NBA: Starting with Jokic template

Chapter 202: Know the shame and then be brave, start special training!
The Spurs won another game, tying the score at 2:2.

"It's a pity that this teammate inexplicably caused the Thunder to lose this game. Lin Chuan played well in this game, but it still couldn't prevent the defeat."

"Yeah, and Durant played at his best in this game. The Spurs are worthy of being the team that can't win."

Both commentators felt a little regretful. They both played to their best but still lost the game.

The Spurs are indeed scary.

In this game, Lin Chuan scored 35 points, 16 rebounds and 8 blocks while taking care of defense. He did his best on both offense and defense, which could not stop the team from losing the game.

Durant's performance in this game was also average, with 29 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. It's not great, but it's average.

The blame for the loss of this game was not on him, but because Ibaka was sleepwalking throughout the game, which caused Lin Chuan to do too much.

The loopholes are like holes dug by gophers, one is filled and another is built. Lin Chuan is not a celestial being. While doing his job well, he did a lot of extra work, but in the end it was of no avail.

They could only helplessly accept the defeat in this game.

As for the Spurs.

They carried out the concept of universal military service to the end.

Ginobili was the team's highest scorer in this game.

He played 30 minutes and scored 21 points.

Parker, Duncan, Leonard and Dio scored 19 points, 17 points, 16 points and 11 points respectively.

Five players scored in double digits, which was very evenly matched.

Lin Chuan was caught off guard in this match, and ultimately lost the match as his two fists were no match for ten hands.

Lin Chuan and Ibaka attended the post-match press conference.

Seeing the two people they were most concerned about in this game coming, the reporters could hardly control their desire to ask questions.

Lin Chuan simply ordered a seat in the first row.

"You, ask first."

The white reporter in the plaid shirt stood up immediately.
"I'm a reporter from ESPN. I want to ask Mr. Ibaka, why did you sleepwalk from the beginning of this game and play such a strange performance? Did you encounter something similar to Kevin Durant in the previous game?"

Ibaka rubbed his temple and said helplessly,
"No, but it was worse than that, more serious...but I can't tell you, I can only say that those things seriously affected my performance in the game."

The reporter wanted to ask more questions, but Lin Chuan took the microphone and said,
"Okay, let's ask about the game. Things off the court are off the court. I don't think there's anything to mention."

Seeing this, the reporter could only ask Lin Chuan about his performance in this game and his expectations for the next one.

Ibaka, who was rescued by Lin Chuan, gave him a grateful look, and then heard Lin Chuan say,

"My personal performance in this match was a bit average. If I had played better, the suspense of this match would have remained until the end."

"Back at home, I don't think there is anything to say. Beating the Spurs is my only goal for the next game. And, it must be fair and aboveboard."

The reporters, who had originally been impressed by Lin Chuan for taking the blame for the loss on themselves, were even more shocked when they heard his last sentence.

A fair defeat, that is to say, for these two losses, Lin Chuan, or the Thunder team thought they were cheating?
This is a big explosion!

The reporter asked quickly,

"Mr. Lin Chuan, I want to know what you meant by "open and aboveboard" at the end? What about the Spurs' two games?"

Lin Chuan waved his hand and said firmly,

"Actually, saying anything sounds like making excuses. I'm not a player who likes to make excuses, but I saw that in the post-game interview of the last game, Durant also told you what he encountered and how dangerous it was. In this game, Ibaka also encountered some bad luck before the game. If you can encounter strange things in the visiting team's locker room for two consecutive games that you haven't encountered in many years, I think this is not an accident, but deliberate."

Lin Chuan knocked heavily on the table.

"I don't disrespect Duncan. As the No. 1 power forward in history, I have always admired his low profile and playing style. But I do feel very ashamed of some of the tactics used by the Spurs. However, when we get to our home court, our Thunder is a team that relies on hard power and will definitely not use these despicable tactics. We will defeat them fair and square, I say!"

The Spurs beat the Thunder two games in a row at home, shocking the whole world.

ESPN commentator A. Smith talked about this in his own media program.
"After losing Westbrook, the Thunder's strength has dropped from a historic 74-win regular season team to an average Western Conference top team. According to my estimate, they are now a team with around 57-60 wins."

"how do I say this?"

the host asked.

A. Smith smiled confidently,
"Of course, I inferred it from their record and their performance on the court. Look, this series has been played so far. Not to mention the 2:2 score, the Thunder's performance on the court was really ugly!"

He said with disdain,

"And don't just look at the 2:2 score. You have to know that in these four games, Durant scored his playoff career-high 49 points in one game, and they won with difficulty. In the other victory, it was also thanks to Lin Chuan's 40+. But scoring 40+ in the playoffs is not an easy thing, and it hasn't happened many times in the playoffs this season so far."

"Look at the Thunder now! They don't have even a shred of the dominance they had during the regular season! In the four games against the Spurs, they were behind much longer than they were ahead. The only two wins were both won by Lin Chuan's last-minute buzzer-beaters."

"If the buzzer beater fails, the Thunder will be swept 0:4 now. They can prepare to go fishing!"

A. Smith analyzed from multiple angles and finally came to a conclusion.

[The Thunder team no longer has the dominance, and they may even fall in this round and be defeated by the Spurs! The Spurs may win the championship this season! ]

Not only these well-known commentators, many people in the United States hold the same idea.

Seeing the game turn out like this, many fans even started to clamor online.

Long live James: "The Thunder are just a product of superstars. The Spurs can beat them in six games. Just wait!"

Thunderous: "That's enough. They selected all three stars themselves. Look at your ID. You are a James fan, right? The Thunder team has accumulated a lot of experience. You, James, are the originator of the team!"

The online war of words continued, and James' fans who played the role of James were drowned in the insults.

Lin Chuan's speech caused a lot of heated discussion.

Soon, many animated graphics appeared on social media, showing the Spurs using despicable tactics in previous games.

Among them, there are many animated pictures of Bowen punching and kicking his opponents on the court.

And in Game 07 of the Western Conference Finals between the Spurs and the Suns, Holly knocked Nash directly into a billboard, causing him to bleed.

These pictures and animated graphics left many new fans stunned.

"Damn, I thought the Spurs were a low-key strong team!"

"Yeah, I didn't expect them to be so dirty!" "How disgusting! I used to like the Spurs, but now I'm supporting the Thunder!"

"Dirty teams don't deserve to advance!"

........................

After losing again in the previous game, the Thunder team did not stay in San Antonio for too long and flew back to Oklahoma early the next morning.

After landing, Brooks said to everyone seriously,
"You've seen that our performance in these few games was very poor! No one satisfied me! So I hope everyone won't rest today, but go back to the training hall to continue practicing and practice for an extra day! Is that okay?"

"can!"

Everyone said in unison.

Given that the score was tied, no one felt they had the right to go back and rest.

On the way out, Ibaka whispered to Lin Chuan,

"Lin, I think this is pretty unfair to you. In this series so far, it's obvious that you have been playing as the base, and you have given your all in every game. And now you have to practice with us later. How miserable."

Lin Chuan looked at Ibaka who was standing beside him. There was no strange smell on him at all. Lin Chuan smiled at him and said,

"I don't care. Besides, practicing is our job. How can we beat the Spurs without practicing? In order to win and defend the championship this year, it's no big deal to spend more time practicing."

Lin Chuan sent Ibaka away with a few words and returned home first.

The moment he returned home, Lin Chuan immediately relaxed, then lay back on the bed, humming with enjoyment through his nose.

"Hey, my own home is still comfortable!!"

The familiar bed and familiar smell almost made Lin Chuan fall asleep.

"Shit! No! I can't lie down anymore. I'm afraid I'll be sucked into the bed if I lie down again."

Lin Chuan turned over and sat up, then immediately rushed to the training ground.

However, because the car was parked at the training ground, Lin Chuan could only walk there.

Fortunately, he had the foresight to rent a house beforehand, and Lin Chuan walked back to the training venue in ten minutes.

At the beginning of the training, Lin Chuan called Ibaka. In the latter's somewhat puzzled eyes, Lin Chuan said,

"In the last few games, Duncan would occasionally return to the power forward position to play against you. In order to guard against their style of play, I want to give you a special training."

"my pleasure."

Hearing that Lin Chuan was so willing to make himself stronger, Ibaka nodded decisively.

He was already feeling guilty about how badly he played in the previous game, and was determined to beat the Spurs.

And Lin Chuan was willing to act as the trainer, which was something he wanted very much.

"Duncan is not only good at defense, but also has a variety of offensive methods."

Lin Chuan caught the ball in the low post and held off Ibaka behind him.

Then he suddenly turned around, using his long arms to send the ball directly to the basket. With Ibaka's interference, he gently pushed the basketball into the basket with his hand.

For the next ball, Lin Chuan still started from the low post, continuously fighting backwards, then suddenly turned around and came to the middle position, leaning back to shoot a weirdly-posed push shot.

The strange posture caught Ibaka off guard and he could only raise his arms and look at the ball with regret.

"Shit, this ball is really weird."

"You don't understand, this is also one of his offensive methods!"

Lin Chuan got the ball with a smile, and once again faced Ibaka with his back to the ball.
"It's easier to fight if you know both yourself and your enemy. You still don't know enough about him!"

While guarding Lin Chuan, Ibaka asked,
"But I haven't seen these moves in the past few games."

Lin Chuan pushed the ball a few times, then turned around, went around the baseline to the other side of the basket and made a layup.

The basket also blocked Ibaka's outstretched hand, and he could only watch the ball go in again.

"This is a trick he used when he was young. Just because he doesn't use it now doesn't mean he won't learn it. Just wait and see. If he wants to use it as a trump card and you block his move, he will be confused."

As he was speaking, Lin Chuan came to the free throw line and raised his hand to make Duncan's signature 45-degree bank jump shot.

Because this move was very Duncan-like, Ibaka accurately captured the shooting position and successfully interfered with Lin Chuan's shot. Finally, after Lin Chuan scored three consecutive goals, he made him miss the fourth goal for the first time.

"Good, I finally managed to defend it once, let's do it again!"

Ibaka, who was about to celebrate his successful defense, felt helpless when he heard Lin Chuan's words.

I had no choice but to return to my defensive position and continue to defend the next ball.

Half an hour later.

The special training is over.

Ibaka was sweating profusely and his clothes were soaked.

After Lin Chuan asked the trainer next to him, he turned around and reported his performance to Ibaka.
"Serge, we just played one-on-one for half an hour and played 100 balls. You blocked 8 balls and defended 27 balls, and I scored 65 balls. That's a good result."

Hearing Lin Chuan's words, Ibaka couldn't help but cover his face.

After all, he is the former league block leader, and was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team for two consecutive terms. However, in this special training, he was matched up against Lin Chuan and had a shooting percentage of 65%. This is considered acceptable!

"You scored so many goals, doesn't that mean my defense is very poor?"

"What are you talking about, Serge?"

Lin Chuan looked at him doubtfully.
"This is what you did when you defended me 1v1. It's good that you defended 35 shots. Don't you think about the previous games when I played against the Clippers' front line and the Lakers' inside line, what I did to those All-Stars? I even beat the Beast into a toy. Besides, Duncan's offensive ability has deteriorated a lot now. You can defend me at 65%, but if you defend him, it might be 45%."

Ibaka was also a little confused when he heard Lin Chuan's words.

Is my defense really that strong?
Is it just because Lin Chuan's attack is too strong that it turns out like this?
"Don't think too much. There's a game tomorrow. We can test the effectiveness of our special training on the day of the game."

Lin Chuan patted his shoulder,

"The coach just announced that we're going to have a training match. Come on!"

(End of this chapter)