In the locker room, Van Gundy said solemnly: "Jerry, come with me to the press conference in a while, I plan to tell the media that it is your idea to reuse the substitute, and you can win the game today, and you will take the most credit." Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Yang Rui smiled, although Van Gundy is stubborn, he also has many advantages.

First of all, he is a workaholic, he eats and sleeps in the stadium a lot, and everything he does has a great impact on the players.

Secondly, he is chivalrous.

In Yang Rui's previous life, on May 30, 1998, the Knicks clashed with the Heat players, and Van Gundy ran into the court to pull the rack as soon as possible. In order to protect the player, in desperation, he hugged Mo Ning's thigh and was dragged a few meters away from the floor by the tough Mo Ning. Since then, Van Gundy has been nicknamed "The Hammock."

On January 15, 2001, during the Knicks vs. Spurs game, Camby was stabbed in the hand by Spurs forward Ferry. Enraged, Camby lunged towards Ferry on the side of the recording table, but just as he was about to throw a punch, Van Gundy was already in the middle of the two, only to be able to punch him in the air, and his iron head was firmly on Van Gundy's left eye socket. In the end, the Knicks beat the Spurs, but Van Gundy injured his left eye with a full 12 stitches.

Van Gundy hasn't done a heroic feat yet, but he's righteous enough. He dares to take responsibility when he loses, and when he wins, he doesn't take the credit for himself.

Yang Rui smiled and asked, "Do I have anything to pay attention to?" What can't be said? ”

"To keep a low profile, questions about grades are vague." Van Gundy sighed.

Without Yang Rui, he would never dare to use newcomers like this, the result of the game was unexpected, the Knicks won very easily, and the rookies also had many highlights.

The press conference became a commendation rally. Van Gundy praised Yang Rui, and players Atkins, Ewing, and Houston praised even more.

"Jerry is my spiritual mentor and he taught me how to play right, play to my strengths and make up for my shortcomings." Atkins, who scored a career-high 25 points after 22 minutes, is hard to put into words how grateful Yang Rui is.

If Atkins had been born in the Ming Dynasty, he would definitely have built a shrine for Yang Rui and called him 9,000 years old......

Van Gundy was particularly embarrassed at the press conference. Would you like to ask Atkins, is he the manager or am I the manager?

There were many reporters who interviewed Yang Rui, and most of the questions were boring tactical questions.

Yang Rui replied very easily, without saying anything arrogant, nor showing pride and complacency. With only a quarter of the season in play, they haven't locked up the regular season for the first place.

Focusing on offense, the Knicks began to win again, beating the 76ers, Pistons, and Cavaliers in quick succession. After winning four in a row, the Knicks will take on the Bucks back-to-back on the road.

On the morning of the 21st, the coaching staff had a meeting, and there were serious disagreements, and Yang Rui proposed that the core rest for the whole game.

"Let Patrick take a turn, this one won't fight? He's not hurt just because he's back-to-back? Are you crazy? Van Gundy asked.

Yang Rui said: "I'm not crazy, I just want Patrick to rest, he played too long yesterday." ”

Ewing played 38 minutes and scored 28 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks for a quasi-triple-double, which was very eye-catching. However, in order to defend against "Big Z" Ilgoskas and "Rain Man" Sean Kemp, Ewing spent a lot of physical energy. The Knicks won 104-97, and it wasn't an easy win.

Van Gundy snorted, "If you talk to Patrick, he will definitely be angry and will not agree to rest." ”

"I can talk to him and convince him to rest. Otherwise, he can't be efficient in this game, don't forget that his statistics this season are very important, and he will be able to ensure his best condition when he rests for two days and returns home to play the Mavericks. Then the Christmas break was four days before the next one, which was to protect him. Yang Rui explained.

"You think he's too fragile, he's the heart of the team, have you forgotten that the Knicks label is iron-blooded? Don't dare to play back-to-back games, what kind of tough guy is it? Van Gundy didn't back down.

Yang Rui knew bitterly that no matter what, this game could not let Ewing go up to take risks.

In his previous life, against the Bucks on December 21, Ewing suffered a serious injury that could have destroyed his career.

Andrew Long, the Bucks' backup center who averages 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, pushed Ewing hard from behind in order to prevent him from receiving the ball.

Ewing fell to the ground, resulting in a fracture of his right wrist, accompanied by a torn ligament, and his bones were even punctured through the skin, and one of the four centers was scrapped by an unruly guy.

After Ewing's surgery, the recovery period was long, and his right wrist was not fully mobilized for a long time, and even as he returned to the court next season with determination, he lost his accurate jump shot.

Yang Rui has seen that everything has "historical inertia" and knows that Bucks center Andrew Lang is not a good thing.

"Jeff, I'd suggest giving the management a call and asking what they think, our goal is not to break the Bulls' 72-win record in the regular season, just take the top spot and Patrick will have good stats." Yang Rui made a big move and took advantage of the situation.

Thibodeau was silent for a while and decided to side with Yang Rui.

"Jeff, I'd also suggest giving a call to management, if Patrick is tired in this game, the stats will go down. The Bucks' Elvin Johnson is a big man who is good at defense. ”

Both assistant coaches said so, and Van Gundy was reluctant and unable to go his own way, calling Ernie Grunfeld to report to work.

Ernie listened to the narration and thought about it for less than five seconds before making a decision. "Then let Patrick take a break for a game, the Mavericks are weak on the 23rd, and that game will increase Patrick's playing time and help him brush up his stats."

"Won't that affect Patrick's image?" Van Gundy said in his heart: Boss, you promised too simply, right? Will the coaching staff have the final say on Jerry in the future?

Ernie smiled: "This is easy to do, I will contact the media to publicize that Patrick has been suffering from a knee injury, this one is very uncomfortable, so I can't play with the injury, in addition to his knee, he has to endure a bone spur in his right foot...... No one will say that he is soft, and it doesn't matter if you take a break. ”

Van Gundy is out of words, and management cares a lot about Ewing's numbers.

This is the most basic means of publicity, in the future, there will be stars with bone spurs piercing sneakers off the court, walking on crutches, basically saying goodbye to bicycles, but once on the court, they can play for nearly 40 minutes, all kinds of difficult shots against people, but do not pass the ball to teammates with sound limbs.

Van Gundy hung up the phone and sighed, "Jerry, you won, Ernie agrees to take a rest, you are responsible for convincing Patrick." ”

"No problem, thanks." Yang Rui said with a smile.

Thibodeau also smiled, he is now on the same front with Yang Rui, thinking that Yang Rui's decisions are all right, and the record speaks for itself. When Thibodeau was ready to go home, he wrote it down in his coaching experience notebook and learned a new trick.

At lunch, Yang Rui asked Ewing out and chatted alone.

Ewing is really tired, he can ensure efficiency by playing 30 minutes per game, and the average of 35 minutes per game is too much, as soon as he heard that in order to ensure the data rotation, he immediately agreed.

If you want to say who cares most about data and honor, it is naturally the person concerned. Tough guy Ewing, for the first time in his career, he took a turn off because of brushing data!

PS