beast basketball

In Popovich's vision, the first half of the season is used to grab enough victories, and then the mid-term is mainly to train new players, so that old players can get enough rest, and at the same time, there is still a certain amount of playing time to maintain their state. At the end of the season, increase the playing time of old players so that they can improve their status and enter the playoff mode.

Popovich had a good idea, the goal of the first step was achieved, and the goal of the second step was basically completed. Although only one Stephen was trained, one was enough, but the third goal was missed. Mistake, once the old players who got enough rest increased their training intensity and playing time, their bodies could not stand it immediately. Although Popovich then made adjustments and most of the players recovered from their injuries, but let them The idea of ​​improving his status has become impossible. There is only more than half a month left in the regular season, and Popovich's request cannot be fulfilled at all.

what to do?Relying on the current lineup, let these people who have not recovered continue to rest more, but in this way, it will take at least more than a month to play out their state. At this time, the first round of the playoffs must have already been played. It's over. Although the Spurs are No. [-] in the West, they must be No. [-] in the West, but there are weak teams that can enter the playoffs, and they dare not deal with it with contempt.

Popovich counted the staffing on hand. There are quite a few players who can play, but many players, such as Ginobili, Oberto, Brent Barry, and Bruce Bowen, are not in good condition. Fortunately, Robert Horry, Michael Finley, and Muhammad are in pretty good shape.

Among the other main players, Duncan and Tony Parker naturally don’t need to worry about Popovich. They have been in good condition. As for Stephen, Popovich thought about it. There is never a bad time.

It's time to make a training plan for the playoffs. Thinking of this, Popovich called the coaching staff and began to discuss how to adjust the team's state within this half month. Several players must focus on restorative training for the time being.

Since there are still ten games to play, how to deal with these ten games, these factors must also be taken into account. With the record of the Spurs, it is not a problem to give up a few games, but those games need to be given up, and those games must be given up. In particular, some of these ten games are likely to be the Spurs' playoff opponents directly. How to deal with them is something that the coaching staff needs to consider.

The hard-working players on the coaching staff naturally don't know. What they can know is that some people's training intensity has been strengthened, while others' training intensity has been weakened. more and more roles.

At this time, the coaching staff also communicated with Bruce Bowen and Stephen. Since Bruce Bowen’s body has not recovered to the best condition, the coaching staff decided to adjust him from the starting lineup to the substitute lineup, and Stephen was Officially entered the starting lineup.

This is a relatively formal process. In the past, it could only be regarded as a temporary adjustment. Stephen is naturally not dissatisfied with this adjustment. The increase in status does not feel any difference.

I don't know if Bruce Bowen is willing, but on the surface he is very magnanimous. He has a problem with his own body, and he can't blame Stephen. Otherwise, with his status in Popovich's mind, he won't Easy to make changes.

At the same time as the adjustment, the Spurs ushered in the challenge of the Washington Wizards at home. The record of the Wizards has not yet reached the point where they can secure a ticket to the playoffs, so they always have the mentality of fighting for every game. In particular, Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler are all in relatively good form, causing a lot of trouble for the Spurs' defense.

However, the Spurs finally had the last laugh relying on their superhuman strength. Although Stephen only scored 34 points in order to adapt to the new style of play, he picked up [-] rebounds. The number of rebounds hit a new high for himself. Although Nas scored a high score of [-] points, he still couldn't win a victory and had to leave sadly.

After defeating the Wizards, the Spurs ushered in the challenge of the Jazz. As a playoff ticket is in front of you, you can touch the team with your hand. Difficulty is predictable. At this time, Deron William James has broken into the starting lineup as the team's go-to point guard, making Stephen a little happy for him.

As for Stephen's enemy, Humphries, is back on the court, but he has lost his place in the team and is reduced to the last one in the substitute lineup. Stephen has no interest in attacking such a player anymore, and he cares purely about him. It's losing your identity.

In this game, Van Exel returned to the court again after a lapse of a month. Although his performance was still struggling, it has already allowed Popovich to make a decision to put Udic on the injured list , although his state is not very good, but the experience and strength are incomparable to Udic.

This game benefited from the new tactics. Stephen scored 32 points and won the game. He taught the Jazz a painful lesson. Although the possibility of the last train in the playoffs is good, the hope is getting slimmer up.

On the day of the game against the Jazz, the Spurs flew to Sacramento to prepare to challenge the Kings away. According to the analysis of the coaching staff, the Kings were most likely to be the opponents of the Spurs in the playoffs, so after intense discussions After that, the coaching staff made a decision to abandon the game.

Abandoning this game does not mean that the Spurs will not resist. This decision is just to respond according to conventional tactics, try not to expose their true strength. This intention does not inform the players. Only Duncan participated in this game as the core of the team. Meeting.

So when Stephen learned that he was sent to the bench, it felt very strange. The Spurs had returned to the previous rotation of the main force and the bench, although Stephen tried his best in the second and third quarters. Victory, but this sudden change in the lineup still experienced a lot of inconsistencies, and the Spurs' defeat was inevitable.

Except for Tony Parker, no one played more than 10 minutes in this game. Although Popovich still yelled when he should yell, and adjusted when it was time to make substitutions, he still felt like the Spurs In staying power, they didn't show their full strength. Of course, outsiders don't know about this, and they speculated whether the Spurs wanted to return to the previous tactics, but they were self-defeating.

In the end, the Sacramento Kings defeated the visiting San Antonio Spurs at home, adding another impetus to their road to the playoffs. They didn't see the conspiracy in the eyes of Popovich and Carlesimo. The taste of success.

They have almost understood the strength of the Kings, but they showed a fake Spurs to the Kings. The Kings still use the Princeton system that O'Neal called "girly play", but traded to Artest It has greatly improved the Kings' defense, but it has not formed any system. At the same time, Adelman has not grown much over the years, and Popovich does not regard him as an important goal.

So the loss to the Kings didn't frustrate the Spurs players. Not only did Stephen have the feeling that the team wasn't doing its best, but everyone else seemed to feel the same. Apart from keeping a secret for the playoffs, Popovich was fine. The tactics of arrogant soldiers made the young people of the Kings feel that the Spurs were nothing more than that.

As for the impact of failure on the Spurs, Popovich is not worried. If the Spurs cannot admit even one defeat, then it is not the Spurs, and there is no need to go to great lengths to compete for a championship. Among the opponents in the first round of the playoffs, the coaching staff of the Spurs still think that the Kings are better. Otherwise, whether it is the Jazz or the Lakers, it is more difficult to play than the Kings.

Defeat the Jazz and lose to the Kings, so the Spurs are equivalent to forcibly creating an extra win for the Kings, which is particularly useful for every must-win playoff battle, according to Deron later secretly told Stephen After hearing the news that the Spurs lost to the Kings, Sloan dropped his beloved cup angrily.

The difference between the two teams is only one game. As long as the Kings lose a game and the Jazz win a game at the same time, the two teams will immediately have a tie, and then they need to consider the division advantage. Only ranked in front of the Warriors, so they will definitely be squeezed behind by the second-ranked Jazz in the division. This may be the last ticket for the playoffs. No wonder Sloan is so angry.

The Spurs didn't mean to release water on purpose. They didn't see the Kings bullying them better. After defeating the Kings, the Spurs ushered in the Dallas Mavericks, who were second in the same division, at home. But because there is a Spurs with a better record in the same division, it can only be ranked No.4. In front of him is the division leader in the Northwest Division and the Pacific Division, although the records of the Nuggets and the Suns are far lower. For the Mavericks.

Such a ranking rule has made many people call it unfair, so the league also announced that it will improve the ranking rules for the playoffs next season. The first place in the division will still automatically enter the top four, but the top four teams will be ranked according to their records. The rules are still a bit unfair, but there is no absolute fairness in this world.

In this way, if the Spurs beat his opponent in the first round, the opponent in the semifinals will definitely be the Mavericks. Popovich wants to let the Mavericks go, but no matter how the Spurs lose, it is impossible to reach five to eight. Among the top four teams, no matter how hard the Spurs struggle, they will either be first or fourth. Anyway, the opponent is always the Mavericks, and it is impossible to escape.