The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 483 - 244 Never Let Hansen Leave with Regrets

Before the conference finals began, the League announced the All-NBA Teams for the season.

Hansen didn’t win DPOY, but for the first time in his career, he made the First Team.

It is from this that we can see why the media gave the DPOY to Noah, because Hansen really could have swept the honors this season.

A day later, Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals kicked off in San Antonio.

After four quarters of intense battle, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Grizzlies 122 to 113.

Duncan scored 27 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished out 3 assists, Leonard had 21 points, and five players from the Spurs scored in double figures, with the team delivering a total of 28 assists.

Hansen racked up 36 points in vain.

The result of this game was somewhat unexpected.

After all, Grizzlies have the "Spurs Killer" Hansen, who easily overcame the Spurs in last season’s Western Conference Finals.

After finishing Game 1, Hansen didn’t go straight to rest, but rather, after the press conference, he headed to the video analysis room.

While the game was still fresh, he reviewed the footage from the Spurs and Mavericks first-round series.

Before the Western Conference Finals began, he had already watched this footage because the fact that the Mavericks took the Spurs to Game 7 indicated that they had found some weaknesses in San Antonio.

But now, watching it again, he realized even more than before.

Soon after, Joerger also came in, holding the statistical data from tonight’s game.

Seeing Hansen there, he wasn’t too surprised and just sat down next to him.

"Their outside shooting is even more accurate than during the regular season," Joerger said, handing the stats over to Hansen.

Hansen didn’t have the habit of looking at statistical data during games like James did, so he was just seeing them for the first time.

The Spurs shot 9 of 17 from three-point range tonight. Although they didn’t shoot as many three-pointers as the Warriors had, the accuracy was frighteningly high.

Popovich once said he hated the three-point shot, claiming that too much long-range shooting made the game monotonous, ultimately turning it into a shooting contest.

He even thought that all it would take to ruin basketball was for the League to introduce a four-point rule.

On this point, Hansen oddly agreed with him.

But the trend in basketball was not something one person could change; the League, in the interest of ratings, encouraged offensive play and continuously diminished the role of centers, making the three-pointer a mainstay.

So while Popovich verbally dismissed it, his focus on the three-pointer had been increasing year after year.

Especially this season, the Spurs ranked first in three-point shooting percentage during the regular season.

Then, in the playoffs, they shot even better.

This was not some evolution but the well-discussed "Hammer Strategy" they had been employing all along.

Previously, when the Spurs set up in the half-court, they typically had their center down low, shooters in the corners to stretch the floor, and then Parker and Duncan ran pick-and-rolls in the middle.

But now, the Hammer Strategy involved more ball movement; Green and Leonard were getting touches in the offense, moving around to disrupt opposing defenses.

Or in other words, the reason the Spurs were shooting so accurately from three-point range was that they were mostly taking open, reasonable threes.

This highly team-dependent and chemistry-driven tactic, philosophically similar to Princeton’s "motion offense" principle, could only be executed to such effect by the Spurs.

After all, their core lineup had been playing together for more than a decade, so they knew what each other was going to do just by body language alone.

From the Warriors to the Rockets, and now the Spurs, the three-point shot had become the Achilles’ heel for the Grizzlies.

However, it wasn’t just the three-pointers; the biggest change for the Spurs this season was their shift from a focus on half-court sets to actively increasing the pace of the game.

Trailing three-pointers, a scoring method that doesn’t often occur in highly disciplined teams, were now a substantial part of the Spurs’ game.

And this high-speed attack and defense transition was also a way to counter the Grizzlies’ twin-tower lineup.

These were the reasons why the outcome of Game 1 was what it was.

The Spurs were still the Spurs, and even their lineup hadn’t changed much, but their method of play had transformed them into a completely different team.

Popovich being named Coach of the Year was indeed well-deserved.

"They are a stronger team than the Miami Heat," Joerger concluded after watching some videos.

What he meant was, if the Spurs made it to the Finals, they would ultimately defeat the Heat for the championship.

Hansen didn’t speak but tacitly agreed with what seemed like an unrealistic view.

This wasn’t just because the Spurs were the "historical" champions of that year; it was determined by the team’s characteristics.

Besides having the best three-point shooting percentage in the League, the Spurs were also in the top three for defensive efficiency and points allowed during the regular season, and these rankings even climbed to first in the playoffs.

Being strong on both offense and defense was the biggest trademark of the Spurs.

In contrast, after the Heat traded James for Durant, their offensive capabilities improved, but their defense weakened. Moreover, with Wade’s decline due to injury, they became a team dependent on offense for victories.

Once their offense was constrained, they couldn’t change the situation by stepping up their defense.

Just like in last year’s Finals, a 70-win record may look intimidating, but when it came down to the Finals, with Wade being contained, they succumbed to defeat.

Or to put it another way, in this era, it’s not "defense wins championships," but "balanced teams on offense and defense win championships."

This raised the bar even higher for what was required of teams.

"We are a stronger team than the Spurs," Hansen finally said after finishing the videos.

Joerger looked at Hansen in surprise; they had lost Game 1 after all.