Y13 [EN]: Chapter 208

Y13-208 (208/296)

00208 2011-2012 Regular Season ====================================================

The game against the Sacramento Kings was being remembered as the worst game of the season. The reasons included Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins’ poor attitudes, the lack of effort displayed during the game, and the significant point difference, nearing double digits. The Kings players, criticized by the media for their lackluster performance and consistent individual play, were under fire.

“Wow, that’s too cruel.”

However, regardless of the outcome against Sacramento, the Dallas Mavericks players were exhausted. Starting on the 9th, their schedule had been relentless: a visit to the White House, followed by games on the 10th, 11th, 13th, and 14th. After only one day of rest, they had to fly to Los Angeles to prepare for two consecutive games against the LA Lakers and LA Clippers. This tight schedule of four games in five days, including three away games, combined with the fatigue from traveling to Washington (even without games), had taken its toll.

“What can we do? It’s not just us.”

After a three-hour morning flight, they arrived in LA. The players, especially those over 30, were visibly drained, resembling sweat-soaked uniforms hanging limp. Coach Carlisle, mindful of their condition, allowed them to train freely on the day of arrival. The younger players, still possessing some energy, including Youngjae, Chandler Parsons, Brandon Wright, and Corey Brewer, took Youngjae’s suggestion and engaged in simple exercises and shooting practice that afternoon.

Youngjae’s words, “It’s not just us,” rang hollow even to himself. He couldn’t help but imagine how much more exhausted the older players must feel when he himself was struggling.

“We’re playing six games in eight days. And this time, we also visited the White House, so it feels like we’re going to die. Besides, five out of six games are away games.”

“Still, teams like the LA Lakers and San Antonio sometimes play eight consecutive away games. We’re not that bad.”

“Hey, it’s not consecutive away games, but instead, we have three consecutive back-to-back games with only one day of rest in between. That’s tougher than eight consecutive away games.”

Brewer, the oldest of the four, shot with a tired expression. Unsurprisingly, in such a fatigued state, even his normally reliable mid-range jumpers were barely finding the net.

“Still, thanks to Yoon, my body isn’t completely seizing up. I was just thinking of resting, but doing some simple exercise in the afternoon like this will definitely help in tomorrow’s game.”

Wright, the second oldest, claimed he felt better by moving around and gestured for Youngjae to pass him the ball. Chandler Parsons moved to block Youngjae, who dribbled lightly. When Parsons got close, Youngjae executed a step-back-hesitation step-forward sequence to create space, then launched the ball.

“Oops!”

The pass wasn’t too high for Wright, often called a “helicopter” for his leaping ability, to catch. But whether it was the fatigue or something else, Wright barely managed a groan and failed to secure the ball properly. He missed the alley-oop dunk attempt, hurriedly regaining his balance in the air before landing awkwardly.

“Wow, this is a disaster. What if it’s like this until tomorrow?”

Watching the anxious players, Youngjae felt his own body protesting. To shake off the anxiety, he grabbed the ball and shot a three-pointer from the top of the key. The ball clanked off the front of the rim with a thud! and soared high into the air. Youngjae’s anxiety only intensified.

“Huh, that guy isn’t even making it in practice! That says it all! It’s brutal! We need a break!”

Even after traveling, people use the term “jet lag” to describe the fatigue. So, there was no need to elaborate on the exhaustion of players who had to run full-tilt for 12 minutes each quarter in an NBA game. It was a hellish forced march that demanded tremendous exercise, stamina, flexibility, and both physical and mental fortitude.

“The LA Lakers also played games on the 11th, 13th, and 14th and are playing against us. We have to take comfort in that.”

“I want to think that way, but honestly, the Lakers played at Utah on the 11th, then played Cleveland at home. And the team they played as an away game was the LA Clippers? It’s practically a home game… only the stadium sign changes, but traditionally, Clippers home games have been virtually Lakers home games.”

“Well, the difference in popularity is that severe. Blake Griffin was complaining in an interview. He said he didn’t know whose home this was.”

Apparently, the LA Lakers had a slightly easier recent schedule. Perhaps that’s why the players were anxious about their poor shooting performance, even in simple practice. Even when shooting from their favorite spots to alleviate the anxiety, their success rate remained low.

Still, after moving their bodies for over an hour, the four players felt a little lighter and their movements became smoother. The high and stiff dribbling lowered in center of gravity, some of the 불안불안하던 [unstable] shots went in cleanly, and a few difficult pull-up jumpers found the net, helping them shake off some of their anxiety.

“See you tomorrow morning.”

“Ah… okay. I need to rest a bit.”

Brewer and Wright, unable to withstand the fatigue, went straight to their rooms. Parsons said he was going to buy something he wanted at a nearby mart near the hotel before heading in. After the three players left, Youngjae, who had been shooting for about 30 more minutes, checked the time. It was almost 6 p.m., so he began to pack his things.

“Ah.”

Three missed calls. Two were from Emily. Checking the messages, Emily explained that she had left a message because she assumed he was practicing or sleeping, considerate of Youngjae’s schedule. She added that he didn’t need to contact her that day and should get plenty of rest. She must be tired from filming and short on time. Since it was a shortened season, they often couldn’t connect due to their demanding schedules, leaving both Youngjae and Emily feeling slightly uneasy.

[Sorry. I think I missed your calls because I was practicing with my teammates. Please leave a message whenever you’re free. I’ll contact you.]

Youngjae sent the message and sighed softly. Despite their strong trust in each other, he couldn’t shake the feeling that their busy schedules were creating a subtle distance.

‘Believe it.’

Youngjae regained his composure and checked the remaining missed call.

“Huh?”

A completely unknown phone number. Curious, Youngjae cautiously pressed the call button.

– Hey, this is a song for my haters, yeah, you got me feeling like the greatest –

The hip-hop song “THE BLOW UP” by J. COLE was playing. Youngjae unconsciously hummed along and nodded his head.

– Yes, I answered the phone. –

A slightly thick but manly voice spoke. Youngjae carefully opened his mouth, recognizing the voice vaguely.

“Hello. This is Youngjae Yoon. I saw that you called my phone number…”

– Yeah! Yoon! Nice to meet you, don’t you know who I am? –

Youngjae listened intently for a moment, then exclaimed, “Ah!” A smile spread across his face.

“Wow, I didn’t expect it! Blake Griffin, right?”

– That’s a relief! I was wondering what to do if you didn’t recognize me. That’s right! I’m Blake. –

Youngjae was delighted and asked how Griffin had obtained his number without him providing it. Griffin explained that he had gotten it through Caron Butler. Caron Butler had been Youngjae’s teammate last season, so they naturally had each other’s contact information.

– You’re in LA now, right? –

“Yeah, I arrived this morning because I have a game against the Lakers tomorrow.”

– Oh! It’s nothing special, but our team also has a home game against the New Jersey Nets tomorrow. Since we’re both in LA, I was wondering if we could have dinner together. –

Youngjae recalled hearing from the coach and officials before coming to LA that the LA Clippers game was scheduled for 12:30 p.m., followed by the LA Lakers game at 7:30 p.m. He had simply acknowledged the information at the time, but Griffin’s call brought it back to mind.

“I’m fine with it. Anyway, I have an afternoon game, so it doesn’t matter, but the Clippers have a 12:30 game, right? What if you don’t get rid of your fatigue?”

– Hey, having dinner doesn’t kill people! Anyway, is it okay? Then in an hour… –

7 p.m. The Staples Center, shared by the LA Lakers and LA Clippers, was packed with countless LA Lakers fans and a small number of Dallas fans. The players from both teams warmed up with light shooting, running, and dribbling, but both teams appeared unstable, frequently missing open shots and easy layups, suggesting their condition wasn’t optimal.

[Hello, this is the game between the LA Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks, being broadcast live on ESPN! Announcer Mike Breen, with Charles Barkley for commentary… and Shaquille O’Neal, who is starting his career as an ESPN commentator this season, will be with us. Nice to meet you!]

Shaquille O’Neal. MDE SHAQ [Most Dominant Ever Shaq], who showcased his still-impressive skills in his retirement season, averaging 10 points and 5 rebounds in about 15-20 minutes, despite playing only 37 games for the Boston Celtics until last year. He proudly proclaimed himself the most dominant player ever, and indeed, he was a legendary center who averaged 23.7 points and 11 rebounds over 19 seasons, from 1992-1993 to 2010-2011. During Shaquille O’Neal’s prime, NBA fans were so captivated by his dominance that they sometimes lost interest in the game itself.

In addition, he was a talented entertainer. His witty remarks were famous, and he demonstrated his diverse talents by appearing in hip-hop, dance, acting, and comedy programs. He even coined nicknames like “FLASH” for Dwyane Wade and “The Truth” for Paul Pierce.

[Yeah! Nice to meet you. I’m a little nervous because today is my first commentary, but I’m going to try to comment comfortably, as if I’m watching a game with close friends and talking.]

Barkley smiled slightly and nudged Shaq in the side, cautioning him.

[Shaq, it’s going to be difficult if you swear or laugh out loud like you usually do.]

The three commentators meshed well, making it hard to believe it was their first time working together.

[This is the first match between the Dallas Mavericks and the LA Lakers this season. Unlike the two teams that won the championship most recently, they had a lot of trouble in the early season. It’s not that their performance is bad, but it’s undeniable that it’s hard to imagine that they are the defending champion and the team that went to the semi-conference finals.]

Mike Breen nodded, glancing at the two teams’ scores as Charles Barkley provided his analysis.

[Dallas is 8 wins and 5 losses, and the LA Lakers are 9 wins and 5 losses. At first glance, both teams have a winning percentage of over 60%. Is this a bad winning percentage?]

[The problem is that these two teams belong to the hellish WWW (Wild Wild West: meaning the Western Conference, which has better scores than the East) and are championship candidates. There are five teams above these two teams: Oklahoma City Thunder (12 wins and 2 losses), Utah Jazz (10 wins and 4 losses), LA Clippers (10 wins and 4 losses), San Antonio Spurs (9 wins and 4 losses), and Denver Nuggets (9 wins and 4 losses).]

Shaquille O’Neal interjected, lightening the mood.

[Both teams fell into a losing streak in the beginning and are recovering recently? And both teams are not young. Well, there are quite a few old people in both teams who are not much older than me, so I have to understand. It’s hard in the beginning as you get older?]

The other two commentators tried to suppress their laughter at Shaq’s sly joke, but eventually burst out laughing. Shaq smiled and continued.

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@San Antonio’s 8 consecutive away games in February are called the Rodeo Trip. The Lakers and Clippers also have a schedule of playing consecutive away games as the LA Staples Center is used as a concert hall or event hall at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. Because basketball courts in big cities are often used as concert halls or event halls, they regularly go on long-term away games.

@The 11-12 season was really tight. The coaches all said, “This season, the regular season rankings will be determined by the bench production.”. 4 games in 5 days and 6 games in 8 days were common.

Chrysocolla/// Haha, nice to meet you at the first nose^^.

Naye/// I often enjoy it after it’s released. But I lose a lot to my brother lol. I’m not good at defense control ㅠ.ㅠ

Ultra 10/// Even the replies disappeared ㄷㄷ. Yesterday, I uploaded it and a few minutes later, when I clicked on episode 207, the comments from episode 206 appeared. I was embarrassed;;; Cousins’ mentality was always a time bomb. Fortunately, coach Mike Malone controlled it well in the first half of this season, but it is questionable whether it will work well with coach George Karl. There were already rumors of discord between the coach and the coach, but the coach apologized and it was resolved for now.

Encarnacion/// After the championship season, all projects failed and he suffered a lot in his later years. The team’s situation is not good enough to be managed like Duncan. Deron, Howard in 12 seasons. Paul in 13 seasons, Melo, Bosh. Since all FA plans have failed until Dijon in 15 seasons… Monta was there for 2 years, so he had less offensive burden. Except for Chandler’s 1 year last year, the defense burden has been suffering…

goimosp/// Although it’s not my cheering team, I’m most looking forward to Oklahoma and Chicago, where the coach has changed. Oklahoma seems to have improved from before, when they relied only on Subrook and Durant, because Donovan, a coach with an offensive-oriented tactic, was appointed instead of Scott Brooks, who had no tactics. Chicago also seems to be able to become a rival to Cleveland because Hoiberg came instead of Thibodeau, who was exhausted in the second half or playoffs due to overworking the starters and lacked offensive tactics, and Snell, Mirotic, and McDermott got playing time, reducing the overwork of the starters.

ㅎ0ㅎ/// I still see mosquitoes often;;; Both the library and the house;; sigh.

Lee Dong-seok, Financia, Vanishing Soul, Omarion/// Thank you for your comments!! Have a nice day tomorrow too^^.

Misscherry, -DarkANGEL-/// They are not qualified as professionals ㅠ.ㅠ That’s why I don’t like intentional tanking. And even if the front desk forms a team for tanking, the players must work hard.

Yabes/// I know that bank shots have a lower probability than clean shots. Perhaps, except for certain points, it is difficult to find even one out of 100 players who enjoy bank shots. Duncan, who is famous for bank shots, also aims for clean shots except for the short mid-range at 45 degrees. Even then, he rarely shoots bank shots after aging. Sam Jones from the far 50-60s seems to be the most famous player who enjoyed bank shots in the NBA.