Chapter 309: Zorro is born
After the second match, both sides needed to shift their battles. Therefore, the NBA officially left the players with two days of rest, and if it has been a game every other day, the pressure on the players is indeed too great.
The league also doesn't want players to get injured, and a Finals without stars is incomplete. And the best way to avoid injuries is to reduce the intensity of the game.
Despite a two-day break, Carlisle and the Mavericks flew off to Dallas early the next morning after the game. They didn't want to delay any training time, the team reached Dallas at noon and started training in the afternoon. As for the Miami Heat, who lost a home court, they also set off after the Mavericks.
Due to the special format of the Grand Finals, the Mavericks will have three consecutive home games next! For the Heat, this is undoubtedly a huge blow. Originally, they wanted to fly to Dallas with a score of 2-0, but they were shocked by Nowitzki and Yiyang in the last game.
Three away games in a row is not good news for any team. But Wade is not afraid, he won the championship and FMVP on the head of the Mavericks five years ago. With a stronger lineup and helpers this year, Wade has no reason to lose in the same place!
Both teams can't wait to get back into the fight, with the Heat desperate for a win and the Mavericks looking to give the Big Three a taste at home.
Feeling tired? Maybe in the regular season, the players will be tired to some extent. But so far in the game, there are still two teams left, and people can't feel anything else in their hearts except the yearning for the championship.
The Mavericks arrived in Dallas at half past twelve in the afternoon. At Fort Worth International Airport, at half past five in the afternoon, the players showed up in the locker room on time. By the time Carlisle pushed open the locker room door with two dark circles under his eyes, the players had already begun to change their equipment.
In the last game, Nowitzki was in excellent form. But in today's shooting drill, Dirk's shooting percentage was not satisfactory.
People joke that Dirk doesn't know how to shoot without Bosh.
But soon, Nowitzki figured out why he couldn't shoot accurately. The brace on his finger made him very uncomfortable today.
"I still want to touch the ball with the middle finger of my left hand, so I don't want to put a thick bandage on my finger. Can we find something that protects my fingers from the back of my hand so I can feel the ball! After a couple of inaccurate shots, Nowitzki approached Carlisle and the team doctor and spoke out what was on his mind.
The team doctor immediately came up with a way to take out several finger guards for Nowitzki to try.
After much sifting and attempts, Nowitzki was eventually replaced with a hard splint that was fixed and protected from the flanks of his fingers, and part of his fingers and fingertips were exposed. In Nowitzki's opinion, the front of the finger should not be wrapped too tightly, so that he has no sense of the ball.
When the protective gear is changed like this, the effect is immediate. After that, Nowitzki's shooting percentage skyrocketed during training. This also made Yiyang realize that the original small thing of protective gear has such a huge impact on players.
Thinking of this, Yiyang couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, should this Band-Aid be replaced with another one?
In fact, there is no need for Yiyang to think about it, the team doctor has already thought of this for Yiyang.
Yiyang's wound had just been stitched up, and it was deep and long. If he is accidentally beaten and bleeding again in the next game, then Yiyang will have to go off the field again for treatment. This is undoubtedly a great interference with the Mavericks' game progress.
Halfway through training, Carlisle announced a half-hour break. The Mavericks team doctor walked onto the court with an object and handed it to Yiyang. This thing is even more attractive than Nowitzki's finger splints.
"This is ......" Yiyang looked at the things in his hand, and then looked at the team doctor in short sleeves.
"As you can see, Mask!"
"Look, our rookie is going to be a superhero!" Terry naturally won't let go of this opportunity to make a fuss, because the mask that the team doctor gave Yiyang is so special. Normally, the masks worn by NBA players are transparent, but what Yiyang has on his hand is a charcoal black mask!
"Try it, if it's not suitable, I'll adjust it for you."
Yiyang looked at the mask in his hand, and then looked at the expectant eyes of everyone. Gradually, it was draped over his face, and then the team doctor tightened the strap from behind.
In order to protect the corners of Yiyang's eyebrows, the openings of the mask's eyes are not large, and the entire eyebrows are included.
Compared to an ordinary basketball mask, Yiyang's one is not too big, only half of the forehead is covered, and the bottom is only covered at the level of the nose, and does not include the cheeks. The reason for this design is to reduce the contact area between the face and the face, so that the player will not be covered in the mask after sweating, which will be very uncomfortable.
After putting it on, Yiyang raised his head. The teammates who originally wanted to see Yiyang's jokes all showed surprised looks.
"Wow, that's cool, man!" Terry walked up to Yiyang and looked at it carefully. He thought that Yiyang's appearance after wearing the mask would be very funny, but unexpectedly, it was unexpectedly suitable.
"What does this mask look like? Zorro! Nowitzki touched his chin and kept thinking about who Yiyang looked like after he put on the mask. Now, he has the answer.
"Hey, get me one of these masks too." Terry patted the team doctor on the chest and joked.
"Come on, Jett, you don't look like Zorro with your mask on, but like a Frankenstein."
"Hahahahahaha, that's right!"
Everyone was in a hurry, and the atmosphere on the training ground became a little lighter. Carlisle also smiled softly off the court, the players can have such a mentality, and the Mavericks can win!
At the end of the half-hour break, Nowitzki received a protective gear to pick up. And Yiyang doesn't have to worry about the wound at the corner of his eyebrows.
At first, Carlisle was also worried that the mask's small eye openings would affect Yiyang's shooting. But it turned out that the opening of the mask could not diminish Yiyang's vision.
In confrontational training, whether it is organizing offenses or shooting by himself, Yiyang does a very good job. This mask gives Yiyang the best protection, and it also minimizes interference.
Nowitzki remained flawless throughout the training, and Yiyang's passing was still just right. After yesterday's shocking reversal, the morale and form of the players have remained very good.
Looking at the performance of the players on the training ground, Carlisle even had a bold idea in his mind.
"Man, how do you think they're doing?" Carlisle turned to speak to his assistant coach Stotts, who asked knowingly.
'The lads are in great shape and luckily the injuries of Dirk and Yi haven't affected us too much. Stotts answered truthfully.
"Hehe, I think so too, they're in great shape! So, I wondered if we could take out the Miami in three games in Dallas! ”
Listening to Carlisle, Stotts' eyes widened. It's not that the assistant coach doesn't have confidence in his team, but he wants to beat the Heat Big Three in three consecutive games, which sounds like an extremely crazy thing.
"You know what you're talking about, right? Rick! ”
"Of course I do! Look, Dirk has scored again! God, I don't even know what else could stop him from scoring. No one but Dirk himself could stop him. Look at it again, that kid is so energetic that even Wade can't do anything about him. Not to mention, we also have Jett, Sean, Jason, Peja...... You know man, sometimes, I don't even think our roster is much worse than the Heat! ”
If Carlisle had said at a press conference that the Mavericks' lineup wasn't much worse than the Heat's, the reporters would have laughed and scolded Carlisle as a fool who had been swept away by a victory.
But on the training ground, watching the performance of the players, Stotts had to admit that Carlisle's self-confidence was not groundless!
"I'm afraid the Big Three won't agree to you so easily." Terry. Stotts looked at Carlisle, who was full of seriousness, and couldn't help but smile.
"I didn't expect them to promise, victory, we'll go and grab it ourselves!"
The players who were training on the pitch did not hear the crazy plan in the manager's mind.
But they themselves may not know that the manager's crazy plan was inspired by their wilder performances on the pitch.
Can you win the Miami Heat in three games? It seems that the trip to Texas of the Big Three is destined to be insulated from the word pleasant.