The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 102 - 94: Still Have to Rely on "Trash Talk"!_2

Chapter 102: Chapter 94: Still Have to Rely on "Trash Talk"!_2

"What?" Su Wan hadn’t reacted yet, feeling surprised that there was something Artest had figured out before he did.

"Nothing..."

"Then let’s continue!"

Su Wan didn’t dwell on it, and the two of them plunged back into the intense and anxious "bullfight."

"Why do I feel like you’ve gotten better at timing your breakthroughs?"

After a round of bullfighting, Artest ran to get an exhausted Su Wan a bottle of water and voiced his doubts. He thought it might be his own misperception or that, after not playing for a long time, his own condition had declined.

Su Wan took a big gulp of water, wiped the corner of his mouth, and said without a hint of modesty, "That’s normal, Ron. I’ve told you, a genius like me is just like that! You should feel honored to witness it up close! Because you’ll never see such a genius again!"

Artest had noticed early on that the more tired Su Wan got, the more he talked trash. Now, this observation was proven once again, and he couldn’t be bothered with Su Wan:

"...You better go rest soon. Tomorrow’s going to be a tough game. Gilbert’s not easy to deal with!"

In the mere seven games he played this season, one was against Arenas, and he felt that Arenas had improved from last season and was starting to show the potential of a top guard. As the season progressed to this point, his feelings were proven right:

This season, Arenas averaged 25.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. Compared to last season’s averages of 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.8 steals, there was a significant improvement.

Many media outlets were saying that Arenas should win the "Most Improved Player Award" again.

Su Wan didn’t care: "That’s for Tinsley to worry about. I just need to watch out for Larry Hughes!"

Arenas was the Wizards’ point guard, and Larry Hughes was their shooting guard.

Artest said, "Larry’s not easy to deal with either. Doesn’t he also average over 20 points this season?"

Su Wan corrected him: "It’s 22 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 2.9 steals per game!"

Su Wan had a vague memory of Larry Hughes, recalling that the guy had made it into the "Best Defensive Lineup," won "Steal King," reached the peak of his career with a big contract with the Cavaliers, and then... there was no "then."

Seeing his stats, Su Wan knew that this was the peak Larry Hughes he had a vague memory of.

The scouting report said his contract was up this year, so this summer, he should be leaving the Wizards to join forces with LeBron, right?

With such stats...

Why do LeBron’s fans still say that "Young James" had no help during the 1.0 period?

Su Wan found it strange and not very "Li."

Seeing that Su Wan could recite Larry Hughes’ stats so accurately, Artest knew that Su Wan must have seriously studied the Wizards’ backcourt information.

Indeed, despite Su Wan always looking nonchalant in front of them, he was secretly "studious" behind their backs. It’s like in school, where he would be the kind of "fake top student" people hated, claiming "What’s there to study?" while actually hiding under the covers at night, secretly memorizing English words with a flashlight.

Coincidentally, Su Wan also liked to claim he was a "genius," damn, even more so!

Artest even wanted to write a diss song:

Su Wan, Su Wan, I wanna diss you!

Besides Arenas and Hughes, the Wizards had other strong players:

Vince Carter’s "brother-in-law," also from the prestigious North Carolina, Antoine Jamison.

As the NBA’s most low-profile "20,000-point man," Jamison was the only player to have scored 20,000 career points but still had not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Just like this season, where he averaged 19.6 points for the Wizards, but when the media mentioned the Wizards, their first thought was still the "Backcourt Double Guns."

Even Rick Carlisle automatically skipped over Jamison when setting up targeted strategies.

The reason was simple, although he had scored 50 points against the Lakers and Kobe, and then scored another 50 points "back-to-back," he was a player who needed absolute ball control and "unlimited shooting rights" to unleash his fierce firepower.

This could also be seen from the trajectory of his career. In his rookie season, when he wasn’t highly regarded, he only averaged 9.6 points per game. In his second season, with twice the number of shots, his scoring jumped by nearly 10 points.

After leaving the Warriors and joining the Mavericks to become the "Best Sixth Man," without the ball in his hands he could only average 14.4 points per game, the second lowest average of his professional career.

Moving to the Wizards, as his possession of the ball was restored, his average points per game bounced back to 19.6.

Interestingly, whether it was with the Warriors or the Wizards, the person who took away his "unlimited shooting rights" was Arenas.

Even more interesting was that Jamison, like Larry Hughes, had his NBA future completely cut off after joining the Cavaliers.

After hearing about Jamison’s experiences, Su Wan once again had the "alarm bells ringing":

In the NBA, you really can’t afford to be polite. If you give an inch to someone else, it’s your team position that you lose. ƒreewebɳovel.com

There is no doubt about Jamison’s scoring ability, but when others fought with him for the ball, he was willing to willingly give up his position.

How else would he have become "relatives" with Vince Carter!

Vince Carter’s attitude toward team status, after leaving the Raptors, was the same as Jamison’s.

So both of their careers failed to achieve particularly remarkable success.

After all, it was far from the expectations that their talents were supposed to reach.

Without "unlimited shooting rights," Jamison could only adjust his scoring methods depending on Arenas and Larry Hughes’ approach to each game, which is why his field goal percentage this season was only 43.7%, down 10% from last season.

Even he wasn’t clear about his role each night, how could Rick Carlisle plan a defense against him?

What the Wizards really needed to worry about was the "Backcourt Double Guns."

Many of the tactics set by coach Eddie Jordan were initiated by these two men.

Carlisle was very clear that with Tinsley’s defensive capabilities, he definitely couldn’t restrain Arenas, so he turned his eyes to Su Wan. If Tinsley was put up against Larry Hughes and Stephen Jackson was there to help on defense, the results would be much better.

Su Wan didn’t shrink back: "I’ll do my best!"

Artest thought to himself, this guy was just spouting nonsense when he was with him yesterday. However, he was not surprised; after all, Su Wan’s mouth was meant to deceive people.

Only at the last moment would anyone know which of his words were sincere.

But he never let people down!

Such a man, very mysterious~

Artest felt that if he were a woman, he would probably hardly be able to resist pursuing Su Wan.

Su Wan didn’t know that Artest’s mind was harboring dangerous thoughts. He once again focused on the scouting report for Arenas, finding it outrageous:

Outstanding first step, unpredictable breakthrough timing, smooth jump shots, and sudden three-pointers...

Wasn’t this description that of a "hexagonal warrior" in scoring?

Later on, some experts called Arenas a "souped-up Lillard" for a reason.

Just looking at this scouting report could make one feel the full threat.

In fact, during the years 2005 to 2007, in Kobe Bryant’s absolute peak of individualism, his biggest rivals were not Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Hamilton, and the like.

His main adversary was Gilbert Arenas, who likewise had an extreme individual offensive firepower. The "Great General’s" peak overlapped with Kobe’s.

A man who could drop 60 points on Kobe’s head would indeed be strange if he weren’t strong.

Su Wan finished scrutinizing the entire scouting report, and the breakthrough he found in it was Arenas’s extremely easy-to-boil temperament. Once he got hot-headed, he would enter the "Bryant" mode—"eyes only for the basket, no teammates"— in other words:

One still had to rely on "trash talk"!