allendalepharm Chapter 539 Old Nelson's goal is the stars and the sea!
Chapter 539 Old Nelson's goal is the stars and the sea!
Old Nelson had been waiting for this opportunity to say it for a long time.
Old Nelson sat back in his chair. He had been wanting to talk about Stoudemire for a while. This guy had a free throw percentage of over 70%, but he almost never took a mid-range shot and didn't like to shoot. He just liked to drive to the inside.
What a waste! What a terrible use!
What's the difference between this and having a sharpshooter not fire a shot, but instead just hitting someone on the head with the butt of their gun?
Yes, hitting someone on the head with a gun butt is exhilarating and satisfying, and doing it a few times now and then is fine, but you can't lose sight of the bigger picture!
As Don Nelson said, Stoudemire's aggressive style of play is indeed flashy and attractive, which has earned him a large number of fans, but his style of play is also too monotonous and easy for opponents to limit.
Not only that, his playing style is also quite prone to injury, and for someone like Stoudemire who relies on physical attributes, a single injury could cause him to lose all his explosiveness and become just another ordinary person.
Changing his playing style and increasing his shooting percentage will make Stoudemire stronger and more unstoppable, while also allowing him to have a longer career.
However, Don Nelson joined the team too late, and he didn't like to have players change their playing style and practice new tricks in the middle of the season, as that could easily cause players to become confused and perform poorly.
Anyway, Stoudemire has only been in the league for 3 years. He has plenty of opportunities and time to improve and practice. It's just that he wasted a few precious years.
Anyway, if you were to show Don Cheney in front of Nelson now, Nelson would definitely point his finger at him and yell at him.
Damn it, such a promising talent, a genius, was turned into a stupid donkey and a wooden horse by this guy, a meaty tank that only knows how to mindlessly charge into the paint.
Throughout the entire season, Don Nelson was waiting for an opportunity, waiting for Stoudemire to be completely defeated and start to doubt himself, so that he could say those words to him.
Old Nelson knew that only by making Stoudemire suffer enough losses and fall into enough traps would he realize how important shooting was, and how important it was to practice shooting properly and enrich his playing style.
The fourth quarter was fast-paced, and Don Nelson really wasn't letting Stoudemire play!
Because Smith, who replaced Stoudemire at this moment, played exceptionally well. This guy, who originally had the same selling point as Stoudemire, was like he suddenly set up a scope in the fourth quarter, hitting a three-pointer and a long-range two-pointer in succession, instantly drawing the Spurs' defense out of the game.
Thanks to his two goals, the Knicks' offense became easier, and Lin Tian and Anthony's breakthroughs became correspondingly easier.
Smith then went quiet for almost half a quarter. When the Celtics' defense tried to leave him alone again and started to collapse to block Lin Tian and others, Lin Tian once again passed the ball to the rookie.
Smith, whose three-point shooting percentage was only 21% throughout the regular season, once again took to the air and unleashed a powerful three-pointer.
"Whoosh!"
Another crisp sound rang out, and Smith hit another three-pointer!
He made all three of his shots in the fourth quarter tonight, scoring 8 points!
Moreover, the methods he used were all mid-to-long-range shots, which he was not very good at!
As for why this guy is so accurate?
Lin Tian felt that, besides the fact that this guy had a really big heart, he also had a reckless attitude. No matter if he could shoot or not, if you gave him the ball, he would dare to shoot!
Another reason is most likely that the opposing head coach is Rivers, which activated Smith's hidden buff.
"I, Smith, must have a game in my life where I dominate against Rivers and lead my team to a comeback victory!"
Especially since he's wearing a headband tonight, it further activates this hidden attribute.
After Smith scored 8 consecutive points in the fourth quarter, the Celtics' defense finally dared not collapse any further. They had already given the ball three times; if they did, Firth would truly be incredibly stupid.
He's just bad at adapting, but to coach in the NBA for so many years and win Coach of the Year, it's not enough to just rely on "Come on, you dog, all talk and no action!"
Rivers still possesses the basic adaptability required.
However, the consequences of widening the defensive line and no longer double-teaming Lin Tian under the basket are quite clear.
Marbury got completely destroyed by Lin Tian!
When Smith hit that three-pointer, the Celtics were leading by a full seven points.
But after that, when the Celtics changed their defense, Lin Tian went one-on-one against Marbury four times in less than two minutes!
Lin Tian scored directly on three occasions, narrowing the 7-point gap to 2 points!
Finally, Duncan couldn't stand it anymore and rushed out of the paint to double-team Lin Tian near the free-throw line. Lin Tian immediately made a low pass to Anthony, who took the opportunity to cut to the basket.
Anthony once again challenged Howard with the ball.
After suffering many setbacks tonight, with his attempts to attack the basket repeatedly being blocked by the Celtics' tenacious defense, Anthony finally got a chance to finally get his revenge!
He charged forward with tremendous force and momentum. He used all his strength to pull himself up, tucked the ball behind his head with one hand, and slammed it fiercely at Howard.
"bump!"
The two collided violently in mid-air, producing a muffled thud that, though not loud, was enough to shake one's soul. The impact was like a charging rhinoceros colliding head-on with a prepared hippopotamus!
If it were an ordinary person, such a collision would probably break their entire sternum!
Anthony's attempts to drive into the paint mostly ended in failure in the first three quarters, but this time, it was finally his turn!
He pushed past Howard, dodged his blocking arm, took the ball from behind his head with one hand, and with a roar, slammed the ball into the basket!
"boom!"
Anthony completed an absolutely insane dunk over Howard!
"Roar roar roar roar!"
After landing, Anthony stretched out his fingers and frantically tapped his temples!
At the same time, roars kept coming out of his mouth.
They've tied it!
Lin Tian and Anthony, with their fierce and decisive style of play, finally broke free from the deficit that had plagued them for almost the entire game with 4 minutes left in the final minutes, successfully tying the score!
"Look at Josh." Old Nelson came to Stoudemire's side again and said, "You can too, no! You're better than him! The shooting talent you have, I've only seen in one other big man in the entire league."
"Dirk Nowitzki! I watched Dirk grow from a role player averaging 8 points per game to an MVP-caliber player. I watched him become the best shooting big man in the league."
"I've never told you this before, Amar'e, but I have to say it now: I think you can beat Nowitzki even just in shooting! Not to mention the physical attributes he has that he can't possibly acquire no matter how hard he trains."
"You know what I'm talking about, right?"
At this point, old Nelson blinked, smiled, and then picked up the tactical board.
Rivers on the opposing team called a timeout to rearrange the tactics.
He was beaten really badly by Lin Tian and his group just now!
81: 81!
At 3 minutes and 57 seconds, the score was tied.
Next, it's time for the final battle!
"Will Don Nelson bring in Stoudemire? Or will he continue using Smith, the team's fourth-quarter surprise weapon?" Barkley asked, a mixture of anticipation and curiosity in his voice. "Logically, Stoudemire should be in at this point. But his performance tonight is truly...unpredictable!"
Kenny said, "If it were me, I wouldn't bring on Amare at this time. He really can't break through against big men of Duncan and Howard's caliber, and he'll have a hard time finding opportunities."
Barkley shook his head. "But if it were me, I'd send him up! Even if he gets wrecked by the Celtics' twin towers, that experience is essential!"
"After all, if the Knicks advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, what will they do when facing the Pistons, who have stronger individual and team defense? Are they really expecting Smith, who shot 20% from three-point range in the regular season, to save the day every game?"
"Amare must get better!"
Between the two men's analysis and speculation, old Nelson provided the answer.
Stoudemire didn't play!
Firstly, because Smith really played well; tonight he was like a divine intervention.
Secondly, Nelson was determined to give Stoudemire a good talking-to.
This summer, we have to force this guy to develop his mid-range shooting ability!
To help Stoudemire improve, Don Nelson was even willing to risk losing tonight's game, or even not winning the championship this year!
Of course, it wasn't because Don Nelson cared about or thought highly of Stoudemire, nor was he so selfless. It was simply because Don Nelson knew that if Stoudemire, Anthony, and others didn't improve and get stronger, even if the team won the championship this year, they wouldn't be able to achieve consecutive championships in the following years!
As an old-school coach, he understands better than anyone how difficult it is to win consecutive championships. He also knows that if he doesn't give the players a good talking-to while they are young, it will be even more impossible to get them to improve and become significantly stronger once they have formed good habits, become complacent and self-satisfied.
Before they are satisfied, they must taste the pain and despair of failure. They must know the taste of failure in advance so that they will understand the rarity of victory and constantly hone themselves in order to achieve victory.
So, is this Nelson's ultimate goal?
Damn it, Bird and Carlisle, those two talents, were able to lead Lin Tian to 6 championships in 7 years. If I lead a mature Lin Tian and we don't create a dynasty, but only win 1 or 2 championships, then Nelson will lose face. He can't afford to be ashamed!
Even the reason he didn't let the team practice defense this season, but instead let them attack relentlessly, was because he was indirectly competing with Bird and Carlisle.
The notions of using offense to drive defense, having both offense and defense, and having top-tier offensive and defensive lineups are outdated.
I won't use the methods you've used!
I'm going to walk a path no one has ever walked before. I'm going to fight for the championship and make history in my own way!
That's how I can show how awesome I am.
The minds of mad scientists are indeed crazy, arrogant, and willful.
It can only be said that even the most outstanding geniuses have their own madness.
Some people: I don't want a championship unless it's the Finals MVP!
Don Nelson: I don't want a championship that isn't a dynasty!
In short, in Don Nelson's mind, if the team fails to win the championship this year, it is entirely within his expectations and he can accept it. His goal is the next three years.
We're going to win three consecutive championships in the next three years!
As for three years from now?
Let's see if Lin Tian leaves or not.
Of course, if the team still wins the championship this year despite him deliberately creating a weakness and not strictly coaching players like Stoudemire and Anthony, then the team can only make do and get a fourth consecutive championship.
The game continues!
Marbury received the inbound pass near the center line and began to orchestrate the attack.
The Celtics' offense becomes slower and more deliberate at times like this. Marbury took almost 10 seconds just to dribble halfway around the top of the arc, and then it took him about 5 seconds to pass the ball after everyone was in position.
By the time Pierce got space on the wing and everyone spread out to go one-on-one with Anthony, there were only 5 seconds left on the shot clock.
It's all in these 5 seconds!
Pierce, a guy who was already more slick than most people at 51 when he started playing basketball at 15, knew exactly how to deal with a hothead like Anthony.
Dribble slowly and deliberately, use fakes, and then fake a shot before the shot clock expires.
Sure enough, Anthony, eager to make a contribution and hoping to defend against this attack, immediately jumped up.
If you jump, you lose!
"puff!"
Pierce crashed right into Anthony, then casually tossed the ball away. He just wanted the whistle; he didn't care whether the ball went in or not.
"Beep beep!" The referee's whistle blew on time, giving Anthony a foul for hitting his hand.
"FUXX!" After defending for 23 seconds, a mistake was made at the last moment. This kind of failed defense is the most despairing and frustrating.
Anthony swore and clutched his head in frustration.
Not only because he gave Pierce two free throws, but also because it was his fifth foul!
"Kid, give it your all!" Pierce grinned with his incredibly smug grin, tilting his head and saying, "You're just a hair's breadth away from stopping me."
"Of course, this tiny bit might take you a lifetime to master."
"Come on, try to fight me one-on-one next round." At this moment, Lin Tian naturally had to stand up for his little brother: "Let's see who's a tiny bit worse than whom, and who has to train for a lifetime."
"I can't beat you." To Lin Tian's surprise, Pierce was quite straightforward, waving his hand and saying, "I'm no match for you, but I can crush this rookie! If you switch defenses with him, Stephen can crush him too! He's just a liability. If you don't believe me, we'll see!"
"I'll show you who the real liability is! You'd better stay in the corner and not move next round, or I guarantee I'll score a 2+1 on you!" Lin Tian knew that the worst thing about Pierce's trash talk was arguing with him about whether Anthony was a liability or not.
Arguing about this is pointless.
The best way is to turn Pierce into a vulnerability as well, relentlessly criticize him, and denigrate him as trash who is even worse than a vulnerability or a newbie.
In that case, he's no better than Anthony. How can someone who can't even compare to Anthony criticize him?
The logic is quite sound!
"Paul, it's time for the free throw!" Pierce was about to chat with Lin Tian for a bit more, but Duncan suddenly opened his mouth, signaling Pierce to hurry up and take the free throw.
"We'll see." Pierce glanced at Duncan, then snorted and decisively stepped to the free-throw line.
It was indeed this treacherous yet seemingly loyal fellow causing trouble!
Given Lin Tian's situation, how could he not know what was going on, and how could he not know why the Celtics' trash talk level and tolerance were so much higher?
Duncan, a psychology graduate, taught them a lesson!
Lin Tian could guess what the course content would be.
It's definitely some damn "Even though you can't out-argue Lin, I have a way to make him out-argue you too" or "As long as we don't lose, Lin can't win," or "The complete guide to dealing with trash talk."
Anyway, from Marbury singing awful rap as soon as he heard Lin Tian speak, to Pierce only nagging at Anthony but not saying much to Lin Tian, all of these things are definitely products of "catching up".
But since the replacement was done, and they were on the same team, Lin Tian couldn't ask Duncan if he had been charged.
However, Lin Tian didn't take this matter to heart at all and didn't care at all.
So what if they're immune to my trash talk?
Then I won't say anything.
Let's have a pure basketball showdown and see who's tougher!
"Swish! Swish!"
With two crisp clicks, Pierce made both free throws, and the Celtics regained the lead.
But this time the Celtics' defense immediately faltered. After making the free throw, they didn't have time to press the Knicks' baseline, and the players forgot about it.
Okur quickly grabbed the basketball and threw it to Lin Tian, who then immediately sprinted down the court.
He didn't care whether any Celtics players were following him; he just charged straight towards the Celtics' basket!
Then, when Lin Tian reached the basket, three Celtics players had already surrounded him, completely encircling him.
If it were an ordinary player, being double-teamed by three opponents under the basket, they would definitely not know what to do.
But Lin Tian remained calm. Not only did he suddenly turn around and break out of the encirclement before the Celtics' defense completely closed in, but he also suddenly turned around and accelerated after breaking out of the encirclement, and charged back to the basket!
This back-and-forth maneuver completely disrupted the Celtics' defense under the basket. Lin Tian stopped playing around with his opponents and seized the opportunity to jump and easily score 2 points with a reverse layup.
It's still split evenly!
"Get in the corner!" After scoring, Lin Tian immediately looked at Pierce, who was defending Anthony in the corner, and taunted, "If you dare leave that area, I'll make sure you can't even find your way home!" (End of Chapter)