Don't talk trash to him.

Chapter 212: Conflicts re-emerge in Cleveland. What is the spirit of the older generation?
So far this season, the Cavaliers' starting lineup is: LeBron James at No. 1, Quentin Richardson at No. 2, Vince Carter at No. 3, Channing Frye at No. 4, and Varejao at No. 5...

The only thing missing to complete the “one star and four stars” is replacing Okur at the fifth position.

Even in this era, this is considered a "one star, four stars" lineup.

After all, you can't possibly not have a "meat shield type center" when there are still many heavy weapons in the interior in this league.

The Pacers, who won three consecutive championships, still started with Foster, which explains the problem.

So from Danny Ferry's perspective, he had done everything he needed to do.

This is definitely the lineup that LeBron James is most comfortable playing in…

It's okay if there are too many pitchers.

Varejao is his most loyal "licker".

Not only did he actively screen for him on the offensive end, but when it came to rebounding under the basket, he just blocked the ball instead of grabbing it.

This directly allowed LeBron James to average 30+8+8 per game this season!
However, LeBron didn't feel satisfied.

He felt even more like he had sacrificed himself!

In order for the team to have a more stable "ball handler" and for Carter to be able to play a more comfortable position, he sacrificed himself and gave up the third position.

He felt that his action alone was enough to impress Vince Carter.

That was indeed the case at the beginning...

Vince Carter moved around him actively, making him feel very comfortable.

But for some reason, starting from the end of November, Vince Carter suddenly became a "lone wolf", not only taking more than 11 shots in each game, but also constantly asking LeBron to pay attention to his position when attacking.

LeBron was very unhappy with the feeling that the words were full of instruction.

He certainly wouldn't do what Vince Carter said.

What he didn't expect was that Vince Carter would become more of a "lone wolf" or more self-focused in his shots.

In these two games, Vince Carter averaged 24 points per game, which was an improvement compared to the previous game.

In these two games, LeBron scored 24 points in one game and 26 points in another, and watched Dwyane Wade's average points become the same as his.

Losing the game is fine, but he's about to lose the "scoring champion" title. Do you think LeBron can be less anxious and have a good talk with Vince Carter?
When Carter heard that LeBron wanted to talk to him, he glanced at him.

He didn't say anything, but still nodded slightly in agreement.

It can be seen that his attitude towards LeBron James is not as friendly as it was at the beginning.

He is really unfriendly!

To be honest, as a player from North Carolina, Carter knows very well what "team" means, and he is definitely not a "lone wolf" player. His teammates can prove this whether he was the boss of the Raptors or the "old 1.5" of the Nets.

And this is what he thinks he can bring to the Cavaliers.

Therefore, when he first came, in order to smoothly integrate into the team, he gave up some ball possession and cooperated with LeBron tactically.

This resulted in his stats being terrible.

However, the team kept winning, so he didn't take his statistics too seriously.

This is the "Soul of North Carolina"!
Vince Carter himself was a little moved.

Can……

"Degeneration! The half-human, half-god has completely become half-human!"

"Annual salary of 1453 million, Vince, your statistics are not worthy of such an annual salary!"

"A wrong deal, we got Vince Carter who has completely fallen from his peak. This is a terrible thing!"

Cleveland media came out one after another to ridicule his poor performance, not only believing that he had fallen from his prime, but also saying that he was a "scammer" who came to Cleveland to cheat money.

Vince Carter thought LeBron James would explain for him and let those Cleveland media who don't understand basketball and only know how to criticize know what he sacrificed for the team.

LeBron did step up, but...

"He is still in the process of adjusting. I believe he can adjust well. He has experienced too many big scenes and he knows how to adjust himself!"

Are these words definitely not confirming his poor performance and high salary but low ability?

But LeBron James ended the interview and said to him as if to take credit: "Vince, don't worry, the Cleveland media will never dare to do anything to you!"

Seriously, Vince Carter almost swore:
No, are you sick?
I haven't said a word about the sacrifices I made for this team?
You prove that I am a high-tech but low-intelligence person, and still say that the Cleveland media dare not do anything to me?
Vince Carter is a proud man.

He would never allow anyone to use that word to describe him.

At the same time, he also understood what kind of person LeBron is. And Mike Brown, it would have been fine if he didn't defend him, but he kept praising LeBron for his good play this year. He is really familiar with him.

Is that because he played well?
Isn't that my cooperation?
Mike Brown became the final straw that broke the camel's back for Vince Carter.

He knew very well that if things continued to develop, once the Cavaliers' performance fluctuated, he would become the "scapegoat" of the Cavaliers because of his "high salary and low ability". His agent also reminded him that if his data did not improve, he would probably go from a first-tier star to a second-tier star.

If that's the case, then Vince Carter will really start to go downhill.

Because this means that even if he leaves the Cavaliers, he will be treated as a "second-rate star". When he arrives at a new team, the tactics arranged by the head coach for him will tend to favor ordinary main players rather than tactical cores.

Most of the stars slowly degenerate into ordinary main players or role players, and then gradually fade out of the league.

This has been the rule of the NBA since ancient times.

But most of those players are old, unable to maintain their form, and naturally deteriorate, or have suffered serious injuries.

Although he was tripped by Bowen four times and lost his explosive power, his condition was definitely fine and there was no reason for him to fall so quickly.

You know, he was the league's "top scorer" when he was on the Nets last season.

He doesn't accept such a fate!
Since the Cleveland media cannot see his efforts and LeBron and Mike Brown do not want to acknowledge his sacrifices, he can only make some choices that are beneficial to himself.

Starting from the last three games of last month, he has found his former self and played in a way that he is comfortable with. His average statistics in these games have improved, especially on the scoring end.

But this made LeBron feel a little uncomfortable.

The Cavaliers' record also fluctuated. Coincidentally, at this time, the Cavaliers encountered a "back-to-back" situation and had a direct "1 win and 4 losses" wave. They dropped from fourth in the Eastern Conference to fifth in the Eastern Conference and were about to drop to sixth in the Eastern Conference.

but……

What does this have to do with him?

Tete averaged 5 points in the past 23.4 games. It has nothing to do with Tete, Tete knows nothing!
When it comes to “giving up everything”, who can be his rival as the “gold medal little spy”?

In order to show his determination to leave the Raptors, he was the one who directly leaked the team's tactics to the opponents.

Coincidentally, it was the false reports by the Toronto media that became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

It is the same now. The Cleveland media's indiscriminate accusations, ignoring his sacrifices for the team, accusing him of being in poor form and not worthy of such a high salary, have touched his bottom line.

If LeBron wants to talk to him, then let’s talk!

"Man, do you feel like your playing style is different from when you first started?" LeBron asked cautiously at the beginning.

Vince Carter said: "No, this is my way of playing. Now is the beginning of our running-in period!"

I have cooperated with you for so long, now it's your turn to cooperate with me!
"But... wasn't our cooperation great in the beginning? The team was always winning, not like now..." LeBron got a little anxious when he heard Vince Carter's words. He thought of something, "Vince, is it because of the accusations from the Cleveland media? You don't have to worry about these things. Mike and I will help you get back to your form as soon as possible!"

Carter was a little unhappy when he heard this. He said arrogantly, "I've recovered my form, haven't I? The responsibility for the team's loss is not mine! I averaged nearly 5 points in the last five games, and there was no problem with my shooting efficiency. Do I need you to help me get back to form?"

"You're the problem, LeBron!"

"Your statistics have dropped a lot recently. This is the key reason why we didn't win!"

LeBron looked at Vince Carter's sudden reaction and knew he had said something wrong. He said, "No, no, Vince, you misunderstood. What I mean is that we all know your sacrifice for the team. You don't have to care about what the media says. Their words can't change anything."

Vince Carter smiled and thought: So you also know that I sacrificed for the team? Then why did you say to the media that I was in a slump?

No wonder he fell out with so many stars.

"UFO" now knows where the problem lies.

When LeBron looked at Vince Carter's sneering expression, he immediately thought of Shaquille O'Neal and Suwan.

no……

Are these people sick?
Why can’t you stand a little bit of injustice?

How fucking childish!
Seeing Carter turning around to leave, LeBron got completely anxious. He said, "We are all sacrificing for the team, aren't we? Vince! In order to make you play more comfortably, I gave up the No. 1 position to you and returned to the No. position. This is my sacrifice, but I don't feel wronged. We are all professional players, Vince!"

Carter looked at LeBron again, his eyes full of disbelief and his heart full of absurdity.

He didn't expect that LeBron, whose entire tactics revolved around him, would feel that he was sacrificed.

"Then you should continue to sacrifice, LeBron. Since you are now the No. 1 player of the Cavaliers, you should pay more attention to creating opportunities for your teammates instead of playing more than times in each game. You should focus more on directing your teammates and arranging tactics instead of always calling for pick-and-rolls and asking your teammates to open up!"

After saying this, Vince Carter never talked nonsense to LeBron again.

Originally, he felt a little guilty. With his team-oriented playing style, obeying the head coach's arrangements and cooperating with teammates were already in his blood. In recent games, he caused the team to lose for the sake of his own data. This was something he had only done once when he wanted to leave the Raptors.

However, after talking to LeBron, he was sure of one thing:
Sent this season!

Let’s get started!
The two broke up unhappy.

The next morning, no media reported the incident.

After all, there are only two of them involved.

LeBron doesn't dare to continue to anger Vince Carter, so naturally he can't do anything weird.

As for Vince Carter, he is ready to start, so it doesn’t matter whether these things are said or not!

However, the Cleveland media is still worried about the atmosphere in the Cavaliers' locker room.

There is no way. This losing streak came really strangely. The momentum was originally very good. Although it was only ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, it "won more and lost less". LeBron's state was extremely hot and the offense on the court was also very smooth.

Especially when these guys got into the groove, their three-point shots were very much in line with the current mainstream style of play, making people feel pleasing to the eye, but also lacking in dominance. ——This dominance mainly refers to LeBron James!
But at this moment, the team suddenly seemed to have a power outage and lost one game after another.

The key is that they can’t find anyone to “take the blame”.

Vince Carter's stats were not good during the team's winning streak, but in the Cavaliers' losses, he was one of the Cavaliers' best performers, on par with LeBron:
Averaged 23.4 points per game, with 6 rebounds and 4.2 assists.

The hit rate is also around 46%.

If you really have any objections to such performance, that would be too harsh!

Although some Cleveland media did do so!

They thought Vince Carter had the ball and destroyed the Cavaliers' chemistry.

There's another reason the Cleveland media is so worried:
The Cavaliers' first opponent when they return to their home court will be none other than Suwan and the Indiana Pacers!

Every year when LeBron and the Cavaliers meet Suwan, nothing good happens.

The first time Suwan returned to the Cavaliers after being traded, he directly cost the team a playoff spot;
The second time they faced Suwan, after the Cavaliers suffered a crushing defeat, the "Cleveland Plane" incident occurred;
Then came last year, the worst game, when the Cavaliers lost by 58 points to the Pacers. Then Shaquille O'Neal openly broke up with LeBron James, and his attitude in criticizing LeBron was exactly the same as Suwan's back then.

Last year, when the team was making great progress and LeBron won the "Player of the Month Award", he met Suwan and the Pacers.

The ending is still so tragic.

The team is going through a downturn right now, and now they are facing the Pacers...

The Cleveland media really can’t imagine what will happen!
"Play well in this game!"

In the visiting team's locker room at Quick Loans Arena, before going on the court, Su Wan said something very solemnly to everyone.

Everyone nodded immediately to express their attitude.

This also includes Ron Artest, who has clearly increased the frequency of his ball-holding attacks on the offensive end this season!

He was well aware of the grudge between Suwan and the Cavaliers.

Moreover, in this "big contract tug-of-war", Suwan's attitude of supporting him is impeccable. As a leader, he has done everything he can. Now he asks Artest to play well tonight. How can he refuse?

In this world, people support each other. If you support me, I will support you. If you don’t support me, it’s good enough that I don’t care. Do you still want me to care about you?
At least that was the case for these stars in the 00s.

So during this period you can see that Shaquille O'Neal would call Kobe "MVP" and Tim Duncan always emphasized how much help his teammates gave him.

Let’s look at the ones that came later.

The most typical example is Embiid.

He blamed Harden for Philadelphia's loss, as if the Philadelphia 76ers would be better off after Harden left.

But the result proves that even if Harden leaves, Philadelphia is still a "wasted city". I don't know who started this overly self-centered trend.

Only by respecting other stars can you get the respect of other stars.

For those players who say "I've never been on a super team" at the end of their career, don't blame their former brothers for turning against them and stabbing them in the back.

Well, it’s not like this star doesn’t like to praise people.

But he prefers to praise his opponents.

Especially when losing, the entire lineup of the opposing team is called "All-Stars" in his mouth!
"Just tell me, Sue, how many points do we have to beat the Cavaliers tonight? How about another 58 points?"

Seeing Artest so excited, Su Wan smiled: "It couldn't be better!"

Since LeBron switched back to the number one position, Rick Carlisle made a lineup change in this game, letting Suwan play directly at the number one position, Artest at the number two position, Dio at the number three position, O'Neal at the number four position, and Foster at the number five position.

The average height of this lineup is around 2 meters, which is an absolute "forward height".

With such a lineup, no matter who faces LeBron, they will not be at a disadvantage in terms of size.

Rick Carlisle did not hide this starting lineup. He revealed it before the game started. When reporters asked him why he arranged such a lineup tonight, he said: "LeBron is a smart man. He can always pick the thinnest and shortest players in the opponent's lineup to attack in a mismatched manner. This style of play is really very smart. To limit this style of play, what I can do is to arrange five forward players on the court. I am looking forward to LeBron's breakthrough choice this time!"

I choose you mgb!

Fuck you!

LeBron's mouth was filled with sweet smiles after hearing Rick Carlisle's pre-game interview.

He has never seen such a mean head coach!

Sure enough, like players, like head coach.

Suwan's head coach is a bitch just like him!

But no matter how angry he was, the one fact that could not be changed at the moment was:
He needs to think carefully about how he plays in this game.

Especially at the beginning, after Valanciunas gave him a screen, Suwan disappeared from in front of him, and Artest's face appeared in front of him, he quickly threw the ball to the wing.

The ball went from Quentin to Carter's hands, then stopped.

Carter waved to his teammates, asking everyone to move away and start playing one-on-one against Dio.

Dio's speed is not slow, but his lateral movement speed is not fast.

This is very similar to Vince Carter.

Many people overestimate Vince Carter's physical fitness because of his jumping ability and various fancy dunks.

In fact, Wade, who also uses attacking the basket as a means of offense, is better than Carter in this regard.

The reason why he is stronger is not how good his jumping ability is.

In this respect, Carter is more than a level higher than him.

But Wade's explosiveness is much stronger than Carter's.

Among the so-called "Four Great Shooting Guards", McGrady and Allen Iverson both have a gorgeous first step.

Kobe is a little worse in this regard.

And the one who is worse than him is Vince Carter!

One aspect of Carter's stronger physical fitness is that he has better body control, which can be seen from the degree of stretch in his various dunks.

He can do the same action more easily than others.

This is all because he has better body control.

So Carter has an obvious accumulation of power when breaking through.

At the same time, he grasped the small details very well, lowering the center of gravity and sinking his shoulders, all with the purpose of gaining position.

Now you know what kind of fatal blow Bowen's tripping caused to him, right?
With his explosive power sharply reduced, Vince Carter had to step out of his original comfort zone after joining the Nets.

In order to better position himself during breakthroughs and replace his irreversible explosive power, Vince Carter has more detailed moves, including changing hands while moving and back-to-the-basket moves.

Like another "North Carolinian" Stackhouse, Carter is also an underestimated "back-to-the-basket master". His "back-to-the-basket" skills that change during breakthroughs, coupled with his steady mid-range shooting, are the biggest changes he has experienced since joining the Nets.

Of course, there are also his catch-and-shoot three-pointers while running without the ball…

In fact, Carter is a very comprehensive scorer, but his identity as a dunker is overshadowed by his status as a dunker.

Just like in this round, Dio suffered a loss, because he was too focused on defending Carter's breakthrough and preventing him from rushing to the basket for a dunk. As a result, when he saw Carter "backing up" in front of him, he was stunned for a moment, and then the entire defensive rhythm was messed up.

Carter scored successfully and got the team's first 2 points tonight.

This seemed to have touched the switch that triggered his scoring. In the following time, Vince Carter continued to attack with the ball, and the balls fell into the basket one after another.

In the first quarter alone, at 10 minutes and 11 seconds, Vince Carter had already scored 11 points.

There is no problem for Dio to move as a power forward, but when defending a player who can both drive and shoot, his lateral movement becomes a bit passive.

Carter's mobility issues were obvious, but Dio just couldn't grasp it and could only watch Vince Carter do whatever he wanted to him.

But Rick Carlisle had no intention of changing the formation and still let Dio defend alone.

Because Vince Carter alone cannot save the Cavaliers.

Look at the current score, 27 to 20, the Pacers are leading by 7 points steadily.

Bill Walton saw it clearly: "The Pacers' defense tonight was to limit LeBron, not letting him get the ball, not letting him attack with the ball..."

As the offensive engine of the Cavaliers, he was cut off, and the Cavaliers naturally had to fall into one-on-one games.

Kenny Smith feels lucky for the Cavaliers: "If Vince hadn't been traded this summer..."

He couldn't even imagine how miserable the Cavaliers were at this moment!
The camera on the scene was given to LeBron at this time.

Very serious expression!

But Barkley seemed a little unhappy. He looked down at LeBron's data:
5投2中，4分2助攻1篮板1抢断。

Well, no wonder you’re upset!

What might be done?

The Pacers' defense is really effective against him. In last season's Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers defended LeBron in this way and made him lose all his temper.

This season, LeBron's physique is even more like the "Hulk". When playing against other opponents, it can be seen that his breakthroughs are more ferocious. As long as he is allowed to rush forward, no one can stop him.

But only Suwan knew that the Spurs' lineup had restrained him since 07, until he met the so-called "peak James" in 14, and the same method still made him lose all his temper.

No matter how ferocious a dog is, if its mouth is locked, only its belly will be exposed.

This is also LeBron's problem. Facing the Pacers' full forward lineup, he has no way to bring out his physical advantage.

He was getting anxious and prepared to break through by force.

result……

"Snapped!"

Everyone has heard of "Two Ghosts Knocking on the Door".

This time it was "Four Ghosts Knocking on the Door". Suwan, Artest, O'Neal Jr. and Foster, four of them jumped out from the four corners of southeast, northwest, and northeast at the same time and blocked him directly to the ground.

LeBron came back to his senses from the dizziness and lay on the ground in a mess. He looked up and saw the faces of Su Wan and the other four. The scene was just like when Sha Yi woke up in the middle of the night and saw the "four masters and apprentices" calling him to get up. He was completely numb.

Fans at Quicken Loans Arena were also holding their heads.

It seemed as if the Pacers' defense this time was not aimed at the ball in LeBron's hands, but at their brains.

A sense of despair spread throughout the audience:
No!

Why does this guy always look so miserable when playing against the Pacers?
Even the most loyal Clevelanders were a little frustrated at this moment.

I've seen this kind of scene so many times that I almost vomited!
You always let Su Wan ride on your face, can you give me a surprise once in a while?

Vince Carter became the only light in the despair.

he……

Still scoring!

He was in really good shape tonight.

Unfortunately, the hands holding the scalpel cannot save the Republic of China, and Vince Carter's singles cannot save this Cavaliers team.

At the end of the first half, Carter scored 20 points, and the Cavaliers were now trailing by 18 points.

LeBron's first-half stats were very bleak, with 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 turnovers.

Back in the locker room, looking at Vince Carter's impressive statistics in this game, he bit his lower lip and got angry for no reason: "I attracted so much defense, can't you score the ball?"

If these guys could score like Vince Carter, would the Pacers still dare to defend him like this?

Channing Frye had a speechless expression.

If LeBron himself performed better, he would be able to accept such words, but the problem is...

Who was the worst performer on the Cavaliers in the first half? Don’t you have any idea?

No matter how bad they are, their hit rate is at least 40%.

But LeBron himself doesn't even have a 30% shooting percentage, and he still has the nerve to criticize them.

But he just kept saying this in his mind.

Seeing that Gibson has been sitting firmly on the bench since the beginning of this season, there is really no need for Channing Frye, a third-year rookie, to lose his starting position because of a momentary gaffe. He is also hoping to perform well and sign a new contract next summer to escape from Cleveland!
Ok……

A superstar like Shaquille O'Neal can just shout "Trade me" to the media and then walk away.

But rookies like them can only hold their dissatisfaction in their hearts until they have a chance to escape...

otherwise……

Gibson is what happened to them.

The problem is that this year is still Gibson's contract year. If he had performed like last season, he would definitely be able to sign a contract of at least 9 million next summer. However, this year, he only scored 15.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in an average of 2.3 minutes per game. Even if he gets a new contract next summer, it will probably be a minimum salary contract.

Miserable is just one word!

They have no other choice but to cooperate with LeBron.

Vince Carter quietly looked at the furious LeBron, his eyes full of contempt.

The media all said that he didn't have such a strong competitive spirit, but in comparison, he felt that LeBron's personality was the most disgusting.

As the core of the tactics, he himself has no ability to perform well, but he blames his teammates for not performing well!
This is something that the generation that grew up watching Michael Jordan play basketball cannot accept no matter what.

But he didn't say anything.

Vince Carter is not the type to argue with his teammates. Even if he is unhappy, he just keeps it in his heart, or expresses his attitude through actions. For example, before going on the court this time, he said, "Pay attention to my position later, give me the ball!"

The other players turned their heads to look at him, thinking about his performance in the first half, and had no objections.

Mike Brown looked at LeBron first, only to find that LeBron was also looking at him, with an expression that seemed to say:
Why don't you stop it?
Mike Brown could only say: "In the second half, we still have to create opportunities for LeBron and let him perform. This is the key to our breakthrough!"

"Then why didn't you say it just now?" Carter frowned when he saw Brown confronting him immediately after he finished speaking. He felt that he was being targeted, so his tone was very unhappy when he spoke.

Everyone also heard the displeasure in his tone.

Carter did not continue to fire at Mike Brown, but glanced at LeBron on the side meaningfully: "If you think the ball should be yours, then stand up and tell me that you want the ball! Instead of telling me through the head coach's mouth!"

“This is the Cleveland Cavaliers!”

"I'm just a newcomer!"

"If you are afraid that you will get the ball and play poorly, causing the team to lose, and you are unwilling to bear the consequences. Then..."

"I'm sorry, just give me the damn ball!"

"I'm not afraid to take responsibility in a loss!"

"What's more, I was the one who performed the best in this game!"

When Vince Carter said this, LeBron saw Shaquille O'Neal again.

Why do these old fogies always emphasize these insignificant things?
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(End of this chapter)