Chapter 57: The Ability to Create Opportunities

  The Timberwolves' opening schedule this season is not good, except for the first round against the weak Denver Nuggets. In the second and third rounds, their opponents are the San Antonio Spurs, who are considered one of the top teams in the NBA. The combination of Duncan and David Robinson is the best inside duo in the league, making them even more formidable. What's more frightening is that they have almost no personnel changes this season, with a stable core lineup. This season's Spurs are undoubtedly one of the strongest teams in the league. In the fourth round, the Timberwolves' opponent will be the Pacific Division powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers, who feature Shaquille O'Neal.

  This can be said to be a devil's schedule, but with the big win over the Nuggets in the first round, the young players of the Timberwolves are all very confident, and the two consecutive victories in the preseason have also added to their arrogance. In such an atmosphere, even if they were fighting back-to-back, Zhuang Fei did not see any signs of fatigue on the faces of these young people, and all of them wanted to upset the Spurs in San Antonio.

  On February 6th, in front of 20,000 fans in San Antonio, Zhu Fang and his Timberwolves played their first away game of the season. Before the game, Spurs' new leader Tim Duncan came to the Timberwolves' bench amidst applause from the 20,000 fans to greet his college mentor Zhu Fang. The two teams seemed quite friendly before the game.

  However, this pre-match friendship was not reflected at all in the game. Throughout the game, the Timberwolves were unable to break through the Spurs' defense and create any fast breaks. The Spurs' offense was solid and focused on attacking the interior, resulting in a very slow-paced game with few opportunities for the Timberwolves to speed up. Although the Timberwolves tried to quicken their pace under the guidance of Zhuang Fei, they were forced to take shots even when there were no good scoring opportunities, leading to 108 attempts but only 33 made shots and a shooting percentage of just 30.6%. This was the result of forcing the pace, while the Spurs remained unaffected by the Timberwolves' speedup and continued their slow and steady attack. The Spurs took only 80 shots in this game, making 31 of them, including only 7 three-point attempts. It's clear that the Spurs had no intention of giving the Timberwolves any opportunities to fast break. With the Timberwolves unable to get their fast breaks going and Nash's organization not yet mature, it's no surprise that they ultimately lost this game.

  The final score of the game was 82-96, with the Timberwolves losing by 14 points. There were several statistics that made Zhuang Fei feel helpless. The Spurs' twin towers had a total of 30 free throw opportunities in this game, while the Timberwolves only had 24 free throws as a team. This kind of lethality left the Timberwolves, who rely on fast breaks and running plays, far behind. If their shooting percentage doesn't improve, it will be impossible for them to win games with this style of play. To increase their shooting percentage, the point guard needs to have strong ability to create scoring opportunities during defensive battles, but Nash is not yet capable of doing so. Many of the Timberwolves' attacks in this game were simply not effective.

  The Timberwolves didn't have the same flair as their previous game, especially Nash and Jackson in the backcourt. Nash continued to struggle with his shot selection, unable to create scoring opportunities for his teammates. Jackson was limited to perimeter shooting against Robinson and Duncan's twin towers. Robinson had 7 blocks in this game, while Duncan added 4 blocks.

  As for the frontcourt consisting of Pierce, Garnett and Rashard Lewis, although it was slightly better than the backcourt, there were still limitations. Rashard Lewis had a slightly better three-point shooting performance than Jackson today, while Garnett faced double-teams to send out 23 shots with 8 makes, 19 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks. Pierce continued his performance from the previous game, making 10 of 22 shots for a team-high 27 points.

  Garnett and Pierce accounted for more than half of the team's points, facing a team like the Spurs, Timberwolves' other players almost couldn't score. The game went into the second half, and the Timberwolves' players on the court were almost out of control, forgetting how to run and cooperate. The Timberwolves' offense was all based on Pierce and Garnett's individual abilities. This game once again made Zhuang Fei disappointed with Nash's lack of control and confidence.

  "This is the ugliest game, in my coaching career, I have never seen such a game. We didn't play the overall we wanted, although the opponent was strong, but you shouldn't be so fragile? This game, you were thoroughly crushed, thoroughly destroyed." In the locker room after the game, under Zhuang Fei's severe gaze, Jackson, who made 1 of 11 shots in this game, and Mobley, who made 2 of 13 shots, all lowered their heads. Nash, who has never had a good performance since joining the Timberwolves, looked even more gloomy, almost like death.

  The post-match speech of Zhuang Fei had some effect, 2 days later the Timberwolves returned to their home court and played a very intense game amidst the boos and cheers of the fans. Unlike the previous match, the Timberwolves did not show any signs of panic or disorder after falling behind. However, facing the Spurs, even at home, the Timberwolves were still unable to launch quick counterattacks or fast breaks. Nash's ability to create space for his teammates was still limited. The Timberwolves took 89 shots, 20 more than the Spurs' 69, but ultimately lost 80-84, and suffered another heartbreaking defeat.

  Two consecutive defeats, the Timberwolves' first consecutive defeat this season, and Zhu Fang's first consecutive defeat in his NBA career. This Timberwolves team, which has accumulated a large number of future stars under Zhu Fang's watch, showed all its immaturity and shortcomings in front of the mature Spurs, without any disguise or attempt to hide them.

  The 1-2 start also put the Timberwolves in 12th place among Western Conference teams, only slightly better than the Nuggets and Clippers.

  And two days later against O'Neal-led Lakers, Timberwolves are likely to continue their slump.

  "Coach, to be honest, Nash doesn't seem capable of taking on the team's primary playmaking responsibilities at all. His performance has been getting worse and worse, and he's even starting to lose confidence. Although I also think highly of his potential, so far he just can't shoulder the burden of organizing the team. Now he's become a cancer in terms of executing our tactics. Do you think we should take him out of the starting lineup or just abandon the fast break altogether and go back to regular tactics?" Coach D'Antoni suggested to Zhuang Fei in his office.

  "No way," said Zhuang Fei, shaking his head to veto DeAntoni's suggestion. This season, the team has mainly practiced a fast-break tactic centered on Nash, and Nash's core position cannot be changed. Garnett and Pierce do have organizational skills, but it is still too risky to let them handle the ball alone. The Spurs game was proof of that - when Garnett and Pierce held the ball, the Timberwolves quickly became a one-on-one team.

  What's more important is that Zhuang Fei definitely can't abandon Nash, if Nash was really taken down from the core by Zhuang Fei, he would probably be completely ruined.

  Nash's ability in the dynasty system is not low, with an ability score of 76. Although it's not top-notch, it's still a qualified point guard. However, this ability is clearly unable to bear the responsibility of being the team's fast break tactical core. Perhaps the fast break is too early for Nash now. In a fast break tactic, the team organizer must be able to create a large number of attacking opportunities in the shortest time. Players like James and the Suns' future teams are such players who can create many scoring opportunities for their teammates during positional attacks. However, Nash cannot do this now.

  Zhuang Fei sighed inwardly, regretting whether he was too hasty. If he let Nash grow slowly under the protection of Pierce and Garnett, and then rebuilt Nash as the core to play fast break tactics in a year or two, it might be better. But now, Zhuang Fei is stuck between a rock and a hard place, unable to move up or down, left or right, and also has to consider Nash's personal feelings.

  Nash's current state is no longer due to technical and ability reasons, but more psychological problems have also emerged, almost collapsing. The doubts Nash received seem to be no less than Zhu Fangyu, and even more so. The loud boos at the home game of the Forest Wolves were all for Nash, and the media are now ridiculing Zhu Fangyu's 4-year $20 million contract extension with Nash.

  "But if we don't make a change, the next game against the Lakers will be another nail-biter. You're already under a lot of pressure now." DeAntoni wanted to continue speaking, but Zhuang Fei directly cut him off.

  "This season we will not change our tactics set at the beginning of the season, as for Nash's problem I will solve it," Zhuang Fei said firmly, he has already thought of a solution.

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