Stewart knows better than anyone what Jiang Dongbing means to the Grizzlies, maybe even better than Jiang Dongbing himself.

Without Jiang Dongbing, the Grizzlies' current lineup may still be brilliant for a few more years. After all, Jiang Dongbing has laid a good foundation for the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies can renew two or three of the new players in the team no matter what.

With two or three players as the basis, the Grizzlies' record will definitely not be much different.

But what about after a few years of glory? Will the Grizzlies become the weakest team in the league again like they were when the team was founded?

"Mr. Haisley, maybe we should carefully consider Jiang's feelings. This is the promise he made to Popovich. If we don't fulfill it, it will be difficult for Jiang to do it." Stewart reminded in a low voice.

He felt that he had told Haisley very frankly. If he messed up, he might cause Jiang Dongbing's dissatisfaction.

But to Heisley's ears, these words were a clear threat to himself. The head coach he had hired for a huge price of 10 million US dollars might threaten himself if he didn't follow his wishes.

"Humph!" Haisley snorted coldly and walked away with his sleeves rolled up.

Stewart sat in his office and sighed, never expecting that he would also encounter such a difficult situation where generals were at odds with each other.

…

After Haisley returned, the more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. In fact, he originally felt that Jiang Dongbing's salary was a bit too high. The salaries of head coaches of other teams in the league were around two million US dollars, and even less than one million US dollars.

of.

What about Jiang Dongbing? It’s almost five to ten times his salary. This salary is really ridiculously high.

When it comes to Jiang Dongbing's ability, Haisley does think Jiang Dongbing is a capable person. After all, he can lead the Grizzlies to win the championship. There may be many coaches who have led the team to win the championship. Take Jackson Jackson as an example. When the Bulls built a dynasty, he

The salary is far less than that of Jiang Dongbing now.

During the Bulls era, before Jackson won the championship, Jackson's salary was only around US$2 million. It was not until the last season that his salary rose to US$6 million. Now Jackson has signed a five-year, US$30 million contract with the Lakers, and his average annual salary is also

It's just six million.

This can explain why Haisley feels that Jiang Dongbing's salary is too high. He undoubtedly has not considered the difference between Jiang Dongbing leading the Grizzlies to win the championship and Jackson building the Bulls dynasty.

Now that Jiang Dongbing has such a high salary, he has given away the team's high-value newcomers on his own initiative, and even threatened himself next, how can Heisley endure it?

Speaking of which, Heisley’s character can be compared to that of the future President of the United States***. They are both obsessed with golf, both are the same old white man and wealthy businessman, and are both “smart”. Now they are full of Hayes

Li even had the idea of ​​firing Jiang Dongbing.

Of course, this season is almost coming to an end, and it is definitely impossible for him to do such a stupid thing. He will have to consider this matter after Jiang Dongbing leads the team to win the championship.

…

Jiang Dongbing still doesn't know that his boss Haisley has had the idea of ​​driving him away? If he knew? I don't know how he would feel in his heart, is he happy or dissatisfied?

There are only six games left in the regular season? Artest is suspended for 68 games? He will definitely not be able to play next.

Taking advantage of this last moment, Jiang Dongbing rearranged several new starting lineups, maybe because the opponents were too weak? Ordinary people really can't feel any obvious changes in the Grizzlies' overall strength? Anyway, every game

Still beating the opponent.

Fans who were originally worried about the Grizzlies' championship prospects? Now they are completely relieved. It won't be long before they will usher in the Grizzlies' second championship trophy.

On April 16th, the Grizzlies played their last regular season game and won easily, ending their season with a perfect record.

With a regular season record of 80 wins and 2 losses, the Grizzlies have become the strongest team in NBA history? This has far exceeded the Bulls' historical record of 72 wins and 10 losses in the regular season.

People who were extremely unfavorable about the Grizzlies breaking the Bulls' regular season win record at that time are completely speechless now. For example, Pippen, who is currently playing for the Trail Blazers, feels as uncomfortable as swallowing a dead fly. I feel most proud of this in my life.

One of the few things he was proud of was that he was so easily surpassed by the Grizzlies led by Jiang Dongbing.

In addition to their impressive regular season record, the Grizzlies' players' personal data this year are also extremely impressive.

Because Jiang Dongbing used players' rotations more reasonably this season, the statistics of the Grizzlies players have improved significantly compared to last season.

First of all, Stephen Jackson, the leader of the team, averaged 24.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.6 blocks per game this season. He is simply a super small forward with both offense and defense. Now, no one will say that Jackson is the number one small forward in the league.

question.

Ranked eighth in scoring, ninth in steals, fourth in three-point field goal attempts, ninth in three-point field goal percentage, 21st in blocks, and 28th in assists, Jackson may not be the strongest in the league in any of them.

, but when taken together, this guy's abilities appear to be too terrifying, and he doesn't even have any shortcomings.

In the entire history of the NBA, there is no small forward player who is as versatile as Jackson. It does not mean that Jackson is powerful enough to be called the number one small forward in history. But in terms of versatility, Jackson is indeed now

It can be called the first.

I don’t know how many teams are coveting the Grizzlies to have a player as perfect as Jackson. It can be said that Jackson is the most perfect cornerstone of the team. As long as they get Jackson and put a few reliable helpers around him, then

The performance is definitely not much different.

Another protégé of Jiang Dongbing, David Taillon, has also made extremely frightening progress this season.

Last season, David was still considered the number one draft pick. In just one year, he was completely transformed and showed his ability as a top center. Even if we don’t mention the 60+20+10 super triple-double, just talk about David.

His regular season averages are enough to be considered a top center.

18.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks. Compared with last season, the data is simply earth-shaking!

With an average of 18.8 points per game, currently only O'Neal and Mourning in the league score higher than David. It is certainly incomparable to O'Neal's scoring average of nearly 30 points per game, but Mourning averages less than 18.8 points per game.

With a score of twenty-two points, the difference is not that big.

Moreover, with a lineup like the Grizzlies, it is difficult to give David too many shots. In terms of shooting percentage, David's average shooting percentage of 56.2 per game is even higher than Mourning.

In terms of rebounds, David's average rebounds per game ranks fourth on the list. The first three are Mutombo, O'Neal and Duncan. Considering that David has a "competitor" like O'Neal next to him, David

His rebounding ability is really not necessarily worse than the previous three.

As for averaging 3.8 blocks per game, it ranks first in the league, followed by Mourning's 3.7 blocks per game.

First in the league in blocks, fourth in the league in rebounds, third in the scoring center position, and fifth in the league in field goal percentage. With such statistics, David is the top center in the league today, and no one will doubt it.

Because he has a buggy player like O'Neal, David is definitely not the league's number one center now, but he is still the league's number two center.

I am afraid that as long as David plays in the league for one day, Dampier will not dare to say that he is the second center in the league in the future.

Next is Billups, who averaged 19.1 points, 11.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He ranked first in the league in assists per game and second in steals per game. He ranked first among point guards in three-point field goals and field goal percentage. Now

No one would doubt that Billups is the number one point guard in the league.

Under normal circumstances, Billups doesn't actually have that many assists. His career assist data has generally remained around six, and his highest season averaged only 8.6 assists per game.

But now because he is in the Grizzlies, his teammates are really too strong, especially the existence of the twin towers inside, which allows Billups to get a lot of assists.

Passing the ball to the inside players, the probability of getting assists is very high, especially for point guards like Billups who are good at passing lobs. As long as the inside players are strong enough and can crush the opponent's players on the offensive end, then the assists can be obtained

Don't take it too easy.

However, both Ou and David have the offensive ability to crush most opponents in the league. It is easy to imagine why Billups' assists can surpass Kidd and sit first in the assists list.

Xiao O's average data per game is actually similar to David's, 18.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. In terms of statistics, apart from scoring, he is actually not much different from Duncan, Garnett and Webber, almost on the same level.

Before Nowitzki's rise, these four were considered the league's four power forwards, and Bulls No. 1 pick Brand was barely considered the fifth power forward.

However, although the data is similar to the other three, in terms of overall strength, there may still be a slight gap between Xiao'ao and the three. The main reason is that Xiao'ao's teammates are too strong and can create many opportunities for him to improve his data, while Duncan

, Garnett or Webber did not have such good luck.

Artest was suspended, but his defensive statistics before the suspension were definitely among the best in the league. Ben, Peja, Kirilenko and Ginobili also have their own strengths and are definitely the best in the league currently.

A very dazzling newcomer.

Taking a comprehensive look at the Grizzlies' lineup, you can find out why the Grizzlies can achieve such a terrifying record.

The league's No. 1 small forward, the league's No. 1 point guard, the league's No. 2 center, the league's fourth power forward, the league's top three defensive shooting guards and the league's best bench players. How could such a lineup not achieve a great record?

That is to say, there were accidents in the two losses to the Bucks and Spurs. Otherwise, many people think that this year's Grizzlies may even win the regular season!

This lineup is really invincible. In the entire history of the NBA, there has never been such a terrifying lineup. Even when Green Kai won consecutive championships, they may not be able to come up with such a lineup.

Jiang Dongbing was filled with pride when he saw such a lineup. It is definitely any head coach's dream to be able to create such a lineup with his own hands. This is a true dream lineup.

…

On April 19th, the Grizzlies’ home court, their first game of the first round of the playoffs is about to begin.

The eight teams in the Western Conference that have entered the playoffs are the Grizzlies, Lakers, Trail Blazers, Jazz, Spurs, Suns, Timberwolves and SuperSonics. The Grizzlies' first-round opponent was their first-round opponent last season, the SuperSonics.

The Sonics players are in extreme pain. Last season they were beaten by the Grizzlies, but this season the Grizzlies actually look several times stronger!

Last season, the Sonics players at least had the courage to defeat the Sonics, but this season they feel that there is no hope at all. Not only the players think so, but the team's head coach Westphal also thinks the same.

Westphal achieved very high achievements as a player, and was even elected to the Hall of Fame as a player in the future. The early stages of his coaching career were smooth sailing, and he led the Suns to the Finals in 1993. But these days,

His good luck may have run out this year, especially since he came to the SuperSonics, and his life has become worse every day.

Jiang Dongbing remembered that Westphal was quite sad. Later, he really couldn't find a job. He once worked as an assistant coach for the Spurs' general, and he also got brain cancer. Anyway, it was a bumpy road.

…

Billups and Payton were at odds with each other from the beginning. Maybe they were both unconvinced by each other. As the top point guards in the league, they naturally wanted to prove that they were better than each other in such a highly anticipated occasion.

Stronger.

In his prime, Payton was definitely better defensively than Billups, but now that Payton is getting older, his defense is almost at the same level as Billups, and on the offensive end, Billups is obviously more stable.

The two point guards faced off against each other, but because Billups' teammates were so strong, the duel between the two was actually meaningless.

At the end of the game, the Grizzlies defeated the SuperSonics by 22 points in the first game. Billups scored 14 points and 16 assists, while Payton had 22 points and 7 assists. It seemed that Payton's statistics were not inferior to Billups.

, but looking at the shooting percentages of these two people, you know that Billups won this match.

Billups only took 10 shots and scored 14 points, while Payton took a total of 20 shots and only scored 22 points.

As for the crushing assist data, this actually doesn't explain too much. The main reason is that Payton's teammates are too poor. If a Grizzlies player replaced many of the passes, they might have scored and Payton could get them.

Assist...

The next two games were roughly a replica of the first game, with Billups and Payton having a great time playing each other, while other Grizzlies players blasted Payton's teammates in a best-of-five game.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Grizzlies easily swept the SuperSonics to advance.

After the game, Jiang Dongbing came on the stage to shake hands with Westphal.

Jiang Dongbing originally wanted to remind Westphal to pay attention to his brain health, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't say this.
Chapter completed!