The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 398 - 199: The Biggest Softie Appears_4

Chapter 398: Chapter 199: The Biggest Softie Appears_4

Yao and Wade ultimately led the Heat to fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Now they had advanced to the second round of the playoffs, it’s noteworthy that Yao’s salary was only half of Shaquille O’Neal’s, yet the performance of the Heat didn’t appear to have dipped much.

Looking at "Big Z’s" stats, he averaged 18.6 points and added 10.4 rebounds per game, truly a "bang for the buck!"

Pat Riley believed that by the end of this season, "Big Z’s" trade value would surely increase.

Of course, even if they didn’t trade for the preferred players, Riley was okay with Heat continuing to play Wade and "Big Z" as a duo next season.

Not to mention that Heat’s gains weren’t limited to just "Big Z’s" revitalization.

David Lee was another gain, now in his second professional season, his average stats had soared to 10.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.

Yes, the Heat was among the few teams in the league that had two players averaging over 10 rebounds each game.

Moreover, David Lee also showed potential to become a "versatile power forward."

Anyway, Pat Riley had noticed that he had decent coordination abilities, though it required some time to develop.

The only pity was that he lacked a three-point shot, which couldn’t help Wade create space to the utmost degree.

Fortunately, Wade’s own breakthrough ability along with his "drawing fouls" skill, even in a cramped space, could still tear apart the opponent’s defense, causing damage.

As for flaws...

It was his virtually nonexistent defensive ability.

Which led to Heat’s notably weak defense under the hoop, often opening doors before others even knocked.

Miami media believed that enhancing the wing defense could potentially raise this Heat team’s ceiling.

The most important point:

Despite trading away a tactical core of the team, they had almost no growing pains and managed the transition smoothly, which wasn’t an easy feat.

Pat Riley’s trade last summer looked more and more like a stroke of genius!

The team meeting the Cavaliers in the semifinals was none other than the Pistons, now left with the "4 Tigers."

They were supposed to meet on the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals.

But this time, since the Pacers were leading the Eastern Conference alone, the teams ranked second and third in the Eastern had to meet in the semifinals.

This was the state of the Eastern Conference semifinals. On the Western side, apart from the Warriors who completed a "Black Eight," the other three teams advancing to the Western semifinals weren’t surprising: the Lakers, the Suns, and the Spurs.

The fourth-seeded Spurs eliminated the fifth-seeded Nuggets and were about to face the Warriors, who had completed a "Black Eight."

The Suns were meeting the Lakers in the Western Semifinals for the second consecutive year.

The Suns had a narrow escape.

If not for the rising Lakers, their original opponent would have been the Spurs.

Nash was knocked flying, his nose a gory mess, ultimately requiring six stitches; others also encountered various "black hands," ending up scarred and letting the Spurs step over their bodies into the semifinals.

People say LeBron doesn’t have a real championship ring, but if one really examined it, every championship ring on the Spurs’ fingers was stained with blood.

Another point worth mentioning was that the Lakers advanced to the second round by defeating none other than the Jazz, who had been Rockets’ nemesis.

Jerry Sloan, as usual, employed high trapping and all sorts of front defense under the hoop, using the shooting range of the center Okur to kite Yao.

And it was quite successful.

But it was futile, Kobe single-handedly overturned the Jazz’s wings.

The biggest difference between McGrady and Kobe was evident when Yao attracted massive attention inside, McGrady couldn’t necessarily explode the opponent’s wings completely. But Kobe could, even if Kirilenko gave him "five consecutive blocks," he eventually blew past Kirilenko, leading the team into the Western Semifinals with a 4-1 victory.

The first of the four matchups was between the Pacers and Heat.

The Heat spent six games disposing of the Wizards, only earning two days of rest, which included the incessant journey from Miami to Indiana.

The well-prepared Pacers started with a small lineup, aiming to exploit the Heat’s lack of mobility in the paint, trying to catch the Heat off guard.

Spoelstra, who had just become the youngest head coach in NBA history, had gathered plenty of intelligence before the game, having constantly reminded "White Chocolate" to keep the pace stable.

When Jason Williams was new in the league, he confidently told the media he would "show some moves Michael Jordan never did," and then he became the league’s most flamboyant and feared point guard.

Yet, after being let go by the Kings and knocked around by life, he shed his extravagant persona and began to play more methodically.

He also managed to keep the pace as Spoelstra had requested.

The first quarter of the game was basically a shootout between Su Wan and Wade.

Tonight, Su Wan was in great form, whether shooting himself or catching and shooting, his stability made Wade shake his head and repeatedly call it "freakish."

Wade was also in excellent form, with sharp breakthroughs and stable "Wade’s falls."

Su Wan had once heard that real "superstars" can only explode against each other, no one can really defend against one another.

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