"Looking at the overall shooting percentage curve, it's obvious: the more players double-team him, the higher his shooting percentage gets."
The Knicks players exchanged bewildered looks. Even with the data right in front of them, they still couldn't believe it.
"That's absurd, isn't it?"
"What the hell kind of data is this?"
"The more players double-team him, the more efficient he gets. Are we supposed to leave just one person on him, then? Or not guard him at all?"
Elson smiled. "You're joking. Of course we can't leave him unguarded. But maybe we should ease up on him and have Michael guard him one-on-one?"
His suggestion went against instinct and common sense, and everyone immediately began arguing.
"You've got to be kidding. Three or five guys can't stop him, and you think one can?"
"You've seen how powerful his offense is. One guy isn't enough to guard him."
Assistant Coach Elson said, "Of course, I'm not insisting we have to guard him with just one man. We could try it for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter. There's still a whole quarter left, so we have time to experiment. If we still can't stop him, we can try something else."
At that, the players, assistant coaches, and data analysts all turned their eyes to head coach Thibodeau. The others could offer suggestions, but the final call was his.
Thibodeau was silent for a moment, then finally nodded. "I think it's worth a try. Let's have Arthur guard him one-on-one. If it works, we'll stick with it. If not, we'll come up with another plan."
The Knicks had their Big Three, so their offensive efficiency was guaranteed. Even if Arthur couldn't stop Wang Yi by himself, the team's offense could keep them afloat. Wang Yi wouldn't be able to