Y13 [EN]: Chapter 286

00286 2011-2012 Finals

In the intense back-and-forth that followed, with about 8 minutes left in the first quarter, the score was 23-18. Dallas held a 5-point lead, thanks to their high shooting accuracy and three-pointers, prompting a timeout.

“Alright. Not a bad start.”

Coach Carlisle encouraged the Dallas players, clapping his hands.

“But our opponent is the Miami Heat. The strongest team in the East. We can’t let our guard down until the end.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Wright, you’re coming in for Chandler. Get ready. You remember what we discussed, right?”

As he had stated in the pre-game tactical meeting, Coach Carlisle prepared Brandon Wright. After the series against San Antonio, Coach Carlisle and the coaching staff researched and deliberated on how to play against Miami. They decided to use Wright as the backup center instead of Haywood in the Finals.

Haywood was slow-footed and couldn’t defend the perimeter, making him a poor matchup against Bosh and Haslem. Wright was somewhat weak, but he wouldn’t leave Bosh unmarked. Besides, Bosh preferred face-up plays rather than post-ups. Therefore, Dallas had no choice but to adjust their rotation, focusing on players who could maximize mobility.

“Barea, Parsons. You guys will replace Kidd and Marion. So, Barea, you’ll face Chalmers, mixing drives with appropriate kick-outs to create open looks for Yoon, Parsons, and Nowitzki. Parsons, you’ll move more on the perimeter than Marion, but focus on defense.”

The players nodded at Coach Carlisle’s words and stepped onto the court. Seeing the players enter, Mike Breen opened his mouth in surprise.

“Wow, is Rick Carlisle going with a unique lineup again?! Dallas is putting in Brandon Wright as center instead of Brendan Haywood? Originally, Haywood was the backup center, and Wright was more of a third-string center and backup power forward. What’s the intention here?”

Jeff Van Gundy responded, seemingly agreeing with Mike Breen’s question.

“I thought Brandon Haywood might be almost excluded from this series. He’s too slow to match up against Miami’s small lineup. Wright’s weakness is his lean frame and lack of strength, but he’s perfect for guarding Bosh, who prefers face-ups, and Haslem, who focuses on screens and catch-and-shoot plays. Miami has Joel Anthony and Ronny Turiaf as centers, but their offensive capabilities are weak, and they hardly get any playing time, so it’s not a problem at all. Plus, the disadvantage of Wright’s short shooting range when playing power forward disappears when he plays center.”

Steve Kerr continued Jeff Van Gundy’s remarks.

“Brandon Wright is a small center at 6-10 [6 feet, 10 inches], but he’s not that much shorter than Bosh, and his explosiveness and speed are superior. If it succeeds, it will be a brilliant piece of personnel management by Coach Carlisle. Even if it fails, it’ll be better than Haywood. If Haywood comes in, Miami’s perimeter will explode. Haywood is better than Wright at guarding post-up centers and controlling rebounds, but Wright is superior in a mobile team defense that emphasizes helping, recovering, or switching.”

With that, the game resumed. It started with Dallas’s possession after the timeout, and Mike Breen mentioned the Miami Heat’s roster changes.

“The Miami Heat has Mario Chalmers – Dwyane Wade – LeBron James – Chris Bosh – Joel Anthony in the lineup?”

“They’ll probably limit Bosh’s playing time and utilize shooters more. Instead, they seem to be entrusting the tough defense inside to Anthony. Chalmers, Wade, and James will probably play a lot of minutes again today. They were players who played over 35 minutes in the series against Boston.”

Nowitzki passed the ball inbounds from the sideline. Youngjae, receiving the pass, paused at the top of the key before using Wright’s screen to drive past his defender.

“Wow! Brandon Wright and Youngjae Yoon don’t play together often, but their chemistry is amazing! Another pick-and-roll!”

Wade slightly moved forward to avoid Wright’s screen and stuck to Youngjae. However, Youngjae had anticipated that Wade would be able to do that, so he wasn’t flustered and continued to drive inside.

“Joel Anthony! He’s turning his body towards Youngjae Yoon to help, but he can’t leave Brandon Wright open like that!”

“Dwyane Wade seems to be trying to double-team Youngjae Yoon to force a mistake, but it’s not easy!”

It wasn’t difficult for Youngjae. Joel Anthony might be a player specialized in pick-and-roll defense, but Youngjae was a pick-and-roll master himself. Moreover, Anthony’s performance had slightly declined due to reduced playing time.

Whoosh!!!

An alley-oop pass at a height that Anthony couldn’t reach even with his jump, having mistimed his move. But Wright wasn’t called “Helicopter” for nothing.

“Uwaaa!!!”

Youngjae’s pass was a bit high, but true to his nickname, Wright caught it and slammed it into the hoop. Youngjae’s alley-oop passes weren’t always perfect, but the players catching them were skilled enough to make it work.

KWAANG!!!

“KABOOM!!”

“The Helicopter has started its engine! That’s an incredible height!”

“25 to 18! The score widens to a 7-point lead?”

Wright’s NASTY SLAM caused the home fans to erupt in cheers, unable to contain their excitement.

LET’S GO MAVS!!!

“The cheers, as if rehearsed, are engulfing the American Airlines Center! It’s truly amazing?!”

“When such an incredible dunk happens, it’s natural to get excited! It was a perfect alley-oop slam that words can’t describe!”

Coach Carlisle’s personnel strategy hit the mark. Wright showed better-than-expected efficiency with his aggressive defense and movement. There were several drawbacks to using him as a center, but those drawbacks almost disappeared against a team like Miami.

“…”

With 2 minutes left in the first quarter, Coach Carlisle made a substitution. He replaced Youngjae, who had recorded 7 points and 3 assists in 10 minutes, with Terry, and Kidd was brought in for Barea, who had been short but effective. The Barea-Terry pairing was the least efficient of Dallas’s guard combinations.

But that’s where the problems started.

“They can’t contain Dwyane Wade!”

“It seems like Wade and LeBron are planning to have minimal rest today as well. It’s an unavoidable choice given Miami’s team composition.”

“Coach Spoelstra probably doesn’t have an alternative, and Wade and LeBron probably wanted a lot of playing time too. They’re well aware of the difference between when they’re on the court and when they’re not.”

If it’s the opponent’s home court, the visiting team naturally feels psychological pressure. The pressure from the home fans, and the pressure of being on the road. Starting the first game on the opponent’s home court is incredibly stressful.

“It’s difficult for Jason Kidd to properly defend Dwyane Wade. Even last season, Kidd showed decent defense when matched up against Wade and LeBron, but this season, his speed has drastically decreased, making it difficult for him to guard Wade. As expected, it’s hard to predict the decline of veterans year by year.”

Wade penetrated from the top of the key to the basket, using his unique physicality.

“Ah, he’s just blowing right by!”

In the end, Wright was left to defend Wade, who had penetrated from the left wing, all alone. Wright didn’t make any reckless moves, as instructed by the coaching staff. A hasty and overly physical defense could give a player like Wade an and-one opportunity [a play where a player is fouled while scoring, resulting in a free throw]. Wright used his size to block Wade’s view of the rim as he cut towards the basket in an S-shape, raising his hand to interfere with Wade’s shot.

“Wright! Good defense!”

At that moment, Wade leaped forward as if throwing his body, colliding with Wright and trying to force the ball over the rim.

“Kuh!”

A slight touch or rough physical contact would result in a shooting foul. And at such a close distance to the rim, an and-one was definitely possible. Wright did his best to defend, keeping his hand near the ball and maintaining his position, but with just a hint of passivity, Wade confidently put up the shot.

Squeak- Squeak Squeak-!!

Wade, having released the ball, lost his balance and stumbled, the sound of his shoes scraping against the court echoing loudly, before falling on his backside. Wright pushed Bosh away to secure the rebound.

Tick-

Swish!

“WADE!!! PUT’S IN IT!”

“A baseline finish that shows Dwyane Wade’s class! Spectacular!”

“Brandon Wright didn’t overcommit either. Players with weak power like Wright are prone to giving up and-ones if they defend recklessly. He minimized physical contact while trying to block the view as much as possible.”

Beeeep- Beeeep!!!

“With that, the first quarter ends. The score is 28 to 25! A close game with a 3-point difference.”

“The absence of Chandler and Yoon was felt in the late first quarter. LeBron was contained by Marion and Parsons, but they couldn’t control Wade.”

Coach Carlisle looked at Youngjae, who was sitting on the bench watching the game intently. Then, he looked at the players returning to the bench.

“…”

Coach Carlisle didn’t show it, but he knew for sure. Among the Dallas guards, no one but Youngjae could contain Wade. But Youngjae’s stamina was lower than Wade’s. Moreover, stamina was an even more sensitive issue for a player who relied more on jump shots than rim attacks, so it was difficult to excessively increase Youngjae’s playing time.

‘It can’t be helped. No matter how deep a team’s roster is, they can’t eliminate their reliance on their ace. Our team without Yoon is no different from Miami without Wade. But it’s the coach’s role to narrow that gap, and the role of the bench players.’

Beeeep!!

After organizing his thoughts, Coach Carlisle instructed the players again and changed the lineup. Coach Spoelstra, being a video analyst, also had a good grasp of the big picture and didn’t hesitate in his player usage. Although he was still evaluated as lacking in team control and in-game improvisation, he was praised for his ability to create a grand strategy.

“There are slight changes in both teams’ lineups as the second quarter begins.”

“The Dallas Mavericks are fielding a lineup of Jason Kidd, Youngjae Yoon, Corey Brewer, Shawn Marion, and Brandon Wright. It’s a lineup that emphasizes defense. Coach Carlisle’s intention to prevent opponents from even getting close to the basket by simultaneously deploying Brewer and Marion to compensate for Wright’s lack of rim protection is evident.”

“The Miami Heat has Norris Cole, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, LeBron James, and Udonis Haslem. It’s a lineup of LeBron and shooters. Norris Cole is a rookie who hasn’t even been included in the core bench lineup, even though he’s a point guard. In the end, LeBron’s post-ups, drives, and kick-out passes will be the main offensive routes. Miami’s roster requires at least one of Wade and LeBron to be on the court.”

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

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cocacolajungdok/// I think that’s the dilemma of sports novels. It’s the same with other novels, not just sports. You have to blend failures, hardships, ordinariness, and excellence well. It’s also something we need to work on in the future.

Han512, sarajilyounghon, witted, miyalma, -DarkANGEL-, omalion, CountOfDark, ㅎ0ㅎ, eastarea/// Thank you for your comments as always. Have a great new week~

Yabesu/// Yes. Youngjae’s record in his second year is better than Kobe’s in his third year. But Kobe’s personal stats after that are unmatched except for LeBron. He had a lot of roles and ball possession. He also had almost no injuries until late in his career. Considering Youngjae’s stamina, team color, and mindset, it might be better to try to surpass Kobe in terms of number of championships, efficiency, and versatility rather than cumulative stats.

Gangjail/// Lol, how did that typo happen… Thanks for pointing it out.

YeosinYuriChanyang/// There was controversy over his clutch performance until the previous season (10-11), but he won the championship in the 11-12 season (currently in the story) and showed overwhelming playoff performance, ending the clutch controversy.

Lapirandjinteu/// I can hear the arena announcer’s Let’s go Mavs!!

Heukwolhwaya/// The emergence of an ace changes the direction of the team. Thank you for always supporting Youngjae~

goimosp/// If LeBron had lost to Oklahoma at this time, the anti-LeBron sentiment would have been enormous. It would have been difficult to win afterwards. Then LeBron’s history would have been unfortunate.

Ultra10/// Yes. It’s a pretty good roster. However, even with Youngjae’s arrival, it was difficult for the roster to improve further in just two years. This darn salary cap…

As you said, Barea is the only other player besides Youngjae who is a drive-oriented player. Barea is an excellent slasher as a role player, but he is very susceptible to fluctuations and matchups when facing starters. Since there are many veterans, there is no choice but to have a shortage of slashers.

Um, and Parsons’ playing style is closer to a swingman than a catch-and-shooter. His spot-up 3-point success rate is lower than expected, and his success rate near the basket due to pick-and-rolls and cuts is high. There is a difference of more than 15% between his 2-point and 3-point success rates. In the first half of last season, his expected points per pick-and-roll position were top-class. Parsons this season is close to being a disaster;;; In the Dallas of the story, it is his first season, and the coach is not giving him the role of a driver or pick-and-roll ball-handler due to the team’s roster composition.

Parsons in his third year with Houston (2013-2014) was a versatile swingman who could assist in leading, pick-and-roll, alley-oop passes, and pull-up jumpers. He was fine until his first season with Dallas, but he collapsed after the injury… He was evaluated as a player who was good enough to be a 2nd or 3rd option with a salary of around 10~13M, entering the top 10 FA players in 2014 at the time of FA. Now he is just an overpaid player receiving a salary of 15.3M…