One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-Three. Duncan's Successor Is Also Very Bad

Sun Ce did feel sorry for Whiteside's departure... But if Whiteside didn't go to the Trail Blazers, there would probably not be such a drastic change.

Sun Ce could probably guess Whiteside's mental journey. Although playing in their Grizzlies team made Whiteside understand the joy of winning, but the Trail Blazers were not willing to give such a big contract. Whiteside felt insecure and it was probably difficult to change.

It was a pity to send Whiteside away, but if they didn't send him away, the other party probably still had the first goal of brushing data... This is very contradictory.

But fortunately, Aldridge was traded back. If there was no Aldridge last season, the Grizzlies would definitely not have played such a fantastic season.

After a little regret, Sun Ce didn't put his mind on it anymore. Don't they still have Gobert? Gobert will have another season of rookie bonuses to eat next season, while Whiteside will have to get the maximum salary next season. Calculated at 25% of the salary cap, Whiteside's starting salary next season is more than 20 million!

Think about it, it's still good to enjoy the rookie bonus. Although he is not that good for the time being, Gobert is so talented that it is expected that he will not be much worse next season. Even if there is a gap, the difference between a salary of more than 1 million US dollars and more than 20 million US dollars is still very large.

…

On December 29, the Grizzlies ushered in the challenge of the Celtics at home.

At 5:40 in the evening, after entering the stadium, Sun Ce looked at the opponent's lineup.

The Celtics did not cut David Lee, which was a point that Sun Ce was very surprised. However, the Celtics' amnesty quota had long been used on Bynum, which was not very surprising. Anyway, they had to pay the salary, so it was better to use him for one more year.

As for whether it would affect David Lee's team-up to win the championship at the end of his career... Just look at David Lee's playing time in the Celtics in the past two years. He can only play 15 minutes per game.

However, David Lee's performance is not bad, averaging 7.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, which is quite impressive.

But the Celtics would rather give Jahlil Okafor playing time than David Lee at the beginning of the season.

Sun Ce's attention is on Jahlil Okafor. The No. 4 pick played more than 20 games, averaging 25 minutes per game, scoring 15.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.2 blocks. His shooting percentage is OK, and his defense is not as bad as expected.

But in mid-December, Jahlil Okafor suddenly had no playing time, which confused Sun Ce.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens was also helpless about Sun Ce's confusion. Their current winning rate has just returned to 50%, with 18 wins and 18 losses, ranking eighth in the Eastern Conference. This performance can be said to be far below expectations.

And this is a record that has been achieved after a beautiful performance of 6 wins and 3 losses in the past period of time. Before Okafor was put into the cold palace, they only had 12 wins and 15 losses.

As a head coach, he knows Okafor's problems better than anyone else. Stevens didn't expect that a big man with outstanding strength would become obsolete after entering the NBA!

Height 211 cm, wingspan 226 cm, weight 125 kg... perfect center body, and excellent skills. In 18 years, Stevens has never seen any player who just left college have such excellent low-post skills as Okafor. The last time he saw him was when Stevens was still playing basketball in college. At that time, he played against a senior named Tim Duncan. Okafor reminded him of a purely technical version of Duncan. When drafting, Okafor's template was Duncan.

But in terms of athletic ability and explosiveness, Okafor is far behind Duncan. Stevens still remembers the scene of Duncan flying in the sky at Wake Forest University...

If Okafor must be the core, Okafor himself has enough fighting spirit. Stevens estimates that Okafor can average 20+10 per game, but the record is estimated to be to compete for Simmons. The key is that once Okafor loses, he will lose his fighting spirit, and then he will not get such good data... a vicious cycle.

I'm thinking about it wrongly. Looking at Okafor who is wearing a training suit but will definitely not play tonight, Stevens is really regretful, but he really can't give Okafor another chance. Their current lineup really doesn't allow them to lose so many games to train a rookie.

Moreover, only by letting Okafor stop at 25 minutes of playing time and getting 15+8 or so data can Okafor's trading value be higher.

Putting aside the regret that Okafor was born at the wrong time, Stevens regretted sending Plumlee out for Amir Johnson before the start of the season. At that time, he felt that since Okafor was there, it would be enough to have a pure blue-collar power forward as a substitute. It would be a waste to keep Plumlee. Now he really regrets it.

On the other side, after Sun Ce paid attention to Okafor, he went to chat with Beverley.

The Celtics have been in good shape recently, and Sun Ce did not dare to underestimate them. After all, Tony Allen and Randolph both started the mid-season rest mode tonight.

Beverley, Smart, Avery Bradley, Ivan Turner, Jerebko, Olynyk, Amir Johnson... This group of people dragged Thomas alone, and the defense was also very good. Moreover, Stevens' tactic was that the whole team helped Thomas output, and the key was that it was really powerful.

At 6 o'clock in the evening, the game started.

Originally, the fans thought it was a crushing game, but from the beginning, the Celtics showed excellent teamwork. The fans could see that their team played very hard and focused, so they were not suppressed by the opponent's unexpected strength.

The fans felt as if... the Celtics were among the top three in the East! Except for the Bulls and the 76ers, no other team in the East had played so intensely with the Grizzlies in the past two years.

The Grizzlies fans were right this time, and Sun Ce had a really hard time.

The player Sun Ce hated defending the most was the assassin, too fast! This S+ level speed was faster than Sessions, and he couldn't catch up with him with a pick-and-roll. Thomas was very strong in both mid-range and three-point shooting, averaging 2+ three-pointers per game and more than 40% mid-range shooting, which was really hard to defend.

Double-teaming in advance didn't work, and the opponent had an average of 6+ assists per game.

Moreover, Ivan Turner is also a good passer. When Thomas himself had no chance, he would look for Ivan Turner first.

When the official timeout came in the first quarter, the Grizzlies still relied on Sun Ce to call on Thomas to shoot a three-pointer against the double-team of Thomas and Ivan Turner, which helped the Grizzlies tie the score at 18-18.

When the official timeout came, after calming down, I felt that this was the performance that an A+-level assassin should have. Being able to have an A+-level ability evaluation under the extremely disadvantaged height was enough to prove how good Thomas's skills were. Stevens asked the whole team to pick and roll for Thomas and receive the pot, and with a group of high-quality role players exchanged for Pierce, Garnett, and Rondo, it was normal to be able to play such a strong strength based on Thomas.

Sun Ce recalled that if he remembered correctly, the Celtics with Thomas as the core in the original time and space had never reached the Eastern Conference Finals at most...

Coming back to his senses, Sun Ce focused on listening to the arrangements of defensive assistant coach Dave Joerger.

The most headache is to play against the Celtics, who seem to be a star team but are actually a team-based team, with data concentrated on one person. The Grizzlies coaching staff feels like they are facing the Grizzlies themselves in the early days of Sun Ce's career.

And in terms of regular scoring ability, Thomas is even better than Sun Ce back then.

But in terms of overall strength, Thomas is far behind Sun Ce back then. Dave Joerger's defensive arrangement is to keep it stable and do his best to defend, and David Fizdale's advice on the offensive end is also to play steadily.

Ensuring good rotation and letting their own players find opportunities in the game is much better than these coaches blindly commanding without knowing the Celtics so well. They only need to make personnel adjustments based on the performance of the players in the game and the on-the-spot situation.

After all, they really don't know the Celtics very well, and the previous preparations were just the routine preparations for ordinary opponents.

Although the tactical policy was unclear, Sun Ce and others were very experienced players. The excellent rotation of the coaching staff created very favorable conditions for Sun Ce, Paul George, and David West to use singles to maintain the score with the opponent.

During the rotation period, especially when Sun Ce and Paul George were resting, the Grizzlies did not get any advantage, but they did not give the opponent any chance. The Celtics relied on many young players to make many attacks, but the Grizzlies responded.

However, at the end of the first half, the Grizzlies told the opponent what a superstar is.

Sun Ce and Klay Thompson, who rested for 9 minutes before playing in the first half of the second quarter, with the combination of Tony Allen, Aldridge, and Gobert, locked the basket, forcing the Celtics to shoot from mid-range and long distances, and they were very lucky to encounter Beverley and Bradley Beal who missed consecutively.

On the offensive end, Sun Ce and Klay Thompson successfully connected, and together they scored 3 three-pointers, 1 mid-range shot and 1 dunk, and played a 13-2 wave at the last moment of the first half!

64-58, the Grizzlies ended the first half with a 6-point lead.

Watching the Grizzlies simply celebrate and walk back to the player tunnel, the Celtics players felt powerless.

They had been in the initiative for the first 21 minutes of the first half, but in the last three minutes, Sun Ce scored two three-pointers, a hook shot from the free throw line, and a dunk, scoring 10 points alone. They were all double-teamed, but Sun Ce and Klay Thompson still scored 3 three-pointers one after another... Too powerless! Facing this real superstar, facing this No. 1 player in the league, the Celtics players felt that everything they did was in vain...