After the post-ga press conference, Hansen was naturally asked by the reporters about the fans’ "celebration mont" just before the ga ended.
"What do you think was the reason they shouted that way? Is it related to what you said before the ga?"
The reporter knowingly asked the question.
"I think it was just the fans expressing their emotions. The series is a long one, and this is just the beginning."
However, Hansen did not follow up with his answer.
Although doing so would have earned him more dislike from the public, Hansen understood one thing: a cornered dog jumps over the wall, and even a cornered rabbit will bite.
If you really climbed along with it, it would only make the Celtics play desperately against you in the next ga.
Moreover, the Cavaliers’ current situation is not like the absolute dominance over the Celtics demonstrated in G1.
Even as it was shown at the beginning, they were still at a disadvantage.
Plainly put, G1 was an accidental ga.
Perkins picking up early fouls not only disrupted Rivers’ rotation but also dismantled the Celtics’ defensive system early on.
Such accidental factors, you can’t expect them to occur every night.
But O’Neal will continue to be absent in G2, and Jas is still troubled by the right elbow injury. These are established facts.
"Hansen’s debut in the playoffs scoring 33 points, he is Cleveland’s future."
However, being low-key at the press conference doesn’t an one has to be low-key after the ga.
Carrell published a very topical report on ESPN after the ga.
This report also sparked hot discussions among fans on social dia.
The last rookie to perform so impressively in his postseason debut was Ross, whom the Cavaliers had just eliminated in the first round.
Ross is Chicago’s future, why can’t Hansen be Cleveland’s future?
From this perspective, there was nothing wrong with that statent.
But the key issue is, Jas is still with the Cavaliers!
Although Jas has played in the League for seven years, he ca in as a high school player and is only 25 years old now.
With Cleveland’s King present, who else can presumptuously claim the future?
But it was this logic that naturally sparked a topic fans had always known but had no opportunity to discuss: Jas’ sumr decision.
Once this topic was discussed, it was endless, just like talking about injuries.
So LeBron fans said that Jas would win the championship this season, continuing to rival Jordan, and build his own dynasty in Cleveland.
So Kobe fans said Jas is currently injured and however it goes, he couldn’t win the championship. Even if he did win, as a businessman athlete, he would choose to leave.
You say yours, I argue mine, but in the end, Carrell’s report was highly publicized.
Hansen did not gain much in terms of negative fan attention since the focus of the discussions wasn’t on him, but his influence in the League nevertheless increased.
After all, his debut score of 33 points was solid.
After a two-day break, the second ga of the series continued.
This ga lacked the accidents of G1, and the Celtics completely locked down Hansen, giving no opportunity, which put the Cavaliers in a passive position right from the start.
In the two gas the Cavaliers won during the regular season, it was the mutual restraint between Hansen and Jas that created challenges for the Celtics’ defense.
But now, with Jas’s offensive threat significantly reduced due to his injury, that restraint was gone.
The Cavaliers ultimately lost to the Celtics 86 to 104.
Hansen’s defense was still excellent, still with 3 steals and 1 block to his credit, but he only scored 11 points from 4 out of 13 shooting.
That was completely within reason.
If facing the Celtics’ tight defense he could still score high points continuously, then he wouldn’t be Hansen, he would be Kobe.
No, even Kobe couldn’t do that; perhaps only "that man" could.
After the first two gas, the series was tied 1-1, appearing to start at the sa line, but the Cavaliers were still at a disadvantage.
The "history" that Hansen knew of, where the Cavaliers would lose to the Celtics this year, wasn’t by chance.
But the good news was, O’Neal was going to make a coback.
On the night they arrived in Boston, O’Neal and Hansen discussed tomorrow’s ga in their hotel room.
O’Neal’s goal was to win his fifth championship, surpassing Kobe. Though Hansen didn’t hold such an obsession, he too wanted to make it to the finals.
The finals, like March Madness, represent a bigger stage; those who make it there not only increase their worth by hundreds of tis, but at least see a significant rise.
Even stepping back, increased exposure for the Cavaliers ant an increase in their attractiveness to free agents, even if Jas left.
So, with a common goal, the two naturally had more to talk about.
As for why O’Neal didn’t go to find Jas or invite Jas to join the discussion?
Because with Jas’ current injury state, even though he was still able to score 20 points by staggering his play, he was no longer enough to change the Celtics’ defense.
What they had to do, or could do, was to make O’Neal the new point of restraint and then play off the Cavaliers’ previous effect with Hansen.
That was also their only way to win the ga.
Just as they were deeply engrossed in their discussion, soone knocked on the door.
Hansen stood up to answer it, looking through the peephole to see a delivery person.
"Did you order food?" Hansen turned back and looked at O’Neal.
O’Neal shook his head.
Hansen puzzledly opened the door and, after communicating, found out that it was the coaching staff who had ordered for them, so they wouldn’t go hungry.
Reviews
All reviews (0)