Despite having just secured their thirteenth victory of the season in Salt Lake City, the atmosphere the following morning in the video analysis room, which had been temporarily converted from their hotel room, was as oppressive as if the team had just suffered a crushing defeat.
Heavy curtains blocked out the blinding sunlight of Salt Lake City's snow. The projector's cooling fan hummed softly, and the screen's pale blue light cast shadows on the tired yet serious faces of each player. In a corner, the documentary team's camera still shone with its unpleasant red light, quietly absorbing the oppressive atmosphere in the locker room.
"Snap."
Head coach Doc Rivers pressed the remote control, and the image froze.
To thoroughly analyze last night's struggles, the coaching staff edited together three highly representative rounds.
The first video clip shows Pierce and Artest colliding in the penalty area.
"Look here." Doc Rivers circled the two players with a laser pointer. " Chris Paul's original route was blocked, so he cut in. Ron saw the same opening from the corner and cut in too. Our system lacks clear priority when facing pressure. You both saw the opportunity, but there was no communication. This should have been an easy scoring chance, but it turned into a shameful mistake."
He pressed the next button. In the video, Garnett was setting up the offense at the free-throw line, Malone took a big step back.
" Kevin, Malone gave you at least two meters," assistant coach David Blatt interjected. "You could have shot, or attacked him directly. But you hesitated for two seconds in that position, waiting for a run on the weak side. Those two seconds were enough for Sloan's team to rearrange their defense."
Garnett frowned, offering no rebuttal, but simply nodding silently. He knew he had indeed fallen into the trap of "missing out on good enough opportunities in search of the perfect one."
The third video clip shows Gary Payton forcefully clearing one side of the key with a swing, and then backing down Stockton at the buzzer.
"And then here," Doc Rivers, looking at Gary Payton in the front row. " Gary abandoned the system with twelve seconds left on the shot clock. He stopped the bleeding for us with the most basic one-on-one play."
The recording studio was deathly silent, except for the smacking sound of Gary Payton chewing gum.
Doc Rivers stepped in front of the curtain, his tone candid. "We wanted to build a dynamic offense that everyone could participate in. But last night's game proved that this system has no clear ending condition. When the first wave of movement is locked down, blindly passing the ball around will only lead to turnovers."
Gary Payton stopped chewing his gum. He crossed his arms, stretched his legs out casually, met Doc Rivers ' gaze, and spoke with undisguised roughness and rage.
"Coach, I respect the circles and crosses you draw on the whiteboard. But if this system stops working, it's like a fucking beat-up car without brakes."
Gary Payton abruptly raised his hand, pointing forcefully at the bright red timer on the screen. "Look at this damn countdown! Only ten seconds left! With Jerry Sloan's bastards having shut down both the first and second pass points, are we supposed to just sit here like a bunch of idiots, staring at each other and waiting for that damn 'perfect open shot' to appear?!"
He leaned forward, his eyes sweeping across the video room like knives.
"Someone has to step up and call a timeout! Screw the running, just set a screen for me, or get the ball to someone with a mismatch and have them devour the opponent! Coach, we're here to win, not to do calculus problems!"
Gary is right.
A calm voice came from the shadows at the back of the video room. Everyone turned around and saw Lin Qi wearing a black turtleneck sweater, his hands crossed on the table.
" Doc," Lin Qi, looking at the frozen image on the big screen, cutting to the chase, "I just want to know, next time our tactics stall, will we continue to rely on Gary to cover for us by throwing tantrums on the court, or will we have a contingency plan in place for the players on the court?"
After posing the question to the coaching staff, Lin Qi leaned back in his chair.
Assistant coach David Blatt immediately chimed in, "Lin hit the nail on the head. Guys, we don't actually lack a second system; what we lack is a signal to 'pull the power' at any time."
Blatt strode to the tactical whiteboard, picked up Mark, and quickly wrote down two words.
"In normal times, we play our dynamic offense as usual. But listen carefully, if in the fourth quarter we miss two consecutive possessions, our shot clock is reduced to the last ten seconds, or the opponent is gaining momentum..." Blatt tapped the whiteboard twice with the tip of his pen, "Immediately stop the dynamic offense! The whole team is going straight to Red Alert!"
Doc Rivers stepped forward, his gaze sharp, and decisively set the rules. "From today onwards, the on-court command will include 'Red.' Upon hearing this word, all free movement must immediately cease! The entire team will enter 'stop-the-bleed' mode!"
He turned to look at the team's three key players and began to clarify the allocation of responsibilities.
" Gary, you're in charge of controlling the tempo and calling for plays. Chris Paul, you're in charge of creating isolation opportunities on the wings; no need to reorganize." Doc Rivers finally focused his attention on Garnett. " Kevin, you're the pivot of the entire safety valve. Whether to roll to the basket or pop out after a screen is up to you to read the defense. If they double-team Gary, the ball will come to you, and you'll handle the 4-on-3 situation. If they switch to a smaller player to guard you, you can post up!"
Doc Rivers slammed his hand on the whiteboard. "Our system is designed to build an advantage, create more easy scoring opportunities, and reduce energy expenditure. It's not about eliminating your instincts. On the contrary, this system is designed to save your superstar instincts for the most lethal and crucial moments! Understand?!"
"Understood." Garnett was the first to respond in a deep voice, his eyes revealing a bloodthirsty excitement.
Gary Payton smirked and chewed his gum forcefully a couple of times. "It should have been done a long time ago."
The oppressive atmosphere in the video room transformed into a focused calm. Pierce began confirming the positioning for wing isolation plays with Blatt, while Rasheed was asking how to create space if the paint collapsed. Everyone finally knew what they would practice on the court that afternoon.
In the corner, the camera quietly recorded this scene.
With this agreed-upon "dual-mode engine," the Boston Celtics secured victories in Portland and Seattle for the remainder of their Western Conference road trip. Fourteen wins, fifteen wins... This Celtics not only retained their dazzling teamwork but also demonstrated a terrifying ability to stop losses in crucial moments.
Three days later, the team ended their away trip and returned to the East Coast.
When the players returned to the training facility, Lin Qi was sitting in his spacious office at the Boston headquarters, reviewing a business plan that was dozens of pages long.
In 1999, when team owners were still haggling over luxury taxes and most teams were still renting old college stadiums, Lin Qi was preparing to use the massive cash flow he had cashed out from the dot-com bubble to launch his "open conspiracy."
The blueprint on the table is for a mega-scale complex to be built in phases—the " Boston Sports Science and Data Park ".
"The first phase of the project has a budget of sixty million US dollars." Lin Qi looked at the project manager opposite him and pointed to the core area on the blueprints. "I want the top-of-the-line liquid nitrogen cryopreservation and recovery center in the United States, a multi-angle motion capture court, and a sports data analysis room with its own server. The player dormitory area will be completely renovated with custom-made sleep pods that simulate the air pressure, temperature, and humidity of away games."
The person in charge wiped the sweat from his brow and swallowed hard. "Mr. Lin Qi, the customization cycle for these devices is very long, and they are extremely expensive. Many are still in the laboratory stage..."
Money is not a problem.
Without hesitation, Lin Qi signed his name on the last page of the contract. Since the collective bargaining agreement restricted him from filling the bench with All-Stars, he would use money to create a devastating advantage in medical care, rehabilitation, data, and logistics.
The "safety valve" on the field was handed over to Gary Payton, Garnett, and Pierce.
And the "safety valve" outside the stadium...
Lin Qi will use this huge sum of money to turn it into an impregnable moat for Boston, and the team's floor will continue to rise.