After the second quarter, I returned to the visiting team's locker room. The locker room was eerily quiet.

Mark's eyes were red and he walked into the locker room angrily.

"Look, what were we beaten today? They were beaten like shit." Mark asked everyone loudly.

"Are you all sleepwalking? I told you at the beginning that you should lock down Yao Ming. Milicic, you are blocked by Yao Ming every time, and he grabs several offensive rebounds. You have to block him behind you, understand. That’s it.” Mark turned to look at Milicic.

Milicic listened to Mark's roar without making any response, and lay there by himself, covering his face with a towel.

Seeing that Milicic didn't say a word, Mark turned to Gasol.

"Paul, where is your help defense? Hayes gets stuck behind you every time. You are so much taller than him and you have so much strength. If you want to keep him stuck behind you, you have to be tougher."

The entire locker room was filled with Mark's voice.

"Coach, please call me Gasol." Gasol said every word, still extremely angry.

In one sentence, Mark yelled, "Do you not want to play anymore? If you don't want to play, I will meet your request."

Gasol ignored Mark and followed Milicic's example, covering his face with a towel and lying down to rest.

Mark was furious. Fortunately, the assistant coach held Mark back at this time, otherwise he wouldn't have known what would have happened.

Then he pointed the finger at Li Tian, ​​who was watching the video of Tracy McGrady's game.

"Lee, what's wrong with you today? The three-point shooting rate is so low. Tracy McGrady connected the entire Mosaic team. How did you defend? This is why I gave you the heavy responsibility. Is this the answer you gave me? "Mark also blamed Li Tian for Gay's problem of defending McGrady on the court.

It can be said that Li Tian did the best in the entire first half. During the period of defending McGrady, he limited McGrady's shooting rate to less than 25%, opened up space on the court, helped his teammates pick and roll, and created many offensive opportunities. .

"Coach, do I have a problem with my defense? Look at my shooting percentage when I defend Tracy McGrady, and then look at how many times I did pick-and-rolls in the team's offense. Find someone who has a higher three-point shooting percentage than me in every game. This high player comes out.”

Li Tian was not used to Mark either, and had long been dissatisfied with Mark. Most of the time, he attributed Guy's faults to Li Tian.

I didn't want to cause trouble at first, but I didn't just accept everything.

"Li, is this your attitude when talking to the head coach?" Mark slammed the tactical board to the ground.

Li Tian ignored Mark and followed Gasol's example, lying down to rest.

He didn't have much playing time in the first half, but when facing McGrady, he had to prevent him from attacking and cut off the connection between him and his teammates. On the offensive end, he had to move without the ball and pick and roll for his teammates.

It didn't take long, but it was a lot of work, and Li Tian was very tired.

In the entire locker room, Gay and Conley were the only ones not holding towels to cover their faces.

Conley still had a playful smile, while Gay looked indifferent.

"You simply don't take me as the head coach seriously. Li Tian, ​​you should stay off the court and reflect carefully after this game." Mark, who was angry, still retained a trace of reason.

Reason told him that he could bench Li Tian, ​​but he could not bench both Milicic and Gasol.

If this happens, it is estimated that Mark will be driven out of Memphis by angry fans in less than two games.

Still wanting to say something, Gasol touched Li Tian.

In the player tunnel, Li Tian quickly followed Gasol.

"Paul, why are you stopping me? I've really had enough Mark." Li Tian was also suppressing himself. He also wanted to pass this quarrel, and then hoped that the team could trade him out and stay with the Grizzlies. Li Tian watched If you don't have any hope, maybe you will be better off if you trade yourself.

He believes that Bill still has the ability to trade himself to other teams through operations. At least he can have stable playing time. He is still a high-quality asset. If the Grizzlies' record continues to decline, other teams will also trade him. With the value of Tian's transaction reduced, it will be difficult for the Grizzlies to sell him.

"Li, I know you want to quarrel with Mark, and then through this matter, hope that the team will trade you away, but this is difficult to achieve."

Li Tian didn't understand. He had seen such transactions happen many times in his previous life, so why couldn't he do it.

"You are just a role player. In order to maintain the majesty of the head coach, the team will most likely put you in cold storage. Your annual salary is only so much that the team can afford to lose money; unless the team fires Mark for you, at present, It’s obviously unrealistic.”

Li Tian loves basketball, but he doesn't understand the team's internal operations, transactions, etc.

"Okay, thank you Paul." Li Tian figured it out and slowly relaxed his brows.

"I'm sorry, Li, it's because I failed to connect the team well. Several passes were intercepted by Tracy McGrady, which caused you to suffer." Lowry apologized to Li Tian.

"It's okay, Lowry. Even without your passing error, I think the final outcome would be the same. Look at the three people Mark mentioned. He bullies the weak and is afraid of the strong, so he can only do this."

"That's true, then it's not my problem anymore. I originally planned to give you a gift to apologize, but it seems that the rest is left." Lori patted the place where she put her wallet.

"Lori, don't skimp on gifts, otherwise I will ask you to get up early to train with me, and you have to figure it out yourself." Li Tian is not going to let Lori go, so he must have gifts.

"Uh, okay, it seems like the wallet is going to be empty this time." Lori's eyes were dull, as if he had lost everything.

"Okay, Lori, as long as you have a gift, go to hell with Memphis at 3 o'clock in the morning." Li Tian comforted Lori, who was about to lose his wallet.

Lori patted her chest, looking like she had escaped from death.

Although the exchange between the two was very funny, the Grizzlies players did not show any change in their expressions.

Only Mark became even more angry when he saw Li Tian and Lori talking and laughing.

"We must let Li Tian stay off the court for a few more games and see if you still obey." This is what Mark thinks in his heart. He is a rookie coach and Li Tian is the only one who needs to establish his authority.

If Li Tian knew Mark's inner thoughts, he would definitely cover Lori's mouth immediately to prevent him from making a sound.

When the game started, Li Tian and Conley were sitting on the bench, talking about something.

The game on the court was one-sided. Under Gay's defense, McGrady also regained his touch and staged consecutive dunks.

Director Zhang, who was sitting in the studio, couldn't stand it anymore.

"Who is the head coach of the Grizzlies? Can't you see that Gay has been beaten by McGrady on the court? At this time, Li Tian should be replaced to defend McGrady, otherwise the Grizzlies will only take away from Houston a failure. "Zhang Weiping kept complaining about Mark.

"Tracy McGrady beat Guy again. He succeeded in the quick move, but Guy ran to the middle line. This game is really impossible to watch." Yu Jia started to complain about the game.

"Maybe something happened in the locker room, hey." Zhang Weiping sighed, expressing endless grievances.

"Look at it, let me tell you, Tracy McGrady is the strongest."

"T-Mac is strong, but his shooting percentage is very low under Li Tian's defense. It's just Guy, I can't complain about him anymore."

"Why don't you go to Li Tian? Is the Grizzlies coach out of his mind?"

"That's right, that's it. Even if it's like this, we still won't let Li Tian play."

As he spoke, the score had reached 55-75, and the Mosaic team led the Grizzlies by 20 points.

"Look, if Li Tian is not good enough and the head coach doesn't let him play, Durant is still better."

"Upstairs, you are the undercover sent by Monkey. Li Tian can't do it. Go and see what kind of beating Durant got. There are no steals, dunks, or blocks. Which data are missing?"

The discussion is still going on intensely.

Mark glanced at Li Tian and Conley on the sidelines.

"I'm so helpless. How can I win?" Mark didn't even control the team, let alone win.

The game is still going on on the field.

In the fourth quarter, Mosaic simply put Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady off the court to rest and did not arrange to play again.

Mark watched the Grizzlies' defeat and replaced all the main players.

The Grizzlies defeated the Mosaics 89-110 on the road, losing by 21 points.

...

"Head coach, what do you think of the huge defeat in this game?" a reporter from TNT asked Mark.

"Hello, this reporter, the team's record will always have ups and downs, we just need to win the next game." Mark replied shirking responsibility.

"Then let me ask, why didn't you arrange for Lee to come on the court to defend Medina in the second half? Didn't you see that Gay was already beaten by McGrady?" The reporter's words were very sharp.

"Every star needs to be cultivated slowly. No one can do everything right away. Michael Jordan didn't win the championship in his first year." Mark...

"Do you think Gay has the potential to be a player like Jordan?" Something big is going to happen.

"No, no, no, isn't it every player's dream to become a player like Jordan? Guy has been working hard in that direction." Mark quickly explained.

"Gasol, do you agree with Mark's statement?" The reporter handed the microphone to Gasol.

"He is the head coach. I have no ability to predict the future." Gasol did not answer directly, neither agreeing nor denying.

"Do you think it's common sense that Li Tian didn't play for a minute in the second half?" The reporter knew that Li Tian and Gasol had a good relationship. They had appeared together in restaurants several times and were photographed.

"I think you need to ask the head coach for confirmation. I'm just a player, but I don't have the talent to be a head coach." Gasol returned the question to the head coach.

...

The post-match interview ended hastily, and Li Tian didn't even have time to say hello to Yao Ming.

Mark arranged for the players to fly to New Orleans early and continue their away game against the Hornets led by Paul.

The last game against the Hornets was a regrettable loss in overtime. In this game, Mark wanted to use a victory to consolidate his position as head coach. At the same time, he was warning Li Tian that the team would perform better without you.

Mark was on the plane, studying the Hornets players and formulating detailed tactics.

I saw Mark thinking about tactics all the time.

Li Tian also began to sympathize with Mark. He was ordered to play in a critical situation and played for more than a month, but he didn't even understand the management of the team. He just kept arguing about winning and winning every day.

I feel sorry for Mark's comrades, but I also feel that this is what he deserves.

As a head coach, if you don't understand your own players first, you can't plan the game clearly, so what's the point of understanding other people's players.

As the saying goes, only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle. Mark has not yet understood the advantages and disadvantages of each player, nor has he figured out what tactics are suitable for his own team. He only focuses on analyzing the opponent's team.

Even if you understand the opponent's players, what's the use? You can't defend them in a targeted manner.
Chapter completed!