Michael Reid has become more accustomed to his team's position as a goalscorer with strong defensive ability after a period of discomfort in the early part of the season, so he has a strong desire to continue playing after a finger contusion, as he is afraid that if he misses a period of time, he will lose his sense of being on the field. Playing under Fox Leon is not easy, and his seemingly no-frills tactics are backed by a plethora of rules and training that maintain that no-frills beauty. This feeling is especially evident for Reid, who has the least freedom of the five players who started the line-up, with his range of motion, running route and even timing of his shots all planned by Leon.

In the first few games, Reid was very uncomfortable, he felt that his hands and feet were shackled, he could not control the ball like Arenas and Pierce in the attack, nor was he qualified to plan and dispatch like Walker, he was an ambush soldier, ambushed on the ambush point set for him by Leon, suddenly launched cold arrows when he had the opportunity, and opened up space for his teammates when he didn't have the opportunity. On defense, he often has to face a lot of pressure, Leon always gives him the most difficult bone to gnaw on the outside line, and sometimes even explicitly tells Reed that the opponent's top scorer is left to you alone, and no one will help you.

So although the Celtics won a wave of consecutive wins at the beginning of the season and were in the limelight for a while, most of the spotlight was still on Pierce, Arenas, Walker and even Wang Zhizhi, and Reed became the one who was easy to ignore. You must know that last season, Reed was already the Celtics' No. 3 scorer, second only to the twins. This season, however, his scoring has slipped and his shots have plummeted. In the second quick attack, he finished less and less, and the occasional piecemeal became the norm for his attack.

Reed was a little disappointed at one point. Because he thought that Leon would be more important after becoming the head coach of the Celtics, in his mind, Leon was his godfather and his mentor in the NBA. However, as Leon got Sigfred to pay more attention to Reed's training and often gave him small stoves, Reed began to realize his importance in the team.

Sigfried used to play a role at Celtic that was similar to Reed's now, a tough defensive, tireless precision shooter. Therefore, when training Reed, Sigfred often told Reed about his past days playing with the Celtics, saying that he hit his eyebrow bone in the game and bled out, but sat on the bench like nothing and listened to the coach's tactics. The story of wiping blood and returning to the field. So Sigfried also showed the picture to Reed, and the picture showed Sigfried bleeding, but his expression was as indifferent as if nothing had happened.

In Sigfried, Reed felt a once selfless person. Tenacity. The power of a player with a strong heart and the help he can bring to the team. It was at this time, in December '02, that Reed finally adapted to his role in the team, and was extremely familiar with his running position through off-ball simulation training, maximizing space and posing a threat to opponents. His defence has become more and more impressive under Sigfried's tutelage, and although his skills need to be further improved, he is getting stronger mentally. It has become an out-and-out gate for the Celtics.

In '03, a new year begins. Reed could feel his form getting better and better, especially in the games when Walker was injured, and he took on more responsibility on the offensive end, scoring high points in successive games. In the first two seasons, he also focused on developing and using his offensive ability with the ball, and liked to rely on his strength to fight closer to the basket, and he learned from Pierce and wanted to be as versatile as he was. Now, he's starting to become a killer who wanders outside the three-point line, quietly, with the bottom right corner being his best shot. He was a little unhappy when Leon asked him to stick to this point, but now he understands that this is the best point that Leon has chosen for him.

However, a terrible finger contusion forced him to rest, and the doctor's report indicated that Reed would have had a week off to be on the safe side, so that he would miss at least the next three games. And Reed didn't want to miss any of these three games, because the team's opponents were Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, and Reed wanted to test his quality as a shooter.

But when Reed approached Leon after training on the 15th, he was told that he would "practice your new skills before playing." ”

"It's not a significant new technology, it's just... It was a gadget that Seeger came up with, and he found it when he was watching the game, and he thought it was very interesting, and he thought it could exercise my reflexes and shot stability, so he took it to ......practice, and Reed wanted to explain to Leon to get a chance to play, but Leon refused.

"Don't care about the chances of two games, you have a lot of chances. A lot of people in this league don't take their chances, not because they don't get the time they play, but because when they do, they find that they have lost the ability to take chances. Pay attention to your injury, it will make you lose that ability, listen to the team doctor, take care of the injury. ”

Leon's serious advice discouraged Reed's plan to make an early comeback, but for this, the Celtics also had to come back at a certain price.

On January 16, the Celtics host a full-fledged Indiana Pacers for the first time this season. The head coach of the Pacers is none other than Jim O'Brien, and the assistant coach is Vogel. Add to that the fact that the general manager of the Pacers is Celtics passing superstar Larry Bird, and the love-hate feud between the two teams can be said to have just begun. The game on the night of the 16th was as intertwined as their relationship, and the Celtics, without Walker and Reed, struggled with their opponents for two overtime games at home, until the final moments, when the Pacers relied on a layup from Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller's only three-pointer of the game, and the Pacers won the game by five points, 99-94, five points.

Leon and his Celtics had to consign to a painful loss. And then in Milwaukee, facing this already degenerate powerhouse, he was pierced by a new trio composed of Ray Allen, Tim Thomas and Cassel, and the three combined to score 65 points. After the loss of Reed, the Celtics' outside defense was like a hole, and after the game, the angry Leon threw the tactical board in the locker room for the first time, and then knocked the whiteboard down a hole with a punch, scaring the whole team into silence.

Of course, if anger works, NBA head coaches are the most grumpy people in the world. And for destroying the public property of the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Leon was fined $25 by the League. Leon understands that the current Celtics still lack depth on the bench, are not fully prepared for injuries, and have repeatedly lost to opponents on the perimeter, Leon can't help but miss Joe Johnson a little.

On the 20th, the Celtics finally ushered in good news, Antoine Walker returned to the court after a two-week break, although he has not been in Leon's future team building plan, and people are lazy and confused with Leon, but the current Celtics are really indispensable to this fat head. As soon as Walker returned, the Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia, and Walker's all-around performance of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists made his comedy dance dance dance on the North Shore Garden again.

By the 21st, Reed's finger contusion had finally healed, and he impatiently removed the gauze from his finger, participated in the team's joint practice, and told reporters in a post-practice interview that he would play in the next Celtics game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

……………………

On Game Day 22, Leon was invited by CSNNE, a local television station in Boston, to participate in a small talk show to talk about some thoughts on the current NBA. This was the first time Leon had been invited by local Boston media to participate in a television program, for which he took 40 minutes to record the program before the afternoon warm-up, which will also be broadcast as a warm-up program before tonight's game.

Leon was interviewed by Jessica Kerriot, a well-known reporter and host at CSNNE, who, as a female journalist, is very good at reading words and understanding the psychological state of her interviewees. At the same time, it is very good to ask questions in combination with the current hot topics. So in the interview, Jessica very "appropriately" posed his question to Leon - who is the best shooter in the league at the moment. In back-to-back games against central teams like the Pacers and Bucks, the Celtics without Reed suffered a lot of losses from Miller and Ray Allen, which also made Boston critics believe that if Reed returns, the Celtics will definitely not lose to the Pacers and Bucks.

But Leon replied: "In my opinion, Ray Allen is still the best shooter in the league at the moment, and Reggie Miller is the best shooter in the NBA before, and they are both very good, but Ray is more well-rounded, and Miller is more pure." ”

Jessica's eyes flashed wide, looking at Leon and expecting him to say more, but Leon, who had a lot of words before, closed his mouth and didn't mention Michael Reed. Even if the beauty is current, Leon has a "don't want me to talk anymore" expression, which can't help but make the host a little stupid.

But before the start of the evening's game, Leon was in the locker room, put his big hand around Reed's bowed head and said to him: "In my heart you will be the best shooter in the league, the best, I thought that when I picked you that year, Michael." (To be continued.) )