The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 224 - 147: Tomorrow, Announce to the Media

Chapter 224: Chapter 147: Tomorrow, Announce to the Media

Bill Walton was wrong about one thing: the Phoenix Suns actually had Su Wan, but they traded him this summer, and it was in this trade that the Pacers acquired Dior.

That is now Joe Johnson at the Hawks, who has become the "Hawk King," averaging 20.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

It was expected by everyone, including the Suns, that Johnson would become an All-Star level player.

But the problem was, if they really matched the Hawks’ 5-year, $70 million contract, even if the Suns won championships continuously in the following years, they wouldn’t make much profit. And without a championship, they might literally lose everything.

Not only was this true for Phoenix, but Oklahoma experienced the same.

That’s the tragedy of small-market cities.

The market size is just that limited.

Winning a championship only allows for a certain profit ceiling.

And talking about small markets, what about Boston?

Isn’t that a large market?

Didn’t the owner still plan to sell the team after the 2024 championship?

Indeed, teams like the Golden State Warriors that could build a dynasty and elevate their franchise’s value to be the first in the league are exceedingly rare.

At least several conditions need to be met.

Firstly, although Oakland’s population isn’t large—only about 400,000, even less than Indiana—the Warriors have the support of the Bay Area and are located in economically developed California, presenting promising market prospects.

This is something small-city teams can’t compare with; places like Indiana are covered in cornfields, and Milwaukee is all about brewing beer—how can they focus on expanding the economy when their machines are already smoking?

Moreover, even before winning a championship, the Warriors had already built a substantial fan base.

This was accumulated over decades of playing an "up-tempo" basketball style.

It’s why there’s a saying, "Playing basketball doesn’t have to be about being the strongest, but it must be entertaining." The Spurs, despite their dedicated efforts over the years, still don’t see high attendance in San Antonio.

This is something not even large cities like Houston or Seattle can compare with. These cities are large, but with a high population of white-collar workers who lack a strong sense of belonging to a team; the basketball atmosphere there isn’t intense.

Thus, the success of the Warriors is hard to replicate.

Small markets or big cities with a lukewarm basketball atmosphere dreaming of following this path are heading toward a dead end.

Of course, small markets wouldn’t dare spend that much money.

Phoenix’s strongest lineup ceased to exist after Joe Johnson left.

Even though they added a "quality puzzle piece" like Stephen Jackson this time, the core issue remains unresolved, and even a "top-tier 3D player" like Klay Thompson would struggle to transform this team significantly.

After all, "Buddha’s Light Shines Everywhere" can’t always be on.

In the fourth quarter, the Suns regained stability, and on the Pacers’ side, they switched to the regular "5-man group" mode, with Calderon and Dior controlling the team’s rhythm. If this was the first time the Pacers were using this lineup, Walton remarked, it would be terrifying in the future and might become the Pacers’ "ace lineup" this season.

As a seasoned media figure, he could discern some terrifying aspects of this Pacers lineup—it was essentially an enhanced version of the "Phoenix Suns," and unlike the Suns, this Pacers lineup had both the ability to resolve games single-handedly and defensive capabilities.

There’s no need to doubt their single-core resolution—any fan who had watched this game would testify to that, or they could just watch videos of Su Wan’s past performances to find the answer.

On the defensive side:

The lighter O’Neal and Artest, forming the "frontline mobile task force," could almost instantly reach any area of the half-court for help defense.

Su Wan also had a strong sense of help defense.

Even Walton believed that if Su Wan devoted more energy to defense, he could become a "Best Defensive Lineup" level player. But with Su Wan’s attacking prowess, letting him focus heavily on defense would be too wasteful, something neither Rick Carlisle nor Bill Duffy would agree to!

to 101. The Pacers, who had lost by 18 points to the Suns in their previous game, won this game by 12 points, achieving revenge.

That makes a total difference of 30 points.

And coincidentally, Su Wan scored exactly 30 points in this game!

In addition, he had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

The reduction in assists was due to less ball-handling, as Su Wan is now a very pure finisher.

Su Wan had no complaints about this since Calderon and Dior’s ball-handling and organization were better than his half-measures. He could only perform fixed-point passing after screen plays, which fundamentally differed from the other two.

Both Calderon and Dior made their mark in this game as well.

Calderon’s stats were locked at 8 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, with a shooting percentage of 50%; Dior had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists;

The numbers were not spectacular, but their impact on the court left a deeper impression on the audience than the statistics suggested. freēwēbnovel.com

Of the 29 teams in the league, fewer than ten point guards could control the pace in front of Steve Nash and not fall into the Suns’ fast-paced tempo. And in a fast-paced matchup with the Suns without crumbling, that number could be counted on one hand.