. The game was coming soon, and they didn't have time to read any news.

Seeing that Jefferson was silent, Popovich didn't say anything more. After getting the players ready to go on stage, he and Budenholzer left first.

The atmosphere in the locker room was a bit awkward, no one knew what was going on, so naturally it was difficult to say anything.

"Congratulations, Tang, the starter, I told you you can do it." After a moment of silence, Green got up and congratulated Tang Tian.

"You bastard, you stole my starter, I have to ask the old man to get it back." Ginobili also jokingly said flirty words, got up and came over to congratulate Tang Tian.

Tang Tian was very popular with the Spurs, with Green and Ginobili taking the lead, others came to congratulate him one after another.

Duncan was also about to come over and touch Tang Tian's head to express his congratulations, but he withdrew his hand after seeing his cropped hair, and just gave him a Buddhist smile.

The cheers in the locker room disappeared, and the short-term embarrassment quickly disappeared.

Jefferson's face was ugly at this time, and he suddenly felt that he was a bit out of place with the team.

After a while, Budenholzer called the players to the game.

Jefferson was left alone in the locker room, unable to enter the arena because of his suspension.

When everyone left, he punched the bench angrily. This was really the most useless time in his NBA career.

However, he didn't leave the locker room immediately after beating. Instead, he took out his tablet and searched for the live broadcast signal.

Now he wanted to see how Tang Tian would fare when he entered the starting lineup.

At the beginning, because his alma mater was eliminated by Kangda, he was a little unhappy with Tang Tian. Afterwards, his playing time was squeezed, and this unhappiness continued to accumulate.

It has reached a critical point to be robbed of starting.

He was not happy watching Tang Tian, ​​and at this time he was watching the game with the mood of watching a movie.

He has played in the NBA for so many years, and he knows the difference between a starter and a backup, and it is not just a difference between two words.

First of all, every team has a core. When the core is on the court, the shooting power will be concentrated in their hands.

Starting as a role player is basically doing the dirty work, and the opportunities are very limited.

Secondly, the starting players are also playing against the starting players. In most cases, the difficulty of the matchup is directly raised to a higher level, and it is naturally more difficult to play well.

Finally, there are considerations from the coaching staff.

The starting game is the opening game. Once a mistake is made, there is a high probability that it will be replaced directly. The error tolerance rate is much smaller than that of a substitute.

This is why many players are clearly capable of starting, but they are arranged by the coaching staff to play the sixth man, or even the seventh man and the eighth man.

It's also why he keeps complaining and Popovich continues to let him start.

Before there is absolute strength, going from the bench to the starting lineup is like counterproductive growth, which may not necessarily be a good thing.

He is now waiting to see Tang Tian make a fool of himself.

Tang Tian can't play well, Popovich will still have to start with him in the next game.

Playing a starting game allowed Tang Tian to recognize his own strength, and by the way, made Popovich realize his importance.

How can we know that it is not a blessing if it is a blessing in disguise!

……

Since the Timberwolves "Wolf King" Garnett left for Boston, the team's record has been in a slump.

Minneapolis is cold and no superstars are willing to come, and the result is that arena attendance has repeatedly hit record lows.

The attendance rate in the arena tonight is less than [-]%, which makes people feel more and more cold.

However, the fans present seemed to be in a good mood, and the main reason was naturally the performance of rookies Derek Williams and Rubio.

The only way for the Timberwolves to get out of this predicament is to look forward to the draft.

The previous Corey Brewer, Jonny Flynn and others have all proved to be embarrassing, but the two rookies this season have performed well.

Especially in February, one averaged double-doubles per game and one averaged double-doubles per game, coupled with the core of Kevin Love, it gave people infinite hope.

In addition to the emotions of the audience on the sidelines, this can also be seen from the KT boards they hold in their hands. In addition to Love, there are also Rubio and Williams.

After the pre-match warm-up, the starting players of both sides appeared one after another.

For the Spurs, Jefferson was suspended from the team, and the other positions remained unchanged. Parker and Green were on the outside, Tang Tian and Duncan were on the front line, and Blair was the center.

When this starting lineup came out, the Timberwolves didn't expect it.

Head coach Rick Adelman was overjoyed after being taken aback for a moment.

Tang Tian started the game, which was a breakthrough, and the team had more chances of winning tonight.

Derek Williams suddenly became extremely excited.

To say that the rookie who has the deepest resentment toward Tang Tian is definitely No.1, much deeper than Reggie Jackson, Monroe, and even Singler.

At the beginning, he was the top pick, but because the team lost to UConn, he stopped in the top 32, and finally dropped to the fourth overall pick abruptly.

And it was also in the second half of that match, Tang Tian made him extremely embarrassed and exposed all his shortcomings.

If it wasn't for Tang Tian, ​​he wouldn't be playing in this extremely cold place. He really hated Tang Tian.

Now the opportunity has come, Tang Tian playing the starting small forward is simply an excellent opportunity God gave him!

Compared with his college days, he has found his position now, and the small forward is his correct position in the NBA.

He is in a hot state now, and he will definitely blow Tang Tian up, and he will also vent his anger for himself!

After the Spurs, the Timberwolves' starters appeared one after another amidst the shouts of the host.

On the outside are rookie "golden boys" Ricky Rubio and Luke Ridnour, which is a double point guard backcourt.

Derrick Williams and Kevin Love up front and Pekovic at center.

Love and Duncan's midcourt jumper.

At this moment, Tang Tian realized that Williams was looking at him all the time, so he also looked up.

When I saw the hot gaze in the latter's eyes, my emotions were a bit complicated.

In fact, he is a kind-hearted person.

In the NCAA, if it wasn't because the tournament was a single-elimination match, he really didn't want to defend Williams so badly.

Likewise, he didn't want to do anything to Williams if he came off the bench tonight.