Y13 [EN]: Chapter 284

00284 2011-2012 Finals =========================================================================

Finally, the long-awaited Finals stage had arrived. Youngjae felt a thrill to be experiencing such a huge stage for the second year in a row. Moreover, the fact that the series ended in Game 6, giving Dallas a five-day break, was excellent news for the team. This year’s Conference Finals were played on alternating days between Dallas-San Antonio and Boston-Miami, so the break was more generous than expected.

[Y13 refers to the year 2013. This is a reference to a photo where Kawhi Leonard shares a light meal with his Aztecs classmates.]

The Dallas Mavericks, who won the Western Conference Finals series 4-2, held a small dinner party at Youngjae Yoon’s house, who had dominated Game 6. Youngjae, who enjoyed a party with the Dallas team on the day of the game, spent the next evening with his college classmates, Kawhi Leonard, and his girlfriend, Emily Kinney, who he was publicly dating. Kawhi Leonard also willingly participated since his season was over.

Malcolm Thomas, who played for Ulsan Mobis in Korea until last year, posted a photo of the dinner party on Vwitter [a fictional social media platform, similar to Twitter],

(Omitted)

The Dallas Mavericks are scheduled to face the Miami Heat again in the Finals on June 12. Youngjae was cheered by Dallas fans for his incredible performance of 29 points and 10 assists with a 100% field goal percentage in Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs. And Dallas was secretly hoping to win the championship for the second year in a row.

Youngjae’s popularity was already that of a superstar within the region, and he was rising to stardom worldwide. Youngjae’s performance in the clutch time of Game 6 captivated basketball fans around the world, and within Dallas, the popularity of the ace who led the team to the Finals for the second year in a row was soaring.

“Ah… hmm…”

Youngjae was spending intimate time in bed with Emily for the first time in a while. Outwardly, he was only 20 years old, but his mental age was close to thirty, and Emily was six years older than him. So their love was by no means a teenage romance.

Youngjae was a man, and Emily was a woman. Because they were both busy and preoccupied with work, their time together was very limited, and they often couldn’t spend sweet, intimate moments together. When Youngjae was in the off-season, Emily was busy, and when Emily was resting, Youngjae was in the season. So they cherished each other even more and were faithful to each other, but the physical distance and the absolute lack of time together did not change.

“Hmm… ha…”

Already, the two were covered in sweat, kissing, the afterglow not yet faded. When distance is far and shared time is reduced, loneliness is natural. The lonely and desolate feelings were not just in their minds. That’s why the two clung to each other as if drawn by magnets as soon as the Western Conference Finals ended.

“…”

Emily, now calmed down, had a face that was still flushed red, but she was still hugging Youngjae naked, and Youngjae stroked Emily’s hair and smiled at her.

“Yoon.”

“Hey, we decided to call each other ‘dear’ now.”

At Youngjae’s words, Emily smiled, saying, “That’s right.”

“Dear.”

“Yeah.”

“What if this is a dream?”

Emily’s words sent shivers down Youngjae’s spine. Of course, Emily didn’t know that Youngjae was someone who had overcome death, so she wasn’t saying this with any special intent, but that wasn’t what Youngjae was afraid of.

‘What if this is really a dream? A very deep and terrible nightmare…’

When he had just returned to the past, he couldn’t sleep and was often anxious. He was afraid that when he closed his eyes and opened them again, he would see the hospital ceiling and his paralyzed self. Or that he would never open his eyes again and just die. Youngjae had suffered tremendous stress from these thoughts.

But as time passed, those worries faded, and he just did his best in his current life. However, he still couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat when he heard such words.

“I… I’m so happy. I sometimes think, what if this is a dream when I wake up?”

Squeeze-

“Ah!”

Youngjae pressed Emily’s sharp nose with his index finger and then let go.

“Do you still think it’s a dream?”

Emily was about to pout because Youngjae pressed her nose again, but she snuggled into Youngjae’s arms at his sweet words.

“No. It’s too vivid a reality.”

“Yeah. I feel that way too. This is too vivid a reality.”

Youngjae lulled Emily to sleep like that. The two showered with warm water because they felt sticky from the dried sweat, and put on freshly dried underwear. After serving her moderately warm tea that he had prepared, Emily fell asleep comfortably, hugging Youngjae’s waist, as if she was quite tired.

“…”

Youngjae stared down at Emily, who was sleeping cutely, snoring softly. It had already been three years since he had returned to the past. With each passing year, Youngjae became stronger, and he began to believe that the current situation was a ‘complete reality’ that no one could interfere with. At the same time, Youngjae also began to accept and adapt to the anxiety in one corner of his heart.

“Even if this is a terrible nightmare and I wake up. I won’t regret it. Because I’m living like this, and I met you.”

Looking at Emily, Youngjae mumbled to himself, then gently embraced Emily in his arms and closed his eyes. At the time when even Youngjae had fallen into a deep sleep, Emily finally opened her eyes slightly and wiped away the tears that welled up, muttering her last words.

Time flowed, and on June 12, Youngjae met Emily briefly before Game 1 of the Finals at home, sharing a light hug and kiss, encouraging each other.

‘You can do it. Although I can’t be with you, I’ll be watching from the stands.’

Youngjae joined the Dallas teammates and began training, and ESPN, which was broadcasting the Finals, began broadcasting a pre-game show during the players’ training and game preparation time.

[Hello! Finally, the 2011-2012 Finals are about to begin! We will be broadcasting the pre-game show for Game 1 between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. I’m caster Mike Breen, and commentators Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley will be joining us!]

The commentary team was further strengthened by the addition of Charles Barkley. Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley greeted the camera.

[The Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat are facing off again in the Finals, following the 2010-2011 season. What are your thoughts on this series?]

At Mike Breen’s lead, Reggie Miller opened his mouth with a smile.

[I think both teams are really great teams. It’s rare for the same teams to reach the Finals stage for two years in a row. First of all, the Miami Heat are expected to be at a disadvantage. Chris Bosh has only recovered from his abdominal muscle injury and returned to the team about five days ago. And Wade also had fluid drained from his knee during the series against Indiana and returned. LeBron also suffered a minor injury during Game 4 against Boston. This means that the Miami Heat’s Big Three have either been injured and returned, or are playing with injuries. And because they fought a 7-game battle against Boston, including overtime, they are more tired than Dallas, who finished the game in Game 6.]

Charles Barkley, who was next to him, nodded, saying that could be the case, but opened his mouth with a neutral and objective perspective.

[But looking at Bosh’s Game 6 and 7, there didn’t seem to be any problem with his game sense. Wade also played full-time in the series against Boston, playing an average of about 40 minutes. And LeBron immediately returned from his minor injury and saved the team from crisis. Their potential is still there. And although Miami is more tired than Dallas, their main players are younger. The Big Three and Chalmers are in their 20s. On the other hand, three of Dallas’s four key players are in their 30s. And Game 6 is no different from Game 7. Dallas also had a pretty fierce series.]

That was exactly it. If the commentators agreed with each other and only had similar thoughts, it wouldn’t be an interesting broadcast. But Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley were commentators who got along quite well but had conflicting opinions. Mike Breen, with his years of broadcasting experience, judged that the combination of these two was a good one.

[Your thoughts are very contrasting. Since we’ll know as the game progresses, let’s move on to the next topic. The Miami Heat overturned the series by using a small lineup with only Bosh and Haslem as centers from Game 6 against Boston. I think this trend will continue in the Finals, so how will Dallas respond?]

The story of the small lineup was like another deadly tactic of the Miami Heat. With a lot of talk about this situation, Mike Breen asked the commentators for their personal opinions. This time, Charles Barkley opened his mouth first.

[It seems difficult for Dallas. Basically, it means that LeBron will be playing the 4 [power forward position] for a long time, and Dallas’s 4 is Nowitzki, who is slow and has weaknesses in defense. If Marion is attached to LeBron, Nowitzki has to block Battier from the outside. Of course, there will be problems with board control and rebounding, and there will be cracks in the outside defense.]

[Given Carlisle’s tendency, I think he will counter with a small lineup by using Marion and Parsons at the 4 during Nowitzki’s rest time as much as possible. When Nowitzki is playing, I think he will endure by mixing zone defense appropriately. Dallas’s wing defenders (shooting guard-small forward defenders) are substantial in both quantity and quality. After all, Miami’s paint zone attack wasn’t very effective last season because of Chandler’s rim protection.]

Barkley, who was listening to Reggie Miller’s additional remarks, continued the story and explained his own opinion.

[Miami has scraped together resources with good outside ability at the 1-3 positions to maximize the talents of LeBron and Wade. Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier are good players in both defense and 3-pointers, and James Jones and Mike Miller are players who specialize in 3-pointers even if their defense is not good. Bosh and Haslem are also good at mid-range shooting. Whether or not their outside shots will be successful will determine Miami’s success or failure. After all, Wade and LeBron are players who will do more than their fair share.]

[The players who are expected to mainly block Wade and LeBron are Yoon, Kidd, Marion, and Parsons. They blocked Westbrook-Harden-Durant well, but whether they can block Wade and LeBron well will determine Dallas’s success or failure. Conversely, on offense, whether Youngjae Yoon, who has been reborn as a pick-and-roll machine, can break through Wade-Battier-LeBron’s strong front line defense, and how much Nowitzki can show his performance from last season against top-notch forward defenders Battier and LeBron.]

As the pre-game show was coming to an end, Mike Breen threw out the last topic.

[Miami must be more desperate to face this series, right?]

[I think that’s probably the case. Of course, Dallas is also preparing thoroughly and doing their best, but Miami is on the verge of collapse. The Miami Big Three received tremendous public criticism for their disappointing Finals loss last season. When the three of them got together, they were portrayed as an ‘Evil Empire’ and it was said that ‘If players of this caliber get together, 4 or 5 consecutive wins are basic.’ But if they lose to the same team in the Finals for two years in a row and finish as runners-up, they may develop trauma for the Dallas Mavericks, and they will suffer tremendous criticism from the media and fans that is incomparable to last year. In particular, LeBron James will have a hard time getting the title of ruler of the league. The greatness of 3 regular season MVPs is meaningless in front of 3 runner-up finishes.]

[On the other hand, Dallas last season got the title of ‘The last spark of veterans hungry for victory’. It was a team whose main players were veterans who had careers of more than 10 years but had no championship. But Dallas’s veterans are older, and their desire to win is relatively less. That’s because they tasted victory last year. But that’s just that their desire is relatively less compared to the desperate Miami Heat, and their concentration can be said to be at its peak. They are still playing well-organized team basketball, and their defense and hustle are very good. In addition, there was the cold joke incident about LeBron and Wade’s Nowitzki in last season’s Finals, and they lost twice in the regular season, so there are enough reasons to burn against Miami.]

As Reggie Miller’s last words ended, Mike Breen smoothly finished the broadcast with the comment, “Let’s watch the commercials for a while after the pre-game show!”

“Okay! Let’s start preparing for the game broadcast now!”

The three people gulped down the water in front of them as if they were nervous at the PD’s shout.

============================ Author’s Afterword ============================

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

Coca-Cola addict/// I tried a one-man show.

vngkgk248, Mirror Self, Disappearing Soul, Han512, eastarea, Omariyon, Witted, Financia/// Thank you for your comments. Take good care of your health in the cold weather~~

goimosp/// Hmm, I tried to show Leonard’s inner thoughts like that. From Leonard’s point of view, I thought he might have such thoughts because a friend he didn’t even know the name of when he entered school was going faster than him for 3 years. I’ve had those thoughts in school days. As you said, it’s a bit disappointing because it feels like his own inferiority and sense of defeat.

Yabes/// Um, I’ve been hearing about drugs on that site lately. What I’m telling you is just my personal opinion. Well, I don’t think it’s unusual because there are many people who have similar views to me.

I don’t think the NBA is a clean zone for drugs. I wonder if there is a field in modern sports that doesn’t use drugs. The doping test is so poor that it’s ridiculous to get caught. During Stern’s presidency, he introduced a urine test that even ordinary people wouldn’t get caught, and Silver introduced a blood test. In addition, according to experts in the field of drugs, doping tests can never keep up with the development speed of banned drugs. I can’t make a hasty conclusion, but I think a considerable number of people are taking it.

Banned drugs are not just steroids. There are also drugs that increase concentration or speed up physical recovery. And honestly, I think players who bulk up abnormally fast have taken drugs. And I think players who show tremendous athletic ability even though they have a lot of playing time have taken drugs to recover their stamina. As soon as UFC strengthens doping tests, the players’ performance is terrible. Power and speed have decreased, but stamina is also terrible, so they are panting at the end. I guess if the NBA introduces a doping test at the UFC level, they may not be able to show the same overwhelming athletic ability as now.

However, since there was no incident like the MLB drug scandal, it may be right to assume that there are no drugs according to the principle of presumption of innocence. It is dangerous to conclude a fact based on mere suspicion. In other words, I think this problem still has no correct answer. I don’t think you can conclude that there is none, and you can’t conclude that there is.

Inkingdul/// There is Bill Russell, who is an insurmountable wall in terms of number of wins… Considering Youngjae’s record in his first and second years, he will be able to surpass Jerry West, assuming he is healthy. When the ending is near, I will try to organize the epilogue or behind-the-scenes stories.

H0h, Kwon Woo-hyun™/// Haha, sports are watched for the fun of reversal ㅋㅋ. I will have to put in these reversals often in the future. To create tension.

Sleep.Sleep.Rain///Kong Youngjae VS Kong Bron??!!!

Ultra 10/// As you said, Leonard this season is superior to Youngjae in his second season in the story. I’ll have to play the full season, but judging from the records so far, he’s definitely superior. Leonard is almost breaking down forward rivals this season. Um, and I think we were a little lacking in delivering the lines. My intention was a word that Youngjae threw as if he was making a pledge to himself, along with the sorry he couldn’t reveal the truth. Youngjae has experienced the future, so he knows how far Leonard will grow. Maybe Youngjae is the player who knows the fear of Leonard best. Of course, I’m scared. No matter how good the BQ is, it is difficult for a player with ordinary physical to beat a player with overwhelming physical and top-notch BQ with personal skills. Of course, Youngjae’s physical is not ordinary.

CountOfDark///Thank you for commenting on every episode. Have a happy Friday^^