When pride still matters

Chapter 506 They are coming
After losing two games in a row on the road, the Spurs no longer have any room for error. They need to win back a game at home. Otherwise, if they lose three games in a row, they will be in a desperate situation.

This is a dead end situation that no team in history has been able to reverse.

Therefore, returning to their home court, the Spurs realized that it was unrealistic to stop the Supersonics by relying solely on defense, and they had to play to their strengths.

Judging from the lineup on paper, the Spurs are not bad at all.

Dragic, Ginobili, Iguodala, Luol Deng and Duncan.

Although they lack a superstar like Yu Fei who is in his prime, they do have players with good strength in every position. As long as they get into their own rhythm, they can definitely compete with the Supersonics.

Back at home, the Spurs' game became easier.

They no longer spend a lot of time designing this and planning that on the defensive end.

This is proof that Popovich has recognized reality.

Before the series started, Popovich, who claims to be a famous coach, must have wanted to use his coaching ability to impress Tyronn Lue.

Although Coach Lu has no clue, it is not easy to find his flaws because he is best at pushing the problems to the big brother in the team. As long as the big brother himself does not have any problems, Coach Lu's problems will be covered up by the strong big brother.

This is what is called coaching mixed learning.

Abandoning coaching philosophy and relying on the personal abilities of the players is an opportunistic way of leading a team, but his advantage is that he is not picky about coaches.

During his time with the Warriors, the top 15 coaches in history tried every means to use the greatest lineup of the new century to play some passing and cutting with full basketball aesthetics, but when he was temporarily knocked down by illness, his temporary replacement Mike Brown used the unsolvable Kudu pick-and-roll to the end, and the Warriors won all the way.

Is the 2017 Bread Coach better than any other Western Conference playoff coach?
No, he just activated the mark left by James.

There's nothing wrong in giving the ball to Big Brother.

When Popovich gave up on ordering and focused on adjusting his own offense, the difference between him and Lu became apparent.

The Spurs' passing and cutting from the left and right wings were fully demonstrated in the third game.

The Supersonics, who intended to sweep their opponents, suffered a defeat.

Mainly because they didn't expect Goran Dragic to perform well enough.

Ever since the Spurs traded Kidd, the point guard position has become a long-standing problem for them.

Except for the point guard position, their other positions seem pretty good, but their stable regular season performance makes it difficult for them to use early draft picks to select potential stocks.

For many years, they have relied on finding treasures at the end of the first round, and Dragic is the latest result.

The Spurs have a broken-pot mentality about him.

Fortunately, Dragic did not disappoint the team's cultivation. On this night that was related to the life and death of the playoffs, he stood up.

The Spurs escaped from a 0-3 deficit.

Next door in Seattle, the Lakers defeated the Mavericks without any bloodshed and took a 3-0 lead in the series.

Some people say that this is a reflection of the Lakers' hard power.

The Supersonics, who were also considered to be the strongest team in the league, failed to continue their winning streak.

This shows that they are somewhat lacking in hard power compared to the Lakers.

However, this is mainly the Lakers media's rhetoric.

Those who favor the SuperSonics believe that the Spurs are stronger than the Mavericks. As the third team in the Western Conference with 59 points, even the Lakers cannot sweep them 100%.

It's just that a collective outburst night like this is rare for any team.

It can be said that tonight is the Spurs' lucky night.

But luck can only bring victory for one night.

Unless you are a gambler who wins the lottery, the impact is unlikely to last.

Therefore, their luck ran out in the fourth game.

As a point guard, Dragic is tall and sharp in pick-and-roll offense, but his passing vision is not good.

Lue took the advice of defensive assistant coach Tim Gegurich to double-team whenever he called a pick-and-roll.

At this moment, the tragedy of traditional inside players appeared in Tim Duncan.

Back then, Duncan entered the league as the undisputed No. 1 pick. He played the power forward position in name only and actually played the power forward position. He had excellent basic skills and no blind spots in the game at that time. That's why the arrogant Shaquille O'Neal gave him a nickname: Big Basic Skills.

However, if placed in the small ball era, Duncan is an extremely comprehensive inside player but lacks spatial value.

Although he has a mid-range and long-range shot, it is unstable and the Spurs generally do not use this as Duncan's regular offensive method. As for the three-pointer, Duncan is an inside player who is not so in line with the times among his contemporaries.

In this era when Yao Ming, a conservative inside player who has been branded with the idea that "pullout shooting is for wimps", is forced by the situation to take 3 three-pointers per game with a hit rate of 40%, Duncan still hates the trend of pullout shooting three-pointers.

Although he never said anything, his refusal to shoot three-pointers was his silent rebellion against modern basketball.

Life is a circle.

No matter where you start, you will eventually return to the starting point.

The difference is, when you return to the starting point, are you different from when you started?

The Supersonics took advantage of Dragic's poor passing and heavy reliance on pick-and-rolls by using a double-team strategy that was extremely familiar to Stephen Curry from another time and space, and immediately sealed off this Slovenian prodigy who seemed set to make a splash in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Spurs, lacking new breakthroughs on the outside, began to count on Ginobili for help.

15 minutes of Jordan is not enough. He needs at least 35 minutes of Jordan to scare the Supersonics.

But Ginobili was neither Jordan for 15 minutes tonight, nor the rookie who Popovich said he wanted to trade him as soon as the game was over. He just switched back and forth between god and beast.

Sometimes, he can play one-on-one against Yu Fei from the outside.

Use changes in rhythm to create space for a three-pointer and then make it.

Seeing Ginobili like this, every 300-pound San Antonio man proudly puffed out his belly.

"Oh my God, Manu! Our Manu, do you have such a Manu?"

But soon, he would inexplicably make a cannonball pass across the defense, which would be one of the top five shots if he succeeded, and one of the top five embarrassing shots if he failed.

He failed much more tonight.

The problem is that he didn't have to take such a risk. He could just pass the ball slowly and safely to his teammates.

But Ginobili seems to live in a world where he will die if he doesn't show off. He makes risky choices spontaneously, and every time he does so, he looks determined.

“He really believes he can do it!”

Statistics don't lie.

Ginobili showed Jordan's level in 15 minutes on the offensive end tonight. With a lot of opposition, he made 15 of 8 shots in a single game and scored 24 points, the second highest in the team. However, his 9 turnovers in the whole game were enough to offset any contribution he made on the offensive end.

When the Argentine is in full swing, the Spurs need to rely extra on the other three.

But Luol Deng and Iguodala both play civil servant basketball. As starters, they are indispensable in their respective positions, but Iguodala needs to focus on the defensive end, while the British Jordan is like a copy of Antawn Jamison.

You can expect him to contribute 15-20 points in every game, but it's wishful thinking to exceed that number, especially in the playoffs. He is like a content worker. After getting the corresponding points, he feels that he has reached his limit and disappears from the court. Offense and defense, you can't feel his presence, but when you look at the end of the game, 18 points and 6 rebounds? He played really well, right?

Ultimately, the Spurs needed some luck to get through.

At the start of the fourth quarter, they were trailing by 14 points, and then the biggest luck in their team history came into play.

Thirteen years ago, they won the No. 13 pick in the lottery night, leaving a generation of Boston basketball fans with endless regrets.

This No. 1 pick became Tim Duncan. In the dreams of diehard Celtics fans like Bill Simmons, Duncan wore Celtics jerseys and led them to a golden era.

More than a decade has passed. Although Duncan was defeated by Yu Fei twice in the finals, he still led the team to win the championship in 1999 and 2005, and established the consensus of GOAT in the power forward, the most barren position in the NBA. Now he is 34 years old. He still has All-Star level combat power, but the continued impact of injuries and weight loss plagues him.

He's played like Luol Deng for more than two and a half games.

Can an average of 17 points and 11 rebounds per game allow Duncan to play with his car in peace after being sent home by Yu Fei again?
The answer is of course no.

Duncan stood up and beat Kwame Brown, making people realize that the rumor that he was beaten by the opponent was just a ridiculous story.

Chris Bosh couldn't stop him either.

In the fourth quarter, Duncan's low-post singles success rate was 100%.

However, Yu Fei's breakthrough 2+1, Durant's three-pointer, and Morrow's three-pointer made Duncan's Jedi counterattack seem ineffective.

Under the Sonics' stable outside firepower and Yu Fei's devastating threat in the restricted area, Duncan's rebound only extended the Spurs' life for 6 minutes.

The 34-year-old Duncan can't attack until the last minute like he did when he was young.

When his stamina was exhausted, he couldn't kill the monster like Ultraman. From his missed tip-in to his difficulty in getting into position, the Spurs' struggle ended here.

The Supersonics were like a python, suffocating their opponents after 42 minutes.

The last six minutes were garbage time, and both sides replaced their main players one by one.

Popovich is unwilling, but what can he do?

Duncan is old, Ginobili's dual nature as a god and an animal is no secret, Dragic is too young, and Iguodala and Luol Deng are somewhat insufficient in the confrontation at this level.

Iguodala can understand that the Spurs cannot expect him to score 30 points per game, but the British Jordan has been contributing 15 points per game steadily since his second season. Now, he can still contribute 15 points, but if the Spurs want to overcome the Supersonics, they need a player who can break the deadlock.

3 is better than 1
Although the process was a bit bumpy, the Spurs could not stop the Supersonics from advancing.

In the following fifth game, both teams will return to the KeyArena Center.

For the Sonics, it just gave them an extra game to sell tickets.

Kwame Brown spoke out after the game, saying that Duncan's performance in the final quarter did not prove anything.

Also, he has no respect for the Spurs.

"We all know there's only one series that matters," Brown said, laughing. "You're going to see that."

Brown's rebellious behavior drew criticism from many media outlets.

This prompted him to continue his efforts on Twitter: "Hate me, I don't care about the loser's opinions!"

Angry Spurs fans left a message under his tweet: "You are just Frye's dog, no one cares what you say!"

"You're right, but I beat Tim Duncan," Brown responded. "I won the championship by stepping on his head!"

Ring culture is an abstract culture.

This culture started when Charles Barkley became a media person. As a former superstar, he was famous for not having a championship because he had a big mouth and always spoke bluntly. When the truth hurts like a sharp knife, the other party will use the championship to make a fuss.

You are so eloquent, why didn’t you win the championship?
Brown completely abstracted this culture, because he won the championship with the Bucks defeating the Spurs that year, so even if his statistics were completely beaten by Duncan, he still won the championship by stepping on Duncan's head. What's more, he also scored 20 points in a game. Is it an exaggeration to say that he beat Duncan?
This theory is like the League of Legends S-League championship is equivalent to five world No. 1s. He only takes the result as the basis, and what he negates is not the process, but a process is created. Although I was beaten, I won the championship, so in the final analysis, I beat you.

For a time, Brown's hatred value in San Antonio exceeded that of Yu Fei and Barkley.

The latter two were blacklisted for making body-discriminatory remarks about the Holy City.

In addition to Brown, another person who behaved in a high-profile manner was the Sonics' sharpshooter Anthony Morrow.

He thinks the Spurs are just a bunch of losers and can't wait to play the Lakers.

Durant did a high-profile post-game interview with ESPN.

At the press conference, Durant was very friendly to local reporters in the Holy City and was rated as "the only non-annoying Supersonics player."

Yu Fei, who is the focus of everyone's attention, is very low-key.

After the game, Yu Fei briefly accepted an on-site interview and then met Duncan in the aisle. He saw the thick knee pads on the other's knees and thought, if one day he has to wear such thick knee pads to play, he might as well retire.

“We will be back.”

Duncan said to Fei.

He said there was a sixth game.

"Of course." Yu Fei smiled, "See you next season."

Afterwards, the two sides said goodbye, and 28-year-old Yu Fei and 34-year-old Duncan passed each other.

Two days later

Western Conference Semifinals Game 5
Experts determined that this was the Spurs' last game of the season.

The league is already building momentum for the upcoming annual drama.

The Only Empire vs. the Evil Empire.

44 vs. 23 and 24
Reebok vs Nike
This is not only a decisive battle in the basketball world, but also a decisive battle in the sports world. Nike chose to bring the two kings together in Los Angeles in order to break Yu Fei's ruling order.

The Lakers have been strengthening their team one after another, while the Supersonics have been hit by injuries and their lineup is incomplete. In terms of strength, they are already at a disadvantage before the game even starts.

But it is difficult to accept that Yu Fei might lose.

Because he has dominated the league six of the past seven years.

The Spurs are now like a minor character who stays on the stage to add to his own drama.

Everyone was tired of watching him and wanted him to leave as soon as possible.

Even the off-court activities arranged by the league are more attractive than the Spurs.

"LOGO" Jerry West was here tonight.

ABC arranged a face-to-face talk show between him and Durant.

West looked at the spirited Durant and asked, "You have won two championships at such a young age. This is a rare honor. How do you feel about this?"

"I have to thank my teammates," Durant said. "Without them, there would be no championship. What I am most grateful for is that they are willing to let young people like me be myself on the court."

First thank your teammates, then mention your own contributions, which is what everyone who wants to please the media will say.

"From 1 to 100, how difficult do you think it is to win the championship?"

"In the past two years, it may have been only 50." Durant laughed, "but this year it will definitely be over 90."

Durant seemed talkative and optimistic, and although all the questions had been rehearsed in advance, the friendliness he displayed reminded West of Elgin Baylor.

However, he was not satisfied with Durant's answer about the difficulty of winning the championship.

"In fact, every championship is 100% difficult," West said. "You are still young, but you will realize this sooner or later."

Half an hour later, the game started.

West was sitting in the front row, watching Yu Fei perform surgery on the Spurs like a surgeon.

Yu Fei's three-point shooting percentage from outside the paint soared from 39% to 46% in this year's playoffs. Considering that most of his three-point shots were sudden stops with the ball, sudden shots after calling for pick-and-rolls, and quick and urgent chase three-pointers, this shooting percentage is terrifying.

His breakthrough made him famous in the league during his rookie season, so a few years ago, West told him that if he wanted to become a perfect player, he must improve his low-post skills.

Then, after completing the surgery on the outside, Yu Fei showed off his delicate low-post offense like stitching a wound, breaking the Spurs' defensive system on his own.

After the first half, the Supersonics' advantage was big enough that the second half could be regarded as an exhibition game.

This made West realize that Yu Fei had truly become an offensive core with no technical blind spots.

Taking his age into consideration, combined with acquired development and training, as well as mental training, most athletes enter their prime between the ages of 28 and 30.

Now, Yu Fei has officially entered his peak period.

The Spurs, who had star power but lacked their best superstar, naturally lost.

4 is better than 1
The Spurs fell in the Western Conference semifinals.

"Humans have some bad habits, one of which is to remember the ugliness of people you hate," Yu Fei said of the upcoming Western Conference Finals. "In this regard, I am the ultimate human."

The Lakers had already swept the Mavericks out one step ahead of time.

Texas' blood and tears were shed in the semifinals, but no outsider would feel sorry for them, because the upcoming battle is the most important series for the NBA since Jordan and Magic staged a generational change in the finals in 1991 and the Bulls established the century throne in 1998.

It is not the finals, but its significance exceeds 99% of the finals in history.

The consensus from the outside world is that whoever reaches the finals will win the championship.

The Celtics and Magic in the East hate such arguments, but unfortunately, unless the New York Knicks return to the 70s, the main narrative theme of professional basketball will always be monopolized by the West Coast.

In the future, a hundred writers will write books about the century-long battle between the Only Empire and the Evil Empire, but no one will pay attention to who breaks out from the East between the Celtics and the Magic at the same time.

This is not contempt, this is reality.

Because everyone loves the ultimate human showdown.

Los Angeles

The moment the SuperSonics defeated the Spurs to advance to the Western Conference Finals, all Lakers players received a text message.

The content of the text message is very brief, but just one sentence can create a sense of oppression as if a big boss is approaching.

LeBron James put down his weights, yanked off his headphones and picked up his phone. A text message from his coaching staff read: "They're here."

(End of this chapter)