Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 436 - 145: Cost and Repayment, Awkward Perimeter Combination (5K - , Begging for Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)
In December, Qin Yue’s playing time was reduced, causing an irreversible shake to the foundation of the reigning champions.
Although on paper, Ma Long merely gave Qin Yue three extra minutes of rest per game to ensure his average playing time was cut down to thirty-five minutes.
But it was these three minutes of rest that gradually made the Warriors’ opponents aware that the team, which had won the championship for two consecutive seasons, was losing its former dominance.
Three minutes.
With the current pace of the league, approximately eighty possessions per game, it’s about five offensive and defensive possessions.
In the past, the Warriors had many ways to make it through these five possessions.
But now, Davis’s injury and Artest’s self-destructive actions have left Ma Long in a situation where even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice.
Furthermore, after the team finished their early December games, the beautiful team doctor Ryan once again warned Ma Long that Qin Yue’s playing time still needed to be reduced.
The reason is that this season, Qin Yue has undertaken far more challenging tasks on the court than before.
Qin Yue’s increased workload correlates with the Warriors’ lack of attackers due to their incomplete lineup.
Despite appearing to be a team living by shooting in the past two seasons,
Without the inside damage caused by Qin Yue, Davis, and Artest to the opponents, how could the Warriors’ outside shooters get easy opportunities to make shots from the outside?
Therefore, during the reduced playing time, Qin Yue’s average shots per game instead increased to a career-high of twenty-four times.
The Warriors needed their King to accomplish more difficult tasks on the court to drive the team that currently lacked two key players.
Moreover, this situation will visibly persist until Artest recovers from injury.
Only when Artest emerges from the shadow of injury, and teams confirm his health, can Chris Mullin make trades to acquire a forward who can share Qin Yue’s burden in attack. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"Chelsea, how many minutes do you think Messiah should play next?" Ma Long asked in a near-collapsed tone.
Ryan pondered for a while and said, "Thirty minutes per game."
Thirty minutes?
Then what the hell is there to play!
Bear in mind, whether in offense or defense, the core of this Warriors team is Qin Yue.
If Qin Yue can only play thirty minutes each game, the Warriors simply cannot maintain their game level on both ends of the court in a forty-eight minute NBA game.
Seeing this, the assistant coach that Ma Long recruited this summer, Lionel Hollins, proposed: "If we proactively slow down the game pace and thereby compress the number of possessions in a game, can Messiah’s playing time remain stable?"
Ryan mused for a while and said, "This might be a way to solve the problem because, theoretically, a slower game pace can indeed reduce Messiah’s injury risk."
Upon hearing this, Ma Long was delighted and further ventured: "If we only play seventy-five possessions per game, Messiah’s playing time can completely increase to thirty-eight minutes."
Ryan frowned and said, "Mike, please don’t joke about Messiah’s health! He is a center with a height of 211cm wearing shoes and weighs over 124 kg, his workload in the game is definitely not comparable to ordinary outside players!"
Ma Long smacked his lips and said, "I was just saying, I’m not the kind of coach who wishes the star player to play all forty-eight minutes of every game."
Thus, starting in mid-December, the Warriors completed a radical transformation of style, with a one hundred eighty degree turn.
The team that always liked to speed up the game thus transformed into a team that focuses on positional battles and winning games through physical struggles and optimizing possession success rate in a slow-paced style.
Ma Long called this stylistic transformation a forced change.
However, this change indeed improved the Warriors’ recent win rate in games.
Because on defense, Qin Yue and Brown, joined together in utilizing their talents and experience to win inside physical battles for the Warriors.
During the summer, Brown, who further reduced his weight, took charge of cleaning up.
Qin Yue, with star protection, was responsible for charging tolls to those daring players challenging the Warriors’ no-fly zone.
This top pick combo’s defensive deterrence not only guaranteed the Warriors’ baseline but also greatly enhanced the Warriors’ winning percentage on nights when their outside shooting touch was lacking.
Hollins, being a defensive expert, further crafted a pocket-like defensive system for the Warriors.
Since mid-December, the Warriors’ forward and guard lines often only defend one-side breakthroughs, proactively lead opponents into the strong side, then utilize the defensive range of Qin Yue and Brown to effectively disrupt the opponents’ tactical initiation strategies.
Yet the detestable injuries remain the Achilles’ heel of the Warriors this season.
On this matter, the beautiful team doctor Ryan was equally helpless.
Before selecting Qin Yue, players like Richardson and Murphy on this Warriors team had not even played in the playoffs.
So over the past two years, the number of games far exceeding other teams also indirectly led to the majority of this team, apart from a few players, being in high injury risk state.
The Warriors are not the first quasi-dynasty team to suffer from injuries.
Historically, the Chicago Bulls in the 97/98 season also faced frequent injury invasions.
