Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 135 The Head Coach's Authority Allows Provocation
Conley finally nodded.

Although he is an academic point guard and needs to obey the coach's instructions, he is not a stubborn person like Hollins. He knows the situation the team is facing.

And although Hollins is a powerful coach, he is still an NBA coach.

If he were an NCAA coach, Guy would never have dared to act like that, but he dared to do so in front of Hollins, and Hollins didn't dare to do anything to him.

This is the difference. NBA coaches and players are essentially in a partnership.

If the team has a bad record and loses, the coach will be the first to be blamed.

So as long as it works and can win the game back, Hollins wouldn't dare to say anything.

They had just finished their "small meeting" when the Thunder made a substitution and the referee signaled them to serve the sideline ball.

Battier threw the ball from the sideline, Conley got the ball, Randolph took position in the low post, the Thunder retreated early, and everything seemed no different from before.

However, there was an off-ball screen on the weak side, and Hansen moved to the free throw line with the help of Gasol's pick-and-roll.

Harden was blocked, Conley's pass was delivered, and Hansen took a direct mid-range shot after receiving the ball.

Although it was a tactical adjustment, they had used these tactics before and were not unfamiliar with the running.

This sudden tactical change caught the Thunder off guard. Although Ibaka rushed forward with all his might, Han Sen jumped much higher than he expected. He could not strike back and could only fly past Han Sen.

"Shh!"

Han Sen's mid-range shot went into the pocket steadily.

The scene instantly erupted into overwhelming cheers.

This was the first time the Grizzlies scored a goal in open play in more than five minutes since the start of the game!
Hollins stood up and looked at Hansen who was retreating with a questioning look.

Han Sen pretended not to see it.

Hollins looked at Conley again, and Conley was really staring at Westbrook and didn't see him.

Hollins felt his authority was challenged, but he couldn't find a way to vent.

At this time, the defensive shouts of Memphis fans began to be heard at the scene, and the Grizzlies' momentum rose again.

At this time, someone on the bench was covering his mouth and laughing.

Although Gay cannot play in the game, he will naturally play with the team as he is already in the recovery period.

In his eyes, Hollins' so-called obedience was a joke. Although he was stupid, he knew that the coach's authority was established by winning rather than coercion.

The Thunder continued to attack Durant, and Durant once again passed Battier.

However, Battier fought hard to return to defense this time, and used his blindfold defense to interfere with Durant's quick stop shot, and the basketball finally went out of the frame.

Randolph grabbed the defensive rebound and Conley advanced to the frontcourt and continued to move forward.

This time the ball was first passed to Randolph. Randolph turned his back and seemed to be going for a one-on-one play, but in fact he was observing the defense.

After seeing Ibaka's assisting defense, he decisively threw the ball to the free throw line. Hansen just happened to run into an open space with the help of Gasol's pick-and-roll.

Poor Harden was once again blocked by Gasol. He was not very good at lateral movement and had no idea how to deal with the pick-and-roll of such a big player.

But Ibaka was prepared this time and quickly pounced on Hansen.

Hansen used a fake mid-range shot to ignite Ibaka.

It’s not that Ibaka likes to jump, but Han Sen’s mid-range jump just now was too high, and he didn’t have time to counterattack.

But Ibaka is also an expert. He jumped but did not use his full strength. When he saw Hansen receiving the ball and breaking through, he quickly turned around to assist in defense.

However, Han Sen's speed was much faster than he imagined. Before he could block the shot and before Perkins could retreat to the basket, Han Sen made a layup and scored.

The stadium was instantly filled with the cheers of fans.

They were actually not unfamiliar with the scene in front of them. This was how the Grizzlies played against the Spurs.

"Lionel Hollins made the right choice!" Barkley exclaimed in the commentary booth, also affirming his own foresight.

However, when the camera turned to Hollins, his face turned red.

What was being played on the court now was not at all what he had arranged before the game, but the team was on the verge of catching up and he couldn't call a timeout.

To put it bluntly, although he is a three-time veteran of the Grizzlies, his prestige in the league is not enough.

If it were a famous coach like Jerry Sloan or Popovich, he would replace players if they didn't obey his orders.

In other words, Hollins can't leave the Grizzlies.

If he was fired because of a loss, it would not be easy for him to find another head coaching job.

Hollins was still sitting on the sidelines with a red face, but Brooks was already getting a little restless.

He replaced Harden in order to launch a counterattack, but now, Han Sen took advantage of the change in the defense and launched a counterattack.

He stood up and yelled at Harden for a while.

After the Thunder advanced to the frontcourt, Harden made a new tactical gesture with the ball.

Durant and Ibaka set an off-ball screen and then received the ball and shot directly.

Durant's shot was deflected by Gasol Jr., Randolph protected the defensive rebound at the basket, and then passed the ball to Conley.

Conley instinctively went to look for Han Sen, the little fast break expert, but found that Han Sen did not make a fast break.

Even after seeing Conley's gaze, Han Sen made a gesture to slow down.

Although he mentioned tactical changes during the meeting, that does not mean subverting the Grizzlies' style of play. He still needs to ensure the success rate of positional warfare, which is the Grizzlies' advantage.

The Grizzlies' choice frustrated Brooks' plan, but Westbrook took the initiative to switch defense with Harden on the court.

His ability to go around screens is also much better than Harden's. After Han Sen received the ball, he went straight up to him.

Hansen leaned against Westbrook, made a bent-down three-threat sweep, and then took the ball and was about to shoot.

Westbrook has a height disadvantage and the interference he can provide is limited.

But Westbrook's reaction speed was indeed fast. He jumped up the moment he saw Hansen's move.

What he didn't expect was that Han Sen's shot was actually a feint, and he jumped again while falling.

The two men collided physically and the referee blew the whistle, indicating that Westbrook had violated the shooting cylinder.

Han Sen committed a foul.

Westbrook held his head, but Hansen nodded to the free throw line.

Westbrook's physical fitness during this period, like his fast break speed, has reached its peak, but he is still clearly lacking in experience.

Commonly known as a young and inexperienced person.

Brooks looked at Hansen at the free throw line, feeling a little confused.

As the best coach in the league last season, he did a thorough study of the Grizzlies' top scorer before the series began. He not only watched the Grizzlies' videos this season, but also watched Hansen's videos with the Cavaliers last season.

He was shocked by Hansen's performance in the playoffs against the Celtics, so in G1, he made a lot of defensive arrangements on Hansen.

Who would have thought that Hollins would not play by the rules, but would attack the inside line to the utmost and actually penetrate the Thunder's inside line.

As a last resort, he adjusted the focus of his defense in G2, but he didn't expect Hollins to still play inside, which naturally resulted in a reversal of the situation.

Only then did he realize that he had overestimated Hollins, the old-school coach, so he decided to shrink his defense tonight.

The start seemed to confirm that his judgment was correct.

But he never expected that the Grizzlies made another tactical adjustment at this time.

So, he still underestimated Hollins?
Hansen made both free throws and led a 6-0 run, helping the Grizzlies narrow the score to 10-12.

At the critical moment, Durant showed his strength again. He stood up in a high position and shot a mid-range shot against Battier's blinding defense.

But looking back, Randolph beat Perkins in the low post, turned around and shot over him to score 2+1.

Han Sen got open, and his movement on the off-ball side tied down the Thunder's defense, making them afraid to easily perform a low-post double-team.

So when he walked to the free throw line, Randolph not only high-fived Conley who fed him the ball, but also gave a passionate chest bump with Hansen who was walking to the side of the free throw line.

After Randolph made the free throw, the score difference came to 1 point, and the two sides entered a stalemate.

It was only after about 10 minutes in the first quarter that the two teams began to rotate.

Han Sen was substituted off the court for rest at this time.

When he left the court, he looked at Hollins, ready for a confrontation, but Hollins didn't say anything until he sat back on the bench.

This made him feel a little bored, but he also realized that Hollins only looked tough.

At this time on the court, Brooks chose to compress the rotation.

In the two minutes that Hansen was off the court, the Thunder established a 5-point lead under the leadership of Harden and Westbrook.

Harden averaged 26.9 minutes per game this season, contributing 12.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals. Although he failed to win the best sixth man award, his efficiency has improved significantly compared to his rookie season.

Although he was selected as a substitute in this year's All-Star Rookie Game, he was the second best player on the sophomore team, second only to Han Sen.

This shows that he is not without ability, but his competitive environment in the Thunder is worse than that of others.

It was not a coincidence that he scored 21 points in the last game, or rather, the 1 points in G8 were more like a coincidence.

During the break between the first and second quarters, Hansen asked Hollins to go on the court to defend Harden.

Harden is an excellent passer and the ball-handler when he is on the court. Allen is suitable for defending pure scorers, but he is not very effective in defending this type of player.

And from the score in the first quarter, it can be seen that even with tactical adjustments, the Grizzlies were unable to widen the score in one fell swoop.

Although this Thunder team has not yet grown to its peak, it already has the strength to compete for the championship.
The Grizzlies were able to win the first game due to Brooks' strategic mistakes, and winning again is not as easy as imagined.

If the Thunder really widened the score at the beginning of the second quarter, it would be very difficult for the Grizzlies to catch up later.

Hollins instinctively refused, he was feeling very dissatisfied.

He has slowly come to his senses. Randolph and Conley are his old subordinates and they will not disobey his orders.

Only Han Sen had a criminal record. And if you think about it, the change in the playing style on the field also happened after Han Sen called the players together for that "small meeting".

Such arrogance must not be encouraged, otherwise he will lose control of the team.

But before he could say anything, Toyes on the side spoke first: "Lionel, I think this is a good choice. We need to keep the score close."

Hollins was about to say shut up, but Jorger looked at Hansen and asked, "Are you ok with your physical fitness?"

Han Sen shook his head.

Since obtaining [Iron Bones], his body's fatigue resistance has been improving, which allows him to stay on the court longer.

Especially this season, after Gay was injured, his playing time inevitably increased, and his physical fitness also improved after half a season.

Of course, what is more important now is the score, rather than the physical fitness issue. If the score gap is widened early, what is the point of saving physical strength?

Hollins was stunned. His two assistant coaches didn't think there was anything wrong with what Han Sen did.

"Lionel, let Han play, we need him." Joerger is also a defensive coach, and he also knows that only Han Sen can limit Harden well.

It is obvious that at this time both Joerger and Towis are thinking about how to win the game, while Hollins is more concerned about his control over the team.

"Coach, believe Han, he can do it." At this time, Battier also came over and said, "I can buy him a few minutes of rest time in the second quarter."

Compared to the two assistant coaches, Battier wants to win more for the sake of his "inflated" unfinished business.

Now, even if Hollins wanted to say something, he couldn't, because the people with the most say in the team supported Hansen.

He finally nodded reluctantly, and was not even in the mood to arrange tactics. After throwing the tactical board to Joerger, he sat back on the bench.

He would never have thought that the person who helped him solve Guy's troubles would now become the person who caused him the most trouble.

As expected, Hansen restricted Harden after he came on the court.

Hansen is bigger than Harden, can keep up with him in speed, and has enough key defensive experience, so it is not easy for Harden to organize an offense.

Looking at the situation on the court, Hollins became more and more depressed.

It was at this time that Joerger sat next to Hollins.

"Lionel, Han has no opinion on us." Jorgel is still good at persuading people.

Hollins turned his head in confusion.

"Do you remember that game in Cleveland when Zach lost control of his temper?"

Hollins didn't say anything, but he still doesn't understand what happened.

"I talked about that with Chris (Wallace) one day. He said that shortly after returning from Cleveland, Han asked him a lot about Zach. In the subsequent game against the Lakers, Zach got a season high. I think Han and Zach had some communication."

Joerger is much better at interpersonal relationships than Hollins.

Hollins thought for a moment. He heard that Hansen and Guy had had a conflict before, but Hansen and Randolph certainly hadn't.

At this time, Joerger looked at Hansen who stole the ball from Harden and rushed to the front court and said, "I think he meant what he said when he first came here."

"What?" Hollins didn't remember much.

"He wants to bring a championship to this city, he wants to win."

Hansen finished with a powerful pull-up slam dunk and celebrated with his iconic No. 77 jersey.

-Dividing line-

①: The Thunder reached the Western Conference Finals in the 2010-2011 season, and ultimately lost 1-4 to the eventual champion Mavericks.

(End of this chapter)