Y13 [EN]: Chapter 264

Y13-264 (264/296)

00264 2011-2012 Semi-Conference Final =========================================================================

The moment Griffin’s screen came, Paul made up his mind and rushed forward. In the end, the best thing he could do was shake off Youngjae. Without shaking off Youngjae, he couldn’t properly execute any pass, shot, or dribble.

[Chris Paul! Charges in aggressively! Despite Griffin’s somewhat lacking screen, Chris Paul skillfully navigates it as if it were his own!]

Youngjae was amazed by Chris Paul’s precise pick-and-roll play, which he couldn’t adapt to no matter how many times he tried to defend it.

Thud!!

[Youngjae Yoon responds fiercely! After flexibly navigating Griffin’s screen, he pushes his upper body into Chris Paul’s path!]

Chris Paul penetrated to the high post and then momentarily looked to the outside. Youngjae didn’t panic at the thought that he might be considering a kick-out and focused on the best defense he could offer at that moment.

Swish-

[Kick-out! The ball is passed to Caron Butler, who is standing at the top!]

[But it’s slow! Paul’s pass was accurate, but Butler’s mobility and activity level are no match for Marion!]

Butler, who had intended to shoot as soon as he caught the ball, was eventually unable to shoot or pass due to Marion’s tight defense. He stumbled backward and was eventually stolen by the veteran Kidd.

“?!”

The moment Kidd reached out and snatched the ball, Youngjae and Marion began to sprint forward, and Kidd passed the ball to Marion, who was running forward without sending any signals.

“Stop them!!”

The player furthest back on the Clippers was Caron Butler. However, it was Kidd and Marion who blocked Caron Butler and stole the ball from his path. Therefore, the only one who could control Marion was Butler, but Butler could never catch up to Marion’s speed.

Whoosh!

[Incredible speed! Youngjae Yoon’s amazing sprint is like watching Usain Bolt!]

[Marion fearlessly throws the ball to Youngjae Yoon at the undefended top of the opponent’s zone! Youngjae Yoon has already overtaken Marion!!!]

Swish-

Youngjae lightly laid up the easy shot, then high-fived Marion and raised his right hand high for the fans to see.

[NICE!! WHAT A MOVE!]

[Ah! The game is getting tough! The LA Clippers just can’t seem to catch up! They can’t fall apart like this!]

[There are still only about 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, and the score is 65 to 55, a 10-point difference, so it’s a score that can be caught up with. But the Dallas Mavericks are not giving them any chance to chase!]

That was exactly right. Dallas never allowed a comeback. It had been that way since the first quarter, and it was the solidness of Dallas that didn’t seem like it would be broken in the future.

“Hah, hah…”

In addition, the exhaustion of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin was the worst-case scenario for the Clippers, causing them to lose their will to chase. The physical burden that had been erased by continuing to target Paul and Griffin according to the strategy and forcing them to attack was by no means light.

Beeeep!!!

[Ah, finally! The game is over. The Dallas Mavericks win at home 102 to 93! A 9-point lead! With this, the Dallas Mavericks advance to the second round!]

[The LA Clippers struggled, but they couldn’t overcome the disadvantage in power. In the end, Paul and Griffin also showed their physical limitations. They eventually kneel in the first round.]

The Dallas players waved and applauded to the 20,000 fans who were cheering for their advancement to the second round, while the Clippers players, who were exhausted and slumped down, couldn’t get up due to their disappointment.

“Grab it.”

Youngjae, who was usually friendly with Griffin, patted him and reached out his hand. Griffin grabbed Youngjae’s hand and then slowly got up from the court.

“Good job.”

No amount of consolation could reach Griffin. This was an emotion that Youngjae knew all too well. From the distant Spurs days to the recent college days, it was the same. Losing at an important juncture was not something that could be comforted by anyone.

“Yeah.”

Griffin barely opened his mouth, let go of Youngjae’s hand, and trudged into the locker room. Paul, who had been tearing up in frustration and regret for failing again, was nowhere to be seen.

“…”

Where there are winners, there are losers. Youngjae shook off their emotions to some extent, smiled, and high-fived his teammates.

“Now, the next series is against the Oklahoma City Thunder.”

After the showdown with the Clippers, Dallas, who passed the first round with 4 wins and 1 loss, was given a sweet break. However, even during that break, Youngjae only focused on the game and devoted himself to training, except for occasionally eating or going out with Emily. Emily was able to smile as she watched Youngjae preparing more thoroughly than last year while still having some余裕 [leeway or margin for error].

“The game against the Thunder will have a completely different plan than the Clippers. As you can see from the data, they are younger and faster than the Clippers. We must never be pushed back by their energy level. If you think about Oklahoma City last year, we will be the losers. Last year, they lacked experience, and we took advantage of that weakness to kill their momentum, but this season will not be easy.”

And before they knew it, the date was May 12th. Two days before the first game of the second round, Coach Carlisle gathered with the coaches and began presenting the completed data about the opposing team to the players. It was his job to properly input the data into his head and apply it on the court. And for that, the players would have to sweat during practice.

“Energy level. This is an insurmountable difference between us and our opponents.”

At Coach Carlisle’s words, the veteran players made a disgusted expression as they recalled how the Oklahoma City players were rampaging on the court. Rather than relying on set patterns, they were a tiring opponent because they relied on their own talent and stamina to push forward, so you never knew how they would come out. In other words, they were an opponent that couldn’t be calculated.

[Oklahoma City Thunder Lineup]

PG: Russell Westbrook (Derek Fisher)

SG: Thabo Sefolosha (James Harden)

SF: Kevin Durant (Daequan Cook)

PF: Serge Ibaka (Nick Collison)

C: Kendrick Perkins (Nazr Mohammed)

[Main Tactics]

…

…

“As you can see on the screen, the Thunder’s main rotation is those 10 players. You can think of Fisher as having joined after Maynor, who was one of the main members, was out for the season. Among them, Fisher, Harden, and Collison are the main members, and Cook and Mohammed are not 投入 [tōnyū – invested/involved] in close games. In other words, the time the small lineup is running is considerable. Ibaka has advantages in inside defense, so there is not much difficulty even when the small lineup is in operation.”

Ibaka’s inside defense was really annoying to the opponent. Last year, Ibaka’s opponent was the best stretch forward, Nowitzki, so he was so helpless, but most forwards were properly blocked by Ibaka’s defense.

“Durant spent a lot of time at the 4 [power forward position] in the first round. There is also a considerable amount of time when Harden and Sefolosha are 投入 [tōnyū – invested/involved] at the same time. I think we should use our height as much as possible. Looking at our player structure, we have nothing to lose to Oklahoma City in terms of height. It’s an advantage that we can fully utilize.”

“Coach Stotts is right. This series will lower the pace except for fast break opportunities, and all forwards will participate in rebounding and push forward with a height battle. However, Durant, who comes out as the 4, is an exceptional variable. He is a center-級 [kyū – grade/level] player in height, but he has the skills and speed of a 3 [small forward position], so he will definitely make it difficult for us when we face Oklahoma City. Nowitzki, you have no choice but to accept the loss when you are matched up with him.”

Nowitzki nodded at Coach Carlisle’s words. He is a 7-foot big man and an offensive forward who is gradually losing his mobility, so he has to accept losses in defensive aspects. However, it made even less sense for Nowitzki to follow Sefolosha.

“It’s good to play the game using the advantage of height, but it’s disadvantageous for us as the Thunder run the small lineup for a long time? We can’t take Nowitzki out for a long time.”

Coach Carlisle nodded at Terry’s question.

“That’s right. But they can’t run the small lineup for a long time either. It’s only threatening when it’s composed of Westbrook – Harden – Sefolosha – Durant, and other small lineups are rather 毒 [doku – poison/harmful]. There is no professional 3 backup, so Durant can’t play at the 4 for a long time. They put them on the court together to guarantee the playing time of Sefolosha and Harden, who are starters, but that’s fatal to us. It’s only 12 minutes per game at most.”

“That’s right. Durant plays for more than 40 minutes, so if he is in the 3 position, Marion and Parsons will block him roughly, and Durant will definitely reach his physical limit. Westbrook has never properly escaped our trap defense, so if we take advantage of this point, it will be fine. The common point of the two games we lost was surprisingly Harden’s explosion. It wasn’t Westbrook or Durant. The game where we made Harden like Kobe was our defeat.”

As Coach Stotts said, Harden recorded an average of 26 points and 6 assists in the two games the Thunder won. On the other hand, he only had 16 points and 4.5 assists in the two games the Thunder lost. Westbrook and Durant are players who can be blocked enough, but if Harden is 投入 [tōnyū – invested/involved], there are not enough players to block him.

“He’s grown too fast compared to last year… It feels like I’m watching Ginobili’s prime.”

“Even if I conceded to someone who was getting old together last year, I can’t believe I’m going to lose the Sixth Man Award to such a kid this year. His steps are so произвольный [proizvol’nyy – arbitrary/random] that it’s difficult to block him.”

Kidd, who had been badly hurt by him, grumbled, and Terry grumbled along with him. That’s because they were the ones who blocked Harden. Youngjae and Barea blocked Westbrook, and Kidd and Terry mainly blocked Harden, which was Dallas’ defense plan against the Thunder.

“Then, are you going to make a change this time?”

It was Youngjae’s question, who felt that there would be some change. Coach Carlisle nodded slightly and answered Youngjae’s question.

“That’s right. In this series, I’m thinking of increasing Brewer’s usage to block Harden. I’m sorry to Barea, but his playing time will be reduced in this series. Oklahoma City is weak in cut-in defense, so Brewer can actively use his advantage of cut-in instead of his disadvantage of outside.”

Barea looked like he was accepting it because he was disappointed but couldn’t help it, and Brewer looked happy to have the opportunity to be 重用 [chóngyòng – to reuse/give important position to] after a long time.

“That’s why Yoon will be playing a lot with Brewer in this series. Kidd and Terry will be working together a lot.”

“Durant and Westbrook play for so long, and the movements of the other players are monotonous, so they tend to turn over a lot. Durant is ranked 2nd and Westbrook is ranked 3rd. Just like we focused on Paul and Griffin in the Clippers 戦 [sen – war/battle], we will devise a strategy to give these two as much physical burden as possible in this series. The difference is that there is Harden to relieve their burden, so we shouldn’t only pay attention to them like in the Clippers 戦 [sen – war/battle]. That’s why Brewer. Your defensive role is essential.”

Youngjae, who was working hard to come up with a winning strategy against Oklahoma City, was lying side by side with Emily in bed at home the next day, watching an article on his smartphone together.

============================ Work Review ============================

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＠The next round is against Oklahoma, which I think is the most incompatible. Dallas is preparing for that. In the end, the best way is to induce Durant’s 방전 [bangjeon – discharge/depletion]. Even if Harden runs wild, Harden at this time was not in the era where he poured out 30 points like eating rice. Even at this time, Durant and Westbrook were the emperors of turnovers. They hold the ball so much and there is no tactic…

＠And Brewer, who boasts a tick-like defense, will 出場 [shutsujō – participate/play] as a weapon for 대 [dae – against] Harden… Brewer this season is just 망 [mang – ruined/failed] level, but his debut comparison was World Peace in the era of defense king. Until last year, he showed the best defense.

사라질영혼님/// Haha, thank you for the quick comment.

야베스님/// All-rounders are more suitable for 2~3 options, but I think all-rounders with scoring ability can be 1 option. I know that not only LeBron, but also 역대급 [yeokdaegeup – historical/all-time] players have many all-rounders. Among the active players, there are Kobe, Wade, Paul, Durant, etc. All four players are good at both offense and defense and can lead and score.

However, players with an average of more than 20 points per season are usually called 1 option, ace-級 [kyū – grade/level] players. Usually, there are about 10 to 15 players in the league who record an average of 20 points. Youngjae is an all-rounder, but he is not at the level to be compared to Digreen [Draymond Green], Pippen, or Kawhi. The types and levels of attack skills are different. Of course, they defend better. But they can’t create attacks on their own.

As you said, ordinary all-rounders are best suited for 2 options or below, such as Andre Iguodala, Scottie Pippen, Draymond Green, and Nicolas Batum. However, Youngjae in the story has top-class speed and dribbling ability, and his shooting is also top-class. Although it is still a transition period, there will be less than 15 1 options that can be placed above Youngjae. If Youngjae’s offensive power was Kawhi, Pippen, or Draymond Green-級 [kyū – grade/level], he would not be able to do such a showdown against Paul, Wade, or Kobe, who have the best defense.

huhcafe님, 위티드님, 파이넨시아님, 삼생님/// Thank you for your comments!! Have a good day tomorrow^^

여신유리찬양님/// All-rounders are welcome in any sport ㅎㅎ. Of course, there is a disadvantage that you must have S-級 [kyū – grade/level] stats to become an ace.

ㅎ0ㅎ님/// Haha… that’s impossible ㅠ.ㅠ