Forty-Three: Problems at the 3

In the first practice game of the first day after coming to the Grizzlies, Link's performance moved Lionel Hollins and his teammates.

Throughout the training match, Sam Young behaved like a student player who was overwhelmed, as if seeing the calmness of a professional player for the first time.

And Link is like a veteran who has been in the NBA for many years. His ability to understand tactics, his cooperation with his teammates, and some of his playing habits on the court are not like a rookie.

However, Link had only played three NBA games before that. Moreover, the three games combined, the playing time has not been 10 minutes.

"Dudududu!"

Elston Turner blew the whistle to end the 30-minute training session. In the end, Link's first team won the game with a difference of 7 points due to the excellent play of Gasol and Conley at the last moment.

Link scored 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in 30 minutes. His data doesn't look gorgeous, but that's because he didn't shoot much. But his value on the court is not reflected in the data.

His screens, his runs and pulls, his defenses... Even Conley, who didn't talk much, said to Link after the scrims, "Nice job, man."

"Okay, everyone has worked hard today, so the training is over. Link, keep going." Hollins pointed to Link, and then disbanded the team.

Link breathed a sigh of relief. His debut with the Grizzlies was a complete success.

Entering the rotation lineup seems to be just around the corner!

※※※

On December 21, 2010, the Memphis Grizzlies played at home against the New Jersey Nets, who had not moved to Brooklyn at the time.

In this game, Link did not get a chance to play, and he was not even put on the squad by Lionel Hollins. Many fans have speculated that Link was thrown into the G League again.

In this game, Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol staged a retro inside battle. The pace of both teams is very slow, often making the ball inside the two big guys one-on-one.

It's not uncommon to see a game in 2010 that resembles the NBA in the 1990s.

As a third-year player, Pau Gasol performed quite well today. He played 28 minutes, went 6-of-10 from the field, and scored 19 cleanly. Although Lopez scored 26 points on 8 of 14 shots, the performance was even better, but at this time, Gasol was still only a third-year player.

The two sides have been playing inextricably, but since the middle of the third quarter, the Nets have gradually mastered the initiative.

This is not because the Nets coach "Little General" Avery Johnson thought of some strange tricks, but because Rudy Gay made the problem of starting to shoot again.

Now this Grizzlies team, the offensive core is not "black and white bears", not Mike Conley or arrogant O.J. Mayo, but Rudy Gay who is in full swing.

Gay is averaging a team-high 16.1 attempts per game with the Grizzlies this season. The stars in the league who have taken more shots than him are all players like Kobe and James.

However, Guy is not a superstar. In the case of being targeted, his shooting stability is very worrying.

The same is true today. After the middle of the third quarter, Gay began his "smithing performance" again.

Because of Gay's presence, the Grizzlies' offensive efficiency plummeted. The Nets seized the opportunity and opened the scoring in one fell swoop.

In the end, the Grizzlies also lost to the Nets 94-101 at home. It's the Grizzlies' third-game losing streak since Dec. 17.

"A very unfortunate game,

The Memphis had a chance to win, but their star player screwed it all up. "On the commentary stage, some local commentators in Memphis couldn't help but complain about Guy.

"Rudy Gay made 16 crazy shots and only hit 4! God, he didn't step up at the critical moment, he actually did a disservice to the team. If it weren't for his 25% shooting percentage, the Grizzlies Already won! Look at Marc Gasol, he has the potential to be a true leader!"

The commentators' crazy complaints are not unreasonable, because this is not the first time Gay has caused the team to lose. Gay has a problem, that is, he still forcibly votes when he is not accurate. The more inaccurate, the more paranoid he is.

This sounds a bit like Kobe, after all, Kobe is also one of the famous "Iron Kings". However, Kobe Bryant's ability to end the game at critical moments is not comparable to a mere Rudy Gay.

After the game, Hollins walked to the tunnel with a black face. When Rudy Guy felt cold, he put on Sam Young to withstand the situation. However, Sam Young's 1-for-4 performance disappointed Hollins.

If it weren't for the unavailability of the three, he wouldn't watch Gay push the team into the fire pit.

Just as Hollins was about to step into the tunnel, he was stopped by reporters.

"Coach Hollins, this is a shameful loss. Once again, the Grizzlies' under-reservation at the 3 has been brought into the spotlight. We all know that a few days ago, the Grizzlies lost a Signed Link on a 10-day contract, and he's one of the best players in the G League this season. But we didn't see him on the court today, when are you going to play him?"

The reporter's question is very targeted. Today's garbage time, even Haddadi was pulled out and slipped away. If Haddadi can, then Link is also eligible to play.

In the face of the reporter's Xun, Hollins still frowned, "When the time is right, I will let him play!"

After finishing speaking, the coach, who highly respects defense, left in front of the camera. Gay and Sam Young made 5 of 20 shots, leaving Hollins in despair.

In fact, Hollins needs Link badly right now. Judging from Link's performance in scrims, he can definitely do better than Sam Young on the bench.

But Hollins deliberately didn't go to Link today, not because of Link's lack of strength, but because he wanted to use Link as a secret weapon and suddenly caught others by surprise!

Hollins clenched his fist, and he won't allow his team to lose again because of the 3.

※※※

At this time, Link was sweating on the training ground of the Federal Express Arena. He was not selected to the roster, which meant that he did not have to enter the game court, and there was no need to go to the locker room.

So all night, Link vented his excess strength in the training hall.

He didn't know Memphis well, and he didn't have any friends there for the time being. Link couldn't think of anything else he could do other than practice.

Although the team lost today, but seeing Rudy Gay and Sam Young's "rollover scene"-like performance, Link still smiled unkindly.

The worse these two guys play, the better his chances of getting into the rotation. Link has only been with the Grizzlies for a few days, and it is far from his feelings for this team. So now for Link, personal playing time is more important than team wins or losses.

Just as Link was smiling at the TV in the training ground, the door of the training hall was suddenly opened. Link was startled, and the man who pushed in the door was also surprised.

"Link!? Why are you here?" Lionel Hollins opened his mouth wide.

"I've been here all night, coach. Can't play, I have to find something for myself to do." Link smiled shyly.

"You've been in the training hall all night?" Hollins shook his head. After the afternoon training, he clearly told Link to go home. He didn't expect this guy to train alone for so long.

On the Grizzlies, extra practice isn't a common occurrence. Let's not talk about the two "Prince Lords" of Mayo and Guy. It would be good for them to complete the training of the day.

Conley is conscientious, but rarely stays to increase his load. Randolph is not too young, and as a heavy fortress, Pau Gasol is not suitable for overloading.

So, retraining isn't very common in Memphis.

Hollins was going back to the office to get something, but unexpectedly came across this scene. He smiled, then walked towards Link slowly, "Don't stay alone in the future to practice more, it won't work well."

"Coach, but I..."

Before Link could finish speaking, Hollins spoke again, "If you need extra training, I can arrange a trainer for you. In this way, you can do more with less, Link. The resources of an NBA team are The best in the world. It would be a shame not to."

Smiling and patting Link on the back, Hollins turned to leave.

At this moment, Hollins had a very strong wish in his heart - in the next game, maybe it's time to show the world how powerful that kid is.