The next morning, Zhang Yang, Felton, Rondo, and Okafor gathered in Felton’s room, browsing the news, watching videos, and chatting.
Zhang Yang said, "The Spurs are probably the only team that gets described as winning ’steadily’ by just 4 points."
Okafor agreed, "Indeed, they are steady. No matter how we tried to catch up last night, we just couldn’t."
Felton added, "That’s true, but in the end, they only won by 4 points. If Jack had a bit more luck and Bowen hadn’t reacted so quickly, Jack’s four-point play would’ve succeeded, and we could’ve tied the game at the last moment. This shows they don’t have the ability to secure a larger advantage."
Zhang Yang remarked, "Big guy’s got perspective!"
After last night’s game, Zhang San initially wanted to seek comfort from the always energetic Zhang San, but instead, he found Zhang San doubting life and had to console him. At that moment, he was truly frustrated.
But Zhang San was Zhang San. After a good night’s sleep, he was back to normal. With an angle to work from, he could think rationally and positively, without sinking into self-pity.
Okafor, hearing this, also felt it made a lot of sense, "That’s right. GDP’s offensive capabilities aren’t stronger than Billups, Hamilton, Webber, and Wallace when they are in good shape. As for Parker, we can lock him down in set plays. He only made 5 out of 14 shots throughout the game, and 3 of those were scored during fast breaks and transition plays due to our positioning mistakes."
Felton observed, "Their defense is better than both ours and the Pistons’. If our and Pistons’ defense are rated at 3... 3.5 points, the Spurs’ defense, if not a full 5, would be 4.5 points."
Rondo chimed in, "It’s a good thing we traded back for Nazr. Without him, they could have been as defensively solid as in ’05. Without Nazr and Nesterovic, Oberto, Elson, and Brezec can’t protect the rim alone. They seem fine alongside Duncan, but when Duncan sits out, the four of us, plus Gerald, we all attack the rim, forcing them to double-team and help on defense."
"The Spurs’ defense now is extremely strong on the perimeter but relies solely on Duncan inside. We’re good at attacking the rim and can hopefully break the defense from the inside, but the pressure to score from the perimeter will fall heavily on Jack."
Felton asked, "So we should focus on attacking the rim when Duncan is resting?"
Rondo replied, "No, we could try to play well as a team when Duncan is out, to ease the pressure off Jack’s perimeter scoring and see if we can force Duncan to stay on the court longer."
Felton exclaimed, "Oh! Right! We can’t let Duncan have the chance to rest. That might affect his stability. I almost went mad when he scored that 2+1 at the end of the third quarter last night."
Okafor said, "I can’t think of any way to deal with Ginobili. Sometimes even when all five of us surround him, he still finds a gap to score, feeling like we’re up against Kobe Bryant."
Rondo reflected, "Two years ago in the Finals, the Pistons couldn’t stop Ginobili, who shot nearly 50%. I watched the live broadcast of that Finals. The most memorable was Game 7 where Ginobili went 8 for 13 and scored 23 points while Duncan only made 10 out of 27 shots that evening. I thought Ginobili would get the FMVP, but in the end, it went to Duncan."
"Ginobili is even better this year than two years ago. His average scoring for the regular season and playoffs are higher than that year. And as the sixth man, Popovich puts him in mostly when we go into our rotation and our defense weakens."
The two were quite worried, but Felton was more optimistic, "Leave Ginobili to Jack; I can score too. There’s always a way. Plus, Ginobili sometimes slips up."
Rondo agreed, "Last year in the second round, Game 7 against the Mavericks, Ginobili made the near game-winner. But then he committed a pointless foul, sending the Spurs to the guillotine. That’s our breakthrough. We must seize the moment and the opportunity..."
Felton and Rondo had a lively discussion, and Okafor, being the calmest, intervened appropriately and raised some questions.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yang, while the memory was still fresh, reflected on the good and bad aspects of last night’s game and his own feelings, which was much more useful than watching the videos.
He had a deeper impression last night, but at that time, they had just lost the game, and he had to play the role of a psychologist to Zhang San. Now, after a night’s rest, with negative emotions set aside, his thoughts were clearer.
At 1 p.m., the Bobcats left the hotel for the AT&T Center, to carry out their prep work on the rest day.
The coaching staff found a lounge where they reviewed the meeting agenda and the afternoon’s training content.
As the prime candidate for the next head coach and currently an adviser for the team, Carlisle was in charge of hosting the pre-game meeting today.
The pre-meeting session ended, and on the way to the meeting room, Carlisle felt a little excited.
It wasn’t his first time as a head coach, but it was his first time leading a new team, so the excitement was natural.
He asked, "I’ve noticed the players are pretty down after the loss, Michael. Maybe you can lift their spirits before the meeting?"
The team’s owner Joe, who was with the team throughout the Finals, responded, "Doug Collins was right; you really know how to utilize the resources available— even I’m getting involved. But don’t worry about it, no need for me to make an appearance."
Carlisle had once worked as an assistant coach under Doug Collins and was highly regarded by the veteran coach. He still reached out to his former boss for advice... What was wrong with a 40-something-year-old coach seeking advice from his mentor?