The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 535 - 227: You will soon remember me, but this time I will be your nightmare!

Chapter 535: Chapter 227: You will soon remember me, but this time I will be your nightmare!

The game had just started when Su Wan and Billups hit consecutive shots from the perimeter, making the Celtics more passive on defense, forcing them to expand their defensive formation.

At that moment, Kevin Garnett looked at Shaquille O’Neal beside him and suddenly felt a chill on his back.

It was a well-known fact that to avoid facing Shaquille O’Neal directly in the center position, Kevin Garnett intentionally hunched his shoulders during physical measurements to make himself appear shorter.

There was no way around it, his frame just couldn’t withstand Shaquille O’Neal.

As for Perkins...

When facing a smaller "inside bulldozer" like Zach Randolph, he showed his strength and mass advantage.

But when facing Shaquille O’Neal, it was somewhat embarrassing and he couldn’t manage on his own.

As soon as the Celtics’ defensive formation opened up, Rick Carlisle immediately gave the offensive focus to Shaquille O’Neal.

At this time, the shooting ability that Zach Randolph had worked on during the summer came into play.

If the Celtics double-teamed O’Neal, the "Shark" would immediately pass the ball to the open Randolph, or switch hands, and then back to Randolph.

If they didn’t double-team...

It would be the "Shark’s" "feeding party!"

Both Kevin Garnett and Perkins had no choice but to grit their teeth and then get pushed aside.

Rick Carlisle nodded slightly, showing a satisfied smile.

At the time he heard that the team had acquired Shaquille O’Neal, God knows what he looked like when he smiled.

This was the scene he had envisioned while smiling.

Now it had become reality.

Rivers’ "pig face" suddenly contorted.

Even though he didn’t understand defense and only knew about giving "chicken soup," he knew... Last season’s method of surrounding and blocking Su Wan worked under one condition, that was limiting Zach Randolph under the basket.

Su Wan, left isolated, was besieged and blocked, and that was the fundamental reason the Pacers lost the "game seven."

but now, their originally advantageous inside line had turned into a disadvantage, this...

Was surrounding and blocking Su Wan really still effective?

Even he could see the crisis for the Celtics, let alone Thibodeau.

But soon he realized that this Pacers team really had a comprehensive suppression of the Boston Celtics.

The "multi-point shooting" strategy continually adjusted the Celtics’ defensive formation, preventing them from using their best "meat grinder" defense to wear down the opponent’s physical fitness and slow down the pace of the game.

And when they expanded their defense,

the tremendous killing power under the basket was immediately displayed.

Shaquille O’Neal relied on his mass, outstanding "1v1" skills under the basket, and experience in passing.

Along with Zach Randolph, who used a more stable shooting ability to distract on the side.

This led to the Celtics’ strong points under the basket becoming weak points.

Then...

During the substitution rotation period, young O’Neal came on.

Playing as a small forward in the starting lineup, and just recovering from injury, his overall condition was still recuperating. Plus, as small forward was not his most familiar position, psychologically he still feared confrontations and getting hurt among other issues, which led to young O’Neal’s underperformance.

But when it came to young O’Neal on the bench, it was a "Killing God Descending," unstoppable.

And the bench often reveals a major problem for "multi-giants" teams.

The salaries are all spent on the "giants," which leads to difficulty in having capable individuals on the bench to lead during the substitution phases.

Later, Spoelstra used a method of "three giants" leading the team separately for the "Peak Three Giants" Heat Team to consume this part of time.

But this approach had one premise:

The "Peak Three Giants" were all young guys, full of energy, and could sleep immediately after eating, physically exceptional!

It was different for the Boston Three Giants, all aged over 30, with the youngest Paul Pierce already 31, and as a "heavy-duty small forward," his style of play already heavily consumed physical fitness.

If this were the playoffs, the guys might grit their teeth and bear with it.

But this was the regular season, playing 40 minutes might affect the state of the next game.

Most crucially...

Even if one of Boston’s "Three Giants" was put on the court earlier, it might not reduce the score difference.

Young O’Neal was truly a dimensional reduction strike!

Barkley said, "Jermaine adapted very quickly, clearly, he has now fully adjusted to the team’s sixth man position! He could very well become the Best Sixth Man of the year!"

If that were the case...

It would undoubtedly be another beautiful story!

Now the news that young O’Neal had voluntarily asked to be a substitute had spread across the league.

Admitting a drop in his own performance, voluntarily seeking change, lowering his status, and then quickly completing a transformation to shine a "second spring," such a player is undoubtedly charismatic.

Just like Manu Ginobili transitioning into the "Sixth Man," it didn’t affect his popularity or tarnish his "Demon Blade" title.

Despite the different positions, Jermaine O’Neal has clearly become the next "Demon Blade!"

"Seems like he’s also trying to prove himself?" Kenny Smith thought of the media’s skepticism towards the Pacers players at the start of the season.

Now, Zach Randolph’s reputation was clearly improving, and young O’Neal had also given his answer after the "big injury," not to mention Shaquille O’Neal, who had become the tactical core of the Pacers on the offensive end.

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