Y13 [EN]: Chapter 260

Engaging in personal training, Youngjae displayed a more relaxed demeanor than before, focusing intently on the training he needed rather than pushing himself impatiently. He diligently followed his own version of the 2, 6, 12 routine, adapted from Kobe Bryant’s 666 routine, which he had consistently done since his NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] days.

Having previously added new training mid-season to further improve his skills, and then experiencing a mid-season slump due to a sudden increase in his role during games, he refrained from being greedy and focused solely on maintaining his condition. The world’s top players are, for the most part, creatures of routine. That routine was something no colleague or coach would dare to disrupt. The amount of training remained consistent. It was only natural that a player accustomed to two hours would show adverse effects if they trained for more than three hours during the season.

“Ugh!”

Muscle flexibility is also paramount. In a league with over 100 games a year, constantly colliding with players bigger and stronger than himself, it’s only natural for the body to become overloaded. That’s why Youngjae was so attuned to stretching, almost to the point of obsession.

“Let’s go.”

After dedicating a full 30 minutes to stretching, Youngjae glanced at his watch and hurriedly finished his training before starting his car. Driving through downtown Dallas, Youngjae spotted Emily waving in the distance and picked her up.

“Did you have a good workout?”

As soon as Emily got into the passenger seat, she assessed Youngjae’s physical condition and overall state. Youngjae, finding Emily adorable, smiled and nodded.

“I’m fine. I did everything as planned. I’m very healthy, with no injuries.”

Emily looked relieved at Youngjae’s answer, but after a moment of silence, she said to Youngjae with a nervous expression.

“I’m a little nervous.”

“You met Barea, Brewer, and Chandler last year. It’s okay.”

“Yes, but… I’m wondering if it’s okay for me to go to a place like today…”

Ahead of Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs, the players who had returned home were burning with enthusiasm, focusing on team and individual training. However, the biggest potential pitfall for Dallas was that some players were starting to become complacent, thinking, ‘We’re already leading 3-1, so we’ll definitely advance to the second round.’

Of course, no players openly voiced such thoughts, but as players unconsciously started saying things like, ‘The second-round opponent is…’, Nowitzki invited all the players, coaches, and managers to his house for dinner.

“Wouldn’t it be okay? The captain said his girlfriend helps a lot with dinner, and Chandler, Barea, and Brewer are also coming with their wives and girlfriends.”

“But Yoon told me. It’s a meeting related to renewing the atmosphere so we don’t get complacent and face Game 5. If I go to a place like that…”

Youngjae stopped the car with a smile before Emily could finish her sentence.

“The other players are all coming as couples, and you happen to have time. And have confidence. It’s common for athletes to bring their girlfriends or wives to meetings. I think you’re being too passive every time you meet the players. If it were just a gathering of players, I wouldn’t have asked you to come in the first place. You know I’m not the kind of person who would act so arbitrarily as to take Emily to a place where only players gather.”

Emily thought it would be foolish to worry any more after Youngjae’s words. Come to think of it, she wondered if she was getting scared for no reason. Emily had momentarily forgotten that Youngjae was a man who could discern whether he could bring her somewhere or not, and then she playfully said.

“Did you just realize how pretty I am? Don’t worry! If you hide behind me, I’ll block everything!”

“Oh, reliable! Great!”

The two got out of the car. Nowitzki’s house, located a little away from downtown Dallas, was simple and neat, so much so that it felt very modest compared to the money he earned.

Before entering Nowitzki’s house, the two checked each other’s clothes one last time and ensured the gifts they were holding were properly wrapped. Youngjae thought everything was perfect and raised his right hand to ring the doorbell.

“Oh! Welcome.”

Nowitzki, who was so big that the front door looked small, strode out. Youngjae was also tall, a head taller than ordinary people, but in front of Nowitzki, who was 7-0 (213cm), he seemed almost small. Emily had met Chandler before, but this was her first time meeting Nowitzki privately, so she greeted him with a slightly trembling voice.

“Ah, hello. I’m Emily Kinney.”

“Haha, welcome. You’re even prettier in person.”

Nowitzki greeted the two with a deep voice and a smile, and Youngjae and Emily unconsciously tried to take off their shoes, but then realized their mistake and kept their shoes on.

“Welcome. Nice to meet you.”

Youngjae and Emily, who had greeted Nowitzki’s girlfriend, whom they had met during a photo shoot after winning the finals the previous year, handed Nowitzki the bundles of gifts they were holding in both hands. Nowitzki, like Chandler, had been living with his girlfriend and child for quite some time, but they had not yet held a wedding.

“You didn’t have to bring anything.”

Youngjae said, ‘You’d be upset if we didn’t bring it,’ looking at Nowitzki, whose expression was beaming even though he said they didn’t have to bring anything. Nowitzki said, ‘Hmm. That’s true,’ making Emily laugh.

“By the way, what are you cooking? It smells good?”

“I prepared it in the German style today.”

Youngjae and Emily exclaimed, ‘Oh!’ at the sight of the generous spread of Schweinshaxe [German pork knuckles], Schnitzel [German cutlets], and sparkling water and fruit to drink lightly.

“Can I help you?”

“You’re a guest, and you’re helping? I’m so sorry.”

Nowitzki said he was sorry, but his big hands were already putting an apron on Youngjae. Knowing that Youngjae had a knack for cooking, he didn’t refuse the offer.

“I’ll help too.”

“No. Yoon is enough. You take a break too. Yoon and I will finish it.”

Nowitzki subtly took care of his girlfriend and had her talk to Emily, and he started preparing food in the kitchen with Youngjae.

“All you have to do is fry it in oil.”

Youngjae decided to fry the remaining schnitzel, and Nowitzki checked the pork knuckles and shared various stories.

“Do you like to cook?”

“Of course. Captain, can I use this onion?”

Youngjae raised an onion with his right hand, and Nowitzki said he could, but he watched Youngjae closely, wondering why he would use an onion now.

Chop chop chop!

Youngjae skillfully thinly sliced the onion, put it into the boiling oil, fried it to some extent, took it out of the oil, and then scooped a little oil into a ladle and smelled it.

“Oh?”

“I saw it on TV. They said that fried food can be greasy because of the oil, but if you add onion flavor to the oil, the greasy taste is suppressed. I tried it, and the scent is really different?”

Nowitzki also sniffed the oil at Youngjae’s words, and when he smelled the sweet and pungent scent of onion in the oil, he nodded his head greatly, saying, ‘Really?’

Sizzle-

With the sound of delicious frying, Youngjae and Nowitzki began to chat about Game 5.

“How does it feel to be in the playoffs for two years in a row? It’s not an experience anyone can have.”

“It’s just amazing. It’s not easy for a player like me, and an Asian player, to step onto such a big stage. I always feel lucky these days.”

In fact, Youngjae had a lot of playoff experience when he played as a guard for the San Antonio Spurs, as he went to the playoffs almost every year. Of course, he wasn’t a starting player, so if you compare it to the playoff game time he played for Dallas for two years, there wasn’t much difference, but still, a person who has eaten meat knows how to eat it well, and Youngjae’s experience was working well in Dallas.

“3 wins and 1 loss, not bad. But I honestly think that the one loss we suffered at the Clippers’ home was a loss we didn’t have to suffer. I honestly thought we could have won.”

It was a narrow defeat. A 4-point loss was more painful than expected. The game was a close seesaw battle to the point where they thought they could have won. The game was a great masterpiece with a whopping 11 ties and 17 lead changes in 48 minutes, but the unfortunate turnover at the end left Dallas with the blemish of one loss.

“Yoon, I was originally going to say this after the season, but after playing in the recent playoffs, I changed my mind and thought I should say it before that. How about being more aggressive with your shooting? Without having to defer.”

Sizzle-

…

A moment of silence passed between the two. Emily and Nowitzki’s girlfriend also subtly left the room, sensing that the two were having an important conversation, but even so, only the sound of schnitzel frying could be heard between the two for a long time.

“Captain.”

“No, I can’t agree with what you’re saying.”

Nowitzki shook his head firmly, as if he knew what Youngjae was going to say. Youngjae, with a troubled expression, spoke his mind without hesitation while holding the tongs.

“I think it’s right to pass the ball to teammates who have a better shooting touch than me. It varies depending on the situation. So I make that choice, it’s not like I…”

“No. You’re just rationalizing it yourself. There are times when you have a good enough chance to shoot, but you pass to a teammate with a better chance. Even in the last Game 4, you could have shot, but you passed to Terry one more time, right?”

Youngjae protested with a slightly aggrieved expression.

“But I don’t think that play itself was a bad decision. I was far away, but there was clearly a defender running towards me, and Terry was open enough to adjust his posture.”

“Yes. Ideally, that’s right. But you can’t deny that Terry’s and your shooting touch were clearly different that day, right? Coach Carlisle also ordered you to shoot aggressively in the fourth quarter. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

…

He wanted to say no, but Youngjae didn’t bother to say it out loud. Nowitzki sighed softly as if he knew it well and opened his mouth.

“I know what you’re thinking. I know that you’re accommodating a lot of other teammates for the sake of harmony within the team, and I’m not criticizing your attitude that you think that’s the right answer. However, in the playoffs, everything can end with a single mistake. Of course, I can’t guarantee that the shot you took at that time would have gone in. I definitely think Terry could have put it in too. But if you look at the field goal percentage of that game, I think anyone would say that you were the one who should have shot.”

Nowitzki took a sip of sparkling water, perhaps because he was thirsty, and continued his story.

“The coach and coaches didn’t want to put any more pressure on you, so they didn’t bother to criticize you. It wasn’t a situation where the linker, screener, and finisher were in a set pattern play, so it’s right to leave it up to you to decide whether to shoot or not, and excessive pressure on a rookie in his second year can be poison.”

Youngjae was embarrassed because he didn’t know that Coach Carlisle and Coach Stotts would have thought that way. Of course, Youngjae himself knew very well that he had regained stability and confidence in his shooting. However, for Youngjae, who by nature thought that a play closer to 20 points and 10 assists rather than 30 points and 5 assists was the norm, the current story was quite difficult to understand.

“I understand what you mean. And I didn’t think the coach or coaches would have thought that way. But it’s not just to be considerate of Terry. If Terry’s shooting touch gets better, our opponents will have two or three choices to block in the clutch, and that will make the opponent more confused. That’s right, as the captain thinks, those actions were also intended to boost Terry’s ego. But aside from all the emotional stuff, I thought his efficiency was good enough, so I made that choice.”