Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1063 - 602 The Art of Awarding_2

Chapter 1063: Chapter 602: The Art of Awarding_2 Chapter 1063: Chapter 602: The Art of Awarding_2 Try not to tank, but also not keen on competing for the crown; however, the idea of luring fans with a playoff appearance under the pretense of contending and tricking them into season ticket preorders for the next season is there, and it’s substantial.

“Looks like I can only send you on vacation early,” Yu Fei said. “That’s the only thing I can do for you.”

“No, not the GOAT…!” Parsons pretended to shout.

The game commenced.

Against the Clippers, the Mavericks’ tactics were limited, basically using various types of zone defenses back and forth.

Because Antetokounmpo was nominally the Clippers’ point guard, and although, under Yu Fei’s guidance, the Greek has retained his rookie shooting form and rhythm, his size ultimately made it impossible for him to balance dribbling and organizing plays with maintaining a shooting touch.

Thus, zone defense was extraordinarily effective against Antetokounmpo, and once he couldn’t hold the ball to wreak havoc, he had to pass the ball to Yu Fei frequently.

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This way, he essentially became a tool for dribbling past half-court.

Every team that plays against the Clippers will push them to this point.

Teams that can’t do this are basically so weak that they’re not worth Yu Fei’s serious attention.

But once the ball gets into Yu Fei’s hands, there are hardly any teams that can deal with it.

Right now, Yu Fei is like a smaller version of Jokić, with one man holding the ball and four men moving off the ball, while the five opponents keep a vigilant eye on him.

He always catches the defensive gaps and delivers precise passes.

If the defense plays well enough, he decisively switches to scoring mode.

Tonight, the Mavericks wanted to limit the cooperation between Yu Fei and his teammates, and also suppress his individual offense through double-teaming. However, this double-pronged tactic was poorly executed, turning instead into a situation full of leaks.

Yu Fei made continuous fakes, drawing in double teams, then lobbed the ball to Yao Ming for an easy dunk.

The Mavericks tried to disrupt Yu Fei with a mix of genuine and feigned coordinating defenses, but such tricks could only fool the young players.

Yu Fei straight-up called for pick-and-rolls and aggressively went after Nowitzki, taking him back to the bitter memories of the summer of 2006.

The only area the Mavericks could contend with the Clippers was during backcourt ball-handling offense connected with Nowitzki and Paterson on the perimeter. But the Clippers had an abundance of defensive resources.

Antetokounmpo’s athleticism and agility meant that he often could cover two men on defense, and Richard Jefferson was one of the few veterans to decline the least on the defensive end. Coupled with Yu Fei, who suddenly ramped up his defensive efforts post-February, and Klay Thompson, the elite 3D player, the Clippers’ defense was almost impregnable.

The only defensive weakness of the Clippers might be Yao Ming, who struggled with pick-and-rolls and couldn’t constrain the opponent’s perimeter shooting strategy. However, with four people in the Clippers’ starting lineup able to switch defenses, it wasn’t easy to exploit Yao.

The Mavericks’ players, due to their own flaws, also failed to succeed in targeted offense.

In the end, the Mavericks lost by a large margin. They found, to their dismay, that despite not making too many mistakes, they were completely blown out.

The gap in sheer power between the two teams was evident; as long as the Clippers didn’t falter, no matter how hard Dallas struggled, the outcome was unlikely to change.

Nowitzki wasn’t at his best tonight, not only failing to put pressure on Yu Fei from the power forward position but also causing the Mavericks to cover for him, forcing other players into mismatched defenses against Yu Fei.

Even with the ultimate protection for Nowitzki, Yu Fei still managed to find numerous targeted opportunities.

If a team has to patchwork their strategy to protect a core player but that player still can’t perform effectively, then the significance of that core’s presence truly becomes something to ponder.

“Should Dallas take the keys away from Dirk?”

This question came up during the TNT Crew’s discussion of Nowitzki’s lackluster performance in Game 1.

Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal both believed the Mavericks should give up on building around Nowitzki and start rebuilding from next season.

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While guest “Magic” Johnson commented, “This is more than a basketball issue. This year marks Dirk’s seventeenth season representing Dallas, and I believe they understand that persistence won’t result in better outcomes, but such a seventeen-year emotional bond in professional sports is extremely rare.”

This sparked another topic. Back in the day, if Nowitzki wanted a championship, he could’ve left Dallas. With his talent, joining any top-three team in the Western or Eastern Conference could’ve disrupted the league balance. However, he chose to stay.

Now that he’s old, should Dallas spurn him?

This is a question prompted by the culture of prioritizing rings—victory over everything.

The decision between Nowitzki and the Mavericks was of mutual loyalty. They haven’t been swayed by public opinion.

In the subsequent Game 2, the Mavericks pushed the Clippers to overtime, with Nowitzki’s hot hand scoring 35 points.

But in the end, Yu Fei and Thompson’s dominant performance in overtime averted a loss for the Clippers.

The Mavericks lost their spirit after the narrow overtime defeat in Game 2. Returning home, they made consecutive errors, and the Clippers easily seized three victories in a row.

With the score at 3-0, Dallas no longer even had a chance for a miracle.

This was Yu Fei’s first playoff series against the Mavericks since 2006.

He remembered the finals of 2006, particularly the words of Nowitzki after losing the championship left a deep impression.

So, he had a question.

In the first round’s fourth game, the American Airlines Arena was still filled with spectators.

Mavericks fans cheered their team on with all their might.

The Mavericks seemed to rally a bit, performing better than in Game 3, but Yu Fei and Thompson’s three-point barrage quickly woke them from their dreams of winning.