Tickets for the Celtics vs. Utah Jazz game sold out early on the night of Nov. 11, and with the Green Shirts winning back-to-back games since the start of the season, the Boston basketball market, which had recovered in the past two years, reached a fever pitch at a breakneck pace. The only thing stopping the Celtics from selling more tickets is the relatively small hall and too few seats at North Shore Garden, one of the league's smallest arenas, which can no longer accommodate the enthusiasm of Boston fans.

After a day's rest yesterday, the Celtics had a two-hour closed session during the day, and instead of the previous short-term drills that focused on shooting, this time Leon asked Dick Hart and Sigfried to lead the team in defensive practice.

Compared with the immediate results of offensive and shooting training, defensive training consumes a long time and has slow results, and some NBA teams do not even conduct defensive training, relying on players to hone their defensive skills and accumulate defensive experience and cultivate defensive tacit understanding through games. Leon is a utility-oriented coach who believes that defensive training must be carried out, but not too much training time, and that he must be consistent and give the team defensive training sessions every once in a while.

Hart's defensive training session for the Celtics today was how to block the back door, prevent counterruns and air cuts, and it just so happened that tonight their opponents were none other than Jerry Sloan's team, the Utah Jazz.

The training session ended at noon, and Leon went home for a light lunch, called Ayatollah Khomeinis, who was still in school, and set out for the North Shore Gardens.

Leon arrived at the arena a few hours before the start of the game, and he first made a trip to the team's office area on the third floor of the arena. After the season officially began, the office of Celtic's management moved from the headquarters building to the North Shore Garden Arena, which is a small but very convenient office in the arena.

"What's the matter with me, Danny?" Leon met Danny Angie in the president's office, and before the game started, Angie texted Leon to come and say he had something to discuss with him.

"Sit down Leon. As the head coach of the team, there are some things that I still need to talk to you about. You should remember the trading advice I made in the summer, and now I might have to revisit it. Angie sat in his president's chair, handed Leon a cup of coffee, and said to him.

Leon listened to the tightness, he knew what Angie was talking about, Angie had been trying to trade a reliable interior player for the Celtics in the summer, but Leon was never interested in Angie's proposal. At that time, Angie wanted to send Eric Williams and Joe Johnson to get the Suns' power forward Ronnie Rodgers. Leon believes that Rodgers does not meet the requirements of his team, and he does not like this kind of indiscriminate player. Leon always sought to be "full-size" when selecting players, with a minimum of 6'3 for point guards, 6'5 for shooting guards, 6'7 for small forwards, 6'9 for power forwards, and 6'11 for centers. Rodgers is a typical small forward's height and big forward's style of play, while Leon needs a small forward's style of play and a big forward's height player.

"Is there a deal related to Joe Johnson? I'm not rooting for Johnson, but I wouldn't agree without the right person. And the season has just begun. The team is also doing pretty well, winning all the time, and it's not a good time to trade. Leon said as he took a sip of his coffee. The atmosphere in the Celtics team is very good at the moment, and Joe Johnson has a relatively lackluster personality. But as a rookie, he also gets along well with other players, and a rash trade will undoubtedly ruin the team's chemistry.

"Recently, I have a better trading plan, although everything is still expected to be just started, but this relationship line is still quite solid. The other party's trading chips are also very good, and they also value Joe's potential. Of course, you know that every day in the NBA is the possibility of a trade. And there may be only one in a hundred possibilities that can actually be realized. Relax and let the players focus on the game. Angie said to Leon in a pretending relaxed tone.

Leon doesn't eat what Anji said, Anji is right, a hundred transactions may only be realized, but since Anji and Leon are ventilated, then it will not be the ninety-nine that will not be realized among the hundred possibilities, but the remaining transaction that is likely to be realized.

Leon also knows that this is Angie to give himself a vaccination, some transactions may be completed in a short period of time, and some need to operate for a long time to experience a lot of twists and turns, from the current situation, the team has won consecutive games, the team atmosphere is very good, and the team's weaknesses have not been completely exposed, so the transaction may not happen in a short period of time.

However, as the season progresses, the Celtics are bound to make moves once the team's form and record take a turn and the team's new owners will not watch the team do nothing. As the current president of the team, Angie must plan ahead and prepare a trade plan as early as possible, so that the team can implement it immediately to bring changes to the team when needed. Now it seems that Anji is still very confident in the trading resources at his disposal, otherwise he would not vent to Leon.

"If it's good for the team, of course I'm in favor of it, but if it's for the sake of a trade, I'm still saying that, I'll exercise my veto power as a manager." Leon is quite tough on the issue of player trades, and he is very adamant about his philosophy and needs, which often makes Angie very annoyed but helpless, because the person behind him is Auerbach.

However, this time Angie seemed to be very confident, he drank the coffee in the cup, and said to Leon: "Arnold also agrees with this transaction plan." ”

Hearing this, Leon fell silent, Arnold is of course Auerbach. Just a few days ago, he "sneed" Auger to Auger, who returned to Boston during the game against the Lakers, and after the game that day, Auerbach had a long talk with Angie and asked Angie to "respect" Leon's right to suggest. This incident hurt Angie a little, but this time he called Auerbach for advice, and he was also approved by Auerbach, which is enough to show that this deal may be very beneficial to the Celtics.

"In that case, I wouldn't object if the trade came, and of course I wouldn't leak the news, these lads need a quiet and stable environment to play, and they're doing a great job right now." After Leon finished speaking, he said goodbye to Angie, and it seemed that Johnson's departure would be inevitable.

Anji also nodded towards Leon and said, "You've done a good job recently, and there won't be any big changes in the team in the short term, but you also have to prepare early." ”

No matter what kind of disagreement the two people have, in general, they are still dedicated to the good of the Celtics.

……………………

When it was game time in the evening, North Shore Gardens was once again bustling with people, and Leon had become accustomed to the noisy environment, calmly highlighting to the players what to watch out for tonight before the game began.

"Man to man, tonight we are man to man, don't easily wrap up, don't give up your opponent casually, if there is a misalignment, make a choice in the fastest time, change the defense or find your defender." Leon has been emphasizing defensive issues before the start of the game, and the team offense that the Utah Jazz have always been good at makes Leon quite jealous.

In the morning defensive training, the main content of Celtic's practice is how to change defensive positions in time if the formation is torn apart by the opponent and there is a misalignment or disorder when one-on-one man-to-man defense, or change the defense without affecting the defensive formation. This defensive method has high requirements for the player's personal defensive awareness, and in the face of a relatively complex and sophisticated offensive system, it is also a strategy of "adapting to all changes with the same".

It was only after the game actually started that Leon realized that he seemed to overestimate the current offensive state of the Jazz. The Jazz, who once relied on a skillful and efficient offensive system in the late '90s to reach the Finals with a lineup that didn't have outstanding talent, finally faltered a little after five years of continued persistence by Malone and Stockton.

In the first quarter of the game, John Stockton had two turnovers, and the Celtics' rapid counterattack caught the Jazz off guard. The Celtics' starters were so good at jumping shots, and Arenas continued to attack Leon's will in the first quarter, making Stockton, who had been running on the court for 20 years, feel like his body was about to be destroyed. This tough white guard who is good at small movements, in front of the young, decisive and powerful Arenas, is like a broken car dragged by an old cow, one block, one change of direction, Arenas can tear apart the Jazz's defense.

When Arenas hit a three-point shot straight at Stockton as soon as he crossed the half, the greatest assister in NBA history knew his career was over.

Even last season, Leon still remembers that Stockton and Malone still have a lot of energy, Malone is still rampage on the inside, Stockton can still sort out the team's offense and hit some key three-pointers, but in less than a year, aging is so obvious in this team. Not only is Jordan's era over, but so will the era of Utah's twin shakings. The group of golden players who entered the NBA in the mid-80s, after supporting the golden period of the NBA in the 90s, with the completion of the Lakers' three consecutive championships in the new century, are finally about to enter the old paper pile of history.

At 114:95, a gap of nearly 20 points, the Celtics slaughtered the Utah Jazz at home, and their whirlwind-like concise and violent offense was fully displayed, Arenas shot 5 of 6 three-pointers in the game, and scored 31 points and 7 assists against Stockton, setting a new career high in scoring.

The Celtics are on an eight-game winning streak. Their next opponent will be the Dallas Mavericks, and Leon will have a fantastic opponent. (To be continued.) )