The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 211 - 133 "I’ll Lead You to Victory!

After the press conference, Battier gave Hansen a "Batman" hug and whispered thanks in his ear.

In front of the reporters, as many words of praise that could be said, they were nothing compared to a sincere word in person.

"Leave the thanks for later," Hansen smiled and patted Battier on the shoulder after they parted, "like you said, just winning one playoff game is far from enough."

Memphis fans were wildly celebrating their victory post-game, but on social media, Stan was already being hyped up.

He had successfully predicted two series underdogs winning, even earning the nickname "Octopus."

Of course, it was still too early to declare Stan a god, considering a series lasts seven games, and this was just the beginning.

Two days later, the Grizzlies-Thunders series Game 2 resumed.

Brooks showed his ability to adjust in this game, with the Thunders tightening their interior defense, significantly crippling the Grizzlies’ inside game.

In contrast, Hollins, tasting success in G1, chose to stick to his strategy, trying every possible way to get the ball inside.

As a result, Randolph went 5 for 16, only scoring 15 points and grabbing 9 rebounds, with the Grizzlies losing 92 to 106.

And with a poor performance inside, the Grizzlies’ weaknesses in their offense-defense transition became more apparent; Harden, who only had 8 points last game, exploded for 21.

Stan’s analytic predictions were accurate, but he seemed to overlook the gap between the head coaches of both teams.

After the two games were played, the League announced the season’s first batch of awards: Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Coach of the Year.

Coach of the Year was a foregone conclusion; Thibodeau was almost unanimously elected after taking a fringe playoff team to the top of the League.

Sixth Man of the Year went to Odom, benefiting from the Kardashian boost, his first time in his career receiving this honor.

This doesn’t mean that he had the peak season of his career but rather, besides personal performance, the competition this year for Sixth Man wasn’t fierce.

The most competitive award this year was certainly Most Improved Player, with Love, Westbrook, and Hansen among others vying for it.

Love averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 2.3 assists last season; this season, 20.2 points, 15.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.

Westbrook averaged 16 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, and 1.3 steals last season; this season, 21.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 1.9 steals.

Hansen went from averaging 13.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.1 steals last season to 21.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 2.3 steals.

Ultimately, due to the team’s record and his statistical increase, Hansen edged out Love and Westbrook for Most Improved Player.

After the awards, Hansen’s Grizzlies teammates congratulated him during the next practice session.

Although this award isn’t the most prestigious, overpowering the likes of Love and Westbrook meant it could be considered the most valuable Most Improved Player award in history.

Hansen, however, could not be happy. Not because the award was some sort of "cursed" honor, as that was purely a stereotype, but because of the difficulties the Grizzlies now faced in the playoffs.

Brooks had always been regarded, like Brown, as a "babysitter coach," but even among babysitters, there was a stark difference in tactical proficiency.

Or you might say the biggest difference between Brooks and defensive coaches like Brown and Hollins was his ability to adapt to changes.

If Hollins persisted with his inside-focused strategy, the Grizzlies truly might get knocked out in the first round.

Besides, Hollins was someone who valued obedience, or perhaps it could be understood as stubbornness.

Back when they were playing the Lakers, Hansen had disagreed with him over defending Kobe, and if not for Joerger mediating, the two could have really gotten into a quarrel.

Hard-headed approaches didn’t work on Hollins.

Before training began, Hansen sought out Battier, hoping to use him to persuade Hollins.

Battier was the only team member he knew who had successfully convinced Hollins before.

However, once practice started, the Grizzlies’ training still revolved around low-post tactics.

It was during the practice session that Battier conveyed the outcome to Hansen; Hollins firmly believed that in basketball, whoever conquered the inside conquered the game.

This was quite true, otherwise, the Grizzlies wouldn’t be the only team in the League still playing classical twin-tower, low-post, isolated basketball.

It wasn’t just confidence resulting from winning the first game; Hollins’ tactical system was just like that, and it was the foundation of his position in the League.

Hansen then recalled something Conley had said: Hollins was a veteran of three eras, but the previous two times as an interim coach, he was never made official, and that wasn’t without reason.

For Game 3 of the series, the competition continued back in Memphis.

FedEx Forum was teeming with people, buzzing with unprecedented excitement.

Even though they lost the second game, with a 1-1 scoreline, the Grizzlies had already stolen home court advantage from the Thunders.

Moreover, it was unlikely that Randolph would again shoot 5 for 16; the Grizzlies’ interior advantage remained, and they were still the more likely party to advance.

At the venue, many fans held signs like "I want to drink Scarlett’s bathwater," "Do you want Swift’s bathwater?" and some even brought flags printed with "Whoop that trick."

You could fully sense the passion of Memphis fans, as the humiliating experiences of the past were not just felt by players like Battier and Jason Williams; the fans felt them even more deeply.

After all, since then the Grizzlies hadn’t made it back to the playoffs.

Following the opening ceremony, both sides’ starting lineups were announced.

Thunders: Westbrook, Seferosa, Durant, Ibaka, Perkins

Grizzlies: Conley, Tony Allen, Hansen, Randolph, Little Gasol

After Little Gasol won the jump ball for the Grizzlies, the game officially began.

Randolph asked for the ball in the low post to go one-on-one with Perkins, with Seferosa collapsing to help. Randolph turned over to make a baseline fadeaway shot.

Cheers erupted from the fans in FedEx Forum in an instant.

Yes, that’s right, Randolph couldn’t possibly continue the terrible shooting from the last game.

The Grizzlies stuck to their strategy, but the Thunders made adjustments again, Durant didn’t start with isolation plays, but Westbrook broke through to the basket instead.

His explosive change of direction blew past Conley and scored a layup over Little Gasol.

His speed was extreme.

Initially Wall’s performance in the rookie game amazed the fans, but in fact, Westbrook was even faster.

His speed was of NBA historical caliber, he could even compete in the Olympic 100 meters.

Turning back, Randolph continued his post-up play.

But this time, the helping defender changed from Seferosa to Ibaka.

Ibaka’s help defense capability shined in the rookie game as well, bringing a level of disruption far greater than Seferosa.

Moreover, Ibaka had clearly adjusted, he was mindful of using his arms to interfere and cut off Randolph’s passing lane to Little Gasol.

Randolph was forced to take a fadeaway shot in the end, and the ball smashed against the rim and out.

Ibaka used his speed and hops to protect the defensive rebound, and the Thunders immediately launched a fast break.

Westbrook caught the ball and moved so fast that afterimages appeared on the camera, with the lens unable to keep up.

It was as if he had wheels on his feet.

By the time the camera cut back, Westbrook had already charged into the Grizzlies’ backcourt, stretched his body to its limit in the air, and performed a scimitar-like slam dunk.

After landing, Westbrook roared loudly with bulging veins, and the arena erupted into chaos.

At home, the tide of the game originally seemed to favor the Grizzlies, but with his passionate performance, Westbrook had snatched the momentum away.

Five minutes into the game, the Thunders had taken charge leading 10 to 4.

Randolph’s touch tonight was definitely better than the last game, as besides the first shot, he scored two free throws as well. freewebnoveℓ.com

But Brooks’s pre-game adjustments were even more thorough than last game, when Randolph used his post moves to get to the basket, the collapsing Seferosa simply chose to foul, sending him to the free throw line rather than allowing the basket.

This strategy was clearly aimed at disrupting Randolph’s rhythm.

Although Randolph made both free throws, his shot in the following possession was off.

Hollins, sensing something amiss, turned around and called Battier up from the bench.

This substitution signaled the possibility that Allen being on the court was causing Randolph to be trapped in the post, so he brought in Battier, who had the ability to space the floor.

Seeing the substitution, Brooks immediately got up on the sidelines and micro-managed, having Seferosa not collapse and continue to use Ibaka for help defense.

Randolph tried to pass the ball inbounds from the baseline to Little Gasol, but Ibaka’s long arms disrupted it.

Finally, with little time left in the offensive play, the Grizzlies’ attack ended unsuccessfully.

"They need to find a way to get the ball more in Hansen’s hands," Barkley remarked from the commentary box.

The scene of the match reminded him of basketball games from the last century, the Grizzlies were playing too rigidly.

In the meantime, Durant, after a crossover, shot from mid-range and reliably hit the target.

In the previous two games, although Durant’s scoring wasn’t low, his performance was clearly limited by Allen, the "terminator"—shooting 10 for 22 in one game, 8 for 18 in another, and committing 3 turnovers in each.

But facing Battier, it was just as Battier himself said, he could not keep up with Durant’s foot speed, and with Durant at full stamina, the defensive effect was clearly not as good as Allen’s.

On the Grizzlies’ offensive end, Hansen’s backdoor cuts caused a foul without the ball by the Thunders.

At this point, there was a substitution on the side, Harden came on for Seferosa.

This was a signal, as the Thunders had expanded their lead in the last game by tightening their defense and pushing defensive counterattacks with Harden.

The current situation was even better for the Thunders than last game, and Brooks’s substitution was aimed at reaping the benefits early.

It was then that Hansen called a "mini-meeting" with the Grizzlies’ players on the court.

"Give me the ball," he said tersely, as there wasn’t much time.

If they continued playing this way, the Grizzlies’ first-round elimination was inevitable.

Moreover, since Game 2, with Brooks’s tactical adjustments, the defensive pressure he faced had noticeably dropped a notch.

Randolph nodded his head, as he had suffered too much from double-teams in the post these past two games.

Little Gasol and Battier didn’t say a word, but Conley looked back at the Grizzlies’ bench.

Though he had the right to call tactics as the point guard on the court, that authority had to fall within Hollins’s strategies.

If he didn’t adhere to that, he would surely face Hollins’s reprimands.

Hansen saw Conley’s reaction and then quickly and decisively repeated:

"Give me the ball, I’ll lead us to victory!"

Such words, from a sophomore player, would normally make people think he was posturing.

But coming from Hansen’s mouth, you wouldn’t feel that way.

It wasn’t that Hansen talked a big game, it was because he had delivered before.

The Celtics’ "daddy," the scorer’s table "terminator"—no one thought Hansen was boasting at this moment.