Y13 [EN]: Chapter 206

Y13-206 2011-2012 Regular Season

Kidd, Youngjae, Marion, Nowitzki, and Chandler, after high-fiving the bench players who had widened the score gap, entered the court. They couldn’t help but click their tongues at the Sacramento Kings players, who already looked defeated.

Of course, the home team’s lead excited the fans, but the game’s outcome felt decided. Now, the fans watched with anticipation, wondering what highlight play would emerge. The atmosphere was relaxed, though the initial fervor had cooled slightly.

There are many kinds of victories, but the exhilarating pleasure of a hard-fought win, where both sides give their all, is vastly different from an easy victory. Now, the focus shifted to potential records being set.

‘I feel a bit sorry for them.’

Youngjae wore a slightly pitiful expression, perhaps thinking of Peja Stojakovic, who was present. It was ironic that he had to watch such a game on the day he received his championship ring. Because anything can change at any time, whether leading by 10 or 20 points, it was only natural to always approach the game consistently and diligently.

Tunk!

[Marcus Thornton’s tough shot bounces off the rim!]

As soon as the starters were in, Sacramento’s Marcus Thornton took a forced shot. Chandler was battling with Cousins, and the ball eventually became a contest between Nowitzki and Hickson. Hickson, a player with decent rebounding ability, roughly pushed Nowitzki and thrust his shoulder forward.

[J.J. Hickson grabs the ball under the basket after a struggle! What a great offensive rebound!]

“Hey!”

After securing the offensive rebound, Cousins slowly retreated to the high post and called for Hickson, but Hickson ignored him and faced Nowitzki.

[Even though Cousins, who came out from the low post to the high post, waves his hand, Hickson remains silent! It seems he recognizes that his matchup is Nowitzki!]

[Hickson, who hasn’t made a single shot so far, confidently pushing into the basket doesn’t look bad. To give Cousins, who is tied up by Tyson Chandler, some breathing room, other players need to step up, right?]

Hickson glanced at Nowitzki, who wasn’t fully set defensively and looked vulnerable, and smiled. He thought he could score if he drove in a little more and timed his jump. Hickson raised his hand as if to hook, not spending more than 3 seconds in the paint, and Nowitzki had no choice but to flinch and raise his hand. Hickson then timed his jump, a half-beat later.

Thwack!

It would be more accurate to say he was *about* to jump.

[Y13 FOR STEAL!!!]

[We’ll have to see if that’s ruled a steal or a block, since it was a shooting motion! Ah, J.J. Hickson! If you were going to challenge Nowitzki, you should have shot faster! Even if he didn’t get called for an offensive 3-second violation, I thought he should have taken the shot right after grabbing the offensive rebound, but Youngjae Yoon got to him in that instant!]

[Youngjae Yoon’s cleverness in precisely tapping the ball away is remarkable. As expected of a player vying for the top spot in steals, his hands are really fast!]

Even though the Dallas Mavericks were an older team, they had excellent positioning and passing. Naturally, they excelled in transition offense. Easily shaking off the disorganized Sacramento defense, Youngjae sprinted to the forefront, followed by Shawn Marion. Moreover, Tyson Chandler, a big man with good mobility, quickly crossed the court.

[Tyreke Evans is tenaciously sticking to Youngjae Yoon! It was fortunate that he was positioned at the top during Hickson’s offensive play!]

In his rookie season, Evans averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, becoming only the fourth player in history to achieve that feat. He swept the 2009-2010 NBA Rookie of the Year and 2009-2010 NBA Rookie Challenge MVP awards, and seemed destined to become one of the best guards. However, perhaps because of his strong start, his stats gradually declined from his second year, and his ego grew. In the 2010-2011 season, he suffered injuries and only played in 57 games. He showed no interest in off-the-ball movement and only worked hard when he had the ball.

Thud!!

“Ugh!”

Youngjae didn’t like it at all. A player with no concept of teamwork should play an individual sport. As a team member, it’s a simple principle that one’s value increases when the team functions well. Perhaps that’s why Youngjae thrust his shoulder into Evans and advanced two more steps. Evans strongly blocked Youngjae, who was about to go up.

[Tyreke Evans! He doesn’t budge against Youngjae Yoon, who is pushing in aggressively! Yoon! Will he break through as is?]

However, Youngjae had no intention of penetrating further. Youngjae, who had been pushing into the high post, immediately turned his back to Evans and lightly passed the ball to Nowitzki, who was belatedly running up.

[Ah, Nowitzki gets an open chance at the top of the three-point line! Because he ran up a beat late, the Sacramento players didn’t even notice Nowitzki!!]

[DIRK FOR THREE!!]

Swish-

[YES!!! YES!!!]

[Dirk Nowitzki’s three-pointer, which went in without a sound, is amazing! Dirk Nowitzki is gradually regaining his form!]

Nowitzki high-fived Youngjae and then stretched out his middle, ring, and pinky fingers to make a three-point shape and waved it to the fans.

The Dallas starters, who entered around the 5-minute mark of the second quarter, had conserved their energy, so they had no physical problems. On the other hand, Sacramento had been crushed in the first quarter, and in the second quarter, they recklessly used their starters to try to catch up, putting them at a physical disadvantage.

[The score is now 45 to 20, a 25-point lead?]

[Compared to the actively moving Dallas Mavericks, the remaining 5 minutes of the second quarter and the second half will be like hell for the Sacramento Kings. If they play like this, there doesn’t seem to be much hope. The field goal percentage difference is more than double; are we really watching the NBA?]

Thanks to Tyreke Evans, who had just taken another forced three-pointer, the Dallas Mavericks got the ball. Tyreke Evans didn’t seem to think for a moment that he was hurting the team. He was so confident, with an expression that he had done nothing wrong. DeMarcus Cousins constantly looked annoyed, and the rest of the players seemed to be playing without any thought.

[Jason Kidd slowly moves from the top to the left wing. He slowly slows down the tempo, looking for a place to make an entry pass [a pass from a guard on the perimeter to a big man in the post].]

Kidd pondered for a moment with the ball. Should he set up the offense with a screen? Or should he pass the ball to a player who creates space with good movement?

[Youngjae Yoon moves! He passes the high and low posts from the right wing at tremendous speed and breaks through the baseline! Youngjae Yoon instantly crosses to the left side! Because of that movement, the opponent’s basket defense gets tangled up, and the defender marking Youngjae Yoon gets caught in the basket!]

[Even though he is an excellent on-ball player, he moves actively when he doesn’t have the ball! He seems to know very well what he needs to do for the team to win.]

Swish-

Youngjae’s movement immediately caught Kidd’s eye. Moreover, Tyson Chandler, who was in the basket, subtly cleared the way for Youngjae and delayed Evans, who was following behind, by setting a screen. So, the player guarding Youngjae, who came out to the outside, was completely open.

[He’s soaring! It’s a wide-open situation!]

[Tyreke Evans! Still, he tenaciously chases and jumps up!]

Youngjae was used to this situation. And he was a player who could make all kinds of moves in a triple threat situation. So, instead of jumping recklessly, even if he allowed a shot, he needed a defense that would only extend his hand to interfere with the shot and maintain a slight distance to respond to both penetration and shooting.

“Unbelievable.”

Youngjae simply raised his hand, but seeing Evans jumping up as if he was overacting, he lowered his hand and took a side step to the right.

[Ah!! Tyreke Evans, too hasty defense! He’s just too eager!]

[That kind of defense is poison! An all-in defense against an opponent with various offensive skills is a score! Youngjae Yoon, another wide-open 3-pointer after a smooth side step!]

Swish-

There’s no way it wouldn’t go in. Youngjae, who had entered the 180 club [shooting 50% or better from the field, 40% or better from three-point range, and 90% or better from the free throw line] last year, was recording a 3-point shooting percentage of 43% this season, and over 50% from the corner three.

[BAAANG!!!!!]

[The American Airlines Center is heating up again! Even though a garbage game [a game where the outcome is already decided] is unfolding, you can’t help but get excited when such a great play happens!]

[Today, all the players are aces! The Dallas Mavericks seem to be putting in shots without exception!]

Youngjae glared at Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins, whom he couldn’t see in a good light, and then ignored them and went backcourt. If they don’t realize it no matter what you say or do, then it’s the world of professionals to just stagnate there.

After that, the performance didn’t improve, and coach Keith Smart sighed and substituted the players. No matter how certain defeat was, making no changes was no different from dereliction of duty.

[Isaiah Thomas leads the game in Tyreke Evans’ place! Despite being a player who was barely drafted with the 60th pick in the 2nd round due to the limitations of being a short player at 5-9 (175cm), he is showing decent offensive power in a short time!]

[He has various offensive skills as well as good strength and court awareness, but his height almost kept him out of the draft.]

Isaiah Thomas glanced at J.J. Barea, who was defending in front of him, and chewed on his lower lip. Despite being the same height, Barea was slightly taller than Thomas. Currently, with the exception of Nate Robinson, who is the same height as Isaiah Thomas, there are virtually no guards considered “super-short” in the NBA. Of course, in terms of power, he could be said to be above Barea.

Of course, among the super-short guards in NBA history, Muggsy Bogues, who gained the love of fans in the late 1980s with his great personality and decent performance, had a career as a starting point guard for 10 years with Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson in the Charlotte Hornets despite being a super-short guard of 5-3 (160cm).

Not only that, but Anthony Webb of the same era, more famously known as Spud Webb, had a decent record of 9.9 points, 5.3 assists, and an average field goal percentage of 45.2% in 812 games with the title of the shortest dunk contest winner in history at 5-6 (168cm).

Isaiah Thomas had to model himself after these players, and to do so, he had to hone his offensive skills and develop steals or intelligent plays in defense because he was short.

Swish-

Isaiah Thomas had enough talent to become a small giant like them. He was not at all intimidated by Barea in front of him and often made challenging and sensible passes.