Chapter 762: Chapter 505 We Are in the Best Condition_3 Chapter 762: Chapter 505 We Are in the Best Condition_3 Therefore, many people feel that he is more suited to be a baseball coach.

Dogmatic basketball experts believe that basketball is a sport that doesn’t need so much data assistance; anyone can tell who can play and who can’t just by watching.

“If we demand KD to meet Kobe’s standards, then the current positioning is no longer appropriate,” Welch raised a key question, “Most importantly, Kobe’s average shot attempts per game with the Lakers was higher than Shaq’s.”

Defensive assistant coach Tim Grgurich joked, “We shouldn’t worry about this; let Frye make the decision.”

“Exactly, anyway the ball is always in his hands,” Tyronn Lue liked the suggestion.

The best advice he received was often not from his own decision, but from passing the ball to their biggest responsibility god.

“Then there remains one issue,” Welch said, “We need to increase his ball-handling opportunities, but with his current receiving position, he won’t get as many offensive chances. We must adjust his offensive positioning.”

Generally, Durant would roam the left and right sides, either going out for threes or taking mid-range shots, or, when the tactics failed to open up, he would take on the responsibility of the three-position ace and demand the ball to play one-on-one. This positioning required him to run, set screens, and consume a lot of energy frequently; to increase the number of shot attempts, he inevitably couldn’t play this way.

Tyronn Lue looked towards the silent Adrian Dantley, “AD, what do you think?”

“George’s success in Milwaukee tells us that the only suitable position for someone with Frye’s abilities to serve as the second option is on the perimeter,” Dantley reminded them, “This is also Kobe’s role in the Triangle Offense under the OK framework. He always positions himself on the perimeter, passing the ball, waiting for the opportunity on the weak side when Shaq initiates the attack.”

Tyronn Lue worriedly said, “With KD’s physique, it’s not suitable for him to frequently initiate attacks from the perimeter.”

Dantley’s answer was both simple and profound: “That’s not for us to worry about.”

Coaches who strategize brilliantly do not usually exist in reality.

Especially for coaching staffs like Tyronn Lue’s, they act like paperhangers, striving to assemble the team into a collective, and when it tears again, the coaching staff can only patch it up with a plaster that lacks resilience.

If the team needs to change, then they have to change.

This change might not be effective, but they were powerless, for they couldn’t control the team’s changes nor foresee what might happen next.

The night passed, and for the SuperSonics, it was a brand new day.

This was the day of the second game of the Western semi-finals.

Before the afternoon game, the Seattle Times released its latest poll.

70% of Seattleites supported using taxpayer money to build the nation’s most luxurious stadium in the city center for the SuperSonics.

However, when the option changed to, “If the city government passes a 0.1% sales tax to raise funds for the new stadium, do you still support it?” the support rate dropped below 50%.

Yet, whenever the SuperSonics won the championship, their support rate was usually above 90%.

This is why the SuperSonics chose to submit their financing plan in June.

Once they achieved a three-peat, they could ride the wave of public fervor to pass this proposal.

However, variables still existed.

Not long ago, during the All-Star weekend, SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett, representing the big-city owners at the labor negotiations, was seen as “hard-nosed.” Although the SuperSonics earned over one hundred million US dollars in net profit each year, he firmly refused to share most of the profits with the other owners.

Once this news reached Seattle, civil rights organizations like MCCAIT, which had already strongly opposed the construction of a new arena for the SuperSonics, were furious.

You earn a hundred million a year, yet you want to take a few hundred million out of the fans’ pockets to build a luxurious stadium? Are you crazy? Where’s the justice in that?

Bennett didn’t expect this kind of thing to come back like a boomerang.

Initially, the call for a new stadium was for the sake of more profits; now that his earning of one hundred million US dollars a year had been made public, the public thought you were already making enough, and a new stadium for the SuperSonics was not an urgent matter; the money should be used elsewhere.

The forces supporting the SuperSonics were strong, but so were the opposing forces.

As the deadline drew near, the confrontation between the two powers within the city became intense.

On the night of the Western semi-finals, all four gates of Key Arena saw demonstrations and protests by members of MCCAIT.

They held banners, chanted slogans, wanting to know just how greedy the SuperSonics were and why a profit of one hundred million US dollars could not satiate the team’s appetite.

“Only a great city can enable a team to achieve such profits.”

That evening, Yu Fei was surrounded by reporters as he entered the arena, and he shared his perspective.

“If you overly focus on the profitable part of the team, you fall into the narrative trap of some people,” Yu Fei said, “The sports economy that the team stimulates revitalizes the shops and commercial streets around Key Arena. On the surface, this is the prosperity of the sports economy, when in fact we indirectly stimulate four to five times the goods economy. If there’s a new stadium, of course, the team will make more money, but likewise, more people will earn money because of us.”

When Yu Fei entered the stadium, the team’s public relations manager said with a smile, “Frye, the public actually doesn’t care how much we earn.”

“Then why has our approval rating dropped?” Yu Fei asked.

“Because MCCAIT’s voice is louder, and our games can’t yet drown out their noise,” replied the public relations manager. “By the time the Western Conference Finals start, Seattle… no, from the State of Washington to the entire country, the only topic in sports will be whether us or the Lakers will make it to the Finals.”

Yu Fei asked, “You mean, all we need to do is play ball?”

“Yes. As long as we beat the Lakers, the SuperSonics will be able to establish their sacred status in Seattle,” the public relations manager said. “Americans love to see something sacred, and once it descends, all they can do is worship it. Then, getting the city government to agree to build a new arena will be a piece of cake.”

That evening, the Spurs maintained the same strategy from the last game.

They just didn’t expect Durant’s offensive positioning to shift from the high posts on the wings to the perimeter.

This change was unexpected because the Spurs’ coaching staff couldn’t see any advantage for the SuperSonics in having Durant stand on the perimeter.

Then, Yu Fei’s harvest of Ginobili continued.

It’s just that tonight, Ginobili’s offensive state no longer felt otherworldly.

He could even give a response on the offensive end.

However, the stamina of the Argentine was lacking.

Chris Bosh was doing what he should, he and Brown together kept the basket secure. Duncan, affected by injuries this year, seemed not to adapt to his current physical condition, falling into a mediocre state for two consecutive games.

What broke the Spurs’ hearts was Durant pulling the trigger, entering genuine Kobe mode–perimeter threes, isolation plays, pull-up jumpers facing the basket.

Iguodala had contained him in the first game.

But being able to contain him for one game doesn’t mean you can do so every time.

Durant was already a star player.

And he had no ceiling.

A star player without a ceiling, even if not yet in his prime, could give a glimpse of his future brilliance when in good form.

The feeling Iguodala had tonight was the feeling many would have in the future when defending Durant.

One word: unreachable.

When his hand is hot, those forceful shots ignoring the defense can easily destroy the confidence of the defenders.

Yu Fei’s offense was still flowing, and Durant, indeed showing the effect of 01 Kobe, made the Spurs struggle to cope.

By halftime, the SuperSonics led by 18 points.

Popovich looked lost. This was the most horrifying episode.

They had painstakingly studied Yu Fei, trying to take away his arm support, forcing him to fight like a trapped beast.

But with their current roster, they simply couldn’t seal Yu Fei’s helpers.

If they didn’t do that and let the stars from both sides go head-to-head, the SuperSonics’ star quality was clearly better.

In the second half, Yu Fei began targeting weak spots, continuously running pick-and-rolls with Chris Bosh, calling out the Spurs’ inside players.

If Duncan didn’t step up, it was Luol Deng’s turn. They both shared the surname Deng; it didn’t make any difference when picking on them.

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The Spurs’ collapse was foreseeable; the SuperSonics were in too good of a form tonight.

But a 34-point gap was painful.

“Only 34 points? I thought we lost by 100,” Popovich said sarcastically after the game.

Tyronn Lue was buoyant. Yu Fei got a triple-double tonight, Durant scored 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. It seemed the team was on the right path, which meant the coaching staff’s adjustments were correct.

Therefore, Lue said emphatically to an ESPN reporter, “You know, when we’re at our best, we can conquer heaven!”