In truth, while Ginobili had been named to the All-Star rookie game roster, his position in the Spurs' second unit was not yet entirely secure. The primary reason for this was Ginobili's inconsistency. Popovich's coaching philosophy, while top-tier in the league, still lacked a certain master-level fluidity.
Only when Popovich could truly embrace Ginobili, with all his obvious strengths and weaknesses, and allow him to unleash his "unpredictability" during his rotation time, would Popovich truly reach the level of a grandmaster.
Ginobili's development and Bowen's addition did not make the Spurs invincible; rather, they increased the depth of the roster. This meant that in the rare instances where the core players faltered, the Spurs would have enough ammunition to mount a comeback.
Of course, during the regular season, teams capable of completely neutralizing the twin towers and He Xi Meng were exceedingly rare. Across the entire league, one could count on a single hand the number of teams that could push the Spurs to that extent.
While not invincible, the Spurs were, at the very least, extremely formidable.
For the latter half of the season, Popovich's original plan was to slightly increase Duncan's minutes and slightly decrease David Robinson's, relying on the twin towers' dominance in the paint, coupled with He Xi Meng on the perimeter, to continue leading the league.
Popovich's reasoning behind this plan was naturally the advanced age of David Robinson. If his minutes were not proactively reduced, there was a high probability of injury in the second half of the season. Duncan and He Xi Meng, however, were in their prime and less prone to injury.
In the original timeline, Popovich operated precisely this way. He carefully managed Duncan's workload in the first half of the season. In the latter half, to reduce David Robinson's minutes, he increased Duncan's intensity. The consequence was that the Spurs, who had cruised through almost the entire season, lost Duncan in the fourth-to-last game against the Kings!
In that game, Duncan played 48 minutes and suffered a torn meniscus in overtime, ending his season prematurely.
Without Duncan, the Spurs were upset by the Suns in the first round of the playoffs, concluding a season filled with hope that was then dashed.
He Xi Meng, familiar with the Spurs' history, naturally knew the cause and effect of this sequence of events. To prevent history from repeating itself, He Xi Meng had pestered Popovich before the season began to acquire Brad Miller from the Hornets as a backup for David Robinson, precisely to prevent Popovich from overworking Duncan.
David Robinson could have his minutes reduced, but Duncan could not have his intensity increased!
The combat power lost by David Robinson's reduced minutes could be compensated for by Brad Miller, not by Duncan.
"What? You question if Brad Miller is capable?" 138 Reading Network
Facing collective doubt from the Spurs coaching staff, He Xi Meng immediately asked Popovich to rest David Robinson for one game and have Brad Miller start at center. Against the rising Kings in the Western Conference, He Xi Meng had Brad Miller play as a high-post facilitator.
Brad Miller proved himself worthy! Facing the opportunity He Xi Meng had fought so hard to secure for him, he delivered an all-around stat line of 20 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. He outplayed the opposing All-Star center, Divac, perfectly replacing David Robinson's role. This allowed Duncan to avoid increasing his defensive intensity and, under He Xi Meng's leadership, lead the Spurs to crush the Kings!
After watching Brad Miller's performance throughout the game, Kings head coach Adelman couldn't help but have his assistant coach gather comprehensive background information on Brad Miller. In Adelman's Princeton offense, a center who could battle in the paint, shoot threes, and pass from the high post was the perfect replacement for Divac!
If the Kings could acquire Brad Miller, the starting and backup combination of Divac and Brad Miller would ensure that the Kings were covered by the Princeton offense for the entire game, both during starter minutes and rotation minutes, allowing for seamless transitions and no empty spaces in their offensive sets.
Adelman saw Brad Miller's potential, and so did Popovich.
With He Xi Meng's strong recommendation, Brad Miller successfully secured consistent playing time in the Spurs' second half of the season. Among the big men, his status was second only to Duncan and David Robinson, ranking third in playing time, nearly matching the minutes of David Robinson, who was ranked second.
David Robinson's average minutes per game dropped from 35 to 29 in the second half of the season.
Brad Miller's minutes, however, increased from an average of 15 to 25 per game.
When David Robinson took a rest, Brad Miller partnered with Duncan. When Duncan rested, Brad Miller primarily partnered with Malik Rose, and occasionally with David Robinson, playing the Spurs' twin-center formation.
By bringing Brad Miller to the forefront for the Spurs, He Xi Meng successfully avoided the awkward situation of Popovich overworking Duncan. This ensured the smooth execution of the Spurs' tactics without a drop in their winning percentage, achieving a win-win situation for both performance and health!
Of course, another prerequisite for ensuring the team's victory and Duncan's health was that He Xi Meng himself stepped up to shoulder a significant portion of the Spurs' scoring burden.
Although He Xi Meng was not particularly keen on scoring, in critical moments, in times of crisis, when Popovich would fixate on Duncan and intend to have him pound the opponent's interior, He Xi Meng would always be the first to step forward and take the "bucket of dung" that Popovich was preparing to hand to Duncan onto his own shoulders.
To outsiders, He Xi Meng's actions might appear as if he were "contending for shot attempts" with Duncan, an attempt to seize Duncan's position as the Spurs' primary leader.
But only Duncan knew that He Xi Meng was doing this simply to share his burden and carry some of the injury risk that would otherwise have fallen on Duncan's shoulders.
Some media reporters with ulterior motives would try to sow discord between Duncan and He Xi Meng, asking Duncan: "Will He Xi Meng's actions affect your status on the Spurs?"
"What status? Simon and I are both signed players for the Spurs, and we play for the Spurs according to our contracts. There's no hierarchy. If he wants it, then give it to him. Any status, if Simon wants it, I'm willing to give it to him. No problem! Don't forget, we're Wake Forest's fundamental brothers. Brother, do you understand the meaning of the word 'brother'?"