April 20th.
The regular season was officially over.
Early in the morning, Chen Yu found some time to hurry over to the US Airways Center.
For a meeting.
Skiles and the others were holding a season-wrap-up meeting to discuss their playoff journey.
Chen Yu was there to report on the results of Nowitzki’s training.
Chen Yu came pushing a stroller with Xiaoyanfei in it.
The little beauty was over a year old now. She had a sweet face, but she was a restless one, chewing on her pacifier while one hand busily tugged at Chen Yu’s hair.
Lexi had said that in this regard, she was just like Chen Yu.
Chen Yu was restless to the bone.
He’d had a good job at the hospital, but he suddenly quit, insisting on becoming a team doctor even though he knew it wouldn’t be easy.
"Chen!"
Nelson had arrived as well. He greeted Xiaoyanfei with a wide smile, then mentioned that, thinking about it, it was about time for them to consider a second child.
"We’ll wait a bit longer. Lexi is busy with a research project and doesn’t have the time right now."
Lexi had her own career, after all.
Chen Yu didn’t want her to become just a housewife.
The two of them chatted as they walked toward the office area.
After handing Xiaoyanfei over to a female staff member to look after for a bit, the two men entered the conference room.
Skiles and the others had already started.
They were discussing how to deal with the Spurs.
The Suns had run into the Spurs once again.
In fact, toward the end of the season, the Suns had a chance to avoid the Spurs.
But while the Suns tried to avoid them by climbing up the standings, the Spurs seemed to be trying to avoid the Suns as well, perhaps thinking the Suns couldn’t climb high enough, so they dropped down. Back and forth they went, and in a strange twist of fate, they ended up colliding again.
However, Chen Yu had a faint feeling that the Spurs might have intentionally matched up against the Suns.
The Western Conference standings.
The Lakers were first, the Mavericks second, the Pioneers third, and the Spurs fourth.
The Spurs originally had a chance to surpass the Mavericks for second place, but they miraculously lost a game against the Bobcats. That single loss caused them to slide all the way to fourth, setting up a clash with the fifth-place Suns.
It looked like an accident, but you couldn’t rule out that it was deliberate.
Perhaps it was because they had a 3-1 record against the Suns in their four regular-season matchups, making them feel more confident.
Or maybe, they wanted to knock out the Suns in the first round, while their players weren’t too fatigued yet.
They’d have to face them sooner or later anyway.
The Grizzlies were sixth, the Nuggets seventh, and the Kings just barely caught the last train to the playoffs.
Competition in the West was as fierce as ever.
Moreover, it was showing a trend of the old guard giving way to the new.
The Nash-led Pioneers, the Wade-led Grizzlies, and the J Kidd-led Nuggets were all new powerhouses in the West whose strength could not be underestimated.
Just as Chen Yu opened his laptop, he noticed Frank Johnson had stopped talking.
Skiles and the others in the room turned to look at Chen Yu and Nelson.
"Chen, there’s only one question right now, and that’s whether Dirk can handle the Spurs’ defense."
The key point of this meeting was singular: how to counter the Spurs’ defense on Nowitzki.
In their matchups during the season, the Spurs’ defense on Nowitzki had been impeccable.
It was the same strategy from the season opener: Duncan guarding him head-on, with Bowen waiting for the opportunity to help and double-team.
And come the playoffs, that defensive intensity would only increase.
Admittedly, this created some opportunities for Marion, but Nowitzki’s passing out of the double-team was still unreliable and prone to turnovers.
Most importantly, Duncan was still a beast.
At 30, the older he got, the more freakishly good he became. He was still a strong contender for regular-season MVP this season.
This season, he was averaging 24.3 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game. A force on both offense and defense, he remained one of the league’s most elite players.
Moreover, every time the media mentioned Duncan’s performance, they also had to mention Chen Yu.
In the words of the San Antonio media, the meniscus transplant Chen Yu had performed on Duncan had given him at least five more years in the air.
That was why Duncan was still in his prime.
At the peak of both his skills and experience, he was the undisputed number one power forward in the league.
No one knew what kind of performance he would unleash once the playoffs truly began.
And this season, Parker and Ginobili had developed rapidly, with Parker even making the All-Star team.
Their frontcourt had also undergone a major adjustment, bringing in Nazr Mohammed and Rasul Nestorovic.
For once, that notorious penny-pincher Popovich was willing to spend big.
So, in a high-stakes matchup like this, Nowitzki’s performance—and whether he could finally shed his "soft" reputation—was the key.
Hardaway was getting older; the team was counting on him!
Chen Yu and Nelson exchanged a look, and then Chen Yu smiled. "Don’t worry, Dirk will be fine."
’My team spent so much energy, a whole season practicing a secret weapon, just waiting for it to shine in the playoffs.’
’So there won’t be a problem. There can’t be a problem.’
If they didn’t win the championship this year, the Suns would immediately enter a "rebuild."
"That’s it?"
Skiles was taken aback. He had been hoping Chen Yu would say more.
Chen Yu shrugged. What else was there to say?
"Scott, it’s useless no matter how much more I say. You’ll see when the games start."
The proof is in the pudding, as they say.
Skiles nodded and didn’t press further.
Chen Yu didn’t participate much in the rest of the meeting, chatting idly with Nelson instead.
"I saw some news the day before yesterday. It said Greg suddenly brought up Oden and praised him to the high heavens. What do you think? If they don’t win the championship this season, will they just go into full tank mode next season?"
Right now, Oden was being hyped up by the media as the next O’Neal.
Labels like "historic talent" and "franchise cornerstone" were all being slapped on him.
The last person to get those labels was James, and before him, it was Duncan.
That year, the Spurs had tanked like crazy to get Duncan.
And after getting Duncan, they began a glorious decade for the franchise.
If they tanked again and got Oden, he would be their next David Robinson.
Their twin towers lineup would be complete. With Parker and Ginobili on the perimeter, the Spurs could dominate for another ten years. Even after Duncan retired, Oden would be there to take his place.
Nelson was stunned. "They wouldn’t go that far, would they?" he said, dumbfounded.
Tanking for the first overall pick was no small matter; it was a huge gamble.
And they had to consider the owner’s attitude.
Especially for a team like the Spurs, which had numerous minority owners and highly dispersed equity.
If they started tanking, revenue would drop, affecting the profits of all those minority shareholders. They might not agree to it.
Pete Holt’s stake was too small; he might not be able to keep them in line.
"It’s not that far-fetched." Chen Yu had specifically analyzed this possibility. "Look, the Spurs invested a lot this season."
Last season, the Spurs’ payroll was under the salary cap, just over forty million.
This season, it shot up to near the luxury tax line, with a team payroll exceeding sixty million.
With such a large investment, they gave off the impression of a team determined to make a run for the championship.
"Besides, Greg is the kind of person who would do something like that."
Spend the money, max out the roster, and if they win the championship, they keep it.
But if they invest this much and still can’t win the title, it just proves that spending their way to a championship doesn’t work for them.
Keep spending more to upgrade the roster?
A small-market team like the Spurs simply can’t play that game.
So if their championship run fails this year, the Spurs can immediately fall back on the strategy they’re best at: gambling on the draft lottery.
That’s the small-market playbook, and it’s what the Spurs do best.
When a once-in-a-generation talent comes along, they’re not afraid to swallow their pride and do whatever it takes.
"You know..."
Nelson raised an eyebrow slightly. After hearing Chen Yu’s analysis, he had to admit it was a real possibility.
The Spurs’ reinforcements this year had been massive.
They had never been so generous.

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