(The latest update time is unstable, forgive me)

"I'm sorry." In the Trail Blazers' locker room after the game, after more than two minutes of silence, someone finally spoke.

All eyes are on the person who spoke, Jim Paxson.

In the crucial fifth game of the Battle of Kings Mountain, Jim Paxson's fatal mistake in a key offensive made the Trail Blazers, who were one point behind, lose offensive rights and put the team in an extremely disadvantageous situation.

In the ensuing Nuggets offense, the ball unexpectedly got into the hands of Nuggets backup guard Mike Evans.

The Trail Blazers' defensive focus was on Inglish, Leaf and Knight, ignoring the presence of Mike Evans, who received the ball at a 0-degree angle from the baseline, stabbed the Trail Blazers in the heart with a 15-foot mid-range shot.

With Vanderwich missing a shot after receiving the ball from the outside and the rebound was picked up by Knight, the Trail Blazers lost the last chance to turn the game.

At 105:101, the score was frozen when the buzzer sounded, the Trail Blazers lost a crucial game at home, they were beaten by the Nuggets three games in a row in a good situation of leading 2:0, and now, they have fallen behind their opponents 2:3, and the location of the next game is still Denver Plateau.

"I'm really, really sorry that it was my mistake that caused the team to lose this game." Paxson sat on the stool and said with his head down.

"Not only did you make us lose this game, but you also made us lose the crucial fourth, and I don't know who said those inexplicable words after the third game!" Not only did Paxson's words not draw forgiveness from his teammates, but some began to criticize him more harshly.

It was the team's substitute centre-forward, Ottie Norris, who spoke.

Although Norris is not a main player in the team, he has always been quick to talk and have a straightforward temper, as can be seen from his consecutive key shots against the Mavericks in the first round, this is a master who is not afraid of heaven and earth.

"Don't talk nonsense, Norris!" As soon as Norris finished speaking, Karl, who was sitting next to him, reminded, but his reminder was obviously a little late.

"What happened after the third game?" The person questioning was the general manager of the Trailblazers, Situ Inman.

In the previous game, Stuart Inman only watched the Trail Blazers game from the stands and did not come to the players' locker room, but this game is obviously different, the Trail Blazers lost a very important game, and he had to go to the locker room to calm the players' emotions.

And from Norris's words, Inman knew that after the third game, something must have happened in the dressing room that affected the team's form a lot.

Norris didn't listen to Karl's dissuasion, and suddenly stood up and said: "Paxson, United Sampson asked Coach Ramsey to change the starting lineup, they think the regular season starters are the best, not the playoffs!" I don't know what other people think, but I think that this kind of behavior is undoubtedly destroying the unity of our team! ”

After saying this, Inman's face was also a little cloudy, he didn't expect that Paxson would do such a thing in the locker room after the game, and with him was Sampson, both of whom are veterans of the current Trail Blazers.

"I don't know what's going on here, but I think we're all together to win, and now it's the playoffs, and any win or loss can decide our fate. I don't want us to lose our general direction because of some small contradictions, which will end up being more than worth the loss for any of us. Inman tried to ease the awkward, depressing atmosphere in the squad, but his rhetoric was a bit uninspiring.

"Coach Ramsay, I think you should say something." Inman looked at the players still depressed, and whispered to Ramsey next to him.

Gan Guoyang noticed that Ramsey, the coach who was full of energy in the past, has weakened his control of players at an astonishing rate in the last three games.

He also doesn't quite know exactly what happened between Paxson and Ramsey and why a clash in the dressing room caused the morale of the coach and the team to plummet so quickly.

Ramsey listened to Inman's words, he couldn't help but clear his throat, and then looked up at the players in the locker room, he actually had the feeling of making a parting speech.

For Ramsey, the altercation in the locker room after the game against the Nuggets that day was the last straw that broke him.

Ramsey is hopeful for the Trail Blazers this season, as the team has just made a big trade and has a great outside scorer.

And in the draft, they picked up a rookie like Gan Guoyang who can become the cornerstone of the interior line, everything seemed perfect, and it also made Ramsey full of hope for the future of the team.

Since the start of the season, as Ramsey expected, the Trail Blazers have improved greatly from the previous season, and their record has also improved steadily.

But there are two issues that have always plagued Ramsey, one is the status of Gan Guoyang in the team, and the other is the battle for starting places for Drexler and Paxson.

Ramsey firmly believes that Gan Guoyang can become the core of the Trail Blazers in the future, but he also believes that Gan Guoyang is still too young now, and letting him be the starting center is already a huge responsibility, and it is impossible to make him a leader again.

A rookie wants to be a leader, and in the NBA, that's impossible.

But Gan Guoyang's subsequent actions proved that this guy from Gonzaga really had the heart to "become a marshal", and used a childish heads-up method to try in vain to challenge Sampson's position.

What's even worse is that Gan Guoyang even won the heads-up with Sampson!

After this bullfight in the team, Gan Guoyang did not know that Sampson had found Ramsey alone, and he expressed his reluctance to play with Gan Guoyang again, and even asked Ramsey to either make him a substitute or let Gan Guoyang be a substitute.

Fortunately, Ramsey asked Kenny Carr to enlighten Gan Guoyang well, and Gan Guoyang was also a little thorough, and never mentioned the matter of "bullfighting" again, and he also played diligently on the court.

Mitchell Sampson is also a lively and cheerful person, so he also had a good relationship with Gan Guoyang later.

But the problems with Paxson and Drexler continued into the playoffs.

For Ramsey, Paxson is the kind of guard he admires more, but he also admits that Drexler has higher talent, but his stubbornness in some areas makes Ramsey quite annoyed.

In addition, Drexler's inexperience led to the bench of Drexler, and there was nothing Drexler himself could do, although he threatened to be traded several times, but was eventually persuaded to do so.

However, the injury to Paxson at the end of the season changed the trajectory of things, and Drexler stepped up to the top and put in a very impressive performance in the game.

This put Ramsey in a dilemma, and in the end, in the playoffs, he chose to start Drexler and Paxson off the bench.

After playing the first game against the Mavericks, Ramsey also put Sampson on the bench in order to ensure the attacking power and interior aggression of the bench.

Tactically speaking, there is no problem with such a lineup arrangement, putting Sampson and Paxson on the bench, a more reasonable allocation of resources, and at the same time allowing the Trail Blazers' bench lineup to have the strength to compete with a super team like the Lakers.

However, this arrangement undoubtedly made Paxson and Sampson quite unhappy, and the two former absolute starters were pushed to the bench in a very important playoff game.

In the series with the Mavericks, the two were able to hold back the resentment in their hearts, but when it came to the game against the Nuggets, the first two home games were won, and the two barely got much playing time, especially Paxson, Ramsey has always reused Drexler.

In Denver, when the Trail Blazers' starters did not perform well, Paxson played with the Nuggets with the bench, which made Paxson think even more that he should be the team's starting point guard in this series.

So after losing this game, he asked Ramsey in the dressing room to change his starting line-up, but what was supposed to be a small suggestion quickly turned into a heated argument.

Even Sampson was involved, but Sampson was on Paxson's side because he wanted to get back into the starting lineup.

Gan Guoyang was grinding outside, chatting with Iseer, and then being pestered by reporters, and by the time he returned to the locker room, the quarrel was over, so Paxson asked Gan Guoyang, "Don't you think we would perform better with the starting lineup in the regular season?" ”

Fortunately, Gan Guoyang was sober-minded and chose to stand on Ramsay's side, otherwise the old man might really be disheartened.

However, Ramsey, who was standing in the Trail Blazers locker room at this time, also looked really disheartened.

There doesn't seem to be much sparkle in his eyes, you know, Ramsey is 60 years old this year, and he has been through a lot of things in his coaching career.

What made him happiest was the championship in 1977, and what saddened him the most was Bill Wharton's falling out and leaving, and vowing to "never get along with each other" after leaving; The second is that this time, Paxson's confrontation and coercion against him, he never thought that the rookie who seemed a little cowardly and unconfident back then would one day treat him like this.

Ramsey looked at Paxson, who was sitting there with his head down, and said, "Hey, Jim. Do you remember? In that taxi, what I said to you. I said, the team wants to trade you to New Jersey, but I'm desperate to keep you, even gambling on my coaching credibility. In the end, we sent Maurice Lucas away, you know, he was the team's leading scorer in 1977, but by then, we already had Mitchell. ”

Ramsey looked at Sampson again, and Sampson's usually plain face also showed a hint of shame.

"You know, Jim, the reason I'm keeping you is simple, I've always believed in you, that you're going to be one of the best players in the league, that you're going to be an All-Star, you're going to be the most important member of the Portland Trail Blazers, the World Championship team! I even thought that in the finals, if we need someone to shoot the last shot, then I will definitely choose you. Why? Because I witnessed an unknown player, from not even daring to shoot, to an average of 20 points per game, I believe that such a player, his heart must be extremely strong. Don't say sorry, Jim, I'm sure you've been great. ”

By the time Ramsey said that, Paxson was already crying down there.

"the-struggle-is-far-from-over. Gan Guoyang's voice interrupted the silence in the locker room.

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