Passing training required assistance, and Hansen had lured Grover to Memphis.
Grover was not surprised by Hansen’s early start on special training, as after spending a season with Hansen, he felt that Hansen had the strongest competitive spirit.
Of course, aside from Grover, Hansen also reached out to another person: Jason Williams.
One lesson he could take from the past two seasons was that the talent provided by the system only gave him soil, and what ultimately grew from that soil still depended on his own ideas.
For example, after gaining the talent for a floater, he learned the drifting floater from Jamison, and with the talent for defense, he learned from Tony Allen how to defend Durant.
Passing was no different.
Tactical passing was more about precision, like LeBron and Draymond Green were both masters at it;
But non-tactical passing, aside from talent, required some creativity.
Williams, nicknamed "White Chocolate", might not have had the best passing in history, but it certainly was the most creative.
So, in terms of creativity, no one could compare to him.
Williams had announced on social media after the end of last season that he was retiring again. ①
However, he would not be leaving the Grizzlies, the reason he announced it so quickly on social media was that he had decided to join the Grizzlies’ coaching staff to help develop young players.
So in this move, Hansen was essentially getting early guidance from his future coach.
As Hansen began his summer training, the NBA Finals were also underway.
Hansen would naturally continue to pay attention, but this time he could only watch the live broadcast.
He invited Rondo over, set up snacks and drinks, and took the opportunity before the game started for their usual bet, a casual $500 wager.
Rondo bet on the Heat.
He made a thorough analysis.
He believed that Game 1 was entirely a result of the Heat underestimating their opponent, and that having defended their home court in the second game, the Heat had already managed to cap the Mavericks’ momentum.
Nowitzki was still troubled by a finger injury, and his performance was clearly not as good as before.
And Wade was in scorching form, so as long as the Heat didn’t underestimate their opponent again, it shouldn’t be a problem for them to win the game.
"You make a lot of sense, but I still favor the Mavericks."
Hansen didn’t give a reason, but he did post a status on his personal social media.
"I bet LeBron will score under ten points tonight, $500,000 stakes, anyone willing to take the bet?"
From the time he posted the status to the start of the game, only Kanye West had taken the bait.
Sure enough, LeBron fans love to hype their man, but when it comes to spending money on their king, few are willing.
On the other hand, his detractors had gained quite a bit of value.
"You’re full of it, the king could score double-digits with one hand tied behind his back!"
"Open your damn eyes and watch, the king just had bad luck in the first two games, he’ll definitely drop 30+ tonight!"
"You top hater, just hating for the sake of hating, get ready to cough up the cash for Ye!"
You have to hand it to Nike though, because the old LeBron fans can no longer contribute hater value, it meant that even after being heavily criticized this season, there was still a significant number of new LeBron fans by the season’s end.
Hansen set aside his phone, the game had started.
Wade got things going with an "and-one" right off the bat, and then Bosh scored a mid-range jumper from the high post.
The Heat had a smoother start than in the first two games.
Aside from Wade still being in hot form, Bosh also found his groove.
On the other hand, for the Mavericks, Nowitzki was still cold at the start, and Kidd’s three-pointers weren’t falling either.
The Mavericks began to crumble.
But this changed with Carlisle’s substitution adjustments, bringing Terry on early.
The Mavericks’ screens were of very high quality, and Terry’s off-ball movement was quick; he landed a three-pointer as soon as he came on.
Moreover, his off-ball movements attracted a lot of the Heat’s defense, creating opportunities for the Mavericks’ cuts to the basket.
With Nowitzki and Marion each making cut layups, the Mavericks stabilized the game.
But the Heat, with the advantage they had built earlier, were still leading as they entered the bench rotation.
However, it was during this rotation that the Mavericks not only regained the lead but stretched it.
His performance had been limited in the first two games of the Finals, but in Game 3, he finally got in rhythm.
He dominated Joel Anthony with consecutive post-ups.
And when Spoelstra resorted to the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy again, O’Neal immediately responded with two successful free throws.
His desire for a fifth championship ring was fully evident in tonight’s game.
"Where’s LeBron?" Rondo asked at that moment, aiming right at the heart of the issue.
Shortly after his question, James appeared.
The Heat continued with the "Hack-a-Shaq" fouling strategy, and the one to commit the foul was James.
Turned out James had been on the court all along!
This was the difference between watching live and on TV.
Live, you can focus observation on a specific player, but with live TV, your perspective is limited to what the camera shows.
Now Rondo was even more puzzled.
During the starting stretch, with Wade and Bosh in excellent form, it made sense that James didn’t attack much.
But the reserve rotation was LeBron’s forte, or it was at least Spoelstra’s intent for having him on the floor.
Yet, LeBron seemed nearly invisible.
"That’s why I think the Mavericks will win," Hansen said with a smile. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱