The Problem at Small Forward

On his first day with the Grizzlies, Link impressed Lionel Hollins and his teammates in the very first scrimmage.

Throughout the scrimmage, Sam Young played like a student who didn't know what to do, as if he were seeing professional players' poise for the first time.

Link, on the other hand, looked like a veteran who had spent years in the NBA. His understanding of the plays, his chemistry with his teammates, and even his habits on the court were nothing like a rookie's.

And yet, Link had played in only three NBA games before this. All told, he hadn't even been on the court for ten minutes.

"Tweet, tweet, tweet!"

Elston Turner blew his whistle, ending the thirty-minute scrimmage. In the end, Link's team won by seven points, thanks to Marc Gasol and Conley's excellent play in the final moments.

Link finished with nine points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in thirty minutes. His stats didn't look impressive, but that was because he hadn't taken many shots. His value on the court couldn't be measured by stats alone.

His screens, his movement to open up space, his defense... Even Conley, a man of few words, told Link after the scrimmage, "Nice job, man."

"All right, thanks for your hard work today, everyone. That's it for practice. Link, keep it up." Hollins pointed at Link, then dismissed the team.

Link let out a long breath. His first appearance with the Grizzlies had gone perfectly.

It seemed like only a matter of time before he made it into the rotation!

※※※

On December 21, 2010, the Memphis Grizzlies hosted the New Jersey Nets, who had yet to move to Brooklyn.

Link didn't get a chance to play that night. Lionel Hollins hadn't even put him on the active roster. Many fans guessed that Link had been sent back down to the G League.

Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol put on a throwback battle in the paint. Both teams played at a slow pace, often feeding the ball inside so the two big men could go one-on-one.

You didn't often get to see a game with the feel of '90s NBA basketball in 2010.

Marc Gasol, then in his third year, had a pretty good night. He played twenty-eight minutes, shooting six-for-ten and scoring nineteen points with ease. Lopez had the better line, scoring twenty-six on eight-for-fourteen shooting, but Marc was still only a third-year player at the time.

The teams stayed neck and neck, but midway through the third quarter, the Nets gradually took control.

It wasn't because the Nets' coach, "Little General" Avery Johnson, had come up with some clever trick. It was because Rudy Gay had fallen back into his bad habit of forcing shots.

The Grizzlies' offensive centerpiece wasn't Grit and Grind, Mike Conley, or the arrogant O.J. Mayo. It was the red-hot Rudy Gay.

Gay averaged 16.1 shots per game that season, the most on the team. The only stars in the entire league taking more shots than him were players like Kobe and James.

However, Gay wasn't a superstar. When opposing teams targeted him, his shooting consistency became a serious concern.

That was what happened tonight. Midway through the third quarter, Gay started his "brick-laying exhibition" again.

With Gay on the floor, the Grizzlies' offensive efficiency plummeted. The Nets seized the opportunity and pulled away.

In the end, the Grizzlies lost to the Nets 101–94 at home. Since December 17, it was their third straight loss.

"A very disappointing game. Memphis had a chance to win, but their star player ended up blowing it for them." On the broadcast, some of the local Memphis commentators couldn't help but complain about Gay.

"Rudy Gay jacked up sixteen shots and made only four! Good grief, he didn't step up in the clutch—he actually hurt the team. If not for his 25 percent shooting, the Grizzlies would've won! Look at Marc Gasol. He's the one with the potential to become a true leader!"

The commentators' harsh criticism wasn't entirely unfair. This wasn't the first time Gay had cost the team a game. His problem was that he kept forcing shots even when he couldn't hit anything. The colder he got, the more stubborn he became.

That might sound a little like Kobe, since Kobe was also known as a "brick king." But Kobe's ability to close out games was in a completely different league from Rudy Gay's.

After the game, Hollins headed toward the players' tunnel with a grim expression. When Rudy Gay's shot had gone cold, he'd put Sam Young in to stabilize things. But Sam Young's one-for-four performance had disappointed him.

If the Grizzlies hadn't been so short on small forwards, he wouldn't have had to stand by and watch Gay drive the team into the ground.

Just as Hollins was about to enter the tunnel, a reporter stopped him.

"Coach Hollins, this was a disappointing loss. Once again, the Grizzlies' lack of depth at small forward was exposed under the spotlight. We know the team signed Link to a ten-day contract a few days ago. He was one of the best players in the G League this season, but we didn't see him on the court tonight. When do you plan to give him a chance?"

The reporter's question was pointed. Even Haddadi had been sent out during garbage time tonight. If Haddadi could play, then Link was eligible too.

Frowning, Hollins replied, "When the time is right, I'll put him in!"

With that, the defense-minded coach walked away from the cameras. Gay and Sam Young had combined to shoot five-for-twenty, leaving Hollins feeling helpless.

The truth was, Hollins needed Link badly right now. Based on his performance in the scrimmage, Link could surely do a better job off the bench than Sam Young.

But Hollins had deliberately kept Link out tonight, not because he lacked ability. He wanted Link to spend more time adjusting to the intensity of the NBA in practice, then put him on the court at the right moment, where he could make an immediate impact and catch the other team off guard!

Hollins clenched his fist. He wouldn't let his team lose because of its problems at small forward again.

※※※

At that moment, Link was working up a sweat on the practice court at FedExForum. He hadn't been placed on the active roster, which meant he didn't have to go to the arena floor or the locker room.

So he spent the whole evening at the practice facility, burning off his excess energy.

He didn't know Memphis well, and for now, he didn't have many friends there. Apart from shooting hoops, he couldn't think of anything else to do.

The team had lost that night, but after seeing Rudy Gay and Sam Young's "train wreck" performances, Link couldn't help smiling to himself.

The worse those two played, the better his chances of making the rotation. Link had only been with the Grizzlies for a few days; he was hardly attached to the team yet. For now, his own playing time mattered more to him than whether the team won or lost.

As Link grinned at the television in the practice facility, the door suddenly swung open. He jumped, and the person who walked in looked just as surprised.

"Link!? What are you doing here?" Lionel Hollins's mouth fell open.

"I've been here all evening, Coach. Since I couldn't play, I figured I should find something else to do." Link gave an embarrassed smile.

"You've been at the practice facility all evening?" Hollins shook his head. He'd clearly told Link to go home after practice that afternoon. He hadn't expected the kid to stay behind and work out by himself for so long.

Extra workouts weren't common with the Grizzlies. Mayo and Gay, the two "princes," were one thing—they were lucky if they even finished the day's practice.

Conley was hardworking, but he rarely stayed behind to increase his workload. Randolph wasn't young anymore, and Marc Gasol, a massive presence in the paint, wasn't suited to pushing himself too hard either.

So extra workouts weren't common in Memphis.

Hollins had only come back to his office to pick something up, but instead he'd stumbled upon this. He smiled and walked over to Link. "Don't stay behind and work out by yourself anymore. It's not effective."

"Coach, but I..."

Before Link could finish, Hollins continued, "If you need extra work, I can arrange a trainer for you. That way, you'll get twice the results for half the effort, Link. NBA teams have the best resources in the world. It'd be a shame not to use them."

Hollins smiled, patted Link on the back, and turned to leave.

At that moment, a powerful thought took hold in Hollins's mind: Maybe it was time to let the world see what that kid could do in the next game.