Y13 [EN]: Chapter 125

Y13-125 2010-2011 Semi-Conference Final

ByNum’s [Andrew Bynum’s] hot temper caused the Lakers players to sweat for a while, and eventually, coach Phil Jackson had no choice but to call a timeout to cool down the heated atmosphere of the team.

Even though the first game is at the Dallas Mavericks’ home court, the American Airlines Center, the Lakers are showing a surprisingly weak performance!

It’s a very different picture from what the experts predicted. The Lakers players certainly have tremendous name recognition, but on the big stage of the playoffs, it’s not just about reputation; it’s ultimately a team battle! If you look closely, you can see Tyson Chandler constantly trying to get under Andrew Bynum’s skin, right? He’s exploiting Andrew Bynum’s mental game to provoke him. And they are taking advantage of the fact that the Lakers’ bench players haven’t fully grasped the triangle offense [an offensive strategy emphasizing spacing, passing, and player movement]. On the other hand, Dallas players are moving fluidly according to coach Carlisle’s tactics.

Come to think of it, Derek Fisher, who is leading the Lakers, has already committed two turnovers!

Mav Albert’s words made Steve Kerr nod, sensing that the situation was unusual. Dallas’s shooting was on fire, while the Lakers kept missing easy mid-range shots and wide-open three-pointers.

“They are chasing us, and we are pulling away from them! Do you understand what I mean?! The score is now 21 to 15! Don’t get complacent just because we’re ahead!”

“Yes!”

The Dallas players answered briefly and nodded.

“Don’t slow down the tempo! Push them hard at our pace so they can’t recover! If we get a defensive stop and grab the rebound, bring it out deliberately! If there’s an open look, take it! Each of you should approach the game with the mindset of outworking your matchup!”

As Carlisle’s strategy, his guiding principle, was laid out, the players nodded, determined to give extra effort. Although they had been playing for over 8 minutes, their eyes were sharp. Reaching this stage was difficult, and missing this opportunity could be a lifelong regret.

All the Dallas Mavericks players shared one goal and moved forward with the same thought: they deserved to win the Finals this season. Dallas, in particular, had been in the playoffs for 11 straight years but had never won a championship. The players were incredibly motivated.

Youngjae, who had won a championship as a role player in San Antonio in his previous life, couldn’t contain his excitement at the thought of winning a championship as a key player this time.

Beeeep!

The timeout is over, and the players are being substituted, right? Dallas is keeping Jason Kidd and Youngjae Yoon, who are shooting well today, and even putting in Jason Terry to play with three guards! Peja Stojakovic is at power forward, and Tyson Chandler is the center! It’s a lineup that sacrifices some defensive strength for explosive offensive firepower from the outside. Youngjae Yoon isn’t a strong defender at the 3 [small forward] position, and you can’t expect much defense from Peja at the 4 [power forward] either.

This season, coach Carlisle has significantly reduced his use of three-guard lineups, but he still uses it when necessary. He seems to be trying to speed up the game by targeting the Lakers’ disorganized defensive rotations!

The Lakers have also made substitutions; they’ve replaced all three players except Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. They’ve brought in Steve Blake, Kobe Bryant, Matt Barnes, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol!

For the Lakers, Pau Gasol was moved to center, and the overexcited Andrew Bynum was taken to the bench. Among the Lakers’ main playoff rotation, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol were the only players who could play center in a traditional way. Like the US national team, Lamar Odom could play center in a small-ball lineup, but Phil Jackson’s triangle offense didn’t allow for that. Basically, the Lakers’ system had Gasol alternating between the 4 and 5 positions, with Odom and Bynum also playing those spots.

However, the biggest problem was that Tyson Chandler was irritating Bynum, making him emotional, and Pau Gasol, who needed to attack the basket, couldn’t keep up with Nowitzki and Marion’s switching and stayed on the perimeter.

Kobe Bryant faces off against Youngjae Yoon!

Youngjae guarded Kobe Bryant, who was dribbling slowly on the right side, and spread his arms wide.

Kobe Bryant! He executes a clean crossover, putting weight on his left foot and using the momentum to go to the right!

However, Youngjae cleverly blocked Kobe’s path and slowly retreated. Without committing to a direction, he simply retreated and kept his hands up, so no matter what dribbling move Kobe used, whether it was a crossover or a spin move, he couldn’t easily get past him.

“Tch!”

Then, Kobe started to drive, roughly using his shoulder to create space with his size and strength. Youngjae was about to fall backward because he couldn’t withstand the force while retreating, but if he fell, he would give up 2 points, so he extended his right foot back to balance himself and started to push Kobe back.

“You little punk…”

“Let’s see who’s the punk, old man.”

To others, Youngjae was just a rookie, but he was a player with 9 years of experience in his own way. Of course, those 9 years couldn’t compare to Kobe Bryant, one of the best players ever.

Still, Youngjae refused to be intimidated by Mr. 81 [Kobe Bryant’s nickname, referring to his 81-point game]. Even in San Antonio, Youngjae was a hustler who wasn’t afraid of anyone.

Kobe Bryant! When the post-up doesn’t work, he passes instead of forcing a shot! He sees Pau Gasol cutting in and throws a pass to the left!

“?!”

However, Pau Gasol’s struggles were worse than expected. He didn’t have the strength to penetrate the paint, couldn’t get past Chandler’s box-out, and Kidd intercepted the pass.

“Run!”

As soon as Kidd stole the ball, he shouted and took off, and Youngjae, who was the fastest player on the court, gritted his teeth and started running. Since he was guarding Kobe deep in the court, he was far from Jason Terry, who was at the top of the key, but Youngjae reacted quickly and ran hard, almost catching up by the time he reached the opponent’s end. Terry also recognized Youngjae’s position, knowing a one-man fast break wouldn’t work.

Whoosh!

Jason Kidd! Seeing Jason Terry and Youngjae Yoon running ahead, he throws the ball to Youngjae Yoon! As soon as he sees the ball’s trajectory, Jason Terry goes behind Yoon to the left wing! And Youngjae Yoon drives straight to the high post at a tremendous speed!

Youngjae didn’t bother with fancy dribbling against Ron Artest, who was guarding him. Instead, he used a simple upper-body fake to move Artest and immediately turned his back, firing a terrific kick-out pass to Terry, who was open on the 3-point line.

Jason Terry, wide open!!!

Swish!

WOW!!! JET [Jason Terry’s nickname]! IGNITES THE ENGINE!!

Jason Terry scores a clean 3-pointer on his first shot!! He high-fives Youngjae Yoon, who gave him a great pass, then spreads his arms wide and leans forward, running like a jet and backpedaling! Youngjae Yoon is mimicking Terry’s movements next to him!

The score was now 24 to 15. The Lakers had no choice but to feel the pressure. Whether their goal was to cut the lead to at least 6 points in the remaining 3 minutes, they now wanted to chip away at the lead steadily rather than forcing plays.

The Lakers’ greatest strength and limitation was that their reliable scoring option was to give the ball to Kobe Bryant. On the other hand, the Dallas Mavericks had an amazing scoring attack with Jason Kidd as the facilitator, as well as Jason Terry, Youngjae Yoon, and Peja Stojakovic, with four players shooting over 35% from three-point range and capable of being sharpshooters. The shooting of those four was at its peak, to the point where every shot seemed to go in.

Jason Kidd! He uses Youngjae Yoon’s screen! Steve Blake gets caught on Yoon and doesn’t follow properly!

Matt Barnes comes out to help! But he’s too eager! The opponent is Kidd!

As expected, Kidd looked at the basket without changing his gaze and threw the ball to the left. Since this incredible no-look pass came from Kidd’s fingertips, Kobe Bryant and Steve Blake were helpless.

Amazing no-look pass! Peja Stojakovic, who was standing on the left sideline! He shoots without hesitation! Jason Kidd is showing that he can control the game with his passing!

Swish!

BANG!!! HE SINKS IT!!

Peja Stojakovic! His shooting touch seems to be returning! In the Sacramento Kings’ Millennium Kings era, Peja Stojakovic was a 3-point specialist and a scorer! It’s exciting to see glimpses of that time!

Peja knew the game was still early. That’s why he calmly held up three fingers, subtly showing off his 3-pointer, but he didn’t do anything more and quickly retreated.

Well, the first quarter ends like this. The score is 32 to 22. A 10-point difference!

The fact that this is Dallas’s home court was a significant advantage, but this is still unexpected. The Lakers didn’t show any real teamwork. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum were particularly bad. Pau Gasol didn’t penetrate inside, box out, or rebound; he just wandered around the perimeter and made one tough shot. Andrew Bynum competed well under the basket, but besides rebounds, he didn’t finish properly.

On the other hand, the Dallas Mavericks’ shooting is on fire! Youngjae Yoon has 7 points, including a 3-pointer, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry have 6 points, and Peja Stojakovic and Dirk Nowitzki have 5 points each, so all the starters have an even distribution of points. The fact that all the players’ field goal percentages are over 50%, and the Dallas Mavericks’ overall field goal percentage in the first quarter is over 60%, is a disaster for the Lakers! They’ll have to try to turn things around in the second quarter, but the key will be controlling Dallas’s hot shooting, which is unstoppable once it gets going.

The Lakers were still the Lakers. The second quarter belonged to the Lakers, erasing the 10-point deficit from the first quarter. Dallas, who took out Kidd, Youngjae, and Chandler, who had played the entire first quarter, and put in J.J. Barea, Corey Brewer, and Brendan Haywood, saw the situation quickly deteriorate. J.J. Barea, who had made 53% of his 3-point shots in January, showed flashes of brilliance, earning the nickname ‘Bareverson’ after Allen Iverson in the second half of the season, but Corey Brewer and Brendan Haywood were playing poorly.

Pau Gasol, who had been contained by Chandler, was now causing problems inside, and Corey Brewer, who had confidently said he could guard Kobe, was playing terribly on both offense and defense. However, they couldn’t put Youngjae and Chandler back in after they had played 12 minutes straight, and Boboia, whose injury had flared up, was ruled out for the rest of the season. Ian Mahinmi was also too inexperienced to play in such a big game. Coach Carlisle had no choice but to watch the 10-point lead disappear in just 6 minutes.

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

★Thank you to those who gave advance reservations, recommendations, comments, and coupons!!

★Thank you to tkdydgktlf and kusanagi for the sponsorship coupons!! I will work harder.

@Lamar Odom actually played center for the US national team. In the 2010 World Championships, the US used Odom as a center because they didn’t have any other centers besides Chandler. This was partly because the centers refused to participate due to injuries, but Odom’s box-out ability was that good. Kevin Love was the only power forward. However, it was also a lineup that was possible because the players in all positions had good rebounding and defensive ability.

A similar case is Golden State’s Draymond Green. Green is similar to Odom in that he has good passing skills, decent outside shooting (Odom’s outside shooting was very good, a couple levels above Green), and he is strong, so he is good at box-outs and can defend the center. Odom is also taller than Green. If he had a good mentality, he could have become a player comparable to Kobe-Gasol… Well, in the end, Odom created Dallas’s dark history with that mentality.

@Tai Lawson was caught for drunk driving for the second time this season, following January. I personally think he is an underrated guard, but his off-court problems are too serious. I thought he would be traded because he was tanking and raising Moody Eye, but I wonder if he can be traded for a good price.

Cup in Cup/// Oh, you read it as soon as I uploaded it, lol.

Shooting Start/// Youngjae casts a provocation skill on Kobe.

Custard/// Thank you. I get strength every time I hear those words^^.

-DarkANGEL-///The 2000s were the Beat LA era, lol. Duncan’s San Antonio did win 5 championships, but it seems that the dynasty’s dominance was less felt because it was intermittent. Since Jordan, the West-East has become almost the standard… Last year, San Antonio, 6th in the West, would have been 2nd if they went to the East, and Dallas, 7th in the West, would have been 3rd if they went to the East. Utah, 11th in the West, went to the playoffs as 8th in the East.

Brilliant Legacy, ㅎ0ㅎ, misscherry, Senbyun, Financia, 1234567890123, Omarion, huhcafe, Kundara/// Thank you for your comments today!! The weather is not as hot as I thought.

zigichacha/// It’s a shame that the West is too WWW. If it’s Oklahoma, they are guaranteed to be in the Eastern Conference Finals. To be honest, Cleveland will easily be number 1 in the East next year. Their power is stabilized, so they will be strong even in the regular season.

Yabes/// There were many cases where they were standing or sticking to each other during the Masajang era, but the trend is very different now. Youngjae’s style is not the type to trash talk. This is because the author’s tendency is reflected in the character setting. Neither of them likes trash talking very much. They do respond, but they are not the type to provoke first. And there are not many trash talkers like Michael Jordan, lol. Gary Payton is the only guard who can trash talk above Jordan?