Y13 [EN]: Chapter 258

Y13-258

2011-2012 Playoffs Round 1

Paul and Griffin were frustrated. The point difference kept widening, and they couldn’t close the gap. They were doing their best, but it felt like they were hitting an insurmountable wall.

“Run! Run!”

Despite Chris Paul’s desperate shouts, the Clippers’ morale was low. There was no denying it. Paul and Griffin had been playing for over 35 minutes, and the other players were also giving it their all. Because they had started at a disadvantage, Paul had insisted on staying on the court, even though coach Vinny Del Negro had suggested he take a break, knowing that a loss today would be detrimental.

[Ah, the atmosphere is self-destructing. The LA Clippers! It seemed like they had some hope of catching up until the third quarter, but now it looks difficult!]

[The point difference isn’t narrowing. With about 5 minutes left, it’s 90 to 81. Mathematically, it’s not impossible to catch up, but considering the difference in power and morale, it’s a tough situation. Dallas also has a better plus-minus record in the fourth quarter than the Clippers.]

[At least increasing Randy Foye’s playing time instead of Mo Williams to strengthen the perimeter and defense was a good choice, but Butler, Carter, and Nick Young’s performances are insignificant. Perhaps because of the big changes in the lineup, their teamwork still doesn’t seem complete even as the year comes to an end.]

Chris Paul’s game management was fantastic. But the problem was that Griffin was the only one who could properly receive his passes. In DeAndre Jordan’s case, his offensive capabilities were limited to alley-oop passes or plays they had practiced repeatedly during team training. He couldn’t improvise beyond those. Randy Foye was struggling on the outside, and the other players weren’t even thinking about taking shots.

[Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are desperately trying to keep the game alive, but Dallas isn’t letting their guard down for even a moment! When the difference narrowed to 9 points from 15, the starters who had been resting come back in after a timeout. They could have waited a little longer, but you can see coach Carlisle’s intention to secure the win today.]

[There’s a full substitution. Youngjae Yoon, Jason Terry, and Tyson Chandler are back in! J.J. Barea, Corey Brewer, and Brendan Haywood high-five the players being replaced as they leave the court. The bench players also welcome the returning players.]

[The Dallas bench has a good atmosphere because they’re winning. And with this, Dallas’s best closing lineup is finally in operation. Coach Carlisle would have preferred the game to end without the closing lineup having to come out. As expected of the playoffs, the Clippers didn’t give up easily either.]

Youngjae, Terry, Marion, Nowitzki, and Chandler. It was Dallas’s best lineup to finish the game strong. Still, the Clippers had improved their shooting against the bench lineup, and their momentum in chasing up to 9 points was significant, so Paul hadn’t given up yet.

‘So you finally came out. I wish you had come out a little later.’

Paul was a little disappointed that Youngjae had come out sooner than he had expected. If they had closed the gap a little more and then the starters had come out, it would have been worth a try.

‘Foye’s shooting is decent, and Butler is still a reliable option. Griffin… the foul calls are tighter in the fourth quarter. There’s no need to focus only on Griffin, who relies on aggressive drives to the basket. Let’s just do our best.’

[Chris Paul crosses the half-court line. Paul isn’t as good as he was in his prime, but he’s still one of the best clutch shooters in the league.]

[It definitely seems like Randy Foye, who came in instead of Vince Carter, is reducing Paul’s defensive burden. His movements have become lighter, right? Carter was definitely a great player, but he failed to lose weight this season, so his body was heavy throughout the season. I almost thought he should play as a small forward.]

Youngjae knew very well that Paul was playing as if he was burning with all his might. Considering that Chris Paul, the league’s best point guard who is capable of 20 points and 10 assists if he puts his mind to it, had shown his true colors in the fourth quarter against Barea, Youngjae couldn’t let his guard down either.

[CP3 and Y13 facing off at the top!]

Paul knew that he had to shake off Youngjae’s defense to make a safe and sure pass or shot. Besides, he was confident that he had the upper hand in dribbling skills, even though he couldn’t beat Youngjae in size or speed.

Thud!

“…”

Youngjae tensed up without realizing it. The terrifying concentration of the fourth quarter, which was different from Paul in the first to third quarters, was enough to make even Youngjae admire him. It seemed there was a reason why he was called a clutch player.

The ball bounced offbeat, and his steps moved threateningly as if to show that he could go anywhere. Paul, who was dribbling the ball low with his waist bent, attempted an aggressive drive-in as soon as he saw Griffin’s screen coming from behind. Youngjae also knew that someone’s screen would come from behind the moment Paul moved, so he kept his upper body as close to Paul as possible while glancing back.

‘Griffin!’

The two’s 2-2 pick and roll [a play where one player sets a screen for another, then rolls towards the basket] is truly threatening. If they can’t cut off Paul, who is controlling the ball, there’s nothing they can say even if Griffin, who is called a beast, smashes the basket in an instant.

[Blake Griffin’s screen! Youngjae Yoon, but he calmly follows Chris Paul! It’s an amazing 2-2 defense!]

[Griffin needs to refine how he sets screens a little more. And the two players need to work on their chemistry a little more.]

Paul was annoyed with Youngjae, who had avoided Griffin’s screen by sticking even tighter to him, but in this situation, it became impossible to pass the ball to Griffin. Driving in with his balance shaken, unable to shake off his opponent, and meaninglessly pushing his shoulder was no different from wasting possession.

‘Tch!’

Randy Foye was also being closely guarded by Terry, and Griffin had set a screen but failed to stop Youngjae. Chandler had blocked him for a moment before quickly sticking to Griffin again.

“…”

Chris Paul seemed to have made up his mind, as he released the force on his left shoulder, which had been fiercely pushing against Youngjae’s chest, and instantly created distance between himself and Youngjae.

[Amazing dribbling skills! It’s not a step-back, but it’s hard for most players to kill the speed they were going at in an instant like that!]

Youngjae, who had been side-stepping, was startled and hurriedly stopped his step and tried to stick to Paul. In the process, Youngjae was confident that there was not a single mistake in his recovery, and it was such a trivial thing to even call it a mistake. But Paul was soaring up, accurately exploiting that trivial gap. He had repeatedly reminded himself that Chris Paul could shoot from anywhere, but he had only been confident that he would choose a safe method in this situation.

[Despite Youngjae Yoon’s best shot contest, CP3 soars up!!!]

He’s not called the best point guard and the best clutch shooter for nothing. He’s called the best because he has the shooting ability to score from any position, at any timing. Youngjae momentarily blamed himself, but he didn’t jump up recklessly, only raising his hand threateningly to avoid giving up a foul.

Thump- thud!

Swish!

[PUT’S IT IN!!!!!!!]

The American Airlines Center turned cold in an instant. Chris Paul clenched his fist without realizing it and raised his hand high. Paul was roaring loudly as if to say it wasn’t over yet, having broken through Youngjae’s relentless shot contest and sinking a tough shot.

[How can you stop that! If you ask if there was anything wrong with Y13’s defense, I can confidently say no! Y13 did his best to defend. But still, CP3! There’s a reason why he’s called CP3 and the best point guard! It’s only possible for Paul to sink such a tough shot! Only for Paul!]

Youngjae could only let out a hollow laugh, thinking that he was indeed Paul. There was a reason why he was called the league’s best number one [referring to the point guard position]. And he was Chris Paul (43.4%), who was in the top 3 in pull-up jumpers [a jump shot taken immediately after dribbling] this season (8 or more per game) along with Stephen Curry (43.8%) and Kevin Durant (43.1%). He had clearly been aware of it before the game, but he hadn’t thought that Paul would make such a choice.

“I’m sorry. I missed it for a moment.”

Chandler, who was closest to Youngjae, shrugged and ruffled Youngjae’s hair, seeing Youngjae apologize for allowing a shot at an important timing.

“Hey, why are you apologizing when you didn’t make any mistakes? Paul is a monster for sinking something like that. You can go and do something too.”

“Arthur. Don’t give him a hero complex for no reason. We just have to play our game.”

“Oh, don’t be so serious at times like this. I’m just trying to comfort him.”

When Nowitzki intervened in Chandler’s words, Chandler sighed and grumbled. Youngjae looked at the two of them, put his hands on their backs, telling them not to worry, and gently pushed them forward.

[Youngjae Yoon, his eyes sparkle from moment to moment!]

[This is the decisive reason why Jason Kidd can rest during clutch time [the final minutes of a close game]. Usually, he plays the role of reducing Youngjae Yoon’s burden of leading and defending, but Yoon is a player who can lead a full game if necessary. But coach Carlisle makes Kidd take on the responsibility of leading when Kidd is on the court to reduce that burden. Leading is also a considerable physical and mental burden. By reducing that, he can concentrate on scoring and creating chances. That’s why Yoon has less burden of leading compared to the number of assists. On the other hand, Kidd contributes a lot to leading compared to the number of assists.]

[The attacks of both teams have failed for a minute since Paul’s tough shot went in! The game continues to be 90 to 83! Only 4 minutes left with a 7-point difference!]

Youngjae was inwardly admiring Paul’s fighting spirit. His mid-range jumpers were threatening, whether spot-up or pull-up, and Paul was focused on increasing Youngjae’s options through his wide vision. Of course, Youngjae was also dealing with him with tremendous concentration, feeling the most mentally fatigued he had felt in recent games, so it didn’t go according to Paul’s intentions, but Paul was also full of fighting spirit, unbelievably so for a player who had played for more than 35 minutes.

‘But I’m tired now.’

Fighting spirit can support a player to some extent. It is an undeniable fact that mental strength sometimes allows a player to exert superhuman abilities. But that doesn’t mean it makes them ignore their physical limitations altogether. In the end, people’s physical strength is limited, and the physical strength of players who have played 66 regular season games on a grueling schedule cannot be normal.

“Hoo, hoo…”

Paul was taking short breaths with a calm expression, pretending to be fine on the outside to avoid breathing heavily as much as possible, but he was probably in pain as if his lungs were being squeezed. The amount of stamina consumed by being involved in almost all of the Clippers’ attacks for 35 minutes, as well as defending Youngjae, who was bigger and faster than him, was incomparable to other players who had played for 35 minutes.

That’s why simply doubling the playing time doesn’t result in double the stats. And it’s also why most key players have more turnovers and lower shooting percentages in the fourth quarter.

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

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

＠I had a fever yesterday so I couldn’t write. I’m sorry. I had a bit of a cold, but it seems to have gotten worse because I couldn’t eat and sleep properly because of the exam period. I took medicine and slept well, so I feel a little better. It’s a story written by two people, and since both of us aren’t very healthy, there are often cases where we can’t update because we’re sick ㅠ.ㅠ

＠To FrogPower/// I saw a comment saying that the chapter title from the previous episode should be changed, so I modified the chapter but forgot to re-comment. I’m sorry. Thanks to your comment, I modified it, but I forgot to thank you with a re-comment.

＠Ah… Joara server…. The number of concurrent users is exploding. There’s no way there are that many people… I’m starting to think they just reduced the server.

To Miyalma, GoddessYuriPraise/// Looking only at the 90s and later, Jordan’s Bulls had 2 three-peats [winning the championship three years in a row], the Lakers had a three-peat and a two-peat [winning the championship two years in a row], Houston had a two-peat, and the Heat had a two-peat. I don’t think there has ever been a rookie who contributed to winning a championship in his first or second year with starter-level stats. Even if you think about it before that, Magic Johnson won the Finals MVP [Most Valuable Player] in his debut season and won the championship, but he didn’t win two in a row. Tim Duncan also succeeded in winning the championship in his second year. Recently, Norris Cole has the nickname Okse-Cole among NBA fans, but strictly speaking, he had less weight than Chalmers. There is no case where a rookie has won two consecutive championships with a top 5-level weight in the team. If you lower the standard than that, there might be.

To ㅎ0ㅎ/// The difference in power and compatibility is ㄷㄷㄷ

To VanishingSoul, -DarkANGEL-, Omariyon, Financia/// Thank you for your comments!!

To Jabes/// Iverson and Jordan are legendary iron men. Of course, before the 90s, the amount of activity per playing time was less than it is now. Instead, the physical fights were more intense. At that time, only man-to-man defense was allowed, so there wasn’t much off-the-ball movement, and if you caught the ball, it was almost always 1:1. Instead, there was no hand-checking rule [allowing defenders to maintain physical contact with offensive players], so it was very rough. So I think the comparison is a bit ambiguous.

However, looking at the top players in playing time in the 2010s, it has decreased significantly compared to the 20th century. The frequency of injuries is not that different. The fact that this is the case even though medicine and sports training have developed makes me think that 35 minutes in the modern era is more difficult than 35 minutes in the 20th century. Of course, this part has not yet been concluded, and experts and fans are arguing about it.

To LapirandJint/// LeBron’s KongBronization??!!

To Ultra10/// I remember that the Clippers were a strong team at this time, but they were a little lacking. Chauncey Billups and Paul’s role distribution was unclear, and DeAndre Jordan’s defensive power hadn’t fully blossomed yet… Of course, they were strong enough.

And if there is a team with good compatibility in the Dallas squad in the story, I think it is healthy Miami and Oklahoma. San Antonio is not bad in terms of compatibility, but Parker’s style is perfect for Youngjae to block, and Ginobili and Duncan struggled with injuries this season. On the other hand, Miami can go to a defensive battle as Batie joins, making a defensive lineup of Chalmers-Wade-LeBron-Batie-Bosh possible. The Bulls are also a type that Rose is good at blocking Youngjae, so if Rose is blocked, there is no answer to the attack. Oklahoma also doesn’t have a player other than Youngjae to block Westbrook and Harden when they come out together.

To Evil Devil///Ah, the last time DeAndre betrayed us;;; Well, I don’t like DeAndre just by looking at his face, but still, as a result, it’s fortunate that DeAndre didn’t come… Well, even for future precedents, situations like DeAndre shouldn’t happen. Even after that, DeAndre is confident in himself when he sees his words or actions in the Dallas game;;; There’s really no answer.