NBA: Back to 97, to be the Jagged Bishop

Chapter 109 None of the seven wolves are afraid, but you?
After winning the Jazz, the Raptors continued to sit at home to face the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves' starting insider Tom Gugliotta was injured and was reimbursed for the season, which greatly affected the Timberwolves' combat effectiveness.

Before getting injured, the Timberwolves even reached the fourth place in the Western Conference.

Now that there is one less core general in the interior, the Timberwolves' competitiveness has dropped sharply and their record has declined. They have now slipped to seventh in the Western Conference and become the goalkeeper of the playoffs.

Before the game, Combe sat on the bench to watch the players warm up.

Timberwolves coach Philip Saunders walked over with a smile.

This is already the second time the Raptors have played against the Timberwolves this season, so he has met Sanders face to face, so he is not unfamiliar.

"Long time no see, Philip."

Kumbu called out his name and greeted him with a smile.

It's not that Kumbu is snobbish when he sees people ordering dishes, but that Sanders only started entering the NBA in 95, and his qualifications are not much older than Kumbu's.

And Sanders is a coach from the Continental Basketball Association. A coach from this kind of minor league is naturally shorter than a person in the league circle.

The highest status, or the one who feels that he is the highest status, is the coach of a super prestigious NCAA school like Pitino.

Then there are coaches who are superstars, such as Dave Cowens or Larry Bird.

Then there are those mediocre coaches with no background and characteristics, such as Brian Hill.

In the end is a coach from the minor leagues like Sanders, who has the lowest status in the league.

Combe belongs to that special situation, that is, he led the Raptors to rise and successfully proved himself, otherwise he would be completely empty in this league.

Since he and the other party have similar qualifications, there is no need for Comb to be too in awe of Sanders, Zhihu's name is more friendly.

"It's been a long time, Kong, you guys are really getting better and better."

"There are already signs of becoming a dynasty team."

"Two days ago, when I was chatting with McHale, I mentioned you. He thought that your future achievements would definitely be comparable to Auerbach's."

Sanders blows Comb with a sincere face.

Kumbu was speechless. This evaluation was suspected of being exaggerated. If others knew that he, a rookie who had just coached for more than half a season, was evaluated as being comparable to the Cardinal in the future, it would definitely make people laugh.

Seeing Sanders like this, plus he moved Timberwolves general manager McHale out, Comb immediately decided that he must have something to ask for.

The relationship between Sanders and McHale is similar to the old Thomas and Glenn, who were teammates in college.

The difference is that McHale has been supporting Sanders and giving him power in the team.

Old Thomas didn't do any personnel work here, and was busy grabbing shifts and seizing power.

Reminiscent of the reimbursement of Gugliotta of the Timberwolves, Combe thought that Sanders probably came from the Raptors' luxurious inside group.

But now the trading market is closed, even if Kongbu wants to sell it to him, he can't accept it.

"Philip, thank Mr. McHale for me. I am flattered by his evaluation."

"But now the door to the trading market has been closed. Even if you say that I can match Stern in the future, I can't sell players to you."

Combe laughed and joked.

Unexpectedly, Sanders quickly waved his hand, "Misunderstanding, definitely a misunderstanding."

"Kong, we don't have that luxury."

When waving his hands, he sat directly next to Kongbu, glanced at the little Malong, and began to whisper in Kongbu's ear.

"Kong, can you do me a favor and let my child come to you to practice."

"Don't worry, you don't need a penny of salary, and you don't need to give him the status of teaching assistant."

"As long as I can learn something from you."

Sanders' words made Comb dumbfounded. This guy really doesn't want the inside line of the Raptors, but wants to stuff his son into his coaching staff?
After he said this, Combe suddenly remembered.

Sanders' son Ryan Sanders did become the head coach of the NBA in the future, and also broke the record of the youngest head coach in NBA history at the age of 32.

"Huh? Isn't that right?"

Kumbu couldn't laugh or cry. He remembered that Saunders Jr. was elected as the Timberwolves coach in 2022. The former coach was Thibodeau. After being fired, his assistant Saunders Jr. took over.

At that time, Sanders was 32 years old, and now it is 1997. Doesn’t it mean that he is only 17 years old now?
Ma Long in Comb's coaching staff is extremely young, but at least he is over 25 years old. What do you say when Sanders sent a 17-year-old?Do you really think your coaching staff is a nursery school?
"how many kids do you have?"

Comb felt that Sanders shouldn't have done such an outrageous thing, and asked with a frown.

"Two sons, I'm talking about the eldest son Kane, who is the same age as little Mike this year."

"There is also a young son who hasn't graduated from high school yet."

Saunders obviously saw that Malone joined the coaching staff of Combe, so he had the idea of ​​sending his son here.

There is no way, the Raptors seem to be the only ones in the league who can ask for this kind of assistant coach who has no qualifications at all.

If it weren't for the precedent of Ma Long, he wouldn't dare to say this.

He is eager for his son to become a success, that is to say, his qualifications are not enough now. If he can make a promise in the Timberwolves, he even wants to get his son into his coaching staff.

Kung Bu understood, it turned out that they were two sons, which was more or less the same.

If he was sent to him as an assistant coach at the age of 17, Kumbu would have to sweep Sanders out of the arena with a broom.

After thinking for a while, Kong Bu nodded and agreed.

My own coaching staff now only has Newman and Xiao Malone, and there is no need to add one more, and the key is that there is no need to pay wages.

Ma Long has been getting more and more busy recently, and Kong Bu just needs an "assistant" by his side.

Moreover, accepting Kane Sanders also means being bound together with the old Sanders and McHale. If there is an incident like Riley's in the ring in the future, there will be more people who can give themselves a platform .

Anyway, there is no reason not to accept it.

"Yes, but there is no salary. Even if I ask Thomas, he will definitely not give it."

"Little Mike's situation is quite special. You should know that his father and Thomas are good friends."

"Send it over when you have time."

Kongbu nodded in agreement.

The old Sanders was very happy, and whether he could learn something from Combe's side was secondary.

The main reason is to get gold plated and formally enter the coaching business.

If the Raptors can win the championship this year, with this resume, Thomas Sr. can get his son into his coaching staff.

Others can't say anything, the champion assistant coach comes to a team like the Timberwolves who can find faults.

Even if he doesn't win the championship, if he stays by Kongbu's side for a few years, as long as he doesn't make any mistakes, he can still be by his side.

Comb suddenly had a feeling that the old Sanders was like the kind of parent who entrusted his relationship to send his child to a public institution, while he himself was the leader with real power.

What is wrong with this is the human society.

Everyone hates the human society, but everyone wants to be the beneficiary of the human society.

The old Saunders is a beneficiary, and Combe is actually a beneficiary. The other party has benefited from him. It is impossible for Combe to work in vain. Sanders will definitely be useful in the future.

Xiao Malong was sitting next to Kong Bu, listening to him sincerely, knowing that he would soon have another colleague, and suddenly felt a sense of crisis in his heart.

The Raptors' current chief assistant is Newman, who is almost an air man.

In this way, Malone is actually the chief assistant coach of the Raptors. Even if the chief assistant coach is a little watery, there are only two assistant coaches in the team.

Now that another related account has come, he feels that his status may be affected.

What if Kumbu handed over the work of training the defense to the opponent?I have a father who is a coach, and his father is also a coach, and he is also the head coach.

Not long after, the game on the field has begun.

In the eyes of Combe, the Timberwolves are a very typical pseudo-strong team. The weaker teams play vigorously. Once they encounter a real strong team, they will immediately show their true colors.

The main reason for this situation is Marbury.

This guy is a typical bully. Once the opponent's point guard's defensive strength increases, he will immediately wither.

He's playing against Billups tonight.

Billups' defense is not as oppressive as Snow's, after all, his body is not as tough as Snow's.

But the flounder's defense is not a display.

In Comb's memory, when the Flounders played for the Timberwolves, they had a classic duel with Marbury. In that game, Marbury took 28 crazy shots and only scored 7. He only scored 23 points in the game. There were also 7 turnovers.

If it weren't for 8 of 7 free throws, Marbury would be disgraced in that game.

After the opening game tonight, Marbury played flounder crazily in singles. He may think that flounder is a soft persimmon.

After joining the Raptors, after a period of sinking, Billups gradually found his form, but his performance is still not as good as Snow before in the eyes of the outside world.

There is not much difference in the data between the two, and Snow's single defense ability is obviously stronger than that of Billups.

The tandem offense that Billups is good at cannot be reflected in the statistics, nor can it be reflected in those weak teams.

After a few shots in the opening game, Marbury's shooting rate was good, which further strengthened his determination to play Billups in a crazy single.

The Raptors focused on inside offense, with Big Ben at the basket and Jermaine directly facing Garnett.

Fighting and fighting, the point difference between the two sides was widened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

With the rise of Marbury's shooting, he didn't even notice that his shooting percentage had begun to decline steadily.

By the time he realized it, Garnett had already begun to give him bad looks.

Garnett also played very proudly. The last time he played against the Raptors, the Raptors hadn't brought in Big Zhi. At that time, Garnett had a good helper Gugliotta.

The situation is different now, and the Raptors' inside line has become stronger.

And he didn't have any good helpers around him. Cherokee Palos, who was his partner, knew that his strength was a bit sloppy just by hearing this extremely unfamiliar name.

As a lottery pick in 95, after Gugliotta was reimbursed, Palos secured the throne of the Timberwolves' starting center. He averaged 12% rebound rate and contributed 5.5 rebounds steadily.

What is the concept of a 12% rebound rate? Daben's peak season rebound rate was 23.2%. Rodman's season in the Spurs even reached a sky-defying 29.7%!

The more Garnett played, the more uncomfortable he was. He couldn't grab the rebounds at all, but he was able to compete with Jermaine O'Neill on the offensive end.

But after Dazhi came on the field, the situation was different. Under Dazhi's ultra-wide defensive radiation range, his iron-blooded mid-range shooting percentage dropped, and the key point was that he couldn't play low-post offense. After all, there was still a big Ben guarding the basket.

Uncomfortable and aggrieved, what's more terrible is that there is Marbury who is throwing wildly outside, and Garnett is so angry that he loses his mind.

He began to swear and curse, and his defensive actions gradually increased.

"Shh!"

In front of him, Da Zhi scored a half-stop, and then began to return to defense.

Garnett blushed and had a thick neck, chant scriptures behind Da Zhi, and occasionally pulled Da Zhi.

Kong Bu immediately regained his spirits, and took out a handful of fried peanuts from the lining pocket of his suit.

Looks like a good show tonight.

Dazhi seems to be soft-tempered, but he is also the kind of character that can't be stopped when he doesn't get angry, and he can really beat people.

If it is said that his physical fitness has not improved, he is definitely not the opponent of the wolf king.

But now, his strength and speed are definitely not inferior to Garnett. If he really wants to make Da Zhi anxious, he can really beat the wolf king.

Kong Bu was not worried about Dazhi's losses, since Daben was on the court, so there would be no disadvantages.

It's not that Kong Bu looked down on Garnett. In his previous life, he wasn't even afraid of his old father's seven wolves, so how could he be afraid of him.

Kumbu just picked up a peanut and secretly stuffed it into his mouth and began to chew it. Old Sanders immediately called a timeout.

And then no more.

Garnett was directly pressed on the bench.

Kong Bu was very disappointed. He wasted a peanut and didn't see any excitement.

Old Sanders was probably also afraid of accidents. On the one hand, he didn't want to make trouble with Kongbu. After all, he had just sent his son to Kongbu.

On the other hand, I don't want to see the immature Garnett suffer.

Now Garnett is as thin as a stick. He can beat anyone, let alone Da Ben, he probably is not an opponent of Mashburn.

The Raptors can even beat the old ghosts of New York, how can they save face for you Garnett.

The old Sanders simply replaced Garnett to avoid trouble.

After replacing Garnett, he did not forget to smile apologetically at Combe.

Kong Bu waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care.

Until the end of the game, Garnett never played again, and Marbury became the only offensive point in the team, and he completely let himself go.

He made 33 of 11 shots, 33% shooting rate, and scored a total of 26 points. This offensive efficiency is simply indescribable.

(End of this chapter)