Y13 [EN]: Chapter 141

Y13-141 Conference Final

The players were substituted, and Dallas began their attack again from the sidelines. Nowitzki, receiving a pass from Youngjae, once again faced Serge Ibaka, aggressively backing him down with a tough post-up.

“Hah, hah…”

Over the past four games, Ibaka was beyond exhausted, both mentally and physically. He felt helpless, breached no matter how he defended. An unstoppable, legendary opponent. Why did he have to face such an all-time performance in this series? Nevertheless, Ibaka gritted his teeth and pushed back with all his might to stop Nowitzki’s post-up.

[Nowitzki spin! Another reverse spin!!]

[Is such a rhythmic post-up and spin move even possible from a veteran big man?! Dirk Nowitzki!!]

But this time, it wasn’t just Ibaka. James Harden, who had been guarding Terry on the perimeter, rushed over to double-team Nowitzki.

“Ugh!!”

Nowitzki roared, displaying incredible strength, and advanced another step against the two players. But that was his limit. He planted his foot with all his might and jumped into the air, and the two surprised players followed Nowitzki, jumping as high as they could.

Whoosh-

[Aaaaah!! Nowitzki! With two players hanging on him, he passes to Jason Terry on the right side!!!]

Terry slightly raised both hands, focusing his gaze on the rim, feigning a shooting motion. Durant, who had been checking Youngjae far from the arc, hurriedly jumped in to block Terry’s shot.

Whoosh-

But Terry had no intention of shooting either. He passed the ball to Youngjae, who was open because Harden, his matchup, was on Nowitzki. Youngjae caught the ball and immediately started driving towards the basket.

[Youngjae Yoon charging towards the rim with incredible speed!]

There were no defenders left. The paint [the area close to the basket] was completely locked down by Nowitzki and Chandler, who had occupied the three players, and even Durant’s attention was drawn to Terry. Westbrook was matched up with Barea and was too far out on the perimeter.

“Uwaaa!!!”

Youngjae, thinking he needed to seize this momentum, leaped with all his might. Perkins, Ibaka, and Harden, who were occupied by Chandler and Nowitzki, could only look up at Youngjae as he soared.

KWAANG!!!

[BAAAAANG!!!! Y13 PERFECT CURSE SLAM!!!]

[Y13’s powerful dunk to seize the momentum!! The score is 50 to 48!!! The Dallas Mavericks have finally taken the lead!!]

Youngjae, who didn’t usually prefer dunks, slammed it down and silently listened to the creaking sound as he gripped the rim tightly. The players who looked up at Youngjae felt a chilling sensation from his expression as he looked down.

‘I won’t lose. I’ll end it today.’

The Oklahoma City players were intimidated by Youngjae’s cold, murderous expression. It was like the fierce expression shown by old-school basketball players, quite different from the trends of today. Youngjae didn’t let go of his expression as he released the rim and glared at the Oklahoma City players. Then, Chandler patted him on the back and shouted, ‘Nice!’ and Youngjae finally cracked a slight smile.

“Hah, hah…”

Kevin Durant had no choice but to shake his head, frustrated with the game that wasn’t going his way. Kevin Durant, praised as an ultimate scoring machine worthy of the scoring title in the regular season, had a decent performance for about two minutes after the start of the third quarter, but after that, he missed three consecutive shots in a close game, and the Oklahoma City players were visibly flustered.

[Kevin Durant again!]

[They keep trying to finish with Durant. Westbrook and Harden seem to have a better feel today, but Oklahoma City needs Durant to score at least 30 points.]

[Even though Durant averaged over 39 minutes in the regular season, enduring the immense pressure as an ace in such a big game involves much more mental exhaustion than general physical exertion. Moreover, he’s playing an average of 42.5 minutes in the playoffs. Coach Scott Brooks should give Kevin Durant a break, but he doesn’t seem to have any intention of putting Durant on the bench!]

Scott Brooks was a commendable leader who integrated the team well and nurtured young players, but he wasn’t a brilliant strategist who could show various changes in these short-term games. The fact that Scott Brooks created Oklahoma City’s current team color and built the current team chemistry was enough to prove that he was a good coach, but that didn’t make him strong in the playoffs. The lack of offensive tactics in the fourth quarter or clutch situations had been pointed out as Oklahoma City’s weakness throughout the season.

[Kevin Durant! Still facing Shawn Marion with undiminished agility!]

Marion, who had taken some rest, was putting up a good defense against the tired Durant. Marion wasn’t playing for a short time either, but he was getting more than twice as much rest compared to Durant. Durant created distance from Shawn Marion with a step-back that was noticeably slower than in the first half, but Marion reacted immediately, as if he had anticipated it, and stretched out his right hand.

[Step-back jumper!!]

Whoosh-

[Ah! Kevin Durant! Already his fourth missed shot! And this time, it’s his first airball [a shot that doesn’t hit the rim or backboard] of the game! He looks so bad that it’s hard to believe it’s Kevin Durant! They need to let Westbrook and Harden run the game and give Durant a rest.]

Beep-

[The ball is out, and Dallas gets possession.]

[It seems that Coach Rick Carlisle’s abilities are really showing. Oklahoma City’s biggest dilemma is that they don’t have any plays other than isolation plays using Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and James Harden. Durant easily scored when Peja was guarding him, but he’s not scoring easily when Marion is guarding him! Especially since Dallas has been using three guards for a long time and he’s been matched up with Yoon, it seems he’s using too much energy defending Yoon!]

Nevertheless, Coach Scott Brooks didn’t take Kevin Durant out. Or rather, he couldn’t take him out. Even though his shooting range had drastically decreased due to fatigue, there was a huge difference in offense and defense whether Durant was on the court or not.

Dallas once again used a simple pick-and-pop [an offensive play where a player sets a screen and then pops out to receive a pass for a shot], and Nowitzki made a mid-range jumper.

[The score is now 62 to 55. Oklahoma City is down by 7 points! They need to overcome this crisis! They’re giving Dallas too many free throws and allowing easy scores!]

Swish-

[Kevin Durant again! Durant receives a pass from Westbrook and finds the open Ibaka as soon as he catches the ball at the top!]

As Durant showed signs of fatigue, Carlisle called Kidd and instructed him to double-team Durant. Durant, in turn, tried to exploit the double-team by throwing a seemingly good bounce pass to the open Ibaka.

Tick-

“Oops!!”

But Durant’s tired pass was inaccurate. And the mental breakdown that was spreading from Durant began to spread like a plague to Oklahoma City’s young players.

[Serge Ibaka! He creates space well but fails to receive the pass!!]

[Oklahoma City has scored 0 points in the last five possessions! Dallas gets possession again!]

[It was a sensible play to find Serge Ibaka, who had space due to the double-team, and pass the ball! However, Durant’s pass was inaccurate in the first place, and Ibaka wasn’t ready to receive the pass either. This is a big problem!]

Nowitzki, catching the ball that had crossed the line, quickly threw the ball, seeing Youngjae and Terry rushing towards the rim. The Oklahoma City players were surprised by the sudden fast break and hurriedly backpedaled, but Youngjae and Terry, who had already crossed the half-court line, exchanged glances, and Youngjae caught the ball. Youngjae, slightly behind, looked at Terry running ahead and glanced at Westbrook running from behind, organizing his thoughts.

Swish-

There was no need to force himself to finish. Since Terry was already running near the opponent’s rim, all he had to do was give Terry a good pass, and they would score 2 points.

[Jason Terry! Easy layup successful! The score is now 64 to 55, a 9-point lead! Timeout, Oklahoma City!! Coach Brooks comes onto the court and calls the players together!]

“Kyaaa!!!”

Emily no longer hid her joy. She was proud of the colt emblem on her chest and the blue t-shirt with ‘Let’s go mavs’ written on it. She had already taken off her sunglasses and was banging two long, white balloons together, shouting.

“Emily! Emily! Calm down! You’re too excited!”

“Sister! How can I not be excited in a place like this! The opponent attacking is none other than Westbrook! Yoon’s 1:1 defense against such a great player is fantastic! He’s not fooled by fakes, that’s really great defense!”

Emily, who often watched games with Youngjae and listened to his explanations, had her game-watching skills raised to the level of a seasoned fan. She shouted with an excited voice, and Lauren and Steve looked like they didn’t understand what she was saying, saying, ‘Uh… really?’ But Emily didn’t care about the two who didn’t understand, and now she stood up from her seat, waving the balloons and enjoying the game.

Youngjae, who didn’t have time to look at such Emily, couldn’t sit on the bench and pricked up his ears to listen to Coach Carlisle’s story to go out again.

“Durant is very tired! Now Oklahoma City has only two options left! Attacking using James Harden, or attacking using Westbrook! Durant will probably take a short break or play a pass-oriented game. Brewer! This is when your defensive skills, stamina, and fast-break ability are needed! You’ll play the role of a small forward on offense, but your job on defense is to tire out James Harden, who has a good shooting touch today, as much as possible! Harden is still a step below Westbrook or Durant in terms of stamina and skill completion. Stick to him tenaciously and focus on blocking his jumpers.”

Brewer smiled with satisfaction at being put in again after playing for about 5 minutes in the early second quarter. His average playing time was only about 10-15 minutes, but Coach Carlisle often used Brewer especially when guarding the opponent’s fast swingman [a versatile player who can play multiple positions] ace. Marion was perfect for opponents who were tall and strong, and Brewer was perfect for opponents who were fast and skillful. That’s why Brewer had an indescribable sense of satisfaction in performing a role that was perfect for him, even in a short amount of time.

“Yoon, can you still play?”

“I’m fine.”

He couldn’t hide the fatigue in his voice, but he didn’t want to be taken out here because of a lack of stamina. He wasn’t the only one who was tired. Anyone who was playing here had a physical burden. Everyone was playing the same game and struggling with the same pressure.

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

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

@The reason why Youngjae is still lacking is because this novel is a growth story and I’m trying to make it realistic. The records mentioned in the novel up to the 09-10 season are all real records, and the records of the 10-11 season are not completely different from reality. Of course, now that Youngjae has intervened, it will change a lot from the 11-12 season. Even in the 10-11 season, Dallas was 3rd in the regular season, but they became 1st. And although he is currently an ambiguous character who is all-around but not the best at anything, he will change and grow more in the future. In particular, the league’s top-notch spot-up shooting and free throws will show several times the effect the moment the pull-up jumper is equipped. Since he has top-notch quickness and side steps on defense, he only needs to develop more power and experience.

whip99/// Oh, I’m seeing you for the first time in the first comment. Thank you!!

Omarion, Eunseolya, CountOfDark, Financia/// Thank you for your comments as always. Have a great week starting tomorrow^^.

Yabes///ㄷㄷ Could it be field goal/3-point/free throw? Kobe’s 81-point game. To do that, the starters would have to be seriously injured;;; Thinking about Kobe’s teammates at that time;;;

Rapir and Jinte/// If a Korean player did that, the comment section on Naver would be on fire ㅋㅋㅋ. He has all the tools, but he doesn’t have a special one yet… because he’s a rookie. Korea also puts a lot of weight on whether or not he did something as an ace, so he’s being pushed back.

H0h///I remember there was a similar movie. I couldn’t watch it, but I saw a review…

anwkdk/// Haha… If you want to see him as a superstar, he’s neither here nor there. Strictly speaking, he is the optimized version of the 3&D style that is gaining popularity these days, and he is a style that any team would want. Of course, the popularity is inevitably relatively low. I plan to make gradual changes in future seasons.

Ultra10///Thank you. You’ve finally completed the full run.

rtg98/// Yes. Hakeem is from Africa. He is not classified as a non-American because he was naturalized in the United States. He also won an Olympic medal as a member of the US national team…

huhcafe/// It’s still his first season. I wrote this because I didn’t want to write a sports novel in which he received the MVP, Cy Young Award, or Ballon d’Or from his first season^^. The youngest MVP in the NBA is Derrick Rose in his third year. That’s exactly the 2010-2011 season, which is the first season in the novel. And Youngjae is also 2nd in team scoring (Nowitzki 1st), 2nd in assists (Kidd 1st), and 2nd in steals (1st) in his first season. Compared to other sports novels on Joara, he is a bit lacking in munchkinism. What is certain is that Youngjae will grow into a superstar as the novel progresses.