Don't talk trash to him.

Chapter 191 Depressed Shaquille O'Neal

The 2006-2007 season was called the "Great Championship Era" by the New York Times. Although Suwan does not agree, all signs indicate that this season was clearly divided, with many weak teams and also many strong teams.

The Mavericks had 11 wins and 15 losses in 13 games in November;
Lakers 13 games, 11 wins and 2 losses;
The Cavaliers have 14 wins and 11 losses in 3 games;
Spurs 14 games, 10 wins and 4 losses;
……

The first month of the new season is strong enough.

But the defending champion Pacers were even crazier and had a record of 14 wins and 0 losses.

However, some media outlets are disdainful of the Pacers' "unbeaten season in a single month", such as the Cleveland media, who believe that the Pacers' November schedule is too favorable, with only one "back-to-back" game, and they did not encounter any of this season's top teams in the entire month of November.

To put it bluntly, two words:

Bully!

In mid-November, Shaquille O'Neal, who had a blast in Miami with 11 points and 31 rebounds, seemed to be speaking up for LeBron James after seeing Suwan named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month on December 12:

"We are a newly formed team, and our chemistry is still in the process of running in. This is our disadvantage, and some teams don't have such problems, so it makes them look stronger."

"The league should take all of this into consideration to select the true Player of the Month award."

However, Barkley immediately hit back: "The Lakers won 00 games in 67, but their final record in 02 was only 58 wins. Didn't the Lakers' chemistry that year have a bad effect?"

Is it so difficult to admit that the Pacers are really strong?

Shaquille O'Neal was also unequivocal: "Guys without championship rings, just shut up!"

This move was Michael Jordan's killer move against Barkley. Now that he had learned it, he thought he could defeat Barkley with one move.

Barkley responded directly: "My grandma can win a championship by playing inside with Kobe!"

What does "returning a favor in their own way" mean?

When faced with Rodman's questioning, Shaquille O'Neal angrily said, "My grandma could have won three consecutive championships with Jordan."

Now it's Barkley's turn to give him the "trash talk".

Originally, this sentence couldn't really break Shaquille O'Neal's defense, because everyone knows that he won all three Finals MVPs during the Lakers' "three consecutive championships". But after Suwan blasted him with "Without a super defender, Shaquille can't win the game", this sentence directly increased Shaquille's lethality by 300%!

In fact, if you ask Shaquille O'Neal if he knows that the Pacers' strength has nothing to do with their chemistry, he will tell you that he knows.

Can……

In order to ease the relationship with LeBron, he must find various opportunities to praise LeBron.

There is no irreconcilable conflict between them, or rather, the conflict between them has not yet reached the point where it cannot be reconciled:
He never realized before that LeBron relied so much on pick-and-roll!
In almost every round, he has to move to the high post to make room for the inside.

At the beginning of the training match, the two were still in the "honeymoon period", and Shaquille O'Neal pampered LeBron like a rare treasure. But gradually the novelty wore off, and seeing Mike Brown's fawning and flattering to LeBron, he had no respect for the Cavaliers coach, and he gradually became unwilling to move, waiting on the side of the "three-second zone".

Firstly, this can be considered as making room for LeBron; secondly, if LeBron passes the ball to him from this position, he can at least attack the basket directly. If he moves to a high position, can he throw or shoot?
Isn't this just being invisible on the offensive end?

and……

He has always believed that pick-and-roll is a job for blue-collar workers. However, he is the "three-time Finals MVP" and was called "the most dominant player on the basketball court" by the American media during his peak period. Even Jordan did not give him such an evaluation.

You want me to do pick-and-roll like a blue-collar worker every day?
What kind of international joke are you kidding?
"Shark" can't do that.

Then he clearly felt that the relationship between him and LeBron was somewhat distant.

But LeBron is not the kind of person who talks about everything - in this respect, he is very different from Kobe - the two of them just don't have the close relationship they had at the beginning. Shaquille O'Neal doesn't care about this. He and Wade are getting along well in the Heat, right? Calling him 3 times a day, what's the result? Isn't it betrayal?

None of this new generation is righteous!

Of course, Shaquille O'Neal has his own way of maintaining the relationship, which is to praise LeBron in front of the media, saying that he is "the true chosen one" and that he "will definitely dominate the league in the future."

This tactic has been tried and tested by him. Ever since he was on the Magic, he has liked to speak up for his teammates and win their favor.

It won't cost him a single piece of meat anyway.

The only time he failed was when he faced Kobe, who was very unhappy with him for giving up toe surgery in order to have a better rest in the summer. Even after that, when he praised Kobe as a regular season MVP-level player in front of the media, Kobe didn't give him a good look.

Of course, if this trick doesn't work, Shaq won't think of any other solutions, but will instead be petty and hate him.

The relationship between him and Kobe also started to get worse and worse from that time, until the sentence "Shaq did it too" completely broke it down.

Fortunately, like all "kings", LeBron also likes to hear good things.

Shaquille O'Neal took the opportunity to praise him highly, which really calmed his expression down.

I think as long as the Cavaliers continue to be strong, he and LeBron will not completely break up because of the small conflict over pick-and-roll.

However, although the relationship between him and LeBron has eased again, Shaquille O'Neal has never been careless and has praised him whenever he gets the chance. This time, he saw that the "Player of the Month" was not LeBron.

Even though he knew that Su Wan deserved the title, he still thought that he was "unqualified" and that the real "Best of the Month" was someone else.

Anyway, the relationship between him and Su Wan will not be good.

This wave of diss, whether from the perspective of mocking Suwan or from the perspective of praising LeBron, is remarks that can make LeBron happy.

He is a professional at coaxing children!
As a result, Barkley became very depressed.

Yes!

He can't even beat Barkley now!

It's so fucking depressing...

Now Shaquille O'Neal has deeply felt the impact on his reputation that he did not win the championship with the Heat and was kicked out of Miami like Pat Riley was cleaning up garbage.

But the most depressing thing...

The Western Conference Player of the Month for November was none other than Kobe Bryant.

Although the Mavericks have a strong record, unlike the Pacers who are so strong that they have "won all the games in a single month", they also had a similar record last season.

But the Lakers emerged as a "dark horse", jumping directly from seventh in the Western Conference to second.

Although everyone knows about this "dark horse", the transformation of the Lakers is also a fact, so in the end, the "Player of the Month" in the first month of the new season finally belongs to the Lakers.

And Kobe has really matured a lot.

His playing style on the court was no longer one-sided, but he paid close attention to Yao Ming's position. Sometimes he would deliberately attract double-teaming and then pass the ball, with the aim of getting Yao Ming into the game as quickly as possible.

If Kobe was a "lone wolf" last season, now he is a "cooperative wolf."

As we all know, the one who is driven out of the wolf pack is the "lone wolf", but the habit of the wolf pack is to act together and kill prey.

Even many media outside Los Angeles believe that Kobe this season has the temperament of a "Wolf King" and can unite the entire team.

Reporters asked Kobe the reason for the change in his playing style, and Kobe simply said, "Because I'm wearing number 24 now!"

Only Phil Jackson smiled faintly, hiding his achievements and fame.

What no one knew was that on the first day of the new season's training camp, he approached Kobe for a conversation: "Now the Lakers have found you 'Shaq'. If the Lakers can't succeed, they will say that between Shaq and Kobe, Shaq is the more suitable person to be the boss! I think you should give me a satisfactory answer as to how to do it."

Kobe said nothing at the time, but Phil Jackson soon saw his changes on the training ground.

Coaching Kobe is sometimes that simple!
However, even though Kobe won the "Player of the Month" award for November, he still ranked third on the regular season MVP list.

Suwan and Nowitzki ranked first and second.

In fact, if the Pacers hadn't performed so well in the first month, Nowitzki would have been ranked first.

This can be considered an unwritten rule in the NBA. Players who unfortunately lost the MVP award in the previous regular season will get an extra buff over others as long as they continue to perform strongly in the next term.

The most typical example is the regular season MVP that "The Great Emperor" later won.

Isn't it just to interrupt Jokic's "three consecutive championships", and at the same time, give it to him because "The Great Emperor" has been a runner-up every year?

This is also done to make the league appear more competitive.

Including the regular season MVP that Karl Malone took from Michael Jordan.

It's just that the person David Stern chose seems more convincing. Karl Malone was indeed qualified to win a regular season MVP that year.

Unlike the regular season MVP given to "The Great Emperor" in the Silver era, it was not "promoting" the regular season MVP throne, it was directly "lifting" the regular season MVP throne.

Fourth is LeBron James.

The Cavaliers' record is much stronger this season, and it is not as "anticlimaxed" as last season.

In addition, the "Rise from the Ashes" promotional video shot by Nike for him played a promotional role.

This finally makes him qualified to join the runner-up for the regular season MVP.

Ok……

I can only be a runner-up.

Unless they can beat the Pacers and become No. 1 in the Eastern Conference, LeBron has less than a % chance of winning the regular season MVP this year.

Or, LeBron and the Cavaliers can confront the Pacers head-on and defeat Suwan directly in this season's game. That way, at least he can get more support in public opinion.

Otherwise, let the media speak for someone who has never defeated Suwan in the regular season or even in the playoffs, and think that he is more qualified than Suwan to win the regular season MVP.

It always feels weird!

Just like when the media people mentioned "The Great Emperor" and Jokic later, they always put Jokic before "The Great Emperor".

There is no other reason, the "Notice of Seeking Grace" is really too destructive.

On December 12, the Pacers played their first game of December, away from home against the San Antonio Spurs.

The outside world has been clamoring that the Pacers' undefeated record in November is not valuable enough. Now, a strong enemy has arrived.

Although the Spurs' record in November is slightly worse than that of the Mavericks and the Lakers, it does not affect their qualifications at all and they are qualified to become a "grindstone" to test the strength of the Pacers.

They are one of the best defensive teams so far this season.

If the Pacers' three-point shooting can still perform as well as it did in November against them, it will prove that the Pacers' three-point shooting in the new season cannot be underestimated by any team in the league.

The Pacers are also gearing up for the fight, and this is certainly not because of the doubts from the outside world.

These media guys are bored all day long and always find fault with everything. If you take their words too seriously, the Pacers will have nothing to do except prove themselves.

They are already a team that has won two consecutive championships. It is not difficult for them to block out these stupid interferences from the outside world.

They are ready to go, as their opponent is the Spurs.

Because of these people, they listened to the "championship is won by fighting" for a season, and these voices were not reduced until they won the championship again. Now the Spurs have restored the lineup of that year, and even the addition of Battier has made the team stronger.

Beat them up and vent your anger for the past season!
Well, they are all excuses!

There's no need for so many excuses to play against the Spurs, just do it!
The relationship between the two teams is now so bad that it can no longer be described as "mortal enemies".

Listen to the boos from the audience, and then look at the security personnel deployed on the scene for this game.

There are a total of twenty people, and they are all equipped with weapons such as electric batons and tear gas. If there is any unrest, these weapons can ensure that they can quickly quell the unrest.

Facing the boos from the audience, Suwan's eyes still slowly swept over the Spurs players. Those preparing to play were Tony Parker, Michael Finley, Battier, Tim Duncan and Francisco Elson.

Ginobili, as before, was put on the bench by Popovich and played in the substitute rotation.

As for Bruce Bowen, he was supposed to start this season, but probably because of the arrival of Battier, he sat on the bench.

Bowen also noticed Su Wan's gaze, and the corners of his mouth twitched noticeably.

This was the aftereffect of being slapped in the face by Su Wan in the finals two years ago.

It wasn't obvious when he was just discharged from the hospital, and he didn't pay much attention to it. But as time went on, he found that whenever he was nervous, his mouth would twitch easily, and it was no longer healed when he went for treatment.

In fact, the most effective treatment for this type of local facial paralysis is acupuncture therapy to stimulate the acupoints.

But Su Wan looked at his ugly appearance and wished he would always be like this, so how could he possibly tell him about this?
Bowen's mouth twitched simply at this moment.

He was frightened when he saw Su Wan now. Seeing Su Wan staring at him, he thought Su Wan still wanted to settle accounts with him.

This shows how deep the shadow Su Wan left on him was.

No wonder, the good are afraid of the evil, and the evil are afraid of the stupid.

In the "Conseco incident", Suwan didn't need to be suspended at all, because the Indiana team alone could have wiped them out. But Suwan insisted on playing against him despite being suspended.

He had never seen such a "greenhorn".

How dare he mess with Su Wan?

The Pacers' starting lineup for the new season is still the same as last season's regular season lineup, except that the "small lineup" has been used much longer.

The main reason is that the Pacers now have no one who can play one-on-one in the low post. If they want more space on the outside, someone must constantly break through the basket and at the same time be equipped with more three-point shooters.

Therefore, the usage time of the regular lineup can only be reduced.

However, it still depends on the opponent's configuration. For a team like the Spurs, where the inside players are all over 2 meters tall and have a low-post singles player like Tim Duncan, Foster's playing time will definitely increase.

At most, it will reduce Tinsley's playing time.

Anyway, Su Wan can replace all his roles on the court.

When the space is too small, it is better to let Anthony Parker play to increase the space on the court.

Therefore, Tinsley smiled less during this period.

After Rick Carlisle realized this, he would often give him more opportunities to attack persistently during his substitute time to ensure that his statistics were not affected too much.

Fortunately, this year is only the second year of Tinsley's second contract, and he doesn't care so much about playing time and statistics, otherwise Tinsley would definitely become a "locker room bomb" this season.

But the Pacers' playing style has been constantly upgrading, and Tinsley couldn't keep up with the pace, so there was nothing he could do about being eliminated.

Rick Carlisle just did what he could do, as for the rest...

He is not the general manager.

If Tinsley really gets into a fight, let his old teammates decide how to deal with it. —— Rick Carlisle once won a championship with Larry Bird in the Celtics.

Game start.

The Spurs got the first attack.

Tony Parker rushed all the way to the frontcourt with the ball.

Although he didn't play for a season, the engine of the "sports car" was not rusty at all. Tinsley didn't pay attention and let him jump past. This is why Rick Carlisle doesn't want to use Tinsley. He can't be defended, but Calderon can at least organize, pass, and shoot three-pointers.

To be honest, if Tinsley was not an old man who had been with the "old Pacers" for a long time, "killing the donkey after it has done its job" is a taboo for championship teams and it is easy to affect the players' condition. Tinsley would not even have to make trouble, Rick Carlisle himself would have asked the team to trade Tinsley.

Even if we replace him with a "poor version" of Calderon, the bonus to the team will be greater than Tinsley.

Su Wan completed the assist defense in the first moment, and he is now familiar with this process.

He and O'Neal Jr. are specifically responsible for providing backup defense for the number one position.

Tony Parker found Tim Duncan in an open position and completed a bounce pass.

The "Stone Buddha" took the ball and turned around, and before Foster could get in position to defend, he made his signature hook shot and scored the goal.

The condition is really good.

And this was just the beginning. In the next few rounds, the Spurs opened up the game with Tim Duncan. Without exception, it was Tony Parker's too leisurely breakthrough that led to it.

In fact, O'Neal's defensive speed is really not slow now.

But the problem is that he is facing Tim Duncan. As long as he is given a little open shot opportunity, he can make an early shot.

In addition, the Pacers were in a bit of a dull state tonight, so Rick Carlisle had to replace Tinsley first.

According to the previous substitution, Suwan came to the No. 1 position and Anthony Parker came on to replace him at the No. position.

In the first round after the change of lineup, Parker directly called for Tim Duncan's pick-and-roll.

However, Anthony Parker's defensive awareness was there. When he saw Tim Duncan coming forward, he immediately formed a double-team with Suwan.

The ball went from Parker's hands to Michael Finley's.

In his prime, Finley won the "Player of the Month" award with Nowitzki and Steve Nash on the Mavericks. His "pull-up jump shot" was so amazing that his jump height was even more terrifying than Michael Jordan.

When he was young, he was called "the man closest to Michael Jordan" because of his physical fitness.

But that was when he was young. Now, his physical fitness has deteriorated a lot, and his weak ball-handling ability has become more prominent. When he came to receive Parker's pass, as soon as the ball reached his hands, he immediately passed it to Battier.

But Battier's hands were "tied" by Artest, leaving him no room to catch the ball, and he could only watch Artest intercept the ball.

The Pacers quickly fought back.

Suwan's slam dunk with his tongue sticking out made Popovich curse on the sidelines.

This Chinese man's physical fitness has become even better.

In fact, Suwan's explosive power and speed have not changed, but because of his core strength and better control of his body, Popovich feels that he is more relaxed and carefree, and mistakenly believes that his physical fitness has improved.

The same physical fitness but different control abilities will produce different results.

Just like Michael Finley is said to be closest to Jordan in physical fitness, but except for the height of his jump when doing a pull-up jump, he has nothing that can compare with Jordan.

Now Su Wan's ability to control his body has reached at least 80% of that in "The zone" mode, making him definitely one of the top players in the league.

The number of people who have this kind of body control ability can probably be counted on one hand.

Moreover, they must be diligent and hardworking.

For example, Arenas, Kobe, and Wade...

As soon as Rick Carlisle saw the substitution, he immediately completed a defensive counterattack and a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

Tinsley looked like he had seen a ghost.

What can I say?

You can't just ask the brothers to join together to play him, right?

He is still confident about his relationship with his brothers.

The main reason is that he can't adapt to the current Pacers' style of play!

All-player defense and all-player movement are his shortcomings, and he has been in the league since 01, and it is almost 07. He also wants to change, but some habits are really hard to change.

Even worse happened in the next round.

On the Spurs side, after Battier received the ball and completed a three-point counterattack, Anthony Parker received a "side pass" from Suwan and also completed a three-point response.

The reason why this scene upset Tinsley was...

In the past, he would receive the "side pass" from Su Wan and then score by attacking the basket.

But now the Pacers need these "lineup pieces" to shoot three-pointers more, and he rarely has the opportunity to cooperate with Suwan like this.

He had to admit it.

With Su Wan's current ability to attack the frame.

If there really is an opportunity to get to the basket, why should we give it to him?

Wouldn't it be more likely if you do it yourself?
It's impossible that the two of them are on the same side, Tinsley can dribble in, but Suwan can't, right?

This may have been possible before, but it is not possible now.

Seeing Anthony Parker complete the three-point counterattack, Popovich immediately called a timeout. When he came back, the Spurs' defense began to target the Pacers' shots outside the three-point line.

With a backcourt consisting of Tony Parker and Ginobili, even with Bruce Bowen, it would be difficult for the Spurs to limit the Pacers' three-point shooting.

But what makes Michael Finley stronger than Ginobili is his defensive ability. He, Battier, and Tim Duncan formed a "mopping-up coalition". Even though the Pacers used a small lineup, the "three-point rain" did not fall like in November.

Rick Carlisle looked at the Spurs' defense and the more he looked at it, the more familiar it seemed to him. Aren't these just copies of the Pacers' Suwan, Artest and O'Neal?
The Spurs actually stole this trick.

This moment...

Rick Carlisle luckily didn't have a tail.

Otherwise, his entire tail would be lifted up.

He regarded Popovich as his idol back then, and now Popovich is secretly learning his defensive lineup.

No, no, you have to put your hands on your hips for a moment, he is so awesome!
But at this moment, Rick Carlisle changed the lineup again, replacing Dio at the power forward position with Millsap.

In terms of ball handling and various offensive methods, he is not as good as Dio.

But in this situation where he is locked outside the three-point line, his ability to grab rebounds at the basket, his second-chance offense, and his ability to catch and shoot three-pointers are much stronger than Dio's.

At the same time, the ball was concentrated in Suwan's hands at this moment, and he began to continuously attack the Spurs' basket.

Logically speaking, the Spurs, who have Tim Duncan, would not be devastated by Suwan's breakthrough.

Even though Su Wan now possesses a breakthrough ability of 92 points, it is already considered top-notch in the league.

But the opponent is Tim Duncan after all.

We cannot deny his rim protection ability just because he is a "historical background".

Another meaning of "historical background board" is:

Actively protect the rim and defend hard!
If everyone defends like someone else, he will rarely become a background player, but no one cares about his defense either.

However, Millsap's pulling made Tim Duncan very uncomfortable.

Moreover, this guy is shooting three-pointers in the bottom corner, so Suwan's "breakthrough pass" does not require any vision. If Tim Duncan dares to stop him, he will just shoot towards the bottom corner three-point line.

Tim Duncan tried to let Millsap take a shot, but after watching him make it easily, he didn't dare to let him take it again.

In addition, Suwan can pass the ball not only to Millsap, but also to O'Neal who is rushing to the basket with him.

With more options, the Spurs' defense under the basket became a little distracted.

It was only at this time that Popovich suddenly realized that he had been fooled by the media.

This Pacers team seemed to be winning by relying on three-pointers, but in fact, at the critical moment, it was the breakthrough to the basket that played a decisive role.

This is only reasonable!

When Popovich first saw the Pacers' crazy three-pointers in November, he was also wondering: In the last season of the "three consecutive championships", are they sure to win the championship in such a crazy way?

Both the Suns and the SuperSonics have proven that three-pointers are indeed extremely lethal, but there are also more uncertainties with this thing. If your hands are cold at important moments of the game, there is a possibility that the game will be ruined.

Now Popovich knows that the Pacers' crazy three-pointers in November were just an illusion, or in other words, those teams in November failed to force out the Pacers' true form, making other people in the league think that they really became an enhanced version of the Suns.

When it comes to the crucial moment of the game, they will not bet on three-pointers at all, but will use the tactics they are best at.

and……

They obviously know how to maximize the three-pointer.

Take the current Spurs for example.

Although the Pacers' previous three-point attack was extinguished, who knows how many more "sparks" will directly form a "spark that sets the prairie on fire" after they let down their guard?
If you want to defend this team's three-point shooting, you should make them lose their form from the beginning of the game.

Instead of waiting until they have almost finished throwing the ball before increasing the intensity.

Popovich figured it out, but it was too late.

Thanks to Suwan and O'Neal's continuous attacks on the basket, the Pacers successfully opened up a 14-point gap and eventually took the victory from San Antonio with a score of 110 to 96.

Tim Duncan tried to stand up at the critical moment, but he was also exhausted on the defensive end tonight.

Although the Spurs learned the "mopping-up defense" from the Pacers, they should have also realized during the implementation process how much physical energy this defense consumes for the players, especially the inside players.

If O'Neal Jr. had not lost weight and stopped holding the ball in the low post, he would not be able to shoulder his current defensive role in the Pacers.

Tim Duncan can also be considered a "physical freak".

But he has to play the role of O'Neal and stand up at the critical moment with the ball...

It's a bit embarrassing!

Moreover, Tim Duncan is already 30 years old without realizing it. At this age, the experience and condition of an inside player are at the best in his career, but his physical fitness is really not as good as when he was young.

In the post-match interview, Popovich noticed the true form of the Pacers and could not help but say it, facing the media camera directly: "Everyone was confused by the Pacers' large number of three-pointers. Their decisive shot at the critical moment was to attack the restricted area!"

This is also the reason why Rick Carlisle was not very happy even though he won against the Spurs.

The outside world has been discussing three-pointers for some time, which made him very happy. He thought that everyone's attention would continue on three-pointers for a while, but he didn't expect that Popovich would expose it in the first game in December.

8 words are here, brothers, please give me monthly votes.


(End of this chapter)