One Guard

Winners and losers, the playoffs seem to be the best place to explain these four words. Don't care about any grudges between you, don't care how good your regular season record is. Here, as long as you lose the battle, no one will give you a chance for revenge. Here, as long as you fail to win, a whole season of hard work is for naught.

No team will give up their chance to win, regardless of whether their strength is directly proportional to their opponents, as long as they can cross that threshold, all teams will do their best.

This is the portrayal of the playoffs. There is no sympathy here, and tragic battles are the only theme of the playoffs.

Although on April 13, the Mavericks successfully defeated the Rockets in the last regular season game of the season. But across the team, no one has let up after 82 regular-season games. For the Mavericks, who are aiming for a championship, the really difficult time of this season has just arrived.

After the regular season, the matchup table for the playoffs has naturally become clear. The Mavericks, ranked third in the West, will meet the Trail Blazers, who are sixth in the West.

Although the Trail Blazers lost Oden and Roy, the team from the City of Roses adjusted quickly and reached sixth place in the Western Conference when people looked down on it all the way. When Roy performed poorly at the beginning of the season and was reimbursed again after the season, people thought that the Trail Blazers were about to rebuild again. However, this team persisted to the top eight in the Western Conference with an unyielding spirit.

In addition to the rise of Aldridge, the Trail Blazers traded "Elvis" Gerald Wallace after the All-Star Game, which undoubtedly greatly increased the strength of the team. Although the era of Oden and Roy ended hastily, you can't say that the current team of pioneers is a lamb at the mercy of others.

However, compared to the seventh-ranked Hornets, Carlisle is still more willing to play against the Trail Blazers. At least against the Trail Blazers, that guy Yiyang can show his full strength. Compared to Chris Paul, Andre Miller does not seem to be a threat to Yiyang. And if Yiyang plays well enough, it will play a decisive role in whether the Mavericks can win.

For the New Orleans Hornets, let the Lakers, who overtake the veal steak to second place, solve it. Playing against the Portland Trail Blazers is exactly what Carlisle wants.

After the regular season, there are two days for the players to adjust and rest. As far as Carlisle is concerned, the Mavericks players had better not do anything other than training these two days.

In the past two days, Carlisle set the training intensity even higher than in the regular season. In terms of tactics, the biggest change for the Mavericks is to let Yiyang, the sixth man, become the team's starting point guard.

Although during the regular season, Yiyang already played a lot more than Kidd. But in every previous game, Kidd took the lead to stabilize the situation and set the tone for the subsequent battles. Now, Carlisle asked Yiyang to stabilize the battle situation as soon as he came out, and strive to establish an advantage as soon as possible. This feeling is still somewhat different from playing the sixth man.

But to Carlisle's relief, Yiyang didn't seem to have any discomfort after switching to the starting lineup during training, almost "plug and play". When the Mavericks' second team is led by Kidd, Peja and Terry will get more space to play.

Everything seems to be going on in an orderly manner. Of course, in addition to the teams preparing for the playoffs, the sports TV stations must also start preparing for the playoffs.

In the past few days, special programs about the playoffs have been everywhere. And TNT TV station will naturally chat with the fans about this year's situation before the playoffs.

Barkley, Kenny Smith and Kevin Harlan, these three guys are always very eye-catching for their playoff specials. For no other reason, it was because these three guys spoke sharply enough.

In most TV programs, the hosts praise the teams participating in the playoffs. But these three guys on tnt are different. They can point out the problems of a team and tell you why the team can't win the championship. Then I have to appease the fans of this team, stop daydreaming.

"...As you said, it is not easy for the Lakers to successfully defend their title this season. Even if they beat the Hornets, they still have to face the victory between the Dallas Mavericks and the Trail Blazers These two opponents are enough for Kobe Bryant to drink a pot." At this time, the three hosts were chatting about the second-ranked Lakers in the Western Conference. They believed that it would be difficult for Kobe to create a team of his own. For the three consecutive championships, the performance of the Lakers this season is not as good as the previous two years, which is obvious to all. While the Lakers are declining, other teams are improving. For example, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even if the Lakers get past the Mavericks, it will be difficult to compete with the young Thunder.

"Speaking of the Dallas Mavericks, their record this season seems to be 57 wins and 25 losses. It's amazing. This is the 11th consecutive season that the Mavericks have won 50 wins! The addition of Yi has made the Mavericks full of vitality that they didn't have before. !” Taking this opportunity, Kevin Harlan changed the subject and brought the topic to the Mavericks.

"Yeah, look what the Mavericks have gotten in 11 years? Everyone knows this team isn't doing well in the playoffs. It's a fake regular season team. Portland The Trail Blazers must be very happy now, because they have become the lucky ones. After all, everyone wants to play against the Mavericks." Charles Barkley spread his hands, not optimistic about the Mavericks' playoff prospects.

"However, the Mavericks played really well in the regular season this season. They even created a blue whirlwind in the league." Kenny Smith began to confront Barkley.

"Oh, did you forget the 06-07 season so quickly? The Mavericks won a horrible 67 wins in the regular season! 67 wins, gentlemen! Even now, that is a very scary number! Dirk also Naturally, he became the mvp of that year. Guess what happened? The Mavericks achieved the Warriors’ black eight miracle in the first round of the playoffs! And I also want to remind everyone that the Mavericks did not win the playoffs that year. They were not troubled by injuries, but they still lost, so they were put out of the battle. This year's 57 wins are nothing compared to that season. In terms of regular season performance, in the past 11 years, the Mavericks There have been 60 wins in 3 years. But this does not explain the problem, they will always lose for various reasons in the playoffs." Barkley listed this favorable "evidence, "Let Kenny Smith find no reason to refute.

"Accept the reality. The only time the Mavericks made it to the playoffs was that they didn't take away the O'Brien Cup. Instead, they made Wade. This is the Dallas Mavericks. The playoffs are not where those guys should go."

In the tactical conference room of the Mavericks, the dark room only has the projector screen as the only light source.

Every word Charles Barkley said was deeply imprinted in the hearts of the Mavericks players. Everyone on the Mavericks team saw the live broadcast just now.

No one knew why Carlisle organized the players to watch such things. Before the playoffs, all the head coaches hoped that the players would concentrate on training and shut out all news that was not conducive to the team's performance. Rumor has it that 76ers coach Doug Collins doesn't even allow the players to watch the news. But Carlisle, this guy organized everyone to hear how the outside world looked down on them.

After the three hosts on tn.t changed the subject to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Carlisle turned on all the lights in the room and stood in front of the players.

"How do you feel?" the academic coach asked, and glanced at the players below.

"Before the playoffs even started, everyone thought we were bad, that we were soft. A lot of people were betting that the Blazers would win the night after tomorrow, or even win the whole series. What do you think?"

"I think Charles is fucking shitting." Terry answered without hesitation, making the teammates around him secretly laugh.

"You think Feizhu is spouting shit, but everyone else thinks what he said is the truth. Guys, we have no way out! The only ones who still believe that we can succeed are ourselves! So, the game the day after tomorrow night, and even Throughout the playoffs, I hope you will do your best! Everyone wants to fight us, and everyone treats us like a persimmon. Then we will use our performance to show each other who is the protagonist in the playoffs !” With Carlisle’s roar, all the players turned their hatred into strength.

Carlisle is indeed an academic coach who is obsessed with studying tactics, but many people don't know that this guy is also very good at mobilizing players' emotions.

An old fritter like Kidd will naturally not be affected by Carlisle's few words. Even if Carlisle doesn't say anything, Kidd knows what to do in the playoffs. The legendary point guard turned his head and looked at Yiyang who was sitting next to him. He wanted to know how the young man would react to Carlisle's encouragement.

I saw Yiyang clenched his hands into fists, his eyes were burning, as if he wished he could rush up and tear Barkley to pieces right now.

Kidd smiled, Barkley is impossible to be torn to pieces. But the Portland Trail Blazers may not be so lucky.

"as well as!"

Hearing Kidd calling him, Yiyang also looked away from the screen.

"The playoffs are different from the regular season. No matter what the moment, you must do your best. Even with the last drop of sweat, you can't admit defeat." Although Kidd is a historical point guard, the biggest regret in his career is that he never Owned his own championship ring. He is very clear that in the playoffs, only when everyone works hard can there be hope of winning.

"I didn't intend to be lazy." Yiyang responded coldly, and then continued to stare at the screen. Although his tone was cold, a fire had already ignited in the heart of this young man, Yiyang.

The reborn Mavericks carry the expectations of the city of Dallas, while the young Yiyang carries the Mavericks' championship dream.

"Are you ready to start in the playoffs?" Seeing that Yiyang seemed enthusiastic about the playoffs, Kidd continued to ask, patting Yiyang on the shoulder.

This time, Yiyang didn't answer. The young rookie guard just nodded vigorously.