In past few seasons, in Summer League, fans have been able to get a glimpse of the state of several of the Pacers' players this season.

But since the Pacers didn't participate in the draft this season, they didn't pay much attention to summer league either. As a result, the time to get a glimpse of the defending champions' form was postponed to the pre-season in early October.

At this time, the bankers living arena has been seated, and although it is only a preseason game, the Pacers' commercial appeal has increased significantly since becoming the defending champions.

Jim. In the preseason games of O'Brien's seasons, Pritchard sold tickets at half price, and the stadium was not satisfied. But this year, the Pacers sold tickets at regular prices, and fans were willing to buy it.

Therefore, the essence of competitive sports is to win. As long as there is victory, everything else will be there.

Today, the Pacers' first opponent in the preseason is not strong, but the Orlando Magic after losing Howard.

While Howard left the team via a complicated four-way trade, the Magic didn't actually get much leverage.

The Magic team got Aaron. Afraro, Al. Harrington, Nikolai. Vucevic, as well as 76ers first-round pick Mo. Harkless, and a protected future first-round pick from each of the Lakers, 76ers and Nuggets, and one second-round pick from the Nuggets.

That's a bunch of chips, enough to turn the Magic from a championship team to a rebuilding team! Henson couldn't even believe that the Orlando Magic had only played the Lakers in the Finals in 2009, but now, just three years later, the Magic have become this bear-like state.

The world of the NBA is so changeable that Henson sometimes fears whether the "edifice" he built will collapse overnight.

The defending champions are facing a rebuilding team, and there is naturally no suspense in such a matchup. Throughout the game, Henson's ass never left the bench. This guy also talks to the players from time to time. The task of directing the game was left to Vogel and Stevens.

The two assistant coaches took over all of Henson's work, and it was as if Henson's task today was to meet the fans......

Eventually, Vogel's defense coupled with Stevens' offense, as well as Paul's defense. George's 26 points and Ray. Allen's 18 points gave the Pacers an easy first preseason win.

"It looks like the defending champions are still in hot form! While the Pacers didn't undergo a major roster makeover this summer, I don't think they're going to lose their competitiveness! "Reggie. Miller smiled from the commentary podium, just two days ago, ESPN made a ranking of the "most likely teams to win the championship in the new season", and as the defending champions, the Pacers are only in third place, ahead of the Lakers and Heat.

It seems that the Pacers' "gentleness" this summer has made ESPN forget how terrible Henson's legion is. Hopefully, this preseason game will wake everyone up from their fantasies.

After the game, a reporter approached Henson on the sidelines and asked him what he thought of Stevens and Vogel's coaching.

"They're more than capable of being the head coach on their own, and in fact I'm just the guy who talks about it, and the head coach of the Pacers has always been the rest of the coaching staff." Henson spread his hands, as if he wasn't surprised by Vogel and Stevens' performance.

"One of the things that is really scary is that Coach Henson is developing his own lineage." After the game, there were also some reporters with good eyes who saw the other side of the story.

Look at the members of the coaching staff of the entire league, whether it is head coach or assistant coach or other positions, the Spurs coach and Popovich's descendants occupy almost half of the country! Why are Spurs strong? This has nothing to do with their superior coaching staff.

And now, Henson has undoubtedly developed his own "faction" as well. The more capable his assistant is, the more capable the Pacers will be! And when a coaching staff member is a head coach, then his ability to control the team will be greater than ever!

So in the second game of the preseason, everyone found that Henson's guy had disappeared at all! Vogel and Stevens became veritable head coaches, but the Pacers still won under their leadership.

The Pacers won 4 of the 5 games in the entire preseason! There was even a fan poll that resulted in Vogel and Stevens being the best coaches in the preseason!

And Henson, who only commanded the last game of the preseason, the Pacers vs. Bucks, and lost as a result!

As a result, owners from the outside world began to question Henson's coaching ability.

"Both assistant coaches have a better team run than Henson, so are the Pacers really keeping Henson just to play lip service?"

"Henson. Joe is a half-ass, and he was able to succeed because his assistants were too powerful! ”

"Henson. Coach Joe's arrogant attitude will make him pay the price in the real game! ”

Looking at some of the invective about himself in the media, Henson smiled. My assistant is too powerful, which is a good thing! Why do those reporters think that they are in trouble?

As for the loss to the Bucks, Henson was completely just experimenting with the lineup, and he was not aiming to win at all. It's as if the defending champions can be so glorious when they win against a team like the Bucks whose biggest goal is only the playoffs.

Therefore, Henson did not have time to be angry because of the outside world's remarks. Aaron was called to his office, and the Chinese coach had something to do.

'I'm okay with coming off the bench, as long as the minutes are guaranteed, it doesn't matter if I'm a substitute or a starter. Thunder. Allen originally thought that the coach, who was younger than himself, was looking for him to have something particularly important, but as everyone knows, Henson just wanted to confirm that Ray. Is Allen willing to accept the role of a substitute in the new season.

You know, last season Ray. Allen was on the bench for teenager Bradley at the Celtics. And this experience made Ray. Allen's feeling humiliated was one of the triggers for his complete break with the Celtics. He can't stand that he, as one of the giants, has such a low tactical status in the team, not as good as a rookie! In some cases, Rondo even deliberately did not give Ray. Allen passes!

So when it came time to negotiate with the Pacers this year, Ray . Aaron made two points clear. First, to have consistent playing time, he doesn't want to mix rings on the cold bench. Second, it is necessary to have a tactical position, not to follow the young people up and running back.

To Ray. For a player like Allen, who was once a superstar, these two points are his most basic bottom line, and they are also his indicators to verify whether a team respects him.

Henson agreed to both of these requests at the time, after all, he signed Ray. Aaron didn't come to ask him to wave a towel. It's just that neither side made it clear at that time, Ray. Allen doesn't need a starting position.

George's starter is certainly thunderous, and Green and Leonard are definitely going to occupy a starting No. 3 spot. So Ray. Allen wants to squeeze into the starting lineup with the Pacers, and it's almost impossible.

In order to clear up the misunderstanding, in order to avoid the locker room contradictions like the Celtics, Henson called the veteran shooter. But Ray. Aaron's attitude was surprisingly mild.

"Well, I just wanted to confirm that. You know, I have to make sure that all of us are happy with where we are. Otherwise, we will not be able to win. ”

Henson smiled, and at this point, he undoubtedly handled it much better than Rivers.

To be precise, last season's Rivers was also Ange's person, so he would directly put Ray without a "preventive shot". Aaron pressed on the bench. When Ray. When Aaron was in trouble, Rivers did not step up to help him. Henson can now very formally talk to Ray about this matter. Aaron Talks, Ray. Aaron was very happy.

The reason is simple, he feels respect that he hasn't received for a long time when he was at Celtic!

"Don't worry, Henson, uh...... Chief. "Ray. Aaron hesitated for a moment, but still called Henson "head", even though he was older than Henson.

Privately, Ray. Aaron can call him Henson. But he knows very well that in the team, he has to respect the manager.

You see, sometimes, when you respect others, you can really easily earn the respect of others.

"I'm a little worried, are you really ready for the first game of the new season? Recently, the invective about you in the media has been flooded. "Ray. Aaron frowned, if Rivers was scolded like this, he would probably have gone crazy a long time ago.

The same question, the reporter also asked Henson this question at the press conference the day before the official start of the new season, and Henson's answer at the press conference provoked thunder. Aaron smiled knowingly.

"It's different now, even my assistant is the best coach, and you're still worried that I won't be able to win?"