Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 207 207. Division Champion: Invite Luke to join!Luke: Give me shares and I will consider it (two chapters in one)

As the Timberwolves defeated the Warriors by 227 points in the Western Conference finals, Timberwolves fans can be said to be elated after the game, and finally they can respond vigorously on social media.

Facing the Warriors fans who were bragging wildly after winning the next game, the Timberwolves fans had seized the opportunity to fight back, and began to taunt on the Internet.

Obviously, the referee's unfair whistleblowing in the first game of the Western Conference Finals not only made everyone in the Timberwolves angry, but even outside fans were very upset.

Fortunately, the referee's whistle in the second game was no longer as partial as in the first game, and the Timberwolves went all out. The Warriors who played in only three quarters couldn't find North.

A 27-point victory not only allowed the Timberwolves to regain their fighting spirit, but also dampened the morale of the Warriors.

And the Timberwolves head coach Luke will return in the next game. With the anger Luke showed before, Luke will definitely lead the team to go all out in this round of the series and leave a round of unforgettable memories for the Warriors.

Luke's character has always been to report revenge on the spot. Although the Warriors cannot be blamed for the referee's whistleblowing, Baron Davis' behavior is still shameless.

Especially after Payton "The Glove" came back, Baron Davis' performance fell off a cliff. This kind of bullying behavior made fans feel disdainful.

In the first game of the Western Conference Finals, Baron Davis scored 34 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. In the final quarter, he made [-] free throws and led the Warriors to take the lead in scoring a good start.

As a result, facing the defense of "Glove" Payton in the second game, Baron Davis not only felt cold on offense, but even his breakthrough seemed to be stumbled all the way.

The final stats of 11 points and 4 rebounds were crazily ridiculed by "The Glove" Payton after the game, mocking Davis as a paper tiger who couldn't get on the stage and could only show off under the protection of the referee.

It is foreseeable that in this round of the series, while Luke was suspended by the league, the Warriors will inevitably become an unlucky punching bag, preparing to meet the wrath of the Timberwolves next.

…………

The Timberwolves will play away games in the next two games. Even if they don't have home court advantage, they can't stop the Timberwolves' strength.

For two consecutive games, Baron Davis played painfully under the defensive cooperation of Payton and Big Ben.

In these two games, Davis surrendered 9 points and 12 points respectively, and was targeted by the Timberwolves a bit miserable.

And Baron Davis' dismal performance also caused the Warriors to lose two home games in a row, and the Timberwolves held the match point 3:1.

Even in the fourth game of the series, Baron Davis finally couldn't bear the trash talking to "The Glove" Payton, and directly elbowed Payton to the ground in an offensive round.

As a veteran who has been in the league for decades, Payton immediately gained an advantage with his acting skills at the "Oscar Best Actor" level.

This irrational second-level malicious foul also caused Davis to be directly expelled from the field. Obviously, Davis' mentality has gradually exploded under the heavy defense of the Timberwolves.

To make matters worse, even if the Warriors played so aggrieved in these two games, they did not dare to confront the Timberwolves head-on.

At most, it is to increase defensive actions when it is unbearable. This feeling of not being angry makes the already aggrieved warrior even more aggrieved.

After all, whenever the Warriors saw the ferocious expressions of Big Ben and Artest, at that moment, it seemed that even the anger that was about to rush to the top of their heads dissipated a lot in an instant.

Some Timberwolves fans on the Internet began to joke about this. The Warriors are a team formed by a bunch of "ninjas", because this team can really bear it!
Losing two home games in a row made it impossible for the Warriors to retreat. The Timberwolves currently hold the match point 3:1. If they do not want to be eliminated, the Warriors must win three games in a row to advance.

But this probability is undoubtedly too low for the Warriors whose morale is currently low.

And the Timberwolves will definitely not give the Warriors any chance to comeback. I believe that the next game will be the end of the Warriors' season.

…………

In Game [-] of the Western Conference Finals, the Warriors team was fighting to the death, and Nelson Sr. also changed his offensive focus, from the original offense initiated by Baron Davis to the "Martial Saint" Jackson as the core of this game.

In this year's playoffs, the Warriors were able to black the Mavericks, and "Martial Saint" Jackson can be said to have made great efforts.

So far in the playoffs, Jackson has averaged 20.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

Although his shooting percentage is only 36.9%, Jackson's offense is extremely confident, and he is one of the few top nerve knife stars in the league.

But this round of the series Jackson also had a hard time under Artest's defense.

As a teammate who fought side by side in the past, Artest's defensive action against Jackson was quite gentle. At least the two fiery masters have not had any disputes on the court.

Can't hold back Artest's defensive ability is indeed excellent. On the defensive end, he can be said to be inseparable from the "Martial Saint" Jackson, making it difficult for Jackson to find a suitable shooting space.

Jackson's shots were very decisive throughout the game, and the offensive end used a lot of off-ball pick-and-rolls to let fans see Kobe's shadow.

It's a pity that at this time of the game, let alone Artest and Jackson are former teammates, even brothers have to fight each other.

Most of Jackson's shots come from the middle distance on both sides, and this position happens to be Artest's defensive hot spot, and Payton and Gerald Wallace on the flank can also help defend.

Although Jackson, who took a lot of shots on the offensive end after halftime, surrendered 17 points, Jackson's shooting percentage was only 31%.

As for the Warriors, they trailed the Timberwolves by as much as 12 points at halftime.

Coming back from the second half, seeing that the game was about to lose its suspense, Old Nelson could only take a slanted forward and arranged a lot of three-point shots from the outside. It seemed that he wanted to gamble with three-pointers.

At the same time, Nelson replaced center Biedrins and mentioned Al Harrington, who is [-] meters tall, to center.

At the same time, Matt Barnes, who made 40% of his three-pointers, was assigned as the starter, playing five small lineups with five players who can shoot three-pointers.

Luke was not puzzled by the sudden change of the old Nelson. After all, the old Nelson would definitely not sit still, and could always arrange some crazy lineups.

At present, the Warriors' lineup is the standard "Five of Death" in later generations. Except that the defensive end is really broken, the offensive focus has already met the basketball standards at the end of the 21st century.

At present, the old Nelson's employment philosophy is indeed a cross-generational existence. Compared with most old-fashioned coaches in the league, the old Nelson dared to try on the court. No wonder he was called a madman by others.

In this era, even the "running and bombing master" D'Antoni must have a center like Stoudemire inside.

However, Nelson dared to let Al Harrington, who averaged only 4.6 rebounds per game, play center in the playoffs. This is indeed a crazy thing.

It's a pity that if other teams face the sudden change of old Nelson, it may take some time to adapt to the game rhythm of the Warriors' five small lineups.

But it happened that the old Nelson met Luke who had personally experienced the small ball era.

If Old Nelson's use of Death Five is still in the experimental stage, then Luke has already kept all the advantages and disadvantages of the small ball game in mind.

No one in this era understands the advantages and disadvantages of the five small lineups better than Luke.

In addition, the Timberwolves' defensive mobility is very strong, and the overall defense is unique in history, so the old Nelson must be disappointed in the second half.

With more than six minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Warriors not only failed to close the gap, but allowed the Timberwolves to extend their lead to 23 points.

Seeing that there was no hope of winning this game, Old Nelson could only shake his head helplessly while sitting on the sidelines.

Although the old Nelson was mentally prepared for this ending from the moment he entered the Western Conference finals, he still felt regretful when the team was eliminated by the Timberwolves.

Fortunately, after 28 years of coaching career, Nelson has long been used to regrets.

As the basketball coach with the most wins in NBA history, Nelson no longer needs to prove himself except for having no championship in his career.

Even if the Warriors stopped in the Western Conference Finals this season and were eliminated by the Timberwolves 4:1, the "Black Eight Miracle" is enough for people to discuss.

Judging from the results, the Golden State Warriors who have created miracles along the way do have some regrets, but in terms of the process, the Warriors this season have no regrets.

At the end of the game, the Timberwolves beat the Warriors by 26 points at home and won the division championship 4:1.

At the same time, the Timberwolves have also reached the finals for three consecutive years, becoming another team that has reached the finals for three consecutive years since the Los Angeles Lakers.

After the game, Nelson and Luke hugged each other on the sidelines. In the previous two games, Nelson also had a brief conversation with Luke after the game, but this time Nelson had a long chat with Luke.

Among them, the old Nelson also vaguely reminded Luke to be careful of the alliance's meddling behind the scenes.

Although the old Nelson didn't say it too bluntly, as a veteran coach who has coached in the league for 28 years, the old Nelson is very clear about the way.

At this time, Old Nelson could make these reminders, but Luke couldn't help but look at Old Nelson more.

In the end, the old Nelson still showed his tail, saying that in the past two years, he planned to re-enter the management and leave the position of coach.

The old Nelson has been tired of sitting in the position of coach for a long time, and the Warriors plan to carry out a major change in the management. This is an opportunity for the old Nelson, who is qualified and capable.

It is said that the old Nelson has reached an agreement with the Warriors owner Joe Lacob in private. As long as a new suitable coach can be found, the old Nelson can enter the management team at any time.

During the Dallas Mavericks period, Nelson Sr. served as the head coach and general manager, but later broke up with the Mavericks because of some things.

So the old Nelson, who has the opportunity to return to the management now, hopes that Luke can consider coming to the Warriors to coach.

Compared with other coaches, Nelson Sr. is probably one of the few coaches who knows that Luke will definitely not continue to serve in the Timberwolves.

This is not the news that Luke revealed to Old Nelson, but the pattern that Old Nelson judged based on years of experience.

From the first game of the league's involvement in the Western Conference Finals, Nelson knew that the Timberwolves' good days were coming to an end, and if Luke wanted to continue to serve in the league, there was a high probability that he would change his team.

After all, he was as strong as the "Cardinal" and was forced to retire by the league, let alone a young Asian coach.

Establishing a dynasty is already the limit that the league can accept at the moment, and the league will not even allow any dynasty teams to appear in the future.

The two consecutive championships will inevitably end. This has nothing to do with other things, but the league needs to continue to create topics to maximize the overall interests.

Unless the team's name is called the New York Knicks.

And there is nothing that can maximize the benefits than a new team to kill the two consecutive championship teams to win the championship.

Although the old Nelson didn't know why the league would no longer give the Warriors the whistle in the next few games, but the old Nelson firmly believed that this still could not change the fact that Luke would leave the Timberwolves.

"If Joe is willing to give me shares, I can consider joining the Warriors." Luke didn't take up the topic, but said with a smile.

Luke's words made old Nelson smile wryly: "It's not that easy. Although the owners of these teams in the league are very generous in reinforcement, once it comes to the issue of shares, they will change their faces in minutes."

"At the beginning, I just wanted to buy 2% of the Mavericks' shares. Mark Cuban guarded me like a thief."

"Although it has been more than 30 years since the Warriors won the championship last time, and Joe does have the intention to find a partner in business, it is not so easy to get shares."

Old Nelson's words were full of helplessness and sadness. Obviously, there are still many inside stories about the experience of the Dallas Mavericks that outsiders don't know.

Of course, this is also the status quo of the league. Even if the team is not well managed, the owners of each team are not willing to dilute their shares to trap people's hearts.

Even if the funds in hand can no longer support the operation of a team, the first choice of each team owner is to attract foreign capital and find business partners instead of linking with the insiders of the league.

This is as strong as the "God of Basketball" Michael Jordan hit a wall everywhere. Back then, Jordan won six championship trophies for the Bulls and brought infinite value to the Bulls team.

But once it comes to the issue of shares, Bulls owner Jerry is still the first to kill the donkey. He and Michael Jordan not only broke up, but even in all public places of NBA business activities, they never communicate with each other.

Many people couldn't understand why the Bulls owner Jerry didn't let Jordan take money to buy shares given Michael Jordan's influence at the time.

Because no matter how strong Michael Jordan is, in Jerry's eyes, he is just a pawn, a tool to make money.

When Michael Jordan is facing this stage of retirement, the benefits of letting Jordan take a stake in the management team will be far less than kicking him out.

In the long run, it's not in the businessman's interest to have Michael Jordan take a stake.

As a profit-oriented businessman, shares are his lifeblood, and even Michael Jordan can't get a foot in the door.

The same is true for the follow-up Wizards owner Leon Sis. In order to trick Jordan into joining and bring popularity to the Wizards,

Leonsis promised that Jordan would let him enter the management after his comeback, allowing Jordan to acquire a part of the shares.

However, due to the league's regulations, active players are not allowed to hold any team shares, so the commitment of both parties is after the end of the season.

As a result, after the end of the season, Wizards owner Leon Heath suddenly repented and refused to sell the shares to Michael Jordan. This matter was brought to court at the time.

Even if the person who wants to buy shares is the "God of Basketball" Michael Jordan.

From these places, it is not difficult to see how difficult it is to acquire a stake in a team.

"Convey this sentence to Joe and tell him 3% of the shares, I can consider it."

"In two years, I brought back at least one championship for the Warriors, and in the next ten years, I brought him at least three."

"And I won't interfere with anything in the management, because I only want money." Luke said with a confident and casual tone, with a smile still on his face.

(End of this chapter)