The longest river

Chapter 237 The Trail Blazers' "Draft Eye"

With a score of 111 to 81, the Trail Blazers easily secured their first win in the playoffs after a one-sided massacre.

Although Ma Long adjusted his mindset afterward and avoided getting bogged down in fouls, he ultimately delivered a disastrous performance.

全场比赛出场了32分钟的他，17投5仅得14分4板2助攻。

His teammate Stockton only managed 8 points and 7 assists on 3-of-7 shooting.

However, more than their performance, the Jazz's defeat stemmed from their defensive collapse.

They couldn't handle the Trail Blazers in either fast break or half-court offense.

They did consider using dirty tricks to improve their defense, just like they used to, but just like the elbow that got Malone called for an offensive foul at the start of the game, times have changed, and the referees are no longer lenient with them.

This match also became a microcosm of the series.

The changed format only extended the series by one game, with the Trail Blazers sweeping the Jazz 4-0 to advance to the second round.

Although Ma Long scored 20+ points in two games, his efficiency was very low.

After four games, he averaged 18.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4 assists, with a field goal percentage of only 40.5%.

Apart from assists, all of his other statistics hit new lows in his playoff career.

It's worth noting that even in his rookie season, despite averaging only 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds in the regular season, he still managed 21.8 points and 7.5 rebounds in the playoffs, which marked his first display of superstar potential.

However, times have changed, and now he can no longer be considered a superstar, let alone the offensive core of a team.

Just like the fans chanted from the sidelines, they shouldn't be thinking about a final dance; they really should retire sooner rather than later.

Just after the Trail Blazers defeated the Jazz, the league announced the Coach of the Year for the 2002-2003 season.

Three years later, Carlisle received this honor again.

In fact, according to the league's previous standards, the Coach of the Year award this year would likely have gone to the Pacers' Thomas.

But it's clear that Stern is now in need of Yang Shuai's help. If the Trail Blazers get the calls they deserve, they'll naturally get the honors they deserve as well.

Just three days after Carlisle won Coach of the Year, the Lakers defeated the Kings 4-2, successfully advancing to the Western Conference semifinals to face the Trail Blazers.

The season's strongest team faced off against the defending champions, a scenario that usually only occurs in the conference finals or the NBA finals, but this year it happened early in the conference semifinals, immediately drawing the attention of fans.

Betting companies also opened odds early on, with the odds between the Trail Blazers and the Lakers being very close.

Not only fans, but also some players and coaches followed suit and placed bets.

Although the NBA has explicit rules against players participating in betting on games, just like the NBA bans drug use, there are always ways to get what you want in private.

During the pre-match warm-up, Yang Shuai was chatting with Lu on the sidelines.

Lu said he wanted to come to the game, and Yang Shuai immediately arranged a seat in the first row for him.

Lue also just finished the playoffs. The Wizards made the playoffs this season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, but were swept out by the Pacers.

The Wizards still have some chance against other teams, after all, Yao Ming has an advantage in the paint, but against the Pacers, the second-year Yao Ming was completely suppressed by the peak Shaquille O'Neal.

As for the Wizards' other positions, needless to say, that roster definitely wouldn't make the playoffs in the Western Conference.

"By the way, how's the Magic doing?"

Because the semifinals would be against the Lakers, Yang Shuai's attention was focused on his own team's game, and he didn't pay attention to the Eastern Conference.

"The Magic? They were eliminated by the Nets 2-4."

Lu's information network remained as efficient as ever, but this result surprised Yang Shuai somewhat.

He was somewhat familiar with McGrady's "considering the next round's opponent" joke.

At that time, the Magic were facing the Pistons, who were ranked first in the East, but that Pistons team did not have Billups or Rasheed Wallace, and their overall strength was not strong.

Moreover, McGrady was the regular season scoring champion and completely dominated the Pistons' wing players, giving them a 3-1 lead in the series.

Before the format change, the Magic had already pulled off an upset, but they were just one step away from victory when the Pistons won three straight games to eliminate the Magic 4-3.

But now the Magic are facing the peak Nets team, a team that, while not having a great record, is still a team that has reached the Finals twice in history. Unexpectedly, the Magic have managed to win two games.

It can only be said that McGrady has been in such good form this season, and the Nets also lack a top-class wing defender.

When the Trail Blazers played the Nets before, it was thanks to Scott praising the defense from the sidelines that Yang Shuai was prevented from scoring a lot of points.

After the warm-up, the starting players from both sides took to the field one after another.

Lakers: Fisher, Kobe, Artest, Jermaine O'Neal, Ratliff

Trail Blazers: Billups, Reed, Young, Wallace, Sabonis

Jermaine O'Neal tipped the ball back to the Lakers' half of the court, and the highly anticipated game began.

Both sides are very familiar with each other, so they skipped the preliminaries and the Lakers started by having Jermaine O'Neal move up to the high post to run the triangle offense, and then had Kobe drive along the baseline.

Kobe also made a very nice back cut in the first possession. After receiving a pass from Jermaine O'Neal, he faked a shot over Reed who was chasing him, and then turned around and shot a fadeaway jumper that went in.

Reed's defense has improved significantly this season, but it's still not enough against Kobe.

Of course, more importantly, Kobe showed his determination to win the game right from the start.

Yang Shuai's performance this season has been so dazzling that many people have overlooked the fact that the Lakers are the defending champions, and he is determined to prove himself by defending the title.

Kobe showed this attitude from the start, and Yang Shuai responded immediately. He received the ball after Sabonis' screen and jumped to shoot a mid-range shot that went in.

Both players showcased their offensive strengths in the first offensive possession: Kobe was technically versatile, full of feints; Yang Shuai, on the other hand, employed a simple and straightforward approach.

Then, the first half became a scoring duel between the two players.

At halftime, Yang Shuai had 28 points and Kobe Bryant had 24 points, with the score tied at 54-51, giving the Trail Blazers a slight lead.

Both sides entered the halftime break.

Before entering the locker room, Yang Shuai pulled Carlisle aside, wanting to say something.

“No, that won’t do.” Carlisle preemptively shut Yang Shuai up.

Given Yang Shuai's personality, he will most likely be tasked with guarding Kobe.

However, both he and Phil Jackson did not do that in the first half, in order to fully ensure the performance of their respective core players on the offensive end.

Carlisle believes that continuing to play this way is more advantageous for the Trail Blazers, because Yang Shuai consumes less energy each time he scores than Kobe, and the team will have an advantage as the game progresses.

Yang Shuai glanced at Carlisle and then realized that the other party seemed to have misunderstood.

"What I meant was, let Tayshaun try guarding Kobe in the second half."

Kobe is in great form today; it looks like Reed can't stop him.

His pre-game chat with Lue reminded him of the key to the Pistons' comeback victory, which was due to then-Pistons head coach Rick Carlisle's "divine move" of putting Prince in the starting lineup.

While Prince didn't completely shut down McGrady, he significantly reduced McGrady's efficiency.

Therefore, this is a math problem with very similar known conditions.

Given that the Lakers have a Kobe Bryant comparable to McGrady at his peak this season, and the Trail Blazers have both Carlisle and Prince, what is the optimal solution at this moment?
The answer is clear.

Carlisle fell into thought after listening to Yang Shuai's words.

While the answer is yes, Carlisle has historically only gone all out when pushed to the brink, but the series has only just begun. Prince is merely a fringe player, a situation also seen with the Trail Blazers, where Walter Williams sits ahead of him in the rotation. Prince averages only 10 minutes per game and 3.3 points per game this season.

However, after thinking it over, Carlisle nodded.

Although Prince didn't get much playing time, his defense was indeed the best among the team's wing substitutes.

Of course, more importantly, Yang Shuai's advice has been effective most of the time.

Moreover, the series has only just begun, and the Trail Blazers still have a lot of room for trial and error.

"Shaq's departure allowed Kobe to take on the leadership role, and he evolved rapidly."

"Unless Hansen switches to guard Kobe, the two will have a classic matchup tonight."

After halftime, Barkley and Kenny Smith began to predict the situation for the second half.

However, when the second half started, both of them were stunned.

Kobe, who was also stunned, was on the court.

Because the Trail Blazers replaced Reed in the starting lineup with Prince!

Carlisle not only listened to Yang Shuai's advice, but also took a direct and effective approach.

"This is a bold move."

After regaining his composure, Barkley gave his assessment.

Kobe, after regaining his senses, revealed an angry expression.

Using a rookie, especially one who didn't get much playing time in the regular season, to defend him was nothing short of a blatant taunt in his eyes.

Kobe went up the court and immediately asked for the ball, then spread out to signal that he wanted to go one-on-one.

Carlisle's provocation was something he was determined to teach the other a lesson.

Kobe opted for a face-up drive followed by a sudden stop and fadeaway jumper.

Prince may not be as fast as Kobe, but he is tall and has a long wingspan. Although he is a rookie, he has played four years of college and his defensive experience is not bad. His defensive anticipation on this play was successful.

Although he was given some interference, Kobe's individual ability was very strong, and he increased the angle of his fadeaway to avoid Prince's interference.

"Shh!"

The basketball goes hollow into the net.

After landing, Kobe turned to Carlisle on the Trail Blazers' bench and said, "You guys made a mistake."

On the other hand, Prince's three-point attempt from the weak side missed.

The back and forth seemed to confirm what Kobe had said.

There was a commotion at the stadium. They didn't know what had happened at halftime. In their opinion, Prince was far inferior to Reid in both ability and performance.

Especially after Kobe broke through Prince's defense and hit a pull-up jumper, they even felt that this arrangement was a bit too cruel for a rookie.

Fortunately, Yang responded quickly on offense. He used a beautiful crossover to get past Artest, then drove into the Lakers' paint and slammed the ball into the basket over Ratliff.

So you're the king of blocks? .jpg

This moment instantly ignited the Rose Garden Arena; Yang Shuai is indeed invincible this season.

"Defend! Defend!"

The fans' emotions began to transform into an overwhelming barrage of defensive chants.

Amidst these defensive shouts, Prince successfully defended Kobe's third one-on-one attempt.

Kobe opted for a layup, but Prince maintained his defensive position and eventually used his long arms to disrupt Kobe's shot.

Kobe tried to draw a foul on Prince in the final moments, but Prince successfully dodged it.

The shouts instantly turned into cheers.

Amid the cheers, Prince, who had secured the defensive rebound, boldly made a long pass from the backcourt, directly throwing the ball to Yang Shuai at the front.

Yang Shuai received the ball and unleashed his signature tomahawk dunk.

As he retreated to his half of the court, he proactively approached Prince and gave him a high-five.

He only knew that Prince was good at defense, but he didn't expect him to be able to make a long pass of that quality.

However, this also shows that Yang Shuai did not understand Prince. On that Pistons team, Prince was the second playmaker after Billups.

After Yang Shuai scored 4 points in a row, the Trail Blazers started to gain momentum.

Kobe continued to hold the ball, trying to isolate Prince; at this point, he seemed a bit annoyed with himself.

Being guarded by a rookie is absolutely unacceptable to him.

This time he successfully shook off Prince, but his shot hit the rim and bounced out of bounds.

At this point, the cheers from the crowd were completely unstoppable, even mixed with whistles.

Kobe was defended by a rookie for two consecutive possessions!
"Carlisle's approach was bold, but it did have an effect."

Kenny Smith also gave his own comment after seeing this.

Although Kobe's 2-for-4 shooting efficiency against Prince's defense wasn't low in terms of results, his scoring became significantly more difficult from the very first basket.

"This is the best coach."

Barkley then took the opportunity to praise Carlisle, who was also his former head coach. When Carlisle played for the Trail Blazers, he was the first head coach in NBA history to win back-to-back Coach of the Year awards.

After a series of successful defensive plays, Prince became more aggressive on the court. After Yang Shuai's breakthrough drew a double team on the strong side, he directly cut into the weak side.

Yang Shuai seized the opportunity and passed the ball to Prince, who then leaped up and delivered a powerful two-handed dunk, scoring his first career playoff basket.

The fans at the Rose Garden Arena were absolutely thrilled.

They admitted they were a bit loud just now. Prince was amazing!
"Charles, don't you think the Trail Blazers have made some pretty good draft picks in recent years?"

After witnessing this, Kenny Smith and Barkley discussed another topic.

Barkley only just noticed this, and he stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Reed made himself a starter in his second year and has tremendous potential;

Although Okur is a substitute, he is actually the real starter when Sabonis doesn't get much playing time;

Even Tyronn Lue, who has already been traded, has become a starter for the Wizards this season.

With Prince in the mix, the Trail Blazers' draft quality has indeed been explosive in recent years.

It's worth noting that they've had a great track record over the years, consistently securing late first-round picks, which means they've been getting low-ranking picks every year.

At this moment, probably only Whitsett in the stands knew the reason behind it, because the players the Trail Blazers had drafted over the years were all from the draft list provided by Yang Shuai.

Yang Shuai's role in this team is far greater than it appears.

(End of this chapter)