NBA: Northeast China's spectacular dunks sweep the entire league.

Defensive Cracks: Lessons from Three Internal Training Matches

On the morning of the third day of the training camp, old Nelson walked into the training hall with a cigar in his mouth and a fax in his hand.

"Come here, everyone." He slammed the fax onto the tactics board. "I've found you some sparring partners. UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Santa Clara University. Three internal practice matches, not open to the public, and not recorded in the final standings. Each match will be four quarters, ten minutes per quarter, a real, hard-fought battle."

Richardson leaned over for a look, then curled his lip. "College team? Coach, you're looking down on us."

"Looking down on you?" Old Nelson sneered. "You think college teams are easy to beat? Those young guys are faster and tougher than you. Even if they lose, they can still brag to their classmates, 'I crushed NBA players.' If you underestimate them, don't blame me for yelling at you after the game."

Lin Hao didn't say anything, but squatted down to tie his shoelaces.

He knew perfectly well that Don Nelson hadn't arranged these exhibition games to win, but rather to test the effectiveness of the run-and-gun system in real games. Playing scrimmages in the training facility was one thing, but facing unfamiliar opponents, unfamiliar defenses, and unfamiliar rhythms was quite another.

The first exhibition match was that afternoon, against the UC Berkeley Golden Bears.

Berkeley is less than half an hour's drive from Oakland. When the bus arrived, a group of young players got off, their eyes shining as if they had won the lottery. The coach in charge was a white man in his forties with neatly combed hair. He was holding a tactical board and shook hands with old Nelson respectfully, but his eyes were full of excitement that said, "I'm going to make a big splash."

"Lin, you're starting point guard, Knicks shooting guard, Jason small forward, Troy power forward, Eric center." After reading out the starting lineup, Old Nelson added, "Offense, follow the plan from training. Shoot within seven seconds, don't hold back. I want to see the results."

The game began with the sound of the whistle.

Dampier won the jump ball, Lin Hao received the ball, turned and accelerated. Berkley's retreat defense was noticeably slower than the substitutes in practice. When Lin Hao crossed half-court, there was only a tall, thin point guard in front of him.

Lin Hao didn't hesitate; he pulled up and shot from a step beyond the three-point line.

"Whoosh!"

Hollow core insertion. Timer display: 5.2 seconds.

The Berkeley players were stunned for a moment, exchanged glances, and their eyes seemed to say, "What the hell is this?"

But they didn't panic. The point guard steadily dribbled the ball across half-court, gave a signal, and the center stepped up to set a screen. It was a standard pick-and-roll, exactly the same as the Warriors' defensive drills in practice.

But Murphy slowed down.

After setting a screen, Berkley's center quickly cut to the basket, the point guard made a bounce pass, and the center caught the ball and went for a layup. By the time Murphy rushed over, the ball was already in the basket.

2:3.

Lin Hao received the ball at the baseline and started moving again. This time Berkley's defense retreated a bit faster, but Van Exel had already run to the right corner. Lin Hao delivered a long pass, the ball soaring over the heads of two defenders and landing precisely in Van Exel's hands.

Van Exel caught the ball and shot, making another three-pointer.

6:2.

Old Nelson on the sidelines nodded, puffing on his cigar without saying a word.

In the next few minutes, the Warriors' offense was on fire. Lin Hao delivered consecutive assists, Richardson slammed home an alley-oop dunk, Murphy hit a mid-range jumper, and Van Exel hit a long-range three-pointer—by the end of the first quarter, the Warriors had racked up 32 points.

But Berkeley also scored 24 points.

When Lin Hao left the field, he glanced at the scoreboard and frowned.

32-24, an 8-point lead, isn't small. But he knew in his heart that this was Berkeley, an ordinary NCAA team. If it were an NBA-level opponent, the Warriors would probably be down by 8 points after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Don Nelson substituted his reserves. Payton handled the ball, Arenas played shooting guard, Dunleavy played small forward, and Foyle played center.

The bench unit's offense was noticeably less fluid than the starters'. Payton wasn't used to the seven-second shot clock, always pausing to assess the situation after dribbling up the court. Arenas was willing to shoot, but his accuracy was inconsistent, missing two consecutive three-pointers.

Berkeley seized the opportunity and went on a 10-2 run, narrowing the gap to just 2 points.

Don Nelson called a timeout.

Payton remained silent, wiping the sweat from his face. He had played in the NBA for over a decade, never winning a championship but making the All-Defensive Team, yet he had never seen this style of play before.

The ball doesn't stick to his hands; everyone passes it to each other, and it's thrown away as soon as it crosses half-court—this is a completely different world from what he learned in his professional career.

After the timeout, Payton tried to speed up his passing, but Arenas and Dunleavy's positioning wasn't coordinated enough, and both passes were intercepted by Berkley. The score was tied, and they even took a one-point lead.

Old Nelson's face darkened, and with a wave of his hand, he substituted the starting lineup onto the court.

Lin Hao stabilized the situation in the first possession. He dribbled across half-court, drew a double team, and passed to Murphy at the top of the arc, who then passed to Richardson in the corner—and the three-pointer went in.

In the next possession, Lin Hao intercepted Berkley's pass, launched a fast break, and dunked with both hands.

The point difference has widened back to 7 points.

At halftime, the Warriors led 58-51.

In the locker room, Nelson stood in front of the tactical board, his face grim.

"The offense was alright, 58 points. But what about the defense? Allowing a college team to score 51 points in the first half, do you even have the nerve to say that?"

No one speaks.

Old Nelson drew several circles on the whiteboard with a marker: "Look at how Berkley scores—the pick and roll. They used that one play for the entire quarter. Murphy, if you don't follow up, their center will take a mid-range shot; if you do follow up, their guard will drive and dish. One pick and roll completely dismantles our defense."

Murphy lowered his head, water dripping from the ice pack on his knee.

"In the second half, switch on defense. After the pick and roll, switch immediately. Don't push past them or go around them. Switch quickly. Lin, switch inside and guard their center."

Lin Hao nodded.

In the second half, the Warriors' defense improved. When Lin Hao switched onto the Berkley center, although he was at a height disadvantage, his stable lower body made it difficult for the opponent to turn around. Berkley's outside shooting also began to falter, and the score gradually widened.

Ultimately, the Warriors won the first exhibition game 118-105.

They won by 13 points, but lost by 105.

After the game, Lin Hao sat alone in the locker room, flipping through the statistics. Berkeley's team shot 47% from the field and 41% from three-point range, with a pick-and-roll offense efficiency of 1.2 points per possession.

This is no coincidence.

He crumpled the statistics sheet into a ball and threw it into the trash can.

The second exhibition match will be held two days later, against the Stanford University Cardinals team.

Stanford's tactical awareness is higher than Berkeley's. Their head coach, Mike Montgomery, is a renowned NCAA coach who excels at the Princeton offense—the same system used by the Kings, relying on numerous cuts, off-ball runs, and passing to break down defenses.

Before the game started, Montgomery went to the Warriors' bench, shook hands with Don Nelson, and said with a smile, "Don, your run-and-gun offense is very powerful, but I have to see if I can withstand it."

Old Nelson snorted, "Let's give it a try."

As soon as the whistle blew, the Warriors got into rhythm. Lin Hao scored and passed, leading the team on a 12-4 run. But Stanford remained calm. The point guard dribbled the ball up half-court, the center moved to the high post, and the other players began to move off the ball.

The problem was exposed in the first round.

Stanford's center received the ball at the high post, and Murphy followed. Instead of shooting, the center passed the ball to the small forward cutting from the weak side. Murphy turned to help defend, but it was too late—the ball went in for a layup.

In the next possession, the same tactic was used, but in a different direction. Stanford's power forward cut off the baseline, shook off Richardson, caught the ball, and made the shot.

In the next possession, the point guard and center set a pick-and-roll. Murphy switched to guard the point guard but was blown past in one step. Lin Hao helped guard from the weak side, and the point guard passed to the shooter in the corner—and the three-pointer went in.

Round after round, like a dull knife cutting flesh.

The Warriors' offense remained sharp. Lin Hao scored 18 points in the first half, Van Exel hit four three-pointers, and Richardson added two dunks. At halftime, the Warriors led 64-58.