basketball scientist

In the G1 game, the Eagles "conquered strength with strength", which revived suspense in this round of duel that was originally regarded as a "unilateral crushing". It also made many Eagles fans and Chinese fans full of confidence that Ke Yan will continue to create miracles. .

However, the reality is cruel. The gap between the Hawks and the Pistons is all-round. There are many reasons why the Hawks were able to win the G1 game. Milicic's sudden burst, Paul and Joe Johnson's backcourt pick-and-roll, Ben failed to control his fouling in the first half, and Hamilton, the Pistons' main scoring point, performed poorly.

In fact, in this team known for its defense, any player may have a poor touch. When you invest too much energy on the defensive end, it will be difficult for you to maintain a stable touch on the offensive end. .Harden fans and James fans know this best.

"You can't ask a thirty-year-old man to not only support the team's offense, but also wipe the butt of his teammates on the defensive end. He got 40, what's wrong with the defensive end?"

Of course, it's not just the two of them, including players like Kobe, who are known for their "offensive and defensive skills." After 11 years, the defensive end also frequently "directs traffic."

In this game, Hamilton learned his shame and acted bravely, frequently using his running position to disrupt the Eagles' defense.

The Eagles first let Posey, who had the best perimeter defense, be responsible for guarding him. However, Posey's size and running ability could not keep up with Hamilton's rhythm stably. If he was replaced by Joe Johnson, he still couldn't guard him.

Compared with offense, Joe Johnson's defense is only average. His confrontation is not bad, and he can support James in the defensive rotation, but his speed and flexibility are not very good, and his biggest defensive weakness is his habit of giving up. , when running without the ball, as long as the opponent is one step away from him, he will not pounce so fiercely.

After 5 minutes of play, the Pistons took a 14:8 lead. Ke Yan applied for a timeout and adjusted his tactics.

"Let's change the defensive matchup. Paul will defend Hamilton, and Joe Johnson will defend Billups. The defensive end will expand outward to limit Billups' shooting. Others should pay attention to blocking Billups' breakthrough line."

Ke Yan understood clearly. The entire Pistons team covered Hamilton and launched an attack around him. Joe Johnson and Posey couldn't keep up with him. Moreover, Hamilton just caught the ball and shot, with no extra moves at all. The rest of the Hawks team It was too late for anyone to come over and make up for the defence.

Billups has a strong shooting ability, but his breakthrough threat is relatively average. When the Hawks can free up some defensive resources to make up for the position, there is no problem with Ke Yan's defensive strategy. With the Hawks' lineup configuration, this is the best Good scheduling.

But having no problem with the strategy does not mean that the Hawks can limit the Pistons' offense. The Pistons do not want to go to Atlanta with a score of 0:2. The players must play more resolutely and rationally than in the first game.

Although Billups's ability to break through was average, he played smart. He hit Josh Smith with a fake move and then leaned in to draw a foul. This trick has been tried and tested and easily sent Josh Smith off the court.

Against an opponent like the Pistons, Paul's threading together with Josh Smith's charge is the key for the Eagles to compress the opponent's defense on the offensive end. He was troubled by the foul crisis and took a rest. The Eagles' already difficult offense became even more difficult to launch and fell into a trap. A great passivity. (26:18)

In the second quarter of the game, Ke Yan made a desperate move. While retaining his two guns in the backcourt, he replaced Eddie House and pushed Joe Johnson to the small forward position, tit for tat with the Pistons.

Facing the Pistons' bench, the Hawks struck hard and evened the point difference. But when the Pistons' main lineup returned to the court, Paul, Joe Johnson and others, who were severely exhausted, found it even more difficult to keep up with their opponents.

In the second half of the second quarter, Ke Yan called two timeouts in a row, not to adjust tactics, but to restore the strength of the main players. This fantastic idea also convinced Barkley, who was in charge of the commentary.

"This is the first time I've seen timeouts used like this! If Mike Brown knew how to restore James' strength in the first round of the playoffs, maybe the Cavaliers could win one more game."

If it were a "evenly matched" duel, Ke Yan's little trick might have a miraculous effect and change the situation; but in a completely headwind situation, this would just give netizens something to talk about after the game.

The score was getting wider bit by bit, and Ke Yan tried every means to try to reverse the situation, but ultimately failed.

At 97:83, the Pistons pulled back a game. The series score came to 1:1.

...

Back in Atlanta, Ke Yan received his first best coach trophy in the team's press room and held a press conference.

"When I was confirmed to win this trophy a few days ago, I was thinking about who was the person who had the greatest influence on me achieving today's results."

"Maybe it's my parents. Because in China, it's very rare for people like me who are not in the sports circle to enter the sports industry. With my academic performance, I should be on a better path.

A safe path. They allowed me to pursue my dream, go to university in Germany, study further, and become a coach."

"Maybe it was Nelson. I have said countless times that it was he who showed me that basketball can be played this way or that way. If he hadn't brought me the joy of basketball, maybe I would have made football my passion when I was young.

My lifelong career, I will become a football coach, and now I am receiving the FIFA Best Coach Award, and then I am arguing with Jose Mourinho.”

"Rudy Tomjanovich, we cannot leave him out no matter what. The United States is a very tolerant and diverse country, but even so, integrating into the NBA is still not easy. Without his support, I would not have gone so smoothly.

"

"Mr. Jim Bass, thank you for your support, which allowed me to devote my mind to work and concentrate on the team itself at the beginning of my coaching career. It is very important for a coach. I fully understand this."

"My boss, Anthony Ressler. I will never forget the day you went to Milwaukee to find me in person. It would have been difficult for me to do that. Thank you."

"And my team, Frank Hamblen, Quin Snyder, Jeff Hornacek, I will accept this honor on my behalf. But there are four people's names on the trophy. If you need it, I am willing to take it.

The trophy is cut into four parts.”

"Paul, Josh Smith, Diaw, and other players. You always say that I changed you. What I want to say is that you also changed me. We are changing each other."

Ke Yan summarized a lot and thanked a lot. This is also the basic routine of most award speeches. Ke Yan also wanted to play with his personality, "I know that I am a good coach, so for the NBA to give me the award to express its affirmation, I

It also gives great recognition.”

But his status in the NBA is far not as high as Wang Jingwen's. Saying this will only bring scolding to himself. He is not a Kardashian kind of person. He adheres to the principle of "black and red are also red" to attract traffic to himself, and is more willing to be a Normal people.

If there is anything special about Ke Yan's acceptance speech, it is that he did not "Thank Guo Jia in advance." However, he is not an athlete or coach within the system, and he is very popular in China. Except for Liu Xiang, Yao Ming, and Ding Junhui, no one else Being able to stabilize him and win honors can be regarded as bringing glory to the country. Therefore, no leader came out specifically to criticize him.

...

Ke Yan mentioned the players in the team in his acceptance speech, hoping to inspire them and hope that the team would perform better in the G3 game. However, the progress of the game backfired. The Pistons played away from home and played in the finals. With a level of defensive intensity, in response to the Eagles' offensive methods that are too outside-oriented, they wildly expanded their defense and maximized the intensity of the confrontation.

Under the highest-intensity confrontation, Paul's performance was greatly compromised. This is not his fault. In order to ensure Paul's health and future development, Ke Yan did not arrange for Paul to gain significant weight in his first season when he adapted to the league. In the league, he only gained 8 pounds. His speed and agility were not affected, but he seemed a little inadequate in confrontation.

In fact, it is enough to deal with most opponents. The main thing is that the Eagles can force the Pistons to this point, which is beyond Ke Yan's expectation...

Paul couldn't break through the Pistons' blockade, and the Hawks had no choice but to take shots from mid- to long-range, with a relatively average shooting rate. Even if the referee blew the home whistle today and favored the Hawks, there was no way to change the Pistons' defensive formation, let alone There is no way to change the outcome of the game.

88:106, 6 Pistons scored in double figures and broke through the Phillips Center.

In the whole game, Billups scored 17 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds, Lynch Hunter came off the bench and scored 17 points, Rasheed Wallace scored 14 points and 8 rebounds, Hamilton and McDyess each scored 13 points, Prince scored 11 points.

For the Eagles, Joe Johnson scored a game-high 19 points. His efficiency of 7 of 17 was not very high, but he was already the only person on the Eagles who could get the ball into the basket. David Lee was in garbage time. He shot 4 of 5 and scored 14 points on 6 of 9 shots in the game. He was the Eagles' second-highest scorer.

The two fragile defeats in g2 and g3 have fully exposed the strength gap between the Eagles and the Pistons. When Ke Yan was interviewed after the game, a reporter asked about the team's current predicament of losing two games in a row, and his answer was helpless:

"The players have put in all their efforts, and I have nothing to criticize them. The Pistons are indeed stronger. We can only use our own efforts to fight our opponents and force them to make mistakes. It is a pity that the Pistons' performance Flawless and made our efforts in vain. Especially Ben Wallace, I really miss the time when he went off due to a foul in G1."

In the eyes of some people, Ke Yan's reply was a bit "cowardly" and not "tough" enough. It emphasized Ben Wallace's suppressive effect on the Hawks and lacked a spirit of "not admitting defeat." But in fact, Ke Yan was fighting against the Pistons. As a psychological warfare, he tried his best to "exaggerate" Ben Wallace's role, trying to differentiate the relationship between Ben Wallace, who did not get his contract extension, and Rasheed Wallace, who got a big contract.

At the end of the Three Kingdoms period, Jiang Wei did not hesitate to sacrifice his personal honor and disgrace, pretended to surrender to Zhong Hui, instigated the opposition, and made a last-ditch effort to restore the Shu Han Dynasty. Although the chance was slim, or even almost zero, it could be regarded as what a military general had done for his country.

The last effort. Until the end, Jiang Wei died and the Han Dynasty perished.

Ke Yan's situation is similar. Not to mention that the Pistons are aiming for the championship. If they want to have conflicts, they won't have them at this time. Even if his strategy is successful, it can really divide them in one game, and it can happen again and again.

Win the series?

But Ke Yan still did it. There are some things that can only be done to the best of his ability.

On May 18, the G4 game between the Hawks and the Pistons started.

For Eagles fans who came to the Phillips Center to watch the game, this game was definitely not a good one.

Although the Hawks have never trailed the Pistons by more than 10 points, from the first minute of the game, the Hawks never had a 1-minute lead. Until the end of the game, the Hawks were suppressed by the entire game until the final whistle.

As the series progressed, the two sides faced off against each other, and both sides were in pretty good shape, but the Suns steadily controlled the situation. Ke Yan tried many times to change formations to break free of the Pistons' stranglehold on the Hawks, but still could not reverse the situation.

On the one hand, he is not as strong as his opponents. The tactical system and personnel configuration are completely restrained by his opponents, which is the key to making Ke Yan helpless. No matter how good he is in on-the-spot planning, he cannot make a comeback in multiple unfavorable situations. In the end, the Eagles won 89:97

Lost to the Pistons by 8 points, trailing 1:3 in the series.

The "destination plan" failed, and the Eagles' defeat was certain. Ke Yan could only shout like Jiang Boyue, who drew his sword and killed himself in the show: "I can't succeed, it's destiny!"

...

Two days later at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals was staged as scheduled.

I won’t go into details about the process. Although Ke Yan and the Hawks generals exerted all their strength, and even once again used the banned "cost-cutting tactics" to compete with the Pistons, the Detroit Pistons once again showed the foundation of a strong team. Five

Rasheed Wallace, who was fouled twice, stepped forward and scored 4 points in a row at the critical moment of the fourth quarter to help the team exceed the score. He also made the last 2 free throws to lead the Pistons to an 88-82 victory at home.

defeated the Atlanta Hawks with a total score of 4:1 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals again.

In the eyes of others, the Eagles should be satisfied with ending the season of rebuilding the team in such a way. In fact, if Ke Yan was told before the start of the season that he could lead the Eagles to the Eastern Conference semifinals, he should be happy to accept this.

result.

Before the start of this game, he also did enough mental construction. This game may be the last game of the Eagles' season.

However, when the red light came on and the Eagles' season really ended, Ke Yan was still a little at a loss. Suddenly, he didn't know what to do.

Last season, the Lakers fell in front of the Spurs, but Ke Yan's mood at that time was affected by Phil Jackson, and his dissatisfaction with the Lakers reached a peak. His mood contained some anger, expectations for the future, and even expectations for leadership.

The Lakers are somewhat proud of reaching the Western Conference semifinals, but there is no hesitation at this moment.

After a while, Ke Yan collected himself and gathered the players on the bench.

"Your performance is great, I'm very satisfied! Everyone makes mistakes, no one is a god, you are still very young, some of you are in your first year in the NBA, and some have never been to the playoffs.

, so I am very satisfied with your performance this year.”

"We lost, but we did not fail. This season is over, and we can only look forward to next season. As long as we can improve ourselves, we can go further next season!"

"Anyone can lie to you, only your own sweat will not lie to you. This summer, remember to make yourself stronger!"

"Whatever doesn't kill us will make us stronger!"

Ke Yan cited classics and shouted various inspiring slogans to encourage these players. The faces of the young players gradually glowed with energy.

At the press conference after the game, Ke Yan faced the defeat calmly and said with a smile: "There is nothing to be depressed about. Everyone did very well. We are third in the Eastern Conference in the regular season and third in the playoffs. We are better than the Wizards next door.

The team has won one more game. I think the team has proved that we are a new force that cannot be ignored in the Eastern Conference. In the middle of the season, you often said that my goal of 39 wins was too conservative; now, I will set a goal for next season.

One goal is that next season, we will be candidates for the championship!"

The reporter asked: "Among the remaining teams, which team do you think will win the championship?"

"I think it's Mavericks!"

After losing the game, the Hawks had no intention of staying in Detroit. The team flew back to Atlanta on a chartered flight overnight. It was already past 4 a.m. when the Hawks returned to Atlanta.

"This summer is over like this~" After getting off the plane, Ke Yan couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

But when everyone from the Eagles walked out of the airport, they found that the entire airport was surrounded. There was a dense crowd outside the airport. When these people saw Ke Yan and the players, they all shouted.

There were cheers and cheers for a while, and at this moment Atlanta, which had been silent, became noisy again with the return of the hero.

...

The next day, sports news from all major media reported on the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Hawks and the Pistons. Almost every media outlet and every expert repeatedly emphasized the same point of view, "Offense wins fans, defense wins victory!"

This is the cruelty of competitive sports, victory means everything!

On the contrary, in China, more voices are supporting the Eagles. Xu Yi published an article in his column summarizing the Eagles' season.

"This season is over, and the Eagles' playoff run has come to an end that is not satisfactory, but that makes everyone feel gratified. A year ago, the Eagles were at the bottom of the league, with 13 wins and 69 losses; a year later, this number

It became 55 wins and 27 losses.

At the beginning of the playoffs, fans thought the Cavaliers were very strong, and the Pistons in the second round were the Hawks' nemesis; but later the team easily defeated the Cavaliers and won a game from the Pistons.

.

Although they lost to the Pistons in the end, I think this team is full of hope. They are still young and the future belongs to them. As long as they can continue this state, this group of players will become more mature and their skills will be more perfect.

At that time, we will definitely be able to go further.

The Eagles have many problems, and their defense has obvious problems, which are more about improving the intensity in stages; the team's inside line is relatively sloppy and needs outside players to lead the offense; the team lacks substitute ball-handling points, and in many games

The Chinese can only split one of the two guns in the backcourt, allowing them to take on more responsibilities with their substitutes...

These are issues that urgently need to be solved by Ke Yan.

But the point is, they have completed the contract extension with Ke Yan, and Ke Yan will continue to lead the Eagles in the next three years. We look forward to him surprising the fans again this summer and next season."

There were many disturbances from the outside world, but Ke Yan smiled and passed them by.

Coming out of the shadow of the loss, Ke Yan organized a team dinner to celebrate the successful season and announced the disbandment of the team.

Next, it’s the uniform team’s turn to perform!