The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 86 - 84 Su Wan is Becoming the Most Hated Person in Cleveland (Sixth Update)

Chapter 86: Chapter 84 Su Wan is Becoming the Most Hated Person in Cleveland (Sixth Update)

After the battle against the Lakers, Su Wan’s bruises had not faded for two days.

The gains weren’t much.

In the 25 minutes of "Extreme Zone" time, Su Wan made 6 out of 15 shots, a low shooting percentage of only 40%, and with free throws 6 out of 4, he scored a total of 16 points, along with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

He reaped a total of 28,000 zone value.

For such a long time in "The zone" mode, the yield was just under 30,000 zone value.

In Su Wan’s memory, since joining the league, this must have been his least efficient game.

However, considering the opponent was Kobe, whose combined strengths during this period likely ranked him between the 10th and 15th players in the league, and in his position, among the top three. Moreover, it was a head-to-head confrontation with Kobe; given his current abilities, Su Wan had performed quite well.

Besides, Kobe held him off, but hadn’t he also restricted Kobe with the help of his teammates?

Kobe probably played 23 minutes and 14 seconds, making 6 out of 16 shots. Just looking at the shooting percentage, it was only 37.5%, even worse than his!

This should count as a tie!

Of course, one reason Kobe played such an inefficient game was that his rib got cracked by Su Wan...

Beyond realizing he still had a significant gap with the top players, Su Wan’s biggest realization was that he lacked signature skills.

Previously, his upgrade mode was general improvement.

Given his previously weak foundation, this upgrading approach was not unjustifiable.

But now, his dribbling, breakthrough, and mid-range potential had all reached 85 points, and the potential of the mid-range shot even reached 90 points, he felt it was necessary to specialize in breakthroughs and mid-range shooting to make his style more distinctive.

Moreover, even from the perspective of the playoffs, he should plan earlier.

Why do many superstars who perform well in the regular season turn into "failures" in the playoffs?

The reason lies in their well-rounded skills but lacking specialization in any.

The typical example is "The Great Emperor" Embiid.

He seemed formidable inside and out, but in the fiercely competitive playoffs, many of his regular season weapons were ineffective, reducing him to a "power forward," drifting on the perimeter.

Su Wan did not want to become a "Regular Season God, Playoffs Worm," he had to create "specialized weapons."

During this time, all his zone values were invested in the mid-range shot.

After the potential reached 90, each upgrade required over 50,000 zone value; during this period, he managed to improve his mid-range potential to 95 points.

But this was the potential of a "Superstar"; he could feel his mid-range shot stabilizing in training.

Just temporarily, these training results had not yet shown up in the games.

Having capability was one part; wanting to exhibit it in games was another, much like the many "No.1 players in Korean LOL"—how many of them actually became top players? However, with the help of the "The zone" mode, he was accumulating shooting experience much faster than ordinary people.

He believed, it wouldn’t be long before no media dared say his shooting was poor.

Other league teams would also tailor their defensive setups against his shooting.

After the game against the Lakers, the Pacers faced another two rounds of tough "back-to-backs," and Stephen Jackson fell during this crazy schedule, leading the Pacers through another wave of "1 win 3 losses," dropping their rank to 5th in the Eastern Conference.

"The Spirit of Su Wan" was still fermenting.

Several "veterans" commented on Su Wan’s action of readjusting his dislocated finger himself.

Gary Payton, known as "Gloves," said, "I never liked this rookie until I saw the Pacers versus Lakers game. I must give him my utmost respect. The willpower of this rookie is unbelievable!"

The coach with the most regular season wins, Lanny Wilkins said, "This is a very interesting rookie. Kobe was embarrassed; he is indeed a very old-school player. You can feel his determination, and he is very different from the pampered new generation of players."

These positive reviews continuously boosted Su Wan’s popularity, which was clearly evident in the All-Star starting lineup vote. Although the Pacers had more losses than wins during their consecutive back-to-back games, Su Wan was far ahead of Allen Iverson, the Eastern Conference guard in the second spot, by about 200,000 votes, receiving a total of 1,520,000 votes, 750,000 of which came in just the third round.

In the Eastern Conference, he was second only to Shaquille O’Neal and ranked second in the East. Across the league, he was only behind Yao, Shaquille, Kevin Garnett, McGrady, and Kobe, placing sixth.

After the official announcement of the third phase of the voting results, the New York Times wrote an article especially for Su Wan: "Su is becoming a phenomenal rookie, his debut season is more eye-catching than ’The Unrivaled Duos’!"

In this article, the New York Times also mentioned Cleveland: "From this moment on, Clevelanders will gradually start to regret losing Su Wan!"

Not only did the New York media feel this way, but Open-air Grandstand also mentioned it in their report on the same day: "If the Cavaliers hadn’t traded Su Wan, they would have had the first player in franchise history to be selected as an All-Star starter in his rookie season. Now, that team record has been broken by the Indiana Pacers."

LeBron and his team were extremely anxious.

Because after the results of the third round, they were still in the third spot for Eastern guards, but the gap between them and Allen Iverson had reached 150,000 votes, a margin that was quite difficult to bridge.

Nike-backed media could only continuously promote LeBron James.

But...

On January 29, in the Pacers’ last game of January, they faced the Philadelphia 76ers at home.

Allen Iverson, the current "Scoring King" of the league, had the last laugh in his showdown with Su Wan, scoring 33 points to Su Wan’s 24.

After the game, Su Wan once again campaigned for Allen Iverson: "I look forward to sharing the All-Star main game stage with him."

The Cleveland media, seeing Su Wan’s remarks, felt somewhat helpless.

They really wanted to criticize Su Wan.

After all, LeBron was your former teammate. Shouldn’t you be campaigning for your former teammate at such a time?

But Su Wan had said it, he had conflicts with LeBron, so it was normal not to help LeBron campaign. It was then that they realized why Su Wan had publicly admitted to having conflicts with LeBron on Facebook.

This was getting ready for revenge!

It must be said, he really knew how to pick his moments.

If LeBron James lost this All-Star starting spot, it would not only be a blow to him but also to the entire Cleveland.

In the end, the Cleveland media, unable to morally blame Su Wan, could only sourly say, "Su Wan is becoming the most hated guy in Cleveland, even though he once belonged to this city."

Going against LeBron was like going against the whole of Cleveland!

The Cleveland media also seemed forgetful, having just said that Su Wan liked revenge, they couldn’t help but criticize him in their articles. That evening, Su Wan made the following statement on his Facebook: "If some players, as team leaders, can’t even lead their team into the playoffs and ultimately only become All-Star substitutes, I would be disappointed with the league’s coaches! If it’s only about stats, then why didn’t Ricky Davis make the All-Star in 2002?"

Although Su Wan did not name names, from the content he posted, it was clear who he was talking about.

That really was fierce, not only preventing LeBron James from being an All-Star starter but also trying to keep him off the All-Star bench...

The media in Indiana couldn’t help but comment, "Oh, Cleveland, why did you have to provoke Su Wan?"