Almighty Coach

New York, NBA headquarters.

In the reception room, NBA President Adams is receiving guests. These guests are representatives sent by several major sponsors of the NBA. It can also be said that they are the God of Wealth of the NBA.

Facing the God of Wealth, Adams did not dare to be negligent, so he personally received them in the reception room and listened to their opinions.

I only heard one of the sponsor representatives say: "Mr. Chairman, we have a small request. We are negotiating with ESPN, hoping that they will broadcast a few more Clippers games, but the negotiations are not going well, so I hope the NBA can help us put some pressure on ESPN."

"It's not difficult. ESPN also needs to negotiate with us about the broadcasting schedule of ESPN. It is not difficult to change the broadcasting plan of one or two games a month." Adams nodded, and then asked: "But the Clippers The team is not a strong team, their record is terrible, and the Clippers have no stars, so I don't understand why your company wants to increase the number of games for the Clippers."

"We also know that the Clippers are not a strong team, and they have no stars, but their games always have overtime. Our company puts some advertisements on ESPN, so if there is overtime, it will be more for our publicity Favorable." The representative said.

Adams instantly understood.

When NBA games are televised, commercials are inserted during pauses or intermissions. And if it is an overtime game, the pause during the period and the rest before the overtime game will also enter the advertising time period. This is something that advertising sponsors are more happy to see.

Under normal circumstances, a game is 48 minutes, the number of timeouts and inter-section breaks are fixed, and the number of advertisements is also fixed. If there is an overtime game, the sponsor will earn several times for nothing. , the more overtime games, the more sponsors earn.

And the ratings of overtime games are often higher than the ratings of regular time.

If the two games start at the same time, they will basically end at the same time, and the end time will not differ by a few minutes. But if one of the games goes to overtime, then the game will end even later. Viewers who watch TV or watch live broadcasts on the Internet will have much more options for the game. After watching a game, they will naturally go to watch the games that have not yet ended.

Therefore, placing advertisements in overtime games will allow more people to see them, which will achieve twice the result with half the effort, and it is also the most cost-effective deal for sponsors.

Adams already understood the sponsor's intentions, and he nodded: "I understand, I will try my best to increase the national live broadcast of the Clippers and all strong teams' matches, so that the ratings can also be guaranteed. But next time The broadcast plan for this month has been determined and announced to the whole United States, so your company's request will not be implemented until next month."

"I understand this, Mr. President, thank you very much for your help." The representative of the sponsor thanked him.

However, Adams still hesitated for two or three seconds, and then reminded: "There is one thing I must remind you first. The current Clippers play overtime in almost every game, but this does not mean that next month, or Next month, the Clippers will still be able to play this much overtime."

"I understand this point, the game is always full of uncertainty." The sponsor representative said.

"Not only that, but there are also physical problems." Adams continued: "The pace of NBA games is fast, and the body is also very confrontational, so the intensity of the game is very high. If you only play one or two overtime games occasionally. , The physical fitness of the athletes is not a problem, but every game is played in overtime, and there are often two or three overtimes. I don’t think any athlete has such sufficient physical fitness that he can continue to play overtime in every game.”

...

A program about the NBA is playing on the TV.

"Just now we appreciated the best dunks, best blocks and best steals yesterday. Next, let's discuss a hot topic in the NBA recently, that is the 'Los Angeles Overtime Team'. Next, we invite our guests, the famous Basketball commentator Mr. Blair!" The host waved his hand, and the screen turned to another direction, and the basketball commentator Blair walked into the studio.

"Mr. Blair, in yesterday's game, the Clippers went to overtime again. The fans now have a new nickname for the Clippers, which is 'Los Angeles Overtime'. So far, the Clippers have broken the NBA record. The record for the most overtime in a single season, what do you think about this matter." The host asked.

Blair cleared his throat and said, "If I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes, I really wouldn't believe that a team would have so many overtime games. Analyzing it, I can't even figure out why the Clippers are playing so much overtime. But one thing I know for sure is that this is a short-term situation that cannot last long."

"Why did you make such a judgment?" the host asked.

"Because of physical fitness." Blair said calmly: "A player's physical fitness cannot support so much overtime. The intensity of NBA games is inherently high. Even if you play two or three minutes more per game, the cumulative effect will be on the player's physical fitness. It is a huge consumption. At present, the main players of each team play about 35 minutes to 40 minutes per game. The main players of the Clippers all play more than 45 minutes per game. In the overtime game, the playing time of the main players reached a sky-high 60 minutes. Obviously, the physical fitness of the players cannot withstand such long-term consumption."

"Now that the regular season has entered the second half, players have entered a stage of fatigue after playing for more than half of the season. We can see that in the recent period, the frequency of player injuries has begun to increase significantly. This is one of the signs of physical fatigue. Performance."

"At the same time, we all know that the second half of the NBA season is much more intense than the first half of the season, especially in the last two months, which is a critical moment for the team to hit the playoffs, and the confrontation of the game will also follow. Improve. Under high-intensity physical confrontation, overtime is a risk for players, especially in the case of poor physical fitness, players are more likely to be injured. So if the Clippers continue to play like this, they will inevitably Encountering a massive wave of injuries, the worst case scenario may not even make up the rotation lineup."

Blair talked eloquently, while Raul, who was watching the program in front of the TV, nodded frequently, obviously agreeing with Blair's statement.

"Too much talk, the Clippers play like this, even if they are not injured, they will be exhausted! That damn four overtime..."

Raul couldn't help cursing the four-overtime game again, and after four overtimes, he was too tired to work hard.

For Raul, it was really a nightmare. Although the Nuggets won the Clippers, Raul left a "no move" in Los Angeles.

"Los Angeles overtime team? Huh, keep playing overtime, I'll see when you guys collapse!" Raul thought gloatingly.

...

Clippers assistant coach Cassell put down the newspaper in his hand and smiled disdainfully.

"Expect our physical problems? Maybe you won't see our physical problems until the end of the season." Cassel said to himself.

As the No. 2 member of the Clippers coaching staff, Kassel naturally knows the physical condition of the players very well. He spends most of his time on the training ground with the players every day, so he knows that the Clippers players There is no problem with his physical fitness.

"If it were another physical coach and let the team play so many overtime games, the players would have been exhausted and paralyzed, and there might be a wave of injuries. But now our physical training is Li The coach is responsible, so there is no problem with the physical fitness of the players. After all, there is a reason why Coach Li's physical training center is so famous. One, I’m afraid it’s not an exaggeration.”

In terms of basketball, Dai Li is indeed very good. At least in Kassel's view, his basketball training and understanding of basketball are far superior to Dai Li. Even if Dai Li has been the head coach of the Clippers for a period of time, he can be regarded as an entry-level coach in basketball. Everyone in the coaching staff of the Clippers is better than Dai Li.

However, in terms of physical training, Cassel was really convinced by Dai Li. In the recent period, the Clippers have experienced so many overtimes, and they are still able to do well in terms of physical fitness, and no one has been injured. In Kassel's view, this is a miraculous result, at least in Kassel's In cognition, no physical fitness coach will have this level of training.

Thinking of overtime, Cassel couldn't help scratching his head: "Speaking of which, since Coach Li came, we have really played a lot of overtime. The overtime games I have played in my life are not as good as the last few God, I really saw a ghost."

...

Many media have given predictions that the Clippers will soon have physical problems, and some media even believe that the Clippers will suffer a large number of players due to lack of physical fitness.

However, after a few games, the Clippers players did not show any physical problems. They were still alive and well and were not troubled by their physical fitness.

The Clippers players are gradually getting used to playing overtime. For other teams, overtime is the most intense and exciting game, but for the Clippers, playing overtime is like a routine. Which game If the game does not go to overtime, it will feel uncomfortable.

With the passage of time, the news that the Clippers will soon collapse in the media has also decreased. Those sports commentators are not fools. Go off topic and talk about something else.

There are also many people studying why the Clippers can play so many overtimes.

The NBA has very rigorous statistics, so people soon discovered that when the Clippers faced those weak teams at the bottom, they did not play overtime, but when they faced their own strong teams, they would definitely There is overtime. Obviously, the Clippers are specifically trying to make life difficult for strong teams.

For a strong team, if the opponent is a relatively low-ranking team in the league, it is natural to hope for a quick victory. It is best to let the main players clock out of get off work in the first three quarters, and then rest off the court, and use some substitutes to exercise bench player.

But when they meet the Clippers, they often go to overtime. When it comes to overtime, the main players must play. Not only will they not get the opportunity to rest early, but they will also increase their physical exertion. Playing on the court at the same time also increases the risk of injury.

Especially after late March, those teams that are likely to enter the playoffs have started "desperate mode", and the top-ranked teams are also working hard for home court advantage in the playoffs. A team like the Fleet, which always plays overtime, has become the last opponent any strong team wants to face.

At this time, the Clippers are like a hedgehog. They don't look very strong and can be bullied at will, but if they swallow it regardless, they will definitely be stabbed and bleeding.