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After Curry made a free throw, the Warriors were up by five points with only 4.5 seconds left in the game. Rose received the ball and took a long three-pointer under Tony Allen's tight defense. The shot was badly off-target, and the Bulls gave up fighting for the rebound. The Warriors secured the tough 103-98 win.
When the red light went off, Rose walked over to Curry, and the two embraced tightly. It was their first time in two and a half months. Back in mid-August, Curry had come to Chicago to see him, and then both teams opened their training camps. They hadn't seen each other since.
"Derek, I'm taking this win with me," Curry laughed.
Rose didn't seem frustrated, despite the loss. Having played two seasons in the NBA, losing games every week, he knew that "winning and losing is a common thing"—it was a reality of life.
He looked into Curry's eyes and said:
"You guys are really strong. I can't wait to fight you again. Next time, I won't lose for sure."
"Really? You can't win at home and now you want to win on the road?" Curry laughed and shook his head.
Rose patted him on the back.
"Let's see, you got lucky this time!"
After shaking hands with the other Warriors players, Rose approached Liam.
"Derek, you're playing really well," Liam smiled and hugged Rose.
"No, Stephen played better. Otherwise, we wouldn't have lost..." Rose said quietly, his expression shifting slightly to reveal a hint of solemnity.
He admired Liam greatly, and after practicing a stable open three-pointer, Rose had clearly noticed improvements in his offensive game, thanks to Liam's advice. Without Liam, he might not have made it this far.
Rose thought about his past life when his three-point shooting percentage didn't exceed 35% until the 2018-2019 season, and his mid-range shot had become more precise over time.
Liam smiled:
"No, you and Stephen are great. I heard him talk about how hard you fight, and it's tough to beat you, right?"
Rose was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
"I didn't expect him to tell you about that... Yes, we trained together a couple of times over the summer, but it didn't work out. Basketball isn't 1-on-1, and you won't have Stephen on the court fighting with me."
Liam laughed:
"You're right, I won't let him do that. And even if he didn't tell me, I wouldn't let him take you down by yourself... Derek, go back and watch the footage. Focus on how the Warriors defended you. I think you'll learn something from it. And yes, you've improved a lot on your shots. Keep at it—that's going to be the key to you becoming a superstar."
"Thanks..." Rose nodded unconsciously, then asked suspiciously:
"Liam, why do you give me so many suggestions every time? We're rivals."
Liam was caught off guard for a moment, as if he hadn't expected Rose to ask that, then smiled:
"The Warriors and the Bulls aren't real rivals. The last time the Warriors made it to the Finals was over 30 years ago, and the Bulls haven't been out of the East in over 10 years. Honestly, I hope we can become rivals in the playoffs. That would mean the Warriors' rebuild has been successful."
Liam paused, narrowing his eyes at Rose, then continued:
"Honestly, I'm counting on you to keep improving and help me stand in the way of some of those teams in the East... You know, I'm not just a coach, I'm a boss, and sometimes I have to think on a higher level."
"Wow... Got it. I'll go practice my shots," Rose responded, not fully understanding, then turned to walk toward the players' tunnel.
Liam watched Rose's retreating back, still with a faint smile, murmuring:
"Come on, Derek, I need a stronger Rose, a stronger Bulls..."
Liam then found Thibodeau and shook his hand. Thibodeau's round face barely cracked a smile:
"Congratulations, Coach Liam, the Warriors' defense was even stronger than I expected. You played a great game and deserved this win."
Liam smiled:
"Just call me Liam. Can I call you Tom?"
"Of course."
"Tom, you really surprised me. There are fewer and fewer head coaches who like to defend these days, but you're definitely the best. To be honest, I've always wanted to invite you to the Warriors as a defensive assistant coach, but now it seems like you've found a better fit for you," Liam said slowly.
He wasn't just being polite. When Liam first bought the Warriors, he had extended an invitation to Thibodeau, but Thibodeau had politely declined.
In fact, Liam had sent invitations to other well-known assistant coaches in the league, but only Ron Adams had accepted.
Apparently, Thibodeau remembered the incident and said politely:
"Thank you. If I hadn't had the idea of coaching a team at that time, I would've accepted."
"Well," suggested Liam, "What's your cell phone number? Let's exchange contact info. If you have any defensive issues, I'll ask for your advice... Of course, forget it if it's inconvenient."
Thibodeau looked at Liam with a little surprise and then nodded repeatedly:
"No problem. But I can't talk about it. The Warriors are very good defensively, and Ron is also a great defensive coach... By the way, you should have my phone number, right?"
Although he and Ron Adams didn't have a close friendship, both had been in the league for many years, and both had achieved success in defense. They had dealt with many situations together and still had contact info for each other.
Looking at Thibodeau, who seemed puzzled, Liam said:
"I think this involves your privacy, so it's good to ask in person, so..."
Thibodeau suddenly said:
"That's right. My cell phone number is..."
The two exchanged contact information, shared a few more polite words, and parted ways.
At this point, the players from both teams had already entered the players' tunnel one by one. Liam followed, and Jonathan, who had been waiting off to the side, quickly followed as well, witnessing the entire exchange between Liam and Thibodeau, and said curiously:
"Boss, why do you want Thibodeau's number? Didn't you say before that his coaching style is boring and flawed? You don't really need to 'ask him,' do you?"
"You're curious, huh?" Liam looked at him.
Jonathan shrugged:
"No, I just asked casually, I was talking too much..."
Liam turned his gaze forward and chuckled:
"It's no big deal. I'm paving the way for the Eastern Conference playoffs."
"Playoffs of the Eastern Conference? Paving?" Jonathan was even more confused, wondering why those words seemed so disobedient coming from Liam's mouth.
"Heh, you'll know when the time comes. It could be this year, or next, or the year after... In any case, we need a strong Bulls team, and Thibodeau alone can't do it. I'll help him when needed, like... give him a little suggestion." Liam said slowly, with a smile, waving at the fans on both sides of his head before entering the players' tunnel.
Jonathan blinked, still unclear, but didn't have time to think more about it and quickly followed.
…
In the home team's locker room, Rose showered, changed clothes, sat in a chair, and took out his phone.
The room was quiet. After the loss, the Bulls players weren't in the mood to laugh, packing up their things with bored expressions.
Thibodeau, standing in the middle, looked around, feeling that the atmosphere wasn't quite right. He wanted to say something, but this wasn't his strong suit. His mouth opened and closed several times, and finally, he dryly said:
"Everyone played well tonight. The defense was really good. It wasn't your fault that we lost the game. It was because I didn't organize the tactics correctly. Tomorrow, the whole team will watch the game video and figure out what we need..."
But his words obviously didn't have much effect. Everyone said little and the atmosphere in the locker room remained dull.
Thibodeau sighed slightly, knowing this wouldn't work. If the team stayed under a lot of pressure after a loss, it would affect their performance going forward. This kind of atmosphere was too unhealthy.
At that moment, Noah's rough voice rang out as he spoke loudly:
"The coach is right. Everyone played well. We had bad luck, missed some shots, and we'll win the next one. And the Warriors are a Western team. It's okay to lose to them. Our next game against the Magic is key, and our goal isn't just the playoffs. Let's focus on our true opponents!"
"Joaquín's right. Stop thinking about tonight's game. Let's go rest, we've got a tough game in two days," Thibodeau seemed to latch onto a lifeline and immediately intervened.
Everyone looked at Noah, then at each other, and Noah said again:
"Let's go, get some rest, recover, and when the time comes, we'll crush Orlando, and Howard will be handed to me!"
"Man, it's really exhausting playing against the Warriors. They're all just rabbits..." grumbled Luol Deng.
Gibson laughed:
"Come on, I'm starving. Joaquín, want to grab a bite together?"
"Haha, sure, that's exactly what I want..."
After a few jokes from Noah, the locker room gradually returned to its usual relaxed atmosphere. Everyone laughed and whispered. Only Rose remained, still expressionless.
Sibodin, relieved, approached Rose and told him to come join the interview.
The two received the speech for the interview today from the team's PR, which had been pre-arranged according to the game's events, with standard responses prepared for both players.
This is a common practice for all NBA teams. If a player hasn't finished university or doesn't know how to talk to the media, they'll casually say things that hurt their image.
Durant is a prime example, often giving thoughtful responses when interviewed by the media, but on social media, his true temper bursts. So, this arrangement was meant to smooth things over, and Rose had been following this guide.
However, the current Durant is still a "good school boy," and after a few years, the era of mobile internet will allow people to understand what kind of person Durant really is.
Liam looked at the speech he had in hand, walked into the press room, and sat on the stage.
A group of reporters in the audience raised their hands, and the public relations reporter from ESPN in the corner clicked:
"Derek, it's a shame the Bulls lost the game tonight, but you guys were tenacious... what do you think about the game tonight?"
It wasn't a very tough question, but it wasn't likely to go wrong either, and ESPN is the largest American sports network with close ties to the Bulls.
Hearing this, Liam looked back at the speech on the table:
"We showed fighting spirit and determination, everyone did their best on both offense and defense..."
After a few more questions about lack of nutrition, an ESPN reporter asked Rose:
"Derek, you and Stephen Curry are two of the most powerful young point guards in the league, who do you think is better... between you two?"
Before he could finish speaking, Rose interrupted:
"Wait, what did you say?"
"I said you and Stephen are two of the new, most powerful point guards in the league..."
"I'm sorry, I don't agree with what you said," Rose shook his finger. "Stephen and I are not the next generation of point guards, we're some of the best in the league!"
The reporter was stunned for a moment and said:
"But you've still been in the league for a short time, you're still on your rookie contract, and Stephen Curry has only been in the NBA for a year, so there's still a big gap between you and the best point guards."
Rose calmly replied:
"But the best teams in the East and West are the Bulls and the Warriors, and we're first in the division."
In the audience, the PR staff looked at Liam anxiously, as the questions made in the speech's transcript had been decent, but Liam had not answered according to the responses prepared at all.
"A momentary record doesn't mean much, but Steve Nash has the MVP, Chris Paul has the best team, even Stephen Curry has the best second team, and you have no decent honors." — the reporter said.
After he finished speaking, there was silence in the press room, with Liam watching him silently and the others watching Rose silently.
After a moment, just when the PR person wanted to go up to the stage to relieve Liam, he suddenly laughed:
"You're right, I've thought about that too. Steve Nash and Chris Paul are the best point guards in this league..."
The PR person breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed like Liam hadn't been provoked by the reporters.
"...However, I'm not worse than them, and this year I'll be on the best team and get the MVP, and that's what I've aspired to for years." Rose said the second half of the sentence calmly.
Silence. Silence again.
After a while, the ESPN reporter was shocked and said:
"For a while? Best player? Seriously?"
Rose replied calmly:
"Of course, why can't I be the MVP of the league? Why can't I be the best player in the league? I don't see a reason why not. I've worked hard, I've dedicated myself to the game, I've sacrificed a lot since I was very young, and I know that if I keep trying, I'll get what I want: to be the MVP, to be the best point guard, and that's what I'll do next."
With that, he looked around and stood up, ready to leave the press room.
Just as he was walking toward the door, the reporter's voice sounded behind him:
"Derek, you still haven't answered me, you or Stephen Curry, who's better?"
He paused and looked back:
"1v1, I'm stronger, but in the game, he's better than me right now, until I beat him, but we're both the best point guards in the league. To be precise, he's the best point guard in the West, and I'm the best point guard in the East."
The words fell, and he left the room, leaving only the PR person crying and the reporters excited.
The next day, on the plane to Milwaukee, Mike Breen flipped through the newspaper he had in hand, chuckling every now and then.
"USA Today" wrote:
"Yesterday, the Warriors barely defeated the Bulls on the road, Curry scored 25 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals, and Rose scored 28 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds, which was not too far from Curry, but the gap in coaching allowed the Warriors to take the final victory..."
"Thibodeau exposed the flaws of his first NBA coach, failing to call a timeout at the right moment to make adjustments, which caused the Bulls' five-point advantage to evaporate, and he even replaced Korver, who had hit 4 threes, with Bogans, who had a very poor hand, allowing the Warriors to pinch Rose and bury the good game, which is unforgivable..."
"On the other hand, Coach Liam gave full confidence to rookie Klay Thompson in the last moment, and he also hit a very crucial three-pointer; the Warriors finally allowed Curry Green to play the pick-and-roll, and Green processed the second step, which had a very significant effect. The use of rookies was an important reason why the Warriors could win."
"This is the biggest difference between Thibodeau and Coach Liam. Their years of coaching are very short, but Thibodeau is a typical old-school coach, preferring to keep the main lineup on the court. In last night's game, Rose played 40 minutes, Deng 42 minutes, Gibson 39 minutes, and Noah 38 minutes, which caused a great burden, while for the Warriors, Curry, who played the most time, only had 36 minutes. They used a total of 10 people, and the Bulls' 8-man rotation couldn't compare. Coach Liam's trust in rookies is something worth learning from Thibodeau..."
"Boss, I went out for dinner with Derek yesterday." Just as Mike Breen was reading the newspaper, Stephen Curry approached him, sat down, and whispered.
Mike Breen put the newspaper down, looked at Curry's slightly tired expression, and smiled:
"No wonder you came back to the hotel so late yesterday... where did you go?"
Curry quickly shook his head:
"I didn't go anywhere, I came back after dinner, and I still have to record a video with Ayesha..."
"Ha ha, Stephen, you should get married," Mike Breen said with a smile.
Curry smiled wryly:
"I want to too, but Ayesha has her own ideas, I don't know when I'll get married, I hope it's soon."
"Don't worry, you and Ayesha are destined to be husband and wife." Mike Breen felt relieved, "By the way, why did you suddenly mention that Derek is here?"
End of this chapter
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