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Chapter 524 - 227. The oldest king of ideas!

Chapter 524: 227. The oldest king of ideas!

In the first half of the quarter, both teams scored 14-12, with the Spurs leading the Bobcats by two points into an official timeout.

This score is higher than that in the first half of the previous three games.

Because both sides continued to use one-on-one plays with their strongest scoring players.

This approach by the Bobcats led not only Popovich to wonder if the Bobcats had lost their mind due to losing and were ready to give up, but also commentators and fans who understood the game.

Defending one-on-one, using Zhang Yang and Felton, the Bobcats’ pillars of scoring in the finals, to contend with Parker and Duncan—wasn’t this asking for trouble?

Not using wings to pinch Parker, Parker’s scoring performance can be just as good as Felton’s.

Duncan, as long as the playing time is controlled within 40 minutes, has the highest scoring continuity throughout the game.

The idea that "the Bobcats’ mental stamina collapsed after being annihilated in G3 and gave up," came about because there were precedents. In the past decade, the Spurs had demoralized several teams during the playoffs, such as this year’s Nuggets Team, last year’s Grizzlies, and the year before that’s Sonics... these teams began playing and ended up losing miserably against the Spurs.

It wasn’t until Ginobili was substituted in and missed both shots, and Rondo, substituting for Zhang Yang, initiated two counterattacks helping Gerald Wallace score to tie the game, that Popovich finally realized—on the surface, they were mindlessly using Zhang Yang and Felton to wear down Duncan, but they were actually betting on Ginobili being off his game!

Another Spurs possession came around and Duncan had to return to the low post, actively seeking the ball for a one-on-one play.

Facing Okafor, Duncan made several spins, found a gap, took a step closer to the basket, and scored with a layup.

Now it was the Bobcats’ turn, Okafor also went for a low post one-on-one, turned around under Duncan’s defense for a hook shot... and missed.

Back on the other end, Duncan wanted another one, to lead by two baskets before letting Ginobili take a chance, emphasizing solid and stable play.

But Duncan, who had already gone one-on-one eight times in just over seven minutes, this time fell short with his hook shot!

Okafor protected the defensive rebound well, passed to Rondo, then ran to the frontcourt and persisted with a one-on-one low post attack against Duncan.

This time the younger Duncan played the offense well in the low post, made several spins to create space, pressed forward, and scored with a layup!

Aside from being slightly smaller in build, his movements were exactly the same as Duncan’s in the previous rounds!

16-16, the score was tied again!

When it was the Spurs’ turn to attack, Ginobili, guarded by Gerald Wallace, attempted a tough three-pointer... and missed again!

In the transition of offense to defense, Rondo bypassed Ginobili and rushed inside for a floater... disrupted by Duncan, who also grabbed the defensive rebound himself.

This play showcased Duncan’s dominance in interior defense, but when the camera zoomed in on his face, commentators and fans watching on TV saw him gasping for air!

Over eight minutes in, nine possessions attacked, and having to cover for Parker and Ginobili on the defensive end too, Duncan was heavily exhausted at the start of tonight’s game!

Some commentators and fans began to understand.

At the Time Warner Sports Commentator’s desk, Bill Walton exclaimed in shock, "Oh my God! No wonder I was rejected when I interviewed for the position of head coach at the Celtics. I really don’t have the talent to be a head coach. We analyzed so many methods the Bobcats might use before the game, and never thought that Bickerstaff would bet on Ginobili being off his game!"

Before the game and during the game, the commentators were discussing how the Bobcats could defeat the Spurs.

Just like mocking Zhang Yang’s claim about what is ’basketball correct’, coming up with ways for the Bobcats to beat the Spurs was also ’basketball correct.’

Hubie Brown said, "No, it’s not your fault. This is not a decision a serious coach would make. Other coaches, including when I coached the Grizzlies facing the Spurs, thought about how to limit Ginobili’s bursts. Only Bickerstaff would bet on Ginobili not scoring.

And it was not just that. In the last game, the Spurs limited the Bobcats’ long shots, cutting off the inside and outside scoring linkage, compelling the Bobcats’ main scorers to only score through one-on-ones. I thought Bickerstaff would look for ways to connect inside and outside scoring through tactical adjustments, but he didn’t. He chose to use the same defensive strategy as the opponent, cutting off long shots, forcing the Spurs to also score only through one-on-ones."

Bill Walton said, "He wants Popovich to figure out his own defensive strategy? That’s a crazy idea! Hubie, what do you think Popovich will adjust offensively?"

Hubie Brown replied, "Based on his past coaching style, he might not make offensive adjustments, but defensively he might have to adjust. If I’m not mistaken, Bickerstaff is about to bring on a shooter..."

...

Ginobili’s play was tricky, with all kinds of unreasonable shots that when hitting, were terrifying and undermined the confidence of defenders, but when he missed, his teammates also became frustrated.

It was only with Duncan that Ginobili had a safety net.

Seeing Ginobili continue his lackluster performance from the last game and feeling his own physical decline, Duncan commanded his teammates to adjust their strategy, shifting from offense to defense to help the Spurs keep the situation under control.

In the first 6 minutes 17 seconds, the score was 14-12, by the time it was 10 minutes 28 seconds into the quarter and Bickerstaff called for a timeout, the score was 18-18. In a little over 4 minutes, both teams had scored 4-6!

Bickerstaff substituted Rondo, Millsap, and Okafor out, bringing in Felton, Zhang Yang, Alan Anderson, Gerald Wallace, and Perkins.

Zhang Yang took off his warm-up suit and walked onto the court to stretch.

While others were surprised by Bickerstaff’s adjustments, Zhang Yang, who had heard about the coach’s strategy adjustments during the briefing yesterday afternoon, was also internally exclaiming in shock.

Yesterday morning, he and the Big Brother Group had discussed how to play against the Spurs, deciding to increase three-point attempts, thinking they were already aggressive enough, but he didn’t expect Bickerstaff could be even wilder!

His ideas were whimsical, and he executed them without hesitation.

However, if this maverick coach really guessed right!

Zhang Yang saw that Duncan was not substituted out and once the timeout was over, he stepped back onto the court!

The Spurs substituted Parker, Finley, Bowen, Elson, and Duncan into the game.

The timeout ended and the game resumed, with the Bobcats on offense, inbounding from the frontcourt.

After receiving the inbound pass from Felton who then moved toward the left corner, Zhang Yang, instead of going solo, passed it to Gerald Wallace who was pulling up at the top of the arc; he then dragged Bowen with him towards the right baseline.

Defending Gerald Wallace was... the 213cm tall, 109kg Elson!

Elson was relatively quick for a center, but he was clearly no match for Gerald Wallace, who was among the fastest at the small forward position.

Gerald Wallace easily got past Elson and drove inside the three-point line, heading straight for the basket!

Bowen immediately moved up from the baseline to block Gerald Wallace.

Gerald Wallace passed the ball to Zhang Yang on the right baseline, who, after catching it, was closely guarded by Finley coming over from the right sideline.

Zhang Yang swung the ball behind him to the right sideline where Alan Anderson caught it and shot a three... and made it!

Popovich put on a mask of agony.

He had guessed that the opponents would certainly use shooters and anticipated they would strengthen their inside defense to help Duncan relieve some of the pressure of guarding the basket.

But he hadn’t expected them to be so aggressive as to field a lineup with one tall and four smalls, letting Gerald Wallace, playing power forward, lead with aggressive splitting attacks!

This was probably the most torturous series Popovich had ever coached; they had been in control since Game 1 and even though they lost Game 2, it was only due to a few minutes of better play by the opponents at the end of the first and the third quarters. Even in the fourth quarter of Game 2, the Spurs had the upper hand.

But from Game 1 till now, he was constantly on edge. That nearly retired old man on the opposing team kept throwing unpredictable ideas his way, and most surprising of all, those ideas were working exceptionally well in the playoffs this year. He had to rack his brains for ways to counter them, to the extent that he couldn’t sleep well anymore, suffering from insomnia.

On Zhang Yang’s side, seeing the wing finally making a three-pointer, he was so touched he almost cried.

He hadn’t expected that their Bobcats team, a group of tough guys, would have a king of ideas who turned out to be the oldest, Bickerstaff...

When it was the Spurs’ turn to attack, Parker dribbled past Felton and drove to the basket, facing Okafor’s defense and Gerald Wallace closing the gap quickly for a block, but Parker’s floater failed.

Felton, who followed up, grabbed the defensive rebound. Facing the Spurs’ defense, he didn’t rush but steadily pushed forward to the frontcourt and passed it to Gerald Wallace, continuing to pull to the left corner to create space.

Having already made two of four threes in the first 10 minutes, he figured he would be playing long tonight and needed to conserve energy.

Gerald Wallace continued to drive and split.

Seeing Finley not moving in advance to coordinate with Bowen for a switch, and with Bowen pulling towards the inside, Zhang Yang proactively circled to a higher position.

Gerald Wallace drove close, passed back to the high post, and Zhang Yang caught the ball on the right side of the free-throw line, jumped, raised the ball over his head as he jumped, Finley, attempting a block, came too late; Zhang Yang’s mid-range shot... went in!

to 18, the Bobcats led by 5 points!

Parker took the inbound and advanced to the frontcourt; Duncan, expressionless, moved out from the inside to set a screen for Parker.

Duncan pulled Gerald out of the inside, and Parker, using the screen, burst forward, finding much more space to attack the basket. Facing only Okafor guarding the basket, Parker got excited, took a close-range step, shot hurriedly... the power was off, and the ball hit the edge of the rim!

Just as the fans were about to cheer, Duncan dashed in from outside, pressed the rebound back into the basket!

Gerald Wallace couldn’t hold against Duncan’s spin and cut inside, and upon catching up, he collided with Duncan who was jumping up for the put-back, earning a foul.

The referee ruled the basket by Duncan as good, with an additional free throw awarded!

The fans were irritated; without a proper center to defend, stopping Duncan cutting to the basket was too difficult.

But the fans quickly adjusted their emotions and booed fiercely as Duncan walked up to the free-throw line.

Duncan, who had been feeling good from the line these two games, made the extra free throw too!

With 10 shots made in 5, and 2 out of 2 from the free throws, Duncan boosted his score to 12 points for the quarter, helping the Spurs close the gap to 21-23.

Duncan went back to the basket, controlled his breathing, clenched his teeth to defend this round; only 17 seconds left, he had to keep the deficit to a point, either to tie or to overturn.

But some things were not up to him.

As a power forward with a center’s build and playing style, he could do things Garnett couldn’t, like overpowering Gerald Wallace for an inside put-back, which Garnett couldn’t manage.

But what Garnett could do, covering from mid to long-range defense even out to the three-point line, Duncan couldn’t!

Zhang Yang continued to work with Gerald Wallace, circling up to catch the ball.

This time Finley blocked him early, not giving Zhang Yang an easy shot, but the cooperation between Zhang Yang and Gerald Wallace worked, pulling Bowen away!

Zhang Yang played one-on-one against Finley, stepped back for a mid-range shot... and scored!

As Parker took the inbound and rushed all the way to just inside the opponent’s three-point line for a buzzer-beating jump-stop jump shot, which missed, the first quarter ended.

Zhang Yang scored 8 points, Felton 6, Okafor 4, Alan Anderson 3, Gerald Wallace 4, outscoring Duncan’s 12 and Parker’s 6. The Bobcats led the Spurs by 4 points, 25 to 21, going into the quarter break!