LRAB Chapter 483 Bold in appearance but cowardly in reality, fond of scheming but indecisive, hesitant to
Chapter 483 Bold in appearance but cowardly in reality, fond of scheming but indecisive, hesitant to
"Huh? You're asking me what I think about Game 7?" On the afternoon before Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, Lin Tian was finally caught by reporters on his way to the Pacers' training facility. They immediately began asking Lin Tian for his opinion on the opposing team.
There's nothing we can do. The players from those two teams are practically hanging off the court. Forget about interviews, we can't even get photos taken now, let alone ask them for their opinions.
Therefore, the reporters could only focus their attention on Lin Tian.
"I heard they played four overtimes in their last game, and this series has already gone to nine overtimes. In the last game, six players played over 60 minutes. Are these new NBA records?"
"Yes!" The reporters immediately perked up when they saw Lin Tian start asking questions in return!
This definitely needs to say something useful! Write it down, write it all down!
"I don't think it's enough." Lin Tian stretched out his hand and quickly shook his fingers. "I feel the intensity of the matches isn't enough, the playing time isn't enough, and there aren't enough overtime games!"
"If you ask me, I hope they can break the NBA record for the most overtime games in a single game, rather than being satisfied with the record for the most overtime games in a single playoff game. The record of nine overtime games in a single series is not very stable and can easily be caught up by others."
"As for the fact that six players played for more than 60 minutes, I don't think that sounds very good either."
"If I were to give one hope or opinion for Game 7, I would hope they go to seven overtimes and create their own true all-time record! And ideally, they should have two or three players playing over 70 minutes! As far as I know, no one in the NBA has ever played more than 70 minutes in a single game!"
"The previous record was 69 minutes, I think? That number is so unrefined! It damages our league's reputation and image, we have to break it! We must break that number to over 70 minutes! This is for the sake of the league! And in our Chinese context, the number 8 is very auspicious!"
"Kobe is popular in China because he wears number 8, which makes him especially likable. So I hope that in the next game, both teams will have eight players playing more than 68 minutes! That will give them a boost from some mysterious Eastern power! It will make their luck even better!"
「如此一来的话，这轮系列赛将会同时拥有单场7个加时赛、整轮系列赛16个加时、单名球员单场上场时间超过70分钟、同场比赛多名球员登场时间超过70或者最少65分钟等荣耀！」
"This series will become the greatest, most intense, most memorable, and most exciting—the most adrenaline-pumping series in NBA history!"
"Great! And the greatest of all, bar none!"
"That's my take on this series. I hope they can make it the greatest series in history!"
After saying this, Lin Tian nodded, turned around and left, walking into the Pacers' training facility, leaving a group of reporters looking at each other in bewilderment.
The group looked at each other, and then someone spoke first.
"In my entire life, I have never seen such a shameless person!"
"Me too!"
"Me too!"
"Exactly!"
"That's outrageous!"
"Greatest in history? Just give the Pacers the trophy! If Game 7 goes to seven overtimes, the Pacers definitely deserve the trophy."
"I think if we give them the trophy in advance, given Lin's character and thick skin, he will definitely accept it without hesitation!"
"That's right, that's exactly it! Absolutely!"
A group of reporters from various newspapers nodded in agreement and reached a pleasant consensus.
Then everyone said no more, said goodbye, and left.
Today's interview was worthwhile; not only did I truly witness Lin Tian's shamelessness, but I also gained a lot of material to write about.
A very fruitful harvest!
Too little overtime! Insufficient playing time! Lin says this series wasn't exciting enough!
"Potentially the greatest series in history! Lin offers some requirements and expectations for a Game 7!"
Is this the regional finals he wanted to see? He got soaked himself, so he wants to break everyone else's umbrella too!
After playing all four first-round games with 48 minutes each, Lin is incredibly excited for the Timberwolves-Lakers series!
Not enough! Still not enough! We need to add more time! Lin Tian is simply a devil!
Is there any more sincere and heartfelt evaluation than this? The reporter believes that Lin Quan's words are truly from the heart!
……
"Derek, no, never mind, you've been playing for quite a while. Hey you, Luke, come here, tear this newspaper to shreds and then burn it somewhere." O'Neal slumped in front of his locker, holding a stack of newspapers, and handed them to Walton.
You don't even need to look at the headlines; just look at the guy on the front page with his smug, radiant smile like Tian Boguang, and you'll know what's in this newspaper.
"And this too, I threw this away as well." Kobe handed his newspaper to Walton.
Walton Jr., the son of a legend who just joined the team this year, scratched his head and looked at everyone else, asking, "Does anyone else need me to throw something?"
"All of them! Throw them all out!" Jackson, who had just walked into the locker room from outside, had a frighteningly dark face. As for the reason for his ugly expression, one only needed to look at the newspaper in his hand to know.
The same lewd smile as Lin Tian.
How dazzling!
Jackson's anger was justified.
Damn it! I've been in this business for over ten years, and I've always been the one tormenting and provoking my opponents' nerves and minds. I'm the one who provokes others, not the other way around.
Today, that bastard Lin Tian launched an indiscriminate AOE attack on both the Timberwolves and the Lakers.
I'm so angry!
What? Trying to surpass your teacher?
Jackson felt that his signature move had been stolen, and not only stolen, but used better, more effectively, and with greater destructive power than him.
Irritability!
Extremely frustrating!
Jackson felt as if his safe containing all his savings and rings had been robbed.
The old man was in great pain!
But no matter how painful it is, what can he do?
Can he make the team give up the game, or can he make the Timberwolves give up the game?
With the series at this stage, the two sides are absolutely evenly matched, which is why there have been so many overtime periods.
Needless to say, the upcoming Game 7 will be another closely fought and fierce battle!
Who will gain the upper hand, whether there will be overtime, and how many overtimes there will be, are all unknowns.
Thinking about this, Jackson couldn't help but shudder.
A very bad feeling crept into my mind.
Damn it, are we really going to have 6 or 7 overtimes today? That bastard Lin, he can't be that accurate, can he?
Well... of course it's not that accurate.
Among Lin Tian's props, there wasn't anything that guaranteed him to catch a blade barehanded, or anything related to the law of cause and effect.
He's not that good; he can't make these two teams 50/50 or guarantee overtime.
His words were truly heartfelt and sincere; they reflected his true inner self.
All he could do was pray that the two teams could really play for that long; there was nothing else he could do.
So this game didn't go into overtime, and neither side managed to break any records like playing 70 minutes in a single game or having double-digit overtime in a single series.
Pity.
But this decisive Game 7 proved another famous saying true.
A game of chess with no known name!
The closer to the crucial match, the more it determines life or death, the more likely both sides are to play a terrible game due to caution, tension, anxiety, lack of physical strength, poor form, and other reasons.
Like tonight!
Kobe played 47 minutes, shooting 6-for-23 and scoring 19 points. Shaquille O'Neal played 45 minutes, shooting 8-for-21 and scoring 22 points. Apart from these two, no other Lakers player scored in double figures!
The situation was similar for the Timberwolves. Iverson played the entire game, shooting 8-for-31 and scoring only 24 points, while Garnett played 46 minutes, shooting 6-for-18 and scoring 15 points.
In their entire team, only these two players scored in double digits!
The four top stars all played terribly tonight due to various reasons such as defensive intensity and physical limitations! And apart from the four of them, the performance of the other players was not much better.
斯泽比亚克3分球9投1中，费舍尔3分球7投0中，斯普雷维尔全场比赛14投2中只拿到6分，湖人的普林斯和基里连科俩人加起来10投2中只拿5分。
Terrible! They're all terrible! They're all awful, they can't make their shots, they're all playing like a big lump of trash!
Even so, the suspense of the game lasted until the very last moment. Regardless of the outcome, the star players on both sides were playing so hard that they couldn't rest for even a minute, and they couldn't leave the field without getting cramps.
69: 67!
With 3 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game, the Timberwolves were still leading by 2 points!
With 30 seconds left in the game, the score was still 69-67, with the Timberwolves leading by 2 points!
For a full three minutes, neither side scored a single point, which shows just how exhausted both sides were!
They're really too tired to fight anymore, they're just too exhausted!
At this moment, the person who stepped forward was Szczerbiak, who had missed his first eight three-point attempts.
This guy received the ball on the wing, and Prince, who was defending him, was practically panting with his tongue sticking out. All he could do was stretch out his hand to interfere and jump as high as possible. He really didn't have the energy to do much else.
Considering that Szczerbiak went 0-for-8 from the field and has only scored 2 points so far tonight, Prince's defense isn't too outrageous.
But sometimes, what's meant to happen will happen.
"Whoosh!"
Two seconds later, a crisp sound rang out as Szczerbiak hit a three-pointer, extending the Timberwolves' lead to five points!
67: 72!
With 27 seconds left in the game, the Lakers' chances were running out!
More importantly, the Lakers are now truly unable to run or attack effectively.
Even a physical monster like Kobe was dribbling slowly up the court; he was really at his breaking point.
After arriving at the frontcourt, Kobe immediately pulled up and launched a powerful three-pointer!
"Whoosh!"
Then, a crisp sound rang out, but no one in Staples Center celebrated.
Because the basketball didn't touch the rim, it moved the net as it passed under the rim.
An air balloon!
Kobe's balloon shot could be considered a decisive blow to the Timberwolves and the Lakers.
With the remaining time running out of ammunition, the Lakers refused to give up and resorted to fouling tactics.
Iverson was sent to the free-throw line, and after making one of two free throws, the Timberwolves led by 6 points with 17 seconds left! Then the Lakers had Fisher hit another almost desperate three-pointer.
After this shot missed, the suspense of the game was officially over!
The Timberwolves narrowly won this hard-fought battle by 6 points, advancing to the next round with a 4-3 series victory on the road!
They've made it to the finals for the first time in their team history!
Of course, it's worth mentioning that this year also marks the first time in their team history that they've reached the Western Conference semifinals and finals.
Well, this lousy team hadn't won a single series before this year!
They've saved it all up for this year, and the only remaining question is whether they can win the finals!
Good news for the Timberwolves: the NBA Finals will start in Minnesota.
Bad news: The Pacers have already set off for Minnesota overnight to acclimatize to the court and climate after this Game 7, but the Timberwolves are too exhausted to continue their journey and have to stay in Los Angeles for another night.
Good news: They will have one more day of rest after arriving in Minnesota, for a total of 48 hours of rest.
Bad news: The Pacers have had a week off.
Good news: After arriving in Minnesota, Lin Tian openly stated that this series was his favorite series of his life! He loved it! The only pity was that the two sides did not play 20 overtime periods.
Bad news: The Timberwolves didn't like this series at all; they almost died of exhaustion on the court.
Good news: The Bobcats, who have officially passed all the reviews and obtained the right to participate in the new NBA season, have won the number one pick in the draft lottery before the start of the Finals.
Bad news: This has absolutely nothing to do with the Timberwolves!
It is related to Lin Tian.
Right after Jordan secured the Bobcats' first number one draft pick, this guy was incredibly excited!
He felt he had it in the bag! A fantastic start, a perfect beginning, an amazing run of luck!
Jordan felt that his previous goal for the team—to reach the playoffs in 3 years and the Finals in 5 years and contend for the championship—seemed a bit conservative! Two years to reach the playoffs and four years to contend for the championship seemed to be the most suitable goal for this new team!
The first thing Jordan did after getting the number one draft pick was to call Lin Tian.
"Lin, we got the top pick! Top pick! How about it, how about coming to Charlotte to work with me this time?"
"Who do you decide to choose?" Lin Tian didn't answer Jordan's question, but instead asked him directly.
This year's rookies may not be as star-studded as the 03 draft class, but they still have some top talents and excellent players!
Looking back, there was Dwight Howard, a top-tier star at his peak with MVP caliber, and other All-Star players like Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Devin Harris, and Al Jefferson.
There are also very outstanding players, such as Josh Smith, JR Smith, Jameer Nelson, Tony Allen, and Kevin Martin, who are key players on the team.
Of course, there are also players who, for various reasons, failed to reach their full potential, leaving us with endless regrets: Shaun Livingston and Josh Childress.
However, judging from the pre-draft buzz and various media predictions, Dwight Howard and Ameka Okafor are the two most watched and favored players in this year's draft class.
Howard has monstrous physical attributes and an excellent physique, but his downside is that he's a high school student, his skills are very rough, and his mentality isn't very mature.
As for Okafor, although his physical attributes and projected ceiling are not as good as Howard's, he still has a perfect physique and solid skills. His immediate impact is far greater than Howard's, and many people believe that he can contribute 15+10 stats as soon as he enters the league and become the star player of a team without any problem!
One has greater talent, and the other is more capable of immediate combat.
Logically speaking, given the Bobcats' impoverished and newly formed state, Jordan should have chosen Howard, a player with greater talent and a higher chance of becoming a star, to push their potential. After all, it's a new team, so it's better to languish for a few years and then find players in the draft and free agency to rebuild the roster!
But Jordan clearly didn't think that way!
"Ameka Okafor! I've made up my mind, no! I've been deciding to pick him for ages! This guy is an absolute genius! I think he might not reach Hakim's level, but reaching Patrick's level is definitely no problem!"
"High school players are too inconsistent! This league has too many high school players who were supposedly incredibly talented but ended up being busts. I won't consider them!"
Listening to Jordan's words, Lin Tian knew that this guy was still stuck in the experience of his failed choice of Kwame Brown.
This old man, if one high school student isn't enough, does he mean all high school students in the world are wrong?
Considering their friendship, Lin Tian hesitated for a moment before saying, "But Michael, think about Kobe, McGrady, Garnett, O'Neal, and LeBron James when he first entered the league! They were all high schoolers! They all succeeded!"
"And there are plenty of unsuccessful ones too! Like Tyson Chandler." Jordan's tone held a hint of impatience. "Anyway, I'm not going to choose a high schooler! And we shouldn't be talking about this now, come to Charlotte!"
"Beep beep beep..."
Lin Tian could tell from Jordan's perfunctory tone that he wasn't going to waste any more words with the old man and hung up the phone directly.
Kind words are useless to persuade that damned ghost, and that damned baby Jill is facing upwards.
I'm too lazy to waste my breath arguing with him.
It's no wonder this crappy team can't even win a single series in 20 years.
After hanging up Jordan's call, Lin Tian changed his clothes.
The Pacers have another practice today!
Or rather, they got a total of 9 days of vacation after the Eastern Conference Finals!
Aside from the first four days when the team didn't assign any training and let them rest and relax, the Pacers' training intensity was pushed to the limit for the remaining days!
Carlisle has brought back the intensity of training he hadn't done throughout the entire playoffs in the last few days.
As for the reasons?
For a competition of this level, more rest is not necessarily better.
There are countless examples in the playoffs where players were too relaxed and rested too much, only to be overwhelmed by a high-intensity opponent at the start, resulting in a painful loss of a good situation!
Carlisle knew that in terms of absolute strength, the Pacers were definitely inferior to the Timberwolves; their only advantage was Lin Tian.
So if we can't take advantage of the Timberwolves' current state—when they're all playing like timid wimps after giving their all in the Western Conference Finals—we'll have to wait until they recover. Once they've recovered, it'll be hard to say who will win!
Therefore, Carlisle led the team in training while giving the players tactical analysis lessons, and also forbade the players from going out to have fun after training resumed.
So, even though the Pacers had already advanced to the Finals, they were still photographed by many paparazzi going out to have fun and indulge themselves.
But in reality, these people didn't get carried away or completely let loose.
They struck a very good balance!
Or to put it more directly: the Pacers are at their peak!
Of all the players who can play, each one is in better form than the last!
Everyone was full of confidence!
Physical strength, energy, condition, preparation for the competition, and everyone's determination are all at their peak!
The Pacers are all set!
As for the Timberwolves on the other side...
Head coach Sanders didn't even give them much of a lesson on Pacers tactics.
After the fierce battle in the Western Conference Finals, this group of people were truly exhausted and completely drained!
After the conference finals, they rested as much as possible. The team didn't have a single training session. At most, they would shoot some hoops together during tactical analysis to get a feel for the game, and that was it.
Sanders' only hope is that the team can recover their strength as much as possible, so that they can fight the Pacers to the death in this final round of the series!
But Sanders also knew one thing very well.
That was due to the Lakers' excessive exertion or overexertion during that series.
Two days of rest are simply not enough to allow his players to recover enough physical strength to cope with a Finals-level series.
Neither Iverson nor Garnett were at their physical limits; they were completely exhausted! Severely exhausted!
Even Sanders, as the head coach, is actually harboring other thoughts.
Forfeit the first game of the finals to give the players more rest.
If we give up this game, then including tonight's game, the team will have been resting since the end of the Finals, and will rest until the second game of the series!
That's equivalent to the whole team resting for about 5 days. Even if they can't fully recover their physical strength, they'll at least recover 70% or 80%, and they'll definitely be able to compete with the Pacers!
In particular, Sanders has absolute confidence in the Timberwolves' strength!
The team has an advantage in 4 out of 5 points. Among the starting lineups, the only team that is at a disadvantage is Kassel, who is not as good as Lin Tian.
Given this disparity in strength, if Lin Tian weren't so incredibly strong and unbelievable, Sanders would never have considered the idea of putting out a finals match and then fighting tooth and nail against his opponent.
While Sanders was hesitating about whether to let the Pacers win the first game, an emergency meeting was also taking place in the Pacers' locker room.
However, only three people participated in this meeting: Lin Tian, Bird, and Carlisle!
As for the rest of the team, they've already gone inside the Target Center to warm up.
"What I mean is, don't push yourself too hard!" After everyone left, Lin Tian closed the locker room door and looked at Carlisle and Bird, saying, "There's no need to crush the Timberwolves right away, nor is there any need to let the score lead them too much."
"Fishing?" Bird reacted much faster than Carlisle: "You can't pull them too hard, they'll break free and run away. You can't rush them, you have to be patient, let the fish feel that they can escape, let them feel that freedom is just around the corner."
"Then, when the opportunity arises, we'll catch the exhausted fish and make them our dinner."
After Bird's explanation, Carlisle quickly realized what was going on.
"You mean, keep the Timberwolves' key players on the back foot, make them think they can win the game, give them hope, and prevent them from getting any rest?"
"That's right! I know Sanders all too well! Giving players dual contracts, a guy who can do such underhanded things is also capable of surrendering at the first sign of trouble so that the key players can get a rest."
"This guy is incredibly cunning! Utterly shameless! He has absolutely no bottom line!"
Lin Tian looked at the two team leaders with great confidence and continued, "In terms of true strength, we are definitely not as good as the Timberwolves. Their roster is too balanced, and they have a very complete and excellent system on both offense and defense."
"If it's a fair, head-to-head duel, I'd say we have less than a 40% chance of winning."
"But now, the Los Angeles team has done us a huge favor! A full seven, nine overtimes, four overtimes in one game—the Timberwolves right now are just a bunch of exhausted teddy bears! What we need to do is keep the game suspenseful and full of hope!"
"It makes Sanders reluctant to give up this game, reluctant to relinquish a possible victory!"
"That's the same thing he would do. This guy is insidious, shameless, and greedy for small gains, but he's definitely not the kind of person who can accomplish anything great!"
At this point, Lin Tian paused for a moment, then summarized: "Bold in appearance but cowardly in reality, fond of scheming but indecisive, hesitant to commit to great things but willing to risk his life for petty gains! That's exactly the kind of person he is!"
"Therefore, if he sees any hope in the game, he will absolutely not give up! He will make his players continue to fight tooth and nail, completely pushing them to their limits!"
Bird stroked his chin and continued, "That way, they'll lose Game 1 completely exhausted, and by Game 2 of the series, even if Sanders had the guts of a bear, he wouldn't dare to let them off the hook, let alone just a little husky!"
"Two consecutive home losses, going to the away game to redeem themselves? That sounds ridiculous. If it were Phil Jackson, he might have the guts to do it, but Sanders? Don't even think about it, that guy wouldn't dare!"
"So Sanders could only continue to fight tooth and nail at home, making the team's exhaustion even worse!"
"Then, when he got to Indiana, it didn't matter what he wanted to do anymore!"
"They're doomed to lose this series!"
Seeing how insightful Bird's analysis was, Lin Tian clapped his hands excitedly and said, "That's right, that's exactly it!"
Carlisle then raised the question: "Your thinking is fine, your strategy is fine, but the problem is, what if our players find out about this, that we're going to deliberately throw the game?"
"What if they find out about this, and tonight they throw the game too much and can't control it, causing us to lose?"
"So, now it's just the three of us here!" Lin Tian said with a smile. "It's enough for the three of us to know about this; no one else needs to know!"
"As for how to let the Timberwolves keep their hopes alive, leave that to me. Have you forgotten I'm an Oscar winner?"
"Oscar?" Carlisle was stunned for a moment, clearly he couldn't remember it at all.
"First, that's Best Action Choreography, what does that have to do with you going easy on me in tonight's acting? Second, that's an MTV Television Award, what does that have to do with the Oscars!" Bird rolled his eyes, directly exposing Lin Tian's lies.
"Not the Oscars?" Lin Tian scratched his head, indicating that he couldn't remember, but they were all awards, so they were pretty much the same!
"Anyway, don't worry about my acting skills. I'll not only keep the Timberwolves hoping and have a chance to catch up, but I'll also make their key players incredibly confident!"
"Let me put it this way, in today's game, I'll make sure that even if Sanders realizes what's happening and tries to bench Garnett and Iverson, neither of them will want to! They won't give up tonight's opportunity!"
"I promise to give it my all."
Upon hearing this, Bird nodded quickly, then looked at Carlisle and said, "Rick, what do you think? Or do you have any other questions?"
Carlisle bit his lip and thought for a while, carefully considering everything. After confirming there were no problems, he nodded and said, "Then let's properly receive this great gift from the people of Los Angeles!"
Plans are in place!
After reaching an agreement, the three foxes, young, middle-aged, and old, let out a villainous "hehehe" laugh together.
Having reached an agreement, the three pushed open the locker room door and walked side by side toward the stadium.
Although the first game of the series hasn't even started yet, these three guys are already dreaming about the championship!
They've already planned out the entire series.
Now, let's see if Sanders will take the bait!
What if he doesn't take the bait?
Lin Tian was certainly prepared!
His plan was already in effect the moment he stepped onto the field!
The main approach is to take a two-pronged approach, pursuing both paths simultaneously, grasping both aspects and leaving no stone unturned!
Not taking the bait?
If you, Sanders, don't take the bait, how can your men not? (End of Chapter)