073: Where's My Superstar?
Henson's ability to be selected by Bird as the head coach of the Pacers is not just because he is smart and accurate. Also because from the beginning, Bird could see that Henson was not a good man. To be exact, Henson was by no means a good man to his enemies.
When Riley saw Wade get a technical foul because of his outburst, the first person he paid attention to was not Stephenson, but the Chinese coach who had just whispered in Stephenson's ear.
has only led the team for less than a month, can he already make the players so obedient?
Fast-paced offense, endless victories...... Riley touched his chin and seemed to remember himself when he was coaching with the Lakers. But what Riley needs to worry about now is how to deal with reporters later.
After all, 24 hours ago, he also said that the Pacers had nothing to worry about. But now, the Heat have been killed by the Pacers.
The Heat's offensive momentum was cut off the moment Wade received a technical foul. In the following game, the morale-stricken Heat became more and more chaotic, and the Pacers took advantage of the opponent's depression to expand the score.
By the midway point of the fourth quarter, only half of the fans in the American Airlines Center were still in their seats. No one could have imagined that a team with James, Wade and Bosh at the same time would be beaten into garbage time early.
Riley has to be alert at this time, maybe the Heat's opponents this season are not just the Bulls and Celtics.
When the game-ending beep sounded, the score was fixed at 93-77, with the visitors in front and the home team behind. Judging by the results of today's game, the last game of the Heat was defeated by Rudy. Guy's squeeze is not a shame at all!
"A difference of 16 points! Magical Henson. Once again, Joe led the team into a magical game! Before the game began, few people thought that the Pacers would win the game, let alone that they would win the Heat by as many as 16 points! Kevin. Harlan made no secret of his surprise, and Henson's very targeted arrangement made the Heat powerless at all.
Before the game began, all the reporters gathered around the Heat's halfcourt. At the end of the game, the situation was completely reversed. Although there are not many reporters who are qualified to enter the stadium after each game, Henson is still a little proud when he sees the few microphones in front of him.
Wade looked at the young coach of the Pacers from afar, and the bastard Stephenson who put himself on his back for a technical foul.
He shot 1-of-13 from the field, 0-of-4 from three-point range and 1-of-5 from the free-throw line, scoring just 3 points in 38 minutes...... For Wade, this match was definitely the most humiliating night of his career. Due to the serious injury attack, Wade himself had to play with the injury. However, the injury to his left wrist made "The Flash" completely useless today.
In fact, a few years ago, Wade experienced a similar embarrassment. In a game against the Wizards in December 2004, Wade shot 0 percent from the field. However, in that game, Wade only made 4 shots. In 2006 against his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls, Wade hit a second shot, but that was because Wade retired injured after only one game.
Wade has played a full 38 minutes like today, made as many as 13 shots, and still shot in single digits, which Wade really hasn't experienced before.
Of course, Wade wasn't the only reason for the loss in this game. The Heat's bench players combined for just four points in the entire game, which was one of the reasons why the Heat were slaughtered. However, the Indiana Pacers, Henson. Joe, Lance. Stevenson...... These "new friends" still left a deep impression on Wade.
"It's a shame for us and we'll meet again in the future. When the time comes, we'll definitely show each other what the real Miami Heat should look like. At the press conference, Wade's tone revealed unwillingness. The "Flash", who is accustomed to big ups and downs, is rarely so excited by a loss in the regular season, and it seems that Henson and his bastard players really annoyed the Miami masters.
After the Battle of Miami, the Indiana Pacers made a name for themselves. 10-2, during which he defeated the Spurs, Nuggets and Heat, including the two games against the Nuggets and the Heat, it was still a slaughter of big points! Their fast-paced, high-percentage offense is starting to impress everyone.
And Henson has also become the manager who has made the most headlines lately, and even Popovich hasn't had that much exposure lately.
Of course, Henson's reputation in the media is still not very good. The footage of him muttering in Stephenson's ear was captured and became the main basis for major media to criticize him. After all, just a minute after Henson muttered in Stephenson's ear, Wade received a technical foul because of Stephenson, which caused the Heat's scoring momentum to stop.
It's hard not to think that Stephenson was doing so entirely at Henson's behest.
"A manager who is keen on making a bad deal usually doesn't end well."
"If it weren't for the Heat's slew of injuries, the Indians wouldn't have been able to get out of Miami!"
"Stephenson and Henson are a pair of demons!"
Yellow skin is already unpopular in this league, not to mention that Henson's rise is still so fast. But Henson doesn't care, as long as he can win, what's the harm of being a demon?
In the remainder of November, the Pacers defeated the Cavaliers but lost to the Lakers and Thunder. Fortunately, after two consecutive defeats, the Pacers immediately crushed the Sacramento Kings and stopped the bleeding. With 2 wins and 2 losses, the results are not too bad.
However, the two games lost to the Thunder and the Lakers still left a deep impression on Henson.
On Nov. 26, the Pacers lost to the Thunder by just four points. The Pacers still played a beautiful offense, with all five players scoring in double figures, and Granger led by example to score 30 points. However, as Holiday senior, Westbrook's 43 points ruined what would have been a good night.
Westbrook only made one three-point shot in this game, but he relied on his perverted physicality to hit the basket all night! That earned Westbrook 18 free throws and ultimately relied on individual ability to win at Indianapolis.
In this game, the Pacers' total shooting percentage was obviously higher than that of the Thunder. But the Thunder relied on the excellent play of the stars to stabilize the situation.
Two days later in Los Angeles, Henson watched the No. 24 jersey score 45 points on his own, despite the Lakers' poor form.
In order to fight against the Lakers, Henson has stayed up late these days. After all, the opponent is the defending champion, and it is definitely impossible to beat them without a little effort.
Henson's tactics were also very successful, limiting Pau Gasol's shooting percentage to just 33 percent. Let the "all-round warrior" Odom only score 13 points, and let Artest, who likes to mess around as soon as his head is hot, shoot 1 of 5.
However, Henson was unsuccessful in stopping "The Black Mamba". Because even against the duo of Matthews and Green, that damn No. 24 was always able to shoot the ball.
Like the loss to the Thunder in the last game, the Pacers shot more from the field as a team than the Lakers. But the Lakers relied on Kobe's excellent play and won the game by 3 points.
While it was remarkable that Henson was able to push the two Western powerhouses into a corner, the inability to achieve a final victory still left Henson a little disappointed.
He summed up the reasons for the two defeats, his tactics were fine, and the players' performance was fine. The problem is that the Pacers don't have a star like Kobe Bryant and Westbrook.
Holiday and George haven't really grown up yet, and Horford and Granger are still some way from being a top star. Henson was very helpless, not knowing where his superstar was.
Fortunately, at the end of November, the Pacers defeated the Sacramento Kings and stopped the two-game losing streak in time, which made Henson feel slightly better.
After returning home in Indianapolis from Sacramento, Henson found a stack of materials and a video in the mailbox on his doorstep. There is no doubt that these things are definitely Stephen. Silas sent it to him.
The experience of working with Silas made Henson extremely recognizable to Silas's vision. After all, Silas has been working in basketball for decades and has a knack for judging people. Sometimes Henson wonders if Silas has a data analytics module in his head. As a result, Henson asked Silas to send him some information on some of the rookies to watch on a regular basis.
Pulling out the rookie profile Silas had sent, Henson glanced at the cover. It has the rookie's name written on it, as well as a photo with no expression.
"Kawaii. Leonard. Henson pouted, the name a bit tongue-twisting.