Y13 [EN]: Chapter 155

Throughout the first quarter, Dallas’s relentless attacks forced Miami to keep their Big Three on the court, even though they desperately needed rest. This approach did narrow the score gap slightly, but it was clear that their stamina would noticeably decline in the third and fourth quarters. Still, they had no choice.

[Chris Bosh is maintaining the chase with the best shooting percentage among the Big Three today.]

[With just over four minutes left in the second quarter, the score is 33 to 42, a 9-point difference, but there’s still plenty of time. If they play steadily without forcing anything, they should be fine!]

Dallas attacked again. Brendan Haywood quickly passed the ball forward, and although the pass was a bit wobbly, J.J. Barea managed to receive it and began to slice through the Miami Heat’s defense with his dribbling.

He easily bypassed Mario Chalmers at the top with a quick crossover, then, with Dwyane Wade closing in, he cleverly shielded the ball with his back before delivering a kick-out pass.

[Jason Terry! Wide open for a three-pointer!]

Swish!

[HE SINKS IT!!!]

[The shooting slump, considered a weakness of the Jumper Team, has been a problem for Dallas in crucial moments during Games 1 and 3, but not today! Is this like Miami taking the odd-numbered games and Dallas the even-numbered ones?!]

[Haha! If that’s the case, it means Miami will win in the end, and the Dallas players would be upset?!]

Chris Webber waved his hands, clarifying that he didn’t mean it that way.

[I just meant that seeing such a huge game go to a Game 7 is every fan’s dream. Haha! Honestly, based on what we’ve seen so far, it’s hard to tell who will grab the Larry O’Brien Trophy [the NBA championship trophy].]

Reggie Miller, who had been listening silently, nodded in agreement with Chris Webber.

[That’s right. Since the playoffs started, predictions have been nothing but empty guesses. The Dallas Mavericks have shown just how much playoff predictions can be overturned, haven’t they? From the first round, they were considered the most likely upset candidate, an aging team with several weaknesses, a strong team but not strong enough to win the championship. And yet, here they are, playing this incredible game against Miami, a team packed with the best players!]

Jason Terry celebrated with his teammates, imitating a jet plane, while the Miami bench was filled with frustrated and angry players. They couldn’t understand why they were being pushed back so helplessly.

‘They definitely make a lot of flashy and cool plays, but they lack substance. And Dallas… I don’t know why, but they seem more desperate than in previous games. It’s definitely not just because they’re down 1-2. What’s making them so united?’

Erik Spoelstra stared at Rick Carlisle with a puzzled expression, but he knew better than to expect an answer. He shook his head and began to think of ways to overcome the current crisis.

‘The small lineup isn’t working. Should I put in Joel Anthony… No. That would be even worse. With the opponent changing their offensive patterns, it’s impossible to keep Joel Anthony in for an extended period. Should I move Bosh to center and bring in Juwan Howard to increase scoring… No. That would be really dangerous. With the current Juwan Howard, he might not be effective on either offense or defense…’

This was the difference between Erik Spoelstra and Rick Carlisle. Rick Carlisle had coached several teams for many years and, as one of the league’s top strategists, he had faith in his strategies and the ability to use them at the right time. That’s why he had brought Dallas, a team that often faltered in the middle of the playoffs, this far.

However, Erik Spoelstra’s experience and years in the league were not yet comparable to Carlisle’s. Both coaches had been with their teams since 2008, making it their third year, but Spoelstra was still a relatively rookie coach, barely 40 years old.

Carlisle was a strategist who could suppress opponents by switching players and changing strategies according to the situation, while Erik Spoelstra was a capable strategist who could plan the big picture in advance, but he was a disappointing young commander who lacked the ability to adapt to changes in the game.

Thwack!!

[STEAL!!!! Y13 FOR STEAL!!!]

[His third steal of the game! Mike Miller, who came in for Dwyane Wade, is being absolutely crushed in this Game 4! Mike Miller gives up two steals in just five minutes into the second quarter!]

[As expected, a Carlisle-esque choice, right? Youngjae Yoon defended Dwyane Wade well with double-teaming, but Carlisle seems to have judged that Kidd is better in terms of power. He gave Youngjae Yoon a brief rest at the end of the first quarter and brought him back at the start of the second! It seems like Carlisle is controlling the game, anticipating that Erik Spoelstra would take out Dwyane Wade and put in Mike Miller around this point!]

That was exactly right. Erik Spoelstra had very little strategic flexibility. He had directed the games without making many changes to the rotation or detailed tactics through Games 1 to 3. However, it was more that he couldn’t change rather than that he didn’t. First of all, there was a lack of players who could make tactical changes. The starting lineup, Chalmers, Miller, and Joel were the only available players, but there was not enough time to coordinate the team with players other than the Big Three, and the players’ talents were limited. Moreover, Spoelstra’s position was not strong enough to give instructions that conflicted with the Big Three’s ideas.

Swish-

[Ah! Another shot goes in! Youngjae Yoon’s fast break, followed by a pump fake, and then an easy mid-range jumper makes the score 33 to 47! There’s still a lot of time left… but it looks tough!]

Youngjae sank another mid-range shot and felt a strange sensation. In his past life, this game was a seesaw battle that would be talked about for a long time. A nail-biting game where the difference was just one possession from the start of the first quarter to the last possession of the fourth quarter.

But on the court where Youngjae was standing now, he didn’t feel that at all. First of all, even though it was an away game, the team members were burning with fighting spirit. Youngjae smiled and felt proud as he saw Nowitzki, who was sitting on the bench with a towel soaked in cold water over his head, nodding at him.

[Dirk Nowitzki: “I was a little immature, and a little rude.”]

The 2010-2011 NBA Finals are causing a stir every day. The tense 2-2 balance through Game 4 was unexpectedly overturned on June 9, 2011, at the American Airlines Arena, the home of the Miami Heat.

More than 70% of experts predicted that Miami would win within six games. However, the Dallas Mavericks, who shattered those expectations, finally took a 3-2 lead. As a result of such an incredible series, various rumors and news became hot issues, and the main topic of Game 5 was, of course, the flu mockery.

After Game 4, when Dirk Nowitzki casually mentioned his feverish symptoms in response to a question about his poor performance that day, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat coughed and laughed in front of Dirk Nowitzki after he missed a mid-range jumper in Game 5. This so-called flu mockery was met with enormous criticism from most NBA fans, including Dallas fans, who called it a ‘mannerless play.’ Even more shocking was the fact that Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks 115-100 despite the flu mockery. If the Heat had won even after mocking, the story might have unfolded differently.

Dirk Nowitzki, the direct party to this incident, opened his mouth, saying that there was no problem with his current health condition.

“They are indeed the best players in the league. But they didn’t have the maturity to match their skills. That behavior was nothing more than childish.”

In response, teammates Tyson Chandler and Youngjae Yoon also did not hesitate to strongly criticize in interviews, saying, “The Big Three are only the Big Three in terms of skill,” and “As a team, they are players I don’t want to play with.”

There would have been no problem if they had won with mockery or been recognized for their skills, but neither was the case.

[Finals Game 5 Results]

115:100

Key Players (Miami)

LeBron James: 17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists (FG 8/19 42%, FT 1/2) 1 block, 4 turnovers – 45 minutes played

Dwyane Wade: 17 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists (FG 6/12 50%, FT 6/8) 1 block, 4 turnovers – 34 minutes played

Chris Bosh: 15 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist (FG 5/10 50%, FT 4/6) 1 block, 4 turnovers – 39 minutes played

Key Players (Dallas)

Dirk Nowitzki: 33 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists (FG 11/18 61%, FT 10/10) 1 steal, 2 turnovers – 37 minutes played

Tyson Chandler: 13 points, 7 rebounds (FG 5/7 71%, FT 3/5) 1 steal, 2 blocks, 0 turnovers – 32 minutes played

Youngjae Yoon: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists (FG 5/7 71%, FT 4/4) 2 steals, 0 blocks, 1 turnover – 30 minutes played

LeBron James, in particular, recorded a triple-double, but was heavily criticized for his extreme slump in the fourth quarter. If he was going to act like he didn’t care what others thought of him, he should have shown some passion for winning at least in Game 6. But he was too busy avoiding taking responsibility with the ball. Wade? At least he tried to do something, but when Wade grabbed the ball, three or four people stuck to him. Bosh? His role was to shoot when LeBron gave him the ball, but even that ball didn’t come properly.

On the other hand, Dallas’s tremendous offensive performance, including Dirk Nowitzki and Youngjae Yoon, as well as Tyson Chandler in the paint, J.J. Barea who showed crazy mode during bench time (10 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists – 14 minutes played), Jason Terry (14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists – 25 minutes played), etc., could not be stopped overall.

Dallas, who won two consecutive away games with a big win of 105-93 in Game 4 and 115-100 in Game 5, is scheduled to play Game 6 at home, and experts who predicted Miami’s victory are increasingly supporting Dallas’s 4-2 victory, saying, ‘Dallas’s championship is just around the corner.’ The prevailing view is that a team that has won 2 wins and 1 loss on the road cannot lose even one of the two games at home.

After the mockery incident was reported, criticism of LeBron James swept through related NBA broadcasts. Comments ridiculing LeBron James and rejoicing in his defeat are pouring in on various sports portal articles and Facebook comments. Until now, the media had been favorable to him, and most fans cheered for every one of his plays. How can LeBron James overcome this?

Re: If only Wade + Bosh were there, we wouldn’t have lost so badly. LeBron ruined everything.

Re: If I give LeBron $1, he’ll only give me 75 cents back. Why? Because he disappears in the 4th quarter.

Re: The city of Dallas announced that tomorrow is LeBron James Day. Everyone gets off work 12 minutes early;;

Re: Seriously, this is the height of bad manners. There are things you can mock and things you can’t -_-

Re: ㄴ(‘0’)ㄱ =33 Dallas, run, run~ Run to the championship~

Re: This is why we watch sports. Don’t you think? Where did the Miami fans go?

Re: Miami is seething…

Re: If they had won, they would have said, ‘Who cares about personality? Victory is everything in the pros,’ but Dallas took away even that chance. Thank you, Dallas. Serves them right~

Re: It’s not over yet? Don’t get ahead of yourselves.

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

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

＠Some of the comments are actual local comments from that time. Now, the Heat have won two consecutive championships, and LeBron is being praised for showing his fighting spirit in the last Finals, but at this time, LeBron was really torn to shreds. Perhaps if there had been no championship in the 11-12 season, LeBron’s career would have been very different from what it is now. The current LeBron will probably have no problem becoming NO.1 in the small forward category of all time.

※Larry O’Brien Trophy: The name of the NBA Finals championship trophy. It was originally called the World Championship Trophy, but when David Stern became the NBA Commissioner in 1984, he named it in honor of the previous Commissioner, Larry O’Brien.

goimosp/// I took the motif from the plays Barea showed in the Finals. Youngjae’s play will continue~~~

ㅎ0ㅎ/// Tightly packed like the Finals ㅋㅋ

J.Y.F.N/// Thank you for the comment!! Youngjae needs to explode a bit in the Finals ㅋㅋㅋ

가연을이/// It’s a game where you have to do something yourself, so I pushed myself a bit, and it’s exploding.

zigichacha/// Parker’s prime center-level shooting percentage, the fundamental teardrop… If the seagull doesn’t get injured, I think he’ll build a career like Garnett. The problem is that he also has bad team luck. Griffin feels like he’s not developing any further. I think it’s because of his defensive limitations

파이넨시아, dio2n, -DarkANGEL-, 울트라10, 사라질영혼/// Thank you for your comments as always~~~

YanaGi/// Haha, that’s a relief. To write about dynamic sports in words, it has to be easily associated with the readers.

유리공작/// Hmm. I guess it wasn’t impactful enough.