"Hey, Yoona, I'm honestly a little surprised you called me."
"Um..."
On the other end of the phone, Yoona sounded a little hesitant. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I watched your game just now, so... are you okay?"
"Ah."
Hearing that, Blake Su understood. He smiled and said, "I'm fine. We just lost one game. It's not a big deal."
"But... but it's already match point, and... it looks really hard to come back now."
On the other end of the phone, Yoona spoke softly. Clearly, this was not the situation she wanted to see either.
"There's still one more game, isn't there? Who says we're definitely going to lose? Right?"
Blake Su said with a faint smile.
"Really?"
Yoona was a little surprised, surprised that Blake Su sounded so open about it. She smiled too and said, "You really think that? You're not feeling awful?"
"Of course."
Before Mia Quinn's call, Blake Su would not have been this relaxed.
"That's good."
On the other end, Yoona let out a sigh of relief and laughed. "Hehe, exactly. It's only your first year anyway. Worst case, you fight again next year.
"Besides,
"you haven't necessarily lost yet.
"I know the playoffs are really important to you, but... I'm just glad to see you're okay."
"Is that so?"
Blake Su rolled his eyes and smiled. "So you called me this late just to comfort me?
"A girl? This late at night? Calling to comfort me? Yoona, you..."
"Hey!"
Yoona cried out, cutting Blake Su off, then quickly said, "Don't overthink it. I'm only thanking you for helping me when I was stranded on the street last time.
"Now, as a friend, I'm just checking in on you after your loss... that's all."
"Oh, okay."
Blake Su answered, but... anyone who was not completely clueless could hear from his perfunctory, unconvinced tone that he did not believe it.
"Believe whatever you want."
"As long as you're okay. Like you said, there's still one more game. You haven't absolutely lost yet, so... good luck."
Yoona changed the subject.
"Okay."
Blake Su agreed with a smile.
The two chatted briefly before hanging up.
At the moment when he felt most defeated and lost,
Blake Su had only been teasing her just now and meant nothing else by it. But having a friend he had not known for long specifically call to comfort him,
made Blake Su very happy, and a little touched.
First Mia Quinn, then Yoona. Their comfort could not make him win the next game,
but emotionally, it really did ease Blake Su's mind.
Before those two calls, Blake Su, who had been about to sleep, might have tossed and turned all night. Now, he really could rest and fall asleep.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
But just as Blake Su was about to sleep, someone knocked on the door.
"Coach, why are you here?"
Blake Su opened the door. It was Coach Gentry.
"Mm."
Gentry nodded, then walked to the window and looked outside. "Blake Su, you should understand the Suns' situation right now.
"You know this is practically a dead end, right?"
"Mm."
Blake Su nodded.
Gentry slowly turned around, stared at Blake Su, and said, "No team in NBA playoff history has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit.
"But.
"We're not out of chances. We still haven't shown our full strength."
"What do you mean, Coach?"
Blake Su was a little confused. As far as he was concerned, he had already pushed himself to the limit in this series.
"Uh..."
Gentry thought for a moment, then said in a serious voice, "To be more accurate, you haven't shown your full strength yet."
"Me?"
Blake Su looked stunned, then shook his head. "Coach, I've already done my best. I..."
"No, you haven't."
Gentry cut him off, took a deep breath, and looked at Blake Su seriously. "Blake Su, this is the playoffs. This isn't the regular season.
"This is a high-intensity battle above the regular season.
"For players like George and Curry, who don't have playoff experience, the intensity, pressure, nerves, and everything else make it impossible for them to adapt.
"In just three games,
"they simply can't adjust to this stage.
"So... even if you keep creating chances for them, they just can't hit the shots. And when you delay your own offense for too long, your touch drops, and your efficiency drops too.
"That vicious cycle is why the team keeps losing."
"But Coach."
Blake Su frowned slightly. "Those were all good opportunities. There was nothing wrong with my passes. At those moments, that was the choice I should have made."
"Right."
Gentry nodded without denying it. "Strictly speaking, that's true. But this is the playoffs. You don't have helpers like Wade, Gasol, or Bosh beside you.
"Rookies like Curry and George have limited offensive ability. They can't adapt.
"So even if you're making good passes, they're meaningless. In reality... they don't count as good passes at all."
"Huh?"
Blake Su narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment, as if he understood. "Coach, are you saying I should attack by myself?"
Gentry did not answer the question directly. Instead, he said, "Do you know? The playoff stage has another name.
"It's called... the stage for stars.
"Look at strong teams like the Heat, Lakers, Bulls, and Spurs. After getting upset in Game 1, they were able to come back and win forcefully afterward.
"It was all because their stars stepped up and led the team forward.
"And you... you are the Suns' star, the Suns' leader, the core who leads the Suns to victory.
"And you also need to understand this. The Suns made it this far entirely because of your performance, so you have to step up.
"Use your strong attacks, your star power, and your god-level talent to score proactively and drive the team forward, not passively give the ball up.
"Of course, I'm not completely dismissing passing or team basketball. I just want you to be more proactive. Let your own offense be the main focus, and let passing support it.
"This is a matter of priorities.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
After hearing all of that, Blake Su fell silent.
...
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