Y13 [EN]: Chapter 291

2011-2012 Finals (Final)

June 26th. American Airlines Center. Dallas.

“Wow… it’s the Finals after all!”

Steve Yeon and Lauren Cohen, who visited the stadium with Emily, exclaimed, recalling last year’s Finals. The blue T-shirts handed out at the stadium entrance had the Dallas Mavericks’ colt logo emblazoned on them, playfully topped with two small crowns.

“BACK TO BACK CHAMPION, huh…”

And the white lettering that read ‘Back-to-Back Champion.’ Steve nodded, impressed by Youngjae.

“If they actually win, he’ll have two rings in his second year. Isn’t that amazing?”

At Lauren’s words, Emily launched into an excited explanation about Youngjae, emphasizing how incredible he was. Steve and Lauren barely managed to calm the high-strung Emily down before they took their seats.

Thump, thump!

Thump, thump!

Buddy you’re a boy make a big noise

Playin’ in the street gonna be a big man some day

You got mud on your face You big disgrace

Kickin’ your can all over the place

Even before the game started, an intense beat reverberated through the American Airlines Center, followed by Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”

WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU!

As the lyrics reached a fever pitch, the 20,000 Dallas home fans sang along in unison, rocking their bodies.

[Hello! This is ESPN bringing you the 2010-2011 NBA FINALS!! Finally, the final game. The location for this fierce battle is none other than the American Airlines Center! You can already feel the heat! I’m Mike Breen, the commentator for this final Game 7! Alongside me are Jeff Van Gundy and Steve Kerr!]

Even with Mike Breen’s energetic introduction, his voice was slightly drowned out by Queen’s loud music, causing Steve Kerr and Jeff Van Gundy to raise their voices with slightly embarrassed expressions.

[It’s truly amazing! Dallas is practically in a festive mood! If they achieve the incredible feat of ‘BACK TO BACK CHAMPION’ that the home fans are wearing, this excitement will be nothing compared to it!]

[Wow, it’s incredible! It truly lives up to its reputation as a team that has sold out every home game for 12 consecutive years. It’s the result of consistently good performance combined with marketing prowess. The arena size is also one of the largest in the NBA.]

[Although all four major sports teams are based in this city, no team has been performing as well as the basketball team recently. Also, since the NFL and MLB are still in their regular seasons, they can’t attract as much attention as the NBA Finals. As a result, the entire Dallas area is going wild for the Mavericks.]

Mike Breen, remembering he still had a job to do, skillfully began to set the stage.

[So! What are your thoughts on today’s game? Can you briefly share your insights?]

Jeff Van Gundy was the first to speak. He started by saying he hadn’t expected the series to go this far.

[Since the Finals are a short series of only 7 games, the importance of the ace player is significant. Many experts predicted that Miami, having won Game 1, would finish the series at home in Games 3, 4, and 5! I also thought that might be the case, but the Miami Heat suffered a painful defeat in their first home game, Game 3, and eventually, it came down to the final game!]

Steve Kerr, not wanting to be outdone, smoothly took over the commentary.

[That’s right! There’s a reason why teams aiming for the Finals do their best in the regular season to secure home-court advantage. Having one more home game, especially Games 6 and 7 at home, is a significant advantage! From Miami’s perspective, they should have ended it decisively in Game 5 to prevent Dallas from taking advantage of that, but in the end, they were dragged to the final game!]

[The comparison of key players’ stats from both teams is on the screen! Miami’s Big 3 clearly has superior stats, right? That means those three players account for a high proportion of the team’s performance. On the other hand, looking at Dallas’s Top 3, while the starting players are performing excellently, the bench players also have a significant impact!]

[Dallas is one of the top 3 teams in bench strength along with San Antonio and Denver, while Miami is one of the bottom 3 along with Boston and the Lakers. In a way, it’s a natural result. Dallas’s bench efficiency is more than double that of Miami’s. Their scoring is 2.5 times higher, and their points allowed are only about 70%.]

[However, a common misconception is that Miami’s bench is weak because they formed the Big 3, but that’s only half true. The combined salary of Miami’s top 5 bench players is $15 million. Dallas’s is only about $19 million. In other words, Miami’s bench players aren’t living up to their salaries, while Dallas’s bench has many low-cost, high-efficiency players. Except for Terry, Parsons, and Wright earn around $1 million, and Barea and Brewer don’t exceed $3 million.]

(DALLAS BIG 3)

Youngjae Yoon: 21.8 points / 4.3 rebounds / 7.6 assists / 2.8 steals

Dirk Nowitzki: 21.7 points / 8.9 rebounds / 2.8 assists

Tyson Chandler: 12.7 points / 10.8 rebounds (4.1 offensive rebounds) / 1.6 blocks

(MIAMI BIG 3)

LeBron James: 30.3 points / 9.7 rebounds / 5.3 assists

Dwyane Wade: 19.2 points / 4.1 rebounds / 4.6 assists

Chris Bosh: 17.4 points / 9.4 rebounds / 1.4 blocks

*Finals 6-game average

[Tyson Chandler is showing tremendous performance, proving that the money he receives is not excessive at all. Despite being the first year of a large long-term contract of 4 years and $56 million, he is performing even better than last year. In the Finals, due to Miami’s lack of height in the paint, his put-back scores (direct scores after offensive rebounds) have increased, and there have been many alley-oop plays.]

[His defense and rebounding are definitely real. However, in terms of offensive power, the high proportion of alley-oop plays that thoroughly utilize Chris Bosh as a center, and Chandler’s consistent accumulation of put-back scores with his height advantage, are the results of Miami Heat’s special situation! Chris Bosh is somewhat lacking in defense, but he is showing a good performance in the offensive aspect, making up for Wade’s slump! Since he is the tallest in Miami from the beginning, it is difficult to call it a perfect small lineup. LeBron James, an all-around player, is heavily involved in rebounding, compensating for the weakness, which properly shows that Miami Heat is not easy to deal with!]

As the enthusiastic commentary continued, a man sitting behind the Miami Heat bench was caught on camera. The man was sitting with a serious expression to watch the game, and Mike Breen, seeing him, said with delight.

[The person the camera is showing… it’s President Pat Riley! It seems he came to watch the final game in person.]

[It seems he came to watch the game in person? Pat Riley is the person who essentially organized the current Miami team. He persuaded LeBron James and Chris Bosh to take pay cuts and had a relationship with Shane Battier, allowing him to sign a cheap contract with him. He has won the Coach of the Year award three times and has led three teams, LA Lakers, New York Knicks, and Miami Heat, to the Finals as a coach. Moreover, he is a legendary figure who has won championships with the LA Lakers and Miami Heat. He has now handed over full authority to coach Erik Spoelstra and is only in charge of general manager and president duties, but nevertheless, President Pat Riley’s appearance seems to be to personally check whether the mistakes of last year are being repeated!]

Jeff Van Gundy looked at the data for a moment and opened his mouth in surprise at a unique record.

[There is a record that Riley has won every time he has been caught on camera in the playoffs. We’ll have to see if that record continues today!]

[If, by any chance, the Miami Heat ends up as runner-up, despite Pat Riley creating an unprecedented combination of the Big 3 in their prime, if they still end up as runner-up this season, he may make a big move. He is the person who fired coach Stan Van Gundy in the early season of the 05-06 season and became the coach himself, defeating the current opponent, the Dallas Mavericks, to win the championship, so he will do something.]

Mike Breen nodded with a surprised expression.

[That means there could be a coaching change or trades of key players. Well, Miami’s roster has been strengthened compared to last season, and this is the season where the adaptation period, including teamwork and role distribution between players, has been completed. Nevertheless, if they fail to win the championship, it will show the limitations of the current Miami Heat. Since it won’t be easy to trade key players, the card of firing the coach may appear, despite giving strength to coach Erik Spoelstra, who was criticized for saying he would never coach again last offseason.]

Pat Riley’s surprise appearance caused a slight delay, and Mike Breen hurriedly began to introduce the starting lineups.

[The starting lineups for both teams remain the same! First, the visiting team, Miami Heat, is Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, Shane Battier, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh. On the other hand, the home team, Dallas Mavericks, is Jason Kidd, Youngjae Yoon, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, and Tyson Chandler.]

[Miami has all five of these players playing 33-43 minutes. LeBron played 43 minutes, and Wade played 39 minutes. Although they are young players, it is inevitable that they will be tired by Game 7. On the other hand, Dallas doesn’t have a single player playing more than 34 minutes. Yoon and Nowitzki played around 34 minutes, which is the longest.]

When you think about it, Dallas was rather abnormal. Among the 8 teams that made it to the second round of the playoffs, Dallas was the only team that didn’t have a single starting player playing more than 35 minutes. Steve Kerr nodded, saying it was unavoidable.

[This is inevitable in a way. Dallas Mavericks have better bench efficiency compared to Miami Heat. In the Finals, you have to squeeze out the team’s full strength as much as possible. Of course, Dallas Mavericks have to consider the stamina of their starters, so you can think that there are no players playing more than 35 minutes.]

[Even the San Antonio Spurs had Tony Parker playing over 36 minutes. It’s right to see Dallas as a special case. Dallas also has Youngjae Yoon who can play more than 35 minutes, but it’s thanks to the good skills of the rotation players and Coach Carlisle’s very good time management.]

Finally, the players from both teams came onto the court and lined up. They could have exchanged light greetings, but there was only extreme tension between the players of both teams, and nothing was exchanged.

“Hoo…”

Tyson Chandler and Chris Bosh preparing for the jump ball. The two players swallowed hard, and at the moment the referee’s whistle blew and the ball rose and fell, they jumped up with all their might.

“?!”

Thwack!

[Chris Bosh wins the jump ball!]

[Bosh, who has only won one jump ball contest until Game 6, wins today!]

As the ball, slightly touched by Bosh’s fingertips, went into LeBron James’s hands, the Dallas players quickly backpedaled.

[LeBron James, charging from the start! He grabs the ball at the top and immediately drives in!]

LeBron James’s breakthrough, like a tank. Marion, who has been suffering badly in this series, gritted his teeth, determined to stop him at all costs, and followed LeBron James from the high post. But LeBron pushed Marion away with his solid body and drove into the low post. Knowing LeBron’s breakthrough and not being able to stop it was exactly like that.

Swish-

[LeBron James’s bounce pass! He kicks it out to the left corner!]

Seeing that Nowitzki, who was in the corner, came to help defend LeBron as Marion was pushed back by LeBron’s powerful breakthrough, LeBron cleverly passed the ball out.

[Shane Battier receives the ball there and shoots a 3!!!]

[Nowitzki, who went to help, belatedly comes back to block, but it’s too late!]

Nowitzki stretched out his hand and jumped in front of Battier with all his might, but the ball had already left Battier’s hand.

Swish!

[BANG!!!!]

[Ah, Shane Battier’s 3-pointer explodes. If there is a player who is hottest from the outside in this Finals, it is this player. Before the Finals, he had a success rate of less than 30% in 18 playoff games, but in 6 Finals games, he has made 15 of 26 3-pointers, showing a success rate of 57.7%.]

[Battier’s 3-pointer is exploding, so LeBron can run wild even more. This is because the Dallas players are worried about the kick-out pass and cannot come to help defend recklessly. Of course, the fact that Dirk Nowitzki is the main player guarding Battier due to the abnormal lineup matchup is also definitely a reason. It is difficult for Nowitzki to keep up with Battier’s activity and good off-the-ball movement. If he does, he may not be able to do his part in the attack.]

[The score is 0:3 with a clean 3-pointer from the start! Dallas Mavericks are caught off guard!]

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

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

EvilStar, Don’t Get Out of the Way/// Something about BeanXX feels good on the tongue lol

Joshiker/// Oh, thank you for the quick comment

Han512, CountOfDark, DisappearingSoul, Omarion/// Thank you for the comments as always. Have a happy Friday~~

InklingTwo/// Lololol Bean13 lol. The nuance is that Bean Youngjae is better than King Youngjae, isn’t it?

Yabes/// Kidd will play for another year in reality anyway. With Marion and Parsons, Spo is the best except for teams with the Big 4. I wonder what changes there will be next season^^

magara/// I understand magara’s heart. However, if all the described games are winning games, the tension will be zero from some point. The fun that sports novels have is halved the moment the thought ‘Whether they are winning, neck and neck, or losing, the game result is a victory anyway?’ settles in the readers’ minds. That’s why there are more winning games, but a few losing games are mixed in as well. Still, for the sake of fun, I make even the losing games games where Youngjae performs decently if possible.

goimosp/// Miami needs to find a way to save Dragic first. If they don’t save Dragic, who is a 3rd team player from the previous season and receives a maximum-level salary, Miami will have a hard time even in the first round. Wade and Deng are not good from the outside, and since Dragic is also not good from the outside, the opponent just has to block the inside. Personally, Wade, who is not good at 3-pointers, doesn’t seem like a good partner for Dragic, who is an on-ball player. Dragic is not good at defense either. It’s hard to say that Wade is good at defense anymore.

LafirandJint/// Let’s go!!

BlackMoonHwaya/// It was a pity, just a hair’s breadth away. If only someone’s field goal had gone in or Youngjae’s free throw had gone in….

SilverTurtle/// He is a player who can be called one of the top 4 franchise players along with Wade, Duncan, and Kobe. Aging is correct, but the 11-12 season is more due to the shortened season. And players who cannot be traded have to be kept. There will be some changes in the squad next season as well.

FlameofDepravity, GoddessYuriPraise/// That’s right lol The real pitiful thing about Bean is his official competition winning record;;;ㅠ.ㅠ Youngjae has a championship ring in basketball, which is a team sport anyway.

RainyDaysMakeMeDepressed/// Eek lol Youngjae’s heart is torn…

Ultra10/// It seems like you’re disappointed that your prediction was wrong. Hehe, the author is a fan of Bean. Really??

Sleep.Self.Secret/// BeanBeanBean!!!