"The best regular season record in the 21st century?"

When Link saw the title, he was amazed.

Originally, it was thought that only by surpassing or tying the Bulls' 72 wins could it be called great. Unexpectedly, the Grizzlies actually had another chance to break the record.

Although it is not as bluffing as the title of "the league's best single-season regular season record". But adding the phrase "since the 21st century" to the title also sounds extremely honorable.

This year's NBA regular season ended on April 17, and the day the Grizzlies lost to the Nuggets was on the 16th.

That is, there is exactly a full month left in the regular season, 18 games.

To break the record, the Grizzlies can only lose four of their next 18 games. If you lose more than 4 games, it can only be a draw, not a break.

Speaking of which, the Grizzlies have only lost 10 of their 64 games so far. On average, you lose one game for every six games.

So, it doesn't seem difficult to get 14 wins out of 18 games.

But the end of the season is a very special period, and for the sake of the playoffs, the fighting power of other teams will suddenly increase. The Grizzlies, who are already basically at the top of the league, are unlikely to fight every game.

If a player is injured for a regular-season win and the playoffs are delayed, it will be more than worth the loss.

Whether to break the record or make the playoffs is a problem that all teams at this level have to face.

Therefore, it is not so simple to get at least 14 wins in 18 games in this period.

After the game with the Nuggets, Stevens also organized a meeting with the coaching staff. The content of the meeting was simple – whether to follow the record or to be safe.

The members of the coaching staff had a heated discussion about this.

Some people think that the Grizzlies have a good chance this year, and they have already played the best record in team history anyway, so it is better to stay in the playoffs and try to go far in the playoffs.

Others, on the other hand, believe that record-breaking opportunities don't come every season. If that opportunity had been given every season, the Bulls' record for the best record in a single season wouldn't have stood for so many years.

If you have the opportunity, you must go for it.

Stevens was a little torn between a few things, and it was a blissful annoyance.

In the end, the young coach made a compromise decision - to try to break the record while ensuring that the players were full of energy.

The Grizzlies won't be chasing the record with all their might, but they also won't just paddling and waiting for the playoffs. For the underdogs, Stevens will try to keep the battle over within three quarters and reduce the attrition of the main players as much as possible.

And playing a strong team, if the game is scorching, Stevens will not give up resistance.

The choice of compromise may sometimes be inconsiderate of both ends. It both lost the physical strength of the players and did not break the record.

But Stevens believes in the strength of his team, and there is no way that the guys will agree to such a thing.

※※※

Ever since the media reported that the Grizzlies could break the record, everyone on the Grizzlies has become much more serious when they're on the training floor.

In the past, everyone was giggling, and jokes and memes came one after another.

And now, everyone is very serious in training. Everyone is trying to do their own thing, for fear of holding the team back.

Elston. Seeing this, Turner was a little worried, "You say, won't this put too much pressure on them?" ”

"No, I never said I wanted them to break the record." Stevens was on the sidelines with his hands on his chest, but it seemed too quiet in the arena.

"If you don't say it, the media will say it. Even if you don't, those guys are going to want to break the record. Usually they play well, but now they are counting the wins and losses on their fingers, and they will inevitably be affected. ”

"Hey, what should I do? Do you hire a counsellor for each of them? Stevens covered his forehead, NCAA March Madness is also under a lot of pressure, and he has to go home if he loses.

But the pressure of college basketball is not the same as the pressure of professional basketball. Moreover, the NCAA schedule is nowhere near as dense as that of the NBA, and college players already have a lot of free time to relieve their stress.

But what about NBA players? Except for the training ground is the arena, their free time is squeezed out.

"Counsellors, that just makes them more stressed. I've heard that many companies now put pool tables or ping-pong tables in their offices to relieve the pressure on their employees, maybe we can follow suit? ”

"Not quite right," Stevens shook his head, "they're professional athletes, not like white-collar workers." They themselves are exercising every day, and changing to another type of exercise may not necessarily be effective. ”

That's when Stevens and Turner discovered that Link and Conley were shooting to the fullest. In between trainings, it can be regarded as a way for the players to relax by blocking each other's shots.

Seeing that Link and Conley were having fun, Stevens changed his mind.

Maybe a different kind of exercise will really work.

※※※

On March 18, after two consecutive back-to-back games on the road, the Grizzlies finally returned to the Federal Express Arena.

Back at home, the enthusiasm of the fans is naturally very high. In the stands, many people held up signs like "Breaking Records".

There's no doubt that local Memphis fans are eager for their home team to break a league record.

Before Link joined the Grizzlies, the Grizzlies' best record was in the 0304 season. That year, the Grizzlies had 50 wins.

50 wins, a great number for the Grizzlies. But for most NBA teams, 50 wins in a single season is simply not worth mentioning.

This year, the Grizzlies finally have a chance to make history, and fans naturally don't want to miss it.

The players are also in good shape today, and against the Timberwolves, who have only won 23 games so far this season, the Grizzlies have not relented.

The first quarter was okay, and the Grizzlies beat the Timberwolves 22-20, as if it was going to be another scorching game.

By the second quarter, it was 23-19. The Timberwolves are starting to feel that something is wrong, and the Grizzlies seem to have "warmed up" as well.

And in the third quarter, the grizzly bear beast no longer makes any disguise. 29-14 in the first quarter, the Grizzlies completely tore the Timberwolves apart.

In the third quarter of the game, the Grizzlies limited the Timberwolves to only 4 of 21 shots, yes, they scored 4 in one quarter, which was simply inhumane. Link scored 8 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds in a single quarter in the third quarter, which can be regarded as creating this three-quarter clock-out game.

In the end, the Grizzlies defeated the Timberwolves at home with a score of 98-77. Link recorded 22 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds in the third quarter, and the Grizzlies went 55-10 and moved closer to the league record.

After the game, everyone went back to the locker room with a smile and a smile. Stevens stood in front of the tactical whiteboard, equally smiling.

When everyone returned, the young marshal clapped his hands, indicating that he was going to speak.

Everyone immediately fell silent, and at the beginning of the season, some people said that Stevens was too young to hold down the Grizzlies' locker room.

But throughout the season, Stevens got along very well with everyone. The Grizzlies players are not "afraid" of him, but "willing" to cooperate with him.

That's what makes Stevens unique.

"Congratulations, guys, another big win! Okay, I'm not going to talk nonsense. I know, you've been exhausted lately. So I think tomorrow we'll have to change our training. ”

As soon as Stevens said this, the players were interested, including Link.

Seeing that everyone was staring at him with anticipation, Stevens continued, "Tomorrow's training, let's not play basketball, but table tennis." ”

The players looked at each other one by one, playing table tennis? What the heck!

"If you play table tennis, no one can beat Link." Randolph complained, causing everyone to laugh.

Link shook his head, it seems that the perception that Chinese can play table tennis is as deeply rooted in the hearts of the people as Americans can play basketball. Although he is only Chinese, he is still automatically classified into the category of people who can "play table tennis".

"No, the table tennis we're playing tomorrow, even Link certainly never played. Elston, get things in and out! ”

Stevens clapped his hands at assistant coach Elston. Turner came in with a ping-pong racket from outside the locker room door.

This table tennis racket is not an ordinary table tennis racket, it is the size of half a person! It's funny to hold it in your hand.

The table tennis ball that Turner brought in was as big as a basketball. Looking at the enlarged version of this set of table tennis balls, the players were dumbfounded.

"How? Interested? ”

Looking at everyone's excited eyes, Stevens' smile gradually became proud.

The Grizzlies are all mavericks. If you want to make them happy, you can only use some maverick methods.