Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 248 248. Match Point, the frivolous Grizzlies, Gerald Wallace's dissatisfaction, Luke resigned himself to the sidelines!
The fact that Martin was elected as the MVP of the regular season has not only caused heated discussions among fans, but it is also the most discussed topic even in the league.

Kevin Martin's performance this season is certainly outstanding, but Kobe and LeBron James are obviously more popular with fans.

It's just that the team record is much worse than the Grizzlies, which is the main reason why Kevin Martin was able to beat the two to be elected as the regular season MVP.

The election of Kevin Martin also made the Spurs feel great pressure.

The current series has played three games, and the Spurs are behind by a big score of 1:2.

For the San Antonio pension team with old arms and legs, the longer this series is dragged on, the more obvious the Grizzlies' advantage.

After all, the overall age of the Grizzlies is much younger than that of the Spurs. If the Spurs cannot end this round of the series as soon as possible, the Grizzlies' advantage in physical strength will form a crush.

Now the Grizzlies player Kevin Martin was not only successfully elected as the regular season MVP of the 07-08 season, but the entire team basically took over all the hard indicators of this season.

The momentum of the Grizzlies has soared into the sky right now, which makes Spurs coach Popovich feel a headache.

When the overall strength of the two teams is evenly matched, the playoffs are all about the spirit that hangs in their hearts.

The start of the Grizzlies has obviously shaken the hearts of the Spurs. Thanks to the fact that this team is a veteran who has played in the league for many years, otherwise, after the announcement of the regular season awards, the suspense of this round of the series will be coming to an end.

"This is a very difficult playoff contest. I mean the Grizzlies have won too many awards this season. This team has grown far beyond people's imagination."

"It's hard to believe that this Grizzlies team was ranked last in the league last season, but the series is not over yet, and the team will still go all out." Facing a personal interview with the media, Spurs star Ginobi Li looked helpless.

Luke is simply the nemesis of the Spurs. In recent seasons, as long as the Spurs meet the team led by Luke, they have never ended well.

Even if Ginobili's mentality is not bad, he can't stand Luke's repeated tossing.

If this momentum continues, the Spurs are likely to complete the disintegration in the past two years.

Especially Duncan, who is the head star, has long been dissatisfied with the team's unwillingness to spend money on reinforcements. Although Duncan rarely speaks on the court, he has a strong desire for victory.

In addition, Spurs coach Popovich also encountered a crisis of confidence.

Although Popovich has led the Spurs to the playoffs for many years in a row, but with the troika, Popovich has never been able to lead the Spurs one step further.

Today's Popovich is not the old man respected by fans in later generations, at best he is just a coach who led his team to win the NBA championship.

Spurs owner Holt's patience with Popovich is wearing thin.

Even according to gossip, since Luke left the Timberwolves, Holt has given an ultimatum to Popovich. If he cannot lead the team back to the Finals within two years, then Popovich may have to Lose your job and leave this team that has played for ten years.

Originally, the disintegration of the Timberwolves also allowed Popovich to see the hope of regaining the championship. As a result, although the Timberwolves were rejected from the playoffs, they suddenly killed a Grizzlies in the new season.

To make matters worse, although the strength of the Grizzlies is not as good as the Timberwolves in their peak season, they are still the best team in the active league.

The encounter in the Western Conference semifinals made Popovich look a little ugly, especially after three games, the strength of the Grizzlies has already frustrated Popovich.

The Spurs are not without the possibility of reversing and advancing, but this road is destined to be difficult, and even Popovich himself is not sure of winning.

…………

In the fourth game of the series, the Grizzlies challenged the Spurs away with a 2:1 advantage.

The Spurs team in this game can be called a last stand. After all, if the Spurs lose this game, the Grizzlies will take the lead in getting the match point. With a 1:3 disadvantage, the chances of a comeback for the Spurs are very small.

No matter from which angle you look at it, the Spurs must defend this home court.

However, the momentum of the Grizzlies who have just completed a bumper harvest can be described as mighty, especially Kevin Martin, who won the regular season MVP for the first time in his career, was extremely excited in this game.

The whole person shot from inside and outside, and almost blocked the Spurs' defense line almost by himself.

Even Bruce Bowen, who was selected to the best defensive team, doesn't have much to do with Martin.

Unlike other players, Martin is very good at using his brain to cause trouble for defensive players.

And Bruce Bowen is a dirty dog ​​who is very good at small moves. Once Bowen's defensive moves are too big, Martin will immediately hang his body on Bowen, so as to use the referee to send Bruce Bowen off the field early.

In the face of Martin's ubiquitous hand raising, Bowen has been very careful to deal with it. Unfortunately, even so, Martin still beat Bruce Bowen to leave the field in only three quarters.

The data of scoring 31 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in three quarters made Bruce Bowen, who was sent off the court, feel crazy, "I have never seen such a disgusting guy in the game. This kind of person is even worthy of the MVP!"

Bruce Bowen's complaints are destined to be unrecognized. Even if Kevin Martin's playing style is indeed a bit inappropriate in the eyes of fans, if compared with Bruce Bowen, Martin is simply the embodiment of justice.

With Kevin Martin's excellent personal performance, the Grizzlies firmly suppressed the Spurs throughout the game, and even led the Spurs by 21 points at most.

Although Duncan and Tony Parker also sent many wonderful goals in the last quarter to help the Spurs continue to reduce the score, Pau Gasol and Kyle Lowry also stood up.

With Kevin Martin being heavily guarded by the Spurs, the two teamed up to resist the counterattack and helped the team beat the Spurs by 12 points, rewriting the total score of the series to 3:1 and winning the match point first.

The Spurs, who lost a key battle, were obviously a little frustrated.

Even Tim Duncan, who has always been not good at words, made a rare complaint after the game, "We were firmly under the pressure of the Grizzlies throughout the game. Whenever we were close to the score, someone from the Grizzlies would always stand up and provide Firepower."

"In contrast, the team's performance is really terrible, especially the defense inside makes me feel tired, maybe I am really tired."

Since the center position has not been reinforced for a long time, the entire Spurs' inside defense must be supported by Tim Duncan alone.

If the team can win, Duncan may not have too many complaints, but watching the Gasol brothers cooperate with each other in the interior, Duncan only feels like eating lemons and starting to sour.

The resentment towards the stingy boss Holt is accumulating day by day, and the critical point of the outbreak is only one fuse away.

In contrast, Kevin Martin, who has an excited face and has not yet come out of the excitement, "To be honest, I didn't expect that I could really become the MVP. I didn't sleep all night last night, but today I still Feeling refreshed."

"The honor of MVP is too heavy. I want to thank my coach and my teammates."

"Maybe I still have many shortcomings, and I also have many shortcomings, but what I want to say is that this is really a wonderful and fantastic season."

"If possible, I hope to help the team win the championship trophy this season, and give it to my coach as a gift, and to all the teammates who support me."

The regular season MVP can be regarded as the most gold-rich personal honor in the NBA. Even the finals MVP cannot be compared with the regular season MVP.

The championship ring can be mixed in with the veteran's basic salary, but any player who can be elected as the MVP of the regular season is definitely one of the best players in NBA history.

Throughout history, how many names that are familiar to fans have not been stained with the honor of regular season MVP throughout their careers.

Even Karl Malone, the former number one in history, has only been elected MVP once in his career.

To paraphrase a sentence from later generations, there may be parallel imports of champions, but absolutely no MVPs.

If even the regular season MVP is criticized by fans as garbage, then other players who can't get the MVP are really embarrassing.

No wonder Martin continued his excitement into this game. It's really a good dream no matter who it happens to.

The series is leading 3:1, and the momentum of the Grizzlies has reached its peak. The Grizzlies will bring the game back to Memphis in the next game. For the Spurs, this is a very serious challenge.

There is a cliff behind them, and this time the Spurs have no way out. Winning G5 in the series may not necessarily be able to reverse, but if they lose this game, the Spurs can only go home to fish again.

And the departure of star Duncan will also be marked with a big question mark, and even the fate of head coach Popovich will be changed by this round of the series.

It is foreseeable that the Spurs will definitely show the best game state in G5 in the series. Even if the Grizzlies firmly grasp the match point, they must be careful of the Spurs' counterattack after doing their best.

…………

In Game [-] of the Western Conference semifinals, the Grizzlies brought the game back to Memphis.

The Grizzlies still continued their exciting competitive state in this game. Whether it was Kevin Martin or Mike Miller who was elected as the best sixth man, they all seemed very excited in the game.

Throughout the first half, the Grizzlies caught the Spurs by surprise with a large number of speed-up counterattacks.

Even though Popovich has made a very strict deployment for Martin on the defensive end, the Grizzlies have too many players who can participate in the offense, which makes Popovich a headache.

At the end of the halftime game, the Grizzlies still led their opponents by six points even though the Spurs had tried their best.

Just when the fans thought that the Grizzlies would score 4:2 to complete the promotion, the experienced Spurs finally showed their fangs in the second half.

The Grizzlies' offensive state has always been smooth, but as the Spurs' defensive end began to run desperately, the young Grizzlies still exposed many problems.

A large number of turnovers caused the Grizzlies to disrupt their offensive rhythm, and the Spurs seized the opportunity to overtake the score.

In the last quarter, Kevin Martin, who was the team's offensive arrow, stood up and used his personal ability to continuously break through the inside and cause damage, helping the Grizzlies to keep biting the score and startling the Spurs into a cold sweat.

However, the performance of the troika is too stable, especially the "demon knife" Ginobili suddenly ushered in an explosion.

Facing the league's new generation of defensive star Gerald Wallace, Ginobi used his skilled offensive skills to severely teach young people a lesson.

It was like a basin of cold water was poured on Wallace, who was still maintaining a beautiful fantasy.

At the same time, Gerald Wallace's defensive attitude also dissatisfied Luke, so easily passed by Ginobili, which is obviously not the level of Gerald Wallace.

With Manu Ginobili's superb performance of seven points in a row in the last two and a half minutes, the Spurs grasped the last straw when they were on the verge of elimination, narrowly beating the Grizzlies by three points in the away game, rewriting the series to 2:3.

Ginobili's performance left Grizzlies fans speechless, and even head coach Luke had to praise him, "Manu's performance in adversity is too amazing, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan The performance of the two made many people ignore Manu."

"This also includes me. In this game, the team made a lot of defensive deployments against Tim and Tony, but they only ignored the existence of Manu."

"Manu's outstanding personal performance put the Grizzlies in trouble for a while, and the team had many opportunities to overtake in the second half, but unfortunately, a large number of mistakes caused the team to lose the offensive rhythm."

"The lack of experience made the team pay the price in this game, and it also exposed many problems."

"However, no one will fall twice in the same position. The Grizzlies will show a better competitive state in the next game and strive to draw an end to this round of the series."

The team's continuous offensive mistakes in the second half and Gerald Wallace's absent-mindedness made Luke furious on the sidelines. This was the first time Luke had such a big temper with a player.

Some mistakes are really too low-level. If the Grizzlies can seize these opportunities, then the ending of this game will definitely be changed.

Unfortunately, losing the game is a foregone conclusion. The most important thing right now is how to avoid being dragged into the tie-break by the Spurs.

Once the game enters the tiebreaker, although the Grizzlies have a physical advantage, the lack of experience in the playoffs will make the Grizzlies passive.

And the overall momentum of the team will also be suppressed, which is obviously not what Luke wants to see.

The series was overturned by the Spurs 3:1. It was hard for Luke to imagine what kind of cyber violence the Grizzlies would endure at that time.

And my own best coach, and Kevin Martin, the regular season MVP, will definitely become a joke.

In order to avoid this kind of thing from happening, the Grizzlies must win the Spurs in the G6 battle.

Even if the main players average more than 40 minutes per game and are exhausted in order to win, they must show determination to win the game.

A comeback in the playoffs, this is Luke's bottom line that cannot be trampled on.

Especially for a team like the Spurs who had a grudge with Luke, losing to such an opponent is definitely intolerable for Luke!
…………

"Lu, don't put pressure on yourself, the way you are now is simply worrying."

"The advantage of the Spurs is mainly reflected in stability. If we really try our best, the Spurs will most likely not be the opponent."

"Bill is teaching these kids a lesson in the arena. That vicious look looks scary to me, let alone these kids who are already lacking in confidence." In the general manager's office, Chris Wallace Looking carefully at Luke.

Seeing that Luke had no intention of talking at all, Wallace cast another look at Casey for help.

After hesitating for a moment, Casey still plucked up his courage and said, "Chris is right. I believe that after Bill's reprimand, the players will definitely go all out in the next game. Everyone will play the game as a final. It's a mess at this juncture."

"Even if we do lose the game in the end, there is still a chance to return to the home court to play the tie-break."

"I think it's the Spurs guys who are worried now, because they managed to piss you off." Seeing Luke's expression soften, Casey hurriedly struck while the iron was hot, "Actually, these little guys have performed well enough this year. , A lot of people participated in the playoffs for the first time, but they all played a good individual performance."

"You have led the Timberwolves to the NBA championship for three consecutive years. You should be very clear about the pressure on young players in the playoffs."

"Old and strong teams like the Spurs already have an advantage, not to mention that the personal strength of the troika is not inferior to the Big Three."

"When the game enters a stalemate, our advantage is actually not that big. Once the rotation fails to open the score, the players will inevitably feel panic from the bottom of their hearts."

"Using the rotation to grab points, that's what we've been doing all season."

"The most important thing right now is to arouse the fighting spirit of the players. Bill will do this. We don't need to worry about it."

"As for Manu's offense, I also studied a lot of game videos. In the next game, Manu will definitely not break into the penalty area easily, let alone perform like the last game."

Lying on the chair and rubbing his temples tiredly, Luke has put too much energy into the Grizzlies this season. In Luke's view, the loss in the last game is really not deserved.

Numerous turnovers in the second half were the result of inattentive players.

In other words, the consecutive wins made the Grizzlies players start to swell. Even in the face of this powerful Spurs, the Grizzlies dare to despise their opponents from the heart.

If it was the 74-win Timberwolves team back then, Luke could accept any thoughts in the players' minds, but now this Grizzlies just take advantage of the depth of the lineup.

The playoffs underestimate the Spurs with the troika?

Luke feels like it's time for these guys to learn some lessons, make them deeply aware of their shortcomings, and stay focused even if they lead by 20 points.

Otherwise, even if they pass the Spurs level, the Grizzlies' frivolous mentality will hardly win the final championship trophy.

Especially Gerald Wallace, who has been awarded many honors, has gradually wanted to get out of Luke's control. The lack of focus on the defensive end, coupled with the wanton shooting on the offensive end, these should not appear in Gerald Wallace body.

Even after being strong, Wallace began to be dissatisfied with his tactical status in the team, and Luke could understand these things.

But on this occasion, Luke will never allow Wallace to bring his own way of mind to the arena.

Even if Wallace is the star he brought up with his own hands, Luke doesn't mind putting Wallace on the bench if necessary, so that the team can regain cohesion.

"I'm a little tired, tell Bill, whoever disobeys the arrangement, let him get out of the team, no matter who the player is!"

Rubbing his temples repeatedly with his hands, Luke waved his hands weakly as he slumped in his chair.

Seeing Luke's slightly tired expression, Casey sighed helplessly, "Hey, the team needs you very much next, pay attention to your body."

As Casey and Chris Wallace left, Luke slowly opened his eyes when he heard the sound of the door closing, took out his mobile phone and glanced at the message that Lambiel had just sent, the bloodshot eyes showed Luke's mental state. exhausted.

"People are always unwilling to be satisfied with the status quo. You should have a better future, but unfortunately you still can't suppress your ambition."

"The wings are hard, so just fly."

Taking out the pen to cross out the name of Gerald Wallace, Luke found himself a little depressed, who had always been cruel.

"You are a player I trained with my own hands. Unfortunately, you already have the answer in your heart."

　Ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass, thank you, third child!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)