Y13 [EN]: Chapter 124

As Steve Kerr finished highlighting the key points of the game, the players stepped onto the court and lined up in their positions. With a signal from referee Steve Javie, the centers from both teams, Tyson Chandler and Andrew Bynum, faced each other on either side of the half-court line, and Javie tossed the ball high into the air.

[Finally, the first game of the Semi-Conference Finals has begun! Andrew Bynum wins the tip-off. Derek Fisher calmly dribbles the ball up the court.]

Derek Fisher passed the ball to Pau Gasol on the perimeter, and from there, the ball began to circulate smoothly through Ron Artest at the top of the key, and then to Kobe on the left wing. Nevertheless, the Dallas Mavericks’ starting players weren’t mesmerized by the rotating ball and closely guarded their respective matchups, not giving the Lakers any room to breathe.

[Ron Artest! He penetrates deeply from the left wing to the low post!]

Artest, seeing Shawn Marion who wouldn’t budge even when pushed, looked dismayed. Without looking around, he leaned back and launched an off-balance, contested shot.

[Artest! Oh, he barely hits the rim. Tyson Chandler wins the box-out against Andrew Bynum, but fails to secure the ball properly, and Shawn Marion grabs the loose ball!]

Marion immediately passed the ball to Kidd, who cautiously began to develop the offense, mindful that it was the first possession.

[Marion on the left wing, passes back to Kidd who is circling behind Marion.]

Youngjae lingered on the right side, glancing at Kobe. He was somewhat annoyed by Kobe’s attitude, who seemed oblivious to Youngjae’s presence and focused solely on the ball. Although Kobe Bryant was known for such behavior, Youngjae was also a shooting guard for the Dallas Mavericks.

[Youngjae Yoon! He dashes from the right side to the top! Jason Kidd wouldn’t miss that!]

Kobe Bryant belatedly tried to follow, but Chandler, who was guarding Bynum, subtly moved one step to the left, blocking Kobe’s path.

[Youngjae Yoon in a wide-open look, rises up for the shot! A three-pointer!!!]

Swish-

[Right on target! A clean three-pointer by Youngjae Yoon!]

Perhaps feeling ignored, Youngjae glared at Kobe and flicked his right wrist after shooting. Kobe Bryant didn’t pay much attention to Youngjae, but he nodded slightly, seemingly acknowledging that Youngjae’s shooting touch looked good today, at least for this matchup.

[Andrew Bynum! A fierce battle in the paint with Tyson Chandler!]

“Hmph! This punk’s got some strength!”

Thud!

Instead of answering, Andrew Bynum roughly pushed Chandler, silently protesting against Chandler’s constant provocation. However, Chandler continued to irritate Bynum, straddling the line between fouls and borderline plays.

“You can’t push me around like that! Is that all you’ve got?!”

Thud!!

Chandler shouted as he forcefully pushed Bynum away. It was a situation that could be interpreted as trash talk. Bynum, staggering from the push, reacted irritably and recklessly threw up a shot in the paint. Even then, Chandler subtly hooked his hand on Bynum’s uniform, pulled it briefly, and quickly released it, resulting in a missed shot.

[Ah! Nice defense by Chandler! But there’s no one backing him up! Pau Gasol grabs the offensive rebound! Pau Gasol passes it out to Kobe Bryant at the top with force! Dallas’ rebounding problem is showing again here.]

As soon as Youngjae saw Pau Gasol’s pass, he rushed towards Kobe Bryant with incredible speed. Kobe slightly raised his hands as if to shoot, but Youngjae skillfully raised only his hands, not getting fooled by Kobe’s pump fake at all.

[Kobe Bryant! He drives past Youngjae Yoon, who wasn’t fooled by the fake!]

Youngjae was taken aback by Kobe’s simple and clean drive. Despite having faced him during the regular season, he couldn’t fully adapt to Kobe’s dribble penetration and crossover. Youngjae focused all his strength on his toes, maintaining tension so that his center of gravity wouldn’t lean in any direction, ready to spring out instantly.

Whoosh!

Finally, Kobe’s shot is released. Youngjae pushed off his toes with all his might and stretched his hand towards Kobe’s shooting path.

[Wow! Fantastic defense by Youngjae Yoon! Now the fate of that shot is up to the heavens!]

Thud-thud-

Swish-

[Ahhh!!! Youngjae Yoon, that’s really unfortunate! Honestly, no one could have defended that any better! He did his best, but Kobe’s shot still goes in!]

Even after witnessing Youngjae’s nice defense firsthand, Kobe quickly moved back on defense without any change in expression. It seemed that the two teams would continue to trade baskets like this in the early part of the first quarter.

[Nowitzki posts up against Pau Gasol from the right high post!]

Nowitzki distracted Gasol by pivoting with his left foot as the axis, then launched a jump shot. Gasol passively raised his hand, thinking he might commit a foul, but such defense was not enough to stop Nowitzki’s signature jump shot.

Swish-

[Dirk Nowitzki’s clean jumper!! It’s Dirk Nowitzki as always!!]

[The defensive issues of Pau Gasol, which were expected to be a problem for the Lakers, are gradually emerging! Defending Nowitzki like that is just going through the motions!]

While Youngjae and Nowitzki steadily accumulated points as the main scorers, Kobe invariably answered for the Lakers.

[Derek Fisher, from the right side to the wing, penetrates from the wing to the high post with a no-look pass! Fisher properly noticed that Kobe was open as soon as Youngjae Yoon came to help defend Derek Fisher!]

Sensing that he was open, Kobe calmly looked at the rim to shoot accurately, but he hurriedly jumped up without realizing it due to Youngjae’s rapid approach. It was a given that Youngjae, whose speed was among the league’s top tier, could reduce Kobe’s open timing by even a fraction of a second if he was determined to do so. For a player like Kobe, Youngjae had a chance of winning if he could induce mistakes as much as possible.

“Uwaaa!!!”

Letting out a shout, Youngjae leaped with all his might, and seeing that Kobe’s three-point trajectory was low, he stretched out his right arm as far as his right shoulder would allow to block Kobe’s three-point shot.

Tick-

The sensation of the ball grazed the tip of his middle fingernail. Youngjae scraped the ball forcefully, as if his fingernail would come off.

Thud!

[Kobe Bryant’s three-point shot! It hits the rim and bounces out! It feels like Kobe’s shot trajectory changed slightly at the end!]

[If you look closely, the ball caught on the tip of Youngjae Yoon’s finger! This can be considered a block!! Amazing, Y13! He’s showing a fearless play against Mr. 81!]

Youngjae’s energetic play greatly boosted the overall energy level of Dallas. Moreover, as the Lakers’ potential problems, which they had been trying to ignore, began to surface one by one, the Lakers players were visibly flustered. The shooting touch of players other than Kobe was not good, and proper rotations were not being made in team defense.

After Shawn Marion’s drive to the basket and floater failed, another Lakers’ attack. Kobe Bryant glared at Youngjae with a look of frustration, but Youngjae wasn’t intimidated. As if telling him to come at him, Youngjae glared back at Kobe with an even more venomous look. Eventually, Kobe chose a 1-on-1 isolation from the triple threat position [a basic offensive stance where a player can immediately shoot, drive, or pass] at the 45-degree angle.

[Kobe Bryant! He grits his teeth and drives to the basket!]

[Youngjae Yoon, he’s tenacious, isn’t he?! He absolutely doesn’t let go! He’s being pushed back in terms of strength, but he’s using his good balance to avoid being completely pushed away.]

It was then. Kobe Bryant suddenly turned his back, changed to a post-up position, and then executed a hook shot. Youngjae was surprised by the hook shot despite jumping with all his might, and eventually, the hook shot hit the rim and went in.

[Kobe Bryant!! I don’t know if I should call that a hook shot! But anyway, the last shooting posture was a textbook hook!]

Only then did Kobe Bryant smile with satisfaction, having avenged his frustration, and glanced at Youngjae. Youngjae was caught off guard by the hook shot, but inside, he was determined to get him back, while his face showed the expression of a challenger who was having fun and wanted a rematch.

[Kobe Bryant is carrying the Lakers, but he can’t keep up with Dallas’ momentum! The score is 10 to 7 after 5 minutes! One possession may seem small, but considering it’s still early, the difference can be seen as significant?!]

[That’s right. For Dallas, Youngjae Yoon has contributed 5 points with 1 three-pointer and 1 two-pointer, Jason Kidd has 1 three-pointer, and Dirk Nowitzki has 1 two-pointer, with 3 players contributing to the scoring, but all 7 points for the Lakers have come from Kobe Bryant’s hands!]

Moreover, with Shawn Marion, whose shooting touch wasn’t very good, actively participating in passing, the Lakers had to defend against passes coming from a total of three places: Kidd, Youngjae, and Marion.

[Shawn Marion! He floats the ball as if it’s a floater!]

“Uwa!!”

Tyson Chandler leaped up with an intentionally exaggerated motion, and Andrew Bynum, who was a beat late, gave up jumping and just watched from a step behind. Kobe looked at the scene in disbelief, and Ron Artest hurriedly rushed to help, but Ron Artest couldn’t handle the power coming from the 7-foot-1 Chandler.

Kwaaang!!!

[BANG!!!]

[An amazing putback dunk! He catches the falling ball and then executes a behind-the-back one-handed slam! Chandler, hanging upside down, glares at Bynum and shouts that he’s a coward!]

Chandler, who landed on the ground, pounded his chest and shared his joy with Marion, and Bynum ignored whatever Kobe said and ran forward to join the attack.

[Pau Gasol passes the ball to Bynum, who is demanding the ball with his back to the basket in the low post. Bynum faces off against Chandler again!]

Chandler once again put his strength into both arms and roughly pushed Bynum, who was facing him again. Chandler’s physical play was skilled and rough, like a riot police officer with a shield pushing away protesters at a demonstration. Bynum continued to post up, but Chandler hardly moved from his position.

“Come on! You little punk!”

Bynum muttered “Fuck!” and roughly pushed Chandler. Chandler subtly leaned his upper body towards the elbow that came out as a habit while pushing.

Kwaang!!!

“Ugh!!”

Beep!!

[Ah! Andrew Bynum! That’s not right! Even if it’s an unintentional physical play, that kind of elbow use should never be done!]

It was a situation where Bynum could feel slightly wronged. He had simply put his elbow out to safely secure the ball and create space, but he was annoyed to see Chandler, who happened to come into contact with it and fell backward.

“Hey! Are you blind?! That guy deliberately ran into it!”

“Blind?! Watch your mouth! If you use abusive language one more time, it won’t end with a warning!”

Referee Javie scolded Bynum for his abusive language and ordered him to return to his position. Pau Gasol and Ron Artest persuaded him to return, and Kobe pretended to agree with Bynum’s opinion, but Referee Javie had already made up his mind.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

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@Big men are rough with their words and bodies, haha. Youngjae is a guard, so he doesn’t experience those situations as often. These days, guards move and move non-stop. It’s also relatively rare for them to stick so closely. Big men have to stick together like gays for rebound competitions, screens, etc. Bynum’s personality is notoriously terrible, and Chandler is also quite tough and rough. I know he had the most technical fouls on the team for the two years he played in Dallas.

@The NBA has a three-referee system. A total of three referees watch the game.

※Triple threat: A basic offensive stance where you can immediately execute three attacks: shooting, penetration, and passing. It is mainly used by swingmen (shooting guards, small forwards). In the triple threat stance, there is no need for preparatory movements to shoot, pass, or dribble. The stance itself is a ready position to do those three things. The advantages of this stance are safe ball control, benefits to the rhythm and balance of the shot, and the ability to see our team players and play.

Eunseol Seolya-nim/// Congratulations on your first comment~~~

Yabesu-nim/// Youngjae will affect the team’s power structure in the future. Please watch the future developments to see how he will do it, haha… And Dallas has been close to a three-point-loving team since before GSW or Houston. Since Carlisle took office, Dallas has had starters and backups in all four positions except the center who shoot three-pointers. So Dallas prioritizes shooting ability over defense or rebounding for power forward backups. Brian Cardinal, Charlie Villanueva last season, and Dwight Powell have been used a lot as power forward backups. In the championship season, all players except centers Chandler, Haywood, and Mahinmi shot three-pointers. However, unlike GSW, the overwhelming three-point shooters have decreased rapidly since the championship season of Kidd, Terry, Peja, and Cardinal, and they tend to shoot more mid-range shots than Houston. Houston is honestly too extreme with their three-point tactics. It’s a level that can’t be established without Harden. Carlisle has chosen Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson instead of Rudy Fernandez and Jae Crowder because they shoot three-pointers better, even if they can’t defend or penetrate.

Saebyeokdaleulbarabwa-nim/// Haha… Who will Bynum’s elbow be aimed at?

Lapir and Jinteu-nim/// Bynum seems to have a serious mentality. So I don’t know if he still does that… The West is always WWW, isn’t it? Haha. Still, I don’t think those 6 teams will fail to make the playoffs.

-DarkANGEL-nim, Kondara-nim, Painensia-nim, Omarion-nim, huhcafe-nim/// Thank you for your comments!! Have a good day tomorrow~~~

H0h-nim/// The number of basketball novels itself is a bit sad;;

Zigichacha-nim/// Well, Durant and Westbrook alone are contender-level, but it seems like they have filled up solid benches in addition to Ibaka and Kanter. Personally, I see GSW, San Antonio, and Oklahoma as candidates for the top spot in the West next year.

Shooting Start-nim/// Bynum did well for a while, but in the end, he had a lot of mental problems;;; In the end, they got Howard, but the Fantastic 4 failed due to injuries and failure to distribute possessions, so Howard refused to re-sign.

Uiseol-nim/// Kobe’s performance at this time is amazing.

Cup in Cup-nim/// I think mentality is as important as athletic ability for rookies.

Challanhan Yusan-nim/// I definitely think it’s the center. In the end, I think the saying that basketball is a center game is not wrong. The problem is that GSW and Cleveland had a small lineup match that excluded the center last year, and we’ll have to see if this will become the main trend or a tactic that only some teams can do. I think the next most important position is the small forward. I think they should be the bridge connecting the backcourt and the frontcourt. Personally, I think the team with strong 2, 3, and 5 is the best.

Theshadow-nim/// Shaqtin’ a Fool~~ Number One Javie~~McGee~~~!!

Misscherry-nim, 1234567890123-nim/// Here I am!!