The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 202 - 137: Whether We Can Turn the Tables Depends on Another Huaxia Person_2

Chapter 202: Chapter 137: Whether We Can Turn the Tables Depends on Another Huaxia Person_2

The only concern is that "Mad Fan" is too old, and the others are too young, with hardly any game experience. It’s still uncertain what kind of performance they can deliver.

Fortunately, even the Pacers’ original lineup was strong enough to be highly competitive.

Barkley believed, "As long as Jermaine and Ron don’t create conflicts, this team’s competitiveness in the new season won’t be any worse than any other team."

Su Wan saw his statement and really wanted to sew his mouth shut.

There was no helping it, the "poison milk" ability was just too strong!

Moreover, Su Wan was fully aware that Little O’neill and Artest did have a fierce rivalry over the lead role in the new season.

The only difference was that this time, the Pacers had him.

Therefore, whether the Pacers could change their fate also hinged on him.

Before that...

What Su Wan needed to do was to enhance his own abilities first.

Bill Duffy quickly arranged a training team and practice facility for him.

The next day, Su Wan officially began intensive training.

Time flew to August, and Su Wan had completed the first phase of his physical training.

The training team gave him a week off to rest.

Reggie Miller’s "retirement party" was just happening during this break.

Su Wan met Little O’neill and was relieved to see that Little O’neill had lost quite a bit of weight.

At that time, Little O’neill also saw Su Wan and approached him proactively. Noticing Su Wan’s surprised look, he said, "Dude, this is what the coaching staff arranged; they believe I need to have a faster speed of movement, and they’ve also asked me to practice shooting a lot. I’ll need to take on more responsibility next season..."

As he said these words, his eyes shone with light.

It was hard to imagine just what Larry Bird had said to convince him.

But it was indeed good news.

The weight loss meant that Little O’neill’s fragile knees wouldn’t need to bear such a heavy burden anymore. If the knees were liberated it also meant the legs were freed, significantly reducing the chances of injury.

Moreover, losing weight didn’t mean Little O’neill lost his offensive threat; his close-to-basket threat was top-notch in the league.

If he wanted to handle the ball, he could also go the Kevin Garnett route, focusing on high post-ups with a "fight-and-retreat" turnaround jump shot.

Little did Su Wan know that Little O’neill hadn’t finished speaking when a black man, probably one of Little O’neill’s high-status "bad influences" who he took care of, already tipsy from cocktails, overheard Little O’neill’s words and scoffed, turning to Su Wan, "What do you mean he’s taking on more responsibility? Isn’t it the league’s core inside player’s job to gain weight and play the post? Su, tell me, would you let your fellow countryman lose weight? That’s all bullshit; they just want Jermaine to assist you, to fit in with your tactics!"

"Shut up, Stuart; you’ve had too much to drink today, now get lost, and I don’t want to see you around for a while!" Little O’neill tried to send him away from the start, but the man stubbornly refused to leave, and his words grew more offensive, prompting Little O’neill to finally lose his patience and send him off with a curse.

He apologized to Su Wan, "Su, I’m sorry, this guy has been insisting that I maintain my original weight. I didn’t listen to him, and he’s actually holding a grudge against me."

Su Wan casually replied, "Don’t worry about it, Jermaine, your brother is just considering your perspective..."

At the same time, he was glad that he hadn’t brought these issues up with Little O’neill himself but had the management communicate with him instead.

Otherwise, there might already be a rift between him and Little O’neill.

He didn’t think his relationship with Little O’neill was as strong as the one between Little O’neill and his brother.

Thankfully, Little O’neill was a professional, always listening to the team’s requests.

After some thought, Su Wan said, "Jermaine, do you believe it? The basketball landscape is slowly changing. In the future, quality inside players won’t necessarily need to have excellent low-post one-on-on skills. If they can shoot from farther out, have a strong finishing ability at the rim, defend the hoop, and fight for more ’Second Attacks,’ they can still be the league’s hotshot superstars. It’s going to be a trend."

This wasn’t just empty talk anymore.

Looking 20 years ahead...

Forget 20 years, just 10 years from now, the significance of the inside post-up play had already begun to diminish.

David Stern’s series of game reforms made it clear that he wanted to give more play to the perimeter players and speed up the game.

And with the pace of the game increasing, inside players inevitably had to improve their mobility.

That’s why those slow-footed inside players got phased out.

I won’t even mention others, just look at Boban. In the early 2000s, he was an absolute "double-double" monster, a borderline first-tier, or above, inside player in the league.

But 20 years later, he became known as a "Wandering Man" in the league.

Everyone coveted his physical attributes, but no one could make up for his mobility issues in the "Small Ball Era."

It might still look like the "traditional center" era, but in reality, with the tweaks to the "hand-checking" rules, it was not far from the "Small Ball Era."

It’s just that the league’s mindset hadn’t caught up yet, and the evolution of basketball philosophy also needs time.

But Su Wan, the transcender, knew very well that the current league was capable of adopting "small ball."

If the 2011 Mavericks could win games with "Counterattack Shots," then the current Pacers could also rely on the "small ball concept" to take the championship in the new season.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢