Y13 [EN]: Chapter 268

Y13-268. 2011-2012 Semi-Conference Final

As Youngjae made incredible plays worthy of being selected for highlight reels twice in a row, the Dallas home fans couldn’t contain their excitement, stomping their feet and cheering.

“Kyaaaa!!!”

Emily was among them. Waving a cheering tool made of two slightly separated plastic hands, Emily clapped and then clasped her hands together in earnest prayer as Youngjae went to the free-throw line to bounce the ball.

“Hoo!”

As if ready, Youngjae slightly bent his knees, and the more than 20,000 home fans held their breath, hoping for Youngjae’s free throw to succeed.

Swish!

Thump, thump, thump!!!

To the beat of the drums, the fans chanted Y13 with a thunderous roar. The score was 62 to 53. As the lead widened to 9 points in an instant, Coach Scott Brooks couldn’t hide his frustration, and even the players on the court shook their heads. But Youngjae, regardless of how the Oklahoma City players saw him, focused all his attention on the next play, intensely discussing it with his teammates.

With a 9-point lead, Oklahoma City ran their normal lineup a bit longer but couldn’t easily narrow the score. Eventually, Coach Scott Brooks made a change by bringing in Nick Collison instead of Kendrick Perkins. Coach Rick Carlisle also matched the change by taking out the tired Nowitzki and putting in Brendan Wright.

“Faster!”

Youngjae confidently directed the players, developing the offense and establishing the defense of the guard line, making his voice heard. In the moments when Kidd wasn’t on the court, Youngjae was the offensive commander. Regardless of age, it was natural for a leading ace to direct the offense.

“This way!”

Youngjae actively called and exchanged signals with Wright. Thanks to this, Wright moved efficiently and showed good teamwork with Youngjae. Wright was a player who understood his abilities and role and was faithful to his role as a supporting player, even though his role was limited.

‘…’

As if sensing Youngjae’s intentions, Brewer and Marion began to move slightly, leaving their areas. Youngjae was dribbling the ball on the right side with Westbrook guarding him, and Marion ran near Youngjae, reaching out to receive the ball. At the same time, Brewer moved to the top of the key, and Wright steadily moved from the high post on the left, drawing his marker Ibaka with him.

[Youngjae Yoon! Sudden drive-in!]

[It looks like he’s trying to do something?]

As soon as Youngjae was blocked by Westbrook, he unhesitatingly passed the ball to Marion. Westbrook marked Youngjae like glue, not loosening his guard, even though he didn’t know what Youngjae was thinking, as Youngjae, who should have been roaming on the outside, was loitering near the high post for some reason.

[Oh!!!]

At that moment, Mark Followill and Derek Harper clearly understood what kind of attack the Dallas Mavericks were preparing. As if their voices of admiration were a signal, Youngjae at the high post, Brewer at the top of the key, and Wright at the opposite high post began to move in perfect unison.

“?!! Block! Block!!!”

Collison shouted as if he realized what kind of play they were running, but it was too far for Durant, who was guarding Marion, to react. Westbrook, who missed Youngjae as he dashed towards the top of the key with tremendous speed, followed Youngjae to catch up, but as soon as Youngjae slipped between Brewer and Wright, Westbrook couldn’t see anything, as if a high wall was standing in front of him.

Thud!!

“Ugh!!”

As if the doors of an open elevator closed, Brewer and Wright’s screens came from the left and right and slammed shut, causing Westbrook to groan and step back like someone who had crashed into an elevator door.

[Elevator screen!!!]

[I never even imagined that I would see the elevator screen, which Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson often uses, in the Dallas Mavericks! It’s a way to increase the success rate of 3-pointers by giving up offensive rebound opportunities.]

[It seemed like there would be no need to use it because Dallas doesn’t have a player with a high pull-up 3-point success rate and has decent offensive rebounding ability. But if they execute it like this and it succeeds, the opponent will have no choice but to overthink things.]

As soon as Youngjae broke free, Marion, who had the ball, safely passed it to the top of the key, and Youngjae, protected by the elevator doors, effortlessly shot a 3-pointer.

[Y13 FOR THREE!!!]

Swish!

[BAAAANG!!!! DOOR CLOSING!!!]

[The Mavericks have often used Nowitzki and Chandler’s staggered screen play during the season, but this is the first time they’ve used such a perfect elevator screen! Oklahoma City is getting hit hard in Dallas’s front yard!!!!]

As the score widened further due to the surprise elevator screen 3-pointer, Dallas used rotations without rushing. Starting with Jason Kidd, Youngjae moved to his main position as the 2-guard [shooting guard], and the lineup of Chandler Parsons, Brendan Wright, and Brendan Haywood brought Marion, Nowitzki, and Chandler, who were relatively tired, to the bench. Oklahoma City also seemed to be looking at the long game, taking out many of their tired starters and facing Dallas with a lineup of Derek Fisher, Thabo Sefolosha, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, and Nick Collison.

[Ah, both teams’ rotations are organic depending on the situation, but Oklahoma City continues to feel like they’re getting twisted. The efficiency of the small lineup is not very good.]

[This is because Dallas’s starting center, Chandler, has good mobility, and the defensive ability of the leading defenders is also decent. In particular, it’s a big deal that Harden and Durant can’t gain a matchup advantage. After all, Westbrook is the point guard in any lineup.]

[Another characteristic is the players who are playing the most minutes on both teams; Dallas has Youngjae Yoon in the lineup until the end, even though 7 minutes have passed in the 3rd quarter, and Oklahoma City still has Durant and Ibaka playing.]

Derek Harper nodded and opened his mouth.

[It’s a wise rotation operation for any team to leave one ace on the court. They have to endure the remaining time in the 3rd quarter and maintain the lead as much as possible for Nowitzki and Terry’s rest. Dallas always leaves either Nowitzki or Yoon, who has good offensive creation ability, on the court. Oklahoma City has Durant and Ibaka on the court instead of Harden and Westbrook.]

“Hoo.”

It was the best choice for Coach Carlisle. Youngjae could produce a certain level of efficiency even with the bench lineup, but Terry’s efficiency this season dropped when he didn’t play with Nowitzki. In other words, it meant that he was struggling without a partner to disperse the defensive focus. He had the body of a point guard, but Carlisle was troubled by the fact that his efficiency had dropped quite a bit compared to last year due to Terry’s uniqueness, who had the skills and play style of a shooting guard, so he had no choice but to use him off the bench.

‘Wright and Haywood won’t be able to easily penetrate the paint anyway. Then, in the end, we’ll have no choice but to go with Kidd’s post-ups or curls [a type of offensive play].’

[Thabo Sefolosha! Roughly pushes Youngjae Yoon away!]

But the opponent was not easy. Whenever Youngjae caught the ball, Sefolosha, who had the best defensive ability in the league, stuck to him tenaciously, wearing down Youngjae’s stamina so that he couldn’t mount a proper attack. Sefolosha wasn’t a very good offensive player, but his clever defense and tenacious grit meant that Youngjae had no choice but to struggle. On top of that, Collison cleverly set screens, so Youngjae struggled to avoid the screens and block Sefolosha, and to counter Sefolosha’s overwhelming power.

“Keuh!”

In the end, Youngjae was so physically exhausted that a strained sound came out of his mouth. He wasn’t a player with scoring ability, but he couldn’t leave a player whose 3-point shot was as high as 43% open.

[Sefolosha pushes Youngjae Yoon hard as he goes up!]

Sefolosha, who had stubbornly dug into the low post with his strength, soared straight up, and Youngjae momentarily thought about fouling, but considering his 88% free throw success rate, it was a bad idea. In the end, Youngjae only managed to stretch out his hands and interfere with Sefolosha’s layup as he tried to jump up with him.

Thump, thump – Swish!

[Sefolosha’s layup goes straight in!]

[Youngjae Yoon definitely looks like he’s having a hard time. The burden is too much. It seems like he doesn’t have the energy to use his stamina on defense.]

[With Sefolosha’s layup, the score is 72 to 65, narrowing the gap to 7 points for Oklahoma City.]

Beee!!!

As the 3rd quarter ended, the players returned to the bench. In particular, Youngjae, who had consumed a lot of energy, slumped down on the bench, wiped away sweat with a towel, drank a little drink, but was too out of breath to drink properly and had to sip in intervals.

“Yoon, you’re definitely resting at the beginning of the 4th quarter.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Youngjae, who had played a whopping 29 minutes out of 36 minutes so far, playing both the 1 [point guard] and 2 [shooting guard] positions, was showing good efficiency with 24 points and 9 assists on 9/13 shooting, including 3/5 from 3-point range and 4 free throws. Coach Carlisle thought that he had to give Youngjae a rest for 5 minutes, or even 3 minutes, as he had done 100% or more of what was expected of Youngjae.

“The score difference is gradually narrowing. Don’t forget to maintain top-level concentration until the end.”

The players nodded at Coach Carlisle’s words.

“We do what we’ve been doing. The opponent’s response doesn’t matter. Organization and experience. After all, basketball is a battle of moments. Even if you’ve prepared in a big framework, you create differences in momentary sense and concentration.”

“Yes!”

“So be careful in your plays. In fast break situations, quickly transition, and in half-court offense, move according to the point guard’s instructions. Penetration, jumper, screen. Combine anything in a variable way.”

After finishing all the instructions, Coach Carlisle prepared for the 4th quarter by telling the players he would send out in the 4th quarter various stories.

[J.J. Barea! He’s playing a solid role, as a player who knows his role and limitations well!]

The two teams’ benches, which clashed as soon as the 4th quarter began, were truly neck and neck. Among them, Barea’s performance, called the Little Giant, was quite encouraging.

[Westbrook is a good defender, but Barea is also a decent player on offense. Of course, he’s an inconsistent player, but he’s exploding in a good way today.]

Just a moment ago, Barea shook off Westbrook with a jab step and crossover that made you wonder if it was really Barea, then weaved between Nick Collison and Kendrick Perkins before going straight up and finishing with a double clutch, bringing tremendous cheers.

“Slowly!”

Barea used the full 24 seconds, matching signs with Terry, who was working with him for a short time.

[Dallas brought out Barea, Terry, Marion, Nowitzki, and Chandler at the same time as the 4th quarter began, and Oklahoma City also gave Durant a rest with Westbrook, Fisher, Sefolosha, Collison, and Perkins. But Barea’s 6 consecutive points are painful for Oklahoma City?!]

[Perkins is good at man-to-man defense, but he’s not a good rim protector. The backup, Mohammed, is the same. Westbrook needs to block Barea a little better. In the first place, Perkins is a player to block Bynum or Howard, not a player to block players like Chandler or Haywood.]

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

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

★Thank you to monte for the sponsored coupon!!

@Um, I guess there was a nuclear war today. As expected, the Clippers and Houston… teams with a large number of free throw troublemakers. DeAndre Jordan, Josh Smith, Howard, Capela, T. Jones, Motiejunas, etc.

Ultra10///Westbrook is a really good player, but there are a few disappointing things. Like his lower-than-expected defensive ability, or that it would be nice if he could play a little more altruistically. Westbrook’s best partner was Sefolosha. 3&D style lol

Yabes///Of course, I think there’s quite a difference in the level of coaches between Golden State and Oklahoma City. Kerr is only in his first season, so honestly, it’s hard to see him as a master yet. Gentry and Adams are top-notch offensive/defensive coaches. Luke Walton’s acting was better than expected. I thought Adams would be the acting coach in the first place, but he said he would only be in charge of defense, so the much younger Walton coach decided to act instead.

As you said, the difference between coaches is big, but Golden State’s talent direction and combination look much better. It doesn’t matter if three MVP-level players stand on the court in Oklahoma City. Most Big 3s have no choice but to relegate the 3rd option to a supporting role. Westbrook also rose to MVP level while Durant was out with a long-term injury, and Durant also won MVP when Westbrook was injured. That’s not to say that Durant and Westbrook’s combination isn’t good, but I don’t think 1+1 is more than 2. About 1.6~1.8? On the other hand, I think Curry and Green show an effect of more than 2. The same goes for Curry and Thompson.

Finencia, Miyalma, Witted, -DarkANGEL-, Omarion/// Thank you for your comments!! Have a great Monday!!

H0h, Kai-Guelda/// I tried, but it was impossible. ㅠ.ㅠ

anguqwhdk///I think he exploded because he left Oklahoma City. Harden didn’t have the role or place to score more than 20 points on a team with the 1st and 2nd options, Westbrook and Durant. Like when Bosh went to Miami, or when Love went to Cleveland last year, or when Allen went to Boston… In the end, even a great player can only be a supporter if there are two aces. Because there is only one ball in basketball. It seems right to say that it wasn’t just because of Westbrook, but because there were Westbrook and Durant.