Sports Medicine Master System
Chapter 823: Chapter 741: Opportunity for Trial and Error
"See, Chen? I told you guys would win." After the game ended, Alina offered her congratulations.
Chen Yu waved his hand dismissively. "We only pulled one back. We still can’t afford to lose."
It wouldn’t be too late to celebrate once they actually won the series and eliminated the Pioneers.
"I’m sure you’ll be fine. Nowitzki is seriously strong," Alina complimented.
Only in the final moments did a star’s true caliber shine through. Nowitzki was genuinely tough. Milicic had stuck to him closely, barely giving up an inch of space, but Nowitzki still managed to score. His strength last year paled in comparison to now. This remark was also an indirect praise for the efforts of Chen Yu’s team over the past season.
Chen Yu smiled, though he still couldn’t completely relax. The Phoenix Suns had made adjustments, and judging by the results, they were heading in the right direction. Now, it all depended on how Rivers would respond.
At the post-game press conference, Rivers had already shaken off his frustration. He even joked with the reporters, claiming he had his speech ready and was just waiting to deliver it after lifting the West championship trophy.
Unfortunately, the Phoenix Suns hadn’t given him the chance.
"They are strong, but I believe we will be the ones to win in the end." Rivers thought it over and concluded that the chances of blowing a 3-1 lead were still slim. Besides, how could such terrible luck possibly fall on his head?
During the press conference, Rivers maintained an optimistic attitude, but the moment he left, his expression turned dead serious. After sending the players off, Rivers kept the entire coaching staff behind.
It was time for a meeting.
The first item on the agenda was discussing how they had lost the game. Dave Wall, sitting to Rivers’s right, spoke first. This season, Rivers had continued to expand his core staff, bringing Dale Wall—his assistant coach from his time with the Magic—to Portland. After all, as soon as Gentry took over, Dale Wall had been cleared out anyway.
"Last season, we eliminated the Phoenix Suns. At that time, our roster was exactly the same as it is this year.
"And over on the Phoenix Suns’ side, their starting lineup hasn’t seen any changes either. So why is it that a year later, we’re the ones struggling so much?"
His question plunged the others in the room into deep thought. Last season, after upsetting the Spurs, the Pioneers had gone on to upset the Phoenix Suns 4-2. So, just as Dave Wall said, neither team’s roster had changed much. It was still the same group of guys. Why could they win so cleanly last season, yet struggle to close it out this year?
"Dave, the situation isn’t as dire as you’re making it out to be," Rivers frowned. They had only pulled one game back. The Pioneers still held the initiative in the overall series. Who knew? Maybe they would eliminate the Phoenix Suns 4-2, just like last year.
D’Antoni shook his head. "Doug, haven’t you felt our sluggishness in this series, especially over these past two games?"
They had only narrowly won the previous game out of sheer luck. And in this game, they had trailed the entire time. They kept trying to catch up, but they just couldn’t close the gap. It hadn’t been like this last season.
Waiting until Rivers looked his way, D’Antoni continued, "I think one major reason is that the rest of the league understands our tactics better now."
Last season, the Pioneers had emerged as dark horses. Utilizing a run-and-gun system that no one had ever seen before, they had outworked the Spurs, shot down the Phoenix Suns, and rode their underdog momentum all the way. At that time, the other teams in the league had limited knowledge of the run-and-gun strategy. But now, a full year had passed. Opponents had been constantly studying them and had already devised countermeasures.
For example, applying high-pressure defense on Nash to prevent their fast breaks and transition offense from taking off. Paying closer attention to defending the corners to stop the Pioneers from setting up their V-formation. Speeding up help defense and switches, while placing more emphasis on guarding Milicic and Iguodala to keep them from linking up and distributing the ball. Knowing that Nash was their engine, teams were targeting him with far more physical defense.
"Under these circumstances, if we stick to our original tactics, their effectiveness will definitely drop."
The men present frowned and nodded in agreement. They had to admit that D’Antoni was right.
"But Mike, we have no room to make changes," Rivers said, clearly distressed. It was too late in the game; even if they wanted to change, they couldn’t. Without the run-and-gun, the Pioneers would only lose even more miserably.
"I’m not suggesting we change it." The run-and-gun system was D’Antoni’s pride and joy; he would absolutely never abandon it. "I just mean that we need to accept the reality that our tactical potency has decreased, and then figure out a way to elevate it."
Pausing for a moment, D’Antoni added, "Secondly, the Phoenix Suns have gotten stronger. Nowitzki is vastly better than he was last season."
The Phoenix Suns’ roster hadn’t changed much, but Nowitzki had received an epic upgrade. Dale Wolf and the others nodded. This was also a crucial reason for their loss. In critical moments, the Pioneers simply didn’t have a star player as clutch as Nowitzki.
Rivers rubbed his temples in frustration. "Let’s just focus on finding a solution for now."
Summarizing the reasons for their loss was easy enough for the group, but when it came to finding a solution, they fell into a heavy silence. Solutions weren’t just something you could conjure out of thin air.
Rivers glanced around the room before settling his gaze back on D’Antoni. D’Antoni didn’t rush to speak, gesturing for the others to go first. The rest failed to offer any brilliant ideas. They spouted empty platitudes—like stepping up their defense—but when pressed for specifics on how to do so, they came up empty.
Finally, D’Antoni broke his silence.
"Doug, I actually have an alternative.
"Right now, we lead the series 3-2. That means we still have a margin for error.
"In the playoffs, the most important thing is to leverage your strengths, and our strength is our offense.
"We should push our offensive capabilities to the absolute limit. That means subbing out Zack, moving Dako to the five spot, and speeding up our offensive tempo even more."
Whether it was Randolph or Salemport, both of them dragged down the Pioneers’ run-and-gun pace.
Rivers crossed his arms, staying silent. Truth be told, he had been annoyed with Randolph for a while now. It wasn’t that Randolph was a bad player; he just didn’t fit the current Pioneers. He couldn’t run the floor, and he consistently failed to lock down the paint on defense. His offense was highly erratic. When he had the hot hand, dropping twenty-plus points was a breeze. But when he was off, he would put up infuriating performances—shooting one-for-five or one-for-six—that would make your blood boil.
Rivers was still planning to save this position for Oden anyway.
"Then who moves to the four spot?" Dale Wolf asked from across the table.
Iguodala was too short. And Al Jefferson, much like Randolph, wasn’t suited for the run-and-gun system. He was better suited for grinding out points in a half-court set.
As for Darius Miles, his offensive abilities were maxed out, and he had the height. But he had always played like a small forward, and his defense was leakier than a sieve. Whoever played the four spot would also have to shoulder the responsibility of guarding Nowitzki. If they actually put Darius Miles on him, Nowitzki would shoot right over him and turn him into Swiss cheese.
"We have no other choice. It has to be Dior," D’Antoni stated without hesitation.
Only someone as versatile and intelligent as Dior could handle this run-and-gun system.
"Doug, we’re in the lead. We still have room for trial and error. The worst-case scenario is a Game 7, and even if it comes to that, we have home-court advantage.
"But if this adjustment succeeds, we can march straight into the Finals."
If they didn’t try it now, they wouldn’t have the chance to experiment in a Game 7. And what if the experiment worked, and they won?
Rivers hesitated for a moment before nodding. He had been persuaded. Mainly because he genuinely couldn’t come up with a better idea himself.

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