Leon knew that Reisert had worked for Celtic for more than a decade and was an experienced sports injury preventer, and although the Celtics never regained their glory since he arrived, it was not his fault. He came to prevent a recurrence of injuries like the one in 1987.

Since he came to see Leon so late, nine times out of ten it was related to the injury situation of the players, Reisert came in, sat on the bed, handed Leon a few pieces of paper in his hand, and said: "This is a report on the current injury situation of the team, the first one, yes, the overall situation." Then, most of the youngsters are doing pretty well, but like the veterans...... They need to be carefully protected anyway, like Walker, Brown, ......" "Tell me your opinion, Reisert." Leon interrupted Reisert and asked him. Reisert came to him in the early hours of the morning, certainly not to explain to Leon about the team's health.

"Okay Leon I know you're a straightforward guy, and I suggest that in the last dozen games, reduce the playing time of some of the players, or simply not let them play in some games." Reisert replied.

"It's not like players are paid that well and they don't sit on the sidelines, and Michael Jordan has said that he has to play as hard as he can every game because he doesn't know what fan might get to see him once in a lifetime. If the players are able to play, they have to stand on the field and play. Leon simply dismissed Reissert's desire to rest some players.

However, Reisert was obviously not idle and came to Leon to discuss, and he continued: "I see what you mean Fox, and I also think that players should fight for every game, but ...... But not everyone is Michael Jordan. Let me tell you this, I went to Madison last month for a national sports medicine summit where we discussed the current issues of athlete health and physical injury. The conclusion is that most of today's seemingly healthy athletes have serious injury hazards, and fatigue can accumulate to a certain extent that can be a major injury. Some injuries can even affect their lives in the future, but of course not as serious as a rugby player...... I came back and did a health check on most of the players and most of them seem to be in good shape at the moment, but ...... What should I say, during the month that Cowens was in charge, the fitness of the main players was seriously overdrawn, and Pierce's groin strain had something to do with it. Walker has had problems with his ankle since this summer, and I guess in two seasons he'll have big knee problems. Arenas too, he looks very healthy now, but the future is really hard to say. ”

Leon fell silent, and he knew what Reisert meant, long before he returned, and Cowens had been a sloppy mainstay during the time he had replaced him, keeping the team on a good run. Judging from the current health status of the players, as long as there are no accidents, there is no problem at all to survive this season, as for the future? In the future, Antoine Walker is not in Leon's plans, and Arenas is still very young.

Looking at Leon, who didn't speak, Reisert sighed and said: "I know that as a manager, you are under a lot of pressure, no coach needs to sacrifice his results to protect the future of the players, everyone is for work and survival. I'm just here tonight to talk to you about player health management, and I think it's going to be a very, very important thing in the NBA that is getting more and more intense, and it's going to change the fate of a team. You know what kind of tragedy befell the Celts. ”

Reisert mentioned, of course, the dead Baias and Lewis.

Leon nodded, and then said: "Thank you, Mr. Reisert, I will consider what you said, but this is not for me to say alone, the owner, general manager and fans of the team have to agree." Also, thank you for me, old man Auerbach, next time if he has any advice, he can call me directly, no need to beat around the bush. ”

Listening to Leon's words, Reisert was a little speechless, with a look of being seen through, and he didn't know that his words were flawed and heard. However, Reisert still smiled and said: "It's a long road to build a team, and it's nice to see you, learning faster than anyone else." ”

……………………

On March 13, the Celtics challenged the Nets at the New Jersey Continental Airlines Arena, the league's smallest player, and Leon still sent the established starting lineup, this time Paul Pierce returned to the starting lineup, and Antoine Walker came to his accustomed power forward position, opposite Kenyon Martin.

The Celtics and the Nets have played each other twice before, winning one and losing one, and in the first game of the season between the two teams on November 20, the Celtics relied on Joe Johnson's excellent play in the second half to successfully defeat the Nets at home. In December, at the Continental Airlines arena, although the Celtics lost to the Nets, Joe Johnson was still the brightest player, scoring 28 points in the game and giving his swan song in the Green Army.

After that, Joe Johnson was traded, and the public opinion at the time was that without Joe Johnson, how would the Celtics fight the Nets. Indeed, Joe Johnson is Leon's magic weapon against the Nets, and without this magic weapon, Leon himself feels that they will have a hard time facing the Nets.

Because in terms of lineup and style of play, the Nets restrained the Celtics too much. The Celtics' offensive initiation point relies primarily on the perimeter, while the Nets have the best perimeter defense in the East. Walker's pivot near the free-throw line was completely suppressed by Kenyon Martin, whose aggressive defense made it almost impossible for Walker to organize near the free-throw line.

Arenas will encounter the old monster of Jason Kidd on both the offensive and defensive ends, although Kidd has been affected by a knee injury and his personal attack power has declined, his defensive skills are still the same, and against the Nets twice, Arenas has little way to launch a decent quick counterattack in the face of Kidd's follow-up.

The Nets' main weaknesses are still in the two points of shooting guard and center. Fortunately for the Celtics, after the Nets were in Mutombo, the old tree began to decline rapidly, with constant injuries and a complete inability to integrate into the team. So, PJ Brown would be a point where Leon can make a fuss if he can play with a sense on the offensive end.

Scoring guard, without Joe Johnson, relying only on Michael Reed, will certainly not be as stable as before, Kittels will not be so easy to play, and Reed's role on the defensive end has also been weakened, Kittels is just a functional player on the offensive end.

Leon had been bothered by such troubles, and even though he hadn't slept much all night, it was difficult for Leon to find a solution right away. Some things don't work just by thinking about it, they have to be verified in training and actual combat.

……………………

At 7:30 p.m. on the 13th, at the Continental Airlines Arena, the game entered the fourth quarter, and the Celtics trailed the Nets by 5 points. From the beginning of the game, the Celtics were always 5 to 6 points behind, pressed and beaten, very uncomfortable.

The fatigue of the journey and the hustle and bustle of the away game made the Celtics players very out of shape, but even so, Leon still boldly used Grant Long in the game, allowing him to face Kenyon Martin many times in the game, grabbing a career-record five frontcourt rebounds and scoring 12 points.

Even that couldn't make up for the hole Antoine Walker's 3-of-15 shooting tonight created for the team, and he was in terrible form against Martin tonight. The breakthrough couldn't get rid of, the shot couldn't be hit, and because of the lack of Walker's response in the corner, the Celtics' offensive formation was a mess, and Leon had to adjust his tactics, and even let Brown play inside-out with the ball in the low post.

With one minute to go, Jason Kidd hit his only three-pointer of the game from the outside, but it stretched the score to eight points, which was almost the final shot. Leon called a timeout, and it was the last two timeouts on his hands, one long and one short.

"Are you kidding me, Antoine? Be some kid, do something! Before Kidd hit that three-pointer, Walker was hit by Martin on offense, and a turnaround nearly killed the Celtics.

"My ankle is a little uncomfortable, uncomfortable!" Walker defended himself as he wiped his sweat, his right ankle covered with a thick strap hidden under his sock.

"If your feet hurt, don't play in the first place!" León rarely speaks like that to a player, but he did get a little angry tonight. He said that his eyes swept to the bench, and said to Wang Zhizhi: "Wang, come here, get ready to play." ”

Since Walker can't do it, and replacing Anderson on the offensive end doesn't have it, then Leon has no choice but to try Wang Zhizhi. (To be continued.) )