In the nearly three months since coming to the Celtics, Leon has learned everything about basketball, from history to the role of knee pads, but he has never touched the scope of basketball tactics.

Although he showed an unparalleled talent for basketball skills and tactics during his time at Marshfield, thanks to his superb memory and deduction skills, Auerbach always warned Leon not to read books about basketball tactics while he was still a scout, and not to learn tactics in his daily work.

Auerbach wanted him to focus on identifying and judging the abilities of his players and understanding the basic rules of basketball, which is why he went to the state library every day during his time in Boston.

As a basketball player who has not experienced college basketball and professional leagues, the lack of a direct, immersive experience of basketball is a congenital deficiency for Leon, and Auerbach hopes that he can make up for these shortcomings in his video and written materials.

As for basketball tactics, Auerbach knew that Leon had an excellent memory, and as long as he followed the rules and illustrations in the book, he could memorize all the basketball tactics in his head.

However, if he is only allowed to learn the tactics on paper without giving him the opportunity to use them, he may end up being bound by the rules and regulations of tactics, and become a tactical analyst who can only talk on paper, but cannot become a head coach who can strategize.

"The knowledge of basketball tactics is not written in books by Professor Smith since the invention of basketball, but it is constantly discovered and summarized in the practice of basketball competition. If you can, I hope you can summarize the rules of tactics on the basketball court yourself, and when you have your own experience, you can refer to and learn the precious knowledge of your predecessors, so that learning will be more meaningful. These are the words that Auerbach wrote in a letter to León.

That's right, Auerbach, an old antique, didn't use text messages in those days, but insisted on handwriting stationery and asking the postman to send his advice.

When Leon received the letter, he folded the paper neatly and burned it down to flush the toilet. After all, he had all the important things to write down in his head, and this passage would guide Leon for a long time.

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The Celtics' training camp lasts about four weeks, and about two weeks after the camp starts, on October 11, the NBA preseason kicks off with the start of the camp.

Two weeks is a long or short story, and everything in training camp is familiar to those veteran players, and what they really need to care about is whether their form can support their position in the team.

Two weeks is still too short for a new player, especially a rookie, who has not yet had time to adjust to everything that a professional team has to offer, and is about to be pushed onto the court.

The Celtics have a total of eight games in this preseason, all against Eastern teams, which will make the Celtics in the Northeast corner less tired, and the first game of the preseason will be played on their home court, in TD North Shore Garden, they will welcome the Milwaukee Bucks, a rising star in the East.

Because there was a game on the night of the 11th, the training camp training volume of the day was halved, and after a simple shooting practice and physical training in the morning, Pitino announced the disbandment and asked to gather at TD North Shore Garden at about 5 p.m. for another hour of joint practice, of course, at that time, the training will not be led by him, but will be handed over to O'Brien.

Clearly, Pitino is losing his power, and Auerbach is constantly eroding Pitino's prestige and leadership through influence, but Pitino has not resisted fiercely, and he revealed to reporters in a press interview after training camp that he will miss the first game of the preseason due to physical reasons, and that O'Brien will be in charge of the team.

O'Brien became interim head coach, Vogel served as interim assistant coach, and Leon was also named second interim assistant coach and will be on the bench.

"Assistant coach, temporary, and then a second, this is the coach I have seen the most definitely, I have been a temporary worker for much longer in my life than a regular job, maybe it is also temporary like my life......" Leon couldn't help but joke when he saw his name on the team list submitted by the team. Thinking about it, it actually makes sense, his current life is really temporary.

However, the Celtics have a new problem to face, and that is O'Brien's physical condition.

If Pitino was forced to be "unwell" due to pressure, then O'Brien was really unwell, and the physical load of the assistant coaches was also quite large after seven or eight consecutive days of training, especially their throats, which had to roar at high decibels every day.

O'Brien has been feeling uncomfortable in his throat since yesterday, on the 11th his throat was red and swollen, obviously an upper respiratory tract infection, he felt as if he had a piece of cotton in his throat that was constantly absorbing water, both blocked and dry, and he could no longer command loudly in training, so he could only scribble on the tactical board and explain the training content to the players in a normal voice.

O'Brien asked Chris Wallace for advice, and Wallace decided that it was impossible to let Vogel or Leon command the game anymore, and he couldn't let Pitino "break his word" in the manager's seat, so our clever Mr. Wallace came up with a very good idea, he decided to have O'Brien write down what he wanted to direct on a slip of paper, and then hand it to Leon or Vogel and let them shout to the players on the field.

This sounds like a viable option, but the only question is who is louder, Leon or Vogel.

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At five o'clock in the evening, many players have arrived at the stadium on time, except for Dennis Rodman, he did not come to the morning training, according to Leon's news, because there is a game today, so Rodman went to a nightclub last night and went all night, he must be making up for sleep during the day, as for whether he comes to the game at night depends on Rodman's mood.

However, Rodman's recent training attitude is still quite good, although he arrives late and leaves early every day, he is very committed in training, and he also obeys the coach's arrangement and gets along with his teammates. And there's no mess in Boston, where he drinks and plays with women, as he does in any city. Especially after he learned that it was Auerbach who decided to hold a separate signing meeting for him, he publicly expressed his willingness to serve Auerbach in the media.

Of course, not many people take what he says seriously, but at six o'clock he was still in the Celtics' big locker room at the North Shore Garden Arena. Leon looked at his sleepy eyes and knew that he must have been tossing for a long time at night, and he had just woken up during the day and ran straight to the arena.

"I thought you had gone to the away dressing room." Leon joked to Rodman, who listened, and said, "I don't want to be in the away locker room in Boston again in my life." ”

The Celtics' away locker room has always been known to be terrible in the past, and Rodman visited Boston several times in the playoffs during the Pistons, when they were still playing in Boston Garden Square, which is arguably the most dirty, shabby, and inhuman locker room in the NBA. Rodman shuddered when he thought about it now.

"I heard you're an assistant coach, boy." Rodman said to Leon while changing his clothes, today Leon is wearing a light gray suit, a yellow striped tie, and that black slightly curly hair, the whole personable Italian model.

"That's right, but temporary, second temporary assistant coach. My main job is a microphone, and O'Brien doesn't have a very good voice today. Leon responded that at this time he was sorting out the information of the entire Milwaukee Bucks, this year the Bucks did not have a slight reinforcement on the basis of last year's main lineup, no big trades, and no draft gains, but according to industry observation, if there are fewer injuries this season, the Bucks' record is likely to be greatly improved, so Leon's most important job is to collect information about the Bucks through the preseason.

Because of his late arrival, Rodman did not catch up with the team's pre-game joint practice, but he still appeared on the team's starting lineup, which is also what Auerbach meant, and he thinks that it makes no sense for a player of Rodman's calibre to be put on the bench.

Completely different from the training arena used in the summer league, TD North Shore Garden Arena is a true NBA arena that can accommodate 20,000 spectators, and Leon can only see the top of the audience on the other side of the court when he looks up.

A huge arena.

As the time approached the game, there were more and more people in the stadium, the lights were turned on one by one, the staff were busy setting up all the facilities, the reporters were all in place, the technical desk was doing the final adjustment, the referees were discussing something, the players were warming up on the field, the coaching staff was chatting, and the audience was chewing popcorn and drinking soda.

This is how the real NBA game begins.