Ginobili sank two straight three-pointers. Skiles had already noticed; he didn’t need Chen Yu to point it out.
He walked over to the sideline and yelled at Ben Gordon, pointing at Ginobili to indicate that he needed to watch him more closely.
At that moment, Chen Yu remembered what this tactic was.
George Karl’s "Ham" tactic.
Chen Yu’s team was in the consulting business, so they often collected vast amounts of data. In the realm of tactics, for instance, they didn’t just collect and organize strategies from the NBA, but also from the NCAA and even high school.
And if Chen Yu remembered correctly, the play unfolding before him was called exactly that.
During the "Three Musketeers" era of the Bucks, George Karl designed a plethora of plays for Ray Allen.
One of those plays involved the point guard driving into the low post to draw the defense, then dishing the ball to Ray Allen in the weak-side corner to create a shot for him.
The player on the Bucks who filled that driving role was Darwin Hamm, so the team called it the "Ham tactic."
’Who would have thought the Spurs would adopt it.’
’It makes sense, though. Popovich is exactly the type of guy who loves to study the game, isn’t rigid, and tailors his tactics to his players’ skill sets.’
’Since they went to the trouble of practicing so many threes, it’s no surprise they’d draw on past successes and design a bunch of three-point plays.’
’The key is, they’re so damn sly!’
Chen Yu turned to look at the opposing bench.
’If I’m not mistaken, the Spurs didn’t use any plays like this during the regular season.’
’And this wasn’t just one simple play; it had multiple variations.’
’Ginobili would even run the baseline, going from one corner to the other.’
’And he wasn’t the only one waiting in the corner.’
’They had Bowen, too.’
’Bowen also had a decent three-point shot. This season, he was averaging 3.2 attempts per game and hitting them at a terrifying 42 percent clip.’
’He could play that role as well.’
’Most importantly, they ran their sets with practiced ease.’
’What did that mean?’
’It meant they’d been practicing it in secret all season, saving it as a trump card for the playoffs.’
’If that wasn’t sly, I don’t know what is.’
The Phoenix Suns had planned to put Nowitzki through secret training to give him a killer move for the playoffs. They never imagined the Spurs were doing the exact same thing.
The Phoenix Suns were forced to call a timeout.
17-9. The Spurs were already up by eight.
And it had only been half a quarter!
Skiles had clearly recognized the potency of the Spurs’ strategy.
What was even more chilling was that Duncan hadn’t even really started to exert himself yet.
He could already guess Popovich’s game plan.
For the first three quarters, have Duncan take fewer shots and rely on Ginobili and the others to carry the load.
Once the fourth quarter’s critical moments arrived—crunch time, when the superstars had to prove their mettle—it would be Duncan’s turn to take over.
The more critical the moment, the more dependable Duncan was.
Skiles knew about the Ham tactic, too.
The essence of the play was offensive misdirection.
But the masterstroke of this particular play was that just when you believed the player drawing the defense was going to pass, he might choose not to and attack the rim himself.
Back on the Bucks, Ham was just an ordinary role player.
But Parker was different. He was the "French Sports Car," an All-Star.
If the Phoenix Suns focused all their attention on Ginobili waiting in the corner and ignored Parker, they would absolutely pay the price.
’What a headache!’
Skiles couldn’t help but scratch his head. For now, all he could do was tell his players to watch Ginobili’s and Bowen’s movements.
Then he subbed out Ben Gordon for Poseidon.
Ben Gordon’s defense was just too awful.
"Offense. The key is to score. Don’t let them dictate the pace. We need to play at our tempo!" Skiles urged as a final instruction.
’It’s one thing if we can’t stop them, but we can’t let our own offense fall apart, too.’
He looked over at Nowitzki.
His gaze said it all.
Nowitzki said nothing, his eyes profound.
He knew it was time for him to step up.
As he looked up, Nowitzki also saw Chen Yu in the row behind the bench.
Just then, Chen Yu looked his way.
Their eyes met, but Nowitzki said nothing.
「Play resumed after the timeout.」
Hardaway was the first to strike.
He was the silent, calm type—all action, no talk. In critical moments, he didn’t need to be told what to do; he just knew.
Right away, he came off a screen, pulled up, and sank a three-pointer.
Then, on the other end, he dove for a steal. The instant he landed, he tipped the ball ahead, assisting Poseidon on a fast-break layup.
In an instant, they had clawed back five points.
And now, it was Nowitzki’s turn.
He caught the ball at the elbow and backed down Duncan.
With a single look, all his teammates cleared out.
He backed down to create space, then turned to face the basket. Duncan raised his right hand, ready to contest the shot.
Then Nowitzki made his move. He bent his knees slightly, feigning a drive. The moment Duncan instinctively straightened up to cut him off, Nowitzki shot a fadeaway.
It was his picture-perfect, one-legged fadeaway jumper.
Duncan leaped, stretching his arm as far as he could, but he still couldn’t disrupt the shot.
The ball traced a high arc before dropping cleanly through the net.
Duncan froze for a second.
’If I remember correctly,’ he thought, ’Nowitzki used that move in the All-Star Game.’
’But man, a shot like that is impossible to defend.’
’He’s already so tall, and then he fades back on top of it.’
’Plus, his timing and that raised leg make it even harder to get a hand on it.’
Nowitzki caught the look of astonishment on Duncan’s face.
At that moment, he suddenly found his rhythm. It was just like Chen Yu had said: once he made that first shot, everything would click into place.
On the next possession, Nowitzki went right back to it.
The moment he caught the ball, before Bowen could rotate over to help, Nowitzki made his move. He drove baseline, stopped on a dime, created a sliver of space, and rose up for another fadeaway.
Another one!
He wasn’t done yet.
Nowitzki was completely in the zone.
He caught the ball at the free-throw line and went straight into his jumper.
Another fadeaway.
After an entire season of grueling practice, his fadeaway and its impossibly high release point had become pure muscle memory.
The ball’s trajectory looked impossibly strange, yet it just kept going in.
He’d hit three in a row, but he wasn’t finished.
Nowitzki was on fire. He lowered his center of gravity, backed his man down, and then hit a turnaround fadeaway.
A shot like that? Duncan could have been a flying demon and he still wouldn’t have been able to block it.
BEEP!
The Spurs called a timeout.
The Spurs players walked off the court to be met by Popovich’s livid expression.
It was a full 100-second timeout. Only Callesimo was pulling the players aside to draw up a play; Popovich just stood there with his arms crossed, not saying a single word.
’Just as I feared,’ he thought. ’It finally happened.’
’That move Nowitzki used in the All-Star Game... he’s actually perfected it.’
’It was a flash in the pan during the All-Star Game, and the media didn’t make a big deal of it, but every coach in the league studied that move.’
’Popovich didn’t know what other coaches thought, but he himself was certain Nowitzki could master it.’
’Because he had Chen Yu’s team behind him.’
’The only thing he hadn’t known was just how far Nowitzki would take it, and just how devastating that move could be.’
’Now he knew.’
’When he gets in a rhythm like this, it’s like he’s using a damn cheat code!’

Comments

Loading...