I was determined to be bad, but I went straight to the Basketball Hall of Fame

Chapter 507 Change of position
After the game, the atmosphere in the Clippers locker room was very solemn.

The much-anticipated and anticipated Clippers' first playoff game of the 12 season was upset by the Spurs.

The NBA playoffs are so different from the regular season, and it's unfair in a sense.

In the seven-game series, the team with the better record in the regular season just has one more home court.

Although in a close match, home field advantage may determine the trend of the final series.

But the side that fought at home first also faced tremendous pressure.

Once the first two home games are lost, it means that the home court advantage is lost.

The second home game must be defended, otherwise the series will become very difficult if they go to the away game with a 0:2 disadvantage.

The Spurs have always been a master team that pretends to be a pig and eats a tiger. Under the leadership of Popovich, the Spurs have always operated smoothly in the regular season, rarely rushing.

In a normal season, they are number one in the league and have the strength to win 60 wins, but they generally have reservations in order to keep their strength in the playoffs.

Especially in the past two years, the GDP trio is getting older and more troubled by injuries.

This year, due to poor signings and a shortened season, Popovich also stopped playing in the regular season, allowing several veterans to rest more.

In fact, in terms of strength, among the teams in the lower half, the Spurs are definitely very strong.

In the last few games of the first round, the Spurs clearly had the opportunity to rush to the sixth or even the fifth position, but they stayed in the seventh place just to get revenge against the Clippers.

Facing the revenge-focused and well-prepared Spurs, the Clippers were obviously not prepared enough, and there were also problems with the scheduling during the game.

Tyronn Lue and Steve Kerr had different opinions, and the tactical arrangements on the court were quite chaotic without a real focus.

At the beginning, Randolph's inside attack was expected by the Spurs. Later, they hoped to use Jeremy Lin to lead the rhythm, but failed, and immediately put Jeremy Lin on the bench and did not let him play again.

The state of Curry and Harden's two offensive engines has not been played out.

The fighting spirit of the first two seasons is gone. Instead, the old Spurs are aggressive and defeated the Clippers with the attitude of the Avengers, teaching the young Clippers a lesson.

When Min Congda entered the locker room, everyone didn't talk much, just sat on their seats and silently sorted things.

The reporter's interview had just ended, and everyone was rather depressed, but seeing Min Congda come in, everyone felt better.

Because every time you lose, Mr. Smart will comfort everyone, let everyone relax, and don't care too much about winning or losing.

But this time the situation seemed to be a little different, Min Congda's expression was equally dignified, with his brows furrowed.

Can he not be dignified, he is not at all happy about losing tonight.

Mrs. Sterling just said in the VIP box that if the Clippers have a poor record, such as being eliminated in the first round or stopping in the semifinals, then financial institutions are unlikely to lend money to the Clippers to build a new arena.

Yes, the key to the profitability of a team depends on the team's record. A good record has traffic and attention, box office and related endorsements, and peripheral income can be high. Only then can there be enough cash flow and profits to cover future debts and interest. .

Financial institutions are not engaged in charity. If you want to bear a huge amount of debt, you must first have the ability to bear the debt.

Min Congda remembers that those companies that went bankrupt due to excessive debts were initially well-managed and had a bright future.

It's a pity that it couldn't withstand various factors such as changes in the industry situation, the trend of the times, black swan incidents, and the operators' own death. From a star enterprise to a debtor, to bankruptcy.

Now if you want the "A Fang Gong Project" to run smoothly, you must make the Clippers look very promising.

Judging from the performance of the previous two seasons, the Clippers have potential.

And this season, the potential needs to be realized once in the playoffs.

Otherwise, with the second place in the regular season in the Western Conference, the performance in the playoffs is not as good as the eighth period in the Western Conference. In any case, it is unreasonable.

Everyone quickly realized that Mr. Smart was different tonight than usual, and he didn't look very happy after losing.

"As a fan who watched the game from the sidelines, I'm ashamed of you for what you did tonight."

Min Congda stood in the middle of the locker room and rarely criticized the performance of the Clippers.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads to listen to the training.

"I know, the team is going through a difficult time right now, because of a recording, everyone's focus is not on basketball, but on other things. But let's be clear, these are only temporary, Clippers It is a basketball team. Our fundamental goal is to win and go further! When you step on the court, all your thoughts and thoughts must be on basketball. The coaching staff must carefully formulate tactics, and the players must execute them with all their strength. Go, win the game, this is the best response to outside public opinion!"

"After the incident, I didn't say anything, and everyone remained silent, because we are a united team, we will always put the interests of the team first, and we will not do something out of line to show our personal ideas. , Say some outrageous words. We are low-key, tough, full of vitality, with incredible energy! But I didn't see any of these things tonight. Where are your thoughts? Stephen? James? Zach? Mark? Paul? Jamie? Everyone, I mean everyone, tomorrow, find some time to watch the tape of tonight's game carefully, find out where the problem is, see how bad you are playing on the court, and then prepare for the next game. Get ready for a game."

"The series is not over yet, this year our journey has just begun."

Min Congda's tone was flat, but every sentence was in the heart of the Clippers.

Min Congda never pours chicken soup on the players, and always looks relaxed and hip-hop.

Winning is hard, losing is easy.

As a result, it happened suddenly, and the effect it brought was quite remarkable.

A sense of shame permeated the team, followed by a strong desire for the next victory.

If a person yells every day in front of the players, asking everyone to cheer up and win the game, it may be effective for a while.

But after a long time, anyone will become numb and tired, and the chicken soup will always get tired of drinking.

And Min Congda usually looks like he doesn't care if he wins or loses, but when he came here suddenly, he gave a very strong impression.

Everyone knows that this game cannot be lost, it must be won!
In addition to encouraging the whole team in terms of morale, Min Congda also personally participated in the team's coaching staff meeting the next day.

Min Congda has not participated in team tactical meetings, daily training, and construction for a long time since he handed over the coach to Lu for guidance.

Coming to the familiar meeting room, Min Congda consciously sat in the head coach's seat, and then asked the video analyst to take out yesterday's game video and play it.

For Tyronn Lu and Cole, this is tantamount to a public execution.

"The opening tactical arrangement failed."

"Substitutions in the middle, and hesitation in employing people."

"No adjustments in the third quarter."

"At the decisive moment of the fourth quarter, there is no strategy at all?"

"What is the use of so many players who can play on the bench for you? You can score points in the regular season, and you won't use any of them in the playoffs?"

Min Congda scolded, saying that no one on the Clippers coaching staff dared to speak out.

After all, Min Congda is the perfect coach, and his coaching level is obvious to all.

Tyronn Lue was very good in the regular season. His looseness and freedom gave the players a lot of opportunities to exercise and improve.

But when it comes to the playoffs, a critical moment like the playoffs, a leader must stand up and set the tone.

Tyronn Lu and Steve Kerr are evenly matched, and Min Congda is the one who can lead at this time.

For Min Congda, losing is difficult, but if you let him win, then he really understands.

"The combination of Duncan + Splitter is very strong defensively. Don't go head-to-head with them. We must make good use of our advantages on the outside, especially the advantages of the striker. Our striker resources are so abundant, why not use them? George, Renner De, Ricky Davis, Butler, we have to play smart instead of hard."

"The mid-range must be developed. We also have mid-range masters. Don't just think about shooting three-pointers in the playoffs. Randolph, Curry, and especially Harden can attack opponents from the mid-range. We must flexibly play players We need to focus on their abilities and target the Spurs’ defensive loopholes. Don’t make the tactics too complicated, our players have good personal abilities.”

Min Congda knew that it was not a good idea to fight recklessly or play strategy with the Spurs.

Popovich is old and cunning. If you follow his rhythm to play tricks, the series will inevitably become entangled.

On the contrary, using the talents and personal abilities of the players, through some small cooperation, hitting the snake and hitting the seven inches can have a very good effect.

Just like Kobe's Lakers playing the Spurs, let you come a few ways, I just go all the way, and kill you in the middle distance, so that you can't do anything.

The Spurs are now aging, and there is a shortage of strikers at the third position, and the defense at the second and third positions is a big problem.

"James Harden must play in this round of the series. He is the most difficult player for the Spurs. Harden must become a core figure. Of course, Curry is also very important. He is the basis of most of the team's tactics. In short , Harden wants to become a sharp knife, this is his positioning. Curry, let him continue to maintain the threat of outside firepower, appropriately reduce Curry's attack with the ball, and increase his off-ball. When the inside line reaches a critical moment, the role of the final decision. Reasonably allocate Zach's appearance time and use Bonner appropriately, he came from the Spurs, and he must have his ideas for dealing with the Spurs."

Min Congda then made the overall strategic arrangement.

Established Harden's important role, making him the Clippers' outside sharpshooter.

The biggest pain for the Spurs in the West was Kobe.

Bryant's mid-range jumper killed the Spurs with nothing to do.

Although Harden does not have Kobe's strong offensive power, his scoring explosive power is still quite good.

And the technology is comprehensive, the breakthrough, the middle distance, and the three-pointer are all developed better and better.

Once the arrangement is made, the rest will be carried out by the coaching staff, meeting with the players and assigning tasks.

Sitting alone in the conference room, Min Congda suddenly began to reflect on his selection and operations in the past two years.

"Oops, it's really bad, I have to admit this. I actually built a pretty good lineup without knowing it. Curry, Harden are very good players, Gasol Jr., Randolph, George , are also very strong, and they still have potential to tap. What a failure."

In the past, Min Congda always lied to himself, thinking that Curry was fragile, Harden was lazy, Xiao Jia was stupid, Randolph was bad, George was soft, Leonard was stiff, and Butler was ugly.

Now that he changes his position, from the perspective of wanting to win, and putting aside subjective prejudices, he will find that Curry is accurate, Harden Quan, Xiao Jiacong, Randolph Wen, George Ling, Leonard Poison, Butler Harden .

He finally admitted that his three-year lineup building plan had completely failed!

But that's okay, Min Congda thought: "Fortunately, I'm changing my mind now, let the Clippers play good results, and then have high debts. Once the Clippers collapse in the future, this debt will crush the team!"

"However, in the future, I really can't intervene in the building of the team. Let Olshey and Roser and the others toss. My luck is too bad. It's really bad luck not to use it to buy lottery tickets. Pity."

Min Congda reminded himself once again that he decided not to participate in team building, nor to ask about the details of trades and drafts.

Invest with peace of mind, expand the size of the team with peace of mind, let the team be heavily in debt, and wait for the moment when the building collapses.

A day later, the Clippers and the Spurs ushered in a rematch, this game is crucial for the Clippers.

In the other games of the playoffs, in the upper half of the East and West, all teams except the Clippers won.

The Lakers easily defeated the Mavericks. They are going to sweep this round of the series.

The Nuggets and the Thunder also ushered in a revenge round, and this time it was still the Thunder that won.

In the East, the Cavaliers, Celtics, Heat, and Bulls all defeated their opponents.

The Cavaliers easily defeated the Knicks, the Bulls defeated the Magic, the Heat won the Pacers, and the Celtics narrowly beat the Eagles.

It can be seen that this year's Eastern Conference will be the same as last year, and it will be another season for these four teams to fight against each other.

The chicken thief's Heat once again won the third place in the Eastern Conference and continued to pick the Bulls in the second round.

The Cavaliers will once again head-to-head with the Celtics in the semifinals.

The grievances and grievances of the Quartet last season must be understood again this season.

It can be said that this season's shrinking season playoffs is a continuation of last season's grievances.

The Spurs, who took the lead in the first game, remained unchanged in this game, and Popovich waited for the adjustment of the Clippers.

The starting lineups of the two sides have not changed. In the jump ball, Gasol took the lead to touch the ball.

The Clippers' first offense did not hit Randolph, but Curry's high-post continuous screens to kill the basket.

The Spurs' defensive formation at the beginning was very good. Duncan's defense was in place. Curry didn't have a chance to get the ball and walked around with the ball. He passed the ball to Harden, and then he immediately crossed the baseline and ran back to the corner to take away the defense.

Harden immediately took the ball from the wing and rushed into the basket. Facing Duncan's supplementary defense, he made a throw and scored two points!

Duncan first helped defend Curry, then came to defend Harden, and also guarded against Gasol's alley-oop behind him. He was tired enough.

At the same time, Curry made a three-pointer from the bottom corner, and George had a chance to catch the ball at 45 degrees on the right and break through.

The Clippers' first attack at the beginning showed their variety and richness in tactical choices.

This is the scariest thing about the Clippers. There are too many options and you can't target them.

The problem with the Clippers in the first game is that no matter how many choices there are, you must have a prominent focus to catch.

The Clippers' focus is wrong. It is not a good choice to use the low position to attack the Spurs inside and challenge Duncan.

On the contrary, at the beginning, Curry and Harden interspersed continuously, broke through and ran, and let Duncan move. This is the correct choice.

Popovich watched the Clippers' first offense of the start and thought, this game must be difficult.

After all, it is too difficult for Xiagou to win two consecutive cities at the opponent's home court.

It is not easy to steal a victory.

With this mentality, Popovich has already begun to figure out how to play the third game in San Antonio.

(End of this chapter)