This is an awkward conversation.
Su Feng said he didn't know much about the triangle offense, so Phil Jackson asked him to learn more about it and ask Scottie Pippen for advice. Then, he talked to Su Feng about the climate in Los Angeles.
He repeatedly emphasized that the Los Angeles Lakers are very suitable for Su Feng. He believes that Su Feng can achieve greater development in the Lakers.
Su Feng kept a polite smile and ended the conversation in a perfunctory tone.
For Su Feng at this time, he didn't want to go anywhere. He thinks Chicago is very good. There is a coaching team that trusts him, very good teammates who are willing to support him, and so many passionate fans.
Why go to the Lakers?
Su Feng couldn't find any suitable reason.
He returned to the locker room, put the conversation with Phil Jackson behind, and he and his teammates began to celebrate tonight's victory. The cohesion in the Chicago locker room is getting stronger and stronger, and everyone is looking forward to the future.
In the evening, it was still Eddy Curry who sent Su Feng home.
On the way, Eddy Curry said to Su Feng with emotion: "Tony, I never dreamed that you would grow so fast. You are now our number one outside player."
Su Feng smiled and said modestly: "As long as I can win, that's fine."
Eddy Curry shook his head.
Little Shark has always been a carefree person, even a little cynical. But at this time, he put away the playfulness on his face and said to Su Feng very seriously: "Tony, you must put an end to this kind of thinking. In the NBA, don't always think about unity, always think about the team. This is a Industry alliance. Only by becoming one of the top 20 players can you control the situation, earn money from sponsors, gain the love of the fans, and make the management surrender to your authority."
"Everyone is climbing up. If you have an opportunity now, don't miss it."
Eddie Curry stared at Su Feng, with unprecedented seriousness in his eyes.
Because he really regarded this rookie who once saved his life as a brother.
Su Feng was slightly startled. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say.
"Don't think how good your relationship with Kirk is. In the face of interests, no matter how good the relationship is, it will deteriorate, not to mention that you are in a direct competitive relationship. And Jamal, he had a good relationship with you before, and he wanted to squeeze you away. Jalen Rose, he became the first offensive firepower on the outside. He didn't expect that you would rise quickly because of his injury, and your competition will be very fierce next. You have to be prepared."
"But don't be afraid. I will stand firmly by your side. Scott will also help you, and I feel that Antonio also supports you, and Gil. Add Coach Bill, and you are already invincible. But don’t have those childish thoughts.”
Eddy Curry analyzes the situation for Su Feng.
He also used the Lakers as an example. "Why is Kobe fighting for the top spot? Because he wants to be Jordan, he wants to be the NBA's signature star. He doesn't want to share the cake among the four major shooting guards. He wants to make his own piece of cake."
"The higher you stand, the more benefits you can get. You have signed a sponsorship contract with Nike, which is a perfect start. You must maintain this result. If your teammates take away your core position on the outside, your commercial value will be It will be greatly reduced.”
Eddy Curry speaks from the bottom of his heart.
Su Feng was taught a lesson.
He's not worried about competition, though. Su Feng's overall strength is now higher than Hinrich and Crawford. As long as he meets a fallen player or a legendary superstar next time, his strength will definitely rise.
Su Feng's goal is by no means the Bulls' outside core. What he wants is subversive.
It's just that he didn't want to say it because it would scare Eddy Curry.
…
At noon the next day, the NBA officially announced last week's Rookie of the Week and Player of the Week. Last week's Eastern Conference Player of the Week was LeBron James. When Su Feng first saw this award, he frowned a little. He thought to himself that LeBron was not as good as me last week in terms of record and data. How come he was elected Rookie of the Week?
However, the subsequent announcement of the best resource of the week gave Su Feng a surprise.
Su Feng directly passed the rookie status and became the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
After all, the Bulls won consecutive games last Thursday, and Su Feng also broke the NBA's long-standing historical record, pushing the number of assists in a single game to 31.
Best of the Week is a very high honor and will be included in your resume.
Many All-Stars never get the Player of the Week award once in their lifetime.
Su Feng achieved his goal in his rookie season.
At this time, he even felt a little regretful: Why didn't the best of the week and single-game records be included in the incentive bonus list with Nike? Misstep, misstep!
Nike is collectively excited. The two rookies they have invested heavily in this year have both received honors, which has effectively improved the entire brand.
The better the spokesperson is, the more brand power will be enhanced in a subtle way.
Sufon received congratulatory calls from Scottie Pippen, as well as Larry Bird.
They all treat Su Feng very well.
Pippen said that Gary Payton originally promised to teach Su Feng some defensive skills, but because he was going to Detroit to play back-to-back games, he decided to make an appointment next time.
Su Feng couldn't help but feel a little regretful. Payton's defensive ability impressed him deeply. This is still his level as he gets older. If it were his peak period, Hinrich would definitely be more uncomfortable being guarded by him.
If it doesn’t work this time, I can only look forward to the next time.
Su Feng thought so in his heart.
The Bulls have a day off today because it's Thanksgiving.
Su Feng stayed at home to do physical training and had a one-hour phone call with Scarlett. They were like all couples in love.
In the evening, Su Feng cooked two dishes for himself and had a phone call with his parents in China. They confirmed on the phone that they would fly to the United States to celebrate the Spring Festival with Su Feng this year, and they also knew that Su Feng was playing better and better in the United States and had signed a $58 million contract with Nike.
When talking about this matter, Lao Fan was particularly proud.
Not because of the money.
But because his son took the money.
The figure of US$58 million triggered heated discussions in the country. In 2003, this was a huge amount of money. After all, the richest man in the country last year had a net worth of only 7 billion yuan. If you convert this number, it will be more than 400 million yuan.
Lao Fan was very famous in his circle.
Everyone knew that he had given birth to a good son who had great potential.
And they also ridiculed Lao Fan: No wonder you can get Nike's OEM business. It turns out that I got the advantage of my son.
Lao Fan has a strong personality. He would always turn against anyone who gossiped. But he is not ashamed but proud to say that he has benefited from his son. After all, these days, the predecessors are not as strong as the descendants.
Lao Fan's Rolex watch is particularly popular among friends because it was a gift from his son.
Moreover, every time someone talks about his daughter-in-law who is an international female star, he waves his hand and says modestly: "Children are fooling around and can't do things right. Who knows what will happen in the future. I still hope to find myself a Chinese daughter-in-law." .”
Although Lao Fan said so outside.
But on the phone, she told Su Feng: "During the Chinese New Year, let's see if we can get your girlfriend to get together. We Chinese are very lively. Your mother and I will also check it for you. Just the news said this That said… we haven’t met yet.”
Su Feng said, Scarlett and I will discuss it. I don’t know if they foreigners have any customs in this regard.
After making this call, Su Feng went to bed.
He doesn’t have a local chicken that eats firewood, and as a Chinese, he doesn’t need to do any thanksgiving rituals.
…
Early the next morning, Su Feng got up, worked out, and made nutritious meals by himself... After completing a series of actions. His cell phone rang and he got a call from Coach Beal.
Coach Bill rarely calls him at this time, because at this time, he is often still asleep. He is a person who is used to going to bed late. He stays up late every night to study his opponents and make targeted tactical arrangements.
Therefore, when Su Feng saw the name on the phone, he felt uneasy.
Then he heard Coach Bill say in as calm a voice as possible: "Tony, I'm fired."
What? ? ?
Su Feng was shocked at the time.
He was in complete disbelief.
Why?
"How could this happen? We obviously already have the best record in the league, why should we fire you? Is the team crazy?" Su Feng said unhappily.
"Maybe it's because my tactical philosophy is not mature enough. I was removed from the position of acting head coach. They hope that I will continue to stay in the team and continue to help the team as an assistant coach or consultant. But I feel... there is no such thing. It's necessary." Bill Carrwright said to Su Feng: "I'm calling you to say goodbye to you..."
"...You are a genius player, a true genius player. Your ability to understand the game, your speed of evolution, and your learning ability are the strongest I have ever seen. We can achieve such results this season, you are The first contributor. I thought we could work together perfectly. But the management hopes to use a better head coach to stabilize the record and transform the Bulls into a strong team..."
Coach Beal's voice was frustrated.
After hearing this, Su Feng felt very depressed.
It was like an earthquake to him.
He never thought that a mutation would happen like this. Even the night before yesterday, they defeated the powerful Lakers together. Everyone said that this was a landmark victory.
Unexpectedly, Coach Bill dismissed get out of class just after Thanksgiving.
This is just... ridiculous.
Although Coach Bill is indeed immature in terms of tactics, he does not have a few good tactics, and his on-the-spot responses are full of mistakes.
However, he believed in the players and led the team to the number one record.
In this case, he should not be fired under any circumstances.
No one has ever done this.
Head coaches have always been fired because of a poor team record, never because of a good team record.
"Then where will you go in the future?" Su Feng asked with concern.
"I don't know yet." Coach Bill replied: "Maybe he will go to a strong team as an assistant coach, maybe he will go to the NCAA."
"Tony, come on. This is a business league. Only when you become stronger and become the top star in the league can you truly control your own destiny. Otherwise, everyone is just a commodity on the container."
Coach Bill encouraged Su Feng.
This was his parting motto.
Su Feng was very sad. He wished Coach Bill all the best and thanked him for his selfless help during this period.
Scottie Pippen called shortly afterwards and told Su Feng about the team's personnel changes.
And he said to Su Feng: "The new head coach is Scott Skiles. He coached in the Phoenix Suns before. He is a head coach with a strong personality, you have to be careful. He often competes with the Suns The players got into an argument and the reason he was fired was because the players couldn't stand him and publicly asked management to fire him."
"However, his tactical ability is indeed better than Bill's. He was a point guard and later served as Danny Ainge's assistant. Strictly speaking, he is the head coach of the Boston faction."
Pippen introduced to Su Feng: "The team changes the head coach at this time because they hope to stabilize the current results. If the team does not have any possibility of playoffs, they will not change the head coach. This year was originally a bad year. Year."
Finished the phone call with Pippen.
Su Feng went downstairs, took a taxi to the arena to meet his teammates, and then took a bus to the airport together. They have four consecutive away games next.
On the way to the arena, the breaking news played on the car radio.
The taxi driver, who was wearing a Jordan jersey, uttered a curse word at that time: bull sh-it!
He recognized Su Feng, Chicago's rising star, as he got into the car and asked for his autograph. When he heard the news, he immediately said to Su Feng: "John Paxson's brain was kicked by a donkey. I have never seen such a stupid arrangement. We have obviously reached the first place in the league, why should we change Head coach?"
Su Feng said: "I don't know either."
Most people can't understand it.
However, the Bulls management's thinking is very clear. They just don't believe that Bill can continue to consolidate this winning situation. After all, Bill only won 19 games in the first two seasons combined. They think the Bulls' current record is an accident. Therefore, we must quickly change to a capable head coach before the bubble is burst.
So, they couldn't wait to announce this personnel change after Thanksgiving.
Su Feng did not discuss internal team matters with the driver.
He quickly arrived at the training hall, and by the time he entered the locker room, there was already a discussion in the locker room.
Su Feng maintained the unique Chinese caution and did not express any opinions or comments.
However, his sadness was visible to the naked eye.
Soon, team owner Reinsdorf, general manager John Paxson and new head coach Scott Skiles walked into the locker room. Before that, the team leader had already said hello.
There was sparse applause in the locker room.
It's clear that this decision wasn't fully supported by the player base.
Only Kirk Hinrich applauded vigorously and loudly, and he strongly welcomed Scales' arrival.
John Paxson introduces Scott Scales.
Skiles then introduced himself, and he quickly stepped into the role of head coach.
He thought about the future and stated his goal: to lead the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals.
When he finished talking about this.
He suddenly walked towards Su Feng: "Tony, hello."
He was smiling and enthusiastic.
This was beyond Hinrich's expectation. He originally thought Scales would be the first to chat with him. I didn’t expect to find Su Feng!
