The giant wheel of time has run over the last ravine of 09 years, climbed the broad road of 2010, and the new year is coming as scheduled.

On the first day of the new year, the Cavaliers will face off against Eastern rivals the Celtics.

After an easy schedule, the rest of the race is not so easy.

Casey is leading his players to prepare for the game.

The competition with the fierce rivals in the Eastern Conference has a great impact on the morale of the team, and no one wants to lose such a game.

Tang Tian found that O'Neill hadn't come yet, and was about to go to Cassel to ask, when he suddenly found Green sitting on the sidelines, his expression a little depressed.

The team has been doing well lately, with O'Neal and Rasheed Wallace both having a second spring, Matthews also playing well after entering the starting line-up, and newly traded Louis Williams also regaining the momentum of competing for the Sixth Man of the Season.

To say that the only performance declined is probably Green in front of him.

With Louis Williams being a two-way guard, Matthews being a stronger, more explosive 3-and-D player, and small forwards James and Artest, two of the league's top 10 small forwards, Green's playing time as a swingman is naturally compressed.

At the beginning of the season, he played an average of about 20 minutes per game, and could steadily contribute 8 points and 3 boards, and then the time was compressed to about 15 minutes, which has directly become 2 points and 2 boards, and the poor performance has further compressed his playing time, and now he only has 10 minutes, and his performance is becoming more and more miserable.

Poor performance, the team's position is becoming more and more marginal, and it's no wonder that he is like this.

Tang Tian walked straight towards him.

Green, like Matthews, is part of his plans for the future, and that is clearly not what he wants to see.

"Danny." He walked over and shouted.

"Coach!" Seeing that it was Tang Tian, Green was about to stand up.

Tang Tian motioned for him to sit, and then sat down next to him.

"What? See you're a little absent-minded? ”

"No, it's just that the pet was a little noisy last night and didn't sleep well." Green barely managed to squeeze out a laugh.

"Pets, cats?" Tang Tian naturally remembered what Maddie had said to him before, but he didn't look like the kind of person who borrowed wine to drown his sorrows.

"No, two Colombian pythons."

“……”

Tang Tian was stunned for a moment, and then remembered that he had the impression that Green was really the master of raising pythons, but he was not as famous as the "snake man" Mickey Moore.

But pets are just excuses.

"I've coached a lot of rookies and they've been frustrated because they didn't get playing time and didn't play well, DeAndre Jordan, you know?" Tang Tian continued.

"Yes, the Rockets' backup center, he's very strong." Green nodded, the Cavaliers had played against the Rockets before.

"When he was first selected by the team, he was like you, but he was more proactive than you, and after he was selected, he asked me why the team chose him, he didn't try out for the team, and he didn't get a chance to play, do you know how I answered him in the first place?"

Green looked at Tang Tian suspiciously.

"Kobe Bryant spent the first half of his rookie season on the bench, and Arenas sat on the bench for almost the entire rookie season, but in the end, they both became the league's hottest stars." Tang Tian said what he had said to Little Jordan at the beginning.

All Green's thoughts.

"Sitting on the bench is not a punishment, but a grind." Tang Tian said and pointed to the location of his heart, "Tempering of the heart." ”

After hearing this, Green suddenly realized that he was a high-IQ player himself, but he was trapped for a while, and Tang Tian reminded him with a few words, and he came out of it in one fell swoop.

"Don?" At this moment, Cassel called Tang Tian.

Tang Tian saw that Cassel's expression was not very good, and reached out and patted Green's shoulder: "Be patient and wait for the opportunity, I won't let a person who works hard and is in good condition sit on the bench all the time." ”

Green nodded vigorously.

Tang Tian got up and walked towards Kassel.

"Shaq has a problem with his ankle." Cassel whispered.

Tang Tian was stunned for a moment, and then walked with Kassel to the outside of the training hall.

"He didn't feel well when he woke up this morning, and when he arrived at the stadium, he went straight to the team doctor, and now the examination report says that his ankle is inflamed, and it is estimated that he will be out of action for about a week."

Tang Tian frowned after hearing this.

"Shaq is 37 years old after all, only 3 years younger than me." Cassel continued.

Tang Tian nodded after listening.

O'Neal basically didn't train when he was young, and he relied on talent to play on a rampage, but now that he is older and his weight has gone up, it's normal for his ankles to be unbearable.

Speaking of which, in his previous life, O'Neill was forced to retire due to a serious ankle injury.

Now it's only a week's truce, which should be considered a blessing in misfortune.

"Sam, when the training is over, call the coaching staff up, and we'll have an impromptu meeting." Tang Tian continued.

At the beginning of the season, because it was a mess, it was deliberately recruited to recruit these famous veterans, and injuries were also taken into account at that time.

It's just that after the plan has changed now, even if it is intentional to reduce the playing time of the veteran, the injury still does not escape.

But it also gave him a wake-up call.

Although these veterans still have gas in the tank and can still play efficiently in a reasonable amount of playing time, after all, they are almost at retirement age, and it is best to save these oils for the playoffs.

"We need to further reduce the playing time of the veterans, and it's better to keep it in shape, so that we can reduce injuries like Shaq, and it can also give young players like Green more time to work, and winning or losing is not the first important thing for us."

At the extraordinary meeting, Tang Tian focused on this issue.

Casey and Cassel both agree, as coaches with brains, they both know very well that the Cavaliers can make the playoffs, and if the goal is to win the championship, those opponents have to win one by one, and it doesn't matter how many places they are.

In the evening's start, O'Neal was sidelined with injury and Rasheed Wallace disappeared from the starting line-up.

The combination of Frye, Anderson, James, Matthews and Beverley is an all-young starter.

At first glance, this lineup looks like a bad lineup at the start of the season, but after the actual fight, the young players played much tougher than at the beginning of the season.

After all, the two-month game is not for nothing, let alone with Tang Tian's presence, the daily training of the Cavaliers is twice the result with half the effort.

In the end, these young players of the Cavaliers played three and a half quarters with the Celtics, and although they lost in the end, the team's momentum did not diminish at all.

Of course, what made Tang Tian feel the most pleased was Green's play.

The pre-game words made the top 3D let go of his baggage, and he scored 12 points and 6 boards in 15 minutes of playing time, and his performance was quite good.