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November 13th, Milwaukee.
In winter, coming to the Bradley Center to watch the Bucks play is one of the most important entertainment activities for the citizens of Milwaukee. This small city doesn't have a developed professional sports scene, with many people mistakenly thinking that the home of the NFL powerhouse, the Green Bay Packers, is also in Milwaukee. In fact, aside from the Bucks, only the Brewers of MLB have a decent record. Basketball and baseball are the favorites of the people of Milwaukee.
Tonight, the Bradley Center was a boiling cauldron of cheers, with the Bucks' fans gathered here giving a standing ovation and cheering loudly for the home team.
To get them so excited, the Bucks naturally had an advantage on the court, as evidenced by Liam's iron-blue face on the bench.
At that moment, the game between the Warriors and the Bucks had reached 5 minutes and 23 seconds in the final quarter, with the Warriors trailing the Bucks by 18 points, 77-95.
Brush!
On the court, Curry's defense on Bogut helped the Warriors recover 3 points by stepping back and hitting a three-pointer, but in the end, Brandon Jennings made a triple in front of Klay's defense, which caused the slight morale boost of the Warriors to collapse again, in exchange for even louder cheers from the Bradley Center.
Liam shook his head in helplessness and raised his hand to call a timeout.
"Tic-"
With the referee's whistle, the Warriors players walked toward the bench with frustration. This night was clearly not meant for them. Aside from Curry, the whole team of the Warriors was feeling awful. Even if they had no cooperation, they couldn't shoot. The basket seemed like a lid to them, while the Bucks were just hitting everything, even unreasonable threes with interference, one after another, making it all seem hopeless.
Liam took a deep breath, held his emotions in check, hugged each player who came off the court, and whispered in their ears:
"It's alright, it's not your fault, you played really well…"
When it was Curry's turn, Liam gave a smile on his face:
"Stephen, you played really well, 30 points, a good start."
Curry smiled bitterly,
"Coach, but we're going to lose. I'd rather score low and switch teams to win."
"If we cut the score, we won't be able to win," Liam said, lifting his head to signal.
Curry followed his gaze and looked up at the big screen in the center of the arena, where the technical stats of the players from both teams were listed. Aside from Curry's 30 points on 12 of 20 shooting, only Klay managed a double-double among the other four Warriors players who were on the court just moments ago. Klay had 12 points on 4 of 13 shooting, while the stats for the other players were miserable.
Curry looked at his teammates' awful stats and couldn't help but sigh lightly. The Warriors were playing terribly in this game. In reality, the Bucks' defense wasn't great, but others couldn't shoot at all, which allowed the Bucks to frequently grab rebounds and counterattack. The Warriors seemed rusty, and their defensive wing speed was half a beat slower. They couldn't avoid the Bucks' impact and had been trailing from the start.
After the timeout, Liam switched to the third lineup, allowing Danny Green and Whiteside to take the opportunity to feel the game atmosphere, leaving Yi Jianlian on the court.
Facing his first stop in the NBA, Yi Jianlian was highly motivated, often shooting in the remaining 5 minutes. He scored 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting, plus the 6 points he had scored earlier, making him the second-highest scorer for the Warriors in this game, aside from Curry. He showcased his finishing and three-point shooting on the Bucks' court, but who knows if the Bucks' management regretted it.
In the end, the game finished, and the Bucks successfully defended their home court with a 108-96 victory over the Warriors, with the Bradley Center roaring with joy, adding warmth to the chilly Milwaukee night.
After the whole game, Curry finished with 30 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals, including 4 of 9 three-point shots, and was the best player of both teams. But the rest of the Warriors players were lackluster. Yi Jianlian had 20 points and 6 rebounds, Klay had 13 points, and no one else managed a double-double.
For the Bucks, five players scored in double digits, with veteran John Salmons scoring 26 points, Brandon Jennings 19, and Drew Gooden recording a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
But this didn't make him a reliable cornerstone for the team, as the bearded man, like Jeff Green in Liam's previous life, wandered around but had dazzling performances on every team, becoming a well-known homeless man in the league.
It's worth mentioning that Bogut, known as the "dead man from Australia," played very well in this game. His interior defense was solid, strongly protecting the restricted area of the Bucks, and his low-post moves on the offensive side were delicate, with comprehensive skills, contributing a double-double of 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. As a result, Chandler didn't have much chance to feast on the game, scoring only 4 points.
This also has a lot to do with the defensive strategy of the Bucks' head coach, Skels, who insisted that the Bucks defend the paint resolutely, not switch defenses when blocked, and let Bamot, who was defending Curry, tighten up the coverage. They preferred to let Curry take a three-pointer rather than let Bogut defend.
This move turned out to be very effective. Although Curry felt hot and scored 30 points efficiently, the rest of the Warriors struggled. With the Bucks sticking to the inside, there was no chance to cut to the basket, and Curry was alone. The Warriors could only return with bitterness.
Liam approached the technical table, smiled wryly, and shook Skels' hand:
"Congratulations, the Bucks really kicked our butts."
Skels smiled faintly,
"It's just that God was on our side today."
Then, Liam and Skels exchanged a few more words, then turned and walked towards the players' tunnel with Silas, Ron Adams, and Bruce.
Unlike the frustrated players, the coaching staff's mood hadn't changed because of the loss. They had seen more victories and losses, and a regular-season loss was nothing.
Ron Adams shrugged and said:
"I don't need to watch the replay to know that our defense was terrible today. The rotation was slow, the leaks were bad, everyone seemed a bit tired. Just go back and rest."
"That's right, it's the same on the offensive side. The tactics were poor, they couldn't get any energy up. Even when they were exhausted, they couldn't shoot, and the last road game was really bad... to play," Silas nodded, a little reluctantly, "But Skels was really bold. He dared to let Bogut defend so much against Stephen. If it wasn't for Draymond and Tyson's poor coverage today, and Bamot tightening up the coverage fast enough, Stephen would've just shot all over the Bucks."
Bruce agreed:
"That's right. I'm going to let Draymond practice how to cover when we get back. He brought some bad habits from college, and didn't have much impact before, but today he was slow with his feet, and everything stood out. If I'm not mistaken, he was whistled for at least 2 fouls on coverage, and there were several times he didn't block people, wasting many good opportunities."
Later, the three discussed some more points about the Warriors' problems tonight, and all of them were very relevant, pointing out the mistakes made by the Warriors.
It's a habit of the Warriors' coaching staff to discuss victories and defeats on the spot right after the game, whether they win or lose, so that they can watch the game footage more specifically.
"… It seems like the shooting practice isn't enough yet, and you need to work on the tactics when we get back." Finally, Silas nodded thoughtfully and smiled: "It's good that Stephen is back in form. It makes the offense much easier, but it would be better if he could attract more defense."
Bruce laughed and said:
"How much more defense do you want Stephen to get?"
Silas looked at Liam and smiled:
"Liam once said that the ultimate offensive form of the team he imagined is that Curry uses his huge offensive deterrence to attract two defenders with a screen, no matter how far they are from the three-point line, so that others have a 4-on-3 opportunity, and then we send out 4 other shooters to completely collapse the opponent…"
Bruce was stunned:
"How is that possible… Well, it's not impossible. The playoffs are still possible."
"Liam, you said this is how it works in any game, right?" Silas looked at Liam.
Liam nodded:
"Exactly."
"This... Liam, are you serious?" Bruce, who heard this for the first time, opened his eyes wide and looked at Liam in surprise.
"Of course, that's the short-term goal of the team," Liam said seriously.
"But it's impossible. How can other teams be so protective of Stephen? Kobe Bryant and James don't get that kind of treatment. To be precise, no player gets that kind of treatment, not even Jordan!" Bruce said incredulously.
"That's why I asked Stephen to win a scoring title. If you don't launch a nuclear bomb, you won't create a nuclear deterrence. The scoring title is the nuclear bomb Stephen launches, and even a scoring champion isn't enough."
After arriving in Milwaukee yesterday, Liam set the goal of making Curry the scoring champion this season in a meeting with the coaching staff, and everyone agreed.
Bruce nodded thoughtfully, but with a look of disbelief on his face, said:
"Liam, I know how high your expectations are for Stephen, and I think he's going to be a superstar, but are you asking too much from him? If Stephen really has the effect you mentioned when he launches the screen, then his influence on the offensive side will surpass Kobe, surpass James, and even surpass Jordan. Then Stephen can play a huge role while on the court, which no one has ever achieved. What kind of shooting performance does he need to have to establish such a terrifying external deterrence and containment?"
Silas and Ron Adams also looked at Liam. They knew Liam's idea beforehand, but like Bruce, they also thought Liam was being a bit whimsical.
Liam looked at everyone and smiled slightly:
"After we return to Auckland, organize the proper tactics for Stephen, and then, let's enjoy his performance."
End of chapter
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