Dawson didn't expect Van Gundy's reaction to be so violent, he waved his hand and said with a smile: "Jeff, you know I didn't mean that, you and I have been working together on Team Rocket for more than three years, you should understand, I just want you to take Don's advice." ”

Van Gundy couldn't listen to it at this time, he didn't know that if a head coach didn't have the right to command the offense and the power to arrange the rotation of the lineup, would he still be called a head coach? It's more like an assistant coach.

Tang Tian is an assistant coach.

He has been in the NBA for 17 years, 11 years as a head coach, and has yet to experience such a situation.

"I'll submit my resignation to management tomorrow." Van Gundy continued.

Dawson's smile froze, this old Van Gundy was really stubborn and excessive.

"Jeff, you don't have to, it's just a small thing." Dawson opened his mouth to persuade.

Van Gundy didn't speak, but judging by his expression, he was genuinely angry at this moment.

"Jeff?"

Dawson saw that Van Gundy hadn't spoken, and his face gradually pulled down.

Van Gundy doesn't give him face, he is also a veteran of Team Rocket, which makes him lower his profile, and he can't pull down his face.

"Well, if you insist." Dawson concluded.

Van Gundy was stunned, he originally hoped that Dawson would take back his previous words, but he didn't expect to wait for this sentence in the end.

Without saying anything, he got up directly from his seat and left the general manager's office.

"Damn it!" When Van Gundy left, Dawson angrily punched the table.

This old guy Van Gundy is really stubborn.

The Rockets' next game is against the New Jersey Nets, and Tang Tian and other assistant coaches are discussing tactical ideas for the next game in the conference room.

Halfway through the discussion, Tang Tian noticed that Van Gundy hadn't come yet, and asked Thibodeau, who also shook his head.

At this moment, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and a staff member came in and said directly: "Don, Carol is looking for you." ”

Tang Tian got up suspiciously, and then followed this person to Dawson's office.

When I entered the office, I found Dawson with a solemn face, as if something big had happened.

"Mr. Dawson? Are you looking for me? Tang Tian asked suspiciously.

"Yes, you sit first." Dawson motioned for Tang Tian to sit down.

"That's right, Jeff can't go to New Jersey with the team for the next game because of something, so he needs you to be the interim head coach." Dawson rubbed his head and spoke.

Interim head coach?

Tang Tian looked puzzled, what happened to this Van Gundy?

"It's just some personal matter, Jeff he's fine." Seeing Tang Tian's doubts, Dawson continued.

Tang Tian nodded, but the doubts in his heart were not dispelled.

Dawson's mood was not very good, and after saying this, he then asked Tang Tian to go back to prepare for the game first.

When Tang Tian was about to arrive at the door, Dawson suddenly called out to him again.

"Be prepared."

This extra advice made Tang Tian always feel that things were not so simple.

But Dawson didn't say anything, and he didn't know the need, so he nodded and left the general manager's office.

On the way back to the conference room, Tang Tian's mind was spinning fast.

Regardless of what happened, wasn't Van Gundy's absence just an opportunity for him?

The Nets, the opponent in the next game, have a good strength, and if they can win with the new rotation lineup, Van Gundy will definitely accept it when he returns.

Thinking of this, Tang Tian's face showed a burst of joy.

After returning to the conference room and talking about Van Gundy's temporary affairs, he then turned over all the tactics he had previously arranged and directly came up with a new set of tactics based on the new rotation.

Thibodeau and the other assistant coaches didn't object, and in fact, the loss not only destabilized the team, but also put pressure on the coaching staff, and it was time for something to change.

After the coaching staff's tactics were arranged, Tang Tian called Novak and Spanoulis to the office alone to chat for a while.

The two men began to look confused, and Spanoulis even thought he was going to be traded, but after hearing that they would get playing time in the next game, they were very emotional and eager to try.

Seeing the reaction of the two people, Tang Tian nodded with a smile.

After holding it for so long, I believe that these two will have a good performance in the next game.

He then went on to find veteran Juwan Howard.

Howard is an All-Star veteran, and in fact his salary is the third highest on the Rockets this season.

originally thought that it would take some time to persuade him, but to Tang Tian's surprise, after hearing that he was going to put himself in the substitute lineup, Second Uncle Huo nodded without saying a word.

It can be seen that he has been beaten up one after another, and the veteran is probably not very comfortable.

Things went more smoothly than expected, and when the training was over and everything was ready, Tang Tian took Team Rocket and got on the plane to New Jersey.

In the summer of '04, there were two big trades that shook the league, one was Maddy's departure from Orlando to the Houston Rockets, and the other was Carter's transfer from Toronto to the New Jersey Nets.

Carter, along with the original Kidd and Richard Jefferson, formed the league's well-known "New Jersey Trident", which ranked third in the East last season and was strong.

It is obviously not a rational thing to experiment with a new rotation lineup in front of such an opponent, but Van Gundy may return to the team in the next game, and Tang Tian has no choice.

The team arrived at Newark Airport, New Jersey.

The next day, Tang Tian organized the team's training early in the morning.

The content of the training is naturally related to the new rotation lineup.

Tang Tian didn't say it directly, but after a training session, the players vaguely felt it.

Most of them had excitement on their faces.

Not only Novak and Spanoulis, who knew that they would play in the next game, but also the rest of the team, after all, this sent a signal of change, and even Spanoulis and Novak at the end of the bench got a chance, and it was not impossible for them to do so.

The morale of the team has improved significantly compared to before.

That night, the Rockets played in full force to challenge the home team, the New Jersey Nets, at the Continental Airlines Arena.