The Finals have begun, and the 2002-2003 season has reached its endgame, while the rest of the NBA is starting to prepare for the next season.
On May 22, the League held the 2003 draft lottery, with the Cleveland Cavaliers securing the number one pick, and the Denver Nuggets getting the second pick.
These two teams that had "sponsored" the Glory Team unsurprisingly got the top two picks.
The Toronto Raptors got the third pick, the Grizzlies got the fourth pick but it belongs to the Heat, and the Clippers got the fifth pick.
Among them, the Cavaliers securing the top pick again made other teams cry foul. How could they get the number one pick two years in a row?
Conspiracy theorists are saying that this is the League’s doing, compensating the Cavaliers for sending Yao Ming to the Glory Team last season, and it’s also a reward for the Cavaliers’ management being cooperative.
The intention is to send LeBron James to his hometown, Cleveland, to develop the basketball market in the central region and create a new super superstar.
David Stern explained, "The Cavaliers getting the first pick two years in a row actually proves that there’s no manipulation, but rather it’s the result of mathematics. After all, a coin landing on the same side twice is very normal."
Regardless of the skeptics’ doubts and Stern’s explanations, the die is cast.
All of Cleveland is awaiting the arrival of the "King." Their time to rise has come.
Meanwhile, on the Finals stage, Kobe is seeking to change his fortune, to overturn the two towering mountains pressing on him.
Tonight, during the Glory Team’s introduction, Gan Guoyang didn’t receive the "Sunrise" award anymore; the Finals and regular season are different.
Of course, the applause and cheers still couldn’t stop for a long time, making Kobe feel even worse.
Because he knows, in Las Vegas, he won’t receive as much applause.
The game is about to start, and both sides are free of injuries and missing players, with healthy lineups.
The Glory Team’s starters are Gan Guoyang, Yao Ming, Gerald Wallace, Jordan, and Andre Miller.
The Trail Blazers’ starters are Ben Wallace, Little O’Neal, Kobe, Derek Anderson, and Michael Redd.
The Glory Team’s lineup is larger and heavier, with poor three-point shooting, but they have many tactics for a set play.
The Trail Blazers are more agile and highly aggressive. In the Western Conference Finals, facing the tall and highly potent Mavericks, they strangled the Mavericks alive with a compressing defense.
In the playoffs, the Trail Blazers are the team that limits opponents’ scores the most, and they have a strong offense as well.
Michael Redd has greatly improved, becoming one of the League’s excellent wing players, with one of the best three-point shots in the League, averaging 2.2 makes at 44% shooting.
The only shooter on the Glory Team who can compare to Redd is Ah Gan.
From the perspective of lineup structure, the Trail Blazers are more reasonable, younger, and have a more layered setup.
On the coaching bench, Rick Carlisle is composed, while Old Tang looks sickly; he insisted on coming to Portland for the Finals.
The Trail Blazers, having been honed through the playoffs, subtly display a quality of evolving into a championship team.
The Glory Team, after the torment of the Eastern Conference Finals, seems somewhat staggered.
But of course, Gan Guoyang and Jordan’s strength is still their greatest reliance.
As Tomjanovich said, never underestimate the heart of a champion.
Yao Ming and Big Ben are jumping for the ball at center circle, with a huge height difference, and Yao Ming tipped the ball to his teammate; the Finals officially kicked off.
The Glory Team started steadily, utilizing the Princeton offense right away, Yao Ming waiting inside to find opportunities to attack the basket.
The struggle around Yao Ming’s central point in the interior is the main theme of the playoffs, forcing opponents to accept this theme.
If you can’t resolve this point, don’t think about challenging Jordan or Ah Gan; you’re simply not qualified.
The Heat in the first round and the 76ers in the second round couldn’t limit Yao Ming, making it relatively easy for him to score in the series.
Yao Ming’s efficient scoring in the paint compensated for the Glory’s lack of three-point shooting, allowing them to pass the first two rounds with ease.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics had a Twin Towers with Big Z and Duncan, coupled with Ah Gan’s declining dominance, restricting Yao Ming. This made the Glory’s overall offense and defense significantly more challenging and played painfully.
This issue wasn’t firmly grasped by Beelman during the Eastern Conference Finals, because he didn’t realize it during the pre-game setup, somewhat due to a stroke of luck.
By the time he realized the issue, the Glory had already adjusted, and Beelman’s psychological fear of Ah Gan resulted in excessive targeting of Ah Gan.
In reality, Yao Ming’s efficient scoring near the rim is vital to the Glory’s offensive system; he essentially covered a significant part of a role young Ah Gan used to play.
Ah Gan, in his younger years, brought down opponent after opponent with highly efficient scoring in the paint.
At that time, Gan Guoyang’s offensive efficiency had already reached a threshold, leading to opponents’ defenses collapsing completely.
As the founding figure in basketball efficiency research, Beelman ultimately had his eyes blinded by fear. Comparatively, Carlisle sees things much more clearly.
Using the Eastern Conference Finals as a sample, Carlisle conducted thorough research and preparation before the game, targeting Yao Ming right from the start.
It’s not just Little O’Neal who’s mainly defending Yao Ming, but Ben Wallace too; they would take turns exchanging based on the situation.
The main defensive strategy against Yao Ming is fronting three-quarters of the time, not allowing him to easily receive the ball, and using physical confrontation to incessantly drain Yao Ming’s energy.