Sports Medicine Master System

To Chen Yu’s surprise, not only did D’Antoni not decline, but he immediately stood up.

He pulled his laptop from under the table, connected it to the projector, and hurried over to unfurl the projection screen before officially beginning his presentation.

Chen Yu sat up a little straighter.

’This guy came prepared.’

Across from him, Lynam also perked up, turning his head to look at the projection screen.

"We all know that to counter a superstar like George Mikan, Mr. Auerbach went against the grain and had his team pick up the pace. He said more than once that we needed to play faster. Then in the NCAA, Mr. Smith proposed the ’passing game’ tactic..."

He had just gotten to this point when Lynam interrupted him.

"Mike, spare us the history lesson. We all know this stuff."

He glanced at D’Antoni. ’What’s this? Is he trying to associate himself with the greats?’

A flicker of embarrassment crossed D’Antoni’s face. He could only say, "Alright, we’ll skip that part then."

Chen Yu’s mind spun, and he recalled something.

As Jordan’s mentor, coach Dean Smith had two prominent disciples: Larry Brown and Doug Moe.

The two of them coached the Nuggets together during the ABA era. Later, when the ABA and NBA merged, Doug Moe went to the Spurs.

And at that time, D’Antoni, during his playing days, had briefly played under Doug Moe.

Judging by the images flashing on the projection screen, he also seemed to be referencing the Lakers’ "Showtime" era and Paul Westhead.

’Run-TMC?’

Chen Yu was starting to understand what D’Antoni was trying to say.

’If you’re going to talk about history and lineage, then Old Nelson is Auerbach’s true heir.’

’When he was coaching the Warriors, the Run-TMC trio, formed by Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin, was the one that truly inherited Auerbach’s mantle.’

’But the question is, does this stuff actually work?’

’Auerbach playing like that was just a stopgap measure to deal with George Mikan.’

In that era, because there was no 24-second shot clock, to deal with George Mikan, the league’s teams came up with all sorts of strange tactics.

The primary method was to slow the pace, and the Pistons were masters of the craft, setting the all-time record for the lowest single-game score at 19-18.

It was under these circumstances that Auerbach went against the grain and sped up the offensive tempo.

But in the beginning, because of poor rebounding, they were still often blown out, until the arrival of Russell, who made up for this deficiency, leading to a period of glory.

The problem is, this was just a stopgap measure.

In the eighties, after Auerbach got the super-luxurious frontcourt of Parish, McHale, and Bird, he immediately abandoned this tactic and started playing traditional half-court offense.

Even Old Nelson, a man mad enough to turn the 7-foot-7 Manute Bol into an outside cannon, eventually abandoned this path. He grew obsessed with dominant interior weapons, constantly trying to trade for O’Neal.

It’s not that this path is bad, but you have to look at the league’s environment and the characteristics of your own team’s players.

’Speaking of which...’ Chen Yu thought, raising an eyebrow slightly, ’the current league actually has some strange parallels to back then.’

The O’Neal of today was just like the George Mikan of that era—so dominant that he terrified the entire league. Teams were desperately chasing after massive centers, and the league was constantly changing the rules to try and contain him.

The legalization of zone defense led to the rise of all sorts of extreme defensive schemes, which, just like in the past, indirectly caused television ratings to plummet.

’Under these circumstances, maybe we really could learn from Auerbach, go against the grain, and cook up something new.’

On the projection screen, D’Antoni displayed a continuous stream of tactical diagrams.

"To put it simply, we need to quicken our offensive pace. We don’t need to use the full 24-second shot clock. Instead, we should complete an attack in half that time, or even within ten seconds."

"This demands that players constantly move the ball and run, forcing them to create scoring opportunities while in motion."

"You see, on defense, our backcourt players must press up as much as possible. That way, during the transition, they can quickly get into position in the frontcourt, create a numerical advantage, and get a shot."

"What about the middle area?"

Lynam suddenly raised his hand, cutting D’Antoni off and pointing at the diagram. "According to your idea, a 2-1-2 defensive formation might create opportunities in the frontcourt during transition, but once the backcourt players press up, the middle area is left empty."

"Who’s supposed to defend such a large area? It’ll be wide open everywhere."

D’Antoni was clearly prepared. "That’s why we need an exceptional small forward, someone who can cover a lot of ground and link the frontcourt and backcourt. We’ll also need our players under the basket to rotate quickly on help defense."

"Of course, there will definitely be problems on defense, but we can make up for it through offense, through scoring."

Lynam snorted softly at this explanation, clearly disdainful.

’Never mind how hard it is to find a player like that. Even if we did, what happens if the offense goes cold? We’d get absolutely crushed.’

D’Antoni chose to ignore him and continued to introduce his philosophy: "On offense, we can set up in a V formation. Through quick ball movement, we can create outside shooting opportunities. Also, through quick positioning and ball movement, we can create cutting opportunities for the interior players."

"You mean shooting threes?" Lynam frowned again.

D’Antoni nodded. "Under this system, I believe we need to shoot a high volume of three-pointers, whether from the corners or on a pop to the top of the key after a pick-and-roll."

"Gentlemen, shooting the three is a very efficient form of offense," he added.

He had even prepared a chart, listing the league’s average three-point attempts per game.

Chen Yu glanced at it; the overall trend was rising year by year.

But in the middle, there was an abnormal peak period, from ’94 to ’97.

Before ’94, teams’ average three-point attempts per game hadn’t broken 10. From ’94 to ’97, it jumped up to around 15.

After ’97, it dropped back down to around 12, and only then did it slowly rise again.

Chen Yu remembered the reason for this.

In those years, the league shortened the three-point line.

At that time, Jordan had retired, and to increase the game’s entertainment value, the league proactively shortened the three-point line.

Who would have thought that baseball wasn’t Jordan’s true passion? Before you knew it, he had un-retired.

And the result? With the shortened three-point line, Jordan went and shot a terrifying 50% and 43% from deep.

The 22-foot three-point line was no different than a two-point shot for him.

This made the league immediately change it back, which was in ’97.

Then starting that year, Jordan’s three-point percentage plummeted off a cliff to 24 percent.

"That doesn’t prove anything. You can’t possibly think you can win a championship by just shooting threes, can you?" Lynam scoffed from across the table.

In his mind, a big man running out to shoot threes was an unnatural, soft-as-hell move.

’Take Milicic, for example. If Rivers wasn’t covering for him, Lynam would’ve given him a piece of his mind for running out to shoot threes.’

D’Antoni ignored Lynam’s rebuttal. He wasn’t stupid; he could see Lynam wasn’t aiming at him, but at Rivers.

Lynam was clearly resentful about being upstaged in the coaching hierarchy.

"I believe we have the personnel for it. Milicic is very fast and agile. He can set countless screens for our perimeter players and then pop out to shoot threes. Very few opposing centers can follow him out there."

"Even O’Ku, last season with the Pistons, he averaged 1.6 three-point attempts per game and shot 34 percent. He’s also capable of it."

"As for your concerns about interior protection, we can shift Randolph to the five. He’s very strong with excellent low-post skills. He can roam the paint and body up against most opposing centers."

Randolph might only look 6-foot-9, but that’s just because he has a short neck. If his neck were of normal length, he’d be closer to 6-foot-11.

Plus, he has an excellent 7-foot-2 wingspan and a large frame. Using him as a center would be no problem at all.

"Darius Miles has the height of a power forward but the agility of a small forward. He can play the role I mentioned of connecting the frontcourt and backcourt."

"Joe’s athleticism isn’t elite, but he can shoot off the dribble. He’ll also shoot a lot of threes and has decent court vision. He can provide us with offensive firepower on the wing."

"Hughes’s three-point shot is average, and his playmaking isn’t great, but his perimeter defense is excellent, and he has a strong ability to penetrate and cut. He can run a pick-and-roll with Milicic to get scoring opportunities."

"Even if he doesn’t work out, next summer we have a chance to get Nash. His excellent passing ability will be a perfect fit for us."

Lynam was suddenly tongue-tied.

D’Antoni might not have been with the team for very long, but he had clearly done his homework.

’He couldn’t help but wonder if Rivers had brought D’Antoni in with this specific tactic already in mind, and whether they’d already cleared it with management. Otherwise, how could management have just so happened to trade for a group of players perfectly suited to the system D’Antoni was describing? If this was management’s idea, then he really needed to reconsider his opposition. If he kept objecting, he’d be out the door that much faster.’

At this moment, Rivers suddenly interjected, looked at Chen Yu, and asked: "Chen, what do you think of Mike’s proposal?"

Chen Yu came back to his senses.

At this point, Chen Yu pretty much understood the situation.

It seemed John Nash and Patterson had been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes.

Trading for Milicic was the rebuilding direction set from the beginning, and at that time, Joe Johnson was also discussed.

One inside, one outside.

Clearly, Patterson and the others had used the skill sets of those two as a foundation to execute the subsequent series of trades.

It was, in a way, all about building around Milicic’s unique talents.

"I think it’s viable."

Chen Yu nodded.

’Dominant centers are expensive and hard to come by. Since we only have Milicic, we have to forge a different path. In any case, the Trail Blazers are committed to rebuilding and aren’t expecting a championship in the near future. Building the team around Milicic this way might actually yield some decent results, which would give Paul Allen something to show for his investment. So, it was a case of playing the hand you’re dealt. D’Antoni’s plan wasn’t a problem; in fact, it aligned with Chen Yu’s own initial vision for Milicic. There was no reason not to support it.’

’In fact, in his heart, Chen Yu wanted to develop Milicic into a super-versatile warrior, a player who could play every position from one to five. Someone who could score in the low post and also stretch the floor with his outside shot. He’d played point guard before, so he had the foundation for it. His athleticism was unbelievable, and his frame was solid. He absolutely had the potential to become that kind of unique player. In that case, he couldn’t just bulk up with weight; he needed to add pure muscle. And he’d have to work hard on improving his athleticism, balance, and flexibility. And, of course, his conditioning. You can’t run that much without elite stamina. Given Milicic’s natural physical gifts, Chen Yu felt that with some systematic training, there was a real chance of molding him into that player.’