Author: Smart Min
Preface: I feel like people are looking at me a little strangely recently, maybe I’m being too preoccupied.
one,
It's sunny today during the day.
I haven't seen my players for three days, they came back from away games. I met them today and I felt that they were in great spirits.
Two consecutive away games, first against the Suns and then against the Kings, with a 32-26 record.
I just knew that the team was getting closer to the playoffs. I was still in a daze before.
I need to be very careful, otherwise why would the chef at the training center add an extra spoonful to my dishes?
The Clippers may make the playoffs.
My fear is justified.
two,
It rained heavily today and there was no sunshine in Los Angeles.
I knew something was wrong.
It's rare for me to go out early in the morning, and the breakfast shop owner has a strange look in his eyes: he seems to want to congratulate me, and he seems to want to ask me for something.
There were seven or eight people eating breakfast together, whispering about me, smiling at me with their mouths open, saying "playoffs", "Clippers", "four consecutive wins", "there is hope", "Chinese General Manager"...
I was cold from head to toe, knowing their hope that the Clippers would make the playoffs so that I could lose money.
I'm not afraid, I still go to the headquarters to work.
Several girls at the front desk saw me, said hello, and seemed to be talking about me behind my back.
Like the breakfast shop owner, his eyes were flickering and his face was hesitant.
I don't think I have any grudge against these girls at the front desk. My salary is not reduced at all.
I couldn't help but ask: "Tell me something!"
They then dispersed and went about their business.
I thought: What grudge do I have against the owner of the breakfast shop? What grudge do I have against the team’s junior staff?
When I first came here, I went to eat at a breakfast restaurant in Chinatown. The boss also said that Smart must be a crazy player and that the Clippers were about to become obsolete and might quit the NBA.
All the words he said were good and auspicious.
When I met him later, why did he just say that he was a crow's mouth?
Did he hear something? Do you know I will lose money if I enter the playoffs?
I agreed that those people on the road would try to trick me and laugh at me, so the Chinese people outside should help me more.
But what about those front desk staff?
They were specially recruited by me to decorate the facade.
Why are you looking at me with strange eyes, as if you respect me, but also seem to pity me.
This really scares me, makes me curious and sad.
I understand, this is the fault of ESPN’s bad news!
Talk about consecutive wins over the Jazz and Suns, the Clippers are going to enter the playoffs!
What nonsense.
three,
I can't sleep at night. Everything must be studied before you can understand it.
Some of them are in the top three in the Western Conference (Jazz), some are in the top two in the Eastern Conference (Magic), some are lingering in the lottery (Bobcats), and some are competing with the Clippers for eighth in the Western Conference (Spurs).
Their recent home state does not seem to be as good as in the past, nor is it as strong as expected before the game, and they lost to the Clippers.
The strangest thing is that when the Bobcats played in Charlotte on March 12, Curry's father was the courtside commentator. Before the game, he hired a bodyguard for Curry.
During the warm-up before the game, the fans surrounded Curry so much that he almost couldn't enter the stadium. I didn't expect Curry to be so popular.
In this game in Curry's hometown, the Bobcats were no match for the Clippers. Curry scored 30 points and the Clippers won again.
At the end of the game, Curry hugged me hard, and everyone came over to hug me, saying that the record was the same as the Spurs and Thunder. The playoffs are just one step away, and the more Curry teaches me, I can't guess the details.
March 13th, a back-to-back away game in San Antonio. Everyone said that the Spurs were the villain of the Western Conference. Everyone wanted them to die so that they could rip out their hearts and fry them in oil.
I interrupted and said that the Spurs were very strong and we had to be careful. If we lose, we should relax and play. Dunleavy and Kim Hughes both looked at me. Only today did I realize that their vision was exactly the same as that of the group outside.
Thinking about it, I feel cold from the top of my head to my heels.
It turns out the coaching staff also wants to make the playoffs.
Look at Dunleavy's words of "going all out", his ferocious encouragement with a group of assistant coaches, and his words of encouragement with the players. It's obviously a secret code.
I saw victory in his words and morale in his smile. Their eyes were all shining brightly, this was their determination to make it to the playoffs.
According to my own opinion, although I don't want to enter the playoffs, Anschutz has made conditions, but it is difficult to say.
I'm also hesitant to just let it go. Losing two dollars in the playoffs means nothing. But when I think about all the things that have been done to weaken the team, I feel unwilling to do so. ESPN reports sometimes say that the Clippers can make the playoffs and will be a dark horse; sometimes they say that the Clippers' schedule is difficult and somewhat dangerous. I didn't know the bullshit predictions from these media, but I still couldn't bear to lose money.
Everything must be studied before you can understand it. I heard that there were teams that stepped on the line and entered the top eight and were called dark horses, but I don't know much about it. I looked up the history and found that in 1994, 1999, 2007... the words "eighth in the regular season" were written crookedly on each page. I couldn't sleep anyway, so I read carefully for half the night, and then I saw the words between the words. There were two words written all over the book: "黑八"!
Many articles were written on the forum, and fans said many things, and they all looked at me with strange smiles.
I am the general manager of the Clippers, and they think I also want the Clippers to win.
Four,
On the night of March 21st, Staples VIP room.
Christopher brought food in, a pizza and a steak; the pizza was divided into eight parts, what does that mean, does it also imply a black eight. I ate a few pieces and they were pretty good, but I really didn’t have much of an appetite.
They lost to the Hornets and Bucks two days ago and fell out of the top eight again, but today they played against the Kings and the Clippers were always in the lead. The Kings are too weak.
I said, "Mr. Anschutz, can you not make entering the playoffs a condition for building an arena?"
Anschutz refused and said he had a guest coming later.
I didn't move, studying how they manipulated me, knowing that they would not let go. really! The bodyguard ushered in a tall, fat man with a round face and walked slowly over. He was smiling, but I felt that there was something hidden in his smile, so he didn't want to invest in the Clippers.
Anschutz said, "This is Steve Ballmer, the president of Microsoft." I said, "Nice to meet you."
Anschutz said, "I invite Mr. Ballmer to come here today to talk about the new arena." I said "Okay!"
In fact, don’t I know Ballmer’s true purpose! It's nothing more than wanting to step in and invest in the Clippers to contribute to team building. I know the amount of this person's assets. The amount of money is terrifying. If he joins the game, it will be almost impossible for the Clippers to go bankrupt!
I'm not afraid either. Sterling is under my control and I'm more courageous than them. With a cold face, he did not talk about the team's shares, saying that Sterling has no idea of introducing new investors and that everything is still planned. Ballmer finally said with some helplessness:
"I like basketball very much. When I retire, I will consider buying a team or investing in a stock. The Clippers are really good."
Do you like basketball? Then why are you trying to buy another team with the Clippers in mind? Ballmer's tens of billions of assets made the Clippers bankrupt, so why not let me build a nuclear bomb and level Los Angeles. Let me put it bluntly, if Ballmer wants to buy the Clippers, he will probably have to wait until the Clippers win the championship before Sterling will consider making a move.
Ballmer and Anschutz both lost their composure and were suppressed by my exaggerated tone.
But the more I boasted, the more interested they seemed. When Ballmer left the VIP room, the game was over. The Clippers defeated the Kings and rushed to eighth in the Western Conference. Ballmer whispered to me: "I look forward to the Clippers winning the championship. I really love basketball. I have heard about your deeds. If I own a team, I will want to ask you to be the general manager." .”
He wants me to be the general manager!
Am I a good team manager?
Have I been cheating myself? I don’t believe it, absolutely.
six,
In the past few days, I have taken a step back and thought: If what Ballmer said is true, and I am an excellent team general manager, it does not mean that I cannot complete the task. Are there too many examples of the best general manager leading a team to collapse?
Geoff Petrie, the general manager of the Kings, is a two-time best manager. He has led the Kings to collapse in the past few years and has never been able to make the playoffs.
As long as the Kings work harder, they will not lose to the Clippers in the game on the 21st, and they will not push the Clippers back into the top eight in the Western Conference.
Team No. 23 is going to Dallas to play the Mavericks again. Their boss Cuban is the kind of man who loves basketball crazily and watches every game from the sidelines. He keeps spending money on the team, with assets of 2.5 billion, five times as much as Sterling. If the boss wants to bankrupt the team, it will be even more difficult.
And how much is Ballmer worth? It’s TM’s 15 billion! Three lives and three lives will be defeated, and he must not be allowed to join the stock market.
six,
It was so dark that I didn’t know whether it was day or night. Houston's dog barked again.
The Spurs are old, the Mavericks are weak, the Rockets are strong...the Rockets lost to the Clippers again.
seven,
I know what tactics the Clippers are playing recently, high and low coordination inside, a lot of pick-and-roll double screens on the outside, double Davis as a fixed-point shooter, Curry's long shot, and Gordon's explosion. This lineup has abandoned high-intensity defense, and its offensive efficiency has improved to a higher level. The scoring in recent games has become more and more fierce, breaking 110 points in several games.
On March 28, they played the Golden State Warriors, 133:102, and beat the Warriors by 31 points. Curry scored 34 points, which was crazy.
I almost went crazy. In such a game with no suspense, I actually had a big argument with the referee. Tonight's referee is Sean Corbin. His hair is slick and oily. I just don't like him. I got into an argument with him because of a penalty.
He knew that I wanted to make trouble, and he was afraid that I would slam the popcorn bucket on his head, so he never said anything back and stayed away from me.
I couldn't get a fine and I was extremely disappointed.
But everyone was very happy after winning the game and came over to hug me again.
I curse anyone who wants to make the playoffs. I'm going to catch the first person who says he wants to make the playoffs.
Later it was discovered that it was related to Ada.
eight,
In fact, I should understand this truth by now... what does it mean to make a tiger out of three people.
Ada is still very beautiful, with the unique charm of Italian women. Compared with Daddario, she feels more like Xiaojiabiyu.
I always trusted her, but I didn't expect that she would hurt me and spread rumors about me.
"Why do people say I'm going to die?"
"No! Someone is spreading rumors and spreading rumors wrongly."
"What did you say at the beginning?"
"Say if the Clippers don't make the playoffs, you're going to resign."
"..."
"Who did you listen to?"
"I heard it from Uncle Christopher. He said Linda heard it in the VIP room."
"..."
"Why doesn't anyone mention this to me?"
"Everyone respects you and is afraid that you will be under too much pressure and dare not mention it."
"Why do the Clippers have to make the playoffs so I can stay?"
"It's always been like this. The general manager wants results..."
"It's always been like this, right?"
"Mr. Smart? What do you mean?"
"I don't agree with what you said. Anyway, you shouldn't spread random things about me!"
"I'm sorry Mr. Smart, do you want to fire me?"
"...Forget it, go out, I don't blame you, just go to work."
Ada left the office and I sighed deeply, I was tired.
Ada actually conspired with her family, uncle and aunt to stab me in the back?
I wonder if his father will come? It's impossible, it's impossible.
Nine,
Some teams want to enter the playoffs but also want to get lottery picks, and they are hesitant, such as the Toronto Raptors.
Chris Bosh will also become a free agent in the summer of 2010. If he does not make the playoffs, Bosh is likely to leave. Now that they have entered the playoffs, what future can the Raptors have? Might as well get a lottery pick.
So, they lost to the Clippers again.
ten,
Early in the morning, I woke up from my sleep. Recently, I have been dreaming about Black Eight and the championship.
I came to work at the team headquarters at Staples Center as usual. The weather today was exceptionally sunny and warm.
It's already spring, but I feel that the harsh winter is coming. The Clippers have 46 wins and 29 losses. They have only lost three games in the past three weeks, which is terrible.
I feel like I haven't done anything, but the Clippers keep winning for no reason, Curry is playing better and better, and the Rookie of the Year selection has surpassed Evans.
I arrived at the headquarters and found that there was no one at the front desk. None of the three front desk ladies were there.
I entered the office area and it was empty. Could it be that today is the weekend? Am I confused?
Today is obviously Thursday, something happened at the headquarters.
I came to the third floor. There was no one on this floor. Where did everyone go?
When I entered the office, I found that my computer and office supplies had been cleared away.
Did the mission fail and I was fired?
I panicked and asked the system, but the system said [No. 】
I calmed down and called Ada, but couldn't get through.
I heard footsteps, and Rosser pushed open the door and entered with a heavy look on his face.
He said to me: "Mr. Smart, I want to inform you of an emergency. Please be mentally prepared."
I nodded, I can bear everything.
Rosser said: "Due to the team's excessive debts and expenses, as well as the collapse of a financial product, Sterling filed for bankruptcy with the league yesterday, and the Clippers are about to disband."
When I heard the news, I was stunned at first, and then ecstatic.
Do I just win by lying down like this? Are the Clippers bankrupt? My mission is accomplished!
If the Clippers go bankrupt, I will have 300 million US dollars! It’s time to start the next mission!
But the system doesn't respond. What's going on?
When there were cheers and the sound of crowds outside, and when I heard "Happy April Fools' Day", I knew I had been fooled.
Today is fucking April 1st, damn April Fools’ Day.
eleven,
The sun doesn't go out, and I don't want to go out. I stay at home three times a day.
The Clippers' final game was a stinker, and a bad team like the Knicks came to give away experience.
Fortunately, Daddario came to stay with me. I cooked for her and watched the game while eating. I felt much better when someone was with me.
The players are playing on the court, I'm playing in the bedroom, and it's fair game for everyone.
On April 8 and April 12, the Clippers lost to the Trail Blazers and Mavericks. Whether they can enter the top eight in the Western Conference depends on the last game.
I still have a glimmer of hope.
twelve,
The final regular season finale is on April 14th, against the Los Angeles Lakers, who are number one in the Western Conference.
They have locked in the first place. If they win against the Lakers, the Clippers can enter the playoffs.
If they lose to the Lakers, the Clippers will only be ranked ninth in the Western Conference, which is the best.
I wish I could beg the Lakers head coach and Kobe to stop resting for the last game and go all out.
The Clippers entered the playoffs and played the Lakers.
Thirteen,
Kobe has been resting since last week.
The Lakers stated that Kobe will not appear in the final game.
Save the clippers, save the children...
April 2010.
(End of chapter)
