After the Clippers coaching staff talked with the players, some subtle changes occurred in the atmosphere within the Clippers team.
The order within the team has become unstable, because playing time for players not only symbolizes their status within the team, but also directly affects their actual interests.
If you play less time, your data will not be good, which will definitely affect your next contract.
Therefore, a stable team will definitely make reasonable distribution and compromises in terms of playing time.
Everyone is satisfied with the result. Some are willing to sacrifice, some are willing to be substitutes, and some are willing to give up the ball.
In this way, the team can work together as a team and win one victory after another.
And once everyone is dissatisfied with the distribution of playing time, has emotions in their hearts, and the players have grudges with each other, the game will not be easy to play.
Originally, the order within the Clippers team was very stable. Baron Davis was the boss of the locker room, and Randolph and Kaman were the mainstays.
Thornton is currently the most reliable third position on the Clippers, and no one can replace him.
Substitute Curry as the sixth man, with Marcus Camby on the inside, it should be said that the team is in good order.
But Min Congda proposed to increase the substitute's playing time, especially Curry's playing time.
Since Baron Davis is unwilling, Dunleavy can only operate on Gordon to reduce Gordon's playing time and leave more playing opportunities to Curry.
As for the inside position, the positions of Randolph and Kaman are very stable. If Jordan wants to play more, Camby's playing time will inevitably be reduced.
When Dunleavy was allocating playing time in training, players began to complain.
There were some signs of disharmony within the team, but they were not revealed for the time being.
On December 2, the Clippers played their first game in December at home against the Houston Rockets.
The occupancy rate for this game reached 85%, with more than 16,000 spectators coming to watch the game.
The Clippers' outstanding performance in November has revived interest in the team among Los Angeles fans.
According to data, the Clippers' season ticket sales this season have been the same as last season and will soon exceed them.
This made Min Congda very anxious. He thought to himself: "The season has been played for a month, why do you still buy season tickets? Why bother."
Every time the box office revenue increases, the team's market value will increase when the settlement is made at the end of the season.
And the box office revenue from each game continues to increase the Clippers' cash flow, which will make the team's operations better.
Previously, Min Congda wanted to use the method of opening a restaurant to consume the team's liquidity and increase the team's debt.
The bank's loan line has been approved in the past two days, but it only approved a current loan of US$500,000 to the Clippers.
Min Congda took a look, does it cost so little to open a restaurant in Staples Center?
Rosser told Min Congda that 500,000 was already too much, after all, he was opening a store in Staples.
If it were somewhere else in Los Angeles, with lower rent and more ordinary decoration, you could get it for just 200,000.
500,000 is indeed a lot for opening a store, but for the entire Clippers team, this amount of debt is simply drizzle.
The box office revenue from one game covered all the loans. No wonder the bank approved the money so happily.
Based on the principle of accumulation being the straw that breaks the camel's back, Min Congda doesn't care.
Anyway, Ada's uncle will screw up the restaurant and throw $500,000 into it.
Including interest and the additional money that may be invested in the future, the loss may reach 1 million.
So during this period, Min Congda shifted his energy back to the team's performance on the field.
He hopes that his "everyone has a ball to play" strategic approach can disrupt the current stability of the Clippers.
The season is long, and once the team falls into instability, the record will decline sharply.
Sure enough, the Clippers were in trouble in this game against the Rockets.
Yao Ming of the Rockets is still absent due to injury. Last year, the team reached the Western Conference semifinals and played seven games with the Lakers. Things have changed over the past summer.
Yao Ming was reimbursed, Artest left, Tracy McGrady left, and the rest were just a bunch of nameless little characters.
But there are just such a bunch of small characters, but their combat effectiveness is very strong.
In last year's playoffs, when Yao Ming was reimbursed in the third game, the Rockets forced a tiebreaker with the Lakers.
The willpower and combat effectiveness are evident.
In the absence of core stars, the Rockets really have a ball for everyone.
Ariza, Landry, Brooks, Lowry, Scola, Battier...
All are good role player material, and none of them can become the core.
But this group of people worked together and fought with one heart and one mind.
Before this game against the Clippers, they had a record of 9 wins and 8 losses, ranking eighth in the Western Conference.
Just behind the Clippers, struggling on the edge of the playoffs.
Judging from the lineup, the Clippers' paper strength is obviously higher than that of the Rockets.
But if you analyze it carefully, you will find that the Rockets lineup actually has an advantage over the Clippers.
The first problem is the point guard.
Baron Davis is naturally much more famous than Rockets' little black bean Brooks.
But fame is fame, and Brooks is in very good shape this season.
The little black bean is short and nimble, fast, and has strong shooting ability. He is the point guard that the Clippers are most afraid of.
Then at the power forward position, Luis Scola has strong offensive ability in the low post.
His footwork in the low post is number one in NBA history.
Against Randolph, he won't suffer offensively.
Then at position three, Battier and Ariza are functional 3D players.
His personal ability is not strong, and his offense with the ball is flawed, but he does not occupy the ball.
And the defensive ability is very strong. The Rockets' third-position defense can be said to be the strongest in the league last season.
Artest, Garbatier, and LeBron James were all beaten to death by being guarded.
The Clippers' real strengths lie at center and shooting guard.
The Rockets can only use a short guy like Chuck Hayes as a center.
He has a low chassis and is good at defense, but after all, his height is only 1.9cm, so rim protection is a big problem.
As for the shooting guard position, the Rockets use Ariza as the second position, hoping to develop his ball-handling offense.
It seems that it is not successful so far. Ariza's talent is limited. It would be good if he can do well in 3D. It would be a disaster to let him attack with the ball.
If the Clippers focus on using Kaman and Gordon well in this game, they will be able to compete with the Rockets and even have an advantage.
But when the game started, the Clippers players were unable to get into shape.
Gordon was replaced midway through the first quarter and Curry came on.
Kaman was replaced by Jordan at the end of the first quarter, and the rotation time of the two was different from usual.
Curry and DeAndre Jordan didn't adapt for a while. They were beaten randomly by the Rockets, and the game suddenly fell into a disadvantage.
Then in the second quarter, Gordon didn't replace Curry until the end of the second quarter. At this time, he could no longer regain his form.
The Clippers were 45:55 at halftime, trailing the Rockets by 10 points, and their perimeter was completely misfired.
Worse happened in the third quarter when Gordon landed on a breakaway layup and sprained his ankle.
With the support of the team doctor, he limped off the field and was unable to return to this game.
Curry replaced Gordon in the next game, and he slowly regained his feeling in offense.
At the end of the third quarter, he led the team to launch a counterattack, chasing the score to 79:83, only 4 points away.
However, Curry's deficiencies on the defensive end prevented him from guarding Brooks. Brooks was surprisingly efficient in this game.
He made 9 of 11 shots from the field, and with help from outside three-pointers, he shot 3 of 4. Without relying on free throws, he scored 22 points solely by shooting.
In the fourth quarter, he led the Rockets to play a classic wave, an 11:0 offensive climax, and established the victory in one fell swoop.
In the end, 100:90, they easily defeated the Clippers at home, narrowing the Clippers' victory gap in the rankings.
The Clippers not only lost a game, but also lost a capable player.
More importantly, because of the adjustment in rotation time, the players feel uncomfortable.
The stable and good chemical reaction established before is in danger of being destroyed.
(End of chapter)
