Y13 [EN]: Chapter 71

Y13-71

00071 2010-11 Regular Season =========================================================================

After the overwhelming victory against Oklahoma, Nowitzki decided to take a few weeks off due to a minor injury. With Nowitzki sidelined, Dallas’s offense became noticeably sluggish. Jason Terry and Caron Butler, whose strengths seemed diminished in Nowitzki’s absence, stepped forward. However, Caron Butler, the team’s second-highest scorer, suffered a season-ending injury, creating a tense atmosphere within the Dallas camp.

Fortunately, Youngjae’s resurgence helped Dallas secure a crucial victory, averting a potential long losing streak. The rookie’s outstanding performance was unexpected, as he was initially considered a fourth option and primarily a defensive guard. Even experts were surprised, leading to significant buzz around his contribution. Nevertheless, Nowitzki and Butler’s injuries were a clear setback for Dallas, signaling a need for change and strategic decisions.

A few days later, Youngjae, always the first to arrive at the training center, found Novak packing his bags in the locker room.

“Novak, what’s with the bags?”

“Yo, Super Rookie! Time for me to say goodbye.”

“…Are you getting traded?”

“I wish it were a trade; at least the team wouldn’t be losing out. My guaranteed contract conversion didn’t go through. I’m still on an unguaranteed contract.”

Youngjae sighed, remembering how those contracts worked. An unguaranteed contract means a player isn’t a permanent part of the team until a specific date; if they’re still on the roster after January 10th, their contract automatically becomes guaranteed. Until then, they only receive a portion of their salary.

“Already? It feels like I’ve spent the most time with you, Novak. It’s a shame. I thought you might stick around longer, especially with your accurate shooting.”

“I know, right? We’ve been playing together since the Summer League, so you’re the guy I’ve known the longest on this team. But there’s nothing I can do. This is the pros. It’s business, you know?”

“I get it, it’s just… I’m bummed out, that’s all.”

In his past life, Youngjae had experienced the constant cycle of players coming and going. He understood Novak’s feelings, having started his own career on an unguaranteed contract. Novak had been supportive from the beginning, treating Youngjae kindly as the team’s youngest member during the Dallas workout and throughout the Summer League. Despite not having extensive conversations, Novak’s meticulous and dedicated approach served as a valuable example for Youngjae.

“From the team’s perspective, especially since they’re paying luxury taxes [a penalty for exceeding the salary cap], my role overlaps with Cardinal’s, so they had to choose. Plus, with Butler out for the season, they need to free up a roster spot. This way, they save money and create room.”

Novak continued, offering a wry smile—an expression of someone who had been through this before. Youngjae knew that words of comfort rarely eased the sting of such situations, having faced similar crises in San Antonio. Instead, Youngjae simply extended his hand. Novak, understanding the unspoken empathy, smiled brightly and gripped it firmly.

“Players get waived [released from their contract] and traded all the time in the NBA, you know? You better get used to it. Well, you’ll do fine even without my advice. I’m going to go say goodbye to the other players.”

“Goodbye, Novak. I’m sure you’ll find a place on another team.”

Youngjae bid farewell to Novak with a heavy heart.

[MAVS Stories]

Date: 2011.01.24

Author: MAVSGOMAVS

To be honest, I’m still buzzing as I write this. Just think, until last year, our Mavs’ offense would completely fall apart if Nowitzki, our captain and center, wasn’t on the court.

This year, we were eagerly anticipating the performance of Rodrigo Beaubois, a dynamic guard who promised to boost our offensive capabilities. But he got injured during those darn World Championships. The French national team’s medical staff claimed he was fine, pushing him to overexert himself. Thankfully, Beaubois got a personal checkup in Turkey, where the World Championships were held, and discovered he had a broken toe bone, forcing him to withdraw for treatment. Aww… Dallas says Beaubois still isn’t ready to play and we have to wait at least three weeks.

In fact, because of Beaubois’ injury, we were prepared to see our Mavs labeled as a jump-shooting team, relying solely on outside shots with no inside game. But what’s been so exciting lately is this one player.

Mavs fans know who I’m talking about, right? Yoon Youngjae! Wow… Yoon Youngjae, who joined our Mavs wearing the number 25 after being picked in the first round! I’m embarrassed to admit that I initially told people not to get too hyped about the pick.

I was disappointed that we missed out on Dominic Jones and James Anderson, but then we picked Yoon Youngjae. Now, I’m a bigger fan of Yoon Youngjae than anyone else. Seriously, I even bought his jersey! (Boasting)

I thought Tyson Chandler’s arrival had strengthened our center position, but the guard situation was frankly hopeless. Kidd, Terry… Then Yoon Youngjae showed up and eased my worries.

Who would have thought the 25th pick would be such a steal? He’s not super fast or powerful, but his energy is incredible, his dribbling is smooth, his skills are top-notch, and he has a reliable drive to the basket that works well in the NBA. Plus, his shooting, a fundamental skill for a shooting guard, is also excellent. And he has great passing vision, probably because he played point guard until high school!

(Omitted)

I thought we’d fall into a losing streak when I heard about Nowitzki’s knee injury at the end of December. After losing two games against Toronto and San Antonio starting December 28th, Yoon Youngjae led us to a win against Milwaukee with an amazing performance, and we even defeated Cleveland and Portland! It’s no exaggeration to say that Kidd, Yoon Youngjae, and Tyson Chandler’s outstanding play saved us from a potential losing streak. Shawn Marion also filled Nowitzki’s void admirably. Nowitzki, who took a break for about two weeks, will be back from the Clippers game in two days, Korean time! I’m so touched ㅠㅠ

If Yoon Youngjae hadn’t stepped up to fill Nowitzki’s scoring role, Coach Carlisle would have been forced to play Nowitzki even if it was too soon. I’m incredibly grateful to Yoon Youngjae for preventing a long losing streak, even if our winning percentage has dropped a bit over the past two weeks!

*Yoon Youngjae is averaging 28.4 minutes, 18.2 points, 7.6 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 0.4 blocks, and 2.3 turnovers in January. It might be a stretch, but I hope he surpasses Blake Griffin, who everyone’s touting as the unanimous Rookie of the Year.

Other news: Caron Butler’s season-ending injury was confirmed on January 5th. Tough Juice Butler has been a huge asset to our team with his grit and dedication. I wasn’t sure, but Dallas will have to acquire a small forward through a trade to replace Butler, our second-best scorer. I trust Cuban [Mark Cuban, the Mavericks’ owner] won’t stand idly by. He’ll definitely strengthen our team.

There are some promising candidates, based on past interviews and players we’ve targeted:

[Andre Iguodala, Gerald Wallace, Danny Granger, Devin Harris, Jared Dudley]

And on January 11th, Dallas signed Sasha Pavlovic to a 10-day contract. He was the 19th pick in the first round, born in 1983, still in his 20s, and about 6’7″ (202cm) tall. He has a variety of skills, including the accurate mid-range shot that a small forward needs. But I don’t like how he sometimes loses focus during games… Anyway, I give our Mavs high marks for addressing Butler’s injury so quickly.

Re: Wow, that’s really amazing. Looking back now that Nowitzki was gone, I wondered if we’d even get 30 wins, but we already have 31. Hehe! He’s a real treasure!

Re: He’s got plenty of offensive ability, but I like Yoon Youngjae because of his amazing balance between offense and defense and his tenacity to never give up. Plus, he’s got a playful side that makes you root for him. Wow!

Re: I enjoyed reading your well-written post! Now that Nowitzki is back, all that’s left is to climb back to the top! We had a 2-game losing streak and a 3-game losing streak, but as you said, Yoon Youngjae is the one who broke those streaks!

Dallas, who had a fantastic 2010, was hit by a series of misfortunes. Starting with Nowitzki’s injury at the end of December, they received the shocking news on January 5th that Caron Butler was out for the season. Plus, Beaubois’ recovery wasn’t progressing as quickly as expected.

Experts and various media outlets predicted that Dallas would fall into a deep losing streak in the early 2011 games. But in the 14 games from Nowitzki’s absence to January 22nd, Dallas managed to overcome the crisis with a record of 6 wins and 8 losses. While this was a stark contrast to their earlier record of 25 wins and 4 losses, it was encouraging that they avoided a prolonged slump. The team’s scoring was significantly lower, but they persevered with a strong defense, including an effective zone defense.

During that period, Youngjae firmly established himself as a starting player. Until then, he played around 25 minutes due to physical limitations and team rotations. But after Nowitzki’s injury, his playing time increased to about 30 minutes. Youngjae was consistently brought in when the team’s offense stalled. Considering Terry’s inconsistency and Barea’s defensive liabilities, Dallas had no other reliable scorer besides Youngjae. Youngjae, whose role had drastically changed from only playing during blowouts at the beginning of the season, played with unmatched intensity during his increased minutes.

As a result, Youngjae’s nickname Y13 became popular among fans, and his exciting plays and fearless attitude were widely discussed. As he continued to perform well, articles about Youngjae appeared frequently, especially in the Korean media.

[Will he make the national team?]

Yoon Youngjae (20), who is putting on performances that no one anticipated, is the talk of the town. Yoon Youngjae, who joined the Dallas Mavericks as the 25th pick in the first round, has demonstrated excellent scoring ability as a starting shooting guard despite the team’s misfortunes. He has repeatedly saved them from potential losing streaks.

(Omitted)

Heo Jae, the former coach of the Korean national basketball team and current coach of Jeonju KCC, praised Yoon Youngjae, saying, “His performance is truly amazing. If China has Yao Ming, Korea has Yoon Youngjae.” Coach Heo Jae added, “I admire his sophisticated and intelligent play despite his young age. He also shows a spirit of fearlessness and a tenacity to never give up, qualities that are rare in today’s players. And his social skills are impressive. Anyone who’s been there knows how difficult it is to live alone in a foreign country at such a young age.” However, Coach Heo Jae was cautious about selecting him for the national team.

“He’s a rookie experiencing his first season in the NBA. He’s still young and has room to grow. Besides, the national competition will be held after the season ends. There’s still plenty of time. I don’t think it’s too late to consider it again then. That would be a great gift to Yoon Youngjae and Korean basketball in the long run,” he said.

However, unlike Coach Heo Jae, the KBL [Korean Basketball League] expressed optimism, stating that his selection for the national team is a given and that they would support it from a national perspective.

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