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After Liam's speech, the applause, cheers, and chants at the Oracle Arena lasted for three minutes. Even as the Warriors left the court, the fans were reluctant to disperse, and chants of "Warrior" echoed relentlessly. After leaving the stadium, some excited fans gathered outside the arena until late at night.
After returning to the locker room, the Warriors naturally celebrated again. However, many players, family members, and friends of the assistant coaches had come to the Oracle Center to watch the game. Liam didn't linger for too long and, after announcing that the following day would be a day off, everyone cheered and dispersed.
After Liam said his goodbyes, he found Stevens, Mark Baum, and others, and took them back to their homes.
Liam had called his parents, Maria and Javier, many times, trying to convince them to come to the United States to watch Warriors games. Each time, however, they steadfastly refused. Maria stated bluntly that she never wanted to go back to the United States. She didn't understand. Finally, Liam had no choice but to give in.
The next day, Liam didn't wake up from his sleep until 11 a.m. He washed up and went downstairs to find Stevens' wife, Tracy, sitting on the sofa chatting.
The two were very familiar with Liam. When Mark Baum didn't go home at night, Liam often covered for him, but Rosie knew he wouldn't go to a nightclub with her husband and understood that Mark Baum just wanted some free time. She wasn't unhappy with Liam and often asked him about Mark Baum's whereabouts. Liam would always hint vaguely, and Rosie trusted him greatly.
Liam and Tracy knew each other even better. Tracy's cooking skills were excellent, and Liam didn't want to cook at first. But when he got tired of eating at the Butler University cafeteria, he shamelessly went to Stevens' house to eat and formed a good relationship with Tracy.
Tracy saw Liam looking tired and playfully complained:
"Liam, you finally woke up! Rosie and I were just about to make breakfast, but Miss Tina said she had to get your permission before letting guests into the kitchen."
Liam glanced at his watch, smiled, and said,
"It's 11:28 now, what kind of breakfast are you having? I'll invite you to eat at the church area later. There's a new Mexican restaurant that just opened, and the reviews are really good."
'Are you being lazy, Liam? It's all at your house, and you still want us to eat Mexican food? You'll have to cook us different food today, and Tracy and Rosie will help you,' Stevens' voice came from upstairs.
Liam and the others looked up, only to see Stevens, wearing a slightly disheveled T-shirt, walking slowly with Mark Baum behind him, dressed meticulously in a shirt that he would keep clean and tidy, even in his own house, let alone at a guest's house.
Stevens walked all the way to Liam, patted him on the forearm, and joked,
"Let's cook obediently at noon, Coach, do you still need a vote?"
Soon, Tina went out to buy the ingredients, with Rosie and Tracy helping. Liam quickly prepared some home-cooked dishes. Stevens' and Mark Baum's children liked the scrambled eggs with tomatoes a lot, and Mark Baum enjoyed the tofu very much. Even the simple tofu stew with cabbage was much appreciated.
After eating, with Tina as the guide, Tracy and Rosie went shopping with some kids, while Liam drank coffee and chatted with Mark Baum and Stevens on the rooftop. Later, they went downstairs to the living room on the first floor to watch the game.
There were only three playoff games today, and the league had staggered the three games to maximize ratings. At 3:30 p.m., the Magic and Hawks would take the lead in Game 6.
The Magic and Hawks were ranked fourth and fifth in the East, and the score in the previous series was 3-2. However, unlike the Western Warriors and the Thunder, the Hawks, ranked fifth, were on the leading side.
Amid the laughter of the three, the game began.
This game was a life-or-death battle for the Magic, and the same went for the Hawks, who were in danger if they were dragged back to their court to tie the series at seven. They were determined to finish the series at home.
As soon as the two teams opened, they fell into a fierce body-to-body battle. The intensity quickly escalated, with almost no action on the verge of a foul, preventing the opponent from scoring smoothly. The smell of gunpowder quickly grew stronger.
This type of game was very immersive for the fans of both sides, but neutral fans would just get bored.
The trio shifted their focus from the current game to the playoffs.
Stevens was more concerned about the situation in the East:
"There's no suspense for the Celtics and Heat to win..."
Liam nodded and smiled,
"Yes, their dominance in the East is just like our dominance in the West."
The two looked at him disdainfully, and Liam said confidently:
"In the first four miles in the West, we only finished the series 4-1. The Lakers and Mavericks lost one more game than us, and now they haven't reached the next round. The Spurs are even 2-3 behind and may even get eliminated again. We are the strong team in the West."
"Heh, if you don't get out of the West, how dare you call yourself a strong team?" Stevens joked, but then sighed: "Not to mention, you really have a good chance of making it to the Western Conference Finals this year. After all, your opponent in the next round will likely be the Grizzlies, and they are much better than the Spurs... Who would have thought that the Grizzlies would have the strength of the Eight Black Players? Liam, you're so lucky."
"That's because you're not paying attention to the Grizzlies. They're not bad, but I study the footage of these Western teams every day, so let me tell you, maybe many head coaches don't have me to understand their team's strengths and weaknesses," Liam smiled slightly.
Mark Baum smiled, patted Liam on the back, and said excitedly:
"Liam, I have to confess, when I helped you buy the Warriors, I thought you were crazy and didn't make a good investment. You have to stir the waters of the NBA, being a head coach in the NCAA and running an NBA team are completely different things, especially with your skin color and nationality: the United States, a country of immigrants that shouts the loudest about freedom and equality. In fact, racial discrimination is the most severe, but you have led the Warriors to the second round of the playoffs in just two years, and now you're expected to make it to the Western Conference Finals, that's incredible, Liam, very impressive!"
Liam smiled, grabbed a can of Coca-Cola from the table, drank it all, and calmly accepted Mark Baum's praise.
Mark Baum sighed again and said:
"Seriously, the Bulls are very strong this year, and the Pacers have only won one game. I was hoping the Bulls could give the Pacers a chance because they are young and inexperienced, but the Pacers were swept by the Cavaliers. Hey... I watched all five games, the Bulls are too tough defensively, and honestly, Liam, I feel like they are tougher than the Warriors."
Liam nodded:
"You're right, the Bulls' defense is very strong, Thibodeau's ability to adjust the defense is there, and the Bulls players have been playing together longer, they have more veterans, and it's normal for them to be better defensively than the Warriors. But when Drummond, Klay, and Jimmy are fully developed, it will be different."
Stevens intervened:
"That will have to wait for another two years, an offseason is too short, it will take at least two seasons for the Warriors to grow."
"An offseason is too short?" Liam looked at Stevens and smiled meaningfully:
"Brad, that's not necessarily true. Don't forget, this summer, the old collective bargaining agreement will expire."
"Are you saying the league will close next season?" asked Mark Baum.
"Liam, do you have the scoop?" Stevens also looked up, curiosity in his eyes.
Stevens is the head coach of the NCAA, not someone from the NBA circle. Although Mark Baum is a minority shareholder of the Warriors, his investment purpose was to help Liam complete the acquisition, and he is completely ignorant of the operation and management of the team, so the two of them knew nothing about the inside of the league.
"No," Liam shook his head.
"...Shhhhh"
Liam explained:
"The next season won't be suspended, but it will definitely be a progressively shorter season, and the specific situation can refer to 1999."
Mark Baum pointed his finger at Liam and joked with a smile:
"Alright, you're so confident you dare to say you don't have insider information!"
"Actually, I don't, believe it or not," Liam shrugged.
Stevens shrugged indifferently:
"The shortened season has nothing to do with me, I would have liked the NBA to shut down so more people could watch the NCAA."
Liam showed him the Coca-Cola can and asked:
"Eh, Brad, is this year's team recruiting well?"
Stevens' face slightly sank, he shook his head, and said:
"It's not good. It's not that there aren't students, but compared to the best schools like Duke, North Carolina, and UCLA, Butler's level is still lower, and the top talents won't come. Our goal is to compete for the championship again, and we need those talents. I don't underestimate common high school students, which is why the team enrollment has remained flat."
Liam thought for a moment, understood Stevens' thoughts, and after he left, the Pitbulls had fallen into the finals and semifinals in the last two years. Although the Bulldogs' fans were satisfied with these results, Stevens definitely wanted to prove himself after Liam's consecutive championships.
He carefully recalled the rookies for the next two seasons and said:
"I have some more optimistic candidates, but they're not very well-known. You can go check them out."
Stevens' eyes lit up, he moved closer to Liam and asked:
"Speaking of which, you see the players have always been very accurate, it's better to find a second Stephen."
Liam smiled:
"There's only one Stephen, but there are many good players... Ben McLemore from Texas, Spencer Dinwiddie from California, Llarinance Jr. from Ohio, and Cody Zeller from Washington are more powerful than famous. That's all I can think of for now."
Stevens nodded slowly, as if lost in thought, and murmured:
"I know Cody Zeller is coming to Butler for a tryout, but I don't know much about the rest... Wait a minute, I'll go get a piece of paper and take notes."
He gestured at Liam, hurried back to his room, grabbed a notebook, and asked Liam again about the high school students, recording them all in detail.
While the three were chatting, the game between the Hawks and the Magic also ended. After the two teams had a crazy iron battle, the Hawks had the last laugh.
Although their team's shooting percentage wasn't even 40%, they had a three-point shooting rate of 36%, fought for 14 rebounds on the front court, completely suppressed the Magic, and shot 10 more shots than their opponent.
Still, the Hawks narrowly defeated the Magic by three points, 84-81.
They couldn't handle Howard at all. The Monster was full of power, shooting 8 of 14, 9 of 12 free throws, 25 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, and 1 steal, including 5 rebounds on the front court. He dominated both offensive and defensive ends, even shooting 75% from the free throw line, and his performance was flawless.
But when Howard was dominating, the Hawks controlled their teammates. Apart from Howard, only Turk Grew and Nelson scored 15 and 11 points respectively. No one had a double-double, while the Hawks had five players with double-doubles, more flowers, full of vitality. The Monsters were invincible with four hands, and they could only lose in the end.
Looking at Howard, whose body language was extremely depressed on the screen, Mark Baum mocked:
"The Magic is really interesting, giving Howard such a bad ghost lineup and threatening to compete for the championship, is their management crazy?"
Stevens also smiled sarcastically and said:
"That's the tradition of the Magic. As soon as they produce a top-level center, they'll fight with him immediately. No one knows why this team is so obsessed with belittling their center."
Liam opened a new can of Coca-Cola, took a big sip, let out a long sigh of relief, and said with a smile,
"They're going to get the punishment they deserve, and after being eliminated in the first round this year, Howard should no longer tolerate the Magic's incompetent management."
—Where do you think he's going? —Stevens wondered.
Liam put down the Coke and spread his hands:
"I don't know, but I guess it's the Lakers."
"The Lakers? That can't be, the Lakers already have Gasol." —replied Mark Baum.
Liam smiled slightly:
"Who knows, the Magic have a tradition of sending the best centers to the Lakers. Let's wait and see."
End of this chapter
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