warrior godfather

Chapter 279 Stubborn Brooks

4 month 17 day.

In the evening in Auckland, the sun gradually disappeared to the west of the bay, and the blue sky gradually turned red, then grayish yellow, then light grayish blue, and finally under the stars, it was extraordinarily deep against the background black.

Under the dark and bright sky, there was a lot of traffic on Route 880, and all kinds of private cars headlights flickered, converging towards the Oracle Center.

The vast parking lot of the Oracle Arena has been mostly filled, and the vehicles behind have formed a long queue, and they can only move in slowly. Above them is the dazzling LED sign of the Oracle Center.

The several entrances of the arena are also crowded with people. The chatter and laughter of thousands of people converge in one place, as if the buzzing of mosquitoes is amplified a thousand times, stirring up the already restless spirit of the Warriors fans and making them feel excited in the crowd. In the process of queuing up to enter the venue, it became more and more excited.

In one hour, the Warriors' home game against the Thunder will start.

As time passed, the long queue gradually shortened, and the audience entered the arena, walked through the fan channel, and came to the auditorium to find their own seats.

Ticket prices for the playoffs have skyrocketed, and the best courtside seats cost tens of thousands of dollars more than the ones at the top of the mountain, but each seat has a bright yellow baggy T-shirt with the Warriors as the Bay Area printed on it. With the bridge as the main logo, most people put on T-shirts after sitting down. Only a small number of spectators wearing Thunder jerseys did not do so.

As the auditorium was filled, the hustle and bustle gradually increased, and the fiery atmosphere slowly swept the audience. A few fans wearing dark blue Thunder jerseys were dotted among nearly [-] Warriors fans wearing bright yellow T-shirts , is particularly conspicuous.

Snapped!
Suddenly, the headlights on the dome of the Oracle Arena went out, leaving only the flashing lights to walk in the auditorium. The big screen in the middle of the stadium went black first, and then suddenly lit up. The logo of the Warriors exploded on the screen. Then the Warriors' season promotional video began to play, and the cheers of the fans suddenly resounded.

With the Warriors players appearing on the screen, the passionate voice of the live DJ reached everyone:

"Ladies! Gentlemen! Welcome to the kingdom of warriors..."

The opening ceremony of the Oracle Center was presented in a passionate manner in front of every audience who came to the scene, driving the emotions of the Warriors fans. The entire arena seemed to be a volcano that was about to end its dormancy, and a restless mood spread in the crowd. spread.

Under the dim light, people can't see each other's faces clearly, even the figures of the Warriors players on the screen are so blurred, but at this moment, the IT elites in Silicon Valley and the blue-collar workers in Oakland have the same fanatical expressions on their faces, forgetting themselves together Shouting and screaming, they are located on the sidelines closest to the players and on the top of the mountain farthest from the stadium. Their lives are completely different, with huge income and status gaps, but on this night, they came to the same place for the same thing Cheers heartily.

That's the beauty of basketball.

This restlessness and excitement reached its peak when Curry played. When Curry's figure appeared under the spotlight, jogged into the court, and clapped hands with his teammates, this restless volcano finally erupted. In just ten seconds Here, the Oracle Center turned into a hell of noise, showing the world their love and support for this baby-faced young man.

But soon, the volcano fell into silence again. A local black female singer in San Francisco came to the stadium, and the flash lights stopped. Stand up collectively and hum along softly in a solemn atmosphere.

But not everyone is in awe of the American national anthem. Although Zhang Yu also stood up, she just stood there casually, looking around boredly. He touched the cuffs of his black suit and came to the Warriors players.

Today he wanted to put on the Zegna gray suit that has accompanied him throughout his coaching career, but at the thought of the inevitable physical contact with the players in the game, he would definitely sweat a lot, and finally he gave up the idea.

After the national anthem, the Oracle Arena seemed to come alive again, and the din came from all directions from the west again. Zhang Yu and the starting players who were about to play clapped their hands one by one, and finally whispered in Curry's ear:
"Hear the cheers from the fans? Don't let them down, Steph."

"No problem, boss." Curry rubbed his hands and nodded seriously.

He came to the court, chewed his braces, ran quickly to the position of the basket, then turned back, and jumped twice on the spot. With this set of actions, Curry abandoned distracting thoughts and devoted all his attention to the game .

He came to a position close to the center line, and clapped hands with Clay who was walking past him, his face calmed down, and he looked across.

Right in front of him, Durant happened to be standing. Curry raised his head slightly. After the two looked at each other for a while, they looked away at the same time, looking at Chandler and Perkins who came to the center line and were about to jump the ball.

Neither of them knew what was going on in the other's mind, but there was no doubt that if they wanted to lead their team to the next round, they had to step over the other's dead body.

"Di-"

The referee blew the whistle and threw the ball into the air. Perkins and Chandler were immediately entangled. Chandler took advantage of the speed of the bullet to touch the ball in the air first and dialed it to the backcourt of the Warriors. Clay picked it up, and Clay quickly passed it to Curry.

Curry took the ball, stuffed the braces into his mouth, and swung his left hand forward. The entire Warriors team rushed to the Thunder halftime like a tide. The fans in the audience were also led by the DJ on the spot, shouting "Let's `s go, warriors', the game officially begins!
Curry dribbled to the frontcourt, and it was Sefolosha who defended him. In addition, the Thunder's starters were Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Perkins.

Presti followed Brooks' advice and traded in the middle of the season, sending Jeff Green to the Celtics in exchange for Perkins and Nate Robinson. Out of position, although Thunderbolt's fourth young master has become the third young master, their offense and defense are more balanced and their strength is stronger.

This transaction also activated Harden. He gained more ball rights. The data after the All-Star has risen to a higher level than before the All-Star, and he is more and more suitable for the role of the team's sixth man.

Facing Sefolosha, Curry did not choose to play hard, but followed the Warriors' usual routine at the beginning of the game, handing the ball to Green in the low post, Chandler raised him up to cover him, and the three cooperated on the strong side to provide Curry Create an open three-pointer here.

But the Thunder had been prepared for a long time. When Curry passed the ball to Green, Sefolosha always paid attention to Chandler's position. points.

But while the Thunder's defensive focus was on Curry, the Warriors had opportunities elsewhere.

Westbrook, who is defending Clay, has been paying attention to the side with the ball. Clay took the opportunity to use Butler's cover to move from the corner of the weak side to the 45-degree position on the weak side. Green, who was always observing his teammates' running positions, immediately passed the ball. .

Westbrook's eyes moved along the trajectory of the basketball flight, and when he saw Clay who was in the open position, he hurriedly chased after him as if waking up from a dream, but it was too late. Clay caught the ball and shot, and the open three-pointer was stable. Steady hit.

3:0, the Warriors got off to a good start.

Zhang Yu on the sidelines applauded to indicate that Clay played well, while Brooks on the other side of the technical stage could only shake his head helplessly.

This is Westbrook's old problem. He is full of passion when defending with the ball, but loses interest when defending without the ball. It's okay if the opponent can only shoot 3D. , Westbrook's defense will make people feel headache.

Looking back, the Thunder attacked, and Westbrook was excited by the atmosphere of the Warriors at home. After halftime, he buried himself in the Warriors inside. Even if Clay asked to reserve a step for reaction, he still used his speed and powerful impact. He passed directly, folded in the air to avoid Chandler's block, and made a layup after confronting Chandler.

3: 2.

After the ball was scored, Westbrook jumped two steps a little bit unsatisfied, before turning around and returning to defense, the speed was not much slower than when he broke through just now.

The Thunder's bench also celebrated because of his powerful ball. Brooks nodded in relief. This is Westbrook. He may give the opponent some points on the defensive end, but he can provide a strong impact for the team. Force, Brooks has a love-hate relationship with him.

Fortunately, he is still young and has a lot of time to improve. Brooks looks forward to the day when Westbrook can truly become an offensive and defensive super guard, and together with Durant, lead the Thunder to create a legend.

In his opinion, this is not delusional. Westbrook's progress is too fast. In just three seasons, he has evolved from an inefficient rookie averaging 15.3 points, 5.3 assists and 39.8% shooting to 21.9 points and 8.2 The league's top point guard with 44% assists and shooting percentage, no one knows what kind of monster he will become when he finishes his rookie contract.

Brooks is full of confidence in Westbrook, but Westbrook is obviously not the protagonist tonight. Not long after he scored, Curry used Chandler's cover to take advantage of Perkins' weakness and hit a three-pointer with the ball. Return color.

6: 2.

Curry and Clay's two three-pointers made the Oracle Arena roar with cheers. Brooks stared at him and walked back and forth on the sidelines without making any adjustments, signaling the players to continue playing according to the original plan.

Now the coaches in the league have different strategies to defend Curry when they are facing the Warriors. Some of them resolutely double-team to force Curry to play the ball, some strikers swipe their cards to help defend properly, and some switch defenses every time they cover, but they will all be like Brooks like this, start with a normal defense, test Curry's touch, and then make a decision.

In this era, the normal pick-and-roll defense is that the center squats inside, and the first-line defenders go around the screen or squeeze the screen according to the opponent's shooting level. No coach can tolerate his center being transferred out of the inside with a pick-and-roll by the opponent. The same is true for Zhang Yu.

Although Curry made a three-pointer, Brooks hesitated and chose to wait and see.

And he seemed to be right. After Durant failed to make a mid-range shot in the next round, Curry asked Chandler to pick and roll again.

The basketball hit the front edge of the basket and bounced high, and fell into Ibaka's hands. He turned his head and handed it to Westbrook. He rushed past the defensive Warriors player, came two steps inside the free throw line, bent his knees slightly, soared into the sky, his eyes widened, and he slammed the ball into the basket with one hand!
boom!
6: 4.

After Westbrook landed, he was staggered two steps by the powerful impact. After standing still, he faced the auditorium behind the basket. With a roar, he turned around and retreated.

In the direction Westbrook was facing, there happened to be a Thunder fan wearing the No. 0 jersey sitting. He stood up from his seat after Westbrook dunked, held his head high, grabbed the front collar of the jersey, and kept vibrating. shouted:
"Russell, that's the fucking thing to do, kill them!!!"

His actions immediately attracted the attention of a large number of Warriors fans around him, and a middle-aged man sitting next to him said in an unfriendly voice:
"You better fucking be quiet!"

The man wanted to push back, but when he saw the angry eyes of the people around him, he immediately realized where he was, and he didn't dare to push back, so he sat down obediently, but said bitterly:

"Hmph, what a show of prestige, come back to Oklahoma with me if you have the ability, and come to Chesapeake to watch the game..."

Not only the Thunder fans were inspired by Westbrook's brave performance, but Brooks on the sidelines also smiled. Although he let Westbrook hit the inside more before the game, he did not expect to receive such good results. It seems that Westbrook tonight Less is in good shape.

But he soon stopped laughing. Looking back, Curry approached Perkins, and after using a single block to cover, he shot a three-pointer directly. , filled again with noise.

9: 4.

After making a three-pointer, Curry did not celebrate like Westbrook. He just calmly patted his chest and pointed to the sky while retreating. However, amidst the deafening cheers of the Warriors fans, his Recording three-pointers seems to be wilder than Westbrook's dunks.

Brooks's expression became serious again. He didn't know that this kind of three-pointer was a daily practice for Curry since his freshman year. The seemingly difficult three-pointer with the ball has been engraved in Curry's bones. An indelible muscle memory is formed.

There are decades of basketball concepts in Brooks' mind, so he doesn't believe that a player can make such difficult three-pointers in a row. It seems that he should maintain normal defense and wait for Curry's touch to fall back. Keep reminding him that he should send two people to lock Curry so that he can no longer make that difficult three-pointer.

In the end, Brooks did not make any changes because of his deep-rooted understanding of basketball. He did not intend to change the pre-match strategy so quickly.

In the next round, Curry missed a three-pointer with a single block and screen, which seemed to show that he was right, which made Brooks more determined in his mind.

But on the other side, when Zhang Yu saw Curry hit the iron with a three-pointer on the Warriors bench, he was not only not disappointed, but smiled, and Silas, who was sitting next to him, said in surprise:
"Ronan, you guessed it right, Brooks actually didn't do anything, he just watched Curry shoot a three-pointer!"

Zhang Yu smiled and said:

"I watched a lot of Thunder game video, combined with our game against the Thunder, it is not difficult to see that Brooks' on-the-spot response is very poor. This is the weakness of the Thunder, but the continuous improvement of Durant and Westbrook has covered it up. .”

Of course, I had to watch Thunder games for several years to be so sure... Zhang Yu added silently in her heart.

In his previous life, even though Brooks led the Thunder to quickly complete the reconstruction and reach the finals, his rigid on-the-spot response has always been criticized.

Brooks, who studied under George Karl, is a staunch supporter of fixed rotation and tactics. In terms of tactical adjustments, he usually waved his hand and let the players play on the court. This certainly gave Westbrook and Durant the opportunity to fully display their talents and spirituality. space, but it also makes it easier for the opponent's tactics to be effective.

In the ensuing game, Curry made Brooks' stubbornness pay a heavy price. He played the entire first quarter and didn't even take many shots inside the three-point line. He made 10 of 6 three-pointers and 2 of two-pointers. Most of them were shots with the ball after hanging a screen, scoring 1 points, 20 rebounds and 3 assist in a single quarter.

The first quarter of the playoffs between the two young teams was spent in a hurricane rush. Both sides were young and vigorous, and both were known for their counterattacks. No one took the initiative to slow down the rhythm. The scene dazzled the audience.

However, the Warriors' third-ranked defense in the regular season is still very solid in the playoffs. Under the fast-paced offensive and defensive transitions, they are not flustered. Everyone performs their duties and maintains an orderly defense. This is Thunder couldn't do it.

Although Westbrook was extremely excited in the first playoff game of his career, showing explosive impact, even after Zhang Yu took him to shrink the inside defense, his jumper was also very accurate, and he was in a brave state. The Thunder scored 12 points, but with Curry's superb performance and the Warriors' solid defense, the Thunder still trailed the Warriors by 25 points at 35:10.

After the start of the second quarter, both Zhang Yu and Brooks sent in the connecting lineup. The Warriors are Jeremy Lin, Big Z, Klay, Kirilenko and Yi Jianlian, and they still have a regular rotation.

The same is true for the Thunder. Harden led Dai Quinn Cook, Eric Maynor, Nazr Mohamed and Nick Collison to fight against the Warriors.

After seeing the Thunder's rotation lineup, Silas said with a little gaffe:

"Brooks actually let Harden lead the transition alone?!"

Ron Adams is also puzzled:

"Why didn't he let Durant play? Durant didn't play much in the first quarter, he should have plenty of energy..."

Neither of them could understand Brooks' rotation arrangement. The Warriors only had Curry as a stable and reliable ball-holding point, and Jeremy Lin could only lead the second team. However, Zhang Yu still asked Clay to rest early in the first quarter, and the transition period was stable. Offensively, the Thunder have two big stars, but they don't make full use of their advantages, and let Harden alone support the transitional offense, which is really a waste of money.

Zhang Yu was also slightly surprised, but then he smiled and said:
"Don't forget, the Thunder is playing in the playoffs for the first time. From the coach to the players, they have no experience. We were not much better than them last year."

He paused and continued:
"However, we still want to thank Brooks for this gift, and this good opportunity cannot be wasted!"

"Jeremy!" He got up and came to the sideline, beckoned to Jeremy Lin, called him back, and then told him, "Try to do damage inside, score as much as possible, go!"

Jeremy Lin nodded heavily, keeping Zhang Yu's words in his heart.

Subsequently, he used the open space provided by Big Z and Yi Jianlian on the offensive end to frequently attack the Thunder's weak inside defense. Nick Collison is a very respected leader in the locker room in the Thunder, but he is not enough to guard the Thunder inside. Jeremy Lin Success in a row.

Brooks quickly gave the order to shrink this time, but Clay, Yi Jianlian and Big Z can all shoot. Although the efficiency is not high, they can also punish the Thunder's defensive strategy.

When the Warriors' offense was going well, James also began to show his strength on the offensive end with the support of two shooters, Daquan Cook and Eric Maynor.

It’s just that his state is not very good. He made 3 of 0 shots and scored 2 points only by free throws. The point difference was quickly further widened. When the third quarter reached 6 minutes and 50 seconds, the Warriors had already led by 52:34 18 points.

Now, even Brooks, who has always been rigid, couldn't sit still. Harden's abnormality was beyond his expectation. He immediately called a timeout and replaced Westbrook and Durant to improve the Thunder's offense.

The effect of the two was immediate after they played, and they quickly relied on their personal abilities to help the team stabilize the situation. Westbrook continued his good form in the first quarter. Although the zombie's jump shot was stiff, the basketball with a flat arc was able to get into the basket in the end. Frame, Durant also used his unsolvable height and wingspan to score consecutively in the mid-range.

However, when Brooks adjusted the lineup, Zhang Yu also switched back to the starting lineup. The Warriors' proficiency in passing and cutting is not very high, but it is enough to play against the Thunder. Butler, who was quiet for a quarter, also started to hold the ball against Durant's defense, using confrontation and strength to kill the basket and make fouls, which did not allow the Thunder to recover too many points.

At the end of the second quarter, the score became 65:52, and the Thunder recovered by 5 points, but the Warriors still won by 3 points in the second quarter and entered the intermission with a 13-point advantage.

After the Warriors team returned to the locker room, the precise and efficient halftime review was over quickly. The Warriors did not make too many mistakes in the first half, and the Thunder did not show anything new. The Warriors did not need to make much change in the second half .

Although there are still problems such as high pass error rate and low accuracy of open three-pointers, these are stubborn problems that cannot be solved in a short time. Zhang Yu just reminded everyone to pay attention to this point without overemphasizing it. The atmosphere in the locker room is relaxed And harmonious, there is no tension in the playoffs at all.

But in the locker room of the visiting team, it was a completely opposite scene. The Thunder players felt a little lost after falling behind in the first half. Durant and Westbrook were not good at motivating their teammates, and the room was silent.

Brooks looked around, took a deep breath, and said loudly:

"Guys, there was no problem in the first half, 13 points is not a gap, keep your spirits up, today is the first playoff game in a lot of people's careers, including me, look at Kevin and Russell Let's work hard, we are a group, I hope everyone can stand up and defend our playoffs!"

(End of this chapter)