The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 53 - 52 Su Wan’s BGM

Chapter 53: Chapter 52 Su Wan’s BGM

Su Wan had read the newspaper that morning, and his statement about bringing a championship to Indiana had made headlines in several media outlets. But he really had no idea that Indiana folks had already dubbed him "Agent 99."

He just didn’t know what Washington’s "Agent 0" would think about it.

Considering Arenas’s "Brother Pingtou" personality, there would probably be an unavoidable "battle of the agents" at some point.

But who cared about that now? Su Wan needed to focus on nailing his game debut.

His speech at the fan square and the bold statements at the press conference had successfully reignited the interest of some of the Pacers fans who were previously solely focused on venting their frustration.

One hour before the game, the stands were already 80 percent full.

The box office backstage showed that all over eighteen thousand tickets at the Conseco Arena had sold out. About eight thousand of those were sold after Su Wan’s press conference yesterday.

Donnie Walsh personally stood at the players’ tunnel, watching the scene of fans finding their seats for quite some time.

At that moment, he felt as if everything had returned to normal.

The disaster from half a month ago seemed as if it had never happened.

"Energy, energy, Larry was right, this kid really can provide an unexpected surge of energy!" Now he totally agreed with Larry Bird’s decision to trade two first-round picks and a second-round pick to get Su Wan, hands and feet up in the air with approval.

During the home team’s introduction ceremony, Su Wan was arranged to be the first to enter.

The venue’s DJ, with his passionate voice, shouted, "Now, the new member of the Indiana Pacers, Agent 99, from Huaxia, the 1.98-meter tall Super Nova, Su~ Wan!!!!"

Accompanying his shout was the song "Extreme Ways."

As the ending theme of "The Bourne Identity," the catchy introduction of "Extreme Ways" never failed to give goosebumps.

Now, as Su Wan’s entrance theme, it immediately set off a burst of cheering throughout the arena.

Su Wan couldn’t help but think of "Sirius," which played during Michael Jordan’s entrance; as Jordan became the "God of Basketball," "Sirius" also became the "anthem of a God." And at that moment, Su Wan had a strong urge to make "Extreme Ways" his own signature song.

He imagined a future where, in the era of short videos, fans could open up a clip, hear this song, and know without even looking that it was a highlight reel of Su Wan.

Of course, achieving all this was a long road ahead; it took Jordan 15 years and two sets of three consecutive championships...

And that was the path Su Wan had to walk.

The cheering reached its peak the moment Su Wan made his entrance, the climax of the whole arena; the Pacers players who followed did not receive as much applause until Reggie Miller came on, and then the cheers once again swelled.

This clearly showed how much anticipation the Pacers fans had for Su Wan.

Seeing these enthusiastic fans, Su Wan thought of another thing:

This place seemed to be the famous "anti-LeBron stronghold."

That female fan who continuously provoked LeBron, leading to her being ejected by a referee and still making a "LeBron-style cry face meme" as she was pulled away by security, was indeed from Indiana.

No wonder he fit in so well here; he felt comfortable the moment he arrived—it all made sense now!

He found the reason.

They were all gathered here for the same cause—to "rebel against the feudal dynasty."

Before the game, Rick Carlisle called all the starters to him, laying out the plan he had crafted for this matchup. His whiteboard was covered in dense notes, showing how seriously he was taking the Seattle SuperSonics.

And the Sonics this season were certainly deserving of that respect.

In the 14 games that had been played, Seattle had secured a record of 12 wins and 2 losses, ranking second in the Western Conference, second only to the Phoenix Suns, who had an even stronger "dark horse" presence.

Just like the Suns, the new season’s Seattle SuperSonics also highly relied on a fast pace and three-point shooting strategy. — Never had a rule change like the abolition of hand-checking this time caused such a significant "chain reaction" so quickly.

Perimeter players could no longer touch the bodies of ball handlers, making breakthroughs much easier for the perimeter players and their shooting increasingly effortless.

It wouldn’t be until the ’14-’15 season that the three-point shot would transform the play style of the NBA, but in terms of impact, this year could also be called the "First Year of the Three-Point Era," with most teams noticeably increasing the ratio of three-point shots from this year on.

At least in the regular season, the three-point shot as a weapon was incredibly sharp!

Rick Carlisle’s strategy was mainly aimed at the SuperSonics’ "Double Gun" Ray Allen and "Second Round Dark Horse" and "Future NBA’s Tenth Billion-Dollar Man" Rashard Lewis.

"Point Guard Luke Ridnour, Shooting Guard Ray Allen, Small Forward Rashard Lewis, Power Forward Reggie Evans, Center Jerome James;"

The starting lineup of the SuperSonics was clear at a glance. Ridnour, as the backcourt engine, provided ammunition for the two aces, Allen and Lewis, while Evans and "Joker’s Brother" fought for rebounds inside, allowing Allen and Lewis to shoot with more stability.

With such a play style, the SuperSonics had achieved the second rank in the West, which spoke volumes about the ferocity of Allen and Lewis’s firepower this season!

Especially from beyond the three-point line, the two together could average 5.1 three-point shots per game!

This number might not be explosive ten years later, with Stephen Curry alone capable of providing their combined firepower.

But in that era, it was still terrifying.

To beat the SuperSonics, one had to limit their performance beyond the three-point line.

Once the tactics were arranged, Carlisle left Su Wan to speak alone, "Don’t overthink it, just play well in this game, and you’ll have completed your task!"

Although Su Wan knew that Carlisle was trying to alleviate his nervousness, he couldn’t quite agree with Carlisle’s viewpoint.

Just look at the stands almost bursting with spectators today!

They weren’t merely there to see Su Wan put up an impressive stat line.

They were more interested in seeing whether Su Wan had the ability to fulfill his bold claims of leading the team to a championship. — If he couldn’t even handle the Seattle SuperSonics, then it might be time to just wash up and go to bed early!

What?

You say this season’s SuperSonics aren’t pushovers like last season and that the Pacers are missing three key players...

Excuses are for the weak to hear!

They would of course make excuses for Su Wan.

But not now!

Only after Su Wan had won them over with his performance and turned them into "Su Wan Fan Club Fans" would they naturally hype him up as "Invincible Under the Heavens!"

As for now...

They might be even pickier towards Su Wan than LeBron’s fans!

So today, Su Wan needed both stats and a win!

The big screen at the venue displayed the starting lineups for both sides, with the SuperSonics’ lineup unchanged, and the Pacers’ lineup as:

"Point Guard Tinsley, Shooting Guard Su Wan, Small Forward James Jones, Power Forward Austin Croshier, Center David Harrison;"

Reggie Miller had already ended his suspension, but with the arrival of Su Wan, he gave up his spot to him, playing as a substitute for this game. Regardless, before everyone took the floor, they still rallied around him for a team cheer.

"Spiritual Leader" was certainly a compliment when it came to him.

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