The Celtics' big win in New York didn't earn Leon and his players reputation, which may have something to do with the low preseason attention. In addition to the first game against New York at Nassau Coliseum, the second game against the Chicago Bulls was scheduled at the Mohican Sun Arena, a 10,000-seat mid-sized arena that is home to the Mohican Wolves Indoor Soccer Club, where preseason games are held because of the cheapness.

It wasn't until the third game to New Jersey that the Celtics and Nets game was actually played in a regular NBA venue, and unfortunately the Celtics played quite badly in this game, the Celtics, who averaged 131 points per game in the first two games, only scored 91 points against the old enemy Nets, and the Nets tore apart with a fast break.

However, in the next four games, the Celtics continued the offensive style of high shots, high shots, and high tempo, and averaged more than 100 points per game in 7 preseason games, achieving a 5-2 record. However, such results did not make Leon get a good evaluation, on the contrary, many media columns and experts criticized Leon's seemingly sheep-like wanton offensive tactics.

"It's a simple tactic brought by a basketball layman, treating the game of basketball as a sprint plus a shot. Maybe he can have some level of success in a low-intensity game like the preseason, but in the regular season they will hit their heads and bleed. This is how the Boston Tribune column commented on the Celtics' preseason performance and the team's tactical system under Leon's command.

"Fox Leon's offensive routine, just like Rick Pitino's full-court tight defensive thinking, is innocent and cute. This is the NBA, not the NCAA! Sports Illustrated satirized Leon and his Celtics in an article scanned for the new NBA season, arguing that the Celtics' two-fast-break and fast-shooting tactics are the same as Pitino's full-court pressing tactics, which may be unique in the NCAA, but in the complex and highly professional NBA. It will only prove to be too simple and be easily cracked.

A small number of media outlets from New York who voiced opposition, such as Leon's friend Woj, pointed out in his column preview for ESPN that the Celtics offensive tactical system created by Fox Leon is by no means a simple fast offense, or a simple high-tempo game, in fact, the Celtics' offensive system has strict rules and principles, a combination of the freedom of the triangle offense and the simplicity of the pick-and-roll offense, with extraordinary creativity, but has not really grown yet.

As a die-hard friend of Fox Leon known in the circle, an article like Woj would undoubtedly be considered a boast to a friend. Soon that assessment was drowned out in a lot of discussion about more dramatic topics, such as whether this would be Michael Jordan's last season, whether the Lakers led by the OK duo could complete a four-game winning streak, whether Mutombo's arrival would make the New Jersey Nets strong enough to compete with the Western powers, and so on.

How can a lonely old aristocratic Celtics, who only made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, have a rookie on the team, and don't have a strong interior line, get enough attention from the league?

And in this understated and unwatched atmosphere, Leon and his Celtics are actively preparing for the first game of the regular season. The Chicago Bulls' regular season game will be played on October 30 at the North Shore Garden Plaza.

……………………

Training camp has been going on for almost three weeks, and the team has been training more intensely, but most of the players have adapted to Leon's admired 20-minute shooting warm-up and all sorts of bizarre training methods that he didn't know where he came from.

For example, he will ask the trainers to practice without the ball for the whole team during tactical training. That is, there is no basketball in hand, all empty-handed running. The player assigned to possession of the ball simulates having the ball in his hand and shouts the name of the receiver when passing the ball. Leon demanded that such off-ball offense and defense must be completed within 10 seconds, as for the player's goal when he shoots. Whether it is not entered, or blocked, it is all up to Leon to decide on the sidelines.

At first, the whole team was confused. How do you play without a ball in your hand? What is sent out is air, what is received is air, what is thrown is air, and what is covered is still air.

After three days of training, the players found that this off-ball training method was only played when Leon was there, and he would constantly make scene judgments on the sidelines, a player walked, a player was broken, a player missed a shot, should grab a rebound, etc., everyone had to pay close attention to Leon's judgment. His judgment is based on the situation on the field and the technical movements of the players, and if a player does not fully simulate the action of the ball, Leon will be caught and judged, which is likely to be a mistake.

The players gave Leon a nickname, "Hawkeye." Dave Cowens was an eye-opener for this training method, which he calls the "Hawkeye Training System," and the benefits of this training are obvious, that is, the simulation and anticipation skills in the players' minds are enhanced, the technical movements are strengthened in awareness, and the extremely fast offensive and defensive speeds, and the shout-out passing allows the players to maintain a high level of concentration.

In the first few days of training, a lot of the attacks simply couldn't be done, the ball was just over halfway through the half-pitch, and before a few passes were in the players' heads, the time was up. Although there is no ball in his hand, it seems that he can pass indiscriminately, but everything can't escape Leon's hawkeye, and once he passes the ball at will, Leon will make a mistake.

When training progressed to the 29th, a day before the official game, Leon led his team to the last off-ball simulation of the camp.

"Alright guys, this is the last off-the-ball simulation in training camp, and this time we're going to be more hands-on and increase the attacking time to 20 seconds. First of all, we started to meditate, recalling the technical moves you trained today, the problems you found in the footage of the previous few days, and some thoughts on the upcoming games. Think about it, and the game starts in five minutes. "Off-the-ball simulation is always the last group event of the day, and Leon will have the players meditate for five minutes.

He will then split the team into two groups, and instead of grouping them according to starters and substitutes as in normal training, he will divide the Celtic into a group of experienced veterans and a dynamic group of youngsters.

People like Pierce, Walker, Cole, Barty and others were placed in the veteran group, while Arenas, Johnson, Wang Zhizhi, Anderson and others were placed in the younger group. In the past ten days of training, the veteran group has maintained a complete victory over the younger group, not only because the players in the veteran group are better, but also because the players in the veteran group have more experience and technical memory brought by years of training. Even if they don't have the ball in their hands, they can simulate the technical movements of the ball.

The younger group is different, in the first few days of training, they are destroyed by a large number of "mistakes" almost every day, and they can't even complete a decent virtual attack. It was only in recent days that the younger group began to practice virtually, and the relaxation of the attack time to 20 seconds was clearly beneficial to the younger group.

"The offense starts with the seniors, then the ball Steve." Because the jump ball is the most difficult to judge, there is no jump ball in the no-ball simulation training. There is also no rebounding in the same game, and whether the ball goes in or not depends on Leon's judgment from the player's shooting status, as long as the offensive round is over.

Saying that, Leon threw the virtual ball to Steve Cole, Cole, as the oldest player on the team, played the best without the ball simulation, and on the fourth day he was able to adapt well to the rules and lead the veteran group to use the rules to win consecutive games.

However, his good luck seems to have come to an end today, and the young group led by Arenas seems to be bound to win, and Arenas used active defense to get Leon's "broken ball" decision at the beginning. He immediately took the "ball" straight to the frontcourt, and he was careful to adjust the rhythm of his feet and gestures to prevent Leon from blowing his steps, and finally completed a beautiful "layup". Scored two points for the junior group.

The ensuing game was extremely intense, and one of the great things about the off-ball simulation was that there was never a "man staring at the ball" because there was no ball on the field. Everyone runs with people on the defensive end and is very physical, which undoubtedly gives the younger group an advantage.

"Hess's fitness workout has worked. This group of little beasts, all of them can go to the track and field team......" Dave Cowens, who was standing on the sidelines, couldn't help but sigh as he watched the young group scramble desperately on the field for a non-existent ball, and engaged in fierce physical confrontation. The high-intensity, high-efficiency workout brought by Hess, a strength and conditioning coach from Denver, was immediate, and even made Walker, who had not done systematic exercises for a summer, lose 10 pounds and look much more energetic.

"Young people always want to prove themselves, whether the ball exists or not, as long as they have the ball in their hearts, they have a desire to win...... Foul! Chris you fouled! Leon was talking to Cowens while not forgetting to be the referee and awarded Chris Anderson a blocking foul.

"Wang, you go up, replace Chris." Then, Leon replaced Wang Zhizhi and asked him to replace Anderson, who had already committed two fouls.

Such a strange training session will continue with the Celtics until the departure of Fox Leon.

…………………………

On the evening of the 30th, the Bostonians finally ushered in the arrival of the regular season of the new season, although the team did not receive much attention or even looked down on in the league, but Celtics fans were full of expectations for the new Green Army. Tickets for the opening game sold out early, and the subway station near the North Shore Garden Arena was packed at six o'clock to watch tonight's season opener between the Celtics and the Chicago Bulls.

Leon and the players arrived in the locker room of the stadium early to start preparing for the tactical deployment before the game, and of course, they had to be interviewed by some media first. Blakeley, a reporter from CSNNE, was given exclusive pre-game interview rights and was allowed to enter the Celtic dressing room to interview players or coaches.

As a veteran Celtics reporter, Blakeley is known for breaking news on television, and the Celtics are one of the most anticipated teams in league history, with more than half of that coming from the Celtics' locker room. However, in the interview, he first asked a few questions of Antoine Walker, then interviewed Pierce, Arenas, and finally left the opportunity to interview the coach to Celtics legend Dave Cowens, bypassing head coach Fox Leon, and seemed to be dismissive of the rookie head coach.

There is no way, the deep historical heritage of the Celtics is destined to make a little white paper like Leon a transparent person in the eyes of the media, and the fact that he is closer to the New York media has also made the Boston media circle complain about him. The Celtics played a whirlwind attack in this preseason game, but they didn't get much publicity, and the local media, as well as some old Celtics, were waiting to see Leon's jokes.

The Chicago Bulls, on the other hand, will be Leon's first litmus test.

"Alright guys, let's close the door and discuss the plan for slaughtering cattle tonight." After seeing Blakeley off, Leon tapped on the tactical board and said to everyone. (To be continued.) )