Y13 [EN]: Chapter 251

Y13-251 (251/296)

00251 2011-2012 Regular Season =========================================================================

Nowitzki’s first free throw went in cleanly, bringing the score to 0-3. Paul O’Neill and Harper praised Dirk Nowitzki’s accurate shooting, reiterating that the Chicago Bulls were not an easy team to face and that the game would be intense.

[Derrick Rose slowly crosses the half-court line.]

[It’s no exaggeration to say that the Chicago Bulls’ offense starts with Derrick Rose, right? Chicago is a team with a solid defense but a monotonous offense.]

Swish-

Rose passed the ball to Richard Hamilton as he ran to the right side, and Richard Hamilton dribbled up to the top of the key while receiving the ball. Youngjae persistently chased Rose, showing sensible movements to avoid overlapping with Kidd.

[Richard Hamilton passes to Joakim Noah, who has moved up to the left wing.]

[Dirk Nowitzki is guarding him, right? Even though his offensive options are limited, Noah’s passing ability is top-notch. He’s the perfect player for Chicago, which has many shooters with good off-the-ball movement.]

As if on cue, Noah calmly drew Nowitzki to the wing, and in that instant, Boozer, who was on the right wing, ran straight, reaching Nowitzki’s back. Because Nowitzki was guarding Noah, Marion or Chandler had to chase Boozer, but Luol Deng, who was in the paint, cleverly set a screen, blocking Chandler’s movement.

Thump!

[Chicago’s organic play shines! In an instant, three players participated in the offensive play! Noah’s bounce pass safely reaches Carlos Boozer!]

As soon as Shawn Marion noticed Chandler being screened, he rushed in, but unfortunately, the timing was late. He wouldn’t have missed it in a 1-on-1 situation, but Boozer’s judgment was quick.

[Carlos Boozer goes for the jumper!]

Swish-

[BANG!]

[It’s Boozer! His defense is seriously lacking, but his offense is top-notch! He has a high success rate inside the three-point line.]

The beginning was a fierce battle. As the top teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences, both with 49 wins, faced off in their last game, there was a clear desire to reach the 50-win mark. And compared to Chicago, who had already secured the top spot in the East, Dallas, who had not yet secured the top spot in the West, had no choice but to crave victory even more.

Looking only at the first round of the playoffs, many predicted that finishing second and facing the 7th-seeded Denver Nuggets would be easier than facing the 8th-seeded LA Clippers. In a short series, the prevailing expectation was that the LA Clippers, with aces like Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, would be stronger than Denver’s quantity-over-quality approach. However, if they were to face San Antonio in the Conference Finals, they would not have home-court advantage. Above all, the great record of consecutive 50-win seasons was on the line.

[Jason Kidd goes to the high post from the right side after a long time.]

[Chicago’s defense is amazing. The reaction is instantaneous, right?]

As soon as Kidd penetrated, Rose and Boozer attempted a double-team press from the front and back, but Kidd, without showing any signs of panic, fired a kick-out pass to the top of the key.

[Nowitzki is at the top! But Joakim Noah quickly guards him!]

[Chicago has Noah and Deng on both wings, and Boozer in the center. Hamilton is where Kidd is positioned, and Rose is where Yoon is. Yoon will be a tough player for Rose to defend. And Boozer guarding the paint means they’re conceding two points, right?]

Nowitzki’s pass quickly went through Marion to Youngjae on the right side. Rose, who had been guarding Chandler from behind while Boozer vacated the rim with the double team, rushed in as soon as the ball reached Youngjae. Youngjae slowed down the tempo for a moment, possessing the ball with his back to Rose.

[Wow! Carlos Boozer even rushes in for a double team! He’s completely trapped in the corner!]

[Excluding Shawn Marion, whose outside shooting isn’t great, the remaining three are guarding Nowitzki, Chandler, and Kidd! Chandler comes out to receive Youngjae Yoon’s pass, but Luol Deng is toughly guarding his path and reaching out, so a clumsy pass would be a turnover!]

At that moment, Youngjae raised the ball above his head as if to pass to Chandler. Rose wasn’t fooled, but Boozer flinched without realizing it and took a step in that direction. In that instant, Youngjae retrieved the ball and began to penetrate the baseline at tremendous speed.

[Now he’s penetrated so close to the rim that Rose can’t do anything about it! Boozer is in the paint, but Boozer’s defensive ability is close to a disaster. I don’t know why Boozer, not Noah, is in the paint.]

Youngjae barely stepped his right foot right next to the baseline and leaped. He saw Joakim Noah far away, and the all-too-empty blue heart of Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki.

Swish!

Youngjae was eventually bumped off Boozer, and before his foot fell outside the baseline, he threw the ball in his right hand with all his might, delivering an overhead pass. Boozer and Noah’s steal attempts were both thwarted, and Nowitzki, who was standing at the top of the key, caught the ball and shot a 3-pointer at the undefended rim.

[DIRK FOR THREE!]

Swish!

[PUT’S IN IT! DIRK ON FIRE!]

[Dirk Nowitzki is breathing fire from his hands! All three shots he fired in the first quarter split the rim! And all three of those shots were made off passes from Youngjae Yoon’s hands! Youngjae Yoon records 2 points and 3 assists in just the first quarter!]

“Nice pass.”

“Nice shot. Feeling good today, huh?”

Nowitzki and Youngjae, satisfied with their unusually well-coordinated play, shared a high-five and backpedaled.

[The Chicago Bulls reorganize and launch an attack again. Joakim Noah faces Nowitzki again on the left wing.]

Watching Noah show various aspects in the offense today, Nowitzki focused on intercepting Noah’s pass, thinking he had to stop this attack.

Thump, thump!

“?!”

[Joakim Noah! This time, it’s a drive-in!]

Nowitzki was flustered and stepped back, but Noah’s drive-in was faster than expected. Even though Nowitzki’s step speed was noticeably declining, it was a scene that showed that Noah’s offensive ability wasn’t zero.

“Ugh!!”

Noah shook off Nowitzki’s pursuit and leaped off the court with his right foot. Perhaps because he couldn’t control his speed, Noah attempted a layup with his upper body arched like a bow.

Beeeep!!

Fortunately, the shot didn’t go in due to a foul, but Nowitzki was completely beaten. Even at that moment, when Boozer moved out to the perimeter, Chandler was dragged along, and the rim was completely empty. Noah’s dribbling and jump shots weren’t great, so his offensive options were predictable, but he was an athletic player. If Nowitzki lost track of Noah for a moment, it wasn’t easy to stop him.

[Joakim Noah free throw 1.]

Swish-

[The first one goes in. Noah’s free throw is very good for a center. His season free throw percentage is 75.3%.]

Thump!

However, Noah slightly frowned as he missed the second shot.

[Tyson Chandler withstands the battle for position with Boozer and grabs the rebound. He hands the ball to Jason Kidd and slowly runs out.]

[The first quarter is showing a very fierce aspect. 13 to 14, with about 5 minutes left.]

Kidd crossed the half-court line and advanced a little further, then bounced the ball in place, stalling for time. Kidd carefully dribbled the ball and began to survey the court.

[Remaining attack time is 10 seconds! They tried to create a chance by rotating the ball, but failed, and now it’s time to make something happen!]

Kidd seemed to know this as well, moving back to the top of the key. At that moment, Nowitzki, who was in the paint, ran out to the right side. Kidd threw an entry pass just barely within Nowitzki’s reach, and Nowitzki immediately turned to shoot.

Thud!

“!!”

The heavy force felt on his back. Joakim Noah was sticking closely behind Nowitzki, making it difficult for Nowitzki to get into position.

Swish-

[Dirk Nowitzki eventually kicks it back out! Joakim Noah’s defense is too good! There are only 5 seconds left now!]

Kidd had no choice but to pass the ball to Youngjae, who was standing at the left high post. This kind of hot potato usually falls to Nowitzki or Youngjae, but since Nowitzki was tied up, Youngjae had no choice but to solve it.

[Richard Hamilton sticks to Youngjae Yoon! Can Hamilton’s steps properly guard Yoon!]

Youngjae faced Richard Hamilton with the ball in his hands, lowered his upper body, and took a tremendous jab step with his left foot. It was just one jab step, but Youngjae’s jab step was so threatening that it felt like he was about to drive.

Squeak-

Eventually, Hamilton’s right foot moved slightly to the side, and Youngjae immediately retracted his left foot and boldly raised both hands above his head in that spot.

[3 seconds left! Youngjae Yoon, is he shooting?!]

Hamilton was horrified and reached out with his left hand, but Youngjae used even the shot as a fake, then moved the ball to his right hand and pushed his left shoulder into Hamilton’s chest.

“Kugh!!”

Hamilton, making a sound of being overwhelmed, tried to crush Youngjae with his upper body, as if to overpower him with force.

Thump!

“?!”

At that moment, Youngjae planted his left foot on the court with a thud, bearing the recoil of his entire body solely with his left foot. Then, Youngjae spun around Hamilton, who was pushing forward, clockwise.

[Spin move!!! He’s completely fooled!]

[Youngjae Yoon, goes for the turnaround jumper!]

Hamilton was the perfect fit for the shooting guard position, which was Chicago’s weakness, but his opponent was too skilled. Hamilton’s loss of composure due to Youngjae’s quick and skillful fakes eventually led to him creating the perfect shooting opportunity for Youngjae.

Swish!

[It goes in! The score is 13 to 16! The Dallas Mavericks continue to lead by 3 points!]

Beeeep-!

[Time out! Chicago Bulls!]

Coach Carlisle was very pleased with finishing the first quarter with a 20-22, 2-point lead against the Chicago Bulls in a close game. The players who came in after the first quarter were wearing towels and drinking sports drinks, and there were positive vibes about today’s game.

“Good. I like today’s performance. It’s the last game of the regular season, but it’s a game we can’t afford to lose. San Antonio has a higher division win rate, so they have the tiebreaker, but that record is meaningless if we lose today. First of all, the number of wins must be the same to argue about that.”

“Barea, Terry, Parsons, Marion, and Haywood will be on the court at the beginning of the second quarter. Marion needs to play Nowitzki’s role. Parsons should move back and forth between both corners as much as possible to create space. Terry needs to focus on guarding Korver’s 3-pointers as well as attacking. Be careful of cuts, and never switch on defense, stick to your man until the end.”

Coach Carlisle took a sip of his sports drink, perhaps because he was thirsty, and continued his story.

“Chicago will have Watson, Korver, Deng, Gibson, and Noah. Asik and Brewer are only used briefly in losing games. Watson, Korver, and Gibson are key members of Chicago’s 8-man rotation. Deng is a player who plays almost 40 minutes on average, and Rose, Noah, and Boozer also play more than 30 minutes.”

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

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

@I think I confused the tiebreaker with other sports. I will correct it. I have also corrected the tiebreaker commentary in the previous episode.

NBA’s tiebreaker is

1. When only two teams are tied

1-1 Head-to-head record between the two teams

1-2 If the two teams are in the same division, the win rate within the division (NBA has 6 divisions)

1-3 Win rate within the same conference

1-4 Win rate against teams confirmed to advance to the same conference PO [Playoffs]

1-5 Win rate against teams confirmed to advance to other conference POs [Playoffs]

1-6 Point differential

2. When three or more teams are tied

2-1 Priority if there is a division champion

2-2 Win rate when only head-to-head matches between tied teams are considered

2-3 If all tied teams are in the same division, the win rate within the division

2-4 Win rate within the same conference

2-5 Win rate against teams confirmed to advance to the same conference PO [Playoffs]

2-6 Win rate against teams confirmed to advance to other conference POs [Playoffs]

2-7 Point differential

Thank you for your comments, Witied, Goddess Yuri Praise, ㅎ0ㅎ, Vanishing Soul, Financia, Omarion.

Ingkingdul/// Honestly, Harden has a lot of random shots… His TS% [True Shooting Percentage] is only high because of free throws, but his field goal percentage isn’t great. He will show amazing performance in a different way than Harden in the future.

Naye/// Ohㅋㅋㅋ Are you going to film 1000 episodes like Memorize or Noble Clan?ㅋㅋ

Masgan Cat, -DarkANGEL-/// -DarkANGEL- almost solved it correctly. USG% [Usage Percentage] represents the proportion of offensive attempts when that player is one of the five players on the court. I know that the formula includes shooting attempts, free throw attempts, ball possession time, and turnovers. Usually, an ace accounts for 25-30%. If it exceeds the mid-30%, you can see that the team situation is unavoidable or that the player has greed.

Lee Dong-seok/// I’m sorry. I think I accidentally pressed ctrl+z while writing. I definitely remember putting it in;;

Yabes/// Hehe… Wade’s 05-06 Final mode is legendary. It’s comparable to Jordan. Dallas was the victim ㅋㅋ