"Our goal for the new season is to reach the finals and go one step further than last year."

This is Fox Leon's bold statement to everyone at the Celtics' boss change press conference, which made the headlines of major newspapers in the United States in a day. For a while, this young man with a mysterious identity and became the head coach of the Celtics in just two years has become a hot topic of discussion in the American basketball circle. So much so that the news of Auerbach's announcement of permanent retirement from the Celts did not receive much attention.

The Boston Tribune gave a spicy satire of Leon's rhetoric, commenting that "realistically or not, most teams give a season goal of either getting to the playoffs on the ground or aiming for a championship, and a half-baked goal like this to reach the finals is as hilarious as a student taking an exam saying he wants to finish second." This is true for local media from Boston, let alone other cities.

"The scout from Boston's South Side, who had no basketball experience and made history as a head coach of a professional team in two years, and his remarks at the press conference were as unprofessional as his background...... Quoting Sports Illustrated's football commentary column, John Hollinger wrote...... "On the plane to Ohio, Darrell Morey held the latest Cleveland Honest People on board and read a passage from the ball review column to Leon, who was sitting next to him.

"John Hollinger? I seem to have the impression that he seems to be very interested in data analysis, and he peddles his data analysis philosophy in the comment circle, which is very similar to you. Leon doesn't care about the content of the comments, and he's heard enough negative comments these days. He had long foreseen that saying something controversial or ambiguous in the media would cause a tumbling and commotion like throwing fresh meat in a crocodile pond. Rather than the cliché-nitpicking criticism, he was more interested in Holinger, the author of the commentary.

Morey only smiled when he heard Leon's words, and he didn't dare to show off in front of Leon when it came to data analysis. Although he has learned more in-depth and comprehensive than Leon in terms of analytical methods and theories, he can't resist Leon's oral calculations!

At this time, the news of the plane's imminent landing came on the radio, and Morey put away the newspaper and sorted out his belongings to get off the plane. At half past one in the afternoon, Leon and Morey arrived at Cleveland International Airport, but this was not their destination. After getting off the plane, the two immediately took a taxi to Cleveland Railway Station and bought a train ticket to Mansfield.

The Great Lakes region of the United States is the old industrial area of the United States, which relies on the abundant water of the Great Lakes, as well as a large amount of iron ore and coal. It became the industrial heart of the United States in the early twentieth century. As a result, Mansfield is a hub for the nation's densest rail network, which is well connected by railroads. It connects Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, Chicago to the Atlantic coast. So the two easily bought tickets to Mansfield, and after an hour's train journey and a half-hour ride, they finally arrived at their final destination at about 3 p.m. - Mansfield Correctional Institution in the northern suburbs of Mansfield.

"It makes me feel like I'm filing here." Standing outside the correctional facility, looking at this large correctional facility covering an area of hundreds of hectares, I couldn't help but think of my years at MCI. Morey, of course, didn't understand what Leon was talking about, he was just weird. When I was on a business trip, I said I would come to visit an important person, why did I come to the correction center now? Could it be that this guy is serving a prison sentence?

Leon walked up to the guard and informed them of their intentions, and Leon had already called here to make an appointment to visit. So after a full-body search, the two of them successfully entered this huge prison. But the person they are looking for is not in a prison cage, but in the social work room of a correctional centre. Under the guidance of the guards, the two came to the activity room. Seeing the person they were looking for, Mr. Larry Sigfried, who was giving psychological counseling to the inmates.

"Who the hell is this guy? Don't sell it. "Because counseling was going on inside, Leon and Morey had to stand at the door and wait. Morey couldn't help but whisper to Leon, who had been silent about the purpose of coming to Ohio before he came. This is Leon's usual style, not that he likes to play this kind of trick of pretending to be mysterious, but it is that he has to be vigilant due to the multiple leaks of the team's strategy before.

At this moment, the door of the activity room opened, and out of it came a bald black man in a blue prison uniform, he walked out of the door, then turned around and bowed slightly to the door and left, led by the guards.

"Come in, two Boston guests." The voice of Mr. Sigfred came from within, and Leon led Morey into the activity room. It was only then that Morey met this Mr. Sigfried, a white man in his sixties, very tall, with a square face, and two sword eyebrows rushing straight into the sky, looking heroic.

"Hello, Mr. Sigfried...... This is Mr. Larry Sigfried, a former Celtics defender, a great goalscorer and defender alongside Bob Cousy, an eight-time champion in a row, and a representative of the Celtics' player spirit. Leon introduced Morey to Mr. Sigfried, a key member of the Celtics' eight-game winning streak and a Celtic-style player with superb shooting skills and tough defensive ability, wearing the number 20 jersey.

Hearing Leon's compliment, Sigfried shook his head with a smile and moved a seat for the two. After the two of them sat down, he took out a pipe from the drawer, lit it in his mouth, took a beautiful puff, and said: "Arnold didn't say in the letter that you are a good sycophant, he said that you often make insulting remarks, and make him very shameful. Hahaha......"

Hearing this, Leon couldn't help but smile, and he responded: "The world has already praised Arnold too much, and I don't need to compliment him anymore." You, on the other hand, have abilities that are not known to many and can bring more help to the Celts. I'm a direct talker, and I'm here to hope you can come out and be an assistant coach for the Celtics, and now we're very short of assistant coaches. ”

The purpose of Leon's visit this time is to invite this veteran in the history of the Celtics to serve as an assistant coach of the Celtics, and now the Celtics are short of people in the assistant coach position, and after Leon became the head coach, only Dick Hart is left, and they urgently need a professional and talented assistant coach to assist Leon. Auerbach had everything in place before he resigned, and his first legacy to Leon was to recommend Larry Sigfried as the team's assistant coach.

However, this did not mean that Sigfried would not hesitate to obey Auerbach's dispatch back to Boston to assist Leon, although Auerbach wrote a letter to Sigfried with affection, euphemistically hoping that he would consider the matter, but Leon still needed to come to Mansfield in person to convince the stubborn old man. Now he is quite satisfied with his job as a psychotherapist in the correctional center, and he has no intention of returning to basketball.

"I don't know if you know the story of me and Cincinnati, they chose me that year, and I didn't want to go there, and I didn't go to Cincinnati after that, no matter how much people over there hated me. Because I don't want to go. Sigfried mentioned his time in the NBA Draft. He was studying at Ohio State University and playing in the NCAA, and at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, he was a rival in the same state, so after being drafted by the Cincinnati Royals in the draft, Sigfried refused to report to the Royals, preferring to go to the Cleveland Pipers in the ABL than to play for the Royals in the NBA. After two seasons of mutual attrition, the Royals finally traded Sigfried to the Hawks, and Sigfried was able to enter the NBA.

Sigfried was a very, very stubborn man, but his words did not intimidate Leon, and he said unhurriedly: "Your stubbornness is known all over the world, but there is another thing that everyone knows, and that is that you are a very, very valuable friend. You joined the Celtics because your good friend and alumnus, Mr. John Havlicek, recommended you to Auerbach and convinced you to give up your job as a high school coach to play in the NBA. With that, Leon pulled out an envelope from his briefcase and handed it to Sigfried.

Sigfried took the envelope and saw that it read "Dear Sigfried - your good friend John Havlicek." There is no doubt that Havlicek persuaded Auerbach to recruit Siegfried 40 years ago, and 40 years later, Auerbach asked for this favor through Havlicek.

Sigfred's eyes hesitated, he took a sharp puff of his cigarette, sighed, and fell into deep thought, and he began to recall in his mind those passionate years of fighting on the court. The peaceful life of the correction center is certainly quiet, but as a former basketball player, there is an unquenchable flame in my heart after all.

At this time, Leon took out another letter from his briefcase and brought it to Sigfried, who took it and looked at it, and the cover read, "Larry Sigfried - Bill Sharman." "This is a letter from Bill Sharman to Sigfried, who signed him with the Cleveland Pipers when he refused to go to the Cincinnati Royals, and the head coach of the Pipers at the time was none other than Bill Sharman. The pioneer of NBA jump shooting technology has given him a lot of benefits in basketball, especially shooting, during his two years of coaching, which will benefit him for the rest of his NBA championship career.

Seeing these two letters, Sigfred knew that he was already gracious, but he still said, "Maybe I can accept your invitation, but ...... I really don't know what else I can do. Basketball is completely different now than it used to be, speed, power, tactics, I'm an old antique. ”

Leon stood up from his chair and said firmly, "But there are two things you can teach to young people, accurate jump shots, and strong defense!" (To be continued.) )