Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

After losing two consecutive away games, the Spurs no longer had any margin for error; they needed to win at home or else, if they lost three games in a row, it would be akin to facing certain doom.

This was a predicament no team in history had ever reversed.

So, returning home, the Spurs realized that relying solely on defense to stop the Supersonics was unrealistic, and they had to play to their own strengths.

Just looking at the roster, the Spurs were not lacking at all.

Goran Dragic, Ginobili, Iguodala, Luol Deng, and Duncan.

Although they lacked a superstar in his prime like Yu Fei, they still had players of considerable strength at every position and could definitely compete with the Supersonics if they found their rhythm.

Back at home, the game became simpler for the Spurs.

They no longer exhausted themselves designing this or planning that on the defensive end.

This was proof that Popovich had accepted reality.

Before the series began, the self-proclaimed master tactician Popovich certainly wanted to outcoach Tyronn Lu.

Although Coach Lu wasn't particularly knowledgeable, finding his flaws wasn't easy. He excelled at shifting the problems to the team's leaders. As long as the leaders didn't have issues, Coach Lu's problems would be overshadowed by their strong presence.

This is what's known as 'coaching in the mix.'

Giving up on coaching philosophy and relying on the individual abilities of players is a kind of opportunistic team management, but its advantage is that it doesn't spare any coach.

During the era of the Golden State Warriors, the top 15 coaches in history tried every trick in the book to harness the greatest roster of the new century to create basketball of aesthetic beauty with slick passing and cutting, but when he was temporarily brought down by illness, his stand-in Mike Brown used the unstoppable Curry-Durant pick and roll to its fullest, leading the Warriors to a series of victories.

Was the "Bread Coach" Mike Brown of 2017 really better than all the other Western Conference playoff coaches?

No, he just tapped into the legacy left by James.

Giving the ball to the big brother is never wrong.

When Popovich gave up trying to outcoach and focused on adjusting his team's offense, the difference between him and Lu became apparent.

The Spurs' wing passing and cutting shone thoroughly in the third game.

The Supersonics, who intended to sweep their opponent, suffered a loss.

Mainly because they underestimated Goran Dragic's performance.

Ever since the Spurs traded away Kidd, the point guard position had been a significant issue for them.

Aside from the point guard spot, their other positions looked quite decent, but their stable regular-season performance made it difficult to use a high draft pick to choose a player with potential.

For years, they relied on finding treasure with late first-round picks, with Dragic being the latest success.

The Spurs approached him with an attitude of having nothing to lose.

Fortunately for them, Dragic didn't let the team down, and on this playoff-deciding night, he stepped up.

The Spurs avoided the predicament of being 0-3 down.

In Seattle's neighborhood, the Lakers effortlessly crushed the Mavericks, leading the series 3-0.

Some say this is a reflection of the Lakers' sheer strength.

Similarly, the Supersonics, deemed to have extraordinary league strength, failed to continue their winning streak.

This indicates that compared to the Lakers, they fell short in hard power.

However, this narrative mainly comes from Lakers-centric media.

Those favoring the Supersonics argued that since the Spurs were stronger than the Mavericks and were the third-ranked Western team with 59 wins, even the Lakers couldn't possibly sweep them 100% of the time.

But such collective outbursts are rare for any team.

So it could be said, tonight was the Spurs' lucky night.

But luck can only bring a one-night victory.

Unless one is a gambler who hits the jackpot, such impact is unlikely to last.

Therefore, their luck disappeared in the fourth game.

As a tall point guard, Dragic's pick-and-roll offense was sharp, but his vision for passing was not great.

Tyronn accepted the advice of defensive assistant Tim Grgurich; as soon as Dragic called for a pick-and-roll, they would immediately double-team him.

In that moment, the woes of a traditional big man manifested in Tim Duncan.

When Duncan entered the league, he brought unchallenged first overall pick credentials, playing a number five role despite being labeled a four. His fundamental skills were outstanding, and at that time, he had no weaknesses on the court, earning Shaquille O'Neal's begrudging respect and the nickname "The Big Fundamental."

However, in the small ball era, Duncan was an extremely versatile big man lacking in spacing value.

Though he had a reliable mid-range shot, it was inconsistent, and the Spurs rarely used that as a regular offensive option for Duncan, let alone three-pointers... Duncan was one of those big men of his era who didn't quite adapt to the times.

In an era where Yao Ming, due to circumstances, had moved away from the conservative thought that "big men shooting threes are soft" to averaging three 3-point attempts per game with a 40% success rate, Duncan still disliked the trend of big men stepping out to shoot threes.

Even though he never said anything, his refusal to shoot threes was his silent protest against modern basketball.

Life comes full circle.

No matter where you start, you'll eventually return to the starting point.

The question is, are you any different when you return to where you started?

Facing Dragic's weakness in making plays and his heavy reliance on pick-and-rolls, the Supersonics deployed a double-team strategy, all too familiar to another universe's Stephen Curry, effectively sealing off the Slovenian sensation who seemed poised to make a name for himself in the Western Conference semifinals.