Basketball Terminal

Chapter 80 Useless
As Li Wei gradually accumulates match experience, his ability to predict his opponent's movements using Observation Haki is becoming increasingly refined. Indeed, one must practice and engage in real matches at a higher level; playing with novices will only lead to stagnation.

Generally speaking, the faster a player is, the blurrier their silhouette becomes, making them more difficult to predict. Players who are slower or have less varied techniques have clearer silhouettes, making them easier to predict.

LeBron James belongs to the latter category; his offensive options are relatively limited and easy to predict. However, once James gets going, even a player like Li Wei can't stop him. Even if you predict his moves correctly, it's useless if your body can't keep up. James' dynamic physical attributes are exceptionally strong.

Through the first round of competition, Li Wei realized that Doncic was a complete liability in his eyes. This Slovenian genius wasn't fast, and in many people's eyes he was even slow, but he was unstoppable. He could shoot and make his shots, and he could drive to the basket and score.

Because of his excellent ball-handling skills, superb feints, top-notch rhythm control, and exceptional static physical attributes, he always anticipates your moves, reacting before you do. His entire body is a series of feints, coupled with accurate shooting; he can score at the slightest opening, making him incredibly difficult to defend.

But against Li Wei, when Doncic's slower pace meant all of his subsequent movements were predictable by Li Wei, all those advantages vanished. Especially his feints—who were you trying to fool? Doncic just made three consecutive fake shots; Li Wei almost laughed, thinking, "Are you kidding me?"

You tricked me, and I tricked you. Before you even made your feint, I had already planned my defensive feint. You tried to fool me, but actually, you were the one who got fooled. And so, Doncic unknowingly fell into a trap of lies and deception.

In his second attack with the ball, he tried to use more realistic feints to shake off Li Wei's defense. He added many subtle details, such as feinting his shoulder, small hand movements, details about the direction of his toes, and looking at a teammate in the distance to pretend he was going to pass the ball.

But it was useless, absolutely useless. Li Wei would follow Doncic's feints and move slightly, but only slightly. You'd glance at your teammate, I'd coordinate with you, I'd glance back, and then immediately turn around, blocking your path to the basket and sticking close to you.

The angle of his cut was too small, and he was too far from the basket to create an attack. He could only turn, pull back, and try to get the ball again. Li Wei was like a shadow, sticking close to him. Doncic felt a pang of panic; he realized he couldn't shake this guy off.
He could actually get past Levi. He could accelerate, use strength or momentum to attack, or pass the ball to a teammate, move around off the ball, and launch an attack. But these aren't Doncic's preferred offensive methods. At this moment, he stubbornly wanted to score over Levi.

With most of the time gone, he opted for a series of crossover dribbles before stepping back for a three-pointer, which Li Wei accurately predicted, stepping precisely to block the shot and managing to shut it down. Doncic's shooting release is inherently slow and low; he relies on rhythm, using fakes to create space before releasing, making him difficult to block. Often, the difference is just a hair's breadth, and you simply can't block it.

But Li Wei's anticipation allowed him to overcome the narrow gap, securing his second consecutive block and regaining possession. A clean block, leaving Dongzi with no chance to defend. Frustrated, Dongzi pulled Li Wei from behind, denying the Nets a fast break opportunity.

The referee blew the whistle, calling a foul on Doncic. Just two minutes ago he was all smiles, but now the smile vanished, and he raised his hand to acknowledge the foul. Doncic was bewildered. What the hell was going on? In his many years of basketball career, this was the first time he had encountered such perfect synchronization with a defender who was completely unaffected by feints. It had suddenly entered a blind spot in his understanding.

Luka Doncic touched a basketball at seven months old, had a miniature basketball hoop in his room when he was one year old, and began formal basketball training at seven, playing with children a few years older than himself. At eight, he played for his hometown team, Olympia, alongside his father, quickly advancing to the eleven-year-old division. At thirteen, he received an invitation from Real Madrid on loan, scoring 20 points and hitting a half-court shot in the championship game against Barcelona. At fourteen, representing Olympia, he scored 39 points in the first half of the championship game, finishing with 54 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Afterwards, he joined Real Madrid, swept across Europe, and successfully entered the NBA, where he used his superb offensive skills to score points at will, unstoppable. He is a representative of Europe's super perimeter players, an absolute genius, stronger and more dominant on the offensive end than Petrovic, Toni Kukoc, and Stojakovic.

He has absolute confidence that no one can shut him down in one-on-one defense. He might struggle in a few rounds, which is normal, but he can't be locked down. That's how superstars are; they can only be limited, not shut down.

But in those two possessions, Doncic sensed something was wrong. For the first time, he felt like he couldn't shake him off. The two were similar in height and build, his footsteps were like a shadow, and no matter how he feinted, he couldn't fool him.

Of course, with only two possessions, the sample size is too small. Doncic calmed himself down and told himself he was fine. He made some technical adjustments, confident he could one-on-one with this guy later. He inbounded the ball, Harden received it, passed it to Bruce Brown, and Levi came over to receive it. He received the ball at a 45-degree angle on the right side, Brown set a screen, and Levi immediately launched a three-pointer!
It's in! Li Wei hit his first three-pointer in three games. He didn't attempt any three-pointers against the Spurs and Rockets to maintain a high three-point shooting percentage. This tactic was devised by Nash before the game, targeting the Mavericks' 2-3 zone defense, with two 45-degree three-pointers being the most important offensive weapon.

Watching Levi's performance, Carlisle recalled that Donnie Nelson had recommended this player to him from the G League, saying he was a very good defender. However, Carlisle didn't investigate further. Recently, there had been undercurrents within the team, with intense infighting among management and coaching staff, creating a terrible atmosphere. Carlisle had no time to pay attention to the G League.

"His defense seems to be quite effective. Hopefully, Luka will use his brain more and not just blindly charge forward."

Carlisle has mixed feelings about Doncic. On one hand, he acknowledges Luka's ability and unequivocally considers him the core of his tactics. On the other hand, Doncic holds onto the ball too much on offense and contributes too little beyond scoring and playmaking. This clashes with Carlisle's tactical philosophy.

He might be more talented than Nowitzki, but he's not Dirk Nowitzki. Both the Spurs and the Mavericks are still somewhat basking in the glory days of those two superstar power forwards, not quite moved on. They're both hoping to find a successor similar to their predecessors—one reserved and resilient, the other from Europe with explosive scoring. They did find one, but like attracts like; they're not the same. The Spurs have lost Leonard, and Doncic seems poised to stay in Dallas, but the future is uncertain.

Doncic didn't stubbornly continue charging forward; in fact, if he had, he might have scored. Because of the continuous high-intensity, focused defense, Levi would have become complacent, and using his abilities would have taken a toll. But Doncic decided to slow down, giving Levi some breathing room.

He passed the ball to the left 45-degree angle, Kleber received it, and his three-pointer also went in! Both teams started with early three-pointers, 5-7, the Nets led by two points. Harden suddenly came alive on offense, slowly driving in after a pick-and-roll, then suddenly accelerating, executing a "watering down" move, his arm scooping up from below, drawing a foul on the defender, scoring, and getting a free throw!

The free throw was made. Porzingis continued to call for the ball in the low post, this time with DeAndre Jordan taking over. Porzingis turned and drove to the baseline for a reverse layup, but was interfered with by Levi's help defense, and missed. Porzingis only averages 1.6 assists per game, unable to be a playmaker, only a finisher. Once the ball is in his hands, it's gone.

"Shit, is this guy really that good at defense?" Donnie Nelson was filled with regret. Why didn't he just sign a guaranteed contract instead of hesitating? Now his situation with the Mavericks continues to deteriorate. If a fresh player like Levi comes in, it might turn things around.

Looking back at Li Wei's recent performances, they have been truly amazing. Whether on offense or defense, his base salary is definitely worth it.

Thanks to Levi's strong start, the Nets maintained their lead. However, on offense, the Nets seemed to run out of options. After Levi hit a three-pointer, the Mavericks didn't change their defensive strategy, sticking to their zone defense. Without Irving as a partner, the Nets only had Harden as their offensive initiator.

Li Wei can only act as a middleman, relieving some of the pressure; everyone else is the finisher, and ultimately it still comes down to Harden. Harden has been very fatigued lately, after several outstanding performances, but tonight he finally showed signs of fatigue. His three-point attempts were off target, and wildly so.

Even with perfect positioning, Li Wei couldn't steal the ball. Two Mavericks players had already positioned themselves behind him, pulling and tugging, and Doncic secured it. Li Wei glanced at Doncic's eyes and knew he was going for a one-on-one. His Observation Haki ability to read minds was gradually showing.

"I'll guard him, you go to the baseline!" Li Wei reminded Harris, telling him to go to the baseline and pass the ball to him at the left 45-degree angle. Doncic dribbled leisurely along the sideline, his eyes filled with a determined desire to score.

Observation Haki activated again, and Doncic opted for a step-back three-pointer after dribbling—his signature move. Li Wei immediately closed in, but the shadowy figure quickly became swayed, as if subjected to electromagnetic interference. This was a backup plan; a left-handed drive was impossible, and the ball was about to go out of bounds. Once cornered, the defender would definitely change direction to the right, so be prepared to close in on the middle.

Sure enough, Doncic adjusted his footwork, took a step back to shoot a three-pointer, but Li Wei closed in and blocked his shot. He immediately changed his move, holding a dish in his left hand, pausing, changing direction, and moving his right hand to the middle. He was stuck there again! How could he be so fast? He turned, turned again, and turned once more!
No, I'm dizzy, another spin and it'll be a travel. And Levi is sticking to him tighter and tighter, completely compressing Doncic's dribbling space. Screens and picks aren't working anymore. I have to pass to Kleber to create some space and get the ball back.

If Kleber's screen could push Levi aside and switch to DeAndre Jordan for defense, Doncic could easily get a mismatch against Jordan. But Doncic wasn't having it; he wanted to go one-on-one with Levi, so he told Kleber to move aside and stop the screen, saying he wanted to go one-on-one with Levi.

So Kleber walked away, saying, "Fine, go ahead and fight. Let's see how you fight. I'm afraid you've met your nemesis."

Doncic glanced at the time; with seven seconds left, he mentally planned his offensive move. However, as he began to act, Levi anticipated his next move: the guy was planning another step-back three-pointer.

This time, Li Wei didn't aggressively close in, but maintained a distance, giving Doncic space to step back and shoot. Then, the instant Doncic gathered the ball, Li Wei pounced! He was caught off guard; Li Wei's center of gravity was forward, so he pounced quickly. Doncic's release was slow, and Li Wei capitalized, blocking the shot with a slap!

This wasn't just a block, it was a solid, head-on block. The ball flew several meters away and was caught by Bruce Brown, who then dashed off on a fast break. Doncic, panting heavily, was utterly incredulous. He stared at Levi's retreating figure and the large "0" on his jersey—it was simply ironic.

Am I not able to score against him? Am I going to be shut out by one person? After three one-on-one possessions, Doncic knows it's not that he's out of form; he just can't break through this guy's defense. Every move he makes is anticipated, and all his moves are useless. How can he possibly win?
The Nets had a 5-on-4 advantage in the frontcourt. Li Wei lobbed a pass to the basket, and DeAndre Jordan slammed it home with an alley-oop dunk! A perfect play from the "One Heart Club" members. The Mavericks called a timeout, and Doncic went straight to the bench; he needed to calm down.

(End of this chapter)