With Wade's 500th pull-up jumper swishing through the net, the extra practice finally came to an end.
Engelland and Price escorted Wade arms were trembling slightly even when he raised them, to the underground physiotherapy room. The empty stadium, which had been filled with heavy breathing and the sound of sneers, instantly fell silent again, with only the buzzing of a few halogen lamps on the ceiling.
Lin Qi withdrew his gaze, put his hands in his coat pockets, and glanced at his watch.
"Lin, could I take up a little of your time?"
Standing beside him, Rick Carlisle turned his head, his voice extremely low. This young coach, known for his composure and even slight rigidity, revealed a hesitation rarely seen on the field.
"Let's go to your tactics room." Lin Qi didn't ask any further questions and gestured slightly to the side.
A few minutes later, in a tactical analysis room on the lowest level of the Mediolanum Forum.
Rick Carlisle locked the heavy fire door from the inside and even went over to close the blinds on one side of the corridor to make sure no reporters or support staff were lingering outside.
"Trouble?" Lin Qi pulled out a folding chair and sat down, looking Rick Carlisle straight in the eye. "Is there some kind of conflict in the locker room?"
Rick Carlisle chuckled self-deprecatingly, pulled out the chair opposite him, and sat down. "You really can't hide anything from me. But strictly speaking, it's not really internal strife. In fact, from the outside, our locker room's cohesion seems outrageously good."
"But this 'goodness' has now become the biggest tumor in the team's system." Rick Carlisle's expression turned cold as he uttered three names, " Chris Paul ( Pierce ), Kevin ( Garnett ), and Ron ( Artest )."
Lin Qi raised an eyebrow. "The three of them get along well on the court and are very close friends off the court; that's no secret in the league."
"When things are going smoothly, this iron-blooded brotherhood is a weapon to crush the opponent. But when faced with major tactical reforms, it becomes an independent kingdom that resists the coaching staff." Rick Carlisle rubbed his temples wearily, opened his briefcase, and pushed a thick, high-level data tracking sheet in front of Lin Qi.
"Lin, you know Ron's personality very well. He's a defensive genius, but he's also a madman who can set the locker room on fire at any moment. Once he gets carried away on the court, he'll completely disregard the coaching staff's instructions."
Rick Carlisle's voice was tinged with frustration.
"If it were any other player, I could substitute him immediately or give him a thorough dressing-down in video analysis. But in Boston, the moment I even hinted at punishing Ron, Chris Paul and Kevin would stand like two walls between us. Chris Paul would emphasize to me how important Ron was on defense, and Kevin would glare at me with those eyes and tell me they were a team."
Rick Carlisle looked at Lin Qi and frankly admitted his predicament. "Lin, in their eyes I'm a coach who joined later; they had already won a championship before I arrived. In Boston, Chris Paul is the rightful captain, and Kevin is an irreplaceable spiritual icon. What can I do when those two so openly support Ron?"
The tactical room fell silent.
Lin Qi leaned back in his chair, his fingertips tapping rhythmically on the edge of the table.
He fully understood Rick Carlisle's sense of powerlessness. Rick Carlisle was a tactical genius, but in handling complex interpersonal relationships, he lacked both the godfather aura built on championship rings like Phil Jackson and the domineering authority of seniority like Larry Bird Brown. In a locker room filled with four-time champions, Rick Carlisle was ultimately just an "outsider."
"Just say it, Rick," Lin Qi stopped pointing, "How do you want to change the starting lineup?"
Rick Carlisle took a deep breath, stood up, and walked to the whiteboard on the wall. He grabbed Mark and, without hesitation, crossed out Ron Artest's name from Boston's original starting lineup, then wrote down a name...
Raja Bell.
" Raja will start at shooting guard, Chris Paul at small forward." Rick Carlisle put down Mark marker and pointed to the whiteboard. "The officiating on defense is getting stricter. In the coming seasons, whoever can run a beautiful offense will have the upper hand. Raja has the most consistent spot-up shooting from the corner, and on defense he can bite the opponent's first ball handler like a mad dog. Most importantly, he doesn't need the ball at all."
"And what about Ron?" Lin Qi asked, feigning ignorance.
" Ron has to go to the bench." Rick Carlisle's eyes were full of confidence. "His one-on-one play in the starters will only endlessly squeeze the space for Dwyane and Kevin. But if you put him in the second unit, he can devour every backup forward in the entire league!"
"That makes sense, I agree from a basketball perspective," Lin Qi smiled faintly, "But you wouldn't dare announce it to the whole team at training camp."
Rick Carlisle gave a wry smile, not mincing words. "If I were to announce it, Ron would flip the table in the locker room, and Chris Paul and Kevin would think I was using this as an opportunity to suppress the heroes. The new season hasn't even started, and there are already problems in the locker room."
"You don't need to take the blame for this, Rick."
Lin Qi stood up, picked up the coat draped over the back of the chair, and put it on his shoulders.
"You're not suited to be the villain who 'crosses the river and then destroys it.' I'll do it."
Rick Carlisle paused slightly. "You plan to... lay it all out at tomorrow's team meeting?"
"Publicly removing Ron from the starting lineup in front of the whole team? That would only force Chris Paul and Kevin to fight me to the death over so-called 'brotherly loyalty'." Lin Qi sneered. "We need to deal with this kind of factionalism in a more dignified way."
Lin Qi tugged at the collar of his coat, his eyes showing signs of fatigue.
"Tomorrow night, find a restaurant downtown. Invite Chris Paul and Kevin out on my own behalf."
At this point, Lin Qi paused slightly, a mischievous smile appearing on his lips.
"And while you're at it, call Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace too."
Upon hearing the last two names, Rick Carlisle's eyes lit up instantly.
" Rasheed was an All-Star, but he was willing to play for the second unit. As long as Rasheed is there, does Ron have any excuse to complain about being a substitute?"
"As for Big Ben... Ron fears nothing. But in the entire league, the only person he dares not mess with is the stern-faced Ben Wallace, who can push him two meters away with his bare hands."
Lin Qi patted Rick Carlisle on the shoulder and pushed open the door to the tactics room.
"When the four Boston locker room bosses, plus me, the owner, all agreed to bench Ron, even if Ron was incredibly unhappy, he could only swallow his pride and bear it."
In the dim light of the corridor, Lin Qi turned around and calmly left behind his last words.
"I'll handle everything for you, Rick. Go for it this season, do what you want."