Don't talk trash to him.

Chapter 123 Obviously, he is a drag on the Heat!
Stan Van Gundy could feel that the Pacers' style of play tonight seemed very different from usual.

For a long time in the first quarter, the entire Pacers team was looking for Stephen Jackson's touch from beyond the three-point line.

After he left the game, they arranged a few more attempts for Reggie Miller.

It can be seen that they were in good shape tonight. Stephen Jackson hit a three-pointer on his second shot, and Reggie Miller made two three-pointers in the first quarter.

At the end of the first quarter, the Pacers led by 30 points, 27 to 3.

Shaquille O'Neal didn't care: "Let them shoot. I don't believe he can kill us tonight!"

In the eyes of the "Big Shark", having an advantage under the basket is the absolute kingly way.

This is how the Lakers won their three consecutive championships.

Tonight they had an absolute advantage in the interior and didn't have to worry about how many three-pointers the Pacers made in the first quarter!

Stan Van Gundy was willing to trust Shaquille O'Neal.

Not only does he believe in Shaq, but all the head coaches in the league are 100% convinced of Shaq's abilities.

He is the first guy after Michael Jordan to lead a team to win three consecutive championships!
Although he is now out of his prime, looking at his performance in the first quarter, he clearly showed signs of "an old man reminiscing about his youth". He made 6 of 4 shots and 4 of 2 free throws in the quarter, scoring 10 points.

The Pacers all chased and blocked Dwyane Wade tonight, but they always used "one-on-one defense" against Shaq. - This is another point that Stan Van Gundy is secretly worried about. It seems that they are deliberately depleting Shaq O'Neal's physical strength?

Foster put all his effort into every shot, and it was very difficult for Shaq to make those shots.

After all, he no longer has the explosive power he had in his peak period.

It is rare to see goals like the one in 00 where an athlete would grab the ball under the basket, push it back, and then turn around and dunk.

Now he needs to block the opponent behind him before he can make the next turn.

He still has dominance under the basket, he just needs to expend more energy.

What made Stan Van Gundy happy was that the opposing "heavy tank" at the center position consumed even more energy. When he went off the court to rest in the first quarter, his entire chest rose and fell like surging waves.

He believed that if things continued, Jeff Foster would definitely be the one to go before Shaq.

The second quarter began with rotation time. Both teams' substitutes were not strong and no points were scored for half a day. It was the starters' turn to play. Shaquille O'Neal fulfilled what he said during the intermission and dunked twice in a row at the basket to help the team reverse the score.

At 6 minutes and 13 seconds, the Heat extended their lead to 5 points.

It's still Shaquille O'Neal's credit.

His score in the first half has reached 16 points. If nothing unexpected happens, he can get 30 points tonight.

If I wasn't in peak condition, I could have scored 40 points tonight!
Shaquille O'Neal cursed inwardly.

Even the Indiana commentator had to shake his head slightly when seeing Shaquille O'Neal's strong presence.

This "Big Mac" was able to win three consecutive championships that year, and its strength is really extraordinary.

They could see that even though Shaq was no longer at his absolute peak, he would have no problem dominating Jeff Foster.

"Who of you is defending the great Shark?"

Shaquille O'Neal shouted to the Pacers bench while returning to defense.

In the past, he would talk trash to the Pacers bench almost every time he scored a goal.

Barkley said: "He is imitating Su Wan very deliberately!"

The noise level at Conseco's scene was also much lower.

When the team is out of rhythm, there is less enthusiasm in the stands.

Fans are the same everywhere except in Salt Lake City.

As for the fans in Salt Lake City, they go to watch the game mainly to vent their emotions by swearing, so whether the team is in trouble or in good times will not affect their noise.

Otherwise, why is it called the “Devil’s Home Court”?

But if they look closely at Rick Carlisle's current expression, they will find that he is serious, but not nervous at all.

Instead, there is one:
Don't worry!
It feels like a good show is about to begin!
At 7 minutes and 23 seconds in the second quarter, the Pacers changed their lineup and Jeff Foster was replaced.

Looking at his breathless appearance, the fans at the scene felt that there was nothing wrong with replacing him.

It's time to take a break.

Not only does he lack physical strength, but his effectiveness in defending Shaquille O'Neal alone should also require him to take a break and have someone else come on to try.

But when they saw the Pacers players standing up from the bench, they were stunned.

Reggie…Miller?
Why was it Reggie Miller who came up instead of an inside player?

The commentators were also stunned.

They didn't expect that it would be Reggie Miller who would play.

"Will Jermaine play the 5 position? Stephen the 4 position?" Bill Walton calmly analyzed: "The Heat's overall height is relatively short. Except for Shaquille O'Neal and Damon Jones, everyone else is shorter than the normal height of their positions."

韦德只有1米93，埃迪-琼斯是1米98，哈斯勒姆只有2米03。

There is no choice but to do this. Shaquille O'Neal is too heavy and can only protect the rebounds and compress the space under the basket on the defensive end. It would be a bit difficult for him to do other things.

And his defensive attitude is unprofessional.

In order to help him with the defense, and at the same time, to enable the Heat to have the ability to provide backup defense, Stan Van Gundy, or rather, Pat Riley's will allowed Stan Van Gundy to lower his overall height, trading height for speed, and achieving "4 defending 5" in positional warfare.

The Heat's defensive quality is not good. One example will make it clear. As the first team in the Eastern Conference and one of only two teams to reach 59 wins, their average net score per game is only 4.3 points.

On the other hand, the Suns won 3 more games than them, but their average net score was as high as 7.1 points!
This shows that the opponent cannot defend this team, and this team cannot defend most of the teams in the league. It takes until the last minute to decide the winner.

As for what the Heat have to win every game...

Hard to say! (Referring to Wade's 9.9 free throws per game)
And now, the Pacers also chose to increase mobility and replaced Jeff Foster.

"In terms of overall height, except for the gap between Jermaine O'Neal and Shaquille O'Neal at the five position, the Pacers are of comparable height in other positions, and even have height advantages in some positions."

比如2号位的苏万是1米98，3号位的雷吉-米勒是2米03。

Besides, although Jermaine O'Neal's height is not as high as that of the "Big Shark", he is 2 meters tall, which is the standard height for a center. Except for his disadvantages in weight and strength, he is not bad in other aspects.

Bill Walton soon discovered that the Pacers used tactics to make up for the height, weight and strength gap of Jermaine O'Neal.

The first round up.

Reggie Miller received the ball outside the three-point line and shot directly, and the ball bounced out with a "bang".

Unlike a two-point shot, a three-point shot has a longer distance, greater force, and a more random range.

The traditional "squatting" method of grabbing rebounds may not be effective sometimes.

For example, in this shot, Shaquille O'Neal had O'Neal behind him, but the ball bounced out of the basket and flew directly behind his head.

The height of this ball was such that a young Shaquille O'Neal could have caught it.

But Shaq now really can’t jump!

O'Neal's mobility and jumping ability were demonstrated at this moment.

"Shh!"

The Pacers had a "second attack" opportunity, and Reggie Miller did not let it slip away this time.

He received the ball after receiving the screen at high position on the right side and completed the shot.

As soon as the ball went in, the Pacers quickly returned to defense, so fast that the Heat could not catch any gaps.

"ball!"

Shaquille O'Neal felt depressed and came to the Pacers' basket. He pushed O'Neal Jr. behind him and shouted for the ball, but the Pacers' lineup stood very close to the penalty area when defending.

The purpose is to double-team Shaquille O'Neal as soon as he gets the ball.

The "Great Shark" has a certain shooting ability.

Although you may not always be able to find a player to shoot directly, at least you can pass the ball to the other player, so that you don't make mistakes in double-teaming or have to force a shot.

The ball was transferred continuously, and as soon as Eddie Jones made a shooting gesture outside the three-point line, Reggie Miller came over.

If it was the young Eddie Jones, it would have been a breakthrough.

Unfortunately, Jones is no longer young and his explosive power has dropped sharply, so he can only continue to pass the ball.

Wade, whose three-point shooting ability is comparable to that of Jordan, took one look at the tight double-team and still rushed in.

He fell to the ground during the confrontation and rolled all over the ground.

It shows how cruel he is to himself.

But this time he had no whistle.

Stephen Jackson grabbed the rebound and immediately threw the ball into the Heat's penalty area. Suwan, who was like LeBron, was already waiting near the center line.

There is no other way. The Heat's outside mobility is not weak, and Suwan's explosive power can ensure that the Pacers' counterattack will be successful.

He got the ball and slammed it.

The score difference was suddenly narrowed to 1 point.

The scene became lively again.

"Come on, guys, let's send Shaq to the bench!"

Su Wan's loud shout caused a huge cheer from the sidelines. The fans in the back row didn't hear clearly and asked what Su Wan said. The words spread from the front row to the back row:

"Suwan said he wanted to make Shaq a substitute."

"Su Wan said he wanted to beat Shaq to replenish his blood."

"Su Wan said he would beat Shaq until he bleeds!"

"Su Wan said he wanted to beat Shaq to death!"

But even though the front and back rows heard different things, the cheers continued.

Shaquille O'Neal's face looked ugly again.

As a veteran of many battles, he could see that his weaknesses of slow movement, large size, inflexibility and lazy defense would be infinitely magnified in this Pacers lineup.

What makes Shaq even more disgusting is...

"Snapped!"

"beep!"

"The Pacers fouled and Shaquille O'Neal made two free throws!"

They even used the "Hack-a-Shark" tactic!
This is……

It's just messing with Shaquille O'Neal's mentality!

Barkley was amused.

Compared to Shaquille O'Neal's arrogant look just now, who was cursing the world, he still prefers this "Fathead Shark" who is angry at the free throw line with his head down.

"Bang!"

"Dangdang!"

There was no surprise, but also a little surprising. Shaq, who used to have a 50% free throw rate, missed two consecutive free throws this time.

Stan Van Gundy wasn't surprised.

just now……

Everything connects!
No wonder the first quarter was full of Stephen Jackson and Reggie Miller trying to find their touch. It turns out they are the main attackers in this lineup?
No wonder Wade was constantly being chased and blocked in this game, forcing Shaquille O'Neal to play one-on-one frequently. It turned out that this was really draining his energy.

No wonder Jeff Foster worked so hard on the defensive end but didn't worry about whether he could last the entire game. It turned out that he only played for more than 20 minutes in total?

He turned his head and looked at Rick Carlisle on the other side.

It was as if I was meeting this head coach for the first time.

It's amazing that they could come up with such a "weird lineup" that infinitely magnifies Shaquille O'Neal's weaknesses.

Rick Carlisle is also reminiscing.

A week ago, Suwan, who returned to Indiana, took the initiative to find Rick Carlisle: "Rick, I have an idea, we can use a small lineup to run Shaquille O'Neal to death!"

After listening to Suwan's idea, Rick Carlisle discovered that Suwan wanted to lower the altitude a bit and increase the speed.

In addition, in the last round against the Pistons, they have tried to solve the problem with shooting.

Now we just need to increase the speed based on this.

Rick Carlisle has no problem with acceptance.

He also realized that if they continued to lose ground, the combination of Suwan and O'Neal Jr. would indeed be no match for the combination of Wade and Shaquille O'Neal.

Although it is not the moment of "the end of the road", the third game of the series is actually the one with the highest tolerance rate. Even if you lose, you can still fight a "defense battle" next.

If we were really trailing 1-2, we might not have the courage to change tactics.

Just in time, in order to balance the schedules of both sides, they had a week to practice this tactic!

After seeing the results and seeing Foster's helpless expression in the face of the lineup's counterattack speed, he was full of confidence in the Pacers at that moment.

Three minutes later, Rick Carlisle saw Foster's helpless expression on Shaquille O'Neal's face. No, Shaquille O'Neal was more frustrated than Foster.

No wonder...

He played so comfortably in the first half of the quarter.

Now it’s so difficult to even get a ball.

In addition, the Pacers would "hack the Shark" from time to time, especially when he was about to turn around and they couldn't stop him, they would often just slap him in the face.

His strike was accurate and powerful. If he gets a few more slaps, his hands would be swollen by the end of the match!

With such a frustrating feeling, how could he not be angry and frustrated given his personality?

Being angry and frustrated is the least of the worries!
It's a good thing that he's not sitting on the ground and rolling around at this moment.

At the end of the first half, the Pacers relied on this lineup that seemed a bit strange to outsiders to regain the lead by 8 points.

Suwan accepted the halftime interview: "It is obvious that the old, slow, heavy and problematic Shark is dragging down the Heat!"

Second update today.

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(End of this chapter)