Chapter 233: Positioning is very important

From that night on, the Los Angeles public opinion circle formed a huge whirlpool around this game, pulling crazily.

More than 60% of the media still supported the Lakers, believing that this kind of massacre by the Clippers was a sneak attack and an immoral victory.

But at the same time, nearly 40% of the media stood on the Clippers' side; they strongly supported that the basketball landscape of the City of Angels had changed, and Jack and his Clippers would change the basketball history of the City of Angels. This greatest massacre in history announced that the era of the Lakers dominating Staples was gone forever.

Fan Xi's sentence after the game, "This is my turf," resounded through the sky and became the headline that the media scrambled to report.

This was unimaginable before; in the past, there was almost no voice for the Clippers in the Los Angeles media. Fan Xi leveraged the Lakers' foundation with just one game; although even with such an epic massacre, it failed to reach a truly equal trend, but as long as the Clippers continue to win, the tide will rise, and one day this trend will shift.

Fan Xi has full confidence in this.

What surprised Fan Xi was that outside the basketball circle, this game ignited public opinion; many media outlets and netizens unrelated to basketball were crazily discussing Fan Xi's revenge and the Clippers' massacre.

But within the basketball circle, whether it was ESPN or TNT, or those big-name commentators, they all downplayed the matter, saying it was just a preseason game, neither side had shown their true strength, and no matter how big the point differential was, it wouldn't be listed in the official database.

"F*** them, these guys are simply erasing our efforts; they only know how to praise the Lakers and lick Miami's eggs..."

DeAndre Jordan was furious in the training camp.

Such an imposing game, even his niece far away in Texas knew about it, yet those basketball authorities turned a blind eye and even tried to downplay the game's influence.

It was truly unfair to the extreme.

Grant Hill smiled and said: "Let them continue to bury their heads in the sand. Their reaction now only proves one thing: they are afraid, and they can only pretend not to see."

"But, go look at other news. Go look at those talk show hosts; they have already started writing jokes. Believe in the power of time, DeAndre; as long as we continue to move forward, fairness and justice will not be late, and you will achieve everything you want."

Grant Hill's gentle and scholarly tone was like a priest.

This is why every locker room needs a highly respected old guy; they can answer questions and resolve doubts.

It is worth mentioning that the Clippers don't just have one.

Nash, Carter, Billups, Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, and even Kwame Brown can brew chicken soup for the soul.

In the Clippers' locker room, there is no such thing as a rookie not having chicken soup to drink; in fact, there is plenty of soup and few rookies.

Just one DeAndre Jordan needs to drink a little; he is not very mature.

Griffin also needs to drink a little; he occasionally gets hot-headed.

On the contrary, the newly drafted Leonard and Butler don't need it at all; one of these two had his father shot to death since he was a child, and the other was abandoned by his biological parents, so their psychological quality is not that of ordinary people. Leonard is introverted and low-key, simple and hardworking. Butler is highly focused and fights for his life diligently.

These two play one-on-one when they have nothing to do; Leonard's talent is better, and his defense and offense are both a bit stronger.

However, they also have their own division of labor; Leonard is now obsessed with back-to-the-basket singles and mid-range jump shots; he wants to follow the offensive path of Jordan and Kobe. Butler indeed doesn't have much talent in shooting; he just practices breakthroughs, passing, off-ball movement, and how to grab offensive rebounds.

Butler still has some talent for breakthroughs; his first step and continuous acceleration are very fast, and he is very cunning; he is very good at deceiving defenders, especially when he calls for an inside player to set a screen for him; he will slide in like a loach, giving people a feeling of being caught off guard and meeting unexpectedly. In addition, his passing vision and ability are both good.

The development directions of the two have their own focus.

Fan Xi is happy.

Chen Ye is also very happy; he not only receives a monthly salary of 6,000 USD from Fan Xi, but also a salary of 10,000 USD from Nike; now he also has a salary of 116,000 USD per year at the Clippers, and it includes food, housing, and all-American travel.

The salary from Fan Xi is for the chef and driver expenses; this is just the basic salary. Sometimes Fan Xi gives him some benefits; when he communicates with some local sponsors in Los Angeles, Fan Xi tacitly allows him to get some commissions from it.

What Nike pays Chen Ye is... his salary as Fan Xi's personal bodyguard and physical therapist. Why is Nike rushing to pay this money? It was Lu Yuan who greeted them. Nike and Fan-x have a cooperative relationship; it has some shares, and it hopes to get Fan-x brand products faster, so it needs to pay some extra price; one of the prices is to give Chen Ye a salary.

This is very common in the NBA; for example, Adidas signed Rose and also gave Rose's three older brothers a salary for a no-show job each.

At least, Chen Ye still did a lot of things.

As for his salary at the Clippers, it was completely earned by himself.

He started by teaching Butler to practice Kung Fu and Wing Chun, and then taught veterans like Nash, Hill, and Wallace to practice Tai Chi and Baduanjin.

And he also gave them massages.

He took on the responsibility of half a physical coach, so it is reasonable, legal, and compliant for the Clippers to pay him a salary.

Although the salary is a bit high, and there is no responsibility system given to him.

Overall, Chen Ye has entered the peak state of his life; after all, he has earned money, and he has enough confidence when speaking with Fan Xi; most importantly, Dr. Laisi is also divorced.

When a person is at their peak, everything they do goes smoothly.

For example, now, Chen Ye is leading a group of multi-millionaires and even billionaires to practice Tai Chi.

Fan Xi and Griffin are sitting on the sidelines; this is their first formal conversation.

In the game where they killed the Lakers, Griffin had 28 points and 12 rebounds, performing very well.

He had to admit that Fan Xi was the strongest of all the guards he had partnered with; last night's game made him feel like a fish in water; whether it was Nash, Fan Xi, or Billups, they could all make him take off easily.

He had never fought such a wealthy battle in his life.

But he now has to re-accept a problem: he is no longer the head of this team, let alone the most important person on this team, and he is not even the tactical core of this team... including not being the inside core of the team.

For this top pick who was originally favored by everyone, the gap cannot be described as anything but large.

"What kind of forward do you want to become? Stoudemire? Shawn Kemp? Or who?"

Fan Xi asked Blake Griffin, and he said straight to the point: "The coaching staff asked me to come and talk to you; now you need to find a precise positioning and growth direction. The team can no longer provide you with the scene of free play like last season."

Fan Xi is very honest.

Blake Griffin was stunned for a long while before he continued to say to Fan Xi: "I haven't found my positioning yet. I am a forward who can jump, can hold the ball, can play back-to-the-basket, can assist, can break through..."

Fan Xi said to him: "No, we can't give you so many privileges; other players also need tactical space, and you have to find where you are strongest and where you have the most promising development. This is a good thing for you; focusing on development can help you reach a higher ceiling, and it is also a good thing for the team."

"Most importantly, the team cannot have two privileged players." Fan Xi said very seriously.

He hopes Griffin understands this truth.

Ugly words first; this is Fan Xi's leadership style as a leader.

Griffin already understands the current situation, and he said: "I need to think about it again."

Fan Xi patted him on the shoulder to show encouragement.

After Fan Xi warmed up, he practiced shooting for a while, and then conducted full-team tactical drills with his teammates.

Mike Brown only established a defensive system; on the offensive end, he hasn't determined it yet; he needs Fan Xi to play on the spot and needs Fan Xi to explore during the battle.

Fortunately, the Clippers have three major point guards.

Their basketball IQs are all very high.

The Clippers have a clear brain at all times.

…

"The Clippers need to show some real skills! If they only rely on the Lakers' main players not being there to point their butcher knives at the same-city team, that would be too boring. If they want to become the guardian of Staples Center, they must truly defend the home glory."

On the morning of the NBA opening game, the *Los Angeles Times* published a basketball editorial, pointing directly at the Clippers, putting pressure on them.

In fact, it wasn't just the *Los Angeles Times*; many other California media outlets and basketball experts were gloating and pointing fingers "from a high position."

They believed that the Clippers couldn't beat the Bulls; the Bulls were the Eastern Conference regular season champions last season and pushed the Heat to the wall in the Eastern Conference Finals; this summer, they not only stabilized their existing lineup but also made targeted signings; Caron Butler was signed away by them, and he is an experienced tough guy.

Once the Clippers lose, these media outlets will definitely mock the Clippers overwhelmingly, criticizing the Clippers for only knowing how to point their knives inward and only knowing how to humiliate the Lakers who have already given up the game without following the rules or martial ethics.

What's the use of being brave in the preseason? The regular season is the real test.

In essence, their kind of "oppression" is unfair. Because the Clippers are a team that didn't even make the playoffs last season and underwent a large-scale blood transfusion this offseason, while the Bulls are a championship-level team that Thibodeau has built for three years.

Fan Xi saw these reports while eating breakfast, and he wasn't surprised at all.

Ding-a-ling.

At this moment, his phone rang.

It was a call from an unexpected person.

… ===== CHAPTER 234 =====