Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 405 - 136: Still 3 Matches Left... (5000-word Chapter, begging for subscriptions and monthly tickets!)
Compared to those championship players in the Warriors’ lineup...
Before the Finals arrived, Mike Malone turned out to be the only one in the team feeling nervous.
Last season, he was still the assistant coach to Mike Brown of the Cavaliers.
He was someone who emerged from the shadow of unemployment thanks to his father, Brandon Malone’s connections, and got the opportunity to assist the Chosen One.
But now, who could have imagined he would soon step onto the Finals stage with the team as the head coach of the defending champions?
Reflecting on the interview he attended last summer, Malone couldn’t help but sigh...
That interview not only changed his destiny but also earned him the envy of many colleagues, granting him the opportunity to coach the greatest active player in the league today.
Even before the Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals began, Malone had even prepared a "letter of self-condemnation" for Warriors’ failure to defend their title...
But with the Messiah’s epic "50+20+10" stunning performance in that Game 7...
Tearing up that "letter of self-condemnation," Malone knew that the Warriors were just one step away from ultimately winning the championship.
And this step...
In Malone’s eyes, might very well be the simplest step in the Warriors’ playoff journey this year.
Malone knows his old friend Brown’s coaching style very well; he knows what kind of defensive system has been built for the Cavaliers.
— Utilizing frequent personnel rotations to maintain defensive intensity and closely watching the key players of the opponent to affect the entire opponent’s performance.
In the previous three rounds of series for the Cavaliers, they managed to limit their opponents’ offense to an average of less than 87 points per game.
What an outstanding and remarkable defensive statistic!
This Cleveland Cavaliers team is very good at playing a physical battle... But after experiencing the Game 7 of the West Finals against the Supersonic, Malone doesn’t believe the Cavaliers can do better in a physical battle than the Supersonic.
Moreover, as Jeff Van Gundy said, any defense has to be built on the premise of effective matchups.
In the regular season, Qin Yue had already proven that there is no player in the Cavaliers who can match up with him.
LeBron James, who is fully committed to defense, is certainly the best player in the Cavaliers to defend Qin Yue.
But compared to "All-out LeBron"...
Regardless of defensive experience or physical size, Malone doesn’t think James can do better than Garnett.
Moreover, once James exhausts himself too much on defense, who can the Cavaliers rely on for offense then?
In the upcoming Finals, Shaquille O’Neal, who has made significant contributions to the Cavaliers reaching the Finals, will inevitably have his playing time reduced.
Given this situation, in Malone’s view, this might very well be the most lopsided Finals in history in terms of overall team strength.
Additionally, after the Western Conference Finals holiday, both Malone and the Warriors players clearly felt that the madness in Qin Yue was not only still present, but...
It seemed to be escalating.
Qin Yue had been frustrated.
Ever since being schemed by that bastard Bowen...
Having been unable to exert his full strength for ten consecutive matches before, he seemed as if he was tied up.
Even though he had a fierce battle with "All-out LeBron" in Game 7, it could only dispel some of the resentment in his chest.
Moreover...
David Stern’s strong interference in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals also made Qin Yue resolute.
He was determined to give it his all, to rush to this encounter with James in the distance, aiming to continue making demands on the dim-witted and incompetent league with full-power releases game after game.
If last year, Qin Yue only wanted to crown himself...
Then now, extremely angry and full of endless resentment...
He only wants to personally crush anyone who tries to thwart his attempt to be crowned again!
He wants to use a deserving Finals performance...
To establish once and for all his dominance over this era!
The Satan of apocalypse, ready with the blade of destruction.
June 8, 2007.
— This is the day of the first game of the NBA Finals.
That night, James, playing in the Finals for the first time, appeared unusually excited.
Despite the pre-game predictions by nine experts from ESPN being against the Cavaliers.
James still said in an interview: "You know, I’ve always been a loyal fan of Liverpool. In 2005 in Istanbul, no one thought they could beat Milan. Even by halftime, Liverpool was trailing 0 to 3, but Liverpool ultimately lifted the Champions League trophy."
Is James really a Liverpool fan?
Qin Yue doesn’t know.
But in his memory, James indeed becomes a minority owner of Liverpool in the future.
"My dear bread, have you thought about how you’ll feel after being swept by my team?"
During the pre-game warm-up, when exchanging pleasantries with Brown, Malone did not hold back due to their personal rapport.
Hearing this, Brown said with a worried face, "Why can you always be so optimistic and confident?"
Malone put his arm around Brown’s shoulder and said, "Because you don’t get to coach the Messiah, otherwise you would be as optimistic and confident as I am."
Unlike the Cavaliers players, who had already forgotten how they lost to the Warriors in the regular season.
As the coach of this team...
Brown knows very well that this is destined to be a Finals where the Cavaliers are at a complete disadvantage.
Therefore, Brown, who cannot boast others’ morale and diminish his own before the Finals, can only whole-heartedly support LeBron James and believe that this Chosen One can create that possibility for the Cavaliers in the Finals.
