Mountain Peak System: a Path to NBA-Chapter 560 - 186: Thanos James Arrives, The Ultimate Showdown! (Begging for Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets!)
In an attempt to avoid being swept by the Warriors, Mavericks head coach Mike Woodson offered a fervent prayer before the fourth game.
However...
That night, his answer came in the form of Qin Yue, who blasted the Warriors with 47 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists.
After the game, finally relieved, Marion said in an interview: "You ask me what it feels like to be swept by the Warriors? What feelings could I have? We’ve all been swept, what can I say?"
"Listen, it’s not my fault we can’t stop that guy," Marion said, "If you think it is my fault, then tell me, in today’s league, who can stop him?"
Lastly, Marion didn’t forget to send his blessings to his former teammate Nash: "I look forward to Steve achieving the first crown of his career this season; it’s an honor he deserves."
An honor he deserves?
Actually, if he wasn’t being interviewed, what Marion really wanted to say was...
Nash just caught onto Qin Yue’s coattails, otherwise how would he have the chance to chase a championship?
After completing the first two rounds of the Western Conference playoffs, Nash, who almost wasted a year last year, no longer regrets his decision to join the Warriors.
Because...
Sitting on Stoudemire’s lap laughing is nowhere near as happy as crying on Qin Yue’s.
Perhaps, had he stayed in Phoenix, Nash could have easily continued to be the assist king.
But in Oakland, while his assist numbers continue to be overshadowed by Qin Yue, Nash can chase a championship!
"After eliminating the Mavericks with a sweeping 4-0 score, the Warriors’ next Western Conference opponent will be the winner between the Lakers and the Supersonic." — ESPN News Flash
Two consecutive rounds of sweeping opponents to advance undoubtedly put the Warriors in a favorable position before the Western Conference Finals.
After all...
Just the night when the Warriors easily advanced to the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers only managed to tie their series against the Supersonic at a 2-2 draw, thanks to Kobe’s game-winning shot.
This has been one of the most intensely fought Western Conference Semifinals.
The growth of Little Gasol certainly made the Lakers not as fearful of the Yao and Garnett duo as before.
But as they entered the playoffs, the Supersonic’s championship heart was gradually awakened, and the defending champions had fallen into a fierce and challenging battle.
Game Five.
After winning through double overtime, the Lakers broke the balance of this Western Conference Semifinal at KeyArena.
Kobe played 55 minutes for the Lakers that night, shooting 12 out of 28, totaling 39 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Purely on efficiency, Kobe’s shooting percentage in Game Five was only 42%.
But in a match that could likely affect the series outcome, under Kobe’s strict defense, Ray Allen shot only 5 out of 17, scoring just 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.
"Kobe helped us win this match through his defense," Odom said after the game, "He sealed the most threatening weapon on Supersonic’s perimeter."
Leading 3-2, the Lakers will bring their momentum back to Staples.
Meanwhile, a piece of news from ESPN successfully caught Qin Yue’s attention.
"The league intends to modify the rules regarding dribbling and traveling next season, with LeBron James’ Crab-Dribble likely to be the biggest beneficiary!"
Though posterity sees many young James fans initially assume the so-called "Crab-Dribble" was created by haters to belittle James’ fundamentals...
...in reality, these fans do not know that the Crab-Dribble was indeed invented by James, and personally named by him as a "high-level" layup technique.
During his youth, James often used a kind of dribble-stop and two-step action to score, drawing frequent skepticism from critics, until he dubbed it the Crab-Dribble. "This is a move not commonly seen in the league, but I can assure you it fully complies with the rules. Anyone who knows the game understands I’m using a high-level technique to score; it is not a travel."
Does the Crab-Dribble really comply with the rules?
Qin Yue did not know.
But as the NBA decides to modify existing dribbling and traveling rules, the Crab-Dribble is undoubtedly set to become officially legalized.
"Under the new rules, would NBA allow players to take a step after lifting both feet off the ground before dribbling for a layup?" queried Brown in shock on the practice court, "That means all future players could perform four-step layups during games?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Yue nodded and tried out a layup according to the new rules. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Then...
Qin Yue just gave up.
Because no matter how Qin Yue tried, he couldn’t adapt to this extremely awkward layup method.
Plus, Qin Yue, often able to take just two large steps to directly gather speed, needed no blatant foot-stepping methods to score.
Next, according to the new version of the dribbling rules, Qin Yue tried out Harden’s future step-back jump shot.
The result: Qin Yue also gave up.
Because compared to Harden’s style, which challenges the limits of the rules, Qin Yue, already accustomed to textbook step-back jump shots, had no need to challenge the rules.
Sadly.
The benefits brought by the NBA’s modification of the dribbling and traveling rules were something Qin Yue was destined not to enjoy.
"Is the league trying to penalize players like me with such good fundamentals?" Qin Yue lamented, "Has having great fundamentals become a mistake?"
However, the fact that textbook player Qin Yue could not adapt to the new rules did not mean that everyone else couldn’t.
