The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 358 - 191: The Strongest Cavaliers Team Since the New Century - Part 4

Chapter 358: Chapter 191: The Strongest Cavaliers Team Since the New Century - Part 4

Unfortunately, when Shaquille O’Neal saw LeBron not participating in defense, he would also frequently avoid helping out defensively.

As for the remaining Gibson, Quentin, and Channing Frye... better not to mention them!

After all, the Cavaliers weren’t winning games this season through their defense.

It was only occasionally that the offensive end would open up, and the players became more active, allowing them to win games more easily through defense.

However, up until now in the new season, such scenes hadn’t been very common.

Gibson passed the ball to LeBron on the wing.

Then the Cavaliers repositioned themselves according to LeBron’s directions.

Many reporters were aware of Su Wan’s pre-game remarks about LeBron.

They could only say that in this round, they couldn’t clearly tell whether LeBron was playing as a point guard or a small forward.

"The Cavaliers’ recruitment this summer has definitely been successful. Look at the space they are creating for LeBron now; it’s definitely the best one-on-one space you can imagine!" Bill Walton praised the positioning of the other Cavaliers players.

Gibson, Quentin, and Channing Frye took positions at their respective maximum three-point hotspots.

Shaquille O’Neal also quickly cleared out from the Three-second zone.

This was the kind of space pulling that Michael Jordan would rave over and Kobe would approve of.

LeBron, facing Artest in front of him, was not very satisfied. He dribbled the ball, almost losing it, but instead of blaming himself for the bad dribble, he yelled at his teammates to reposition. Artest suddenly exerted force, pushed LeBron with his chest, and took advantage of LeBron’s unstable center to steal the ball.

The Pacers saw their chance for a counterattack.

Artest, leading the charge, hurried toward the Cavaliers’ basket before he remembered to look for his teammates. By then, he couldn’t see anyone on either side and had to go for a layup himself.

"Whack!"

A loud noise.

LeBron James’s signature "Chasing Block" nailed the ball firmly to the backboard.

Following their landing, Artest kept his gaze firmly fixed on LeBron:

Steal from me?

Humph!

You can’t block this!

"Bang!" frёewebηovel.cѳm

But Su Wan was right behind him, grabbed the rebound underneath the basket, completing the "Second Attack," and then glared back at Artest:

Got any use from that block?

Didn’t it still score?

Artest, shamelessly, the instant he saw the ball go in, though initially nervous to face LeBron, immediately turned his head towards LeBron:

Blocking me? Useful?

I have brothers; do you?

LeBron’s face, which showed relief, immediately turned into helplessness, spreading his hands towards his belated teammates, as if to say, what uses are you?

Once again, the Cavaliers’ offense started, and the ball was still in LeBron’s hands.

Su Wan glanced at Gibson’s position.

Standing unmoving at the corner.

Can you believe such a guy managed to score over 30 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons this season, leading the Cavaliers to the Finals?

Ten years later, with all the media hype, everyone only remembers LeBron scoring 25 points in a row in the last moments of five games in the 07 Eastern Conference Finals.

But what nobody talks about is how poor his performance was in the other games of the series, including Game 6.

If it weren’t for Gibson, the Cavaliers would have definitely gone to a "Game 7," and they might not have made it to the Finals.

But Gibson isn’t a qualified "catch-and-shoot" guard; he needs the ball to play to his strengths.

This was why he was later benched in favor of Mo Williams, and why now he could only stand in the corner.

LeBron, harried closely by Artest, staggered towards the basket like a lost man in a storm.

Hmm...!

Not slashing, but walking!

Su Wan was stunned.

Not...

One step, two steps, three steps...

How many steps was that?

"Referee, wake up and do your job!" Su Wan called out to the referee.

Knowing LeBron’s basics were poor and needed to be indulged somewhat, but wasn’t this indulging too much?

Yet the referee still didn’t call it.

LeBron finally "walked" to the paint, bumped Artest open, and jumped to make a layup.

Maybe because he had used too much strength in opening up Artest, he couldn’t jump up.

Little O’Neal slapped his not-high-enough shot directly into Gibson’s hands from beside.

Gibson paused, then shot a three-pointer.

"Clang."

It missed!

Shaquille O’Neal grabbed the "offensive rebound".

But as he went to dunk, Foster, protecting both "Shark" and "Fish", pressed him down with a big motion but very warmly, ultimately stabilizing Shaquille’s center of gravity by catching him. However, "Shark" was not appreciative, elbowing him away.

That’s how the disgruntled O’Neal reacted.

"That’s all you can do to stop me from scoring!"

Shaquille cursed, but seeing Foster’s sullen expression, he kept the rest of his words to himself.

Seeing the situation, simply let it be.

However, his elbowing away Foster was seen by all the Indiana natives, who let out loud boos.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

Then after he missed two free throws, the boos turned into cheers.

Su Wan once again drove toward the paint with the ball.

Taking me for a soft target?

Feeling irked, Shaquille this time stepped in, but Su Wan passed him, giving his belly a hard elbow, then kept dribbling away, leaving the bewildered "Shark" still standing there.