"So...... Are you ready? ”

Sacramento Kings, Team Center, Coach's Office.

Paul George didn't expect that it was already past 9 o'clock in the evening, and Phil Jackson was still in the center of the team. Looking at the large pile of materials on the old man's table, as well as the tactical board that was drawn and wiped, wiped and drawn, and countless sticky notes posted on the desktop and wall, it is not difficult to imagine how much effort the old man has put into the next round of the series.

"I ......" Facing Lao Shuai's question, Paul George didn't know how to answer for a while, lowered his head and scratched the back of his head, not even daring to look up at Lao Shuai and Gu Yu's eyes.

Because he knew that as long as he looked up, what he saw would definitely be the eyes of the two of them who were extremely eagerly looking forward to it.

And at the moment, with his confidence in his body, if he really makes a choice, I'm afraid it is likely to disappoint the two.

"Hehe, it's okay, I didn't call you here to force you to play, after all, it's about your own career, and I can't let you risk your career as a bet." Phil Jackson seemed to sense Paul George's thoughts, and smiled kindly: "I know the things of the body best." Although the team doctor and the hospital experts have said that your condition has fully recovered. But if you still feel that something is wrong when exercising on your own, it is better to be cautious. ”

"Yes, yes, it's okay, just say it!" Gu Yu also nodded and said, "We can still win without you, you don't matter!" ”

"Uh......" Paul George is really helpless, Gu Yu's wonderful way of comforting people is really not something he can quickly accept......

"So, answer me boldly." Phil Jackson's eyes flashed with wisdom: "You, are you ready?" ”

You ready?

George also wanted to know the answer.

It stands to reason that the summary of information from all aspects and the consultation and examination of so many experts have proved that his body has completely recovered. Although it may have a slight impact on the bounce, relying on this long period of recuperation, some experts even believe that George's physical strength now, especially the strength of the lower game, is stronger than before the injury.

George didn't come back before, more because technically he hadn't recovered yet. After all, I haven't played for so long, and no matter how talented a player is, it takes a certain amount of time to find a feeling.

But now, long after that recovery exercise, George even feels like he's more accurate than he was before his injury in terms of how he shot in practice.

But psychological problems emerge one after another.

Of course, he knew that for his own psychological problems, Gu Yu had thought of a lot of ways. Even Livingston, who had been seriously injured, was invited to give George confidence.

In fact, George and Wei Shao's heads-up, if it weren't for George himself always being soft at the moment of his shot, and if he was afraid, who would lose and who would win, it would not be necessarily.

But psychological problems can never be overcome overnight, and to completely recover his strength, George always feels that he still needs some time.

But how long is that? Or to put it more bluntly:

Will George's faith ever recover?

This is all unknown.

At least if he doesn't play, George, he'll never know.

"Eh, it's really okay, you can tell me what you think." Gu Yu encouraged: "Look at it, if you truce, we even won the Spurs." A mere thunderbolt? What is there to be afraid of! ”

"But the Thunder's style of play is more restrained against us." George certainly knew that.

"That's what I said, but before the game, everyone also said that the Spurs restrained us, and the Clippers restrained us!" Gu Yu plucked his ears and said, "In the end? Didn't we kill you yet? ”

"Hehe, it's not rough." Phil Jackson smiled and nodded.

"But Durant ......" George wanted to speak and stopped, obviously thinking of Beasley's emotional problems, if he said it directly, Beasley's defense didn't use Durant at all, and it seemed that Beasley didn't have much respect for Beasley.

"Eh, I know, you just said Beasley can't stop Durant!" Gu Yu didn't have this problem, and Dafang admitted: "Yes, he definitely can't prevent Durant, he will be beaten by Durant, maybe Durant will play a series with an average of 35 points per game, or even 40 points." But don't forget, I can beat them too! With an average of 40 points per game, I'll just blow it up! ”

When will I be able to have this kind of confidence!

George couldn't laugh or cry, but he also admired Gu Yu's optimism from the bottom of his heart.

"Hehe, okay, let's be honest." In the end, it was Phil Jackson who smiled and said, "You also saw the traces of scribbling on my desk, on the wall, and on the tactical board. I...... It's been studying for a long, long time, on the question of how to hit the thunder. Don't laugh at me, when we were down 3-1 with the Clippers, I was already working on our next opponent, the Thunder. ”

Is that exaggerated?!

Hearing Phil Jackson's words, not only George, but even Gu Yu was taken aback.

You must know that Gu Yu is a cowhide king and arrogant ghost, when you said that he played the opponent in the last round, he was already thinking about how to play the opponent in the next round, and he still has some credibility.

But...... Phil jackson??

Such a calm old handsome, deep in his heart, is he also so arrogant? ?

"Hehe, don't believe it, do you?" Phil Jackson was happy and smiled: "This is normal, if I were a player, I wouldn't believe that the coach would do such a thing." But that's exactly what I did, because I knew that Andrew was coming back soon, and Andrew's return was an absolute comeback addition for us against the Clippers. Don't look at the fact that he only played about 20 minutes per game in the last three games, but in these 20 minutes, the help he brought us can be counted in tons. ”

That's right, indeed.

Gu Yu and George looked at each other and nodded one after another.

Bynum's comeback directly solves the defensive problem for Jordan Jr., solves the problem of protecting the rebound, solves the problem of the main offensive point in the connecting section, and indirectly solves the defensive problem against Griffin.

Before Bynum's return, Jordan Jr. averaged 16 points and 14 rebounds per game in the series, and Griffin averaged 25 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists per game. The Clippers' interior twin towers are thriving, and the Kings' weak interior simply can't solve these two troublesome characters.

But after Bynum's comeback, Jordan Jr.'s stats fell off a cliff. With basically no change in average playing time per game, Jordan Jr. only averaged 7 points and 9 rebounds per game, and even the number of blocks dropped from 2.3 to 1.7 per game, which can be said to be completely suppressed by Bynum.

Griffin's side was also uncomfortable, averaging 22 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists per game. It didn't look like the change was as big as Jordan Jr.'s, but having Bynum guard the basket allowed Griffin's shooting percentage to drop by 7 percentage points.

These changes are absolutely fatal changes when two teams that should have been in the middle of each other.

Of course, Gu Yu's comeback after the ban ended directly added at least 40 points of firepower per game to the Kings.

With such a two-handed bomb in hand, Phil Jackson certainly has the confidence to think about the opponent in the next round.

But now in the face of thunder, the situation is different.

"Andrew is very good for suppressing opponents like Jordan Jr., and Griffin's style of play will also be squeezed by Andrew's interior space, and the shooting point will be more outside, and it is normal for the shooting percentage to drop." Phil Jackson continued: "But in the next round, it's Cousins who is standing on the Thunder's inside. I don't say how much better Cousins is than Andrew's current one, but from a typological point of view, it is difficult for Andrew to limit Cousins. ”

"That's right." Gu Yu nodded, for this issue, he has been teammates with Cousins and Bynum respectively, and he has the most right to speak.

"The competition in other positions, I believe you have also considered it, no matter how bad it is, I have seen the comments of some so-called experts, so I won't say more." Phil Jackson said, "Cousin...... Ah, I'm sorry, Doctor Strange is going to continue to explode. What Safrosa, Roberson, Lamb and other opponents, together are not enough for him to eat alone, which can be absolutely assured. ”

"Nonsense!" Gu Yu patted his chest and compared it arrogantly.

"But Russell, there's a real good chance that he'll get lost in a solo battle with Tyrek. If he feels good, we have an advantage. If he doesn't feel good and he has to be tough, we will be at a disadvantage. Phil Jackson said: "Durant must also have a big explosion in the face of Beasley, and the score that Doctor Strange has exploded here is very likely to be blown back here by Durant." You guys...... See what I mean? ”

Phil Jackson paused and looked at the two of them.

George still didn't understand, but Gu Yu frowned and touched his chin, nodded slightly, "Understood." ”

"Huh?" George looked at Gu Yu puzzled: "Cousin, what do you understand??" ”

"It's very simple, basketball is a game that competes with who scores more points, right? So predict the outcome of the two teams and see who has the ability to score more points on the opponent's head! Gu Yu said: "Let's assume that Russell feels good and feels bad, and the probability of occurrence is 50%. Then he and Evans can be regarded as a tie - in fact, Russell is going to be stronger, even if it is a six-four or seven-three! ”

"Andrew and Cousins, Cousins is slightly better, and he is also around seven or three. Add in the difference on Russell's side, and we're both back on the same starting line, and the points we can get on each other's heads are basically the same, right? ”

As he spoke, Gu Yu simply walked to the whiteboard, picked up the marker and continued while writing the equation: "And no matter how many points I score here, Durant is very likely to get it back from the top of Beasley's head." The two sides will still be evenly balanced. The question is whether we can limit Durant a little bit and let him score a little less than expected. In this way......"

After a while, Gu Yu changed the symbol to "greater than" behind the equation on the king's side.

"We're going to win." Turning around, Gu Yu blinked his eyes and looked at George and said, "It's very simple mathematics, understand?" ”