Y13 [EN]: Chapter 156

Y13-156

00156 2010-2011 Finals =========================================================================

After Game 5, Youngjae returned to Dallas and, despite being home for the first time in a while, couldn’t relax due to the immense tension and pressure.

“Hoo-ah, hoo-ah…”

Youngjae was already known as a “gym rat” by his teammates and staff, but as they entered the playoffs, his personal training volume gradually increased, reaching its peak during the Finals.

He met with Emily, and Melli, Steve, and Lauren occasionally came over to the house. He also had meals with his close teammates Tyson Chandler, Corey Brewer, and J.J. Barea, but that was it. The rest of his time was solely dedicated to basketball. He didn’t have many friends, nor did he spend much time on personal hobbies.

And now, even with Emily watching him with concern, he continued his personal workouts without rest. Knowing well that bulking up during the season was impossible, Youngjae focused on endurance training to be able to run for even one second longer. Stamina depletion during games was a major cause of decreased shooting and passing accuracy. Seeing him like this, Emily decided she couldn’t stand it any longer. She approached Youngjae, who was running on the treadmill, and turned it off, saying,

“Yoon, you’re going to collapse!”

“Huh, huh…”

Youngjae wiped the sweat from his neck with a towel, glanced at the watch on his wrist, and smiled at Emily.

“Thank you.”

Emily wondered if he knew what he was thanking her for. As soon as Youngjae stepped off the treadmill, he stared intently at his watch, signaling that his break was over. He lay down on the mat and powerfully began doing crunches to stimulate his abs.

“Yoon!!”

Emily shouted, pressing down hard on Youngjae’s shoulder. Youngjae, with a dazed look, gazed at Emily while lying down.

“You’ve been doing team training since morning and haven’t rested for even an hour. I know it’s an important game, but you’re going to collapse! Training is important, but isn’t rest important too?!”

Youngjae made an “ah” sound, then smiled slightly and said,

“Emily, when you went to the audition for ‘The Walking Dead,’ what did you do the night before?”

“…”

“Did you just sleep? Did you not practice because you didn’t want to strain your voice? Emily must have… tried and tried to do her best without regrets. That’s the Emily I know.”

Emily was speechless at Youngjae’s pointed remark. Or rather, she couldn’t say anything because Youngjae continued to speak just as she was about to open her mouth.

“From the outside, it might look like I’m overworking myself, but Emily, you would have checked your voice thoroughly and prepared by practicing as much as possible, right? I’m the same. Even though it looks like I’m not resting, I’m getting enough rest, hydrating, and consuming calories. Haha, I’m a bit like a machine, right?”

“Yes, you’re like a machine right now.”

“Emily, I’m really sorry that I can’t spend much time with you even though you’re here with me during the Finals. But… the game in two days could be the last game, right? I don’t want to have any regrets in that game. If I regret it because I lack stamina, I’ll never be able to forget that game. That’s why I’m doing this.”

Emily knew what Youngjae was saying. She had considered the “Walking Dead” audition her last chance and had prepared to bring 120% of her best condition on the day, investing her entire life into the audition. It was no different from Youngjae’s current state.

“Because I’m a rookie right now, people keep saying, ‘He’s doing so well for a rookie, isn’t he?'”

Youngjae continued to talk while lifting his upper body to complete his set of crunches, and Emily reluctantly placed her hand around the boundary between his abdomen and chest to help him maintain proper form, nodding her head.

“That might be true. Ugh! He’s doing well for a rookie. Ack! He’s the best rookie. Ugh! He’s the future of Dallas. Hoo! Sometimes I’m surprised at how satisfying my first season is. But, eugh!!”

Youngjae, who had exerted all his strength until the last rep, looked completely exhausted but had a slight smile on his face as he took Emily’s hand.

“If I stop there, satisfied that I’ve done enough, that’s the end.”

Listening to Youngjae, Emily couldn’t help but wonder if Youngjae was really a 20-year-old player, six years younger than her. It wasn’t true that Emily had never dated in her 26 years. Emily hadn’t dated many men, but she had been in a few relationships thanks to her considerate nature and cute appearance, but they had all fallen apart.

Emily liked men who had a professional attitude towards their work and took responsibility for their actions and words. Of course, it might have been that Emily was disappointed in the men she met because she herself was unable to take responsibility and was frustrated by her lack of skill. However, Youngjae’s current demeanor was so professional and responsible that it couldn’t even be compared to the men Emily had met. And he was just a 20-year-old rookie.

“Emily, can you come to Games 6 and 7 of the Finals?”

Emily, seeing Youngjae lying down and weakly uttering those words, helped him up and wiped the sweat from his upper body.

“I don’t know. I can go to Game 6, but Game 7 is impossible.”

“Huh? Where are you going?”

At Youngjae’s words, Emily shrugged her shoulders, draped a dry towel around Youngjae’s neck, and smiled brightly.

“I believe that the Finals will end in Game 6. And that the winner will be you.”

Youngjae, looking at Emily’s beautiful smile, took out three tickets from his pocket and placed them in Emily’s hand.

“Please, use these tickets to come and watch. I’ve reserved seats right next to Steve, Lauren, and Melli, so please come and watch with these tickets.”

Emily looked slightly curious at Youngjae’s earnest request but nodded her head, accepting the tickets carefully.

June 12, 2011. American Airlines Center. Dallas.

[Hello! Game 6, which could be the final game of the Finals, has finally begun! I’m ESPN caster Craig Sager, and our commentators are Reggie Miller and Jeff Van Gundy!]

[Hello, Craig! The biggest issue is whether today’s game will mark the end of the long NBA season, right? I’m truly honored to be commentating on such a game!]

[That’s right. For Miami, the key is whether they can overcome the aftereffects of two consecutive losses and this road elimination game to make it to Game 7. And can Dallas celebrate their first-ever championship in front of their home fans? It’s a meeting on a narrow bridge where one team must win and the other must lose!]

While Craig Sager began his opening remarks and Reggie Miller and Jeff Van Gundy each added a comment, the game began.

Youngjae strode onto the court and looked around the home arena. He couldn’t help but feel his heart pounding at the sight of tens of thousands of fans filling the arena, creating a dense wave of blue. As one of the three teams with over 100% arena occupancy, almost every regular-season game was packed, but today’s game felt very different. He caught glimpses of the Dallas players’ expressions, a mix of anticipation and tension, and the Miami players’ expressions, as if they had nothing left to lose.

Beeeeeep!

The game-start whistle, which he had heard dozens, hundreds of times. And Tyson Chandler and Joel Anthony jumping. As soon as Youngjae saw Chandler tip the ball, he snapped to attention. He knew that there was still a long way to go to be lost in sentimentality.

Youngjae moved quickly. While Kidd held the ball at the top and orchestrated the offense, Youngjae ran around even more dynamically than usual, trying to wear down Wade and create opportunities. Dwyane Wade, who was man-marking Youngjae, was struggling to chase Youngjae, who was penetrating the paint with tremendous activity, speed, and intelligent movement from the start of the game, only to quickly turn back out. It would be easier to guard him if he were an on-ball player, but guarding a player who takes up so much activity required him to expend his own stamina. Because he had so much to do on offense as well, players with good off-ball movement were the most annoying type to guard.

‘Damn it!’

It would have been easier to guard him if he had been like this from Game 1, but it was as if he had been hiding it all along, or maybe he was just in good condition today. He quickly penetrated and escaped the center of Tyson Chandler and Joel Anthony’s box-out battle, and Wade, who was following behind, was blocked by his own teammate Anthony.

[Jason Kidd! Passing to the left sideline after getting over Dirk Nowitzki’s screen!]

[Amazing! The very moment he tries to get over the screen! Evading Dwyane Wade’s pursuit and going from right to left! Youngjae Yoon, who literally cut through the Miami defense horizontally, created an open look?!]

Swoosh!

As expected, Jason Kidd’s pass was perfect. Youngjae leaped up, his eyes wide as if he wouldn’t allow even the slightest tremor in his fingertips. It was a quick, high-arcing jumper that made Wade’s belated jump useless.

[B,B,BANG!!!!]

[Wow! Did that go in? It soared so high and then dropped so sharply that I barely heard the net swish!!!]

[Is Y13’s explosion beginning?! It’s no exaggeration to say that he’s the sharpest and most lethal shooting guard in the league this season!]

But Youngjae simply raised his right index finger with a calm look. The fans went wild, shouting and applauding thunderously, but not only Youngjae but also the rest of the Dallas players were in a trance. They were showing tremendous concentration, as if they couldn’t see or hear anything other than the game.

After that, both teams succeeded in scoring on every possession without a single failure, and the game began to flow into a seesaw battle that gave a tremendous sense of tension.

[Both teams are showing tremendous concentration! This is the power of the Finals elimination game?!]

[Only 4 minutes into the 1st quarter, the score is 11 to 10! Dallas is continuing to maintain a narrow 1-point lead! The Dallas Mavericks want to end this game and win the championship! And the Miami Heat want to drag it to Game 7! The desperation of both teams is creating a great game!]

[Miami’s Big 3 are scoring evenly, as if they had planned it, taking turns attacking, while Dallas’ Youngjae Yoon, who is going wild today, has scored a whopping 8 points out of 11! An astonishing 100% sharpshooter who has made all 3 of his shots! 2 three-pointers and 1 two-pointer! That’s Youngjae Yoon for you?!]

The Miami players, as if they were sick of Youngjae, began to defend him aggressively, their faces contorted. Nevertheless, Youngjae didn’t fall or tumble. Maintaining his rhythm and play with a calm expression, the Miami players couldn’t help but get tired of it.

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

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

＠I’ve described everyday life in various ways, but basically, Youngjae is a practice bug and a diligent person. He meets a limited number of people and doesn’t have many hobbies. He’s the type who goes to the practice court first and leaves last every day. He’s similar to players like Kobe [Bryant], Ray Allen, and Nash [Steve Nash].

＠James Harden wasted a lot of stamina guarding Redick [J.J. Redick] in the last playoffs, so his efficiency in attack dropped a lot. One of the best ways to drain the stamina of superstars is to match them up with players who have good off-ball movement and a lot of stamina. Chalmers and Miller can’t guard Youngjae, so Wade has no choice but to guard him. LeBron [James] is too big, so guarding Youngjae throughout the game would ruin his knees.

Naye, BabyDoll/// Oops… I don’t know why that happened;;; Thank you for pointing it out.

Ultra10/// At the time, Miami couldn’t withstand Carlisle’s [Rick Carlisle’s] various jabs. At the time, Dallas always modified the losing tactics after a loss and brought changes that could counterattack. Carlisle’s changes in the Finals alone were more than seven. If Miami’s coach was Pat Riley, who was the president at the time, he would have responded, but coach Spoelstra [Erik Spoelstra] is still being criticized for his lack of improvisation even after 4 years.

H0h/// That’s right. They only need to win 1 of the 2 games at home, so you can see that they have already crossed the 8th ridge.

SarajilYounghon, CountOfDark, Financia, Omarion, Payton/// Thank you for your comments!! Be careful of the heat~~