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Chapter 492 - 215. One win, one loss, the situation is stable_3
Chapter 492: 215. One win, one loss, the situation is stable_3
Young Bickerstaff saw Carlisle slowing down and chuckled, "There’s no need to eavesdrop; we’ll know the results of their discussion at the meeting soon enough."
Carlisle: "The results of the discussion?"
Young Bickerstaff: "They’ll present their ideas at the meeting, but before that, they discuss amongst themselves which ideas are worth bringing up. They also consider from an executor’s perspective whether the ideas are feasible or not... The coaching staff hopes to save them some effort; most of what they discuss, we could tell them directly. However, Raymond refused, saying it’s part of their process to understand and control the game..."
Carlisle exclaimed in admiration, "Raymond... he’s really amazing, truly deserving of a North Carolina champion!"
Young Bickerstaff: "Haha, I think he’s fantastic too. It’s a pity my old man is getting on in years and offloaded much of his work to me. I don’t have the time; otherwise, I’d really enjoy holding small meetings with the players."
Carlisle was silent for a moment before saying, "Next season will be possible."
Young Bickerstaff thought to himself: \(^o^)/, the old man is impressive indeed, not a wasted trip around to pass by the Big Brother Group’s exclusive lounge!
...
Two days flew by, and on May 30th, the attention of basketball fans shifted to Auburn Hills, as the third game day of the Eastern Conference Finals arrived.
Each additional game in the Western Conference Finals only increased the interest in the Eastern Conference Finals.
During the May 28th Western Conference Finals Game 2, the Spurs led 26-24 in the first quarter and 24-20 in the second, a six-point difference at halftime that seemed manageable. But then Parker exploded with 13 points and 5 assists in the third quarter alone, and the Spurs widened the gap with a 32-17 run, leading by 21 points after three quarters!
In the final quarter, the Jazz outscored the Spurs 35-23 with none of the Spurs’ big three and Bowen setting foot on the court for even a second, but the Spurs still won by 9 points, thrashing the Jazz 105-96.
With the Spurs playing their normal defense, the Jazz managed only 61 points in the first three quarters. If the score hadn’t been so lopsided, it would likely have been another sub-90 point game for the Jazz.
Lack of spectacle aside, the huge disparity in strength made the matchup no contest. Yao Ming facing off against the Spurs could have resulted in a closely fought five or six game series. The Jazz merely took advantage of the Warriors’ fortune to reach the Western Conference Finals.
The Bobcats had arrived in Auburn Hills the night before and rested up for their challenge against the Pistons at the Auburn Palace today.
At 8:40 PM, the players finished warming up and entered the court.
Today, the Bobcats’ bench had one more person; Bickerstaff brought Carlisle to the scene to assist with coaching.
Because of Carlisle’s coaching performance in his two years with the Pistons and his first year with the Pacers, Bickerstaff held him in high regard and had high expectations for him.
Yet, Carlisle surprised him even during the past two days of preparation!
Carlisle was not proactive, nor did he reject or take responsibility.
However, whenever Bickerstaff posed targeted questions, Carlisle managed to respond accurately, his replies often of much higher quality than Bickerstaff could conclude on his own.
In Bickerstaff’s view, Carlisle lacked only experience. At over 40, he was about the same age as Jordan, with some ideas still somewhat idealistic.
Bickerstaff made up his mind that he couldn’t let such a talented coach leave!
He wanted to win a championship before he retired, whether as a general manager, an assistant coach, or a consultant. Anything would do; he wasn’t picky. He just needed to find a head coach better than himself.
By 9 PM, game three of the Eastern Conference Finals began.
Offense or defense? Saunders made what was considered a ’reversal of the heavenly stems’ decision for an Eastern Conference team known for their tough defense.
If they ground it out defensively, it would depend on the personal ability of their star players. If they could limit the performance of the opponent’s core scorers like they did last season, then they’d certainly lean on defense. Larry Brown had already shown the correct way to utilize the ’five tigers.’
Without Big Ben, Prince, and McDyess, their frontcourt combination struggled to defend against the Crown Prince and young Duncan; their backcourt couldn’t suppress their opposition. Continuing to grind defensively would likely result in them being dominated by the ’four young guns’ just like in Game 2.
Their ’backcourt duo’ had an advantage, but they were at a big disadvantage in the frontcourt.
Back at the turn of the century, Rasheed Wallace, McDyess, Joe Smith, and Garnett were all mentioned in the same breath, becoming the four top power forwards of the 1995 class. They all received maximum salary offers, with three accepting them, and the class of ’95 was dubbed the year of the super power forwards.
Now Joe Smith had been relegated to the bench, McDyess’s athletic ability had been destroyed by injuries transforming him into a floor-bound blue-collar center, and Rasheed Wallace, approaching 33, was gradually aging, unable to maintain an average of over 15 points per game... Only Garnett continued his lonely howling.
Since they couldn’t suppress the vibrant youthfulness of the ’four young guns,’ they might as well shoot.
Saunders deployed Billups, Hamilton, Delfino, Webber, and Rasheed Wallace, their lineup that performed best in team offense in Game 1.
As he expected, that old man on the opposing team predicted his move and also went full throttle offensively tonight.
Both teams ended the first quarter with the Bobcats ahead by two points, 30-28. In the second quarter, the Pistons narrowly won 30-26. Hamilton led a solo counter-attack in the final moments of the half, when everyone else’s offensive performance began to wane due to fatigue, and he scored 6 straight points against the Bobcats.
At halftime, the Pistons led the Bobcats 58-56 by two points!
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