Tang Shuai was startled by Gomez and his sudden actions. His first reaction was not to face Gomez's flaming red lips or push her away, but to look up at the top of his head.

This is outside the arena, and there may be a camera above your head.

Fortunately, after watching for a while, he didn't find anything with a camera, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

He lowered his head, saw Gomez's charming expression, and resisted and said, "We are friends, aren't we?"

Gomez was stunned, then suddenly smiled, straightened up and left Tang Shuai, and said, "You know you have a Chinese girlfriend, so I won't tease you anymore, just send me back to the hotel."

After hearing what Gomez said, Tang Shuai felt relieved. He said that he was accidentally knocked over by a woman.

After seeing Gomez off, Tang Shuai then returned to the team's hotel.

Stephenson and Brewer were both surprised to see him come back so early.

"Dang, you are really a fast gunman!" Stephenson couldn't help but tease him.

Several people suddenly had a quarrel.

The Lakers' schedule for the next round is not easy. The NBA regular season starts from November 2020 to around April 2020, and only takes less than 7 months, but they have to play 82 games, which means they have to play at least 12 games a month. When they start the game, they will have 4 games in 10 days, and in the next 10 days, they will usher in a intensive schedule, with 2 back-to-back games within 5 days.

They will first face the challenges of the 76ers and Hawks at home on November 20, US time, and then challenge the Suns and Jazz away on October.

During the pre-match training class, Tang Shuai was not in a good mood.

Walton did not listen to his and Gasol's advice in the end and would continue to use a small lineup in the next game.

He originally wanted to go to Walton again and said that he was stopped by Gasol. Gasol has been playing in the league for a long time and knows what the coach believes to do, no matter how much the players say it is useless.

The 76ers have been the absolute bottom of the game for three seasons, and this year they finally ushered in an opportunity to rise. Embiid, Russell, Okafor, Simmons, and like the Timberwolves in the West, they are potential rookies in a bunch of places.

Walton's choice to continue with a small lineup may be related to the opponent of the 76ers, because after all, there are many potential rookies, but such teams generally need time to grow.

Walton had a good idea, but the result of the game was far beyond his expectations. Although Barnes' offensive performance improved compared to the previous game, he was beaten by Okafor on the defensive end and even had no underwear left. Although Tang Shuai tried his best to score 36 points, the Lakers still lost the final game when Okafor and Embiid scored 45 points and 25 rebounds.

Losing to the 76ers is a big and unpopular person. I thought that such a result would definitely make Walton realize the weakness of the small lineup, but as Gasol said, what the coach has determined will not be changed easily.

At the summary meeting after the loss, Walton did not reflect on the shortcomings of the small lineup, but instead praised Barnes and Noel's progress, which made Tang Shuai and Gasol feel speechless.

The game against the 76ers ended, and before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the Lakers were about to have a back-to-back game against the Hawks.

Since the Hawks poached Mike Budenholzer from the Spurs as head coach in 2013, they have successfully joined the Eastern Conference powerhouse. This offseason has caused Howard to successfully upgrade the team's lineup.

Barnes' offensive performance has improved further compared to the previous game, scoring a season-high 18 points and 6 rebounds, but the Lakers were beaten by the Hawks on the defensive end.

Budenholzer is the strongest among the Spurs coaches. His team-style play makes the opponent unable to defend. Originally, Walton's small lineup relies on fast assisted rotation on the defensive end, but the Hawks have too many small cooperation. Barnes played on the offensive end, but he still looks like a headless fly on the defensive end.

90-110, the Lakers suffered their first straight defeat since the season, and it was a crushing defeat.

After two consecutive losses, Tang Shuai and Gasol could not sit still. They found Walton and chatted with each other privately. However, as it was exactly the same as last time, Walton still insisted on his own ideas and determined that this was a process that must be experienced in playing small ball tactics.

The home game is back-to-back followed by two away games. Compared with the Hawks, the Suns and Jazz are significantly weaker.

In the game against the Suns, Tang Shuai faced his former teammate Redick. Redick was strong in offense and weak in defense. He ushered in a big explosion on the offensive end, scoring 47 points on 20 of 32 shots, almost breaking his regular season scoring record.

With his outstanding performance, the Lakers finally won the game 103-102. If Bledsoe hadn't been blown out by Noel before the end of the game, the team would have suffered a three-game losing streak.

The Suns had a previous record of 3 wins and 6 losses. It didn't mean much to win such a team, but Walton seemed to be relieved. At the post-match press conference, he bluntly said that this victory was of great significance to the team and was the most critical game for the team to embark on the revival. He also named Shuai Tang and Barnes (Barnes scored a season-high 20 points in this game), praising their outstanding performance on the offensive end.

The NBA does not have back-to-back games, and the away back-to-back games are the most stringent schedule. After a night off at Phoenix, the Lakers boarded a special plane to Salt Lake City, Utah in the second game.

The NBA has two famous home courts, one is the Denver Nuggets, and the other is Utah Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City is an inland plateau with an altitude of 1,320 meters. The low pressure makes the players' physical energy consumption during the game more obvious than before.

The second back-to-back game was played in Salt Lake City, and it was the second back-to-back within 5 days. The players' physical energy consumption was unprecedented.

Tang Shuai played for five minutes at the beginning and felt like he was about to die.

Since Walton started using a small lineup, his playing time has increased rapidly, and he has almost overdrawn in every game. He didn't feel anything because of the schedule and the opponent before. Now he has reached the plateau and he has reacted quickly.

Not only Tang Shuai, but other players have more or less altitude sickness and are not in their performance.

78 to 89, the Lakers' shooting percentage was so low throughout the game, only 36.5%. Even Tang Shuai made 8 of 20 shots, and the team's loss was completely expected.

In 5 days, 4 games, 1 win and 3 losses, the winning game was still a narrow victory. Walton's small ball tactics were proven to be completely unsuitable for the Lakers team in front of him.

Originally, after defeating the Bulls, the Lakers' record reached 5 wins and 2 losses, and returned to fourth place in the West, but after this 1 win and 3 losses, their record reached 6 wins and 5 losses, and fell directly to ninth place in the West.

Back in Los Angeles, Shuai Tang and Gasol finally found Walton. After the game against the Jazz, the two of them considered more than the team's victory or defeat.

After 11 games, Tang Shuai averaged 32 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists, with a shooting percentage of 51%, and was absolutely superstar data. However, his playing time was 39.2 minutes, which was more than half higher than last season's regular season. Although he had trained in Procopio's way, this obviously exceeded his physical fitness range. If he continued to play like this, it would definitely be a big damage to his career.

Gasol's situation is exactly the opposite of Tang Shuai. During the offseason, because of Tang Shuai and Kupchek's persuasion, he chose to join the Lakers. You should know that the Spurs offered him a two-year and 30 million contract in the offseason, which is much higher than the contract he has obtained in the Lakers now. However, after using a small lineup, his playing time has been reduced to only about 20 minutes, averaging 10, 2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, which is a career low.

Both of them were unreserved during this conversation and had a very firm attitude.

"If you don't make any adjustments, I will consider applying for a deal with Mickey. I don't have much time left in my career and I don't want to waste these last few years." Gasol said in a furious manner after arguing with Walton.

Walton was not in much better mood at this time. He had been insisting on the small lineup, and he believed that the trend of basketball in the future. However, the record is not good now, and the management has put pressure on him. As a result, Tang Shuai and Gasol still talked to him with such a tough attitude. He immediately pointed to the stool he was sitting on, and pointed to the stool they were sitting on, and said, "This is my position, that is your position. Wherever we sit, we should do what we should do in that position. If you think I can't do it well, you can try to let Mickey change someone."

After saying this, Walton stood up from the seat and left the coach's office angrily.

The third exchange ended unhappily.

Compared with the previous two times, this time it can be said that the relationship has completely broken down.

It is said that there are only three things. After the third exchange failed, Tang Shuai and Gasol decided to talk to Kupchek for a while. They did not say that they were like a different coach as Walton said. Walton is still a very potential coach in some aspects, but his stubbornness may really require some people who can listen to the advice of him.

Shuai Tang asked Duffy to make an appointment. In a cafe in Los Angeles, Shuai Tang, Gasol, Duffy and Kuppchek sat around the table.

"Don, James said you and Paul have important things to tell me?" Kupchek took a sip of coffee and looked at Tang Shuai with a smile.

Unlike Dave Woer, Kupchek's attitude towards Tang Shuai is quite friendly, and it can even be said to be favored.
Chapter completed!