Chapter 657 - 583: Creating an Advantage

Chapter 657: Chapter 583: Creating an Advantage

"Some big men can’t even score if they’re away from the basket. They can’t even dribble—they lose the ball as soon as they try. Asking them to initiate the offense from the high post would be an absolute disaster!"

Popovich was explaining his reasoning, but perhaps feeling there were too many reasons to list, he cut straight to the conclusion.

"Chen, just think about it this way: if we have our big men playing on the perimeter, then what do we need guards for?"

In Popovich’s view, the five players on the court each had their own specific duties. Guards had their responsibilities, and big men had theirs.

As a big man, you might not have the fancy offensive skills of a guard, but you always have one fundamental job: protect the rim.

If you’re running out to the perimeter to take on a guard’s responsibilities, who’s going to protect the rim?

Beside him, Callesimo nodded in agreement.

A center running to the perimeter to attack with the ball... should we call him a center or a point-forward?

Such a big guy, sticking his butt out to dribble and attack... how awkward is that!

"You have a point." Chen Yu smiled and nodded, not arguing back.

However, Popovich’s strong opposition actually made Chen Yu more confident in his own idea.

Under D’Antoni’s tactical system, developing Milicic as a conventional center would actually cause problems.

D’Antoni’s tactics demanded too much speed. This year, he was even proposing that every offensive possession should take 10 seconds or less.

In that amount of time, if a player bulked up and trained for strength like a conventional center, the play would be over before he even got into position.

Secondly, Chen Yu’s idea also stemmed from his recent experiences and observations.

Chen Yu had nearly worn out his copy of Mourinho’s theory on tactical periodization.

Many of the concepts within it were actually universal.

For example, when designing a team’s foundational tactics, the theory proposed that you could purposefully select players who create advantages right from the start.

In other words, for a specific position, you set higher requirements for the player, introducing conditions that are more likely to create an advantage.

It was the same on the basketball court.

The ultimate goal was to create positional advantages.

A center appearing in an unconventional position—faster than your center, taller than your guard—that’s how you create an advantage.

Chen Yu was trying his best to develop Milicic in this very direction.

And in Chen Yu’s opinion, Durant had this kind of potential too, and was perhaps even more suited for this type of development than Milicic.

The agility of a guard with the height of a center—he could always create an advantage no matter who he was up against.

With an advantage, it’s easier to score.

As for the disadvantages that arise, you just let other players or the team’s tactics compensate for them.

After all, it’s a team.

But clearly, this line of thinking was heresy to Popovich, to the point of being incomprehensible and unacceptable.

But the more that was the case, the more likely it was to produce surprising results.

While they were talking, the game was nearing its end.

In the end, Devil’s Mountain still lost the game.

But only by 3 points.

It was a series, so losing one game wasn’t a major issue. There was still room to make adjustments.

After leaving San Antonio, Chen Yu didn’t stay long in Phoenix and immediately headed to Portland.

And on the very day Chen Yu was traveling to Portland, the league’s most shocking trade was completed.

As Chen Yu was boarding the plane, his phone wouldn’t stop ringing.

He pulled it out and saw it was all calls from reporters he knew.

The barrage of calls wasn’t enough; text messages kept flooding in, all asking about the O’Neal trade and whether the news was true.

Of course, the news was true.

Chen Yu had already found out yesterday and had even called Hardaway and others to throw O’Neal a farewell party.

O’Neal wasn’t too bothered about not ending up in New York.

The Dallas basketball market was average, but at least it was a big city.

With his status, the large contract he could have gotten in New York, he could also get in Dallas. In that respect, there wasn’t much difference.

And since he liked to invest and dabble in business, Dallas, as a major city, was also a good fit.

As for the specific details of the trade, it was just as Chen Yu and the others had discussed.

The Mavericks gave up Nowitzki and Anthony Walker.

The Phoenix Suns gave up O’Neal.

The Wizards joined as a third party, sending out Kwame Brown and Dale Davis to receive Walker.

Each team got what it needed, a win-win for everyone.

Seeing the endless calls and texts, Chen Yu simply turned off his phone.

It was only natural for the media to be in such a frenzy.

Two of the league’s top superstars swapping teams was definitely an earth-shattering trade.

The plane roared as it arrived in Portland.

John Nash personally picked Chen Yu up from the airport.

"Chen, the owner is pretty angry," John Nash reminded him in the car.

"I figured."

Chen Yu wasn’t surprised at all.

However, in Paul Allen’s mind, he had narrowly missed out on O’Neal, but the reality was, he never even had a chance to get close.

There was no way O’Neal would come to Portland, and the Suns would never have made a trade with Portland.

"You should tell him that he’s tried buying superstars before, but he failed. That just proves the method doesn’t work."

Paul Allen had waved his money around, building a roster worth over a hundred million, and still hadn’t won a championship. It only proved that simply buying superstars wasn’t the way.

John Nash gave a dry laugh and shook his head. "No, he’ll just think he didn’t buy good enough superstars."

Chen Yu laughed too.

Chen Yu didn’t take Paul Allen’s anger to heart. A man that smart couldn’t possibly be unaware that the Trail Blazers were never getting O’Neal.

As they were talking, Paul Allen called.

He must have already heard that the O’Neal trade was finalized. He didn’t sound too angry on the phone, just sighed a bit, then invited Chen Yu to his estate, saying he wanted to host him properly.

At the same time, he also brought up the matter of the training facility.

Chen Yu had told him about his plan for a high-tech training facility, and the fabulously wealthy owner was very interested.

In his eyes, spending tens of millions to build a training facility was practically pocket change.

The car arrived at the Trail Blazers’ training facility.

After the offseason, the team was in the phase of resuming practice, so there was a session scheduled for the afternoon.

And they were running tactical drills.

D’Antoni’s system demanded an extremely high level of tactical execution.

Chen Yu’s team was also there, assisting the coaching staff with the training.

"Chen!"

Seeing Chen Yu, Rivers’s eyes lit up on the sidelines. He immediately came over, grinning, and gave Chen Yu a hug.

It was as if the events of the past had never happened.

After greeting the coaching staff, Chen Yu turned his head to look at the court.

The starters were practicing their tactical positioning.

This Summer, the Trail Blazers’ main tasks were to clear out players and continue stockpiling draft picks.

The season hadn’t officially started yet, but their roster was already set.

At the 5-spot: Milicic, O’Ku, and Samuel Dalembert.

Dalembert was a rookie, the 26th pick in the first round of the ’01 draft. During the Summer, the Trail Blazers had traded Eric Williams to the Digital People to acquire him.

His skills were raw, but he had great defensive range and good athleticism, making him a blue-collar defensive player.

At the 4-spot: Randolph, Boris Diaw, and this year’s first-round pick, Al Jefferson.

On the wings were Darius Miles, Iguodala, and Travis Outlaw, all of whom were also first-round rookies from the last two years.

In the backcourt, led by Nash and Joe Johnson, were rookies Tony Allen and Chris Duhon, as well as Larry Hughes and Derek Anderson, who were in their prime.

On the 15-man roster, the oldest player, Nash, was only 30 years old.

They were a "young gun" squad in the truest sense of the word.