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

Chapter 579 Fight to the Death

There are always different situations in the playoffs every year.

Some years the first round starts very intensely.

Sixteen teams, an eight-round series, with maybe half going to Game [-] or even Game [-].

In some years, the first round of the series is quite boring, there is no suspense, and it basically ends 4:0 or 4:1.

This is related to many factors, such as the tightness of the whistle, the disparity in strength between teams, and the overall style of play of the league.

Generally speaking, once the referees start playing tricks, the first round of the series will often be played longer, after all for the sake of ratings and attendance.

The playoffs are different from the regular season. The box office of the playoffs will be the biggest for the league. If you play one more game, your income will be much higher.

The ticket revenue alone is in the millions. If it is a key game, such as a tie-break for a popular team, the box office revenue plus advertising costs will be even more.

And relatively speaking, it is relatively easy to manipulate the first round of the game. The strength of the two sides is quite different. If the strong team loses one more game, it will not have much impact on the outcome of the series.

The situation is different in the semi-finals. The two teams compete, and the outcome of a game is likely to determine the trend of the final series.

A little carelessness, playing off, will have a great impact on the ratings and box office in the future.

So generally speaking, the number of games in the first round is large and the gap in strength is large, which is a good opportunity for the league to control the field and accept Mimi.

Min Congda didn't expect that the league's field control came to the Clippers again, and it started to control in the first game.

The Clippers are strong and strong, and their opponent in the first round of the playoffs is the disciplined Utah Jazz. The first game between the two sides at the Staples Center was surprising.

In the situation where the Clippers were absolutely crushed by strength, they were dragged into overtime by the Jazz, who felt amazing. In overtime, the Clippers made mistakes at critical moments. Harden and Curry made consecutive mistakes. Missed the chance to overtake the score.

As a result, the Clippers were upset in the first game, losing to the Jazz by 109 point at 110:1.

Min Congda didn't have much hope for this match. The $12000 had already been deposited in his account, waiting for the system to deduct the money.

Who knew that the first game escaped unharmed, allowing Min Congda to see a glimmer of hope for the Clippers to be hacked!

The long-suppressed emotions were released at the moment the game ended.

It's been three years, and when it comes to the playoffs, it's Min Congda's nightmare moment.

Can't beat it, the opponent really can't beat it.

Playing against the Lakers in the first round of 10, they fell behind 0:3 and snapped back two games.

In the first round of 11, the Black Eight entered the Western Conference Finals, and then in 12, they won the championship directly.

Everything went so smoothly, making those stars and teams who have tossed their entire careers without getting a single hair feel ashamed.

Unexpectedly, the Clippers, which played such a strong state in the regular season this year, capsized in the gutter in the first game of the first round.

After the game, Min Congda participated in the team's post-match press conference for the first time.

In most cases, Min Congda, as the general manager, has no interest in press conferences.

I felt very uncomfortable at first, and I was still being questioned and praised by the reporter. Isn't that just rubbing salt on the wound?
It's rare for the Clippers to overturn today. Min Congda, who knows how to drink and is drunk now, hasten to attend the press conference to have a good time.

Min Congda, who has experienced many years of experience, knows that the Clippers' loss is definitely an accident, and he will never be as naive and full of dreams as before.

Seeing the team lose a game, it feels like the series is going to be over, and champagne is opened to celebrate in advance, but the result is always slapped in the face.

He, who has been through the weather, understands that the Jazz won the game because the referee whistled loosely. Not only did he give the Jazz a lot of free throws, but he also turned a blind eye to some excessive fouls by the Jazz.

In addition, the young Clippers players did underestimate the enemy, which made the Jazz play out of form and lost the game.

When the reporters heard that Min Congda participated in the post-match press conference, they were all ready to fight, waiting with long guns and short guns.

They knew that when Manager Smart opened his mouth, it must be for big news.

When the Alliance Office saw Min Congda participating in the press conference and making remarks, he trembled three times, and made preparations for public relations in advance.

Sure enough, Min Congda took the lead in firing at the whistle of the game at the press conference, directly hitting the league's vital points:
"I have endured the whistle of the league for a long time. Why don't I blow so many defensive fouls? Isn't it just to play a few more games to increase the league's income? I talk about referees every day, every month, and I pay for it. Not a lot, you see, does the league have any intention of improving? Not at all, they know the penalty! I don’t know how many times I have to say the same question, how many times I have to say it. Seriously, I'm tired, I feel tired. I want to say, you can never wake up a person who pretends to be asleep! I know I said these leagues may have to fine again, it's okay, anyway, I will say it later, just fine the league For the big ones, just...just fine me 5000 million U.S. dollars!"

Min Congda's abacus was calculated, and the system could hear it.

A fine of 5000 million U.S. dollars, he can figure it out, you are a monopoly company?

The alliance cannot issue such a huge amount of fines. It has exceeded their authority and is illegal.

Of course, Min Congda gave it a try with the mentality that if he has a date or not, I will definitely not lose anyway.

What if it works?With the completion of the bankruptcy plan far away, relying on fines to make a fortune is a good way to save the country.

After scolding the league and asking for fines as usual, Min Congda encouraged the Clippers players, saying that they played well tonight and kept going.

But to the Clippers players, these words are really more uncomfortable than scolding them. This is not encouragement, it is obviously a crooked turn to criticize everyone.

In the Clippers locker room after the game, it was deathly silent.

Since March, the Clippers haven't tasted a loss for a long time.

I didn't expect to overturn in the first game of the first round of the playoffs. This feeling is really uncomfortable.

On the second day after the game, the whole team conducted additional training in the training center to prepare for the second game.

During the training process, Tyronn Lu kept talking to the players individually to understand their mental state.

As a player who has experienced three consecutive championships, under the guidance of Tyronn Lue, mentality is the number one stumbling block on the road to defending the title.

The so-called fighting the country is easy, but defending the country is difficult. There is no champion on the way to compete for the championship. Everyone is struggling to climb up with their heads held high.

But defending the championship after winning the championship is different. You have to look back from time to time and watch others go up. That kind of mentality is different. It is easy to slack off and more likely to be afraid.

In terms of tactics, Tyronn Lue is dispensable in the Clippers. It doesn’t make much difference with him or without him. Anyway, he knows what others can do, and he doesn’t...that’s too much.

But in terms of being a political commissar, building a good relationship with the players, and appeasing the mentality of young players, Tyronn Lue really got the true biography of Jackson and has a way.

With Min Congda basically letting go of the team and always being eccentric on the outside, Tyronn Lu calmed down the emotions of the players very well.

Two days later, the Clippers played against the Jazz again at home. The Clippers neither gave the Jazz a chance, nor were they impatient.

Some strong teams steal a game against their opponents in the first game, and start desperately in the second game, wishing they had to beat their opponents by 30 and 40 points to relieve their anger.

But in fact, even if you win 100 points, the big score is still 1:1. The most important thing is to regain the initiative in the series.

The Clippers played steadily in the second game and did not rush for success. In the first half, they played a close match with the Jazz.

But in the third quarter, the Clippers suddenly exerted force, and suddenly put huge pressure on the Jazz on both offense and defense.

The Jazz's offense and defense suddenly collapsed. They were only 3 points behind at halftime, and they were beaten by the Clippers in the third quarter.

The Clippers did not chase after them hard, but played slowly with the Jazz like a cat and a mouse, controlling their opponents to death.

Because you slaughtered by a large score, maybe it will arouse the opponent's resistance after returning to the home court in the next game.

And this kind of field control under his control can even wear down the opponent's will to resist.

Not surprisingly, the Clippers easily beat the Jazz at home in the second game.

Although the point difference is only 10 points, the strength gap between the two sides is by no means reflected by 10 points.

For this result, as early as Min Congda expected, the fine of 3000 yuan was paid with ease.

It's a pity that after the last game, Min Congda's criticism did not get any feedback.

Adam Silva didn't even make a phone call, and adopted an attitude of ignoring him. He said he let him say, and fines were useless anyway.

Min Congda knew in his heart that the league's fine standard must be getting higher and higher.

In the past, a few words of criticism after the game, or even some violations during the summer league, would result in fines.

What now?Even if they squat on the head of the league and shit, the league may bear it, and it becomes more and more difficult to make money through fines.

The Clippers-Jazz series didn't last long.

Although Salt Lake City is known as the home of the Devil's Plateau, the Clippers have always been better away from home than at home.

Unless you build your home court on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the altitude in Utah is not a problem for the young Clippers at all.

110:101, 112:97, the Clippers won the two games in Salt Lake City cleanly and won the match point of the series.

The Clippers didn't give the Jazz any more chances. Game [-] ended the Jazz neatly in Los Angeles and sent them home.

4:1, the Clippers successfully entered the semifinals.

On the contrary, another user of Staples, the Lakers fell into a hard fight in the first round.

Facing the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers, who have no home court advantage, ended up 1:1 away from their opponents.

After returning to the home court, the two teams drew 2:2. In the fifth game, the Tianwangshan Lakers and the Nuggets played two overtime games at the Pepsi Center.

The long overtime game made the Lakers team very tired. In the end, the Lakers relied on Kobe's key layup to play 2+1 and won the game.

I thought the Lakers could end the series at home in Game [-] and enter the semifinals.

Unexpectedly, the Lakers, who had suffered a lot of physical loss, had a serious hip stretch in the sixth game, but were defeated by the Nuggets 107:100, and the series was dragged into the tiebreaker.

The situation is quite bad for the Lakers. If they are eliminated in the first round, the conflict between Kobe and Paul will inevitably intensify further.

Although Kobe played well in Tianwangshan, Kobe had an inefficient shooting rate in the sixth game, and even missed consecutive shots in the fourth quarter, wasting a lot of opportunities.

The outside world is not very clear what happened to the Lakers after the sixth game. In short, the Lakers readjusted in the seventh game.

In the Pepsi Center, they organized tactics with Paul as the core, 98:94, with a 4-point advantage, defeated the Nuggets with difficulty, and reached the Western Conference semifinals.

In the eyes of Lakers fans, no matter what, the first round is finally over.

And in the seventh game, Paul scored 31 points, 11 assists, 3 steals and 5 rebounds.

It can be said to be quite a perfect performance, completely dominating the game.

At this time, Min Congda paid more attention to the Lakers than the Clippers themselves.

After the sixth game, he immediately activated the resources of the "Information Sharing Center" to inquire about the news of the Lakers.

According to the inquired news, after the sixth game, the Lakers held a small internal meeting, some core players and management personnel participated, and Paul led it.

The purpose of the meeting is that the Lakers should establish a play system with Paul as the core, and not allow Kobe to mess around alone, take up so many shots, and play such an inefficient game.

Although Kobe is the king of the Lakers, he is different from Magic Johnson. He is not the kind of player who is good at communication. Most of his appeal among players comes from his strength and contagious personality. I am not good at socializing and gathering people's hearts.

Paul is different. Compared with Kobe, Paul has better acting skills and is better at making himself look like a leader, which is somewhat inspiring.

As a result, in this meeting, Paul got the support of the Lakers management Jim Buss and some younger players in the team.

Kobe has been seized power, his tactical initiative and unlimited firepower have been restricted, and the ball will be dominated by Paul's hands.

Although Kobe, who has entered the twilight of his career, is not reconciled, if he had fallen out with the team and Paul long ago when he was young, I will stop fighting, you can play by yourself.

But the mentality of Kobe, who has gone through ups and downs, is very different from the past. He has learned to endure during the two consecutive championships.

Of course, not all of the team supported Paul, and veterans like Iguodala and Ci Shiping still stood by Kobe.

Kobe himself chose to give in, and then handed over the team's tactical initiative to Paul in the seventh game. Sure enough, Paul played well against the Nuggets, successfully won the tiebreaker in the away game, and advanced to the second round!
Victory in this round of the series is still very important to Paul. If he loses after seizing the power, it is really unreasonable.

Of course, the media does not know about these news, and it usually takes many years before those who have witnessed it come out to tell the inside truth.

And Min Congda learned of this major internal change of the Lakers through his pervasive intelligence network in Los Angeles.

He immediately made a plan for the next step: to beat the Lakers and Paul to death in the semifinals.

(End of this chapter)