For two months, the team was officially assistant coach. Those two words kept circling in Henson's head, and the second time he crossed over, he couldn't sleep all night. The first time was when An Jiali was drunk and fell on his bed.

Henson didn't expect his progress to be so fast, he had only been a scout with the Pacers for less than a year, and of course, if you count Henson's time travel, he had actually been a scout for almost three years. Before that, though, Henson's resume was pretty much a blank.

From scout to assistant coach, this was undoubtedly a turning point for a basketball worker. It took seven years for Henson's good friend on the coaching staff, Vogel, to get to this point, while Henson, in fact, took almost a year.

Bird gave Henson two months to prepare, but don't think two months is a lot of time. From developing a training plan to detailing the employment strategy, rotation strategy, tactics, etc., this workload is not comparable to that of Summer League. The NBA has 82 regular season games, and that's without counting the playoffs. It can be seen that the work of an assistant coach is not so easy to do.

After lying in bed all night, Henson woke up with big dark circles under his eyes. In fact, he didn't get much sleep all night. For a moment, Henson felt that the books he had read on vacation were not enough. Basketball is really not a game on paper, and even after reading so many books, you will feel like you don't know where to start.

Henson got up, drank a glass of milk, and ate two slices of toast. There was no training today, and he still didn't have much work to do as a scout. Just as Henson was about to go to the library at Indiana University in the afternoon, Bird's phone called.

"Are you going to be on a business trip again?" Henson muttered and answered the phone, after all, he was still a scout in his current position.

"Didn't sleep last night, man, hahahaha" Bird smirked as soon as he answered the phone, as if he was in control.

"I slept well, Bird." Henson gave him a blank look, Bird is still so pretending to be so old at his age.

"Whatever you want, Henson, but if I were you, I'd be in a hurry right now. What do you think? Spend the afternoon golfing with me? Or do you want to go to Indiana University to read a book? ”

"Golf, don't you already have Pritchard? People say that Pritchard's job is to play golf with you. Henson is still giggling with Bird, and although Bird can give people a lot of oppression, for now, Henson prefers to treat Bird as a friend rather than a boss.

"Stinky boy, there's a good chance you're going to get a technical foul on the sidelines. It's okay if you don't come, but I also recommend that you don't go to Indiana University to read a book, no coach can see it just by reading a book. I have a more interesting place to recommend to you, would you like to hear it? ”

Bird deliberately sold a pass, waiting for others to ask questions, this is what he learned from Henson.

"Okay, let you pretend to be one. So dear Mr. Bird, where is this place? "Henson now finally knows why so many people wanted to kill Bird before.

"Butler University, not far from downtown Indianapolis. When you get there, find someone named Brad. Stevens guy, just say I let you go. ”

"Brad. Stevens? Henson frowned at the unfamiliar name.

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As Bird said, Butler University is really not far from downtown Indianapolis. Carter drove for only 20 minutes before sending Henson to the campus surrounded by greenery.

Butler University, Henson didn't know much about this school because it wasn't much of a basketball school even in Indianapolis itself. The school has never made it to the NCAA knockout tournament and has not produced any stars who have stood in the NBA.

But Bird recommended Henson for a tour of the campus. After all, during the time he used to be a scout, Henson had already run most of the elite American schools.

Instead of wandering around, Henson walked straight to the basketball arena of the Butler University Bulldogs. Henson was convinced that the person he was looking for would be in the basketball arena.

After identifying himself, the stadium's doorman quickly led the way for Henson himself. After almost a year of accumulation, Henson still has some status and fame in the hearts of local fans in Indianapolis. There is no Pacers fan who hasn't heard of that amazing Chinese scout, but they may not have seen a real person.

"Seriously, sir, when I read the news, I didn't expect you to be so young." The doorman is also a fan of the Pacers, so he is very clear about Henson's origins. But then again, there are only a handful of people in Indianapolis who don't watch basketball.

"Really? I've always told people that age doesn't mean strength. Henson smiled politely, and as he spoke, they walked inside the basketball arena. Inside, there are already a lot of players in training.

"Hey, Brad, you've got a guest!" After entering the basketball hall, the doorman shouted at a young man in sportswear on the side of the court.

"Brad, this is Henson. Joe, a scout for the Indiana Pacers. This is our head coach Brad. Stevens, I won't bother you. ”

The doorman finished introducing the two and left alone, leaving Henson standing there in surprise. He thought this guy named Stevens was an old man, but he seemed to be about his age!

"Mr. Henson? Bird has already called me. It's a blessing to have admired the daimyo for a long time. ”

Henson mechanically shook Stevens' hand, what did he just say? Age really doesn't tell you about strength. I'm still complacent about becoming an assistant coach, but this guy, who is not a few years older than me, is already the head coach of an NCAA team.

There is really a sky outside the sky, and there are people outside the world.

※※※

Henson and Stevens were very compatible, and Bird's purpose was simple, to get Henson to study with Stevens. Of course, this study is long-term, after all, you can't eat a big fat person in a day. It seems that Bird is not only optimistic about Henson, but also very much about the young head coach who is teaching at Butler University.

Stevens and Frank. Vogel, like that, is not a systematically trained coach. Stevens was unknown when he was a player, and he chose the academically focused University of Dipauw during his college years. After graduating in four years, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics and worked for a pharmaceutical company.

Stevens and Henson look very similar in this regard, and their initial work and major had nothing to do with basketball at all.

But unlike Henson, Stevens chose basketball because of pure love, not because of desperation. At the time, Stevens was already the company's head of marketing operations, and the future was bright. But for basketball, he chose to work as an unpaid basketball volunteer at Butler University.

While volunteering, Stevens worked in restaurants to make ends meet. It is this persistence and dedication to love that has made Stevens finally achieve positive results and become a well-known young coach in Indianapolis!

Compared to the previous Henson, who asked a university professor to go through the back door because he was cornered, Stevens's experience was undoubtedly much more inspiring. If he hadn't seen this man with his own eyes, Henson wouldn't have believed Stevens' Hollywood inspirational movie life experience.

The two chatted very speculatively, perhaps because they were of similar age, or perhaps because of similar experiences. Anyone who has a similar experience to Henson will have a speculative conversation with him. The same goes for Vogel.

Watching the players train, Stevens also taught Henson a lot about developing training plans. A white striker on the Bulldogs' lineup caught Henson's attention because the guy had enough potential to be A-class.

"That's called Gordon. Hayward's guy, he's going to be an amazing player in the future. While studying, Henson also chatted with Stevens about his players.

"I think so too, Gordon works hard, he's already known as the best homegrown white forward in the country! Mr. Henson's vision is as accurate as it is rumored. Stevens couldn't help but admire Henson, who had seen Hayward play for less than two hours before he could see the potential of a player.

In fact, with the help of the data analysis module, Henson can usually tell the difference between good and bad players in just ten minutes.

"By the way, Henson, how do you usually learn tactics?" Stevens turned his head to look at this interesting scout, and in the chat, Stevens found that Henson's tactical cultivation was actually good, but he couldn't practice it.

"Me? I usually read books in the library. ”

"It's not enough to just read a book, come on, come to my office, and I'll show you something." Stevens beckoned, then asked his assistant to help keep an eye on the players.

Walking into Stevens' office, Henson saw an old television and a pile of cut white paper next to it.

"I watch all the coaches' game footage and whenever I see something interesting, I write it down and improve it. In fact, everything I know is learned from others! I think it's easier to learn how to set up tactics by watching the video of the actual game than by reading a book. Of course, it certainly can't be without a foundation of theoretical knowledge. But you, Henson, don't have that problem. ”

Looking at the small pieces of paper on Stevens' desk that were full of slashes and circles, Heng nodded thoughtfully.

This trip to Butler was really not in vain.