Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 405 He simply doesn't know how to play a max-level character.
With the season in full swing, D'Antoni had no time to grieve. The very next day, he led his team to Los Angeles to prepare for the game against the Clippers on the 21st.

The bus drove out of Los Angeles International Airport, onto the highway, and headed towards downtown.

D'Antoni sat in the front row of the bus, his expression serious, his thoughts racing.

In the distance, he saw a promotional poster by the roadside.

From the Lakers, the poster features Kobe Bryant in a turnaround fadeaway jump shot, reminiscent of Michael Jordan.

A huge number was written next to it.

62.

That was on November 9th, when the Lakers played the Hornets on the road. Kobe scored a whopping 62 points, leading the Lakers to a resounding victory over the Hornets.

The text below was accompanied by a promotional slogan.

"omnipotent"

Seeing this promotional poster made D'Antoni even more irritable.

The Hornets, who narrowly defeated the Suns, were utterly crushed by the Lakers.

In yesterday's game, Kobe scored 39 points, completely dominating Ray Allen, who only scored 19 points.

Ray Allen's accurate three-pointers completely lost their accuracy under Kobe's all-out defense.

At the beginning of the season, D'Antoni was actually quite confident.

The sun was incredibly lucky and drew the top scholar's lot.

Even better, Howard was spotted by Townsend and trained with him for six months.

Even last year's number one draft pick, LeBron James, the chosen one, didn't have this kind of good luck.

After some maneuvering in the summer, he successfully obtained the lineup he wanted.

With all five starters training at Townsend's training camp, D'Antoni once felt that the Suns had the potential to contend for the championship.

We started with five consecutive wins, but the wins felt awkward, as we felt we hadn't been able to execute our tactical approach.

But in the end, they won.

D'Antoni didn't get arrogant, but his deep-seated desire to contend for the championship still solidified considerably.

Then a four-game losing streak shattered all of D'Antoni's illusions.

Before this, D'Antoni really thought the Suns could rival championship teams like the Lakers and Knicks.

But after playing this game against the Lakers, D'Antoni realized he had overestimated things.

The Suns and the Lakers are not even in the same league.

What's even more frightening is that the Lakers and the Knicks aren't even in the same league.

That means the Suns are at least two tiers ahead of the championship teams.

With such a disparity in strength, what makes the Suns have any chance of winning the championship?

Lost in thought, the bus arrived at the hotel in the city.

After checking in, D'Antoni asked for a copy of the Los Angeles Times.

After yesterday's crushing defeat, the Arizona Republic immediately became much more subdued.

This morning's headline was: Give up illusions and face reality.

The report stated that the Suns' five-game winning streak and brief first-place finish in the Western Conference should not be interpreted as a guarantee of their continued dominance in the top spot.

As for challenging for the championship, that's too early to say.

Even though the Suns have a superstar center like Howard, it must be recognized that Howard is only capable of putting up a fight against O'Neal.

Just like Brown back then.

In the Magic's championship season, Brown played worse than Howard in his first game against O'Neal.

In the finals, Brown and O'Neal simply traded blows.

Howard now believes that, at best, with a bit of effort and good form, he can go toe-to-toe with O'Neal.

Don't think it's too low.

To be able to go toe-to-toe with Shaq means you're already at the top four in the world.

The problem is, even if he could go toe-to-toe with O'Neal, there's still Yao Ming behind him.

That's the real world's best center.

Even Shaquille O'Neal admitted that he was completely outmatched by this player.

With Howard's height, playing against Yao Ming would be a recipe for disaster.

So even with top-tier centers like Ray Allen and Shawn Marion, the Suns still couldn't compete with the Lakers and Knicks.

In short, don't think that just because someone calls you "Little Knicks," you're actually a Knick.

This report in the Arizona Republic ruined D'Antoni's mood for the entire day.

So he wanted to see how other media outlets reported it.

I opened the newspaper, and the headline in the sports section was still about yesterday's game.

Yesterday's game was broadcast live across the United States, and it garnered a lot of attention.

Upon seeing the title and accompanying image, D'Antoni immediately frowned.

The accompanying photo shows him sitting on the bench, his brow furrowed and his expression anxious.

The headline of the report was: The biggest reason for the Suns' loss – the head coach.

This huge accusation was thrown at D'Antoni, leaving him completely stunned.

The sharpness of D'Antoni's subsequent remarks made him feel like he'd cheated on the editor of the Los Angeles Times' sports section. The editor claimed D'Antoni wasn't successful enough as a player, and that his so-called "King of Europe" was utterly insignificant.

He also said that D'Antoni has never been a qualified head coach.

In the 98-99 season, D'Antoni coached the Nuggets for the first time, and the result was a winning percentage of only 28%.

The question is who was on the Nuggets roster at the time.

There's Antonio McDyess, who's already reached All-Star level with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Chauncey Billups, currently the league's best point guard.

And then there's Van Gundy, who made Kobe a substitute.

With such a great roster, the team's performance was abysmal, and D'Antoni is largely to blame.

Then last season with the Suns, I took over the team halfway through the season and led them for 61 games, almost a full season.

As a result, the win rate was only 32%.

Therefore, there is no doubt that D'Antoni is not a good head coach.

This season, all five starters have been trained by Tang Sen.

With Tang Sen's skill level, the players he personally trained were all top-notch.

Look at Howard, he's clearly a super center.

As a result, under D'Antoni's leadership, they only had the ability to bully weak teams. Once they encountered strong teams, their true colors were immediately revealed.

After nine games, D'Antoni has shown no tactical approach whatsoever.

It's just mindless isolation plays, passing the ball to Howard, or shooting three-pointers from the outside.

His on-field command was a complete mess; he had a star-studded lineup, but all he did was sit on the bench and worry.

They also mentioned the Knicks and Carlisle.

Last season, people said the Knicks were too strong, saying even a dog could win off their bench.

But that was just a joke.

The Knicks' undefeated championship win wasn't solely due to their exceptionally strong players.

Carlisle's tactics and his in-game management absolutely deserve the title of Coach of the Year.

Moreover, in his first season, when the Knicks' roster was still not fully developed, Carlisle led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals, demonstrating his exceptional coaching ability.

Then compare it to the sun.

The Suns' bench is practically a dog on a leash.

Upon seeing this sentence, D'Antoni almost lost his composure.

When they were first in the West, D'Antoni had a fleeting thought that he should just follow Carlisle's example and hand the game over to the players.

In the end, he tried to imitate Xi Shi poorly and became a complete joke himself.

At the end of the report, the Los Angeles Times bluntly stated that the Suns had such a good roster, but were stuck with such a terrible head coach as D'Antoni, which was a waste.

He bluntly stated that D'Antoni was a complete novice and had no idea how to play a max-level character.

If the Suns want to make a comeback and not waste such a good roster, the first thing they need to do is change their head coach.

D'Antoni gripped the newspaper tightly, feeling an urge to tear it to shreds.

But I just couldn't help it.

Because D'Antoni frustratingly discovered that what the Los Angeles Times said was true.

The truth may hurt, but it is the truth.

D'Antoni believes that the Suns' current losing streak is his own fault.

As the Times said, they had such a good starting lineup, but they didn't make good use of it.

What frustrated D'Antoni even more was that he really didn't know how to use this lineup.

The problem is, the Suns can still win.

The Suns challenged the Clippers the next day and won.

109-94, a decisive 15-point victory over the Clippers.

Howard exploded for 31 points and 20 rebounds, dominating the Clippers' interior.

When the game ended, D'Antoni was truly bewildered.

Their own tactical approach failed as soon as they started fighting.

Choosing to play one-on-one can actually lead to victory.

What D'Antoni didn't know was that far away in Europe, Tangsen also saw the Times' report.

I can't help but wonder if this report is a bit too harsh.

Tang Sen thought he should observe for a while longer.

As expected, the Suns suffered four consecutive losses.

Especially in the game against the Lakers, Tang Sen could have predicted in advance that the Suns would definitely lose.

Therefore, they timed it perfectly, used the power of the league, mobilized the media, and decided to give the Suns a severe dressing down.

Those who start with high aspirations should also sink to the bottom and face reality.

Tang Sen had the league's media department handle this matter.

I never expected the Times to criticize it so harshly.

Don't look back. If Colangelo acts rashly and actually fires D'Antoni, the Suns will truly be finished.

(End of this chapter)