Chapter 1103: Chapter 617: Good Luck Chapter 1103: Chapter 617: Good Luck Regardless of Chris Bosh’s injuries or the trade deadline this season, their follow-up effects will not alter the pattern of the season. Only the team itself will experience issues.

The Clippers, as the most watched team, their first task is to maintain focus.

For small-market teams, this is simple.

If there isn’t much entertainment off the court and the local media isn’t too appealing, then naturally one wouldn’t be distracted by things outside the game.

But playing in Los Angeles, that’s extremely difficult.

A small incident, which might not draw any attention in other teams, would become significant and analyzed from various angles if it happens within the Los Angeles team.

Yu Fei ignored his teammates’ calls.

Oh, the GOAT doesn’t like him; he can’t stay in the Clippers.

Yao Ming looks serious off the court.

Oh, Yao doesn’t want to be a substitute anymore, when can we let him start?

Antetokounmpo and Jokic argue.

Oh, there is discord among the Clippers’ youngsters.

Interestingly, the last event is true.

Antetokounmpo believes there is a serious rivalry between him and Jokic. Consequently, he occasionally targets Jokic deliberately or unconsciously. However, Jokic, unaware of this, does not consider vying for the team leader position something to be concerned about.

Aside from Antetokounmpo, probably no other Clippers player would seriously consider who should assume the role of team leader after the GOAT retires. This difference in thinking is the cause of the mutual dislike between Antetokounmpo and Jokic.

This subtle animosity also spread to their fan bases.

Antetokounmpo’s extreme fans claim Jokic has fatal flaws in defense that make him unfit for leading roles.

Even though Jokic’s fans are fewer, they are good at retaliating in defense. They generally do not confront Antetokounmpo’s fans directly because the latter could easily overwhelm them by their numbers.

However, as soon as Antetokounmpo plays a bad game, Jokic’s fans seize the opportunity to attack his crude skills, mockingly saying, “This is the GOAT’s successor? Stop mentioning such a thing!”

This fan infighting seemed familiar to Yu Fei. He vaguely remembered, in his past life while browsing forums, entering sections for teams rebuilding with multiple high-draft picks, and seeing fans relentlessly defending their players.

In the United States, this phenomenon is quite common, especially in the Clippers–having two famous young interior players further provides fertile ground for this toxic fan culture.

Yu Fei could not stop this, as it is an inevitable product of social media development. In any industry, fan groups evolve into “fan circles” and end up in mutual hostility.

Compared to loose fan groups, competition between fan circles resembles an ideological standoff, unable to tolerate each other. Whoever wins a match temporarily gains the upper hand, while third parties take the opportunity to stir up trouble.

Under such an atmosphere, the technical flaws of Antetokounmpo and Jokic are greatly exaggerated by fan circles, becoming well-known. Especially the defensive issues of Jokic, whenever he is substituted, commentators remark, “As long as the Clippers can’t resolve Nikola’s defensive issues, they need a substitution.”

Nevertheless, the reality is not always so. In this data-driven era, judging an interior player’s defensive ability depends not only on blocks and rebounds data.

The Clippers have a statistical index for “bluffing” defense, mainly to measure a player’s performance in protecting the rim and impacting the opponent’s decisions. Positioning and choosing positions are crucial in this statistical index.

According to internal statistics of the Clippers, Jokic is one of the league’s best interior players in terms of positioning and picking positions.

A contrasting example is Andre Drummond, a rebounding king with an average of 15 rebounds per game, whose theoretical data seems impressive, yet his defensive positioning is too old-fashioned, not adapting to modern basketball developments.

Jokic’s main problem lies in his defensive awareness and technique reaching S-tier, but his mobility is only D-tier.

Often, even though his awareness keeps up with the opponent’s offense, his body doesn’t keep up, eventually allowing opponents to score successfully using “fishing enforcement” tactics.

This issue is mostly unsolvable by Jokic alone; he would need more help from Yu Fei and Antetokounmpo.

The Clippers’ games, accompanied by minor skirmishes on and off the court, with Antetokounmpo liking to pick on Jokic, now Jokic also finding ways to retaliate, but their struggle is strictly contained and never spreads.

“This issue is becoming increasingly clear–who can stop the Clippers in the playoffs?”

The Clippers have never opened champagne, but the media helps them to.

As they advanced into April with a record of 67 wins and 7 losses, expectations began for them to enter the playoffs with an unprecedented record of 74 wins and 7 losses.

This desire undoubtedly burdens the team.

The Clippers couldn’t hold on because they had been winning for too long.

In early April, Curry and the Miami Heat transformed into dragon slayers, relying on unstoppable shooting skills scoring 54 points, handing the Clippers their eighth loss of the season.

“I want to thank Stephen,” Yu Fei said, “thanks to him, we no longer have to think about records.”