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Chapter 66, Section 64: I am the Center! (Seeking first subscription)

Westbrook went to the free-throw line, made the first free throw, missed the second, Yad secured the defensive rebound, and Calhoun called a timeout!

The fans at the scene were confused. The Huskies were leading by a full 16 points, 30 to 14. They had just called a timeout to rotate players two minutes earlier. Why did they suddenly call another timeout?
Fans who watch live TV broadcasts have an advantage: they can always get firsthand information from the commentators or the data posted by the director.

It was so sudden!

Thabeet stood under the basket like a fly swatter, blocking 4 shots in less than 14 minutes. Due to the huge score difference, there was really nothing worth analyzing in this kind of crushing game, and the commentators had already been looking for other topics to talk about in the first few minutes.

For example, can Thabeet break the single-game block record, and when will he set a new finals block record?

The former is hard to say, but the latter seems to be a foregone conclusion. Since detailed statistics have been available, Hakeem Olajuwon set a record of 5 blocks in a single game during the 84 Third Madness Finals.

The commentators even discussed the possibility of Thabeet and Yi Shui breaking Olajuwon's record at the same time, because Yi Shui also had 3 blocks, and given the way the opposing guards played, it wasn't impossible.

Then suddenly the TV showed the data: Thabit 3 had committed a foul!

The commentator exclaimed in alarm that the Husky team was in foul trouble!
...

On the field, on the Bruins' bench, Ben Heland breathed a sigh of relief. Those lads finally did it!
Collison, Westbrook, and Matt Lee took to the court in pairs, launching a series of attacks for a full 10 minutes before finally succeeding!

During preparations, Holland was desperate; he saw no hope whatsoever of defeating the Huskies.

He watched every video of the Husky team he could find since the start of the qualifiers more than once, and the more he watched, the more powerless he felt.

In the paint, with Thabeet on the opposing team, Love's low-post back-to-the-basket game and close-range face-up offense are unlikely to break through the opponent's defense due to the significant size difference.

On the perimeter, Westbrook, the strongest player, was completely countered by Yi Shui.

The key is that these two are a perfect match on the defensive end, completely countering Westbrook and Love!
But we have to find a way to win. Holland stayed up all night last night and finally found a breakthrough for him.

Thabeet is like a mountain in the three-second zone, so let's use a drill to chisel away at this mountain!
The Huskies' zone defense has become increasingly effective thanks to their towering figure, but their overall defensive reliance on Thabeet is also growing. If they can keep this up... Holland has never seen any other team target Thabeet. He doesn't think it's because other coaches haven't realized Thabeet's importance to the Huskies, but rather because it's just too difficult.

If he had any other options, he would never have tried to attack Thabeet. Otherwise, he would have gone straight for him at the start. He only made up his mind to put his three fast and powerful defenders on the field in pairs after he was sure that he was being crushed by the three towers of Yi Shui, Yad and Thabeet. Whoever Yi Shui was guarding, he would send the other one to charge into Thabeet's arms.

Now that it's done, his feeling is—thankful!
This strategy demands extremely high psychological qualities from the team members executing it. Rushing in will likely result in being blocked or missing shots, and without a certain level of resilience, it's really hard to withstand the pressure.

I'm also glad that the other side didn't notice. If they had been discovered, this extreme strategy would have been easily countered. This little trick is all about gambling, and luckily we won the gamble.

Another point is that the point difference wasn't so large as to be irrecoverable, which is largely thanks to Love and Shipp's relentless efforts in attacking the basket. If the point difference had widened to twenty-something points, then even if this strategy had succeeded, they would have been finished.

However, the successful strategy is only the beginning; a 16-point difference is still a huge gap.

But at least we see hope!

...

Pause back.

The Bruins substituted Matt Lee for starting point guard Collison, while Westbrook, Alfred Abaya, Shipp, and Love continued to play.

The Huskies made no changes to their lineup, sticking with Spencer, Yi Shui, Johnson Bird, Jarvan Edwards, and Thabeet.

Although Calhoun was annoyed at not discovering the opponent's intentions sooner, he did not panic or hastily make substitutions to avoid a sudden collapse in defense. Instead, he made tactical adjustments to stabilize the situation first, and then adjusted to an offensive-oriented style of play through lineup rotation.

Heland had anticipated this. The opposing coach was very aggressive in his strategy, but he was also very steady when he needed to make adjustments during the game, especially when he had the advantage in strength, and he liked to push the ball flat.

Therefore, his adjustment was—keep charging! He was certain that the opponent had guessed he would continue charging, but he still had to charge, he had no choice but to charge!

Calhoun's adjustments were fine, but the players' mentality is difficult to control.

Thabeet, as the defensive anchor, suppressed the opponent's offense to 1 point per minute. He had 4 blocks in 14 minutes and was playing happily and excitedly when he was suddenly told that he was in foul trouble!
Reason told him to be careful not to foul, but when the opponent broke in, he instinctively wanted to interfere with the shot... He usually only committed one foul every few possessions, but with this conflicted and hesitant mindset, Thabeet committed his fourth foul on the Bruins' second offensive possession after the timeout!
Calhoun substituted Thabeet off the court during the opponent's free throws, and another foul would have resulted in him fouling out! He had no choice but to immediately bring on the inside duo of Yad and Omocaro, and bring on Dyson and Frostsowski on the perimeter to partner with Yi Shui. There was no transition period; they went straight into the offensive game.

Yi Shui and Yade remained solid, and Dyson and Frostowski did not drag the team down in the crucial final. In the next 5 minutes, the Husky team scored 11 points, bringing their halftime score to 43 points.

But their defense completely collapsed!

After taking Thabeet out of the game, the Bruins went on a huge run!
Without Thabeet crouching under the basket, Westbrook and Collison launched a furious attack. During the intervals between their attacks, Love made a fierce attack in the low post. The combined defensive capabilities of Yad and Omocaro couldn't match Thabeet simply standing there. Yi Shui couldn't keep up with them.

5分钟时间，棕熊队得分从16分狂飙到34分，轰了哈士奇队一个18比11！

At halftime, the Bruins had narrowed the gap to 9 points!
During halftime, the atmosphere in the Husky team's locker room was not good.

From feeling certain of victory to falling into a huge crisis, everything happened too suddenly.

The situation is quite clear: without Thabeet, they can't stop the Love-Westbrook-Collison combination from attacking the basket; if Thabeet comes on, he'll probably foul out immediately.

The opposing backcourt, led by Westbrook, is like madmen. You're defending under the basket with your arms outstretched, and they'll dare to bump their faces into your arms.

Because Westbrook, Rose, and Mayo are often compared by the media recently, Westbrook is always considered the weakest and has the lowest basketball IQ. Originally, the Husky players all felt that Westbrook was not as good as Rose.

Looking back now, if Rose had had Westbrook's tenacity in that game a little over a month ago, they probably wouldn't have been able to contain the Tigers' momentum.

Rose's driving and attacking skills are better than Westbrook's, but Westbrook's relentless, ruthless attitude of tearing his opponents apart has elevated his image in the eyes of the Huskies players, who believe he is comparable to Rose.

But now is not the time to admire our opponents. What should we do next? Go on offense? They're going on a scoring spree like madmen, 18 points in 5 minutes! Go on defense? If Thabeet goes on, he'll foul out, and the blow to them will be even greater.

After everyone had shared their opinions, no one spoke, and the atmosphere became awkward.

At this moment, Yi Shui pinched his thigh and stood up: "Save Hashim's last foul for the final game. Don't worry about rim protection, you have BIG Yi... I'm the center!"

...

Halftime was almost over, and fans who had gone to the restroom, bought snacks, or wandered around the shopping area returned to their seats. However, most fans remained seated for the nearly 20 minutes.

Having dominated nearly half the game and held a significant lead in the score, they thought victory was assured, but the situation suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse, and they still refuse to accept it.

Is LA going to win the championship again? They don't want to see that happen!
As the players from both teams walked out of the player tunnel, the fans in the stadium chanted "Beat LA" once again.

This time, however, the Bruins players felt not pressure, but motivation!

Westbrook yelled at his teammates, "Kill the dogs! Shut these guys up!"

Heland's confidence has also been boosted. If the opponent brings on Thabeet, then he'll continue his "mountain-crushing" attack. If Thabeet isn't on the field, then he'll continue his fierce assault! He'll take advantage of this momentum and crush the opponent!

He was already imagining the scene of winning the championship in a major upset.

Looking at the opposing team's lineup... Price, Froststowski, Yi Shui, Johnson Bird, and Yad, one big and four small? Yad isn't even considered 'big,' it's just a pure small lineup?
Want to go to extreme speed and offense? He's not afraid!
But once the opposing players were in position, he couldn't understand it.

That 'BIG YI' is standing under the basket? And Yarde is outside the three-second zone?
The second half began as Heland struggled, with the Bruins taking the lead after losing the jump ball.

Not only did the head coach not understand the opponent's positioning, but the players didn't either. Perhaps... the opponent was sending their guards to protect the rim? Never mind! Westbrook called for the ball from Collison as he advanced, received it, and immediately broke through!
Even when facing Yi Shui's one-on-one defense, with only Omocaro or Yad as defensive sieves under the basket, Westbrook was still very wary when he drove to the basket, worried that a hand might suddenly reach out from behind and swat the ball away.

But he left Froststowski behind, heading straight for the basket, ready to dunk! He wanted revenge for the several blocks he'd received in the first half!
With Westbrook's imposing presence, as if he were about to devour his opponent whole, the thousands of Bruins fans in the stadium were already preparing for a wild celebration.

As Westbrook caught the ball at close range, leaped high, and executed a reverse layup, charging headlong towards the basket, his teammates on the court were already ready to cheer...

"Snapped"

Yi Shui moved into position under the basket, leaped up, and slapped Westbrook's dunking ball hard, knocking Westbrook and the ball to the ground!
(End of this chapter)