NBA: James wants to team up with me

Chapter 191 Interviewing the new coach, Tom Thibodeau

The future is yours, these words were what Duncan said for James after sweeping him 4:0.

James never dreamed at that time that seven years later, on the same stage in the Finals, this old liar who kept saying "the future is yours" would still lead the Spurs, sweeping his team 4:1. Heat.

Although Duncan was no longer the core of the Spurs at that time, he was still one of the main players. He averaged a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds per game, shattering the Heat's dream of creating a dynasty with three consecutive championships.

Wang Chong didn't intend to let Duncan add such a debuff to him, so he took a preemptive strike and directly interrupted the opponent's spellcasting.

Are you kidding me? He doesn't want to experience what James will feel seven years later. He doesn't want to have this experience of losing in the finals a second time, and he doesn't want it to become a common occurrence like James.

No matter what, this is how the NBA 2006-07 season ended.

Wang Chong averaged 6 points per game in the 36.7 games of the finals and shot 55% from the field. His performance was impeccable, and no one would blame him for playing poorly because he lost the finals.

After all, Wang Chong is only 22 years old now, and he still has a long future.

As strong as Jordan, he didn't start his legendary path to six championships until he was 28 years old, after he got the best helper in his career, Pippen.

Moreover, it is not easy for the Bulls to fight the Spurs in 6 games with their tactics completely restrained. In the two games they won, Wang Chong scored 50 points in one game and 46 points in the other. If they only relied on Wang Chong alone, If so, it’s hard to imagine how much better you have to do to truly win the championship.

After this battle, many sports media in Chicago once again made impatient appeals.

"The Bulls management should really work hard this summer to find some outstanding helpers for Wang Chong. The mid-season trade of Chauncey Billups by the team is a great move and a regular move for the Bulls. He is one of the important contributors to the game's 69-win record, which is second in history, but Billups alone is not enough."

"Tyson Chandler and Raja Bell are just role players. Luol Deng has good potential as a young emerging player, but his technical characteristics are too single and it is easy to be targeted. Even if the Bulls have more experience next season, Improvement, but if the lineup is still the same, it will still be difficult to win if we meet the Spurs again in the finals."

I have to admit that the analysis by these media is very correct and coincides with Wang Chong’s views.

The Bulls' lineup was carefully selected and determined by Wang Chong himself.

But this does not mean that this is Wang Chong's ideal lineup. It just means that given the conditions of the Bulls, it is really good to be able to put together this lineup. In Wang Chong's original plan, he would intercept and dig through the draft every year. Those low-ranking, cost-effective rookie players should be cultivated and those who are suitable for the Bulls' tactical system should be retained. Even those who are not suitable can be traded out as good bargaining chips after being valued.

Monta Ellis is a typical example. From the beginning, Wang Chong had no intention of reusing Ellis. At his peak, Ellis could average 25+5+5 per game when he had sufficient ball rights. Players, but so what? The offensive efficiency is low, the offensive choices are poor, the long-range shooting ability is average, and the defense is not good enough. This is definitely not a defender suitable for a championship team.

So when Ellis had the opportunity to trade for Billups, Wang Chong took action immediately without hesitation.

Originally, Wang Chong planned to take things slowly and steadily, and was not in a hurry to achieve success immediately.

However, the upgrade task released by the system disrupted his plan. Wang Chong can't wait anymore. He is eager to win the FMVP and complete the system upgrade task.

His plan is to build the Bulls into a championship-level team within three to five years, and the players will be slowly cultivated by themselves.

But that speed is too slow, especially for rookie players, no matter how good they are, they need a lot of game training and will not become excellent players immediately.

The Bulls couldn't win against the Spurs in the 06-07 season. It is conceivable that they faced the stronger Big Three of the Celtics in the 07-08 season, as well as the Lakers in the Western Conference who defeated the Spurs and entered the finals. Think about it. Everyone knows that the chances of winning are slim.

So Wang Chong had to think of a way.

But before that, there is one more important thing to do.

-

Two days after the finals, when everyone was still immersed in the six-game battle between the Bulls and Spurs in the finals, and eagerly discussed the future situation of the Eastern and Western teams in the league.

The Bulls officially issued a statement that the team laid off head coach Scott Skiles.

As soon as this news came out, it immediately caused an uproar in the alliance.

Scott has coached the Bulls well in the past two years. He led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals last season and the Finals this season. In the regular season, he posted the second-best record of 69 wins and 13 losses in history.

The Bulls' outstanding record performance allowed Scott to be elected as the Eastern Conference All-Star Head Coach and Coach of the Year this season, which is an unparalleled success.

Who would have thought that just two days after the finals ended, the Bulls would immediately dismiss this head coach with excellent coaching performance. What is this?

But Spurs head coach Popovich, who has played against the Bulls, is not surprised by this.

Only those who have had head-to-head confrontations know what the caliber of the Bulls' head coach is.

In the 6 games of the Finals, facing the Spurs' targeted tactics, the Bulls were unable to come up with a good response. Moreover, he realized very early that the Bulls' defensive system copied the Spurs' tactics exactly. This is why the Spurs always During the finals, the offensive end was not like those teams in the Eastern Conference that were easily locked down by the Bulls, so they were able to score normally.

In Popovich's view, the head coach's poor on-the-spot command was at least half to blame for the Bulls' defeat in the Finals.

What he didn't know was that even the Spurs' defensive tactics, which were copied from cats and tigers, were the result of Wang Chong's suggestion. Otherwise, the Bulls' tactics were just simple conventional tactics typical of academic schools.

Although Scott is very obedient and usually gives Wang Chong face, there is nothing he can do. In order to win the championship and complete the system tasks as soon as possible, a capable coach is indispensable.

While dismissing Scott, Wang Chong has already found a candidate, and that is assistant coach Tom Thibodeau who just resigned from the Rockets after the end of this season.

Thibodeau, a well-known future coach in the league, is known for his defense. The most famous thing is that he created a mature defensive system for the Bulls, achieved the league's best record, and helped Derrick Rose become the youngest regular season MVP.

But that was the 2010-11 season, four years later.

After leaving the Rockets, Thibodeau chose to join the Boston Celtics and serve as an assistant coach for Doc Rivers. The Celtics' defensive system was built by Thibodeau. The Celtics were able to win in 07-08. He also contributed a lot to winning the championship this season.

<divclass="contentadv">After three seasons with the Celtics, Thibodeau was poached by the Bulls as head coach, and in his first season he led the team to the league's first record of 62 wins and 20 wins. burden.

Leaving aside the offensive end, Thibodeau has unique insights when it comes to building a defensive system. He is definitely the only one in the league and is no less a top defensive coach than Popovich.

Of course, Thibodeau is still a little worse than Popovich. He is only good at defense, and his offense relies heavily on the performance of stars. In the past few seasons with the Bulls, he stared at Rose and continued to use it to death, resulting in Rose was overburdened, injured on the field, and never recovered.

Thibodeau has always had this bad habit since then. Whether he was with the Bulls or the Timberwolves, letting the main players stay on the court for a long time was his best choice to ensure the team's offensive efficiency.

Of course, Rose's injury cannot be entirely blamed on Thibodeau. Maybe he is suitable for a solid and durable player like James. Butler was frequently used by Thibodeau during his years with the Bulls, and he did not suffer any major injuries. A serious illness. It can only be said that Rose's own playing style is also prone to injury. Injury is just a matter of probability and time.

When the Bulls management found Thibodeau, the other party couldn't believe their ears.

At this time, after the Rockets were defeated by the Jazz in the first round, the team laid off head coach Jeff Van Gundy and hired new head coach Rick Adelman.

Van Gundy's coaching staff differed from Adelman's coaching philosophy, and a large number of personnel were liquidated, and Thibodeau was one of them.

Of course, Thibodeau is not worried about not having a job. During his several years with the Rockets, he has become quite famous in the league. The Kings also invited him to be the head coach before, but he declined because he felt that the Kings had already Entering the rebuilding process, most of the head coaches hired during this period only played transitional and scapegoating roles.

Thibodeau's guess was not wrong. After the end of the 05-06 season, Adelman resigned. In the following ten years, the Kings almost maintained an average frequency of changing head coaches every year, which was quite stable.

If Thibodeau goes to the Kings as head coach, the results will not be much different from those of those assembly line head coaches.

The Bulls and Kings are obviously different. One is a bottom-of-the-barrel team that is being rebuilt, with no hope of revival or rise. The other is a top team that has just finished the Finals and has a record of 69 wins and 13 losses in the regular season. The team has a young structure and healthy salary space, and will remain extremely competitive in the next few years.

Just because he will reject the Kings does not mean that he will reject a team like the Bulls that has the strength to compete for the championship.

Thibodeau, who had basically negotiated with the Celtics to join as an assistant coach, immediately changed his mind and broke into a cold sweat.

Fortunately, he hasn't had time to sign a contract with the Celtics. Otherwise, wouldn't he miss such an excellent opportunity?

In just one day, he rushed from Texas to Chicago and met with Bulls general manager John Paxson.

What he didn't expect was that in the general manager's office, there was someone he was very familiar with - Wang Chong.

Isn't it a head coach interview? Why are there still players present? Players interviewing head coach?

Although he was very confused, Thibodeau still sat down cautiously.

He has been an assistant coach for 17 years. If he really has the opportunity to become the head coach of a strong team in the league, he is naturally not willing to give up this opportunity easily.

"Hello, Mr. Tom."

A smile appeared on John Paxson's face. There was nothing wrong with his words. It was a forced smile.

Although he was very reluctant, he still said officially: "After this season, our Bulls want to make some changes in the team's tactics. I think you have watched the finals game. What do you think of the Bulls?" What was it about the game that the Spurs lost?"

Although Thibodeau was a little surprised why the general manager had a strange expression, he also understood that this was already an interview session, so he said: "Of course there are many reasons for losing the game, such as the ability and experience of the players on both teams. There are some gaps, but I think the Bulls' defensive tactics in the finals were quite problematic. They seemed to be copying the Spurs' defensive tactics, but it was actually not a wise move in front of the Spurs, who are very familiar with this defensive system. Lift."

"If it were me, I would adjust my defensive strategy during the game and put the center forward..."

Gradually, the expression on John Paxson's face began to change, and he gradually became surprised.

He didn't expect Thibodeau to be able to speak at length naturally.

After all, he is the general manager of a team, so he naturally understands this, so he can tell whether the other party is talking nonsense.

Just by virtue of these remarks, Thibodeau's understanding of defense has far surpassed that of the Bulls' previous head coach Scott.

In fact, John Paxson doesn't want to resign Scott at all. After all, he is the hero who has led the Bulls to excellent records in the past few years. In his opinion, his ability is not bad.

But there is no way, who can prevent him from offending Wang Chong? Especially Wang Chong, who won the regular season MVP this season and led his team to the finals. His contract will expire at the end of the season and he will become a restricted free agent.

Under Wang Chong's strong request, he could only reluctantly lay off Scott, and everything was done in accordance with Wang Chong's request.

Although this kind of behavior would make him feel very useless as a general manager, he knew very well that if he chose to be tough at this time, the price he would most likely have to pay would be that he and the head coach Scott would be raped by the team owner. Sweep out the door.

Wang Chong's value as a player far exceeds the two of them.

Of course, part of the reason was that although he didn't understand Wang Chong's seemingly willful behavior every time, in the past, every time Wang Chong made outrageous requests, after he had no choice but to agree, he was beaten severely. Face, the results are amazing every time.

After trading Monta Ellis for Billups, the team went directly to the finals.

Going forward, including the transactions of Ellis, Bell and others, and even the Bulls' main tactical system were also requested by Wang Chong.

This made John murmur in his heart, Wang Chong seems to be a little evil, what if he is really right again?

So there was Scott's layoff and Thibodeau's interview.