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The next day, Liam and Mark Baum's family left Oakland by plane and flew back to Indiana.
The Warriors resumed practice after a day of rest, but since they had just finished the series, the intensity of their training was not high, focusing mainly on recovering their physical strength, interspersed with two hours of tactical training against the Grizzlies as an imaginary enemy.
The series between the Spurs and the Grizzlies hadn't been played yet, even though Liam was very confident that the Grizzlies would succeed in the black eight, but after all, he had cut Tony Allen from the Grizzlies. It was uncertain whether this would affect the final result of the series, and he didn't allow the players to directly target the Grizzlies for tactical training. Otherwise, if the Spurs weren't black eight, it would be very exhausting for the players to change their tactics.
But tonight, the Spurs and Grizzlies G6 would begin, and this game, much like the Hawks and Magic G6, was essentially a win-or-go-home situation. Although the Spurs were one game behind, if they won this game and returned to their home court without issues, Liam didn't believe Popovich would give the Grizzlies a chance for the black eight.
Before the Warriors Black Eight Mavericks, they won G6 at home and took the series in one go, and the same happened with the Spurs Black Seven Mavericks last year. Home-court advantage is too important in the playoffs, and both the Grizzlies and the Spurs knew it, making this game a do-or-die battle for them.
After the afternoon practice, the Warriors players left one by one, but Liam and the coaching staff remained in the conference room to watch the G6 between the Grizzlies and the Spurs.
In the NBA, players can rest in time, but coaches don't, especially during the playoffs.
Every day in the playoffs is precious, and if the Grizzlies win tonight and advance to the next round, the Warriors' coaching staff would have to draft tactics against the Grizzlies overnight to prepare for tomorrow's practice.
However, to Liam and the others' surprise, unlike the G6 between the Hawks and Magic, the G6 between the Spurs and Grizzlies was not a suffocating defensive battle.
The Grizzlies, back at home and energized by their fans' enthusiastic support, played a 7-0 run at the start and dominated from then on, shooting 52.1% from the field and grabbing 43 rebounds on 1 of 9 three-point attempts, 11 more than the Spurs, including 14 offensive rebounds, 5 more than the Spurs; they made 30 free throws, 16 more than the Spurs, and ultimately won 99-91, eliminating the rival 4-2.
Randolph was a key player, hitting 12 of 22 field goals, 7 of 8 from the free-throw line, with 31 points and 11 rebounds, being the biggest contributor to the Grizzlies' victory. Marc Gasol was willing to be a supporting role, shooting 6 of 9 and recording a double-double of 12 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks, including 5 offensive rebounds.
The white and black dominated the interior and also controlled the game.
On the other hand, the Spurs, with Parker finally playing an efficient game, scored 23 points on 10 of 17 shots, but couldn't sustain it. Ginóbili really failed as Popovich feared, shooting 6 of 14, 2 of 8 from three, and only scoring 16 points. Duncan failed to meet expectations, with only 12 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks on 5 of 13 shooting. His stats seemed more complete but included 5 turnovers and a poor performance.
After watching the game, Liam told Jonathan to turn off the live broadcast and looked at everyone with a smile:
"Alright, now you can be sure, our opponent in the next round is the Grizzlies. Everyone can speak freely, how do we fight?"
Silas clenched his fists and said excitedly: "The Grizzlies are much easier to play than the Spurs. Mike Conley and Battier can defend Parker and Ginóbili because they don't shoot well from three, and they're not as good as Stephen. Jimmy isn't afraid of Battier's defensive flow, and Hollins will definitely keep one of Marc Gasol or Randolph on the court at all times. We can always play the interior game against the Grizzlies!"
Ron Adams also smiled and nodded:
"Exactly, in defense, we also have an advantage: the Grizzlies' offensive focus is on the inside, but Drummond is not the aging McDyes, his steps are by no means inferior to Randolph's. No matter how the confrontation is, with Tyson helping to fill the position, Yi and Andre are two new forces, we can maintain high-intensity interior defense throughout the game. The Grizzlies' inside game is tough to deal with, and Jimmy and Tony Allen on the perimeter can also limit the offense of OJ Mayo and Mike Conley."
Bruce intervened:
"Yes, we have a solid defensive base and can play one dozen against any opponent, and the Grizzlies are a defensive team without superstars, so it's hard for them to play against us. But luckily, Liam took Tony from the Grizzlies. If the Grizzlies had Tony to defend against Stephen, it would've been hard for us to play."
Silas and Ron Adams nodded in unison. Though Tony Allen didn't play much in each game, only in his first 20 years, his defense was a strong card for the Warriors in the playoffs. It was thanks to him that they managed to block Westbrook's offense in the last two games of the series, creating a situation where the four starters fought against defense, Curry and Durant handled the offense, and then Liam allowed the bench to suppress the Thunder's offense, eventually winning easily.
Of course, there were also reasons for the Thunder's lack of experience and Brooks' failure to make timely adjustments, but Tony Allen was definitely a key part of Liam's offensive and defensive tactics.
If Tony were still with the Grizzlies, Curry would certainly be treated like a Willis, and even if he could maintain a basic scoring output with a strong shooting threat, his efficiency would have decreased significantly. The two had faced each other many times in practice games, and the coaching staff knew this.
Liam smiled and didn't comment on this, saying:
"There's no need to talk about these things. Let's analyze the tactical aspects of the second-round series based on the Grizzlies and Spurs' footage."
In his previous life, the Warriors faced the Grizzlies in the second round of the 2015 playoffs, and under Tony Allen's main defense, Curry's shooting percentage fell to 42.1%, averaging a whopping 4 turnovers per game and scoring fewer than his average points per game in those playoffs.
However, Tony Allen could only limit Curry's offense, but he couldn't stop Curry, who had become a supergiant. Curry was able to shoot 4.3 three-pointers per game at a rate of 40.6% in that series, scoring 24.5 points, 6.5 assists, and 5 rebounds, leading the Warriors to a 4-2 victory over the Grizzlies.
But that was the Tony Allen of 33 years old after a decline in athleticism. No one knew what would happen if the current Tony Allen faced Curry in the playoffs. And no one would know in the future. With Liam here, that situation would never happen.
The Warriors coaching staff stayed in the conference room until 11:30 p.m., discussing tactics for the second round of the series, before leaving the Oracle Center and going home.
This was still the time it took for Liam to have the scouting department collect data and videos on the Grizzlies from the start, and the coaching staff had an approximate framework.
Most of the time was spent discussing tactical details, and there was still a lot of uncertainty.
However, this was also something unavoidable. The Warriors and Grizzlies had never faced each other in the playoffs, and the reference value from the regular season was limited, so many tactical options wouldn't be decided until G1 was played.
The next day, the team trained as directed by the coaching staff, and this was also a rest day, with the first round of the playoffs ending without a single game.
Tomorrow, the second round of the playoffs would start with two games: first, the Heat vs. Celtics at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Warriors vs. Grizzlies at 8:30 p.m.
The Fire-Green battle was the focus, and there was even an opinion online suggesting that whoever won between the Heat and Celtics would be the final champion. The series between the Warriors and Grizzlies, however, received less attention.
The Warriors' rise was too fast, the Grizzlies were only the eighth-ranked team in the West and their popularity was very different from that of the Big Three in the East.
Yao Ming had long been out with injury, and the Warriors had assembled the NBA's only Chinese and Chinese-American player. Their performance had been improving year after year, and a superstar like Curry, as powerful as he was popular, quickly replaced the Rockets and became the home team for South American and Asian fans.
Although CCTV continued to insist on broadcasting games on the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th days, and did not air NBA games at other times, the previous G5 game between the Warriors and the Thunder, which took place on Thursday, China time, was not broadcast. However, the local station and platforms like ESPN, TNT, and others streamed it throughout, which made the fans applaud.
In the United States, fans of both the Warriors and the Grizzlies were also unhappy because the league staggered the timing of the two games, leaving all of the prime-time weekend slots for the Heat and Celtics, meaning they couldn't go out and party on the weekend nights.
However, the time difference between Miami and Golden State was so significant that even under normal circumstances, the Warriors scheduled their games late to cater to their local California fans. Their complaints weren't particularly loud.
Amidst all the commotion, May 1st finally arrived.
But before the game between the Celtics and Heat began, there was a hiccup: the league held a press conference at the Union Center to announce that Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau had been named Coach of the Year for the 2010-2011 season.
Thibodeau scored 475 points in the voting, taking first place by an absolute margin, while Liam Gonzalez finished second with 318 points. This was when he won the Coach of the Year award the previous year, and many media outlets, such as ESPN and TNT, had not voted for him consecutively.
When Liam Gonzalez heard the result from Jonathan, he was in his office preparing for the evening's game against the Grizzlies. He simply smiled and asked a question that Jonathan couldn't answer:
"You say, if I were to win this award again next year and be voted the best coach twice in three years, what would that be like?"
End of this chapter
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