Although he was psychologically shocked by Min Congda's boldness and fearlessness, Krakow, as a seasoned investor, calmed down and did not let his emotions influence him, and rashly signed a gambling agreement with Min Congda.
He said he would have to see the Clippers' subsequent performance to determine whether he is willing to make the investment.
Of course, Min Congda was not very happy. He thought that it was relatively safe for the Clippers to enter the Western Conference Finals. The Thunder was not the Clippers' opponent.
But if he reaches the Western Conference Finals, would Krakow want to see the Clippers' performance again? Do you want the Clippers to advance to the finals?
This is a result Min Congda doesn't want to see.
Enter the Western Conference Finals, sign the agreement, get the money, and then the Clippers are smoothly eliminated and go home to fish. This is Min Congda's ideal scenario.
It's a pity that investors don't want to follow Min Congda's script. They have to "see is believing" and see the Clippers' true potential in the NBA.
After the meeting, Shelley Sterling asked Min Congda privately: "Are you so confident in the Clippers' record?"
Min Congda thought to himself, where did I get the confidence? It would be great to reach the Western Conference Finals, and said: "Of course, of course I have the confidence!"
Shelly said: "If you are so confident, then I will also have the confidence to participate in this bet with you."
Since a bet is going to be made, the participation and consent of the Clippers owner is naturally indispensable.
Xie Li's trust is very important to Min Congda.
If Shelly refuses to join the game, he alone cannot do this as a general manager.
Min Congda was very grateful for the old lady's trust, but felt a little ashamed in his heart.
"I'm sorry, old lady. If you trust me now, you will go bankrupt in the future. But you are over eighty and have enough wealth. If the team goes bankrupt, you can still live a good life. Don't blame me."
Min Congda comforted himself for a while.
The next day, the semifinals between the Clippers and Thunder will begin.
In the East and West, other semifinal matches have also been announced.
Not surprisingly, the Lakers successfully passed the first round and got their revenge on the Dallas Mavericks 4:2.
After experiencing the glory of last year, the Mavericks are missing Chandler this year. Nowitzki is one year older and no longer has the style that swept the Lakers last year.
However, they still won two games, and the Lakers were not able to easily pass the Mavericks.
In fact, in terms of lineup, the Lakers are extremely strong. On the trade deadline, the Lakers also acquired small forward Gerald Wallace from the Trail Blazers.
The lineup of the Purple and Gold Army can be said to be luxurious to a certain extent.
Paul, Kobe, Gerald Wallace, Metta World Peace, Kenyon Martin, Grant Hill, Billups, Bynum, Michael Reed...
In terms of paper strength alone, the Lakers' lineup is simply an All-Star.
But in terms of tactical matching, after a regular season, the chemical reaction has not reached its optimal state.
However, with the help of Phil Jackson, this star-studded team continues to move forward towards the championship.
In the semifinals they will face the young Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies played seven games with the Denver Nuggets in the first round, and finally defeated their opponents 4:3 and got a ticket to the semifinals.
The young combination of Griffin-Conley-DeAndre Jordan showed great potential, and their matchup with the Lakers also attracted great attention.
In the Eastern Conference, the script of the semifinals is exactly the same as last year. The Cavaliers, the No. 1 player in the Eastern Conference, will meet their old rivals, the Boston Celtics.
Last year, the Cavaliers successfully overcame the inner demons of the Big Three in the semifinals. After having Irving this year, they are naturally more unafraid of the one-year-old Celtics.
The Heat, third in the Western Conference, once again took advantage of opportunities and met the Bulls in the semifinals.
It seems that the Heat are addicted to beating the Bulls, because in terms of lineup, the Heat are indeed more restrained than the Bulls.
The Bulls' only strong point is Derrick Rose, but it is really difficult for Rose to take advantage against Wade.
Moreover, Rose was injured when the Bulls faced the 76ers in the first round, and the semifinals will undoubtedly be affected by the injury.
The Bulls, whose offense relies heavily on Rose, will obviously have their combat effectiveness greatly reduced.
It's just that the Heat can take advantage of the Bulls. Can they still beat the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals?
The Heat lost Battier and gained Odom, and the effects were mixed.
The problem is that Battier went to the Cavaliers, which is very troublesome.
After the first round, the Cavaliers have ranked first in winning odds.
They don't have as many stars as the Lakers, but the team has a group of players that fully meet James' needs. The Cavaliers are obviously stronger than last year.
The semi-finals have not yet started, and many fans have already begun to imagine that the 23vs24 they have been looking forward to may come this season.
Relatively speaking, the Clippers have become the more low-key among several teams.
Because they exposed many problems in the first round against the Spurs.
First of all, they are young and inexperienced. Although they have had amazing performances in the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, the core members of the Clippers are still very young.
Curry and Harden are in their third year, George is in his second year, and Leonard and Butler are both rookies.
Gasol is only in his fourth NBA season, and Randolph has just turned 30.
The only true veteran on the team is Derek Fisher.
Their average age is only 24.7 years old, not even 25 years old.
From this point of view, the Clippers are too young.
If we go back and count the teams that have won the championship, the average age is generally relatively older. The average age of winning the championship is 28 years old. In recent years, many veteran teams have won the championship.
Because the competition for the NBA championship is extremely fierce and cruel, and the playoffs adopt a 7-game 4-win format, it is not a random game that determines the outcome, so experience is very important.
Like last year's championship Mavericks, the average age of the team is over 30 years old, and the core players are all over 30 years old.
The Lakers in 2009 and 2010 were also an old team. The core Big Three of the Celtics in 2008 were all veterans over 30 years old, and were paired with a bunch of old players on the verge of retirement, such as PJ Brown, Cassell, etc. So the average age of the team is also very high.
The Spurs in 2007 and the Heat in 2006, not to mention age, were all veterans.
This veteran team building idea almost started in the late 1990s.
The Chicago Bulls in the 1997-1998 season were the championship team with the oldest average age in NBA history.
Their average winning age is 32.09 years old.
If you count further, you will find that the teams with the highest winning ages are basically concentrated in the mid-to-late 1990s until now.
For example, 07 Spurs, 97 Bulls, 11 Mavericks, etc.
The exception was the 1969 Boston Celtics.
Starting in the 1970s, through the 1980s and early 1990s, the average age of winning teams was relatively young.
The youngest among them is the 1977 Trail Blazers, only 24 years old, a second- and third-year rookie who started first.
There are many reasons, two of which are more important. One is that contemporary medical technology is advanced, and the condition of veterans is getting better and better.
In the past, when medical care was underdeveloped, many players were in poor health at the age of 30 and were already considered veterans.
Nowadays, 30-year-old players can still last for several years when they reach their peak. In the future, the career lifespan of players will become longer and longer.
Another point is the league's playing style. Starting from the 1970s, to the 1980s, and then to the late 1990s, the overall trend was from aggressive offense to tight defense.
By the middle and late stages of Jordan's reign, and the first few years of the 21st century, the overall benefits of defense had exceeded those of offense.
The defense is strong, the offense is weak, the game pace is slow, and the stars play a prominent role. This game format is beneficial to veterans.
Veterans are more experienced and can be more effective in games with low scores, few rounds, strong confrontation, and weak running.
Then veteran coaches like Popovich and Phil Jackson developed a team-building idea of a lineup of core superstars + passing stars + experienced veterans.
It can be said that from Jordan's retirement in 1998 until today, this team building idea has included most championships.
So every offseason, veterans who want to win a championship will join the Lakers or Spurs to win a ring.
The 2010 Finals between the Celtics and Lakers embodies this trait to the extreme.
The Mavericks won the championship last season and still have the shadow of the previous era, although they have begun to bring the atmosphere of the new era.
This year, the Spurs were eliminated in the first round, and the young Grizzlies, Clippers, and Thunder will attack the Lakers.
These three teams all have a common characteristic, which is that they rely entirely on the draft to build their lineups. They have almost no gains in the free market, and they have no habit of collecting outdated veteran stars, and veterans are not willing to come.
The only Clippers veteran star who can be considered a has-been is Okafor, but Okafor is not actually old. He is in his prime at the age of 30, and in terms of appearance, he is not a big name as he has never been selected as an All-Star.
The core lineups of these three teams, from starters to substitutes, are basically self-selected and traded. They are all in their prime or very young, and there are at most one or two veterans in the team who serve as ballast.
In the East, the situation of the Bulls is very similar to that of the Clippers, Thunder and other teams. The core of the Heat is also in its prime. Riley would like to collect balloon stars like he did in 2006, but it is a pity that others are not willing to come. The combination of Wade + Bosh Unattractive.
The age of the Cavaliers' lineup is quite reasonable. The ratio of rookies + prime players + veterans is very good, and the team's age structure is the healthiest.
The only remnants of the old era in the East and West are the Lakers and Celtics.
The Lakers, in particular, have a stamp album of balloon stars and veterans. They have collected all the old guys who had some influence in the last 10 years but have not yet retired, but whose strength has declined sharply, in order to make a last ditch effort.
In the eyes of fans, a lineup like the Lakers is naturally very strong and looks like a championship.
Moreover, their performance in the regular season was quite good. They beat the Clippers twice. Their players are experienced and the playoffs should go smoothly.
In fact, the league's style of play is in the process of transformation, and the importance of offense is becoming increasingly prominent.
In particular, the early retirement of David Stern and the emergence of Adam Silva accelerated the progress of this transformation.
Silva urgently hopes that the league will have a major change in its overall style compared to the past.
It has been proven that defensive battles cannot bring ratings, and offense can attract fans more.
The 2005 Spurs vs. Pistons Finals was a bloody lesson.
Of course, this transformation is relatively slow and will not change immediately.
Especially in this year's regular season, the team's points per game have decreased.
Due to the shortened season, the players' condition is average and the team's tactical adjustment is poor.
But in the playoffs, this change began to gradually appear.
The competition is still very fierce, but scores in the hundreds are commonplace.
In several games between the Clippers and the Spurs, the score exceeded 100 in each game.
Ten years ago, 80-90 points were the norm for two teams in the playoffs, 70 points were common, and 100 points were rare.
When offense is emphasized more and more, the overall score increases, the pace of the game accelerates, and the role of stars and veterans will be relatively weakened.
Your experience and contribution in a few offensive and defensive rounds are not that important anymore, especially since some of the previous generation's passing stars lacked fixed-point three-point ability, which has become a flaw in supporting roles.
Moreover, the offensive tempo is fast, and it is easy for veterans to fail to keep up with the rhythm. There are too many rounds to run.
Unlike in the late 1990s and early 21st century, due to the small offensive space, the prevalence of superstar singles, and the slow pace of the game, sometimes in positional battles, you just need to stand still and watch the core single attack. Now this situation is becoming less and less, and you must move. Participate in pick-and-roll and pass-cut coordination.
Especially with the prevalence of pick-and-roll cooperation, it will become increasingly obvious that veterans have difficulty integrating into the system and are not as easy to guide as young players.
Almost starting in the past few years, the NBA's lineup-building method of core players + star-studded veterans will gradually be eliminated by history and relegated to the past.
Of course, many people have not yet realized this at this time and maintain good confidence in the Lakers.
As a result, just one day before the semifinals between the Clippers and Thunder began, the Lakers faced the Memphis Grizzlies at home.
Facing the combination of Griffin + DeAndre Jordan inside, the Lakers were completely shocked.
Griffin, who struggled in the first round, scored 25 points in the first game against the Lakers in the second round.
Jordan scored 5 points, 11 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots, leaving Bynum disgraced.
Of course, what really played a decisive role was the Grizzlies outside line, Tony Allen + Butler + Mike Conley, who used defense and three-pointers to defeat the Lakers.
In the end, the Grizzlies stole the victory at Staples with a 5-point advantage of 95:90 in the first game, which surprised NBA public opinion. The Lakers actually lost to the Grizzlies in the first game?
This aspect makes people begin to re-examine the Grizzlies' potential and Griffin's ability.
In theory, this is Griffin's second season, but he has already shown high competitive skills and court intelligence in the game.
Obviously, the Grizzlies' all-out efforts to cultivate Griffin are quite effective.
Wallace followed Min Chongda's advice and did not train Griffin to be a pure basket terminator or scoring machine. Instead, he focused on developing his support and ball-handling abilities, especially his ability to shoot from mid- to long-range.
This was very effective on the offensive end against the Lakers, making the Lakers' defense very uncomfortable.
Except for Jordan, four of the Grizzlies' starting five have mid-to-long-range shooting ability, and it's not just a matter of "having" it, but when they really shoot, they can make you uncomfortable.
How did the Lakers die last season? He was killed by the Mavericks' four capable starters.
In the early years, it was good to have three such roles in the starting lineup, and some even had only two. For example, in the 2007 Spurs, the only ones who could truly stabilize the long-range shooting were Ginobili and Bowen, and Parker was half of them.
Now, three is standard, four is normal, and five is also available!
And the Lakers can? Paul and Kobe, these two together can only be counted as one and a half.
If they continue to follow the traditional path, can they really make it to the finals and win the championship?
After Phil Jackson played the first game of the semifinals, he felt more and more in his heart that times had really changed.
(End of chapter)
