The longest river

Chapter 168 The Trail Blazers Change Coaches
Having already faced off against each other on the court, Yang Shuai still remembered some of the Trail Blazers players.

For example, Rasheed Wallace, nicknamed "The Roaring God," and Domantas Sabonis, a veteran who entered the league with him.

There's also Gary Trent, the father and son who were both selected by the Trail Blazers. He was drafted in the same year as Gary, but with a higher draft pick (9th overall).

However, the player handbook that Whitchter brought him was more detailed.

For example, Wallace, with shoes on, is 2.11 meters tall and weighs 104 kilograms. (Yang Shuai: Only 6 kilograms more than me?)
Moreover, his position is marked as C/PF/SF, which is similar to Kukoc's type, although Wallace's defense is better.

Wallace's career stats are also included.

In his rookie season with the Bullets, he averaged 10 points and 4.7 rebounds, and last season he averaged 15 points and 6.8 rebounds.

Then in the playoffs, Wallace averaged 19.8 points and 6 rebounds per game last season, with a field goal percentage as high as 58.9%!

Although the sample size is only 4 games, it is clear that Wallace is a player who can perform in tough games.

However, Sabonis surprised Yang Shuai even more in terms of data.

In the 1995-1996 playoffs, as a rookie, he averaged 23.6 points and 10.2 rebounds in 5 games for the Trail Blazers and the Jazz, almost leading his team to defeat the Jazz!

As expected of a seasoned veteran, "If Sabonis had entered the NBA earlier, he would have become a dominant center"—this is probably the most likely "if" scenario to come true.

The Trail Blazers' frontcourt duo, a mix of veteran and new talent, is considered top-tier in the league.

The player handbook was arranged by field position, and when Yang Shuai flipped down, he saw a name that surprised him.

Brian Grant.

Robertson introduced him to the Kings when they played together. He had a distinctive braid and was also a player from Ohio.

I never expected they would have such a connection.

Grant's rookie contract expired, and then the Trail Blazers snatched him away from the Kings with a three-year, $18 million contract.

Grant performed quite well in his first two years in the NBA draft, averaging 14 points and 7 rebounds per game, which was worthy of his status as the 8th overall pick.

However, he suffered an injury last season, and his stats dropped to 10 points and 6 rebounds. The contract the Trail Blazers offered was clearly overpriced.

However, after careful consideration, Yang Shuai could understand the management's intentions.

Although the league doesn't currently limit maximum salaries, it does have a salary cap rule, unlike football where you can just throw money around.

Therefore, before his big contract officially takes effect next season, the Trail Blazers will definitely try to sign as many players as possible to increase his salary, so that they have trade assets and the possibility of further upgrading their roster.

However, Grant is a true blue-collar power forward. If the team wants to start him at this salary, then Wallace would really have to play small forward.

After scrolling down a bit more, Yang Shuai then saw the team's perimeter lineup.

Having traded away Robinson and Ryder, the Trail Blazers acquired 2.03-meter wing Walter Williams from the Raptors with a 5-year, $20 million contract.

He was no stranger to this person either.

I've encountered this before when playing against the Kings and the Heat.

Riley even made the comment in an interview that "with Williams, we don't need Yang Shuai."

All things considered, Williams has played for three different teams in the past two seasons, and the Trail Blazers are his fourth, which is quite a nomadic career.

Finally, there's the star of the backcourt: Kenny Anderson.

Like Mark Jackson, Anderson is a guard from New York. He is 1.83 meters tall and became the king of New York streetball at the age of 16, possessing a dazzling ball-handling skill.

Moreover, he was more famous than Jackson.

作为1991年榜眼秀，他早在1993~1994赛季就入选过全明星，上赛季他在开拓者队场均能够得到17.5分4.4板7.1助攻2抢断。

Speaking of Kenny Anderson, Yang Shuai must have remembered him from a past life.

It wasn't that his name sounded similar to Kenny Smith and made him mistake him, but rather that his deskmate had told him that this guy was a LeBron hater.

During his appearance on the show, Anderson made the shockingly negative comment that "James always likes to run around, so he doesn't deserve to be in the GOAT discussion."

Furthermore, this LeBron hater also placed Kobe ahead of LeBron in the historical rankings, arguing that "Kobe stuck with the team for 20 years."

After reading the player handbook, Yang Shuai had a general understanding of the Trail Blazers beforehand.

At this point, Yang Shuai thought everything was over for the day, but to his utter surprise, Whitsit took him to the general manager's office and then talked to him privately about the head coach.

Although the team has shown its high regard for him since he joined, is it appropriate for the head coach to talk to him about everything?

Does this mean "please interfere with management's decision-making"?
Could it be that Larry Brown's past scandals have already made him "famous"?

However, Yang Shuai did not decide not to express his opinion because he was worried that such a thing would damage his reputation if it got out.

After all, the head coach position is of great importance, and he doesn't want to encounter a situation like Larry Brown's again.

There's no need to go through something again, even if it's painful, just because you've already experienced it once.

The Trail Blazers' current head coach is P.J. Carlesimo, who became the team's head coach in 1994 as a rookie coach. He led the team for three years, all of which ended in the first round of the playoffs.

Theoretically speaking, it would be good if a new coach could make the playoffs every year, but considering that Paul Allen has been increasing his investment every year, it's not enough.

Moreover, Carlesimo was originally chosen as an interim coach after the team parted ways with George Karl, so changing coaches is only reasonable.

Currently, the management has initially selected three candidates.

The first one is Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy was fired by the Bucks in the summer of 1996 and is now unemployed.

I still remember Dunleavy and Young; during his rookie season, when they played against the Bucks, the Bucks coached him with such passion from the sidelines.

That's all for now.

However, since Whitsit asked for Yang Shuai's opinion, he would naturally ask more questions, such as his coaching characteristics.

Dunleavy's characteristics can be summarized in three sentences: he attaches great importance to team discipline, he attaches great importance to team defense, especially interior defense, and he favors veterans but tends to be less attentive to developing rookies.

Bridge Bean Sacks!

Yang Shuai's pupils dilated in shock.

Isn't that Larry Brown?
Yang Shuai suggested that they talk about the second person instead.

The second one is Don Nelson.

This one is even more important; even Yang Shuai would have heard of him in his past life.

In terms of tactical philosophy, Don Nelson was definitely at the forefront of the league; his run-and-gun offense influenced a generation.

Putting everything else aside, playing under him, even in the 90s, resulted in incredibly high stats.

Yang Shuai thinks it would be great if he had met Don Nelson in his rookie season, as it would have allowed him to fully develop his offensive talent.

But I'm afraid that won't work now.

After all, whether it was his conversation with Paul Allen or his bold statement to many Portland fans that he would win "more than one," winning a championship was his goal with the Trail Blazers.

If they actually manage to bring in Don Nelson, then they'll most likely have to go back on their word.

After all, a team without defense has a slim chance of winning the championship; in fact, it has no chance at all.

The third is Rick Carlisle.

When Yang Shuai heard this, he thought he had misheard.

If he remembers correctly, Carlisle was an assistant coach with the Trail Blazers before he was poached by Bird to join the Pacers.
Is this a case of going back to an ex?
But on second thought, it makes sense.

Carlisle wasn't even the top assistant coach when he was with the Trail Blazers, otherwise Carlisle wouldn't have let him go so easily.

All I can say is that Carlisle is just too outstanding. He retired at 30 and became an assistant coach, and now at only 37, he's already jumping every year.

Of course, this is also closely related to the Pacers' championship win last season and Bird's coaching style.

When you see a team's head coach often sitting motionless on the sidelines, seemingly out of touch with reality, it's hard not to notice the assistant coach holding a tactical board and shouting reminders to the players.

To be honest, as someone who has worked with Carlisle, including playing together in the Summer League, Yang Shuai feels that Carlisle is not quite ready to become an NBA head coach.

It's not that Carlisle lacks ability, but rather that he needs to accumulate more experience in managing players.

Of course, compared to the two mentioned earlier, that slight shortcoming is negligible.

Before Yang Shuai made his choice, Whitsit gave him a special reminder.

"If you choose Rick, the pressure will double."

Whitscher's meaning was clear: if Carlisle was chosen, the outside world would naturally know that Yang Shuai played an important role in the selection of the coach.

Interfering with management decisions is a minor issue; more importantly, if this still fails to achieve success, Yang Shuai will become the target of public criticism.

Rick Carlisle.

Yang Shuai nodded and then gave his advice.

He doesn't care what others think; he lives for himself.

If you care about what others think every day, you'll be exhausted to death.

Moreover, the road to victory is always fraught with difficulties.

Rather than reliving the internal conflicts he experienced playing under Brown, he would rather face greater external pressure.

Upon hearing Yang Shuai's choice, Whitshire looked at Yang Shuai with a hint of admiration.

They had never worked together before, and this was the first time he had come to know what kind of person Yang Shuai was.

"We will take your opinion as an important recommendation when selecting coaching staff members."

Of course, even if Whitchett said that, Carlisle might not necessarily come to Portland.

Yang Shuai is willing to bear that pressure, but Carlisle may not.

After all, with Bird by his side, Carlisle could focus solely on tactics and strategy, leaving all the pressure to Bird.

A week later, the Trail Blazers officially announced a change in their head coach.

They resigned head coach Carlesimo from his position, thanking him for all his contributions to the Trail Blazers over the past three years.

Then they announced that Rick Carlisle would be the team's new head coach.

(End of this chapter)