Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 259 Cruel Alliance

11 month 28 day.

Staples Center.

More than 19,000 Clippers fans welcomed their Clippers son: Blake Griffin.

When he was still warming up, he had already received cheers. Chen Fang sat in a chair and discussed tactics with Brian.

With the addition of Griffin, many tactics need to be adjusted, and this burden naturally falls on him.

"So now I need him to follow me more?" Chen Fang asked.

"Yes, you need to give him a look or a gesture."

"Let me control it?" Chen asked subconsciously.

"Yes." Brian's expression was calm. He glanced at Chen Fang, and the latter seemed to understand.

"I understand." Chen Fang nodded.

But Chen Fang was not at peace, because the coaching staff had already confirmed that technical and tactical arrangements would be centered around him.

This is only the 20th game, and the cruelty of the league is evident.

His performance was not very good, but the potential he showed immediately caused the management to change their strategy. Even though there had been a major strategy of reconstruction from the beginning, it was too fast.

Chen Fang doesn't think it's right to trade Griffin. This guy still has some gas in the tank and his injury is not serious. As long as he changes his playing style, he can prolong his career.

Chen Fang likes Griffin very much. You can see from his eyes his sincerity towards basketball and desire for honor.

In the team, he does not regard himself as the boss, but acts like a big brother. The atmosphere in the Clippers has never been bad, which has a lot to do with Griffin's non-confrontational nature.

What's more, Chen Fang really didn't want to be blamed for driving Griffin away.

There is only one way, which is to integrate Griffin into the new system.

With this thought in mind, Chen Fang started his second matchup with the Lakers this season.

In fact, including the preseason, this is the third time. The Lakers lost the first two times without any suspense. Walton's review also emphasized Chen Fang as the first defensive point.

At the beginning of the first quarter, the Lakers adopted a man-to-man + zone double-team strategy against Chen Fang, with Ingram and Clarkson switching defenses unlimitedly, and Chen Fang took the opportunity to distribute the offensive rights to Griffin.

But Griffin, who had been out of action for a long time, had a poor shooting touch and only made one of his first five shots.

At the first official timeout, the Clippers were trailing by 9 points at home, 14 to 5.

Rivers adjusted the lineup, replacing Rivers Jr. with Thornwell to help Chen Fang, and at the same time replacing DeAndre Jordan, who was also in poor form, with Zubac.

Finally, he signaled to let Kuzma take more control of the finishing rights.

The Clippers did not get better after returning to the game. Kuzma also lost his shooting bag, with a 0-for-3 shooting performance, which made the Lakers more daring in double-teaming Chen Fang.

After the first quarter, the Clippers were trailing by 18 points at 29 to 11.

There were boos from the stands and the fans were dissatisfied and disappointed.

Rivers chose to trust the players to adjust themselves. He simply replaced Kuzma and let Wesley play as a defensive small forward, using his pick-and-roll ability to help the two stars inside and outside.

But Chen Fang was not panicked. He wanted to help Griffin find the feeling of the game, which required ball possession and time. In the second quarter, he continued to choose to trust his teammates.

As more and more balls were passed to Griffin, Griffin began to score continuously, and the Lakers took measures in response. Their defensive strategy was still on the outside. Walton believed that solving Chen Fang was the key to winning.

Just let Randle defend Griffin.

Throughout the first half, the Clippers' offense revolved around Griffin. Chen Fang chose to give half of his passes to him. He only took three shots, made two of them, and made two free throws, scoring 2 points and 6 assists.

Bryan reminded Rivers: "This is not our pre-game strategy."

"I know, I know," Rivers replied.

He had already seen what Chen Fang was thinking, but there was nothing wrong with that. It was understandable that Griffin could find his form in a regular season. Compared to his status, there was nothing wrong with this operation.

But violating the pre-match tactical arrangements is also a big problem.

"Let Chen go." Rivers made the decision.

Teodosic, who had been on the bench for a long time, got a chance to play. Rivers pulled him over and gave him instructions.

After Chen Fang came off the court, Rivers surprisingly didn't say anything to him. The two passed each other without communicating and sat back on the bench. Jordan next to him high-fived him and whispered, "That's not wrong."

"We still have the second half." Chen Fang said confidently.

At the end of the half, the Clippers continued to lag behind, 48:59, which was the lowest half-time score for the Clippers this season.

Back in the locker room, Rivers had a gloomy face, and his emotions suppressed the atmosphere in the locker room. After a while, he said, "We didn't have the touch today, so we need to work harder on defense."

Then he began to arrange the defense for the second half. Chen Fang understood that the coach was suppressing his anger and not blaming anyone.

Halftime is the stage for commentary and review. David said bluntly: "Griffin's return disrupted the Clippers' overall offensive and defensive rhythm. Chen Fang was forced to share more ball rights with him, but his ability was not enough to handle so much ball rights, so the Clippers' lag became a matter of course."

Duan Ran also analyzed: "Chen Fang didn't have much desire to attack today, he was more of a passer. One reason was that the Lakers double-teamed him, and the other was that Griffin was on the court and he needed the ball."

"The score difference was 11 points, and there were only 48 points at halftime. This is the first time," said Ke Fan.

"No team can always perform at a high level. Plus, the Clippers are a new system, and Griffin's comeback needs time to make mistakes."

"In the second half, the Clippers will definitely find a way to solve these problems. The Clippers' offensive firepower is still fine." With Chen Fang's outstanding performance, more and more people began to believe in Chen Fang, believing that no matter what the situation, he could solve it.

Even Chen Fang thinks so.

When I draw my knife, it will be time for slaughter!

Things don't go as planned. Imagination is always beautiful, but reality is cruel.

Chen Fang took the initiative in the second half, but the Lakers, under Paul's command, held on to the 11-point difference. Ingram was in surprisingly good shape, and while Chen Fang was scoring, he kept scoring in response.

In the fourth quarter, Rivers even replaced Griffin and returned to the winning mode, but it was of no avail.

Ten minutes into the fourth quarter, Chen Fang was substituted out and sat in his chair unwillingly, feeling his first defeat against the Lakers.

Especially before leaving the court, Ingram's naked provocation to him and Paul's roar after scoring 2+1 became the hottest topics of the game.

There is nothing to criticize about Chen Fang's data of 21 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

There is no problem with Griffin's data of 24 points, 3 assists and 10 rebounds.

But the Clippers' new and old core players combined to score 45 points, but the Lakers still won by 17 points. There are too many people who want to talk about this phenomenon.

After the game, Griffin and Chen Fang both expressed their views on the loss at the press conference. When asked by reporters whether there was any incompatibility, they both denied it.

"We will be fine, wait for the next game." Griffin said confidently.

After returning home, Chen Fang called Sun Lexian immediately and asked him to send out the bounty as quickly as possible, trying to find the best solution from Hei Nao.

At the same time, Chen Fang also called Kobe, he had a lot of confusion and needed guidance.

Since Kobe's call didn't go through, Chen Fang had to give up for the time being. He sat in the living room and started watching the game video that Wu Zi had recorded for him.

After watching for a while, my phone rang. It was Kobe calling back.

"Is it because we lost the game?" Kobe didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

“Yes, is there a big problem with my strategy today?”

"Of course, everyone is used to you initiating the attack, but now it's Blake who's initiating the attack, and the rhythm is different." "But Blake's comeback requires my support."

"That's right, but you are the leader now, aren't you?" Kobe asked back.

Seeing Chen Fang was silent, he continued: "I have no intention of interfering with the internal problems of the team. I can only give my opinion based on the game."

"It's like a group of sheep that have become accustomed to being led by a leader. Now that someone else is leading, everyone will hesitate in their choice."

"The newcomers are not performing well. What do you think they are thinking?" Kobe's words went straight to Chen Fang's heart.

"Think about it slowly. Don't come to me about these things in the future. You have to face them alone." Kobe said and hung up the phone.

Chen Fang vaguely understood Kobe's resolute words. He seemed to be a little disappointed with him.

Wu Zi came out and said worriedly, "Would you like some soup? It's getting cold."

It is late at night, it is late autumn now, the starry sky is beautiful and the wind is cold.

Chen Fang stood in the backyard looking at the sky, and did not answer Wu Zi's words for a while.

Wu Zi walked over and put her arm around Chen Fang's: "Since you entered the NBA, you are not the same as before."

"What was I like before?" Chen Fang asked.

"Although I still play basketball every day, I am always happy every time I come back. Unlike now, I look sad as soon as I get home, whether I win or lose, as if I have a lot of worries in my heart."

"I really don't like you right now."

Chen Fang didn't expect Wu Zi to say this, and he was stunned.

"Chen Fang." Wu Zi held his cheeks with both hands and the two looked at each other.

"The person who is not afraid of anything is the Chen Fang I like."

"The more you think about it, the more complicated it becomes."

Chen Fang hugged Wu Zi and comforted her, "I'm sorry to have made you worry. Give me some time, I will adjust."

Just as Chen was reflecting, Rivers, Lawrence and Wenger were deadlocked in the conference room.

"This is a very bad omen." Wenger still had that cold and ruthless expression.

"You didn't communicate well. Today's game was terrible."

Lawrence coughed and spoke to smooth things over: "In my opinion, today's game was acceptable. Blake and Chen Fang both scored 20+ points. It's just that the role players didn't perform well, resulting in a lack of firepower."

Wenger shook his head: "We are all insiders. Frank, don't you see? Everyone is at a loss and doesn't know how to play on the court."

"The biggest problem is that Chen Fang gave all the ball rights that should have been allocated to them to Blake."

"He was giving in. This should have been a smooth core handover. As long as we win this game and he gets the highest points on the team, no one will have any objections."

"Including, Blake himself."

It has to be said that Wenger's eyes are always sharp, and his words left the two speechless.

"Now, the whole team has a false impression. What will the old players think? What will the new players think? Is this team going to start to split?" Wenger stood up and paced. He began to show his anger: "The person I want to curse the most is Chen Fang."

"What is he thinking? Is this the time to be humble? The entire team has hundreds of millions of dollars in operating funds a year, and he is going to use them to build friendship? Fuck!"

"Bang!" Wenger slammed the table hard and breathed heavily.

The scene of a usually gentle man getting furious was very frightening. Rivers, who had something to say, quickly swallowed his words back.

"Just wait and see, we're going to lose again. Doug, if you still want to continue to be a good guy, I'm sorry, I'm going to take action!" Wenger stared at Rivers coldly.

"Next up is home game against the Jazz, away game against the Mavericks, and home and away games against the Timberwolves." Rivers remained calm, looking at Wenger calmly: "We can win these four games. I think Blake's dedication to the Clippers over the years is worth it for everyone. I support Chen Fang's operation."

"You support it? Oh, that sounds really nice." Wenger laughed instead of getting angry.

"How the game is played is my business. How the team goes is your business. If we continue to be at odds with each other like this, no one will have a good life." Rivers slowly stood up.

"In my opinion, the root cause of all the fluctuations in the Clippers is that you don't trust me. If you continue to distrust me like this, then I will have a good talk with Steve." After saying that, Rivers pushed the door and left.

Wenger was also a little surprised. He didn't expect Rivers to suddenly reveal his cards. He looked at Lawrence and asked as if to confirm: "What is he talking about? Forcing the emperor to abdicate?"

Lawrence stood up helplessly, asked Wenger to sit down first, and then comforted him: "The regular season has just started, and everything cannot be defined yet."

"No, Doug is not suitable for the Clippers anymore. He can't keep up with the pace." Wenger seemed to have regained his composure.

"Start looking for a potential head coach. The team needs a major clean-up after this season."

"Players and management all need it."

Lawrence was stunned. He realized that Wenger's anger just now was deliberate.

"If the Chinese can't make a decision, let us help him. You go and repair my relationship with Rivers and tell him that I apologize to him. From now on, he is fully responsible for everything and you will assist him." Wenger's words made Lawrence's heart even colder.

Wenger is now waiting for an opportunity, perhaps in the February trading window, he will start taking action.

And he will be the one to paralyze Rivers.

As if sensing Lawrence's hesitation, Wenger stared at him with a cold gaze.

"Do you want to see Chen Fang become the MVP candidate?" he suddenly asked.

"He has the potential," Lawrence said.

"Then give him a push and let him follow Rivers. Maybe he can become a star, but he won't be a superstar."

"What does a young lion need? Food, lots of meat. But now this young lion is sharing the meat with others, delaying its own development."

"Chen Fang needs a lot of ball possession and unquestionable status. An excellent manager should not start working only when the time is right."

"Be decisive, be resolute, go all in when you see the opportunity. Losing is not a big deal, what is a big deal is not even having the courage to gamble!"

"Get rid of all those who threaten Chen Fang. When the young lion matures, we will match him with helpers and championship puzzles."

"This is the correct training procedure. Compromise, procrastination, perfunctory thinking, and being stymied by social relationships are not qualities that a qualified manager should possess."

"Frank, don't let me down." Wenger said this and left the meeting room.

Lawrence, who was alone in the room, was also chewing on Wenger's words.

He has been trying to be a bridge between Rivers and Wenger, and sometimes the repeated jumping back and forth made him have the illusion that this was his job.

Now, Wenger's cold words made him realize it.

He was wrong from beginning to end.

But deep down in his heart he still felt regretful and unwilling.

The harmonious Clippers eventually came to the point of falling apart, and all the old players had to leave. This is what Wenger meant.

The performance of this group of newcomers has proved that they can be the new main body of the Clippers.

Rivers Jr., Jordan Jr., Griffin, Wesley, Gallinari, and Bryce will all be traded in the February trading window.

Either he can become a future first-round pick, or even a second-round pick, or he can be replaced by an obedient newcomer.

Cruel alliance!
(End of this chapter)