Excited, D'Antoni bought a ticket for the day, but it was late when he arrived in New York, so he had to get up early the next morning and wait outside the Knicks' training hall in a regular manner.

Li Wei also got up early in the morning today, and saw the famous handsome man in his previous life waiting outside, hurriedly asked the driver to stop, and at the same time stretched out his hands and said, "Mike D'Antoni?" Fortunately, I will be glad to meet you! ”

D'Antoni looked at the short Oriental man walking down from the car, and was slightly stunned: "Are you?" ”

Li Weidao: "I am the president and head coach of the Knicks, David Lee, you can just call me David." It was my general manager who called you yesterday, do you remember? ”

"Oops, so you're the president of the Knicks! Fortunately, I will be glad to meet you! D'Antoni hurriedly shook hands with Li Wei.

"Let's talk in my office!" Li Weidao.

"Okay." D'Antoni carried his handbag and respectfully followed Li Wei into the president's office.

As soon as he entered the office, the famous marshal began his self-recommendation.

When Li Wei was the coach of the amateur team of that hospital in his previous life, he carefully studied D'Antoni's tactical system, and although he was not professional enough, many of his ideas could match the opponent's number.

D'Antoni is the founder of the system, but he's still too young, and in some places it's noticeably not as deep as he thought about it a few years later. The two met like dry firewood, and the more they talked, the more speculative they became, and they didn't even notice that Chuck Daley walked into the room.

"David, you let the players outside practice three-point shooting, and now you're sitting in the office and discussing three-point tactics, you're Rick Pitino's apprentice, right?" Chuck Daly said suddenly.

Li Wei was stunned, and then he found that the old man had come in, and hurriedly said: "Ouch, Chuck, when are you here, please take a seat, this is the Mr. D'Antoni I told you." Mike, this is our team's first assistant coach, Mr. Chuck Daly. ”

"Hello Mr. Daley!" D'Antoni's eyes were blazing as he looked at the world-famous handsome.

At this moment, how eager he is to be as famous as the other party one day!

"Haha, Mr. D'Antoni, hello." Daley sat down with a smile, "David, I just found out that in fact, you also know a lot about basketball, at least in terms of tactical literacy, you are a quasi-professional level!" ”

Li Wei smiled: "Chuck, don't laugh at me, I'm from a wild road, I usually just watch the game and ponder, and I don't have any actual combat experience at all!" ”

"If you can figure out this level even more if you think about it, it's even more remarkable." Daley continued to smile, "But I see your tactics, most of them revolve around three-point shooting, are you a believer in Rick Pitino?" ”

Before the three-point line was not adjusted, there were very few teams willing to shoot three-pointers, and everyone paid attention to the closer to the basket, the more accurate the shot, and the one who got the inside line won the world!

If you want to say that there is a famous coach who has been pursuing three-point shooting for a long time, it is not nothing, he is the peerless coach Rick Pitino!

Rick Carlisle, a future coach, once recalled: "In Pitino's second season in charge of the Knicks, their three-point court shooting average soared to 14, and everyone was looking around: 'What's going on?' ’”

Another coach Donovan said: "When the game was not very interesting, Coach Pitino was already looking far ahead. I'll never forget when the coaches used to say that the three-point shot was the worst part of the basketball game, that it would kill the game, that it was a very bad shooting option, and that the team they coached would never shoot a three-pointer. Coach Pitino did the opposite, even saying, 'No, we're going to try to shoot 35 three-pointers in one game.' ’”

Pitino's three-point philosophy was a huge success when he coached the Knicks and was also successful in the NCAA, so the Celtics signed him for a whopping $50 million over 10 years and used him as a cornerstone of the team.

Chuck Daley saw Li Wei and D'Antoni discussing three-point tactics, and the first thing that came to mind was Rick Pitino!

Li Wei said: "Chuck, you are wrong, I don't appreciate Rick Pitino, it's just three points." Nowadays, many tactics in international basketball revolve around three-point play, but the NBA has not yet become popular. ”

Chuck Daley said, "Do you think it's going to be popular?" Our three-point is not the same concept as the three-point in international basketball, it is too far away! ”

Li Weidao: "Far from a problem, three points can maximize the space, so as to derive more and more tactics, the players' ability to project three points, will be more and more accurate in the future, it will be the trend of the future!" ”

Chuck Daly laughed: "So, you firmly believe that Rick Pitino will succeed with the Celtics?" ”

Li Wei shook his head and said: "You are wrong, although I am optimistic about three points, I am not optimistic about Mr. Pitino." ”

"Oh?" Chuck Daley raised an eyebrow, "You like threes so much, why don't you like him so much?" ”

Li Wei smiled lightly: "Rick Pitino is an excellent coach, but he may not be a qualified president. A good tactic must also be executed by the right players to be successful. ”

In his previous life, Rick Pitino had made a mess of the Celtics. For example, in the following draft, he selected Billups, but traded it shortly after. In addition, he selected Ron Mercer with the No. 6 pick, ignoring the talented high school student Maddie.

Li Wei remembers very well that Antoine Walker, the star power forward of the Celtics in his previous life, had a three-point shooting rate of just over 20 percent one year, and he still shot wildly outside. Others asked him, "Why do you have to shoot three points if you are so inaccurate?" ”

Antoine Walker couldn't say that it was the coach's arrangement, so he could only quip: "Because there is no four-point line in the NBA!" ”

Walker's quip is still the spice for fans to hack him decades later, but what can be done about it? He really didn't get the ball in when he should have gotten in.

Later, Walker's three-point shooting was on target, but Rick Pitino had already left the class.

For a team to be successful, it must have good coaches and good players. Rick Pitino's selection of players is still stuck at the college level, and the group under his command is enough to play in the NCAA, but not enough to play in the NBA.

Then again, the ruining of Pitino I's reputation in Boston set off a chain of consequences. Most veteran coaches have deduced from this that the three-point tactics of international basketball and the NCAA simply don't work in the NBA because the NBA's three-point line is too far!

In those years, the league was stagnant, and teams kept hoarding interior players. Of course, there are also those who don't believe in the old theories, such as the mad scientist Nelson Sr., but unfortunately his team's record is average and he can't lead the trend.

It was the Suns who led the league in '04 that really sparked change across the league. And the founder of that team is the famous coach who returned from the European League in front of Li Wei - Mike D'Antoni!

Without the team under D'Antoni that ran the Suns, there would be no future generations of small-ball warriors, let alone a small-ball era twenty years later!

D'Antoni, an epoch-making figure!

Looking back on the past, Li Wei feels that they will definitely not be as tragic as Rick Pitino, because he has already thought about the cornerstone of the future team building - Dirk Nowitzki!

The Nuo Heavenly King, who is known for his divine quasi, will never be able to break through the sky like Walker. With such a peerless shooter, what is the Knicks afraid of?

Maybe the league will enter the three-point era ahead of schedule because of the Knicks!

Chuck Daly laughed, "You said Rick Pitino isn't a qualified president, so are you?" ”

Li Wei said: "Chuck, I'm not good at anything else, but I still have some vision in terms of looking at people." I believe time will prove that I am a qualified president. ”

Chuck Daley thought about the big Z who was on the field and the humble and hard-working Nash, and nodded: "Maybe you're right, and I hope you can pick the right piece of the puzzle for the team." ”

Li Weidao: "Mike, I appreciate your coaching philosophy, can you serve as the team's offensive assistant coach in the next period of time?" ”

Mike D'Antoni said happily: "Of course! I would love to join the coaching staff in New York! ”

Li Weidao: "You want a contract for several years? ”

Mike D'Antoni hesitated for a moment, and said with some weakness: "I want a long-term contract, you see, can it be for three years?" ”

Li Wei laughed and said, "Hahaha! Mike, how do you make me say hello! Three years can also be called a long contract? Well, I'll double it for you, how about six years? ”

"Six years?" D'Antoni blinked in disbelief.

Originally, he thought that the Knicks would give him a two-year contract at most, and the second year would have to be a team option. I didn't think that the young president was really unambiguous, and when he said that the long contract was six years!

Of course, he wants to sign a six-year contract, and if he signs such a long contract, his job in the NBA will be stable, and he will not have to fear returning to Italy in a year!

However, D'Antoni was a little worried that the other party would pay a low salary if he stretched the contract so long. After thinking about it, he asked, "Mr. Li, how much can you give me this contract amount?" ”