Chapter 344 Can't Win without Him? (4/10)

Chapter 344 Can't win without him? (410)

"Can you solve it in one year, can you solve it in three years?" Holt said directly.

In one sentence, he suppressed all the words Buford wanted to say later.

The poison contract is not just the three-year contract that the Rockets gave Jeremy Lin or Asik.

He can be four years, up to five years.

If a team signs up for a five-year contract, it means that the Spurs will accept a contract model of 500+500+1400+1400+1400.

This actually means that the Spurs will give Tang Tian a maximum salary contract for the next three years.

Even this question can be directly transformed into that they want to establish Tang Tian as the core of the team's next generation.

Tang Tian may be a top-level 3D player, and his performance is also good, but he is still too far away from the word core.

Especially in terms of autonomous attack ability, Tang Tian is still far behind.

And it's not that it didn't show up like the previous pass, but after it was shown, it was far behind.

In this era, a 3D player without the ability to attack independently is the strongest, which is Tang Tian's performance this season.

But even that is unlikely to be worth a max contract.

"He may be like Yao in the future, bringing a lot of off-court income to the team."

Holt continued.

Holt smiled at this moment.

"Our revenue last year was 10% more than the year before, and that was still in the case of winning the championship. Do you think the Chinese market will work like Houston here?"

Holt asked back.

Buford was speechless now.

Yao Ming's success cannot be replicated. As a military center, San Antonio is very different from Houston.

"Greg, according to what I said before, reduce playing time, reduce the number of shots, and the time left for you is only half a season."

Holt looked at Popovich and said coldly, this time he didn't give Popovich as much favor as last time.

"That would affect the team's record."

Popovich said.

"Greg, you've been coaching this team for 22 years, and now you're a second-year rookie like me, will it affect the team's record?"

"Or, the team can't win without him?"

Holt threw two sentences in a row, but Popovich didn't speak again.

He can throw his temper and leave, but the meaning of Holt's second sentence, in more detail, is related to his coaching ability.

He has been the coach of the Spurs for 22 years, and he doesn't want to end up being swept out.

"I'll try."

Popovich eventually agreed.

The Spurs are now No. 1 in the league, and they still have the capital to make such an attempt.

Just think of it as leveling Green and Leonard.

He could only think so in his heart.

The All-Star Game is a demarcation point, because there will be no more transactions after that, and the seasons of each team are basically finalized.

The Thunder and Heat went all out to hit the No. 1 position of the Spurs in the league.

The Nuggets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Knicks and other second-tier teams also strive to win to consolidate their position in the top half of the playoffs.

And teams like the Jazz, Mavericks, Rockets, 76ers, Raptors, and Bobcats began to fight for the playoffs.

Of course, the Magic, Cavaliers, Wizards, Suns, Pelicans and Kings have already begun to think about how to lose well, so as to seek a good pick in this year's draft.

The Spurs are the simplest of these teams. They only need to stabilize their No. 1 position in the league.

The day after the trade deadline, the Spurs played against the Grizzlies at home.

This game is a strong matchup. The Grizzlies have a better style than the Spurs, and the game is destined to not be too easy to play.

After 4 quarters, the two sides tied at 90 and entered overtime.

In overtime, Conley scored 5 points in a row facing Green's defense, helping the Grizzlies win the game 97-92.

It is not too unexpected for the Spurs to lose to the Grizzlies.

But sharp-eyed fans noticed that Tang Tian only played about 25 minutes in this game, and he didn't play in the critical overtime stage.

Tang Tian was injured?

This was the first reaction of many Spurs fans. After all, Tang Tian made 4 of 8 shots from the field and contributed 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.

However, the Spurs officials did not report any news related to the injury.

After a day of rest, the Spurs started their Eastern Conference road trip.

They first played a game against the 76ers.

As a result, Zhu Holiday scored 30 points and 10 assists to help the 76ers win 101-96.

Tang Tian still only played 25 minutes, scoring 12 points, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks.

Although he appeared at the last critical moment, the team was already behind by as much as 10 points at that time.

The Spurs fans were talking loudly at this time, and the loss to the Grizzlies was acceptable, but the loss to the 76ers was acceptable.

Although the 76ers are now working hard for the playoffs, but now that the Thunder are chasing closely behind, this kind of game definitely shouldn't be lost.

Popovich shut himself in his office after the game.

Tang Tian's style of play is very 3D, but after these two games, he found that Tang Tian's importance to the team was greater than he imagined.

Or he overestimated the overall strength of this team, and this Spurs team is not as strong as he thought.

Thinking about it carefully, in many games of the Spurs this season, when they were passive or unable to start the situation, they all relied on Tang Tian's defense to start their momentum.

Green and Leonard are not bad, but they are still a long way from Tang Tian's dominant defense, let alone the offensive end.

And players are human too, Tang Tian suddenly played less, and his teammates couldn't get used to it all at once.

But there is no way, if he does not reduce Tang Tian's playing time at this time, depending on Holt's meaning, the Spurs may lose Tang Tian in vain this summer.

Putting down the tactical manual, Popovich took out a few sips of red wine.

But as soon as he poured it, he found that drinking alone was boring.

He glanced at the empty chair across the table.

He didn't know when it started, he was used to drinking with Tang Tian face to face.

"This is really embarrassing an elderly person!"

He put down his glass and shook his head helplessly.

After playing the 76ers, the Spurs then played a game with the Pistons. Facing the underdogs, the team won 97 to 71.

The team appears to have recovered from the All-Star break.

But following back-to-back games against the Heat and the Knicks, they both lost by more than 10 points.

In this Eastern Conference road trip, they finally achieved a record of 1 win and 3.

And during this period of time, the Thunder's record was just behind the Spurs'. It was 4 wins and 1 loss, directly tying the Spurs' record.

The Pistons basically gave up this season, and that game actually didn't have much reference value.

In other words, after reducing Tang Tian's playing time, the Spurs' record was 0 wins and 4 losses.

Popovich had already figured it out at this time.

Maybe both Green and Leonard can grow up in the future, but at this stage.

Holt asked that he can't win without him?

After practice, the answer appears to be yes.

ps: The fourth update arrived. I just looked at the list of monthly tickets, and it was pulled away a lot. Brothers with monthly tickets threw 2 tickets for Shuijiao. These days, they are doubled.