warrior godfather

Chapter 582
There was silence in the visiting locker room at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. After the Warriors returned, they took off their jerseys, threw them aside, went to shower, and then buried themselves in packing their things.

In the huge room, there were only various trivial voices, as well as faint voices from outside the door, which were crazy Thunder fans celebrating the team's winning the Western Conference Championship and advancing to the Finals.

When Zhang Yu walked into the locker room, what he saw was such a scene.

He broke the silence by saying:

"Are you unwilling to lose? Do you think that the Thunder won't win? Do you think that as long as Stephen is around, we are the team that will enter the finals?"

Everyone looked up when he uttered the first word. After he finished speaking, Green was the first to say:
"Yes, boss, I am very unwilling, but injuries are inevitable. Stephen can't play. It's not his fault. No one can make him come back at the risk of a second injury. He has done enough. Too much, if it weren't for him, we wouldn't be able to come to the second place in the West, and the loss is because we are not as skilled as others."

"That's right, if only I made a few more three-pointers." Clay said in a muffled voice.

Chandler, who has always been rough, sighed instead:
"Hey, this is a chance for three consecutive championships, what a pity..."

Everyone was no longer silent, and they all spoke out what they were holding back in their hearts. What moved Zhang Yu was that no one blamed Curry, even though they all knew that Curry could play if he was blocked.

The relationship between Warriors players and Curry is very special. Curry is the boss of the team, but he has a thin body, a weak appearance, and a jovial way of playing. He does not have the momentum of the team boss at all. Everyone regards Curry as a need The object of protection, I don't want to see this selfless boss get hurt a little bit.

Among them, Clay is the most introverted, but he respects Curry who surpasses him in shooting skills. After a few years of getting along, he treats Curry as a brother. He doesn't say anything, but he is willing to defend on the court. The vanguard protects Curry on the defensive end, and does not fight or grab the status of the team. Everything is led by Curry.

Green is a smart guy, defending Curry everywhere on the court, as long as Curry is fouled, he must be the first to show up.

Because Green knows that no other team has a second head star who would be willing to give up the ball to the team's blue-collar power forward to deal with the organization. Only in the Warriors, only with the selfless Curry, can he play the role of organizer , Demonstrated his almighty skills and won a big contract.

Everyone talked more and more vigorously, and even began to summarize the experience and lessons of this round of the series. Zhang Yu raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said with a smile:
"Okay, if you really want to sum up your experience, you can go back to the video class tomorrow."

"Uh, then it's not necessary..." Everyone shook their heads and refused when they heard the words.

Losing a playoff game and sitting for hours watching tape is absolute hell.

Zhang Yu raised his hand and pressed down twice, everyone fell silent, Zhang Yu said:
"Although we lost to the Thunder 1:4, I am very satisfied with everyone's performance. Everyone knows that we are at a disadvantage in this round of the series. The Thunder has the MVP and the scoring champion, and our scoring Wang couldn't play, no one thought we had any hope of winning. But even in this situation, none of us gave up, no one surrendered, we played our full strength on the court, although we lost, we were standing If we lose, if we don't put in [-]% effort, we will definitely be swept away."

"To be honest, I am very satisfied with the team's performance if I can reverse the Clippers. At that time, I had no idea and was ready to be eliminated by the Clippers. Getting to the Western Conference Finals, we've earned it, and you don't need to feel guilty or depressed about it."

After Zhang Yu finished speaking, the frustration and loss on everyone's faces were much less, and their expressions relaxed slightly, and even smiled a little.

Although they lost miserably, whether it was 1:3 behind the Clippers or before today, they have never surrendered at any time, which is their pride as the defending champion.

Zhang Yu paused and continued:

"However, we are still not strong enough. I am not asking you to reach the finals or even win the championship in the absence of Stephen. This is unrealistic, but when it comes to each game and each round, we are The offensive end is always unstable, Stephen is not here, I can't even find someone who can score in the next round..."

Clay shook his head, pursed his lips tightly, and Curry, who was sitting beside him, patted him on the shoulder. Leonard lowered his head, and Green hugged him, whispering something in his ear.

"I have to remind you guys, we are not defending champions now, we are losers, we are challengers again, although I know you tried your best, but others don't care about that, they don't care how we lost , They only care about us finally losing, this is the cruelty of the NBA, as long as you are a loser, then everything you do is wrong, are you willing to be a loser?"

"Not reconciled!"

"no way!"

Everyone said loudly.

"Then train well this summer, make a comeback next season, and shut their mouths with the championship and dynasty!"

"Yes, sir!"

In the subsequent post-match interview, Zhang Yu also praised the team's performance without criticizing anyone.

A reporter asked:
"Would the Warriors have won this series if Steph hadn't been injured?"

Zhang Yu replied:

"I don't want to make such an assumption. Injuries are also part of the game. In the past, when Stephen was healthy, we played against the Thunder. I believe there will be such opportunities in the future. When the time comes, the game will tell everything."

There was nothing wrong with these words, but when they reached the ears of the fans, the reaction was completely different.

Warriors fans applauded:

"Coach Z is right! When Curry was here, he beat the Thunder every game. It means that Curry was injured, otherwise the Thunder wouldn't want to win!"

"Hehe, the Thunder just took advantage of others' danger. Curry was injured by Durant himself. Is there such a coincidence? I think Durant did it on purpose!"

Thunder fans taunted:
"The only thing Curry is better than Durant is that his teammates are better than Durant. Curry can be taken to the Western Conference Finals lying down. If Durant is injured, believe it or not, the Thunder will not make the playoffs." go?"

"Coach Z personally said that Durant didn't do it on purpose, and Yongmi is still rehabilitating old scores? That's all she can do. Let's have fun without being swept away."

The two sides immediately started a battle:
"Hehe, when Durant was beaten by Curry before, why didn't you jump out and say this?"

"Curry was abused by Nash in the first round, so Nash is better than Curry?"

"Curry led the team to the playoffs in his rookie season. What did Durant do in his rookie season? Oh, he's playing badly for the No. [-] pick, right?"

"Isn't it just relying on the lineup? Give Coach Z a try in the Thunder. Durant is definitely better than Curry!"

"Then Durant has to wait, otherwise he can come to the Warriors and be Curry's younger brother, otherwise he will never even think about winning a championship!"

"Don't worry so much about fishing. The Thunder will win the championship this year. Durant will definitely not leave the Thunder. Let Curry be his little brother!"

Since then, the fans of the two teams, who have already had a grudge, have become more antagonistic to each other, comparable to the relationship between Warriors fans and Heat fans.

Thunder fans also took advantage of the opportunity to unite with Heat fans to face Warriors fans together. Clippers fans who were eliminated by Warriors also joined in, with a huge momentum.

……

The next day, the Warriors flew back to Oakland on a special plane. Hundreds of fans gathered outside the airport to greet them and held up banners to comfort them. This moved the Warriors players greatly and made their comeback more urgent.

After the team disbanded, Zhang Yu dealt with many trivial matters. When he got home, he picked up the phone and replied to the received text messages and missed calls one by one.

After the Warriors lost the game last night, Zhang Haijun, Li Yinghua, Mark Baum and others all called and texted Zhang Yu to comfort Zhang Yu, but he didn't have the time and energy to reply, and it has been delayed until now.

After being busy for half an hour, Zhang Yu's mouth was a little dry, and there was only the last text message in the phone that had not been answered, which was from Stevens.

After hesitating for a while, Zhang Yu did not reply to the text message, but called Stevens.

After a long wait, the phone was picked up, and Stevens' hoarse voice came from the phone:
"Ronan, what can I do for you?"

"Did you forget? You texted me yesterday."

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot, well, the Warriors were just unlucky to lose. If Stephen wasn't injured, the Thunder would definitely not be your opponent..."

"Are you just being so perfunctory in comforting people?"

"Otherwise? I was looking forward to competing with you in the finals, but you broke the appointment. I am more sad than you!"

"...Forget it, let's not talk about it, your voice sounds awkward, are you sick?"

"No, it's just that my throat feels a little uncomfortable, and I don't know why, maybe it's because I've been sleeping late these days."

"Oh, drink more hot water... well, I forgot you Americans don't drink hot water."

"Since you're fine, let's do this, I still need to study the Thunder's game video, bye..."

Previously, the Bulls had eliminated the Pacers with a big score of 4:2 and successfully advanced to the finals. However, since the Warriors and the Clippers did not decide the winner until the tiebreaker, the Western Conference Finals started later than the Eastern Conference Finals, so although the Warriors It was swept by Gentleman Thunder, but it ended two days later than the Eastern Finals.

"Wait a minute!" Zhang Yu called to stop Stevens.

"What else do you have to do? I'm busy!"

"Brad, I just played against the Thunder, don't you want to get some advice from me?"

"Oh? Let's hear it, I've been watching the Thunder's game video for the past few days, thinking about how to arrange tactics, but I'm still a little hesitant..."

"These few days? You didn't like us from the beginning?"

"Nonsense, if Stephen doesn't come back, what are you going to use to fight the Thunder? It's luck not to be swept! Unless you let Stephen play in a closed game, but based on what I know about you, you definitely won't do that."

"Forget that you said something human..."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense, tell me, what do you think?"

"In fact, Lei Ting's weakness is obvious. As long as you do this, you will definitely gain the upper hand..."

……

On June 6th, the Finals G5 kicked off at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. This is the first time in three years that the Heat have missed the finals, and it is also the first time that the Warriors, the champions of the past two years, have missed the finals. This year will definitely decide A new king of the alliance.

This is also the finals with the least level of gunpowder in recent years. In 2001, it was the revenge battle of the Mavericks, and the fans of the Big Three were arrogant. The emperor who had never been on the throne was overthrown, and James fans and Warriors fans even forged a death feud.

The Thunder and the Bulls had no grievances before, and the only thing that could be involved was the Bulls' victory over the Sonics in the 1996 Finals, but that was already a long time ago.

The media can only hype the MVP matchup between Rose and Durant, the point guard battle between Rose and Westbrook, and the reunion between Butler and Durant. Among them, only Westbrook dared to say that Rose would not be his opponent , but Ross just laughed it off.

Two years ago, Rose would have to say "what are you mvp", but now, he only wants to win the championship and has lost interest in anything else.

After the start of the game, the Thunder was still in the testing stage, and their tactics were relatively conservative. However, Stevens, who was instructed by Zhang Yu, was very targeted in his tactics, and the Bulls quickly gained the upper hand.

As soon as the Bulls came up, they frantically pinched Durant and forced him to play. When Westbrook held the ball, Stevens arranged for Rose to defend alone. He could keep up with Westbrook's speed. Just shrink wildly, block the penalty area, completely empty Ibaka and Tony Allen, and let them shoot casually.

This is very similar to the Warriors' defense in the Western Conference Finals. The only difference is that Noah is now at his peak and won the best defensive player. Chandler's state is much worse than him, and the Bulls are stronger on the frame.

Moreover, Noah's footsteps are not slow, and he can sweep around inside. This is something Chandler can't do. He played more playoffs than before, consumed too much, and suffered more injuries. Over the same period the level dropped a lot.

On the offensive end, the Bulls returned to basics and reduced tactical coordination. Rose and Butler played more singles with the ball and simple pick-and-roll cooperation, as if they returned to the Bulls when Thibodeau was coaching overnight.

This is because the Thunder adopted a strategy of infinitely switching defenses to block the shots of other Bulls players. This was also expected by Zhang Yu and Stevens. Gobert.

Gobert is a center with great potential, but in front of Rose, he is just a baguette.

Rose fully fired, turned the Thunder's restricted area upside down, and told Westbrook with his actions why he is the No. [-] pick, and Westbrook is not even the third pick.

Talent, impact, organization, long-range shooting, efficiency... Rose is better than Westbrook. The only thing Westbrook is better than him is the data.

Butler was also handy in bullying Gobert, causing Gobert's consecutive fouls. Brooks had to replace Gobert, imitating Zhang Yu, and replaced the fifth junior. Ibaka came to the center position.

This is also within the scope of discussion between Zhang Yu and Stevens. When the Thunder relied on the mobility of the five small lineups to shrink the frame, Stevens sent Dunleavy, the most accurate shooter in the Bulls, to open up space. With Hall in ambush at a high mid-range position, Rose and Butler broke through and compressed the Thunder's defensive formation, and then distributed the ball outward to drive the Bulls' overall offense.

The Thunder are not helpless. Durant can still score without the ball, and Westbrook's momentum is no worse than Rose's.

It’s just that the production without the ball will not increase after all, Noah’s defense is not bad compared to Gobert’s, Westbrook’s turnovers are far more than that of Rose, who is stable, and the quality of the Thunder’s outside shooters is far inferior to that of the Bulls. disadvantage.

In the end, the Bulls suppressed the Thunder and got a good start to the finals with 105:93, leading 1:0.

After the game, Stevens said in an interview:
"I consulted Ronan's opinion, he put forward a lot of useful suggestions, we can win G1, we must thank him for his help..."

This made Thunder fans gnash their teeth with hatred for Zhang Yu, and finally won the Warriors once, thinking that the sea and the sky would be brighter from now on, but in the end they still couldn't get rid of Zhang Yu's shadow, who could bear it?

But they couldn't do anything, they could only mock the Warriors for fishing, but the Thunder's loss in the Finals was real, which made Warriors fans outraged.

　Make up for yesterday, and still have it today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)