I was determined to be bad, but I went straight to the Basketball Hall of Fame

Chapter 514 Basketball Is Not Just a Scoring Game
The Clippers' zone defense in the second quarter was like summer thunderstorms, which came and went quickly. After a few rounds, the Clippers resumed their normal man-to-man defense.

It's not because the Thunder have cracked the Clippers' zone defense, but because the Clippers' coaching staff knows that zone defense is just a small way to change the rhythm and cannot be used for a long time.

According to NBA rules, big centers cannot sit in the three-second zone, which determines that the power of zone defense is definitely not as good as FIBA ​​rules.

When the players take into account the three seconds of defense, it is more difficult to maintain the defensive formation for a long time.

Coupled with the fast pace of NBA games, it is likely to be washed away after a few rounds, so it can only last for a while.

But it was enough for a while, and the Clippers used this defensive variation to beat the Thunder to an 11:3 offensive climax.

After 7:0, Kevin Durant made a three-pointer on a 45-degree pass from Westbrook.

But immediately after Randolph hit a mid-range jumper, Harden made a breakthrough throw with the ball, 11:3, leading the Thunder by 9 points.

The Thunder called a timeout, and Brooks made a tactical arrangement, asking Durant to increase his shots and launch an attack on the Clippers.

Of course Durant would obey the coach's arrangement, but he thought in his heart that after all, he failed to use organization and support to break the Clippers' zone defense.

Breaking through the ball, simply moving the ball, and finding the point guard of his teammates, Durant can do it.

But to be like a commander, use a pass to find the loopholes in the opponent's defense and crack the opponent's defensive formation, it is by no means an easy task.

On the one hand, this requires a deep understanding of tactics, and on the other hand, one must have extremely keen observation and vision on the court, and be able to make accurate judgments on the ever-changing dynamics of the court.

Durant is not good at these two points. As a professional player, he must understand tactics, but he must understand deeply. He can be a coach in the future if he can draw inferences from one example. Durant does not have this ability.

Generally, only point guards can have the deep tactical understanding of a coach-except for Westbrook.

As for observation, vision, reaction speed, etc., they are pure talents, and it is difficult to practice such things the day after tomorrow.

When God opens a door for you, he will also close a window. It is difficult for you to take all the benefits.

Durant already has epic wingspan, body flexibility and shooting touch, and it is normal to be lacking in some aspects.

But Durant wants to be the best in history, Michael Jordan doesn't say, at least he can reach James' level, right?

And James is most commendable for his passing vision and field observation, which is one of the reasons why he can overwhelm Carmelo Anthony.

After the first round of tempering, Kevin Durant thought he was passing the ball well.

He has been passing the ball in the first quarter of this game, and he also believes that he has played a series and organizational role.

As a result, a simple zone defense made him "revealed", and Durant was really upset.

Returning to the court after the timeout, Kevin Durant faced Leonard and made a quick stop after a change of direction, showing his superb sense of the ball.

The Thunder's defense also changed, with Perkins on the bench, Ibaka at center, and Durant at the four.

Durant defended Randolph one-on-one. As a result, Durant used his long arm to successfully interfere with Randolph's turn and hook.

Then Durant received a pass from Westbrook and hit a mid-range jumper, chasing 4 points in a row, and the Thunder approached the score.

"Sure enough, scoring is the only thing I'm good at? No..."

A thought flashed in Durant's mind, and the Clippers' counterattack had come.

Jeremy Lin, who came off the bench, made a quick assault and rushed to the basket with the ball, but was blocked by Durant from behind with a big cap!
The ball flew out of the baseline, and the Clippers still had the ball, but the Clippers' fast offense had been destroyed.

Serving the baseline ball, Curry caught the ball and made a quick shot from mid-range, but failed to score. Ibaka took the backcourt rebound and gave the ball to Durant.

This is yet another adjustment the Thunder made to hide Perkins' offensive and defensive flaws -- putting Kevin Durant at the four and adding to his role on the defensive end.

Regardless of Durant's thin body, he was like a stick when he first entered the league, and he couldn't do a single bench press.

After 5 years of training, Durant's weight is actually not small, after all, the skeleton and height are here.

When playing inside, weight is sometimes more important than height, because only with weight can there be confrontation.

Durant also has natural long arms, so it's definitely not bad to concentrate on defense.

After the Sonics took Durant second in the 07 rankings, they focused on cultivating him as an offensive killer.

The rookie season gave Durant unlimited firepower to practice offensive skills and shooting touch, and it will soon bear fruit.

But imagine, if the Supersonics didn't take this training route, but started with defense first like Durant's idol McGrady did?

With Durant's physical talent, he might be a top defensive fighter.

It can only be said that the paths of many players are doomed from the very beginning.

Of course, the Thunder will not let Durant always top Randolph at the fourth position, as a power forward, but only occasionally let him appear in the paint to participate in defense.

In this way, the Thunder can play one big and four small ones, move fast on the defensive end and have fewer loopholes, and five players on the offensive end can play four-on-five.

This move worked really well. Without Perkins holding back, the Thunder's offensive efficiency improved.

Durant dribbled the ball halfway, and the ball was given to Westbrook. Westbrook accelerated into the basket and made a sudden stop for a jump shot...but when the opponent was defending, he broke into a through pass to Iba who was under the basket. Card, Ibaka caught the ball and dunked easily!
The Thunder continued to chase points, and the score was close to 5 points.

Jeremy Lin slowed down this time and continued to pass the ball to Randolph in the low post.

This time Randolph turned around and walked to the bottom line to rush to the basket, but the layup was interfered by Ibaka and missed.

But Milicic rushed up from the side, with a light touch, and made a tip-in.

The Clippers now have an advantage inside and will definitely make good use of it.

The two sides fell into a tug of war.

The Thunder's offense is much smoother without Perkins.

However, the corresponding insiders will suffer. The two-phase trade-off is the lesser, and the offense is more important.

The scores of the two sides rose alternately, the game was played extremely well, and the rhythm was getting faster and faster.

Durant began to gradually forget his thoughts before the game, and the pass key was gradually dropped.

When he has a chance, he will use his singles skills to attack the Clippers' basket.

On the Clippers side, Curry, Harden, Randolph, Gasol Jr., the whole team participated in the offense.

Quick passing, sensitive movement, imaginative passing and amazing finishing methods.

Min Congda, who was sitting in the VIP room, had to admit that when the Clippers were in good offensive form, it was a pleasure to watch them play.

The precise cooperation of the Clippers is different from the Spurs. The Spurs are like machines, a tacit understanding and subconscious habit accumulated over countless training sessions and more than ten years.

The precision of the Clippers is full of a natural beauty, just like the nests built by bees and the cobwebs spit out by spiders. Although they have not reached the point where the horns of antelopes can’t be found, they reflect the genius imagination of these young people on the offensive end everywhere. force.

Obviously, the tough game against the Spurs in the first round gave the young Clippers a sublimation.

This makes Thunder coach Brooks very distressed.

In fact, the Thunder wanted to suppress the rhythm, and wanted to use the efficiency of positional warfare to drag the game into the familiar routine of the Thunder.

For example, the shooting rate of both sides is low, dragged into the critical moment of the fourth quarter, Durant, Westbrook or Gordon came out to reap the game.

Playing the Nuggets in the first round, facing his teacher George Karl, Brooks used this trick.

Durant and Westbrook led their teammates in front, passing more, efficiently, and the whole team played.

Then in the final stage, the warm-up superstar used his personal ability to close the game, which was natural and smooth.

It's the ideal feeling to win a game.

But the Clippers are obviously disrupting this order, forcing Durant and Westbrook to stand up earlier and use their personal ability to bite the score and catch up hard.

Then in the final stage, the physical fitness and state of the players will be a problem.

But there is no way, it is impossible to let the Clippers lead too much in the first half.

The away game trailed by more than 10 points at halftime, and the third and fourth quarters will be difficult to play.

And the Clippers have always been good at breaking out in the third quarter, piercing through opponents in waves.

If the Thunder is still behind, it will be even more impossible to fight.

Durant, who didn't score in the first quarter, made 11 of 7 shots in the second quarter and scored 18 points.

At the end of the second quarter, the Clippers 63:70, leading the Thunder by 7 points.

The Thunder have played quite well, scoring 33 points in a single quarter, which is quite a high score.

But the Clippers scored 39 points in a single quarter, nearly 40 points!
The offensive battle between the two sides was quite beautiful, and the fans found it enjoyable to watch.

Griffin, Jordan and others who were sitting on the sidelines watching the game were even more muttering in their hearts.

If they meet the Thunder or the Clippers, can they really withstand such an offense?

During the intermission, Anschutz and Min Congda continued to discuss financing issues.

Anschutz gave a suggestion, saying: "If possible, I don't think the Clippers need to rely entirely on investment to build a new arena. The investment of 12 billion US dollars is not a small amount. I think it might as well invest partly and use partly. Financing to the society by issuing bonds or designing financing products.”

It's not that Min Congda hadn't thought about Anschutz's suggestion. After all, he had also worked in corporate bond issuance in a bank.

But he has never been in touch with how the basketball team issues bonds, and what is the target?
As for financing products, he was even more at a loss. China's financial instruments are still much worse than the United States, which is full of tricks.

Facing Min Congda’s small doubts, Anschutz solved it with a simple sentence: “Fool, use the Clippers’ box office revenue as the target, and directly sell the Clippers’ tickets in advance. For example, sell the Clippers’ future 5, 10 8% discount or less for season tickets. This is also a way to raise funds to consume your future box office cash flow to build new arenas. If the Clippers record is good enough, these packaged 5 Year, 10 or even 20 year season tickets are sold."

Min Congda knew a thing or two, thinking that there are indeed many ways for Yankees to raise money. As expected of an old capitalist country, everything can be securitized.

Even ball tickets can be packaged and sold as financial products, raising a lot of money for real estate construction.

These multi-year season ticket packages may still be circulated in the market in the future, and the price may even fluctuate.

For example, this year someone spent $2 to buy the Clippers regular season tickets for the next 10 years. After watching it for a year, he no longer wants to support the Clippers, or wants to move out of Los Angeles and wants to transfer it.

If the Clippers have a good record, maybe the 9-year regular season ticket package will not only not depreciate in value, but will also appreciate in value, selling for 3 or even 4 US dollars.

If the Clippers do not have a good record and become a poor team, the season ticket package will definitely depreciate. After 5 or 6 years, the Clippers rebuild and become the bottom team, then this season ticket package may be worth 2000 or 3000 US dollars up.

"In 5 or 6 years, the Clippers must be bankrupt! Why do you want to go so far? But this is indeed a good financing method, and it can destroy the Clippers' cash flow for a long period of time in the future, which is very beneficial to bankruptcy !"

Min Congda weighed it and thought it was a good way of financing.

Box office revenue has always been a very important source of cash for team operations.

And this financing method will undoubtedly drain the Clippers' future cash flow from one-third to one-half at one time.

This will be a huge test for the team's operation and debt repayment. Once the Clippers have problems in their operations, the huge debts and shrinking cash flow will quickly bring the team to the brink of bankruptcy.

Min Congda suddenly became excited. Two-thirds of the $12 billion became liabilities, and one-third reduced the team's cash flow. It was a combination of bankruptcy!
Because Shelley Sterling was also there, Min Congda didn't immediately agree to Anschutz, but politely asked Shelley first.

Shelley whispered: "This will cause problems for the team's cash flow, right?"

Min Congda had already thought up his argument and said: "Although box office revenue is very important, I think the Clippers will be able to obtain income from more channels in the future, and the proportion of dependence on the box office will be reduced. It is better to spend this large amount of money in advance. Moreover, once With the new arena built, we can sell more tickets."

Min Congda's words made some sense, and the three of them discussed together again, and they believed that this plan was indeed feasible.

Anschutz is also very willing to help. As the owner of the Staples Center, he has enough channels and teams to handle such special work in terms of ticket sales and publicity.

He also put forward a condition, "I hope I can get tickets to invest in the new arena, and some of my friends."

Anschutz gave such good financing advice and provided relevant help, of course, in order to get a share of the action.

Both Xie Li and Min Congda agreed.

Shelly believes more and more that the construction of the new arena will be a great project to change the Clippers.

And Min Congda began to be a little skeptical, "Damn, are these rich people fools? Why are they rushing to vote in this arena? Are they so optimistic about the Clippers? No, they definitely want to wait for the Clippers to go bankrupt in the future so that they can share their food." Clippers asset! Looks like I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and build a quality stadium. If it can go over budget, even better."

The intermission ended quickly, and the third quarter began.

In the Thunder's first attack in the third quarter, Kevin Durant received the ball from a high position, broke through, and tossed the ball high to Ibaka who cut in the pick-and-roll, and succeeded in an alley-oop dunk!

It can be seen that the Thunder and Durant did not give up their established tactical strategy, which is to use Durant's pass to drive the team's offense until the fourth quarter before turning on the unparalleled mode.

But Curry immediately received a pass from Harden at the top of the arc and made a three-pointer.

Then Durant's pass in the offense was intercepted by Paul George.

The Clippers counterattacked, Harden made a long pass to the basket, Curry caught the ball and made a layup.

Harden and Curry, sometimes Harden is more like a point guard, and Curry is more like a shooting guard.

Westbrook immediately hit the basket and made a layup, stopping the Thunder from bleeding.

Harden immediately hit a mid-range jumper and scored two points.

Durant still wanted to slow down, and his ribs caught the ball to support him.

With his coping ability, the Clippers made a pincer attack, rushed the ball, and was intercepted by Gasol Jr. again!

Gasol made a long pass to the frontcourt, and Curry relied on his defensive position to rush to the frontcourt to receive the ball.

Holding the ball, accelerating, breaking through, resisting Westbrook who was following the defense, and hitting the rebound lightly, scored two more points!

In just 2 minutes, Curry scored 7 points in a row, as if he was provoking Durant.

"Stop pretending, stop passing the ball, let's score and have a good match."

"Basketball, isn't it just a game of scoring?"

(End of this chapter)