June 2, Boston, training facility.
The VCR's cooling fan emitted a continuous, subtle hum. Thick blackout curtains were drawn in the tactical projection room, with only the cool light projected from the screen illuminating the front few seats. The wastebasket in the corner was already overflowing with crumpled tactical sketches and empty black coffee cups.
Since the Eastern Conference Finals ended prematurely, the Boston players have enjoyed a well-deserved vacation. Garnett and Ben Wallace even had time to go fishing on the Charles River for half a day. But head coach Rick Carlisle and his coaching staff locked themselves in this dark room and watched more than forty hours of Western Conference playoff tapes. They dissected every routine play of the Lakers and Mavericks, every movement at every rotation point, frame by frame.
Rick Carlisle, holding a laser pointer, pressed the pause button. The image froze on the moment Shaquille O'Neal O'Neal backed down Mutombo in the low post.
"Watch the positioning on the perimeter." Rick Carlisle drew a circle on the screen with a laser pointer, highlighting the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas is forcing Shaq to use the most basic methods to score every point."
The video continued playing. O'Neal lowered his center of gravity and drove hard into the paint twice with his back to the basket.
The immense impact caused Mutombo's upper body to lean back sharply, his cleats scraping the floor with a short, sharp sound, and he was forced back half a step. But he immediately bent his knees to stabilize his stance, maintaining his defensive position and keeping his arms raised high.
Finally, O'Neal scored with an extremely strenuous turnaround hook shot.
A goal has been scored, but Rick Carlisle and his assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy didn't pay attention to the score.
In this era of the NBA, no one can truly shut down a prime O'Neal one-on-one. But this one play perfectly demonstrated Mutombo's strategic value to the team.
This is the motivation behind Lin Qi sending this defensive stalwart to Dallas last summer.
"He withstood Shaq's powerful drives to the basket," Van Gundy whispered, analyzing from the sidelines. "As long as Dikembe isn't instantly knocked away, Dallas ' defense doesn't need to collapse. Once there's no need for double-teams, the Lakers ' opportunities to receive the ball and shoot from the perimeter are completely gone. Shaq might still score 30 points, but every time he establishes position in the low post, toughs out, and takes a shot, he's expending energy exponentially."
"It's not just Shaq who's getting worn down." Rick Carlisle pressed a button on the remote, switching to another offensive/defensive possession. "Look at the Lakers ' outside shooting."
In the footage, the Lakers attempted a fast break. Jason Kidd grabbed a rebound in the backcourt and instinctively tried to accelerate. But the moment he turned, Michael Finley and Nash were already right there, blocking his path.
"Look at Kidd's speed," Van Gundy pointed to the edge of the screen. "His first step is already out of sync with his awareness. Dallas's transition defense is extremely disciplined, giving the Lakers no chance to transition. Every time Kidd tries to sprint, he runs into delays and is forced to stop."
Rick Carlisle nodded. " Kidd doesn't have the threat of a tough outside shot. Once the game is set up, Dallas's wings will relentlessly collapse to the perimeter, cutting off his passing angles to the inside. He's forced to pass the ball to Richardson again and again for tough shots. The Lakers ' entire system is like a rusty gear being forced to operate."
Immediately afterwards, Rick Carlisle pressed the fast forward button, switching the replay to Dallas's offensive end.
Nash dribbled at the top of the key, with Finley and Ceballos stretching to the left and right corners respectively. Nowitzki, however, didn't go into the paint; instead, he stood straight out a step beyond the three-point line. The entire paint was completely empty.
O'Neal, who was used to protecting the rim under the basket, was forced to take heavy steps, lunging towards Nowitzki on the perimeter. Just as O'Neal shifted his weight, Nash made a bounce pass, and the other Mavericks players immediately cut into that undefended paint area.
"A masterful exploitation of strengths and avoidance of weaknesses." Rick Carlisle watched the replay of O'Neal's sprint, his tone carrying the characteristic coldness of a coach. " Dallas's strength in outside shooting precisely targets the Lakers' new roster's weakest point: they lack a sufficiently agile interior presence to delay and rotate the offense."
The video finished playing. Van Gundy walked over and turned on the overhead light in the projection room with a "snap".
The glaring incandescent light illuminated the brutal hand-to-hand combat scene on the screen.
Rick Carlisle turned to look at the tactics blackboard. The starting lineup for the Boston NBA Finals was written on it in black marker: Gary Payton, Bruce Bowen, Chris Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ben Wallace. Next to it, the rotation players were listed in dense rows: Chauncey Billups Billups, Michael Redd, Ron Artest, Rasheed Wallace, Brad Miller, Wang Zhizhi, and Ron Harper.
Van Gundy followed Rick Carlisle's gaze, and even someone as demanding as him exuded absolute confidence when looking at this lineup.
"If Dallas makes it to the NBA Finals," Van Gundy tapped the whiteboard with the back of his hand, "We'll switch on every pick-and-roll. Whether it's Gary Payton, Artest, Big Ben, or Garnett, their lateral quickness is more than enough to keep up with Nash, and they can use their physicality to push Nowitzki out of the receiving area. Dallas's reliable perimeter defense will be contained by our frontcourt."
"What if it's the Lakers?" an assistant coach in the corner asked.
"Then Shaq will have to endure Divac and Mutombo, followed by a grueling battle against Ben and Rasheed." Rick Carlisle's voice was flat. "In fact, the more matches we play, the better."
Regardless of whether the Lakers advance or the Dallas Mavericks narrowly escape defeat.
Rick Carlisle tossed the laser pointer onto the table and picked up the training schedule beside him. Thanks to the meticulous care of the medical team Lin Qi had prepared in advance, none of the Boston players had suffered any structural injuries, and their physical condition was at its peak.
"Notify the whole team that contact training resumes at 9:00 AM tomorrow." Rick Carlisle glanced at the bright early summer sunshine of Boston outside the window and calmly gave the order. "Regardless of who advances, when they arrive at the New Garden, we need to make sure we give them a shock in the first quarter of the first game."