His style of play definitely had no issues, he could average grabbing 11 boards and 2.3 blocks in 31 minutes per game, all thanks to his relentless energy.
But in a game like tonight’s, that style didn’t fit.
Playing entire quarters with such fervor was fine in the second and third quarters, but after playing two full quarters back to back and returning from a halftime break, it was clear that Okafor’s stamina had hit its limit!
His desperate defense in the second and third quarters, though somewhat limiting to the Knicks’ offense, disproportionately drained his energy, and the effectiveness of his spirited defense during those quarters was actually not that impressive.
Facing off against the Knicks’ Malik Rose and David Lee, who were aggressive in their offensive rebounds, and Eddie Curry, who was dominating in one-on-one situations, no matter how hard Okafor fought, he could not defend very well.
Now faced with a stamina crisis, the points he had prevented earlier were quickly given back within minutes.
Gerald Wallace and Rondo were in similar situations.
Gerald Wallace, active in driving to the basket and hustling on fast breaks on the offensive end, had no issue there, but on defense, he shared the same problem as Okafor. He was too eager to stop his man, couldn’t stand being scored on, and the more he couldn’t defend, the more effort he exerted, using up more energy than usual.
With these two players’ styles of play, Bickerstaff really couldn’t in good conscience blame them. Such good players, but tonight wasn’t the night for such defense, some compromise was needed, they couldn’t all be Duncan.
Rondo, though highly talented, was still a rookie, lacking experience. Tonight, he also wasted a lot of unnecessary energy, and his current stamina was only average, not even on par with Zhang Yang’s during the end of his rookie season. After playing 21 minutes in the first three quarters and fighting hard, boasting an impressive 7 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal stat line, he clearly couldn’t keep up by the fourth quarter.
Matt Carroll and Jumaine Jones experienced a shooting slump, mainly because they seldom played for such long stretches during regular time and the pace of the game was fast.
Bickerstaff could hardly blame these two players either. As substitutes, they are expected to go all out on the court to make their contribution.
Out of an eight-man rotation, five were facing a stamina crisis: an interior core player, tonight’s main organizer of the backcourt, a forward who played an important role on both ends, and two key shooters... Bickerstaff was numb.
Only Millsap, Felton... and Zhang Yang were without stamina issues.
Millsap had played only 8 minutes in the second and third quarters and 6 minutes in the first as a muscle man, such time on court wouldn’t cause stamina issues.
Felton had the best stamina in the team, averaging 34 minutes per game—the highest on the team. Tonight, with Rondo undertaking a lot of the organizing tasks, he was more than comfortable.
Zhang Yang had once again impressed Bickerstaff with his strong ability to read the game.
When it was time for Zhang Yang to pace himself and rest, he really did just that on the court, staying away from the ball-handling teammates, hands on hips, strolling like he was donning the jersey number of the boss.
When the team switched to an all-out offensive lineup, his teammates took the lead and didn’t need him to run off the ball for distraction like in the first quarter. His coasting on the offense didn’t affect their efficiency because the Knicks’ defense was truly terrible.
Zhang Yang also did well on the defensive end, but not in the sense of shutting anyone down, rather in reasonable effort input.
He was guarding Malik Rose, mainly preventing him from setting screens for others on the perimeter and switching on shooters using screens, not bothering to care if he couldn’t defend, since nobody could.
Bickerstaff regretted not having the experience. The eight-man rotation was indeed fierce offensively and continuity before the stamina crisis was high, but neither he nor the players were accustomed to playing this way... Yet, he quickly set aside his regrets, now was not the time for that.
After some thought, Bickerstaff made a decision, since things had already become extreme, why not push it a bit further!
He gathered his players and said, "Raymond, Jack, from now on, the offense is up to you guys, figure out a way to get that damn ball into the basket; Matt, spread the floor, if they pass to you, it means they really need you to shoot, you must take the shot decisively, don’t be afraid of missing, if it doesn’t go in, it’s their problem, not yours; Paul, Nazr, you guys are responsible for crashing the offensive glass and protecting the rim!"
This tactical maneuver made Jordan take notice.
He thought Bickerstaff would use Perkins to replace Okafor, and Alan Anderson to fill in Gerald Wallace’s role, and Herrmann as a shooter, those rotations could maintain the style of play.
Jordan felt Bickerstaff was still too young; even at over 60 years old, Bickerstaff’s methods remained unpredictable!
Assassin Thomas was also surprised by the lineup the opposite team put forward, cursing, "That damn old man really loves to play tricks."
Bickerstaff’s coaching during the peak seasons had coincided with Thomas’s prime, so Thomas had a deep impression of the ’miracle coach,’ who took a team with 39 wins to the Western Conference Finals, knowing that this guy loved to use unorthodox strategies.
That night, as a coach, Thomas personally experienced what those coaches 20 years ago must have felt facing Bickerstaff—an annoyance like no other.
In this game, Thomas felt like he was riding a roller coaster; his team led by as much as 8 points in the first quarter, although it was reduced to just 4 points by the end, he felt that they had an 80% chance of winning. Then, in the second quarter, the other side caught up, the third quarter they led by 7 points, and just when he thought the game was slipping away, the opposition’s offense and defense suddenly faltered. If not for Zhang Yang getting Crawford to commit a 2+1, and Felton scoring a three-pointer, they would have already been overtaken.