The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 360 - 192: Cleveland’s ’Sword Guards’ Rebel.

Chapter 360: Chapter 192: Cleveland’s ’Sword Guards’ Rebel.

Visitor’s locker room, utter silence.

Mike Brown looked at everyone with their heads down, and once again his gaze turned to Shaquille O’Neal.

No choice, other than LeBron, Shaquille O’Neal was the only one among them with the ability to handle the ball alone.

The others mainly focused on receiving LeBron James’s passes for easy scores.

Especially Quentin Richardson and Channing Frye, who relied on LeBron’s passing. Till now in the new season, one of them had averaged 15.4 points and could make 2.1 three-point shots per game; the other had averaged 11.3 points, managing to hit 1.8 three-pointers per game.

Of course, LeBron also depended on their scoring to have ample space for breakthroughs.

So far this season, he had been averaging 27.4 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists per game and though he had a high turnover rate of 3.2, his shooting percentage was 48.5%.

That was nearly 1% higher than his peers!

Such is the power of LeBron paired with good shooters.

It has to be said, "One Star and Four Shooters" really was LeBron’s comfort zone; in this system, his stats were inevitably strong.

Of course, the "One Star and Four Shooters" system not only augmented the ball-handler’s performance like LeBron’s, but "Turkish Jordan," Tekeglu at his peak also played as the "ball holding big core" in the Magic Team.

The reason is simple, no matter how intense the defense, it can’t hold up for 48 minutes; there would always be moments of defensive lapses, and with the ball in their hands for long periods, seizing the opportunity naturally leads to outstanding stats.

Tekeglu’s physical capabilities were at least two levels below LeBron’s, but during his peak with the Magic Team, he had averaged 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5 assists.

And that was while he still had to consider Howard’s share of opportunities.

Just give him the position LeBron had with the Cavaliers.

Without saying more, he could achieve an average of 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Outside this system, Tekeglu’s best year averaged only 13.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists, illustrating how much this system boosted a player.

After 20 years in such a system, isn’t a "411" quite common?

Put Jordan in there, not to mention "411," you’d get "511" easily.

For this reason, when Mike Brown asked Shaquille O’Neal to step up, the "Sharks," who had been setting picks for LeBron in the first half, growled discontentedly, "I need to be able to receive the ball under the basket too!"

This statement was pointed, and painfully obvious.

LeBron’s expression changed immediately.

He had just reviewed the first half stats of the Cavaliers players—he had scored 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Don’t mind how many shots he took or how many turnovers he made for those 4 assists.

Except for him, the best performance came from Quentin Richardson with 10 points.

And Shaquille O’Neal, who earned a salary of 20 million, finished the first half with only 7 points and 3 rebounds, shooting 3 for 5 which was not bad, but his free throw was only 1 for 5.

Honestly, he already had plenty of complaints about Shaquille O’Neal not setting screens for him.

If it weren’t for this guy’s smooth talking, he would have pressured him through the management already.

Tonight, he did set the screens, but for screens, the season’s average of 18 points amounted to only 7 points at halftime!

What was more infuriating, without saying anything, Shaquille even complained about not getting the ball!

No wonder Kobe had a fallout with him; he had no self-awareness!

LeBron muttered internally, but still responded maturely, "Don’t worry, Shaq, in the second half we’ll make sure you get the ball under the basket!"

As soon as LeBron said this, Mike Brown instantly replied, "Shaq, it’s all on you in the second half!"

Shaquille’s eyes flashed with disdain, and he cursed internally:

A damn flunky!

He was growing increasingly disdainful of Mike Brown.

The second half started quickly.

The first attack of the third quarter belonged to the Cavaliers.

As discussed during the halftime break, Shaquille O’Neal positioned himself under the basket, the Cavaliers helped create space for his solo play.

The Pacers could see the Cavaliers’ intention right away.

They let Foster contest Shaquille O’Neal first, and then when he got the ball, Su Wan quickly committed a foul, using a "knife hand" to send Shaquille O’Neal to the free throw line.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

Su Wan struck very hard, directly shaking Shaquille O’Neal’s hands so much that he trembled even during the free throw.

His free throw accuracy was already poor, and now it was worse.

Mike Brown didn’t clash directly with the Pacers.

Mainly because the Pacers played a 9-man rotation, whereas the Cavaliers only rotated 7.

Aside from Vallejo who could step up from the bench, no one else could fill the gap, especially the two shooters—missing one meant LeBron lost 20% of his breakthrough space.

LeBron was struggling enough against Artest tonight, Mike Brown couldn’t afford to let him struggle more.

"Swish!"

Su Wan scored 19 points in the first half, making 2 three-pointers.

Right at the start of the second half, he scored his third three-pointer of the game.

"Pacers’ Voice" Bobby Leonard said, "Su Wan is in great form tonight, he has plenty of time to break his career record for three-point shots made in a single game!"

Su Wan’s three-point shooting was indeed excellent tonight, but it also had a lot to do with "Ah Q’s" defense.