The Whip of the God of Basketball

On the morning of June 28, Leon drove to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in Bill Sharman's convertible Chevrolet, which is about an hour's drive from Redondo. The home of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is nearby. This is one of the famous basketball colleges in California, and it is also Bill Sharman's alma mater.

Bill Sharman was born in 1926 and is 75 years old this year, but he is still in good spirits, responsive, articulate, and able to drive. Leon quickly fell in love with this tall old man with a bright smile. He is very talkative, but it is completely different from Auerbach, not the kind of arrogant but slightly rude chatter, but moderate and comfortable talking.

"College basketball is the foundation of American professional basketball. It is the thick and powerful trunk of this big basketball tree. The NBA is just the luxuriant branches and leaves growing on the trunk. If one day the branches and leaves wither, as long as the trunk is still accumulating nutrients, then The dense canopy is still possible to flourish in spring. And California is not only a place where professional basketball is developed, but also college basketball is more developed here. Arnold has worked hard to let you come to this place to learn and learn. Don’t let him down painstaking efforts." Sharman's tone of speech is different from Auerbach's, calm and graceful metaphors, with the taste of comfort from the elders, Leon sat by the side and listened, but he had to sit upright and nod seriously. He has always been carefree in front of Auerbach.

This time, Sharman will take Leon to his alma mater. Now that the USC basketball team is actively training in summer, Sharman will let Leon participate in it as an assistant coach.

Although Leon has participated in the Celtics training camp, he will also join the team's daily training when he is working in Boston, but NBA training is different from college. There are no beginners among the participants in NBA training. From coaches to players to trainers, everyone is professional. Perhaps the team will give those rookies who have just entered the league some learning and buffer time, but they will not allow an assistant coach to learn from scratch. This is because in school, Leon can have the opportunity to seriously understand and invest in every detail Come to the position of coach.

It's a completely different job than scouting, which is a skill and coaching is a project.

It was already noon when they arrived at the campus of the University of Southern California. When they came to the West Museum Avenue, it meant that they had entered the campus of the University of Southern California. However, Sharman did not drive to the campus on the north side of the avenue, but turned right into Los Angeles Stadium District.

"Los Angeles Memorial Stadium..." Leon looked at the letters engraved on a white stone tablet and read.

"Young people's eyes are really good. You can see the words on it from such a distance. This is the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium, and there is a basketball stadium next to it. The opening ceremonies of the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games were held here. For the first time I was 6 years old when the Olympics were held... get out of the car, boy, let's go to the stadium, it's not easy to find a parking space." Like most old people, Sharman began to chatter. Although he often participates in some basketball activities, he is not keen to participate because of the excitement. It is his wish to come out and move around with young people like Leon.

Leon is a very good listener, he doesn't talk much, but he is not slow, very sharp, he is very good at catching Sharman's words, and he feels very comfortable chatting with Sharman. He also thought in his heart that the young people who can make Auerbach value are really not easy.

"Do you still come back often?" Leon asked as he walked, looking at the giant gymnasium of this prototype. It was noon at this time, and the blazing Californian sun reflected strong light on the white outer wall of the stadium. Leon, which was still in the cool northeast yesterday, was already walking under the Californian sun.

Shaman smiled, shook his head, and said: "I'm old, no one will recognize me when I walk on the street, and those little guys won't know who I am, and I don't have the energy to come here. But after all, I graduated here and have worked in Los Angeles for many years, so I still have some face. Today I am just a referrer, and everything will depend on the coach of the USC team. Maybe he will ask you something, Or need some help. It's up to you then, I know you're a smart guy, it's up to you how much you learn. Also, don't underestimate every coach who teaches in college, I know Pitino What happened in Boston, he did a terrible job, because the college coaching job is completely different from the professional team. If it is purely about school coaching, coming to college and learning from them is the best choice.”

Sharman's earnest teaching Leon kept in mind, the two had only met for half a day, but the old Sharman treated Leon like his own child, never letting go of any opportunity to teach. This is why Auerbach asked Leon to come to Sharman, because Sharman is a good teacher.

If Auerbach was a trailblazer at the coaching position, Sharman was a communicator. Those things that coaches must do in daily training and command, such as arranging a detailed training schedule, making individual training plans for each player, conducting adaptive training when away from home, and watching at the pre-match tactical preparation meeting Video clips, etc., did not appear out of thin air with the birth of the coaching profession. Auerbach is undoubtedly a pioneer in this regard, and his various initiatives have raised the status of coaches to a new height in basketball.

And Bill Sharman intensified those moves, refined them more carefully, took them to the West Coast, and slowly the ideas spread throughout the league. Because of this, Auerbach knew that Sharman was more suitable to be a teacher than himself. A teacher should know how to learn, and then teach the methods and content to students.

Many geniuses are very creative and have a strong learning ability, but they just can't teach students. Just like the big-name coaches in the league, they are often not superstars when they are players, and superstars can't be coaches.

Auerbach kept assigning tasks to Leon, but he almost never gave Leon guidance in terms of basketball skills and tactics. He knew he couldn't do it, but Sharman could. And even if Sharman was too old to teach, he would know who could take the job.

The two walked half a circle around the Memorial Stadium to the Memorial Stadium on the southeast side of the stadium. This is now the home and training ground of the University of Southern California. After the end of the season, they are now training here.

"I have already contacted the coach of the University of Southern California team, and he will arrange everything for you at that time. Let's go in first and see their training." Sharman took Leon into the huge and old The memorial gymnasium, walking inside is full of the sound of basketball touching the floor and shoe uppers rubbing against the floor.

Soon Leon heard the roar of the coach, which is very common on the training ground. Those head coaches seem to want to shout their voices out of their mouths, otherwise the players will not know how to play.

On the sidelines, Leon saw the yelling coach, a middle-aged man with a bald head, Henry Bibby.

Leon took a closer look at the coach. His complexion was a bit dark, but it was not pure black, but a light brown color. It seemed that he was of mixed race like Leon. He has a round head and face, looks like an egg, and looks a little funny, but standing on the sidelines and wearing a white T-shirt with a colorful face, he can't make people feel funny anyway. When he saw Sharman coming, he didn't come over to say hello immediately, but criticized a player who made a mistake, and then stepped forward to shake hands with Sharman.

It seems that he is a bit unreasonable guy, Leon thought in his heart, but he is not worried at all, because he is quite good at dealing with this kind of person.

"Hello, you are Fox Leon. I have heard about you for a long time. I am very happy to be here..." Bibby said while holding Leon's hand. As if there were eyes on the back of the head, he immediately turned around and cursed: "Put your eyeballs away and put them on the court, or I'll dig them out and trample them flat!"

"Henry, don't always be so fierce to the children. It's good to be more relaxed. Isn't there an official training season yet?" Sharman persuaded.

"No, these guys, if they are not strict, they will seize every opportunity to be lazy like pigs. I have to keep an eye on them." Bibby said. Sharman didn't say much, but just told Bibi about Leon's coming here. In fact, Sharman had already called Bibi in the morning and told Bibi about the matter, and asked Bibi to think about it. some conditions.

Bibby looked at Leon, thought for a while and said, "Of course I won't ask for money, but I hope you can do me a favor and get a player for our team."