stonecrandall Chapter 1132 Angel and Demon! A Double-Edged Sword: Westbrook!
Chapter 1132 Angel and Demon! A Double-Edged Sword: Westbrook!
"It's just luck, I guess." Coach K looked at Lin Tian standing at the free-throw line, not sure if he was talking to himself or asking the people around him. He was really losing confidence now. The team had only relaxed their defense on Lin Tian for two possessions, just two possessions.
The results of it?
They scored consecutively, one and-one to take Howard out, one and-one to take Wade out, what's next? Take out James and Durant too?
What troubled Old K even more was that the two balls looked more and more like Lin Tian's last gasp of life, and more and more like a desperate, haphazard throw.
The one against Howard didn't even jump, and the one against Wade was just a random, long-range shot that went in.
From this perspective, Lin Tian is indeed out of options, so both goals can only be decided by luck.
Coach K had no doubt that even if Lin Tian threw 10 more of those 3+1 shots, he wouldn't be able to score a single one.
But the question is, does Old K still dare to gamble?
Does he dare to bet that Lin Tian can't continue scoring? Does he dare to bet that Lin Tian is really exhausted?
"Keep playing like this! He can't possibly make a miracle shot for the third consecutive possession! Russell, you take Devin's place." Coach K thought for a long time on the sidelines until the referee came over and urged him to make a substitution. Only then did Coach K finally make up his mind.
He didn't play Paul because he knew that if he did, the Chinese team would definitely try to exploit Paul's height advantage through mismatches.
Facing a Chinese team where everyone except Lin Tian is over 2 meters tall, Paul's height disadvantage is a real headache.
So Coach K was willing to take a gamble and brought in Westbrook, who is prone to getting carried away and making reckless plays.
With James on the team, Westbrook shouldn't cause much trouble. Besides, Westbrook's taller, faster, and stronger physique means he won't be exploited as a weakness by the Chinese team.
"Russell, don't rush after you get the ball. Wait for the opportunity, wait for a clear opportunity. Let's waste as much time as possible. We need to use up all 24 seconds. Remember, don't rush! Time is our friend!"
Before Westbrook went on the court, Coach K repeatedly reminded him not to get carried away and not to just shoot.
After Westbrook came on, Lin Tian finally got to shoot free throws. After waiting for a long time, he raised his hand and threw the ball, which obediently went into the basket once again.
117: 124!
With 1 minute and 08 seconds left in the game, James dribbled the ball up the court.
China continued to play their 2-3 zone defense, but after Wade went to the bench, China's lineup actually shrank even further, especially in the area at the top of the key.
Standing here are James and Westbrook.
James glanced at the court. Because the Chinese team had set up a relatively small area, he actually had a good space at this moment. However, James was not in a hurry. Instead, he waved to signal everyone to calm down and continue running. Then he passed the ball to Westbrook.
According to the tactics, Westbrook should continue to pass the ball towards the baseline, get it to Durant, and then Durant should try to break through. If there is an opportunity, he can go for it directly; if not, he should pass it out again, because the Chinese team is using a zone defense.
So as long as Durant can get past the first person, he can create space, whether it's Anthony in the corner, Love on the wing, or James at the top of the key.
This is another clever way for the US team to break the zone defense, in addition to their traditional tactics.
But Durant in the corner was clearly ready to receive the ball, and had even made the motion to shoot immediately after receiving it, yet the ball didn't come into his hands.
Westbrook, outside the three-point line, received the ball and faked a pass to Durant.
NO PASS LOOK!
It's hard to say whether his move fooled the Chinese team's players, because apart from the players guarding the two corners, the Chinese players were all huddled inside the three-point line, giving Westbrook a huge space of about 2 meters.
With this space, it's practically like they don't care if you shoot threes, they can shoot however they want.
As for what feints and performance art you do, the Chinese team doesn't care.
Westbrook's fake pass might have only fooled Durant!
Then, after that fake move, Westbrook gathered the ball, looked at the basket, and then pulled up and threw it!
Absolute confidence!
Westbrook once again demonstrated absolute confidence at this moment.
That was his most prominent characteristic and strength. It was his confidence that transformed him from a defensive player in college into a star, and it was his confidence that turned him from a physically gifted guard into the league's triple-double king and MVP.
But it was also his overconfidence that led Durant to leave for Golden State, causing his physical condition to decline and making him a journeyman in the league.
At that moment, Westbrook, with his NBA 33% and Olympic 27% three-point shooting percentage, made a crucial three-pointer.
Even though there are still 17 seconds left on the shot clock, and even though Coach K just told him to stay calm and run down the clock.
He still threw it away.
"Bang!"
Then there was a muffled thud as the basketball bounced off the rim and missed. After Howard left the court, Yi Jianlian, who had become the top rebounder on the court, grabbed the backboard and immediately found Lin Tian to pass the ball out.
This time, Lin Tian didn't need to tell them to run. Everyone on the Chinese team, including Yi Jianlian who grabbed the rebound, accelerated wildly, giving it their all, and sprinted towards the frontcourt.
"I'll defend Lin!" Westbrook shouted. He wasn't frustrated or regretful; on the contrary, he was full of energy and immediately entangled with Lin Tian, hoping to use his strength and speed to stop Lin Tian's advance.
Unfortunately, for nearly 20 years, countless people have wanted to do this, but no one has ever been able to do it.
Lin Tian, sprinting at full speed, didn't even make many moves. He simply dribbled behind his back and jumped forward to the side, leaving Westbrook, who was charging too aggressively, behind him.
At this moment, Lin Tian had no obstruction in front of him!
He sprinted all the way to the three-point line. At this moment, his speed was incredible, and he showed no signs of exhaustion.
That one move was enough for everyone on the American team who had just thought Lin Tian's stamina hadn't recovered and he was still fatigued to know: they'd been tricked!
Lin Tian suddenly stopped outside the three-point line, and after stabilizing himself slightly, he took another shot outside the three-point line!
"Whoosh!"
With 54 seconds left, China was down by only 4 points in the blink of an eye!
120: 124!
The suspense of the game has returned. The American team, which was leading by 12 points just now and seemed to have it all figured out, now has a sudden surge in the probability of losing!
Just a few dozen seconds ago, when Durant hit the three-pointer, the American data experts gave the US team a 99.5% chance of winning the gold medal!
China Fortune's winning percentage once dropped to as low as 0.5%.
But less than a minute later, China's winning percentage suddenly surged to 44%! The US team's dropped to 56%!
Although the US team still has the upper hand, the suspense has officially returned!
"Stay calm! Stay calm!" Coach K shouted anxiously from the sidelines. "Run out of 24 seconds! Run out of time! Don't you guys understand?!"
The enraged Coach K didn't call a timeout at that moment. He wanted to save his last timeout for a little longer. Instead, he roared from the sidelines, hoping to influence his players with his anger.
"It's okay! We'll use up the shot clock this time!" James calmly raised his arm, indicating that everyone didn't need to rush. After coming to the frontcourt, James showed the demeanor of a mature leader, and his first target for the pass was still Westbrook.
He's proving through his actions that the team doesn't care about Westbrook's rash shot just now.
This time, Westbrook didn't just throw the ball around randomly; instead, he passed it to Durant according to the play.
Durant dribbled the ball, faked a move, accelerated to the basket, encountered help defense, and then quickly passed the ball to Anthony in the other corner.
Anthony gets the ball and passes it to Love on the wing.
When the basketball came to Love's hands, there was no defender in front of him. The big man glanced at the time and found that there were only 5 seconds left on the shot clock. Without waiting any longer, he pulled up for a three-pointer.
"Bang!"
Another muffled thud. The US team's luck was really bad in these two possessions. They missed two consecutive three-point attempts, both of which were quite open shots.
When Yi Jianlian was positioning himself under the basket and trying to grab the rebound again, this time he was overwhelmed by a powerful shot and couldn't jump up to grab it.
He was pinned down and couldn't straighten his back. Then Yi Jianlian heard a loud bang above his head.
"boom!"
Westbrook!
Using his incredible speed and power, this guy found an opportunity to drive into the paint, pulled up and held the basketball with one hand, then slammed the ball back into the basket!
One-handed dunk!
Westbrook's shot was like a god descending to earth; it almost destroyed the Chinese team in one fell swoop!
120: 126!
There are only 30 seconds left in the game.
This goal almost sealed the fate of the Chinese team.
The commentary booth of China Sports Media fell silent, and the large number of fans supporting the China team in the London Arena also fell silent.
All that remained was a small group of American fans, shouting excitedly and wildly.
"USA! USA! USA!"
They were going to win! They all thought they were going to win!
"ball!"
Regardless of what the commentators and viewers thought, Lin Tian was neither angry nor remorseful after Westbrook scored, because Westbrook was exactly the player he was guarding. Whether the team was playing zone defense or he rotated to another position, the point guard was indeed the one who scored for the US team.
Lin Tian knew, of course, that now was not the time to apologize to his teammates or raise his hands to say "my bad, my bad".
Every second counts!
Yi Jianlian, who had just been dunked on, completely ignored Westbrook, who was yelling and waving his fist at him after the dunk. Instead, he grabbed the basketball as fast as he could, turned around, aimed at Lin Tian's position, and swung it long.
When Lin Tian caught the basketball, he was already near the center of the court.
Then Lin Tian turned around, advanced, and took only one step to reach the American team's half of the court.
He continued to dribble and accelerate forward, even though James and Durant were already standing in front of him. Lin Tian showed no intention of stopping and continued to accelerate forward.
It wasn't until Lin Tian forced his way into the three-point line under the double-team of two top small forwards that he suddenly took an astonishingly large step back. In one fell swoop, Lin Tian retreated more than two meters from a position one meter inside the three-point line!
Even though James and Durant are among the world's top stars, they were still powerless against Lin Tian's sudden and incredibly wide step-back shot.
They could only step forward and raise their hands, hoping to distract Lin Tian.
But it didn't work!
At this moment, Lin Tian was unafraid of any defense.
No, it's ignoring all defense!
He launched a long-range three-pointer with a noticeable fadeaway, throwing it straight towards the basket!
After taking the shot, Lin Tian fell to the ground due to the inertia of his step back and the feeling of weightlessness caused by his forced backward lean to avoid a block. He slid quite a distance before stopping.
"Whoosh!"
No one could tell whether Lin Tian stopped sliding backward first or the basketball went into the hoop first.
In any case, Lin Tian's crazy, amazing three-pointer went in again!
The last 25 seconds!
China is down by 3 points!
Lin Tian's relentless efforts have given the Chinese team a glimmer of hope!
123: 126!
"Timeout!" This time, Coach K didn't wait any longer. He called out the team's last timeout of the night, their final attack, to make some arrangements.
"Incredible!" Yu Jia, who had just been silenced by Westbrook's dunk, said again, "Lin Tian is truly an incredible player. I couldn't even see how he made that shot."
"Two giants, each over 2 meters tall, were right in front of him, and Lin Tian still managed to shoot! He actually hit a super three-pointer of that caliber! Unbelievable! He's been playing for over 39 minutes straight, without a single second of rest!"
"I've imagined many ways and moments when Lin Tian would save the team and score the game-winning shot," Zhang Weiping said. "But I really didn't expect it to be this way. It's insane! Absolutely insane! Lin Tian's performance in the fourth quarter, and those goals he scored, were just so Lin Tian, so insane!"
"He scored 17 points in the fourth quarter! He's already scored 64 points tonight! What can we say? What can we say?" Yu Jia exclaimed, "At 40 years old, Lin Tian can still carry the team on his shoulders."
"The only god in the basketball world! Remember him, Lin Tian! Let's thank God for giving us such a perfect basketball player!"
"Such a perfect athlete!" Zhang Weiping corrected Yu Jia, and then continued, "At the same time, Westbrook is also a very interesting player. One possession ago, his wild three-pointer reignited the suspense of the game. He almost ruined the American team."
"But after one round, his follow-up dunk almost ended our hopes of victory. After the follow-up dunk, he went to provoke and celebrate, which caused him to completely fail to chase Lin Tian's fast attack."
"Although Westbrook couldn't catch up even if he chased, given their positions at the time, players still need to know what they should and shouldn't do at this point in the game, right? As the point guard, his most important task at this time is to remind his teammates to defend quickly and not lose the ball."
"But he ended up being the one leading the celebration, which was really funny."
"She's both an angel and a devil—a true double-edged sword!"
"He almost killed the game and gave us the chance to win. I'm curious to see what Coach K will choose in the final round."
Will he continue to play Westbrook, or will he play it safe and bring in Paul instead?
On the sidelines, Coach K was practically screaming: "24 seconds! You have to play the full 24 seconds! I can even accept a 24-second violation, but no one is allowed to get the ball and shoot! No one!"
"Keep the clock down! No matter what, keep the clock up until the very end. Unless there's a 100% chance of a dunk, nobody is allowed to shoot before then, understand? Not even a layup. In the final moments, keep control of the ball!"
"I don't care how the Chinese team plays these last 25 seconds. Whether they foul early or go all out on defense, I'm going to use up every last bit of those 24 seconds!"
"Defend it!" On the other side, Lin Tian stood in the middle of the crowd, having completely taken over Old Nelson's job, and no one on the team thought it was wrong: "Defend the final attack!"
"Look for opportunities to intercept their passes, and when necessary, give them some openings and space to lure them into shooting!"
"clear!"
"Defend with all your might. Don't let them score no matter what. Just rush out and defend. Don't be afraid of leaving anyone open or creating gaps."
"Because of me! I will lead us to victory, I will guide everyone to win the gold medal!"
"Alright, 1-2-3, gold medal!"
"gold medal!"
Led by Lin Tian, who roared out their slogan for the night once again, the starting five of the Chinese team took to the field again!
On the US team's side, Coach K indeed made a substitution, replacing the somewhat impetuous Westbrook with the stable Paul.
The US team wanted to play it safe with this attack!
The game was about to continue, and James of the US team stood on the sideline. He was the best passer and the best vision player on the current US team, and no one could interfere with his vision. With the referee's whistle, the ball was handed to James, and the players from both sides immediately started running.
The American players ran desperately, trying to shake off the Chinese team's defense. James calmly stood outside the bounds, holding the ball with both hands, waiting for the right moment to pass.
Then, Paul suddenly sprinted towards the backcourt while shouting, "Here!"
This shout immediately drew a lot of attention from the Chinese team. Although only Lin Tian was still sticking to Paul, the others couldn't help but look in that direction.
That moment of hesitation and Paul's shout immediately gave James a passer.
Durant made a successful run and received the crucial inbound pass.
"Stay calm! Stay calm!" Durant immediately raised the ball high after receiving it, while waving to signal everyone to calm down and not to rush.
"It has to be Paul! He's so experienced and calm," Yu Jia said. "That shout just now created an opening in our defense. If it weren't for Paul's action, we might have been able to force a five-second violation."
Zhang Weiping also said regretfully, "Now that the US team is inbounding the ball, it will be a test of our defense! We must defend on the last possession! It would be best to make a steal. If that's not possible, I think fouling is also a good option."
"After all, if the US team shoots at the last moment, we'll have to fight for the rebound. By the time we get the rebound, the game might already be over, and we might not even have a chance to make a game-winning shot."
Yu Jia nodded and said, "The US team has 25.6 seconds left when they serve! If they're really aiming for a 24-second shot clock, that's really pushing the limits. There's too little time left. If we had 3-4 more seconds, we would have many more options."
Zhang Weiping said, "In short, this is a matter of life and death, a real matter of life and death! Let's see how the Chinese team chooses! No matter what they choose, I will say it's the right choice, and I won't think they did anything wrong."
"Because this is basketball! Basketball isn't a spreadsheet or a document; it's unpredictable and full of uncertainty. There are no absolutely right choices, nor are there always wrong moments."
"That's the charm of competition!" (End of Chapter)