NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

"If this guy doesn't come soon, I'm about to call a timeout." Lin Tian, ​​who had just stood up to check the time, ready to call a timeout at any moment before the 8-second mark so the team could inbound the ball, sat down again. He trusted Yao Ming more than anyone else when he went to the free-throw line.

This big guy is destined to be a hero tonight.

With a game-winning three-pointer and two successful free throws, the Celtics' chances of a comeback were slim after the lead was extended to six points.

If it weren't for the fact that directly substituting all the core players would be too risky, Lin Tian really wanted to pull off a crazy move right now: keep Yao Ming on and then bring in four role players to play for the last 20 seconds or so.

It can only be said that even though Lin Tian himself didn't punish him, he was still uneasy!

"Boom!"

Then came a muffled thud. Yao Ming's first free throw was a complete miss, which made Lin Tian's heart skip a beat.

Luckily, I resisted the urge to show off!
Otherwise, if this penalty is blocked, we'll have to bring back the core members who just sat down, which would be too embarrassing.

Thankfully, I managed to hold back.

After missing his first free throw, Yao Ming took a deep breath, steadied himself, and made his second free throw, managing to avoid an upset.

Then Duncan quickly grabbed the basketball and went out of bounds, then found Parker and passed the ball out.

Parker drove relentlessly up the court, then suddenly stopped and turned around outside the Bobcats' three-point line, reaching out to pass the ball. Ginobili ran past him, and after a handoff pass, Ginobili drifted and tossed the ball out.

With a muffled thud, Ginobili's three-pointer missed, and the Celtics had completely lost their chance to win the game and end the series tonight!
Fields rushed to the basket, grabbed the backboard, and held the ball tightly in his arms, as if protecting his hard-won opportunity. He would not allow anyone to take the basketball away from him at this moment.

The Celtics stopped playing defense and committing fouls, and quickly retreated back to their own half of the court.

Apart from Duncan bending over in frustration, slamming his fist on the floor, and uttering a curse, the other players' expressions were completely unreadable at this point.

Pain? Loss? Regret? Frustration?
But in short, they missed their best chance in this series.

They failed to close out the series at home after taking a 3-1 lead.

In the next two games, although they still held match point, the scales of victory began to tip in the Bobcats' favor.

"An incredible match! I think this match can be used as a textbook for head coaches to learn from in terms of tactical deployment and on-the-spot reactions!" Miller couldn't wait to start his match summary even before the match was over.

"Although Lin didn't play tonight, his mark was everywhere in the game! His brilliant performance and the wonderful changes he made through painstaking effort were everywhere!"

"Excellent! Lin truly did everything a head coach could tonight. He did everything he could to change the game, change the rhythm, and influence the game." Jackson added, "Whether on or off the court, Lin is an incredible genius!"

Miller, as if he were playing against Jackson, continued, "Just tonight, we can think of several adjustments and changes that will have a huge impact. We can have Lin play alongside Rose as a dual point guard to help Rose relieve some of his burden and reduce his playing time and energy expenditure in the first three quarters."

"The result of this move was that in the fourth quarter, a fully-energized Rose overwhelmed the Celtics, leaving them helpless. How many points did Rose score in the last five minutes? 10 or 14?"

"His speed in the final minutes was clearly at least a step faster than everyone else on the field; he was unstoppable."

"An additional effect of this tactical change is that DeRozan, who had a poor performance in the first four games, was also liberated. He contributed his strength off the bench. Although his scoring was not high, his efficiency was amazing. Tonight, he made 4 of 5 shots, providing the team with considerable firepower support!"

"Then came the unexpected rise of three key players!" Jackson said. "Lance Stephenson's consecutive points in the first half turned the Bobcats' situation around and almost brought them back from the brink of defeat."

"Fields' crucial rebounds and steals in the fourth quarter changed the course of the game, while Thomas, although he didn't have any spectacular moments and only had one rebound on the stat sheet, did his job well after coming on the court and defended Duncan's final shot!"

Miller added, "More importantly, Lin clearly understands another principle: the reason why surprise troops are surprise troops is because they cannot provide stable output and cannot become a regular force. Therefore, no matter which of the three mentioned above, their appearance time is not long!"

"If it were any other coach, they would have given Stephenson more opportunities in the second half after he made four consecutive shots, but Lin didn't! Whatever Lin's reason, he didn't use his tricks to the fullest."

"Before his opponents even started to figure out his weaknesses, he had already changed his tactics! This Lin is truly difficult to defeat. I've never seen a rookie head coach like this before! Lin is even different from other rookie coaches!"

"Those rookie coaches we used to rave about, who were at their peak right from the start, are completely different!"

"Popovich served as an assistant coach for Nelson and Larry Brown for many years before taking the job. Larry worked under Auerbach for almost 10 years, and Phil Jackson also served as an assistant coach for many years before becoming the head coach."

"Other renowned coaches like Carlisle, Riley, and Van Gundy, who achieved immediate success upon taking office, also have considerable experience as assistant coaches."

"But this Lin, he's like a monster. After retiring, he made movies for a year, worked as a commentator for a year, then returned to the league, and then became the best general manager and head coach in the league."

"If it weren't for Rose's injury, he would have had a great chance to win both the Best General Manager and Best Head Coach awards this year. What else can I say? I can only say that some people are just geniuses, geniuses beyond everyone else's imagination."

“Actually, I think,” Jackson continued after Miller finished speaking, “that is precisely because Rose is injured, the Coach of the Year award should go to Lin.”

"Look at what he did after Rose got injured. He boldly put Jeremy on the court and completed the team's tactical restructuring in just one week, creating a completely new system. How many coaches in the league can do that?"

"And don't forget, Yao also missed many games due to injury while Rose was injured!"

"With both of the team's star players absent, the team's record hasn't collapsed, and they've managed to maintain their position in the top half of the Eastern Conference. Lin's Coach of the Year award is truly well-deserved!"

While the two commentators kept praising Lin Tian, ​​the players on both sides displayed completely opposite states of performance.

The Bobcats players erupted in wild celebration, shaking hands and hugging the nearest person in a frenzy. They had climbed out of the abyss! Although they were still trailing by a large margin, they had truly pulled through!

They are confident of winning when they return to their home ground.

Lin Tian remained calm and collected. He shook hands with Rivers, gave Duncan a meaningful look, and then turned and left the arena first.

He suddenly understood why Duncan allowed Howard to be so willful, even to the point of affecting the team's chemistry. This brooding old man was still able to tolerate and even indulge Howard.

This guy is too weak to fight anymore.

No matter how much people joke about the so-called "Rookie No. 21" or anything like that, no matter how consistent or great Duncan is, he's already getting on in years.

Although this guy only entered the league in 1997, don't forget that he completed four years of college. He is three years older than McGrady, who entered the league in the same year as him, and even older than Garnett, who entered the league two years earlier!

He is 36 years old this year.

This guy is already a real old man in the NBA.

If Duncan were to give it his all now, he would still be a top-five power forward in the league, and he might still be selected for the All-NBA Team. But this guy knows very well that his peak is over and he has begun to decline.

And if he really does that, his professional career will be shortened by a year for every year he plays. He could have played until his early 40s if he played at a leisurely pace, but if he plays like crazy, he might have to retire before he turns 40.

The old man had finally reached the age where every drop was precious and he had to be extremely careful with his money. He was nurturing Howard.

He hoped that Howard could become the future pillar and face of the Celtics, so he voluntarily stepped down and took a back seat.

However, it now seems that Howard has clearly disappointed Duncan.

Unable to find their own position, willful and reckless, unwilling to follow tactics and plans, unwilling to play tactics that are truly suitable for them, and insisting on low-post one-on-one plays that they are completely unskilled in.

That night, Howard even became the target of the Bobcats' attacks. Lin Tian basically focused on Howard's weaknesses tonight!
Focus on attacking Yao Ming, have Rose drive to the basket, and send Howard to the free-throw line...

A well-intentioned but soon-to-be-outdated older brother and a gifted but unambitious and unsatisfactory younger brother.

The Celtics' future still seems shrouded in mystery.

Of course, this is entirely a good thing for the Bobcats.

The more troubles the Celtics face both internally and externally, the more likely we are to turn the game around and the greater our chances of winning.

Thinking this, Lin Tian had almost reached the entrance of the press conference. Following behind him was Rose, who had an explosive performance in the fourth quarter that night, scoring continuously and almost single-handedly leading the team to a comeback victory.

"Lin, Derek, first of all, congratulations on your victory tonight. How does it feel to win in such a desperate situation?"

"That was fantastic!" Lin Tian said with a smile. "I've always enjoyed the feeling of being enveloped by extreme pressure and constantly being pushed back. It was exhilarating! Especially when I finally defeated him and won the match, it was an incredibly satisfying moment!"

"I've loved that feeling of breaking through the pressure and silencing all those who didn't believe in me since I was a child."

Rose continued, "I'm also very happy! The coach kept telling everyone not to be nervous, and that we were going to win tonight! We believed in the coach, trained hard, and won the game!"

The reporters in the audience looked at Ross, then at Lin Tian, ​​and without any hesitation, they pointed their guns at Ross.

After all, this guy looked extremely excited and didn't seem very bright, so he was more likely to spill the beans.

As for Lin Tian, ​​this guy used to be the god of the media, and he made countless famous quotes that supported countless people in the industry.

But he did seem to have matured and grown up, and after becoming the general manager and head coach, he became relatively more composed. Apart from saying at the beginning of the season that the team's goal was the championship, he didn't say too many outrageous things that year.

This thing is outdated.

Let's ask the newcomers!

The reporters looked at Ross without hesitation and asked their questions.

"You were fantastic in the fourth quarter tonight, Derrick! It might be the best fourth quarter of your entire career. How did you feel about that quarter? Do you think you can maintain tonight's performance in the rest of the series?"

“I felt the endless support from my teammates. I felt their constant support. They were everywhere on the court, appearing wherever I needed them! I couldn’t possibly grab a lot of rebounds, and I couldn’t possibly protect the rim every time.”

"Including steals, passes, screens, and so on, I couldn't do all of that by myself. My teammates gave me everything they could! And that's how I put on my performance tonight. I couldn't have done it without them."

"I don't remember how many points I scored or how many layups I made. I only remember that Yao held Howard to just 4 points in the fourth quarter and made him miss several shots. I only remember that Itang defended Duncan's last attack."

"Of course, there was also Landry's rebounding, Jeremy's passing, and Lamar's incredibly beautiful drive!"

“I remember all of this. They are the real heroes. They are the biggest contributors to the team’s victory tonight. They deserve more praise than I do because I do the most glamorous things on the field, while they do the dirty work without complaint!”

Not interesting.

The reporters, hearing Ross's incredibly mature and flawless response, all felt uneasy.

This kid is so mature! This is only his first time playing in the playoffs, and he answered the questions so flawlessly. Where did your youthful arrogance and disdain go?
come on!

We still need to interview the old-timer, to ask him what his thoughts are on this match.

"Lin, we noticed that you used several players who usually have few opportunities to play tonight, and they all showed a very good competitive state in the game, making great contributions to the team's comeback."

"Was this a strategy you had planned before the match?"

"How could that be? Don't joke around." Lin Tian said, "How could I possibly predict how the players would perform or how the game would go? Even I can't do those things, but I do know about other things."

"The three of them, or rather every player on our team, train incredibly hard. They all give their all in training. They are all warriors, ready to step onto the court at any time."

"And more importantly, we all know that Doug is a good coach. He is very good at boosting the team's morale and knows exactly how to inspire the players' fighting spirit and desire. If we only consider this point, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the best coach in the league."

"But he also has weaknesses. His ability to make adjustments and adapt to changing situations may not be top-notch. He is not good at winning by surprise. When facing new things from his opponents, he will sometimes be slow to react or make adjustments. I seized on this point, relentlessly attacked him, and finally won the game!"

Oh!
It has to be the old buddy and the old Jesus!
The reporters' eyes lit up when they heard this.

Lin Tian is giving everyone a free meal again! He's practically the founding father of the journalism industry!
No matter how Lin Tian laid the groundwork, or how cryptic his words were, it was no different from pointing his finger at Rivers and scolding him for being slow to react, unable to adjust, and bad at managing people.

The coaches were exchanging insults after the game. Well, at least it was one-sided at the moment, which is quite rare!

"So what adjustments did you make to target his weaknesses?" A seasoned reporter, knowing that Lin Tian hadn't finished speaking, immediately offered him a ladder to climb further.

The young reporters at the scene sighed in unison, "Look at that, that's experience!"
The other more experienced reporters nodded in agreement: Who said there aren't key figures in our journalism industry? This is it! If some idiot were to ask something like, "How are you feeling tonight?" or some other meaningless question and change the subject, it would really cut off our source of income.

“I also had Yao go one-on-one with Howard because I think that even though Rivers has Duncan, and even though Duncan is the better player and a stronger, more consistent low-post specialist, Rivers will definitely not suddenly change the team’s main offensive focus during the playoffs. He will continue to let Howard attack.”

"Howard is certainly great. He has the best talent in the league, and even the most unique talent in the entire history of the NBA! But his playing style is actually more suited to being a pure finisher, really."

“If he goes to pick-and-roll, roll to the basket, dunk, grab offensive rebounds and put-backs, and cut to the basket, then we really have no way to deal with him. Fortunately, he didn’t play like that, and Rivers didn’t let him play like that either.”

"Are you giving the Celtics some advice, Lin?" a reporter noticed and couldn't help but ask.

"I was just stating my concerns," Lin Tian said with an innocent smile. "We all hope it won't become a reality, don't we?"

"But now that they've heard it, they'll see what you're worried about. Aren't you afraid he'll immediately follow suit?" another reporter pressed.

"I'm afraid." Lin Tian said the word "afraid" for the first time almost: "But I don't think they will do that. They definitely won't focus on attacking Duncan, let him go to the low post to get the ball and isolate, and then let Howard create space to wait on the side to dunk."

"Howard will be unhappy." (End of Chapter)