One Guard

After a lapse of 5 years, the Dallas Mavericks reached the NBA Finals again. What is full of drama is that five years later, the Mavericks' opponent in the Finals is likely to still be the Miami Heat.

Currently, the Heat have a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. If they win another game in the next game, they will successfully advance.

Although the Bulls have Derrick Rose, the youngest MVP in NBA history, compared with the Heat, the Bulls still have a gap in overall strength.

Naturally, Rose's own personal ability need not be said much, and the personal ability of the players who can win the MVP need not be questioned. But the problem is that there are not many helpers around Ross. Boozer and Noah are struggling on the offensive end. Although Luol Deng still averaged 16.9 points per game in the playoffs, it is still difficult to take the lead.

In contrast to the Miami Heat, last summer, the formation of the Heat's Big Three shocked the entire world. Wade, James and Bosh, the three superstars joined forces to make the Heat's lineup unprecedentedly strong. Although the performance of the Heat was not satisfactory at the beginning of this season, as the season progressed, the team got better and better, and the strength of the Heat has been recognized by the public.

It is not easy for Rose to bring the team to the Eastern Conference finals, but it seems a bit too dreamy to break through the Heat's Big Three when they are 3-1 behind.

So now, the topic that the media around the world is hyping is the reunion between the Mavericks and the Heat in the finals! After five years, both teams have undergone earth-shaking changes. One of the most frequently used words in local media in Dallas is "revenge!"

Lost to the Heat 5 years ago and lost the championship. After 5 years, they believe that the team can get back what they lost.

But except for the local media in Dallas, almost everyone feels that the success of the Heat's Big Three is just around the corner. After all, judging from the lineup on paper, the Mavericks are indeed much inferior to the Heat.

Apart from Nowitzki, the most capable player in the Mavericks team is Yiyang, a first-year rookie. Kidd? He is indeed a historical point guard, but he has rarely performed well at the age of nearly 40. Averaged 6 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds per game in the playoffs, Kidd's data looks more like a rookie player.

As for Terry, who averaged 15.6 points per game in the playoffs, people didn't take him seriously. Terry is really hard-working on the court, and occasionally has a bright performance. But now, no one will regard Terry as a superstar. Rose is surrounded by a Luol Deng who can average nearly 17 points per game. Doesn't it help? This type of player is the backbone of a team, but it is by no means the key force that determines the outcome of the game.

In the end, people still focused on Yiyang. In the playoffs, he averaged 20.3 points, 9.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.

Judging from Yiyang's playoff data, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the player who has played the best rookie season in the NBA in the past five years.

Paul, Roy, Durant, Rose and Evans, among the best rookies in the past five years, only Rose has the experience of reaching the playoffs in his rookie season. But Rose, who has grown into the youngest MVP, did not perform as well as Yiyang in his first playoffs.

People can put all kinds of praise and labels on Yiyang, and Yiyang's performance is indeed worthy of people's respect. But the championship? Putting these three words together with Yiyang always feels a bit strange.

An aging All-Star, a historical point guard who is about to retire, a shooting guard who is not good at high and low, and a rookie. Such a combination is far less convincing than the Heat's Big Three.

So while right now the Heat aren't even out of the East. But in the eyes of everyone, they have almost awarded the O'Brien Trophy to the Miami people.

Fortunately, the ownership of the NBA championship is not determined by the votes of basketball reporters, but by hard work on the court. It is not the first time that the Mavericks are not favored. From the time they reached the playoffs to now, every step they take, the Mavericks are the one that is not favored.

But so what? Now, didn't the Mavericks reach the finals under pressure and doubts? For the Mavericks players, being underestimated by the opponent has become accustomed to them. Therefore, the remarks from the outside world did not affect the training of the players at all.

This time, Carlisle did not give the players a day off as before.

On the second day after defeating the Thunder to win the Western Conference championship, the team still practiced as usual, and the training volume was not compromised at all.

Although the outside world always habitually despise the Mavericks, but have to admit that the Miami Heat is indeed a formidable opponent.

Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, LeBron James, any one of these three names alone is enough to make people shudder. What's more, these three people appeared at the same time!

The formation of the Heat's Big Three has almost changed the rules of the basketball world. The three superstars can win one game after another by relying on the simple tactics of taking turns in singles.

Facing such a strong opponent, the players of the Mavericks must not only have the confidence to win, but also must take action.

Early the next morning, on the training ground, Carlisle had prepared a lot to say to the players. But when the training officially started, the academic coach couldn't say a word.

Not because of anything else, but because the training status of the players is really excellent, and there is no fault at all.

Originally, Carlisle thought that the players who had just won the Western Conference championship would relax, but they worked harder instead.

As Terry said yesterday, the Western Conference championship is not what the Mavericks want. The championship is the team's only goal this year.

Terry couldn't get excited after winning the championship trophy yesterday, but he was very excited on the training ground today. In confrontational training, he always complained that Kidd's defense against Yiyang was too gentle. Afterwards, Carlisle followed suit and even arranged for Terry to defend Yiyang himself.

Yiyang didn't care about him either. It wasn't the first time he and Terry faced off in training after entering the NBA. But today, Yiyang obviously underestimated Terry's seriousness.

High-intensity confrontation, this is the first message Terry sent to Yiyang during training today.

"Jet" bared his teeth, kept making physical contact with Yiyang, and kept spouting trash talk at the same time. According to Yiyang's personality in high school, Terry may already be about to eat his fists now.

Yiyang can't even tell now which one is the real Jason Terry, the laughing old hooligan sitting next to his locker, or the serious tough guy now.

During an attack, Yiyang broke through for a layup, but was knocked to the ground forcefully by the chasing Terry.

Generally, this kind of situation rarely happens in the training ground. Even if it happens, the fouler will immediately show his favor and pull his teammates up.

But today, Terry didn't. He stood viciously in front of Yiyang, not intending to reach out to help him.

"That's not enough? When it comes to the finals, those guys from the Heat will not treat you as gently as I do!" Leaving this sentence, Terry turned his head and left. It was Dirk Nowitzki who came forward and gave Yiyang a hand, which eased the tension.

"Jet, you're a bit too much." Kidd walked up to Terry and whispered in his ear.

"We can't treat him like a child, Jason. If you still want to win the championship!" As everyone knows, Terry's response is still tough. It seems that this will not be the last time Yiyang suffers.

As the only player in the current Mavericks team other than Nowitzki who has experienced the loss of the 2006 Finals. Terry knows very well what they will face in the finals.

In front of the championship, everyone will be killed. Don't think that Wade will show mercy just because he likes Yiyang. In the finals, even the kind "Flash" will try to knock Yiyang to the ground in 100 different ways.

"Come again, old man!" In the quiet training ground, Yi Yang's voice suddenly reached everyone's ears and echoed in the empty stadium.

Terry turned around and saw Yiyang walking towards him.

"Damn it, don't think I'm afraid of you, bastard!"

Hearing Yiyang's scolding, instead of being angry, Terry showed a faint smile.

"Don't regret it, kid!"

Seeing this scene on the court, Carlisle was actually very happy in his heart. This is why he didn't come forward to stop Terry just now.

Someone on this team has to stand up and tell the players what the Finals mean. The experience of the regular season and even the first few rounds of the playoffs may not be useful in the finals.

Rougher moves, stronger confrontation, more powerful opponents. James, a humanoid tank, will not reduce the force of the impact because of Yiyang's thin body, and Wade will not reduce his breakthrough speed because Kidd is nearly forty years old.

The championship is like a magic box that confuses people. Once there is a chance to get her, everyone will fall into madness, even at the expense of dedicating themselves.

However, Nowitzki, a mild-mannered German, would definitely not say this to the players on the training ground. If Nowitzki is a "white face", then the role of "black face" can only be performed by Terry, the only one other than Nowitzki who experienced the loss in the 2006 Finals. Only he can make this "bad guy" to the extreme.

Now, Terry has done a good job of what he should do.

In the subsequent training, Yiyang also became serious, and did not shy away from physical confrontation with Terry. The two guys really competed, and the hard work of the two gradually spread to other people.

When confrontational training is closest to actual combat, the quality of training is often the highest. The Miami Heat will also have a showdown with the Bulls tonight, and the Dallas Mavericks, who are not optimistic, have already started their first round of the finals preview.

"Aren't you afraid that if they do this, they will be injured early?" Assistant coach Terry Stotts was already in a cold sweat beside Carlisle.

"Don't look at these guys playing fiercely, but they all protect each other after the collision. Don't worry, the risk of injury is not great. I am a little worried that the Miami Heat will not be able to recover for a while. Stowe Ci, I think this year, we really have something to play!" After Carlisle finished speaking, he turned to stare at his assistant. The academic coach's eyes lit up, as if he had discovered a treasure map.

Stotts didn't respond, but he was vaguely excited.

Steal the O'Brien Cup from the Heat's Big Three? I have to say, this is really fucking exciting!