Basketball Terminal

Chapter 73 beginning

Li Wei missed the free throw. After continuous intense contact, his muscles were tense, affecting his shooting touch. This is why many interior players who are quite good at free throws in practice see their shooting percentage plummet in games.

But as soon as the ball left his hand, Li Wei knew it wouldn't go in. He anticipated the ball's landing point and rushed to the basket to contest for the rebound. Among the crowd, he was the first to tip the ball. He jumped, tipped it again, jumped again, and tipped it again. On his fourth jump, he secured the ball, grabbing an offensive rebound.

The ball was passed to the perimeter, Harden took a three-pointer, but it missed again. Li Wei used his footwork to shake off the Spurs players, ran to the left side, grabbed the long rebound, and passed the ball back to Harden. Harden checked the time, decided to play it safe, and run down the clock to finish the offensive play.

Popovich was yelling at the players on the sidelines, saying, "We lost two rebounds in a row. What were you guys doing?"
Popovich, now with gray hair and having experienced much in recent years, looks increasingly aged, but his temperament remains unchanged. Before the match, he did indeed make specific arrangements against Levi; after a quick review of Levi's game videos, he keenly realized that this guy was a prodigy.

Excellent judgment, tenacious defense, intelligent playing style, and technically no obvious weaknesses. It's just that with the Nets, he doesn't need to create his own offense, thus concealing his offensive capabilities. If a player like this were with the Spurs, Popovich would probably wake up in a much better mood every morning.

The Spurs have always been known for their ability to discover and develop grassroots players. Countless unknowns have been transformed into successful figures in the basketball world under the Spurs' guidance. More recent examples include Danny Green, Gary Neal, and Patty Mills, while more distant examples include Avery Johnson and Stephen Jackson. These players were low draft picks or even undrafted, had overseas playing experience, and were not highly regarded by anyone before joining the Spurs.

In terms of coaching and management talent, current Thunder general manager Sam Presti, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, and Coach of the Year Mike Brown all have experience working with the Spurs. Before entering the sport, they were all from humble backgrounds. Budenholzer came from the Division III league, Brown had been away from basketball for many years, and Presti was simply a training camp staff member.

These players have all achieved great success and maximized their potential. The Spurs' ability to turn ordinary players into stars is truly renowned in the league.

But as Popovich aged, the team gradually lost talent, and the league environment continued to change, the Spurs' ability to select players gradually declined. Most importantly, with the retirement of the "Big Three" (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili), the wonderful atmosphere that fostered talent development disappeared.

Before the match, he instructed his players to surround and target Li Wei to increase the intensity of the competition, wanting to see whether Li Wei's individual ability lay in the protection of the Big Three or whether he could truly stand on his own. Li Wei quickly provided the answer with his performance.

When Popovich saw Li Wei drawing fouls and securing consecutive rebounds, he inexplicably thought of Dennis Rodman. A surge of anger welled up inside him, and he unleashed a torrent of abuse on the players. Harden then adjusted his pace, driving to the basket and passing to Li Wei on the perimeter. Li Wei received the ball and drained a mid-range jumper from the free-throw line.

Popovich's anger suddenly subsided. He stopped yelling at the players, sat back on the bench, and went to get a drink of water. Perhaps that shot made him realize that this wasn't Dennis Rodman; Rodman wouldn't play like that. Even after 26 years, a little resentment still lingers between them.

Thanks to Li Wei's performance, the Nets maintained their lead over the Spurs in the first quarter. During the break, Popovich pulled out his whiteboard and rearranged the team's offensive strategy. "We need to play more inside and attack the paint," Popovich said, beginning to plan the team's plays during transition periods.

Gregg Popovich has coached the San Antonio Spurs for 25 years, making him the longest-serving coach with a single team in NBA history. His stability in this position isn't solely due to seniority, but also to his continuous learning and improvement in response to changing times. The Popovich who took over in the 1996-1997 season is arguably a completely different coach from the one he is now.

The tactical environment of the NBA has also become two completely different leagues.

DeRozan went to the bench to rest, and Mills and Murray took control of the offense. The two began to focus their efforts on driving to the basket and challenging the Nets' three-second zone. This tested Levi's ability to protect the rim in the three-second zone. Murray started the second quarter by using a pick-and-roll to drive hard, but Levi switched onto him and, at the moment of initiation, knocked the ball out of bounds.

During the break, Li Wei recovered his energy. Fresh off his return, he made precise shots, surprising Murray who hadn't expected him to be so quick, despite his excellent ball protection. Out of bounds, with limited time on the Spurs' shot clock, Mills drained a tough three-pointer!
Australians are very good at forcing shots. Irving immediately responded on offense, using a screen from Levi to shoot a three-pointer from the middle, which also went in. The Spurs slowed down their offense, settling into a half-court offense. With a high screen, Mills had the ball and drove down the middle, still using a big man to guard a smaller player after a switch, attacking the basket.

Mills is fast, but his breakthroughs are not very varied. Levi keeps an eye on him, predicts his footwork and rhythm, steps precisely, lets him in for a layup, closes in, presses, jumps, and gets another chase-down block!
Both men lost their balance at the same time. As they fell, Mills struck Levi's ribs with his right elbow again. This time, he didn't exert force; instead, he held his elbow back, waiting for Levi to press down on him.

"He's got that numb nerve again!" Mills felt like he'd been electrocuted, but this time he learned his lesson and didn't roll over. Otherwise, if he saw the replay, he'd get another technical foul and be back in the locker room. Levi got up from the ground, looked at Mills, and thought, "This kid's learned his lesson again and again, trying to kick me in the ribs again?"

The referee came over to ask what happened, and Mills quickly said, "I'm fine, I just bumped myself when I fell. We still have possession! Ball to the baseline, ball to the baseline!"

After that, Mills didn't dare to use dirty elbows on Li Wei anymore; how come the kid was so tough? Li Wei thought to himself that NBA players' dirty tricks were far inferior to those in domestic leagues and Southeast Asia. NBA physical contact is more intense, players have excellent core physical qualities, and the emphasis is on teamwork, with occasional dirty tricks. In contrast, domestic or Southeast Asian games have more fancy hand techniques, rougher movements, and actually very bad defensive habits.

These experiences gave Levi a wealth of experience with subtle tactics; he could tell what Mills was up to just by the way he turned his backside up.

Mills played in Australia during the 2011 lockout and then played 12 games in the CBA. In the first round of the 2018 playoffs against the Warriors, Mills committed malicious fouls against Durant and Livingston, aiming for their legs and ankles, but he didn't achieve the same effect as Pachulia's foot-planting, and the Spurs were still eliminated 1-4.

During a timeout midway through the second quarter, Popovich asked Mills, "How's it going, buddy?"

"Not good, my arm hurts a lot, and that guy is really tough."

"Is it harder than your elbow?"

"It's harder than my damn head!"

Mills sat on the bench rubbing his elbows; two nerves had been repeatedly irritated, affecting his shooting touch. The Spurs had hoped to use drives to the basket to initiate their offense, but Levi protected the rim well; his defense against smaller players was truly outstanding.

Murray said, "He intentionally let us in, followed our footwork, and interfered from the side and behind. It's hard to shake him off with rhythm; you have to accelerate completely past him and attack the basket directly. But that's exhausting and makes it easy for other players to help defend."

"He reacted incredibly quickly and completely shut me down. To be honest, he reminded me of Tim," Mills said. He had played with Duncan for many years and knew how formidable Duncan's defense was. Even in his final years before retirement, Duncan's defense remained among the league's best. Despite his declining physical abilities, he relied entirely on anticipation and experience to create a barrier in the paint, rendering many smaller players ineffective in their drives to the basket.

“No, there will never be another Tim,” Popovich said.

“I said it reminded me of Tim.”

"Thinking about it won't work. Forget about it, our attack will shift outwards."

Popovich refused to let Mills mention Duncan. Duncan returned to the Spurs in 19 as an assistant coach for a period, but resigned after the 2020 Disney season. The reason given was that Popovich believed Duncan was too smart, and that too smart people couldn't be good coaches.

The same problem applies to superstars; they have a much harder time empathizing with ordinary players, both in terms of their circumstances and their basketball IQ. Coaches need to painstakingly explain to players why they should play a certain way, while superstars just think, "Does it even need explaining? Why don't you play like that?"

After playing a short break, Li Wei went to the bench for a rest. In nearly 8 minutes of playing time, he scored 4 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, including 4 offensive rebounds, creating more scoring opportunities for the team. This guy's rebounding efficiency is really high.

Li Wei was in good spirits, high-fiving his teammates. Despite being targeted, he quickly adjusted and adapted. However, it's foreseeable that teams will increasingly study and target him in the future. Many surprise players have gradually lost their luster under such scrutiny and targeted strategies.

Jeremy Lin, and Roger Mason, who had a brilliant season and a half with the Spurs, are examples of this, shining like meteors before falling.

The Spurs and Popovich have only just begun. But Li Wei thinks, my own growth and evolution have only just started, so I should use all my tricks and make them all my experience points.

(End of this chapter)