The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 100 - 93: Su Wan’s "Bumping Shoulders Trick"_2

Chapter 100: Chapter 93: Su Wan’s "Bumping Shoulders Trick"_2

With a touch of American humor in his responses, fans from the United States saw a different side of Su Wan.

Su Wan’s Facebook account reached 450,000 followers.

While responding to some comments, Su Wan returned to Indiana and met Michael Curry, the "newcomer" signed by Larry Bird just before the free agency period closed.

Many fans thought he was Stephen Curry’s father, but in reality, aside from the last name Curry, he had nothing to do with Stephen Curry.

But he was still quite an interesting guy.

Because he had spent half of his professional career with the Pistons.

When "Big Bird" signed an "old Detroit person" to the team during this period, not just Pacers fans, even Michael Curry himself felt uneasy, "When the contract was placed in front of me, I was torn whether to sign my name or not. I hope I can become good friends with Su. I know he is a very charismatic and appealing person."

He didn’t mention Reggie Miller or Jermaine O’Neal, he only mentioned Su Wan, clearly a seasoned veteran who knew precisely which power to woo first when arriving in a rival city.

His statement, which carried a sense of surrender, proved effective. When Su Wan saw him for the first time, he was all smiles, feeling much more amiable than the Su Wan seen in the media, less sharp-edged.

Could this be the real Su Wan?

He didn’t know, he only knew he had thought wrong.

Before coming to the Pacers, he thought Su Wan would be his biggest trouble. After arriving, he realized, the real trouble was the head coach Rick Carlisle.

During the first team practice after All-Star weekend, Rick Carlisle introduced Michael Curry, "Let me tell you, Larry’s real intent in signing Michael—placing a Detroit person right before your eyes—is to constantly remind yourselves that we have a vengeance to fulfill. The playoffs are only two months away, and we don’t have much time left. We must secure more victories and adjust our state to a winning condition!"

Currently, the Pacers ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, with the Pistons in first. If the rankings stayed this way going into the playoffs, they would meet in the second round.

But there was a significant gap between fourth and first in the Eastern Conference, and Rick Carlisle feared this ranking could burden the Pacers players, especially Su Wan. He couldn’t forget that playoffs and regular season were completely different animals, notoriously known as "rookie graveyards." Thus, Carlisle couldn’t expect his playoff performance to mirror his current performance—it was unrealistic. Therefore, all facets of potential issues needed consideration.

Improving their ranking became an imperative task.

Top three in the East obviously sounded better than being fourth.

Moreover, consecutive victories could also foster overall team confidence, making for an advantageous state as they headed into the playoffs.

In fact, after entering February, the Pacers were in excellent form, losing only one game before the All-Star weekend, and that was to the Western-leading Phoenix Suns.

After the Star Weekend, they had another chance for revenge.

Unfortunately, they lost again.

Beating the Suns required a point guard adept at controlling the team’s pace, immune to Steve Nash’s influence.

Tinsley couldn’t achieve that.

Su Wan’s mind did conjure a figure capable of controlling the game’s rhythm, but that person was now on the bench beside that high school kid, reportedly playing only about ten minutes per game, a definite talent for controlling game pace, yet benched with the Cavaliers. This made Su Wan somewhat regret having showcased Calderon’s value during the summer league back then.

If Calderon had ended last year’s summer league obscurely as usual, this summer he might have been able to sign a decent new contract with the Raptors, and more importantly, he would have been a starter immediately upon joining the Raptors.

The good news was that the team that ultimately made it to the finals from the West wasn’t the Phoenix Suns.

Otherwise, that would have been the biggest trouble for the Pacers in the playoffs.

After leaving Phoenix defeated, the Pacers turned to New Jersey.

The Brooklyn Nets had also completed a significant trade just before the All-Star Weekend, acquiring Vince Carter from the Raptors. His career with the Raptors had ended in a quite undignified manner; this move marked the beginning of a new Chapter for him.

From a future perspective, Vince Carter’s transfer was a turning point in his career.

Leaving the Raptors to join the Nets meant that Vince Carter had officially transitioned from a "Superstar" to a "regular star", and his failure to become the All-Star "Ticket King" again served as the best proof.

Yet, he was a player whose popularity exceeded his actual skills—the 2000 All-Star Slam Dunk Contest had earned him far more popularity than his team’s performance warranted.

He was the biggest beneficiary of the Dunk Contest.

After the loss of his popularity, it wasn’t long before he could no longer make it into the All-Star games; if nothing had changed, 2007 would have been his last. This occurred just two years after leaving Toronto.

Of course, it must be acknowledged that Bruce Bowen’s foot-blocking was a key factor in Vince Carter’s rapid fall.

From this particular game, it was evident that Vince Carter’s firepower was still fierce, as he scored 26 points. However, his usual dribble breakthroughs were almost nowhere to be seen, as most of his mid- to long-range shots depended on Jason Kidd’s timely passing.

This aspect...

Vince Carter was underestimated!

The tag "slam dunker" made many overlook that he had long been an elite shooter in the league.

After all, the distance between "slam dunker" and "shooter" is substantial.

But strangely, many famous slam dunkers possess decent shooting skills.

Vince Carter was like this, as was Jason Richardson, the 2003 Dunk King, and others like Jerald Green, the "Nine-finger Slam Dunk King," and the genuine Ravin, who was as skilled in dunking as Vince Carter...

Apart from breakthrough ability, Vince Carter’s already limited defensive capability was further compromised after his ankle was foot-blocked four times.

Primarily, Vince Carter’s lateral movement was already slow, and without explosive power, his lateral speed was hardly worth mentioning. The quality of lateral movement is a critical indicator of defensive strength.

Most players with slow lateral movement, regardless of how actively they defended, could not produce effective results.

This game was no exception; whenever Su Wan switched to guard Carter’s side, it was basically one breakthrough after another.

Furthermore, after Kenyon Martin left, the Nets’ rim-protecting capability had significantly declined. Jermaine O’Neal wreaked havoc in the paint, scoring 20 points in just three quarters.

Exploiting both inside and outside, the Pacers easily overcame the supposedly stronger Nets team. This victory was their first after the All-Star Weekend. Having rediscovered their winning formula, the Pacers then went on to win four consecutive games, lasting until the end of February before they lost their second game post-All-Star.

It is worth mentioning that, in the battle with the Nets, Su Wan and Jermaine O’Neal—scoring 24 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and 26 points with 12 rebounds respectively—continued to showcase strong performances throughout this "four-game winning streak."

During this period, Su Wan averaged 25.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game; Jermaine O’Neal averaged 22.5 points and 10 rebounds.

Their threatening pick-and-roll was the most significant impression they left on outsiders.

Bill Walton, who commented on the Pacers’ games twice during this period, stated after the second commentary, "The NBA has gained another duo that excels at using pick-and-roll tactics. Su and Jermaine are poised to become Indiana’s ’Dynamic Duo’, and their chemistry is unbelievable."

The officials seemed to agree with his statement.

On March 1, the announcement of the Eastern and Western Conference "Monthly Best Player Awards" saw Su Wan and Jermaine O’Neal outshine other stars in the Eastern Conference to become the final winners.

This was another duo to win the "Monthly Best Player Award" since the Mavericks duo of Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley, and Steve Nash in the 2002-2003 season. Additionally, this was also the first time since December 2003 that a Pacers player won the award since Jermaine O’Neal received it.