My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 994 No Tears for Being Laid Off, No Matter How Old You Are

The level of the East Division finals was indeed high.

The Detroit Pistons defeated a developing Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the semifinals.

With the arrogant air of an auto worker, he stood on Larry Bird's home court with the Celtics.

There weren't many fancy passing and cutting combinations; they just relentlessly chipped away at the inside.

He drove to the baseline for mid-range shots, but didn't make many three-pointers.

They're always taking a step or two inside the three-point line for a pull-up jump shot, or they're over two meters tall and shooting from under the basket.

The distance was already within easy reach of a basket, but due to various aggressive defenses, the only option was to shoot.

Both sides tacitly agreed to let the opposing guard dribble to the three-point line and start organizing the offense.

So the pace is super fast!

Once one team scores, the other team inbounds the ball and immediately both players stand outside the opposing three-point line. Whether the ball goes in or not, it's time for the next reunion!

There was no pressing and entanglement in the backfield, no passing or adjustments in the frontfield; it was all about hard-hitting and direct attacks.

Skin slammed together, sweat splattered everywhere.

Fierce and ferocious.

Everyone was constantly running back and forth.

However, it was not the run-and-gun tactic that became popular later.

Because run-and-gun offense is a fast-paced offensive game with little to no defense, it relies on high frequency and tireless running to wear down the opponent and create open shots for long-range three-pointers.

They're all giants around two meters tall, defending desperately and attacking with all their might, yet they always charge into the enemy lines.

Can you imagine a burly man with the size and weight of a hippopotamus or rhinoceros running as nimbly and agilely as a gazelle?

Zhang Jinsong and the others were stunned.

Watching sports live is vastly different from watching it on a television screen.

You can only feel this extreme sense of oppression when you are there in person.

The intense competition at high speeds forces the brain to make the most rational bodily responses even when it is almost oxygen-deprived.

This is the core of the NBA's unparalleled dominance in the basketball world.

It's hard to imagine any other basketball game having such a strong opponent, creating such a brutal back-and-forth battle.

In these high-level competitive leagues, skilled players who have honed their skills over several years naturally dominate other national teams.

It was precisely when Wei Dong went to the military to select personnel that he emphasized that high-intensity combat training was the key.

In reality, these talented players are all born in the same place around the world.

But whether or not this furnace is used for tempering makes a huge difference in the end.

The HK team, which has been training and competing intensively for more than two months, is completely focused.

Kemp remained silent, but a fire still ignited involuntarily in his eyes.

Hardaway, on the other hand, was quite talkative, constantly gesturing and chattering with the coaching staff.

The president's visual focus was not on the scene at all.

Wei Dong observed this closely and blurted out, "In the world of martial arts, speed is the only way to win. The high-speed network company is bound to win."

The president listened intently for a moment before letting his wife translate.

Then the old man actually asked, "Is Citibank destined to lose?"

Wei Dong thought for a moment and said, "I think that maybe we can make a comeback in a certain area, or hold our own in a certain model or category, but in the overall situation, no one can beat the Japanese cars. They have taken industrial manufacturing to the extreme. European and American countries don't have their cheap labor, and third-world countries like China don't have their high level of cultural and technological literacy. Add to that their craftsmanship and effective large-scale corporate management and scheduling, and they are invincible."

Anyway, praising the Japanese to death didn't bother Wei Dong at all.

Furthermore, Japanese products at this time have indeed made the most of these advantages.

It was this high-intensity, high-frequency tactical approach on the field that left Europe and America, especially Citigroup, dizzy and disoriented.

The president of Citigroup is probably the one who understands this the most.

He's the one standing on the field, giving it his all.

Three or four years ago, with Chrysler generating billions of dollars in profits, everyone thought Citigroup was back in its prime.

Perhaps only the leaders know the truth behind it all.

Chrysler thrived by using low-priced cars to steal market share from competitors and sustain its massive industrial chain. Then, by categorizing its models into unique categories with no rivals, it made a fortune.

Based on the "Sky Eye," Wei Dong can point out that the MPV market will be divided up once Japanese cars, including other European and American brands, join in.

Chrysler's profits would vanish instantly.

In fact, with the Dodge 600 model aging and failing to sell in the past two years, huge losses had to be filled by the profits from MPVs, and Chrysler was already starting to teeter on the brink of collapse.

That's why they're willing to give away their old supply chains for free to replace them with new products.

They're asking Weidong to spend money to help them relocate, but can the new sedans continue to reclaim the low-priced car market? The profitable MPV models are now facing imminent elimination.

A strong person in their twenties or thirties will be excited and eager to try, but a king in his sixties will only find it annoying!

Even if you win, it's just a matter of repeating past strategies and tactics. If the data doesn't break records, it might even be completely forgotten.

All the efforts made at this stage are insignificant.

But the next wave of impact came.

The relentless, ceaseless surge of energy.

Just ask if you're tired.

But if they lose, it'll be a complete upheaval, and Old Deng should be kicked out.

No one around dared to say that defeat was inevitable.

The CEO couldn't say anything; he had to desperately maintain the facade of the situation.

Look at young people in their twenties now, they have drive, fighting spirit, and terrifying vision, not to mention their physical strength and energy.

I feel so powerless.

Leaning back in the dark green leather chair, unusually relaxed, he let his regal aura, which was always like armor, loosen as he gazed at the players at their physical and mental peak. Wei Dong didn't notice this moment; his attention was completely drawn to the arena.

It's ridiculous that he was actually watching a football match during such an important Heavenly Rank negotiation.

But when his wife saw it, she, with her talent for performing, truly felt the old man's frailty.

I watched silently from the sidelines.

Just like in a movie Chow Yun-fat later starred in, the king's disheveled and manic moments reflected his frustration and anger at being unable to control the situation.

Even the strongest person will become pathetic when they get old and their outer shell is peeled away.

Therefore, the best way to defeat a king is through what's in your crotch, because that's the most hidden and easily visible sign of aging.

Perhaps it was precisely because he observed that Wei Dong was watching the game attentively that the president lowered his guard and started watching the game himself.

Wei Dong watched with great interest, and even felt that Lao Deng's silence was not enough to satisfy him.

Nobody's discussing what games to watch!

He beckoned Lu Bin over to his other side and said, "Take a look at this difference. We can't play like that; we're not that physically strong. But we can learn this run-and-gun style. We still have more than three months left. Can we work on improving our physical fitness and increase everyone's running to create open shots for long-range layups?"

No team in this era would practice run-and-gun offense.

The basketball world, including the NBA, is full of top talents.

Ideally, we should gather five experts, with the tallest inside and the shorter ones outside.

At the very least, it's a combination of a tall center and a flexible perimeter point guard/playmaker.

To be a shooting guard, you need to be a god like Jordan, who can rely on individual skills to score layups.

Guards who are not tall enough have difficulty penetrating the paint, and those who want to develop a three-point shooting ability are limited by the interference from agile perimeter players.

To break this situation, you need to be quick. Only with a fast enough rate of attack and retreat can you find an opening before the opponent is in position.

However, the tall center slowed down this speed, as his weight of two or three hundred pounds was simply not enough to keep up.

So right now, the ones fighting the fastest are the Japanese, who are all short.

But they couldn't even get into the Olympic arena.

The HK team is quite special.

Kemp and Ma Jian are both around 2.1 meters tall, close to the tallest group, but they are both under 20 years old. They are at the crazy age when they can run and jump the most, with extremely vigorous metabolism and no excess fat.

Zhang Jinsong, who is nearly two meters tall, is only sixteen years old and is a very young boy.

Then Fan Bin, Adi Jiang, and Haddaway are all "short" at 1.8 meters tall. The players drawn from the HK elite team were all based on the characteristic of having a long-range shot.

Therefore, the entire team was selected from the beginning with long-range shooting, combined with Kemp's one-on-one play and Hardaway's control, with Ma Jian and Adijiang as their rotation substitutes.

The rest are all pitchers!

What makes Zhang Jinsong so rare is that he has the height of a near-top-tier player, allowing him to drive to the basket for a layup when necessary, as well as the ball-handling skills of a near-top-tier player, enabling him to control the ball and make passes and cuts on the outside, and finally, he can shoot three-pointers from a distance.

But his greatest strength is defense. He relies on his youth, agility, height, and long arms to relentlessly harass and fight with relentless energy.

He can guard anyone, from center to point guard, and he enjoys guarding them, shamelessly guarding them.

This is the kind of freak that even Citi scouts would notice.

Rang Weidong indeed pointed out the characteristics of the most popular run-and-gun tactics that followed: "It's not about running at a high tempo to wear down the opponent, but about suddenly going fast in the moment of transition from defense to offense, using several people to run fast and pass the ball fast, to hit open spots that the opponent can't catch off guard, and then steadily shoot mid-range and long-range shots, and try to shoot three-pointers."

Anyone who has played basketball knows that being defended while shooting and having an open shot are two different things.

The Chinese team has the best free throw percentage in the world. They practice shooting without interference and their shooting percentage is indeed high. However, their shooting becomes ridiculously poor under pressure.

There are very few people in the world who are also very accurate with mid-range and three-point shots.

This is a rare result of talent, hard work, and a strong mentality.

Most people are more efficient when no one is defending them.

Wei Dong pointed out the characteristics of the run-and-gun offense: pass the ball to create opportunities, allowing some players to comfortably shoot three-pointers. If they can shoot three-pointers, they should shoot three-pointers. If they make it, the return on investment will be 50%.

According to the capitalists' calculations, this is such a profitable business.

Running is about creating opportunities to comfortably shoot three-pointers; that's the core of the run-and-gun offense!

Moreover, if all five players are capable of shooting three-pointers, letting any one of them slip could result in elimination.

This game will be very exciting to watch.

Lu Bin found it unbelievable, but not entirely surprising.

The Chinese team in the 1970s and 80s loved to come up with unconventional tricks in these kinds of details.

If you can't beat them or keep up with them, you have to come up with some unconventional tactics.

That's how the eight-for-one tactic came about.

He slowly nodded and said that he was communicating with the foreign coaching staff.

Chow Yun-fat stretched his neck and sat next to him to listen.

He was a puppet coach, never offering unsolicited advice on tactical command.

But everyone knows that they need to use his fame to promote the team and HK, so Chow Yun-fat acted as the coaching staff's mouth double.

He would give his opinions from the sidelines, and then stand on the sidelines shouting, clapping, and directing the expression of his ideas.

Now they are listening with great interest, comparing the situation on the field.

Once you understand it, you'll find the concept quite interesting.

The president saw this and asked the translator to tell him.

He gradually regained that kingly aura.

A super product manager who could build a Mustang sports car and sell 400,000 units annually in the 1960s; a strongman who could be fired in his fifties, join a loss-making company, and spend a few years making more than 2 billion yuan in profit.

This kind of tactical thinking stems from a deep-seated fondness for it.

So when the Pistons lost to the Celtics 100-108, he made up his mind: "Okay, I agree."

This is my third entrepreneurial venture.

(End of this chapter)