Chapter 735: Chapter 497: Coach and Mixed Scholar (Combined)_3 Chapter 735: Chapter 497: Coach and Mixed Scholar (Combined)_3 But tonight, within the first three minutes of play, the Spurs gave every ball to Duncan, who, like a god of war, went 6-for-8 above Brown’s head, including ruthlessly putting back his own missed shots right in Brown’s face.

Duncan unleashed his might, and the Spurs led the SuperSonics 14 to 4 early in the game.

Coach Lu looked panicked, feeling as though his hands and feet were tied; the pregame strategies had had no effect because none of them had expected the Spurs to play so simply and brutally.

I have an advantage in the paint? Then I’ll just keep attacking the paint!

Does this even resemble an NBA team, can’t they pull off some more sophisticated plays? But then Coach Lu suddenly realized, does it matter if the play is simple or difficult, as long as it’s effective? What’s wrong with giving the ball to the best player on the court?

Right, isn’t this the secret to his own survival in the NBA?

Who else in the league understands the importance of passing to the strongest player more than he does?

Watching Duncan tear through the paint like a special forces operative against Brown, Coach Lu wondered whether it was time to call a timeout.

Then, Durant’s one-on-one was shut down by Iguodala. As the Spurs were about to capitalize on the defensive rebound, Fei stepped forward with a tactical foul and signalled “stop” to the coaches.

Coach Lu immediately ran towards the scorer’s table and loudly called, “I want a timeout!”

The game ground to a halt, and before making any decisions, Lu listened to his assistants’ advice.

The consensus was to sub out Brown, who hadn’t been in good form lately and had just been destroyed by Duncan, and to put in DeAndre Jordan in his stead.

“Should we double-team?” Coach Lu asked.

This was a dilemma.

Opinions were divided.

Some thought that Duncan’s passing was pretty good and that his court vision was impressive; double-teaming him might just help ignite his teammates. But there were others who believed they had to double-team him, arguing that he was scoring too easily and that the game would be lost if it continued this way.

.cO

Then, with a single statement, Fei decided, “No double-teaming for now.”

Why?

Fei explained with clear reasoning: “They’re currently up by ten points. If we start double-teaming now, Tim will surely pass the ball out to the perimeter. If they start hitting threes, we’ll have an even harder time catching up!”

Coach Lu nodded, agreeing with Big Fei’s logic.

“Let DJ sub in for Kwame and stick to man-to-man defense. If he wants to keep going one-on-one, let him. I can’t believe he’ll stay this accurate forever!” Fei said, “Once his shooting cools down, I’ll pick up the pace, and everyone must be involved in the defensive counter-attacks!”

Fei rapidly concluded his thoughts, and everyone looked towards Lu.

Coach Lu, pretending to contemplate deeply, squinted at the tactical board, then said what he’d wanted to say all along: “Big Fei is right! Let’s go with that. DJ, you’re in for Kwame!”

DeAndre Jordan was raring to go, clenching his fists with resolve: “I’m ready!”

Brown walked off the court dejectedly, while Little O mocked, “I haven’t heard your stories about blowing up Tim Duncan in the finals for a few days…”

That comment set Brown off, and he couldn’t help but hurl expletives at Little O.

Meanwhile, Little O reveled in his victory, grinning with satisfaction.

Fei’s judgement turned out to be correct.

Duncan’s blazing start was unsustainable, and the Spurs had no intention of wearing him out during a regular-season game.

Once DeAndre Jordan took to the court, Duncan shifted away from insisting on one-on-one play in the paint.

However, after watching Duncan dominate the paint for three minutes, his teammates suddenly found it difficult to find their shooting rhythm when it became their turn to contribute.

Ginobili’s step-back three clanged hard off the rim, and Fei grabbed the long rebound before launching into a fast break.

In the frontcourt, Fei passed to Durant, who followed up with a successful three-pointer.

The SuperSonics’ counter-attack gained momentum.

Compared to Karl’s tenure, the most significant change for the SuperSonics was the increase in Fei’s ball-handling rate.

Since Lu wasn’t one to make slight adjustments, let alone know how to direct players from the sidelines like Karl did, calling out issues was impossible. He had to rely on the other assistants to correct mistakes, but like Lu, most assistants lacked the experience of fine-tuning plays up close during a game.

Lacking the direct influence of a coach on the sidelines, the SuperSonics depended on Fei’s in-game adjustments like never before.

This was a true test of Fei’s overall game management.

Fortunately, Fei’s years as the main star at the Bucks had not been in vain.

Now, it was a return to those days.

Back then, Fei was more of a ball hog, but now, his understanding of the game had grown tremendously. Orchestrating his teammates, commanding tactics, and making split-second decisions in set plays, the SuperSonics’ tactical execution rarely missed a beat without the authoritative coach commanding from the sidelines.

This caught Popovich by surprise.

Popovich might have been one of the first NBA coaches to recognize how strong Fei was because his Spurs had been defeated in the championship race twice at Fei’s hands.

Popovich could say with certainty that the Bucks’ version of Fei did not possess this level of game dominance.

This seamless control of the game should not be a skill attributed to a big star with ball hog tendencies, but rather to a traditional point guard commander.

Read latest Chapters at WuxiaWorld.Site Only

The stronger the point guard, the better their game management.

Fei’s steady control of the game reflected a terrifying fact: he was no longer just a ball hog or a dominant centerpiece, but he could also manage the game’s tempo like Kidd, the master point guard.

It was as if Magic Johnson had walked straight out of the 1980s into today’s NBA.

But this player also possessed the ball hog attributes Magic Johnson lacked, with the ability to dominate entirely on his own as an elite small forward.

Three different styles, three dominions of power converged in one person, making the SuperSonics appear unaffected by the coaching change.