As soon as he heard that the Rockets, who had the best record in the league, had asked him for a tryout, Moon hopped on the fastest plane and traveled from another state to Houston, where he soon reported to the Toyota Center.

Knowing that there were competitors, Moon went crazy with Weaver in a training match.

As a result, the coaching staff decided that Weaver had a slight advantage. Yesterday's conversation with Hayes woke up Weaver to some extent. Weaver's offensive run and lack of shots, as well as his defensive playfulness, made a deep impression.

Moon, on the other hand, showed extremely high athleticism and a very low basketball IQ, just as Hayes had imagined. In the positional attack, Moon can't let go of his hands and feet and can't integrate into the tactics, but if he plays a fast attack, he has the spirit.

Moon fulfilled Hayes' desire to play an open catch, which also led to several passing errors because he couldn't bear to throw the ball into the sky as soon as he saw Moon go to the basket.

Not to be outdone, Weaver performed a big windmill dunk in a solo fast break, full of passion.

After Hayes got off the court, he sat directly in the position of the coaching staff to rest.

"The physical fitness of these two people you found is really amazing, definitely not inferior to Maddie in his prime, but the defense is too poor." Jeff Van Gundy said.

"Poor defensiveness, it's okay, Tom. If you train well, you should be able to become a qualified substitute. The speed of the two of them must have served as a cavalry when attacking quickly. Hayes laughed.

The Tom that Hayes is talking about is Tom Thibodeau, the assistant coach of the Rockets defense. When Thibodeau was an assistant coach with the Rockets, few people knew his name. People attribute the Rockets' defensive success to Jeff Van Gundy, but in fact, Thibodeau is just as big a part of the Rockets' defensive system.

He faithfully followed Jeff Van Gundy for many years until he moved to Celtic, where he began to attract attention.

Any NBA coach is looking for an assistant coach who is better than himself, but they usually can't find it. After Van Gundy became a commentator, he publicly called himself lucky on several occasions, saying that Thibodeaux was smarter and better than himself, and that he never minded working quietly behind someone else's aura.

"Jeff said you have the potential to be a coach, and I didn't believe it at first. Now it seems that you have a really good eye. Both of these two will be qualified role players as long as they can step up defensively. Thibodeau laughed.

"Stay both. When playing the Lakers, it can be used as a surprise soldier. Jeff Van Gundy said.

Both will be given a chance to get a 10-day short contract, and in order to stay and compete with each other, the two will definitely play harder.

Thibodeau leaned over and sat down next to Hayes, saying, "Weaver's speed is faster than Kobe, and he may become a good player if he exercises it." It's good that he's not as soft as the scouts give him, Chuck, did you tell him something yesterday? ”

"Yesterday I singled him out and cleaned him up with a backbeat, saying he was a soft egg. This kid has a lot of self-esteem and worked a lot harder defensively today. Originally, he had a similar style to Moon, and he wanted to rush in when he received the ball, and I said that the Rockets didn't need a tumor, so he didn't attack with the ball today and ran desperately. Hayes looked at the field and said with a smile: "It's a pity that this guy is really not good at this." The defensive moves are too hard. ”

"Knowing that change is progress. Moon: I'll talk to him, but it's hard to completely change a person's style. Thibodeau said.

"Jeff, it's time to fight the Lakers, how are you going to defend Kobe?" Hayes asked.

"You want to be with him?" Jeff Van Gundy laughed. When Hayes asks this kind of question, he often wants to defend the opponent.

"I really want to, but I can't prevent it one-on-one with Maddie. Kobe Bryant's offensive ability is better than Maddy's, right? ”

"You should ask Tom about this, he used to be Kobe's teacher." Jeff Van Gundy said, stood up and walked to the sideline, shouting at Hyde on the field, who was leaking again.

Although Weaver and Moon defended poorly, compared to Hyder, it was not so ugly, and Van Gundy completely decided to send Hyde away.

Is Thibodeau Bryant's teacher?

Hayes didn't know enough about basketball gossip to be clear about it.

Thibodeau helped Kobe Bryant a lot in his career, and he stayed with him when he was sixteen or seventeen.

Thibodeau trained with Bryant, taught him ball handling, taught him how to play, how to defend. Kobe's defensive play after that is exactly Thibodeau's usual coaching style.

Bryant had already attracted a lot of attention when he attended Raul Merrien High School in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He was invited by former 76ers coach John Lucas to participate in the team's practice against those NBA players. In 1996, the Charlotte Hornets drafted Kobe Bryant and then traded him to the Lakers in exchange for Divac.

Bryant's father was coaching at LaSalle (an eastern Canadian city) at the time, with John Lucas as the 76ers head coach and Thibodeau as the assistant coach.

"There are two people here who are familiar with Kobe, one is Maddie and the other is me." Thibodeau said to Hayes with a smile, as if nostalgic for the past. "We were training at St. Joseph's Arena and all the people were gathered there, there were high school players, there were college players, there were professional players, everybody was training here, and Kobe Bryant was the youngest there."

"Chuck, I think you're a bit like Kobe." Thibodeau thought for a moment and smiled.

"Well, I also think that my appearance belongs to the handsome of the black people." Hayes laughed.

"You've been feeling good about yourself lately. With the same height of 198cm, your figure is far worse than Kobe. Ha ha. Thibodeau looked at Hayes and thought: Compared to you, I am a handsome guy, at least I am whiter, not as stout as you.

"Oh, I don't have a vision." Hayes sighed. He doesn't care about his looks anymore, he is talented and beautiful, and it is more important for a man to be talented.

"Back then, I had the best relationship with Kobe Bryant in training camp, and then I trained with him in my spare time, and at that time I found that there was one quality in him that other players in his age group did not have, and that was self-motivation." Thibodeau said slowly: "Kobe Bryant always wants to improve himself, he wants to learn everything that can make him stronger. It's a lot like the two of you. You've learned big dream footwork, back-to-back jumpers, and all sorts of breakthrough moves. There are even crab steps. I was surprised that there were only two people in this league, one was you and the other was Kobe. ”

Hayes shrugged his shoulders and said, "If you talk about hard work, Kobe is indeed my role model, if his 666 training volume is not fiction, I am not as good as him." I can't do it because of how much he trains. How was Kobe Bryant in high school? ”

"I still remember him when he was in high school, and he would stay in the gym from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. whenever school was out. He's been eager to play against the pros ever since, he's going to watch all NBA games and do strength training like crazy. Thibodeau continued: "I found that he was already a professional footballer in high school and his attitude was what made him special. Chuck, you also hope to be as strong as Kobe. ”

Hayes listened to Thibodeau's words and said with a smile: "I will definitely not become the same as Kobe, it's not that I am inferior, I don't think Kobe is the strongest." He's not a team player, and while he's impressive, it's certainly painful to be a team-mate. ”

"Hehe, I guess you're not convinced. But I think your mentality is more similar, and you are all arrogant in your bones. Thibodeau laughed: "Kobe's shortcomings are his strengths. Even if the opponent's defense is very tight, even if it is a double bag, he can still throw the ball in and score high points. He's good at beating people in that way, he's a player like that. But in the eyes of many people, he played unreasonably. I know him, but I can't defend him completely, and that's what makes him great. ”

"Maybe he's really great, but to me he's a paranoid, and I think he's selfish." Hayes laughed: "I'm completely different from Kobe Bryant, because the Lakers played Game 7 against the Suns last season. What did Bryant do in the second half? If it were me, I wouldn't do such a thing. ”

Thibodeau thought for a moment, shook his head again, and said, "Chuck, maybe you're right. ”

The entire second half of Game 7 of the 2006 playoffs against the Suns was a mystery to everyone.

Bryant scored 23 points in the first half, and the Lakers still trailed the mighty Suns 45-60. The data fully shows that Kobe Bryant did not have the support of his teammates in this game.

Before this game, some experts put forward the argument that "Kobe Bryant is not alone, and the Lakers are not alone".

As if to overturn the pundits' rhetoric, Bryant scored just one point in the entire second half, and the Lakers ended up losing 91-121 to the Suns.

After the game, Bryant said he didn't mean to give up the game. All he wanted was to chase the points and he wanted his teammates to help him. And tried to help them find their touch, but unfortunately, their teammates couldn't throw anything.

Yes, teammates can't shoot anything, so, in this case, what did Kobe Bryant, who averaged 35 points per game in the regular season, do? He only took one shot in the entire second half.

Isn't this a deliberate abandonment of the game?

Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschek said he was there at the time, and he thought Bryant's approach was a deliberate message that Lakers management would do something right away, such as trading big-name stars.

"It's really selfish, and it's a testament to Kobe's stupidity." Bill Plaszzek said.

The whole United States was boiling, all accusing Kobe Bryant of deliberately abandoning the game, and Charles Barkley even roared on the TV show and scolded Kobe Bryant for being a selfish ghost.

Kobe Bryant is strong. His individual ability ranks among the top five all-time shooting guards.

However, Hayes didn't like Kobe. The person he wants to beat the most is also Kobe.

He couldn't get used to people talking about Kobe Bryant as Jordan. Without O'Neal and Gasol, how could the Lakers have won three consecutive championships and two consecutive championships? Moreover, now that the Rockets have him as a reborn, even if the Lakers bring in Gasol in the future, they may not be able to pass the Rockets.

On December 13, the Rockets sat at home to face the Los Angeles Lakers.

To fill Maddy's gap, both Moon and Weaver were offered 10-day contracts in an attempt to bolster the impact of the perimeter offense. Jeff Van Gundy is still quite satisfied with the offensive ability of the two, as long as it is a run-and-run, it can have a certain effect.

Moon got the No. 16 jersey and repeatedly thanked Hayes after knowing that it was Hayes who recommended him to the Rockets.

Weaver, a scoring guard who should have only been brilliant during the Adelman era, also put on the Rockets jersey in advance, with a back number of 45, one more than Hayes.

The most coincidental thing is that they will meet the Lakers twice in 10 days, and Weaver is thrilled to have a chance to prove himself in front of his old club.

As long as they have Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers are a team that no opponent can afford to underestimate. After the best season of his career, Bryant continued his excellent performance in the new season, ranking first in the scoring list.

Kobe Bryant is a shooting guard while also having the ability to play at the small forward position. He is considered one of the NBA's most well-rounded players, having been named to the NBA All-NBA Team every year since 1999. Sports writers and sports commentators often compare Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan.

Jordan also believes that Kobe Bryant is the NBA player who is most like himself in this generation. In addition to the way you play, there is also temperament and the role you play on the team, and the most similar thing is that you can overcome hardships on your own.

In the 2005-06 season, Bryant's scoring skyrocketed to 35.4 points per game, along with 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists. His stats have improved dramatically, winning the scoring title for the first time and a magical performance of 81 points per game.

Although he didn't get the MVP last season, although the Lakers stumbled and failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs. But all the cheers and screams belonged to him, all the cameras were on his face, all the microphones were in front of his mouth - the world only knew him, only cared about him.

Upon entering the arena, Hayes' expression was extraordinarily serious. He knows that Kobe Bryant has outstanding individual abilities and tends to play amazingly against the Rockets. But tonight he must win!

Kobe, today I'm going to let you know what it means to have no brothers, no basketball!

―――――――――――――― Split ――――――――――――――

Honeys, don't squirt me...... Actually, I like Kobe Bryant. Although today's one questioned his behavior and style of play, what he said was absolutely true and very pertinent.

Kobe Bryant is a great player, but not a good team player, I think, as everyone knows.

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