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Chapter 485 - 213. The path of a legendary coach is just so wild_2

Chapter 485: 213. The path of a legendary coach is just so wild_2

Carlisle: "You’re giving me too much credit. I’d get arrogant. If I have any ideas, I’ll definitely discuss them with you first, but right now I need to understand the team better."

After experiencing a sobering defeat with the Pistons and the Pacers, Carlisle’s performance made Bickerstaff very satisfied.

Bickerstaff: "Pre-game training is about to start, let’s head down."

Carlisle shook his head: "No need, I wouldn’t be of much help. Could you find me an empty room? I want to take the opportunity to watch the videos of the past two rounds of the games."

Bickerstaff: "There’s no need to look for another room. Just use my office; the environment here is better than any lounge... But if you’re just here to watch the videos, why not have the team send the DVDs to Michael’s place? I remember he has a home theater; it’s much more comfortable to watch there than on a television."

Carlisle’s expression stiffened for a moment, then he responded: "His house is too big. I’m not used to it."

Bickerstaff: "Uh... okay, then watch the video here. If you need anything, use that phone to dial the internal number and ask my assistant for help. If you have any ideas, you can find me anytime."

After Bickerstaff left, Carlisle sat on the couch and watched the videos.

Just yesterday afternoon, he had casually mentioned wanting to come and see; by this morning, he was already at Tuhang Stadium working. Carlisle felt conflicted—the God of Basketball had become too social after becoming a boss. As soon as he arrived at the room, two beauties were sent in, not considering whether my nearly 50-year-old back could take it. If I stayed there any longer, I would be completely drained... Was this the God of Basketball’s tactic to make me come to work?

If Jordan knew what Carlisle was muttering, he would definitely respond—please don’t slander, I was just as social before becoming a boss.

...

It’s normal to recruit players when you can’t beat them, but hiring a head coach when you can’t beat them... this move was unheard of for Zhang Yang.

During the pre-game training, Carlisle did not show up on the court, which relieved Zhang Yang but also left him somewhat regretful. He actually wanted to discuss zone defense with Carlisle. Not many coaches in the league used zone defense currently, and while there was no immediate need, the allowance for early double-teaming had been in place for several years, and some coaches were beginning to value zone defense. With the onset of the NHC era, and perimeter defenders facing increasing restrictions, there might be peculiar cylindrical rule adjustments in the future, enhancing the importance of the zone defense even more.

However, it was no big deal. If Carlisle ended up joining, there would be plenty of time to talk in the future. If he didn’t join, they were currently playing the Eastern Conference Finals, and there wasn’t enough spare time to come up with any significant ideas.

The time reached 8:40 p.m., and players from both teams entered the court; the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals was about to start.

Last night, the Spurs and the Jazz had played the first game of the Western Conference Finals.

The match-up between Iron-blooded Popovich and Coach Sloan was truly appalling—ugly to watch, with the Spurs dominating with a 91-79 victory.

For the Jazz, except for Deron hammering Parker with 27 points on 11 out of 21 shooting, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals, while also teaming up with Kirilenko to hold Parker to 17 points on 6 out of 19 shooting, there weren’t many highlights.

On the Spurs’ side, Duncan had a rather ordinary performance with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 blocks.

Duncan averaged 26.8 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 4.2 blocks in the second round against the Suns.

Ginobili showed his prowess by exploding in the first game, 7 out of 15 shooting, including 2 out of 5 from the three, plus a perfect 6 out of 6 from the line, scoring a team-high of 22 points.

In the series against the Suns, Ginobili had 3 outstanding games that led to victories, but across the 6 games, he actually only averaged 17.8 points, with a shooting percentage of just 41% while being defended by Raja Bell. In the games they lost, his performance was extremely poor.

However, during the ten or twenty minutes when Ginobili got hot, Raja Bell had no solution. Ginobili during those stretches was almost indistinguishable from Kobe during the Lakers’ 3-1 lead over the Suns in the previous season.

With the first game of the Western Conference Finals over, the Eastern Conference Finals garnered even more attention, more discussion, and higher ratings!

The Bobcats and the Pistons had an exciting Game 1; with the comparison, it looked even more appealing.

Yet, forum members discussing the game also braced themselves—the intensity of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Both the Bobcats and the Pistons had a history of diving into brutal battles at the smallest provocation.

Although former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy firmly stated that the two Eastern teams wouldn’t easily engage in a defensive battle unless there was no other choice, now he was a commentator, and of course, he would say whatever could persuade fans to pay for the live broadcast. Besides, he hadn’t completely ruled it out, only said it was unlikely.

Another coach who was between jobs, Larry Brown, had a completely different view during an interview. He criticized the Bobcats’ Game 1 strategies, suggesting that their only way out was to tough it out defensively— a viewpoint that won the agreement of many media and experts.

Therefore, most fans believed that the Bobcats, having lost their home-court advantage, would increase the intensity in Game 2, especially since they had the capacity to do so.

But even so, given a choice between watching the Bobcats against the Pistons and the Spurs against the Jazz, the fans would still prefer to watch the Eastern Conference Finals...

By 9 p.m., the game started.

Both teams’ starting lineups remained the same. Okafor won the jump ball against Rasheed Wallace, and Felton advanced to the frontcourt and passed to Zhang Yang at the high post, who was leaning against Hamilton.

Zhang Yang caught the ball and turned to push Hamilton away, dribbled behind his back with his left hand, took a side step, and as Hamilton desperately closed in, Zhang Yang dribbled the ball beneath his legs and pulled back to the right corner of the free-throw line.