After the game, the atmosphere in the locker room of the Clippers was very solemn.

The highly anticipated and high-profile Clippers 12 season playoffs first game was won by the Spurs.

The NBA playoffs are so different from the regular season that it's unfair in a sense.

In the seven-game series, the team with the best regular season record just has one more home game.

Although in a close matchup, home field advantage could determine the course of the final series.

However, the side that plays at home first is also under tremendous pressure.

Dropping one of the first two home games means giving up home advantage.

The second home game must be defended, otherwise the series will be very difficult to go away with a 0-2 disadvantage.

The Spurs have always been a team of pig-eaters, and under Popovich's leadership, the Spurs have been running smoothly in the regular season, rarely rushing and smashing.

In a normal season, they have the strength to lead the league with 60 wins, but they generally have reservations in order to stay in the playoffs.

Especially in the past two years, the GDP trio has been getting older and older, and the injury troubles have increased, and the regular season has been all about getting it all in.

This year, due to the lack of reinforcements and the shortened season, Popovich also closed up in the regular season and let several veterans rest more.

In fact, in terms of strength, in the bottom half of the team, the Spurs are definitely very strong.

In the last few games of the first round, the Spurs obviously had a chance to rush to the sixth or even fifth position, but they stayed in seventh to play the Clippers for revenge.

In the face of the Spurs, who are bent on revenge and carefully prepared, the Clippers are obviously not fully prepared, and there are also problems with the scheduling during the game.

Tyronn Lue and Steve Kerr were at odds, and the tactical set-up on the court was rather chaotic and didn't have a real focus.

At the beginning of the game, Randolph's interior attack was expected by the Spurs, and later hoped to use Jeremy Lin to lead the rhythm, but failed, and immediately pressed Jeremy Lin to the bench and never let him play again.

Curry and Harden didn't play the state of the two offensive engines.

In the first two seasons, the dog-fighting spirit was gone, but the aging Spurs were aggressive, defeating the Clippers with the attitude of the Avengers, giving the young Clippers a lesson.

When Min Congda entered the locker room, everyone didn't talk much, sitting in the seat and silently tidying up things.

As soon as the reporters' interview ended, everyone was more depressed, but when they saw Min Congda come in, everyone was in a better mood.

Because every time he loses, Mr. Smart will comfort everyone and let everyone relax and not care too much about winning or losing.

But this time the situation seems to be a little different, Min Congda's expression is also solemn, and his brows are tightly locked.

Can he not be dignified, he is not happy at all when he loses tonight.

Mrs. Sterling said in the VIP box that if the Clippers have a poor record, such as being eliminated in the first round, or stopping in the semifinals, then financial institutions are unlikely to lend money to the Clippers to build a new arena.

Yes, the key to the profitability of a team is to look at the team's performance, with good performance and traffic and attention, box office and related endorsements, and peripheral income can be high, so as to have enough cash flow and profit to cover future debts and interest.

Financial institutions are not engaged in charity, and if you want to take on a huge amount of debt, you must first have the ability to carry debts.

Min Congda remembers that those companies that were overly indebted and went bankrupt were all well-run at the beginning and had a bright future.

It's a pity that it couldn't withstand various factors such as changes in the industry situation, the turn of the times or black swan events, and the death of the operators themselves, and they changed from star enterprises to debts until bankruptcy.

Now, for the "Afang Gong Project" to run smoothly, the Clippers must look promising.

Judging by their performances in the previous two seasons, the Clippers have potential.

And this season, you need to realize your potential in the playoffs.

Otherwise, with the second-place regular season result in the West, the playoff performance is not as good as the eighth period in the West, which is unjustifiable in any case.

The crowd soon realised that Mr. Smart was different tonight than usual, and he didn't look happy to lose.

"As a fan who watched the whole game from the sidelines, I'm ashamed of your performance tonight."

Min Congda stood in the middle of the locker room and made a rare opening to criticize the performance of the Clippers team.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads to listen to the training.

"I know the team is going through a tough time right now, because of a recording, the focus is not on basketball, it's on something else. But let's be clear that these are only temporary, the Clippers are a basketball team, and our fundamental goal is to win, to go further! When you step on the court, all your thoughts and thoughts are on the basketball. The coaching staff should carefully formulate tactics, the players should execute, go all out, and win the game, which is the best response to public opinion from the outside world! ”

"After it happened, I didn't say anything, everyone remained silent because we are a united team, always put the interests of the team first, and we don't do things that are out of the ordinary and say things that are out of the ordinary in order to show our personal ideas. We're low-key, tough, full of energy, and have incredible energy! But I haven't seen any of this tonight, so what are you spending your mind on? Stephen? James? Zack? Mark? Paul? Jamie? Everybody, I mean everybody, tomorrow, find a time to take a hard look at tonight's game footage, find out what the problem is, see how bad you are playing on the pitch and get ready for the next game. ”

"The series isn't over yet, we've just started this year."

Min Congda's tone was flat, but he said everything in the hearts of the whole Clippers team.

Min Congda usually never pours chicken soup into the players, and always looks relaxed and hip-hop.

It's hard to win, it's easy to lose.

As a result, the effect of this sudden is quite significant.

A sense of shame permeated the team, followed by a strong desire for the next victory.

If a person yells in front of the players every day, asking everyone to cheer up, to win the game, it may have an effect for a while.

But after a long time, anyone will be numb and tired, and the chicken soup will always be tired and crooked.

And Min Congda usually looks like he doesn't care if he wins or loses, and when he suddenly comes like this, he gives a very strong impression.

Everyone knows that this game cannot be lost, it must be won!

In addition to encouraging the whole team in terms of morale, Min Congda also personally attended the team's coaching staff meeting the next day.

Since handing over the coaching whip to Coach Lu, Min Congda has not participated in the team's tactical meetings and daily training and construction for a long time.

Coming to the familiar conference room, Min Congda consciously sat on the head coach's main seat, and then asked the video analyst to take out the video of yesterday's game and play it.

For Tyronn Lue and Cole, this is tantamount to a public execution.

"The opening tactical setup failed."

"Hesitant to change people in the middle section and use people."

"There were no adjustments in the third quarter."

"In the decisive moment of the fourth quarter, there was no whimsical strategy at all?"

"What do you do with so many players on the bench who can play? Brush up points in the regular season and won't use any of them in the playoffs? ”

Min Congda scolded and said that no one dared to speak out on the Clippers coaching staff.

After all, Min Congda is the head coach of the whole victory, and the coaching level is obvious to all.

Tyronn Lue had a good regular season, and his looseness and freedom gave the players plenty of opportunities to work and improve.

But when it comes to the playoffs, a leader has to step up and set the tone.

Tyronn Lue and Steve Kerr are evenly matched, and Min Congda is the one who can take the lead.

For Min Congda, losing is a difficult thing, but if he wins, then he really understands.

"The combination of Duncan + Split is very tough defensively, don't go head-to-head with them, take advantage of our outside advantage, especially the advantage of the front line. We have so many resources on the front line, why not use them? George, Leonard, Ricky Davis, Butler, we're going to play smart, not hard. ”

"The mid-range has to be developed, we have mid-range experts as well, and don't just think about shooting threes in the playoffs. Randolph, Curry, and especially Harden can all hit opponents from mid-range, and they need to be flexible enough to play to the players' abilities and target the Spurs' defensive holes. Don't play too complicated tactics, our players are good individually. ”

Min Congda knew that it was not a good idea to fight hard or play strategy with the Spurs.

Popovich is cunning, and if you follow his rhythm to play intrigue and intrigue, the series will inevitably get entangled.

On the contrary, using the talent and personal ability of the players, through some small cooperation, can play a good effect.

It's like Kobe's Lakers playing the Spurs, let you come as many ways as you want, I just go all the way, and I will kill you from a medium distance, and you can't do anything about it.

The Spurs are aging right now, the No. 3 forward is short of manpower, and the defense at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions is a big problem.

"James Harden has to play in this series, he's the hardest player for the Spurs to target, and Harden has to be the central player. Of course, Curry is also very important, and he is the foundation of most of the team's plays. In short, Harden is going to be a sharp knife, and this is the positioning of him. Curry, let him continue to maintain the threat of outside firepower, appropriately reduce Curry's ball-handling attacks, and increase his off-ball. The inside line has reached a critical moment, the final role. Reasonably allocate Zack's playing time and use Bonner appropriately, he is from the Spurs, and he must have his ideas about dealing with the Spurs. ”

Min Congda then carried out a strategic general arrangement.

Establishing Harden as an important player and making him the Clippers' perimeter man.

The Spurs' biggest pain in the West was Kobe Bryant.

Bryant's mid-range jumper killed the Spurs with no way.

Although Harden does not have as strong an attack as Kobe, his scoring explosiveness is still quite good.

And the technology is comprehensive, breakthrough, middle distance, and three points are being developed better and better.

Once laid out, the rest is up to the coaching staff to execute, meet with the players, and set tasks.

Min Congda sat alone in the conference room and suddenly began to reflect on his selection and operation in the past two years.

"Oops, it's really bad, I have to admit it. Before I knew it, I had built a pretty good lineup. Curry and Harden are both very good players, and Gasol Jr., Randolph, and George are also very strong, and they still have potential to explore. What a failure. ”

In the past, Min Congda always lied to himself, thinking that Curry was brittle, Harden was lazy, Xiao Jia was stupid, Randolph was bad, George was soft, Leonard was stiff, and Butler was ugly.

Now that he has changed his position, from the perspective of wanting to win, and putting aside his subjective biases, he will find that Curry is accurate, Harden is full, Xiao Jia Cong, Randolph is stable, George Ling, Leonard is poisonous, and Butler is hard.

He finally admitted that his three-year lineup building plan was a complete failure!

But it's okay, Min Congda thought to himself: "Fortunately, I have changed my mind now and let the Clippers play a good result, and then go into high debt." Once the Clippers collapse in the future, this debt will crush the team! ”

"However, I really can't interfere in the building of the team in the future, let the gang of Olser and Rosser toss. My luck is so bad, it's a pity that I don't use this luck to buy lottery tickets. ”

Min Congda once again reminded himself that he decided not to participate in the team building, and no longer care about the details of transactions and drafts.

Invest with peace of mind, expand the size of the team with peace of mind, let the team be in debt, and wait for the moment when the building collapses.

A day later, the Clippers and Spurs face a rematch, and this game is crucial for the Clippers.

In the rest of the playoffs, in the top half of the East and West, except for the Clippers, the strong teams have won.

The Lakers easily crushed the Mavericks, and they were on their way to sweep this series.

The Nuggets and Thunder also ushered in a revenge game, and this time it was still the Thunder who won.

In the East, the Cavaliers, Celtics, Heat, and Bulls all beat their opponents.

The Cavaliers easily beat the Knicks, the Bulls beat the Magic, the Heat beat the Pacers, and the Celtics narrowly beat the Hawks.

It can be seen that this year's East Conference, like last year, will be another season for these four teams to fight each other.

The Chicken Thief's Heat team once again finished third in the East and continued to pick the Bulls in the second round.

And the Cavaliers will once again go head-to-head with the Celtics in the semifinals.

The grievances and hatreds of the Quartet last season should be understood again this season.

It can be said that this season's shrinking season playoffs are a continuation of last season's grudges.

The Spurs, who took the lead in the first game, responded to all changes in this game, and Popovich waited for the Clippers to adjust.

There was no change in the starting line-ups of both sides, and in the jump ball, Gasol Jr. was the first to touch the ball.

The Clippers' first offense did not hit Randolph, but Curry held the ball high and hit the basket with consecutive screens.

The Spurs' defensive formation at the beginning was very good, Duncan helped defend in place, Curry did not have a chance to play the ball and went around with the ball, passed the ball to Harden, and then immediately ran through the baseline to the bottom corner to take away the defense.

Harden received the ball and immediately burst into the basket with the ball on one wing, faced Duncan's supplementary defense, threw a shot and hit it, and scored two points!

Duncan first assisted Curry, then came over to make up for Harden, and beware of Gasol Jr.'s air relay behind, he was tired enough.

At the same time, Curry scored three points in the bottom corner, and George had a chance to catch the ball at 45 degrees on the right side.

At the beginning of the game, the Clippers attacked for the first time, showing their diversity and richness in tactical options.

This is the scariest part of the Clippers, there are so many options that you can't target.

And the problem with the first game of the Clippers is that no matter how many options you have, you have to have a prominent focus to catch.

The Clippers are wrong in their focus, and it is not a good choice to use the low post to attack the Spurs' interior and challenge Duncan.

On the contrary, at the beginning of the game, Curry and Harden continued to intersperse, break through and run, and let Duncan move, which is the right choice.

Popovich looked at the Clippers' first offense at the beginning and thought to himself, this one must be difficult.

After all, it's too difficult for the dog to win two consecutive cities on the opponent's home court.

It's not easy to steal a victory.

With this mentality, Popovich has already begun to figure out how to play the third game in San Antonio.

(End of chapter)