Throughout the third quarter, as the main players were resting off the court, the situation for the Memphis Grizzlies gradually became worse. The substitutes can't stop Zhao Feiyang, especially under his leadership, the Timberwolves' main lineup also begins to exert its strength.
As a result, only two-thirds of the way through the third quarter, the Timberwolves had already opened the point difference to double digits.
In this case, the Grizzlies also had to call a timeout.
Head coach Thibodeau even personally went to Marc Gasol and other players to inquire about their situation, hoping that they could continue to play.
"Sorry, coach! I really need to rest. I don't want to get more injured because of forcing myself to play this time..."
Gasol declined politely.
Thibodeau walked up to Zach Randolph again. The opponent was obviously not as easy to talk to as Gasol. He just shook his head and said that he would not play for the time being.
"No, I need to rest."
"I've never played for such a long time before...it takes getting used to..."
Thibodeau looked at Randolph and then at the others. He originally wanted to suppress his anger, but when he found that these players were acting arrogant and unwilling to cooperate, Thibodeau finally couldn't help but roar out.
"Damn it!"
"Everyone... listen to me! If anyone doesn't obey the command, I will discuss with the team management to trade you after the game..."
"Mark, Zach, wait a minute you all come on stage!"
"And Mike, Jermichael and the others...get all here and get up here!"
"You guys always say that your body can't stand it. The intensity of my playing days was much higher than what you are doing now... Your performance is too stretched, which only makes me feel that today's players are becoming more and more squeamish. ....."
"It just so happens that you earned more money than we earned at that time..."
Thibodeau was furious.
His attitude really shocked the players.
Gasol and others did not dare to disobey his instructions, so they quickly took off their jackets and started warming up. Just like that, the main players appeared again.
However, the main players that Coach Thibodeau expected to save the defeat did not appear. In the rest of the third quarter, the main players were all listless, and many of them showed their lazy side.
Such behavior also makes the team's morale even lower.
Zhao Feiyang noticed the Grizzlies' move and immediately led the team to continue to launch a counterattack. Under his strong pull, the Grizzlies were soon stretched by as many as 20 points.
At this time, there were less than 3 minutes left before the end of the game.
The team is playing like this. As the head coach of the Grizzlies, Thibodeau has almost no blood on his face. He sat on his chair with an indifferent expression and never stood up again. He occasionally looked at the court or elsewhere. In short, his attitude proved everything.
He was very unhappy!
But there is nothing he can do about these guys on the field!
However, he also has his own way of "revenge", which is to keep these players on the court all the time to punish them for their slack behavior in the game.
When there was no more suspense in the game, the Timberwolves also replaced Zhao Feiyang and other core players.
Not long after, the game came to an end.
Beep.
The moment the timer sounded, all the fans couldn't help but sigh.
Many people originally thought that the Grizzlies could defeat the Timberwolves. After all, this game is very important to coach Thibodeau. But in the end, the team led by Thibodeau still lost to the Timberwolves by a full 20 points.
This renders the previous debate meaningless.
In this duel, Thibodeau lost!
If there were still people who questioned the problem within the Timberwolves before, then this time, there are obviously more people questioning Thibodeau.
He was unable to help the team win in the Timberwolves, and this is still the case with the Grizzlies.
Well, maybe that justifies his departure from the Timberwolves.
After the game, players from both sides also shook hands in a friendly way. After Zhao Feiyang led his teammates to greet the Grizzlies players, he went straight to Coach Thibodeau this time.
No one said harsh words, and no one said anything impolite. Everyone had only one action, and that was to go up and shake hands with Thibodeau and hug him.
It looks like a very heartwarming scene.
This is a blessing from the players who used to work for their head coach! But in fact, every hug made Coach Thibodeau feel painful.
Without exception, these Timberwolves players responded to him with their own actions!
At a certain moment, Coach Thibodeau almost broke the defense!
Perhaps because he couldn't bear it deep down, Coach Thibodeau finally chose to leave the game early. He didn't even finish greeting the Timberwolves players, and walked out towards the tunnel with his tactical board.
In the sports news that night, the Minneapolis media reported this matter. Of course, the media were very happy that the Timberwolves won.
As for Coach Thibodeau losing the game, many media outlets were overtly or covertly angry.
Many Timberwolves fans who supported Thibodeau eventually abandoned him.
"It turns out that his leaving is not a bad thing for us!"
"At first, there were rumors that there was a feud between him and Zhao. I thought it was Zhao who was trying to be a big name to let him leave. But now it seems that even if Zhao doesn't like him, it's because Zhao realized that he is important to us in our pursuit of the championship. It’s not helpful, that’s why I do that..."
"The most pity is Dwight! If coach Tom hadn't insisted on him playing more, Dwight wouldn't have been injured that time, and he wouldn't have been reimbursed for the season! And Derrick...if they didn't show up Any injuries, then our lineup can be said to be quite gorgeous..."
Shortly after winning this game, the Timberwolves welcomed another member of their team.
Derrick Rose, who had been recovering from his injury for a while, finally recovered. After a few days of recovery training, he was finally confirmed to be back.
In order to recover better, he made a special trip to Europe to find a doctor who had treated him to help him recover from his injuries. Therefore, Rose did not know what happened to the team at first.
After returning to the team, he also learned about Coach Thibodeau's dismissal. For a while, Rose was shocked by this incident.
"What? Coach Tom left?"
Rose learned the news from LaVine during training.
When LaVine saw Rose's shocked expression, he thought Rose was reluctant to let go of Thibodeau. After all, he only achieved results under Thibodeau. Although Thibodeau also caused major injuries in his career, it has to be said that Thibodeau is still kind to him.
"Derek, don't be sad! Coach Tom has his place...His coaching is not suitable for us..."
"If we had stayed here, maybe our careers would have been affected...The current coach Eric is very good, he cares about the players' health, which is a good thing for us... ..”
Rose interrupted LaVine.
"No, that's not what I meant!"
"I mean, it's a pity that I couldn't make it back, otherwise I would have loved to attend your game against the Grizzlies..."
Rose's words made LaVine stupid.
"I respect Coach Thibodeau, but that doesn't mean I agree with some of his coaching methods. As a player, I will choose to implement it, but if I can refuse, then I don't want to continue to play in this environment... "
"Of course it is necessary to go all out, but it is completely unnecessary to go all out beyond physical strength... As a player, your career is very fragile. I have already experienced the torment of falling into a trough, so I cherish the time I have now and don’t want the things that happened in the past to happen again..."
After Rose finished speaking, LaVine and his teammates immediately understood.
After all, no one wants the game to be filled with too many unknown risks.
After all, if you really end the season, the team won't care so much, and the head coach won't be able to support you. At that time, all the responsibility will be yours, and no one will sympathize with you.
Rose's return has once again strengthened the Timberwolves' lineup. Although Howard's absence has once again weakened the inside strength, the overall atmosphere and strength of the team are by no means inferior to last season.
As a result, the Timberwolves quickly started a five-game winning streak.
The opponents of these five consecutive victories are not weak teams. There are two teams in the Western Conference playoffs and two teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
In terms of strength alone, these teams are entirely likely to become threats to the Timberwolves. But they were defeated in the end.
The Timberwolves' ranking also took advantage of this wave of winning streak to rush to fifth place in the Western Conference.
As the schedule accelerates, the regular season of this season has entered the second half. Before officially entering the final stage, the NBA's annual All-Star Game also arrives again.
What is different from the past is that this year's All-Star Game is no longer divided into East and West. Instead, the two superstars with the highest votes form a team and then select the players they need.
In this way, the problem between the east and the west will completely disappear!
Previously, there was a gap in strength between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, so many times it was the Western Conference that ultimately won the All-Star Game. As time passed, fans inevitably became a little tired of the aesthetics, so this novel way of playing the game appeared.
Once the division between east and west is gone, it will undoubtedly become interesting who the stars are willing to choose as teammates, and the strengths of the two teams will inevitably become more balanced.
