It was an uneventful night for the Minnesota Timberwolves as they lost to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Some are happy and some are sad.
For the Timberwolves, losing to an opponent they have defeated is not something that can be ignored. Especially when the opponent wins by more than ten points, the problems within the team deserve more attention.
So, after the game, when all the fans left, Zhao Feiyang, the core of the team, stayed in the gym for extra practice.
The other players planned to leave, but they were also infected by his attitude, and soon they all joined in.
After everyone was tired from practicing, they simply sat on the floor and gathered together to discuss various problems that occurred during the game and review what they failed to do well in the game.
"As an inside player, I failed to guard Mark. This was my mistake. I must reflect on myself."
Adrian Ennis raised his hands to apologize to everyone.
As soon as he finished speaking, Ibaka raised his hand and continued, "And me... Zach is too strong! I couldn't withstand him. This was my mistake... ..But I promise that this problem will not happen again in the next game..."
Upon seeing this, other players also reflected on their mistakes.
Even Zhao Feiyang stood up and expressed his opinion, "I also have a problem. We underestimated them too much before the game started. After all, we won so many points before, but this time we really didn't take them too seriously. Underestimating the enemy is our biggest problem... ..”
The good atmosphere within the team quickly eliminated the haze of losing, and everyone was looking forward to the next game under this kind of communication.
At the same time, unlike the Timberwolves' low mood, the winning Grizzlies seemed very confident.
The players are in good condition, but in comparison, the team's head coach Tom Thibodeau seems more excited.
He, who has never spoken much, rarely expressed his thoughts in interviews with the media.
"This result is not beyond my expectation! I know that before the game started, many people thought it was impossible for us to win the Timberwolves, but I am very confident. I know each of them and what they will do. Such tactics..."
"Many people thought that there was something wrong with my tactical command before, but I have to tell them that I was not wrong. The reason why I left the Timberwolves was just because of other things..."
As soon as these words were said, the old news that Thibodeau left the Timberwolves was mentioned again. The media didn't care about the truth of the matter at all, they only cared about topicality and gimmicks, so soon some articles began to write various reports.
"Thibedou responded positively to the rumors of leaving the team and was forced to leave due to a suspected conflict with Zhao Feiyang!"
"The Timberwolves have a choice! Either Thibodeau leaves, or Zhao Feiyang leaves. In the end, the Timberwolves choose to drive Thibodeau away to end the struggle between the two..."
"The famous coach was squeezed out? What is the truth behind Thibodeau's departure? Was it a problem with his coaching or did someone deliberately want him to leave?"
After a series of news came out, Zhao Feiyang, as the team leader, inevitably became the center of the topic. Some outsiders who were ignorant and ignorant of the truth also began to criticize him.
"It's true that Zhao is the team leader, but how can he drive away the team's head coach? He is not qualified to do so."
"The Timberwolves really indulge this guy too much. If this continues, I suspect he may have to drive away the general manager in the future..."
"Thibedou is a famous coach! He has won the best coach. Zhao is a very good player, but he should not direct the game, let alone interfere with the coaching team..."
Criticisms from the outside came overwhelmingly after the team's defeat. As for the direction of all this public opinion, Zhao Feiyang only had one reaction after learning about it.
"Shut up, everyone!"
When he responded with one sentence on his personal social media, many of his critics were dumbfounded.
Especially one of them, Jonathan White, who is the host of a talk show and is somewhat famous. Previously, he earned a lot of ratings by criticizing Zhao Feiyang. Now seeing Zhao Feiyang respond so rudely, he was also excited to criticize him on the show.
"Oh! This guy is so unreasonable!"
"He actually responded like this? In my opinion, he must have a guilty conscience, otherwise he would never do this! What is a superstar? Super stars always respond to everything with strength, but he is not, so he is not What superstars do people call..."
"He's just a lucky guy!"
Zhao Feiyang originally didn't want to pay attention to this kind of criticism.
He knew that the reason why these people kept catching him was because he was sufficiently topical. As long as he responds, the talk between the two sides will definitely attract more viewers.
But this time Zhao Feiyang had to respond, because this person named Jonathan White was different. He once worked for the Chicago Bulls, and his relationship with Tom Thibodeau was not ordinary. The former criticized him for leaving the ball from Thibodeau. At the beginning of that stage of the team, it was clear that they were deliberately targeting.
Therefore, Zhao Feiyang responded decisively on his social media account, "Jonathan, you are just a bullshit. You can't do anything except bark for others... The reason why I stood up to respond was not because What you said makes sense, just because you disgust me..."
After responding, Zhao Feiyang ignored the outside voices and began to concentrate on training with his teammates.
Soon, the second battle between the two sides came.
This time the game will be held at the Target Center Arena, home of the Timberwolves.
What is different from before is that this time the Timberwolves directly sent out their strongest lineup. After the game started, Zhao Feiyang led the team to attack the Grizzlies' basket. He just kept rushing into the opponent's inside to break through and take shots.
Although the Grizzlies' defense is still as tough as before, it is an undeniable fact that they cannot stop Zhao Feiyang.
Therefore, in the first quarter, the Timberwolves relied on Zhao Feiyang's strong personal performance to take the lead.
At the end of the first quarter, the two sides were tied 31-29.
The 2-point difference is not much, but it is at least a good start for the Timberwolves.
Fast forward to the second quarter.
Zhao Feiyang still did not end the game, but LaVine in the first position temporarily went to rest and was replaced by Rose. Other locations have not changed much.
However, it was rare for the Grizzlies to make adjustments. Gasol temporarily went down to rest, and Randolph protected their rebounds in the paint.
During this quarter, Zhao Feiyang still performed superbly.
Mike Conley, who was guarding him, was really miserable. He was directly beaten by Zhao Feiyang in one-on-one. After the beat, he suppressed him many times, leaving Conley with no possibility of fighting back.
With 17 points scored in this quarter, Zhao Feiyang's score in the first half also reached 32 points. Because of his leadership, the Timberwolves led the Grizzlies by 6 points at the end of the first half.
These 6 points undoubtedly gave the fans on the sidelines hope.
When the Timberwolves players walked into the tunnel, many fans happily clapped with them in celebration. The mentality of all the Timberwolves players is also very good, as if they have returned to the confidence they had before the start of the last game.
The half-time break passed and the two sides quickly entered the second half.
After entering the second half, the Timberwolves' performance took a sharp turn, and they were no longer as strong as they were in the first two quarters. As the core, Zhao Feiyang began to be double-teamed. Faced with excessive physical exertion, he could only transfer the ball as much as possible to assist his teammates.
In other positions, LaVine's touch has not been very good since the beginning of the game, and Rose still dare not break through easily or have high-intensity collisions because of the shadow of the previous game.
His careful playing style also made him in average condition. He only scored 9 points in the first half, and in the second half he was unable to score for half a day.
On the inside, Adrian, Gorgi, Ibaka and other players can be said to be extremely desperate. The three of them continued to rotate and adopted various methods of personal defense against Gasol and Randolph.
Unfortunately, the effect was not significant, and Randolph frequently succeeded in singles under the basket, which ultimately led to their defense failing.
With less than 3 minutes left in the game, the Timberwolves, who originally led, were once again stretched to double digits. The Grizzlies also adopted a steady and steady approach under the command of Thibodeau. While they defended tightly, they also used positional warfare to use their inside advantage to suppress the Timberwolves.
This style of play left the Timberwolves helpless. In their eagerness to chase points, they not only failed to successfully narrow the score gap, but also made various mistakes because they were too anxious.
Beep.
When the game timer sounds, the battle between the two sides ends.
The score was 130 to 120.
The Grizzlies again won by 10 points.
At the moment the game ended, the Grizzlies players also shouted with uncontrollable excitement, while the Timberwolves players sat dejectedly on the sidelines.
As the team leader, Zhao Feiyang was also helpless at this time. He played 38 minutes in this game and scored a total of 37 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.
It's not that great, but he ranks first in efficiency and scoring. Under this situation, he still can't lead the team to victory, which also makes him feel a little weak.
"Damn! If Howard wasn't injured, how could we have so many inside problems?"
Zhao Feiyang felt a little regretful in his heart.
The existence of Howard and Ibaka made other teams feel a huge threat. Their role on the court was also very strong, definitely no worse than the combination of Gasol and Randolph.
It's a pity that who would have thought that because of Thibodeau's command, Howard would suffer a season-ending injury at a completely unnecessary time! If it weren't for this reason, I'm afraid the Timberwolves would not have lost the first two games at all! A 4-0 sweep is absolutely problematic.
