Y13 [EN]: Chapter 152

Duck Nowitzki, the man for the fourth-quarter clutch. Even if he was quiet in the first three quarters, his incredible scoring ability always shone through in the fourth. He averaged over 10 points in the fourth quarter alone, making him an amazing clutch shooter.

“Finally hit 100 points!”

“Ooh! Just as expected from our captain!”

Nowitzki pounded his chest and roared in celebration of reaching 100 points, and the other players shared his joy with high-fives. Coach Carlisle didn’t let his guard down; it was only Game 2. There were still at least three games left, and potentially five.

‘The next game is on the road in Miami.’

As if responding to Carlisle’s concerns, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called a timeout, bringing a smile to Carlisle’s face. It was as if the opponent had called the timeout he needed. The Dallas players, energized by the chance for revenge, listened intently to every word from Carlisle, and Carlisle and the coaching staff couldn’t help but smile at the players’ fighting spirit.

“Just looking at your faces, anyone would think you’re all warriors.”

At Carlisle’s words, the players exchanged puzzled glances, but Carlisle applauded, saying it was a good sign.

“Having that much enthusiasm and focus on the game is a good thing. But the warrior I’m talking about isn’t just about being recklessly enthusiastic. Keep your heart hot, but your head cool. I see that you understand the situation and have the determination to beat the opponent no matter what. That’s why I believe we’ll win today’s game.”

The players swallowed hard and listened to Carlisle’s final instructions.

“There are six minutes left. If we maintain this point difference, we can afford to relax for the last three minutes. We’ve done well so far, and since the first round of the playoffs, experts have been predicting Miami would win the championship. But! We’ve laughed at those experts and come this far. So, I have no intention of backing down in the Finals either. How about you guys?”

“Yes, sir!”

The players shouted at Carlisle at the top of their lungs, and Carlisle clapped his hands vigorously until they stung.

“Alright, everyone! Go out there and crush them for the rest of the time!”

[Alright, Dallas Mavericks! No changes to the lineup!]

[Their momentum is strong, and it’s late in the fourth quarter. It’s hard to take out the starting lineup easily. If you take out the starters at the wrong time, the momentum can shift in an instant. But it’s hard to understand why they haven’t put Marion in and are still going with Peja. I think Carlisle will substitute players when Miami’s will to chase is broken. Miami will likely pull their starters when there are one or two minutes left if the point difference is still in double digits for the next game.]

[With a 10-point difference, it’s enough to catch up in one or two minutes. There’s the precedent of T-MAC [Tracy McGrady] scoring 13 points in 33 seconds in ’97. Of course, that’s a very unique case, but it’s more common than you think for 10 points to be overturned in two or three minutes.]

With just over six minutes left and a 12-point deficit, Miami had plenty of chances to come back, so they put their best roster on the court to maximize their offensive efficiency.

[The game restarts with Miami Heat’s offense. The Miami Heat has Mike Bibby, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Udonis Haslem!]

[They’re focusing on offense rather than defense to overturn the 12-point difference! Dwyane Wade has had some rest, so he can show a more energetic performance, and putting Bibby and Haslem in place of Chalmers and Joel is to try to win with offense as much as possible. Bibby’s three-point percentage is close to 40% this season, and Haslem’s screen is the best among Miami players.]

This lineup of the Miami Heat was a special lineup used by Erik Spoelstra, an unconventional lineup born out of the lack of true centers on Miami’s roster. They might be at a disadvantage in terms of height, but it was a lineup designed to induce turnovers and lower the opponent’s shooting percentage with fast offense and defense transitions and strong pressure. On the other hand, Dallas had Kidd, who boasted the league’s best stable point guard play, and the team wasn’t weak in transition situations, at least for the starting lineup. Even in this situation, the fact that Spoelstra brought out this lineup meant that he felt he had no other options.

“…”

LeBron James, with the ball at the top of the key, couldn’t help but think as he looked at Peja Stojakovic blocking his path. In a simple matchup, it would be safest for him to drive past Peja. Peja had the worst plus-minus [a statistic that measures a player’s impact on the score while they are on the court] among Dallas players today. But Tyson Chandler, strong in mismatches, was firmly holding down the low post. Moreover, his shooting percentage today wasn’t great at 6/17, so he was reluctant to force a drive or a jumper.

Whoosh-

[LeBron James, good choice. Dwyane Wade, who has been resting and has a good shooting touch today, can exploit his physical advantage against Youngjae Yoon, who has been running continuously!]

Forcing Youngjae, who was badly beaten by Dwyane Wade’s physicality in Game 1, into a 1-on-1 situation. Otherwise, a 2-on-2 play using LeBron or Haslem’s screen ability was worth trying. Peja and Nowitzki were players with weaknesses in pick-and-roll defense.

“Stop acting up and get lost.”

Dwyane Wade’s frustration soon manifested as trash talk. Since the formation of the Big 3 [LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh], they had cultivated a positive image, and they actually showed good performance that was considered capable of winning, although they were a bit shaky. They also faithfully participated in fan events hosted by the Miami Heat and created many good impressions. But looking at the negative side, the Big 3 had too much pride, believing that their formation guaranteed victory and that they were the best in the league.

‘They’re playing on a good team now, so I guess they thought they could act like that a little bit. There are fake tough guys in this league. The Big 3 is just one of them.’

Kevin Durant, who was usually known as a gentleman and a player who kept his manners in the professional world, said that in an official interview after a home game against the Miami Heat. The players known as the Big 3, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh, were showing a very different side of themselves before and after the formation of the Big 3. Whether it was the spirit of youth or arrogance, it distorted the faces of many players.

Even now, Youngjae just smiled at Dwyane Wade’s trash talk and said one word.

“Eat shit.”

Thwack!

“Argh! You son of a bitch!”

Youngjae, instead, lightly snatched the ball from Dwyane Wade’s hand, who was slightly distracted by the trash talk, and dashed forward. Youngjae, who had struggled so much with physicality in the first game, completely tied up Dwyane Wade with veteran-like help defense in the second game, though no one knew how that happened. On the surface, his field goal percentage seemed decent at 50% with 5/10 shooting, but his court margin [a statistic measuring a player’s impact on the score while they are on the court] was -7, and aside from 4 rebounds, he only had 1 assist. With 3 turnovers, he was having a terrible performance.

[Oh, oh, oh! Dwyane Wade, what a turnover! Shouldn’t he have focused more on the game instead of talking to his opponent!]

[I think he was trying to shake the rookie’s mentality, but Youngjae Yoon’s greatest strengths are his veteran-like play, solid mentality, and consistent performance!]

As soon as Youngjae stole the ball, he quickly rushed towards the Miami Heat’s goal. If you stop the opponent’s attack, you will succeed in your attack afterward. Then, you can run away faster and farther. That’s why Youngjae never gets greedy for flashy plays in fast-break situations.

Without slowing down, he glanced back and saw Dwyane Wade charging like an angry bison right behind him. Youngjae seemed to slow down a bit, then lightly jumped up as if going for an easy layup from the low post.

[Youngjae Yoon, that looks like a very easy layup!]

Dwyane Wade, as if saying, ‘Let’s see you try,’ didn’t slow down and jumped, attempting a block with the force to break an arm. But Youngjae, with his unique slyness and brazen expression, just looked up at Wade as if he couldn’t understand.

Whoosh-

[Youngjae Yoon! It seems he knew Dwyane Wade was coming! Does he have eyes in the back of his head! The ball in Youngjae Yoon’s hand naturally goes to Peja Stojakovic on the outside!!]

“I like this rookie~”

Peja muttered to himself, then lightly jumped after receiving the ball.

Swish-

[BAANG!!!!]

[That makes it a 15-point difference! The Miami Heat is getting hit hard! It seems to show the true colors of the Dallas Mavericks! What an amazing performance!]

[And that’s not all?! Youngjae Yoon’s performance in this game is completely different from the first game! From a rookie who was pushed around by physicality, he has transformed into a clever veteran who uses his teammates when outmatched physically! Isn’t that an incredible change!!]

Peja’s three-pointer, which pierced the heart of Miami as if cutting off their last breath, was like watching the reincarnation of Peja Stojakovic, the fearsome sharpshooter from the Millennium Kings era [referring to the early 2000s Sacramento Kings team known for their exciting offense].

There’s no room to breathe. This expression seemed to fit Youngjae the most these days. Even though he knew the future to some extent through his memories of his past life, he was honestly anxious. He was worried about whether joining Dallas would lead to good results or backfire. He didn’t think his abilities were inferior to DeShawn Stevenson and Barea, but just because a more capable player joins doesn’t necessarily make a team better. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have shortcomings compared to them.

“I’ve come this far.”

Still, he had managed to come this far. In his opinion, Yoon Youngjae, who joined Dallas, had played a bigger role than DeShawn Stevenson and Barea had played before, at least. Of course, the current situation wasn’t great.

“One win and two losses.”

His hope that he could change the future even a little by joining hadn’t worked in the Finals yet. In the regular season, he succeeded in helping them become the Western Conference’s number one team. But in the playoffs, he didn’t remember the point differential, but the wins and losses were almost the same. In other words, even though his performance in the playoffs was good, the results weren’t much different. That meant Stevenson and Barea had also performed well in the playoffs, and his role might have overlapped with other Dallas players.

Dallas’s record during the three Finals games was one win and two losses. Of course, the second game was a huge 112 to 99 victory with a 13-point difference, and the two losses were close, with 3 points and 2 points respectively, but losing was still losing, and they had only won once. The point differential was positive, but the result was still one game behind. In a long season, this might converge to the average, but in a short series, anything could happen.

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

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

＠This is a part where Youngjae’s anguish is slightly revealed. The regular season results have improved compared to his past life, but he’s feeling a bit frustrated because there’s no change in the playoffs. I described it as if Youngjae doesn’t remember exactly because it’s the part where his thoughts are described. In reality, the playoff wins and losses are the same whether Youngjae is there or not. The point differential is much better, though. It’s still his first season, so there aren’t any big changes yet.

KingdomBrothers-nim///I’m glad my answer was helpful.

H0H-nim///Haha… There will be many changes in this Final.

WiseSeol-nim/// Nowitzki duo?!!

-DarkANGEL–nim///Hmm… I sometimes go crazy when I upload posts at midnight, but it seems severe when you post comments.

Alchemist-nim, Ultra10-nim///Thank you for pointing that out. I’ve corrected it^^

GaYeonEul-nim///I’m glad. I will continue to strive to write easy and good posts in the future~

Starkeeper-nim///Ah, that’s something we didn’t think about. It seems like you mean you want to see more of the players’ personalities and conversations, is that right? We will try to show more of the players’ characters in the future. We’ve established characters for the coach and staff, but the players’ characters, except for Chandler, Brewer, and Beaubois, who appear frequently, have hardly been established.

RainyDayBlues-nim///Yes. Haslem, who was the captain at this time, was a player of considerable level. Well, he’s a humble player compared to the Big 3. To explain it roughly, he’s a player similar to Shawn Marion of Dallas. That’s too much of a basketball maniac explanation;; Um… If you think of him as about the 3rd starter out of the 5 starters on a baseball championship team, would that be easier to understand?

Financia-nim, Omarion-nim/// Thank you for always commenting!! Have a great weekend tomorrow too^^

Goimosp-nim/// In American sports, regardless of the sport, I don’t think there is a player who surpasses the general manager and coach in terms of individual influence. Especially when it comes to producing results in terms of performance. Personally, if I could pick one of the best general managers, coaches, and players in the league to bring to my team, I would pick them in the order of general manager > coach > player.

Anwkdk-nim/// The power of international basketball organizations isn’t as strong as FIFA [Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the international governing body of association football], but there are many tournaments ㅋㅋ. There are also continental tournaments. There are also world age-group tournaments. You can think of it as there being a world or continental basketball tournament almost every summer. In some seasons, there are as many as three tournaments.