In the game before Christmas, the Pacers lost by nine points on the road to the unbeatable Celtics. The margin didn't faithfully reflect the difference between the two teams on the court, because the Pacers couldn't have pushed the margin to single digits if it hadn't been for the Celtics' switch to a third lineup in the final moments. And the game one of the "Big Three" of Kevin. Garnett has not played due to injury, and the Pacers could have lost even more if the "Wolves" were there.

Jim. O'Brien sat on the bench, his eyes glazed out. He had clearly limited the Celtics' shooting percentage to a very low level, but why couldn't he win the game?

The Celtics shot just 38 percent from the field today and just 30 percent from three-point range. It stands to reason that the Pacers' defense should be very successful today.

But the truth is not what O'Brien saw, the Celtics shot poorly, mostly in the fourth quarter of the game. In the first three quarters of the game, the Pacers' defense was not as good as O'Brien thought. And the offense of the Pacers themselves is really miserable. The person with the highest score on the team was actually Troy. Murphy is the fourth position of this functional space. Daniel. After Granger was out, the Pacers' offense was simply leaderless, and whoever took the ball was thrown around.

Of course, the Pacers' offense isn't without its highlights. Zhu came on as a substitute for 22 minutes in this game. Holiday scored 15 points on 4-of-4 three-pointers and 71 percent overall shooting. With 22 minutes and 15 points, Holiday definitely played at a level today.

But Coach O'Brien ruthlessly took Rondo down because Holiday let Rondo break twice, killing the Pacers' only bright spot on the offensive end.

Holiday was extremely frustrated when he was substituted, obviously he had done his best, why couldn't he impress the coach? But no one noticed that every time Holiday went off the court, Pacers assistant coach Henson Brown. Joe would have given the rookie guard a smile. This smile and that trust is what Holiday has been holding on.

In Jim. Under the guidance of Coach O'Brien "Wise", the Pacers lost again unsurprisingly. 9-18, four straight losses. Amid the cheers of the Celtics fans, no one cared about the grizzled lads from the cornfields.

Back in the locker room, the atmosphere was still lifeless, without the slightest hint of pre-holiday joy.

"Henson, you go to the press conference on my behalf today, I ...... I'm not feeling well. O'Brien muttered and removed the tie that made him blush and thick.

"As you wish, Jim." Henson didn't refuse, he didn't bother to fight O'Brien now. Because he doesn't have to fight on his own, the head coach, who has been completely crushed and blinded by the pressure, is not far from the end of class.

Henson knows why O'Brien is still here because of Pacers president Donnie Brown. Walsh promised to give O'Brien three years. After Bird came to power, he did not easily break this commitment, and the frequent change of coach is indeed a disservice to the team.

But this year is already in its third year, and with O'Brien's state, it may be very difficult for the Pacers to make the playoffs. After three years, the promise expires, and Bird will certainly not relent. And when the time comes, O'Brien won't have any excuses. Cut off Dennis. Percy, just a warning to O'Brien.

A three-year cycle is an unwritten rule in NBA coaching circles. Bird didn't win the championship for three years, and he would choose to quit by himself.

Henson now just wants O'Brien not to use Holiday to waste, you know, that's a future All-Star guard......

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Another "expected" defeat, with the players on the team bus with depressed expressions. Starting today, the Pacers have three days without a game to play, which can be considered a Christmas break.

Earl. Watson and Deng Tai. Jones was discussing where to play cards at Christmas. Murphy laughed into the phone, Dunleavy still working on his assets, and the Hibbert guy just shyly looking out the window.

Only Zhu. Holiday hung his head and didn't say a word. Henson could see that Holiday was the most wanted to win and prove himself in the group.

He scored 15 points in 22 minutes today, but he was still pressed to the bench. And this is not the first time this season has happened.

The environment in which a rookie grows up has a decisive impact on his progress. The only thing Henson could do now was to calm Holiday as much as he could, and not let him give up on himself.

"You played well today, you shot good three-pointers, and it seems that this morning's extra practice was not in vain." Hearing Henson's voice, Holiday couldn't help but raise his head.

"You think so, too? But Coach O'Brien said I was shooting too many three-pointers...... "Holiday was excited at first, then disappointed.

"It doesn't matter, if you can shoot three-pointers that accurately every game in the future, Mr. O'Brien won't talk about you. Don't force yourself to change your play, be yourself, be your best self. ”

Holiday smiled slightly after hearing this, and his heart warmed for a while.

"By the way, Mr. Henson, I heard...... I heard you live alone in Indianapolis. ”

"That's right, I'm a pretty bachelor." Henson laughed at himself, he has officially turned 30 this year, which is definitely an "old" bachelor in the United States. Every time he thought about it, he remembered the night Anjiali was drunk in his own house. If he could choose again, Henson would definitely want to be a bad guy that day.

"In that case, can you come to my house for Christmas? I often mentioned you to my mom and she said she would love to meet you. Holiday embarrassedly extended the invitation.

"Sure, no problem, I'm alone anyway. Good work, you still have a long career, man. Unexpectedly, Henson agreed very happily.

After all, if you can only work alone at home at Christmas, it will be too sad.

So on December 25, Christmas Day, Henson got into Carter's cab with a lot of presents. At this time, Indianapolis was covered in snow, the windows of the houses along the street were covered with Christmas decorations, and the streets were full of glittering Christmas trees.

In this bad season, maybe only Christmas Day can make Henson's mood a little more relaxed.

"For you, Carter, Merry Christmas, and thank you for not dumping me on the highway in the first place." As soon as he got into the car, Henson handed a small gift box to the driver.

"You also have my gifts? Hahahaha, thank you Henson. By the way, how does an assistant coaching career feel? Carter looked at Henson again through the rearview mirror and couldn't believe that the "cleaner scout" who was too down-and-out to pay for the car had now become an assistant coach for the Pacers.

"It's not good, it's better to be a scout. At least as a scout, you don't have to get up early every day to report to the team. ”

"Jim. O'Brien, that's hard to serve. Losing to the Celtics in the last game, Holiday was so good that I don't know why he controlled Holiday minutes. Carter grumbled as he drove, "I said I should have blasted that damn guy out of here." ”

"Trust me Carter, it's not good for the team to change the manager at will. Wait, this team can't keep rotting like this, and Bird won't agree. ”

"Maybe you're going to be the manager? Hahaha. Carter made a joke with Henson.

When Henson arrived at Holiday House, the family had already warmly prepared dinner. After only half an hour, Henson seemed to have figured out why Holiday was so good.

Holiday was a father who played at UCLA, and his mother was even more powerful, not only playing in Arizona as a young man, but is now the head coach of the Campbell University women's basketball team. Holiday's two brothers also play basketball, which can be said to be an out-and-out basketball family. This kind of family basketball atmosphere is hard for others to get.

"Mr. Henson, it's up to you to cut the turkey today. Thank you for helping Jule in the team, and Jule often says that if it weren't for you, he would have given up a long time ago. "Toya. Holiday H. Holiday was the mother, and she was clearly very grateful to Henson.

"Your son is excellent in his own right, ma'am." Henson said, slicing open the turkey's belly with a knife, "Merry Christmas, everybody." ”

"Merry Christmas!"

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A happy Christmas only delayed the death of the Pacers, and as we entered 2010, O'Brien's work still did not make any substantial breakthroughs.

On January 8th, the high-profile Daniel. Granger has finally recovered from a month-and-a-half-long injury and is officially back. O'Brien is also extremely happy that Granger is his savior, and his comeback will definitely save the team from this poor result.

However, in the first game of Granger's comeback, the Pacers lost. It can be seen that Granger is not yet in good shape, scoring just 19 points on 36% shooting. What O'Brien didn't expect was that after Granger's comeback, the team experienced the longest 8-game losing streak of the season!

It's not that Granger doesn't play well, but because O'Brien's defensive thinking has made the Pacers' offense go from being unavailable at the beginning to now four people watching Granger play alone. If that could win, Henson would be willing to walk home upside down.

The poor results continued into March, when the Indiana Pacers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks on the road on March 14, ending their first three-game losing streak of the season.

At this point, the regular season is just over a month away, and the Pacers have a record of 21-45! Now let's not talk about the playoffs, O'Brien probably won't even get last season's 36 wins!

After a season, the record is worse than last year, and O'Brien knows that he is at the end of his rope. The grades didn't improve, the three-year deadline was up, and O'Brien became a dangerous employee teetering on the brink of being fired.

So after today's game, O'Brien found Henson in a gloomy way, his eyes blank.

"Henson, that training plan of yours...... Can you show me again? ”

O'Brien knows that his goal now is not to make the playoffs, but to find a way to keep his job! To this end, he is willing to try any way, even if it is pleading with the Chinese teaching assistant!

Henson wasn't at all surprised by O'Brien's request. He knew for a long time that this day would come.

"As you wish, Jim." That's what Henson said the most to O'Brien.