Don't talk trash to him.

Chapter 245: 6 Championships in 5 Years

The Eastern Conference Finals begins.

In this game, Rick Carlisle put Shaquille O'Neal back into the starting lineup to partner with Zach Randolph.

5 minutes!

Just 5 minutes!

This is how long Shaquille O'Neal can stay on the court in a game now, and it is also the time they can beat the Celtics.

There is no way, Shaquille O'Neal's restraint on Kevin Garnett is all-round.

From the technical style on the field to the psychological suppression.

Let’s put it this way…

Kevin Garnett has only two words for Shaquille O'Neal:
Convinced!

Before he entered the league, he was thinking about how not to play against him. After entering the league, he lived under the shadow of Shaquille O'Neal during his peak period, and it was even more...

Shaquille O'Neal is old now.

But similarly, Kevin Garnett's condition also declined significantly after suffering a serious injury.

This can be seen from his mobility on the defensive end.

To put it bluntly, the Celtics' defense this season means that everyone is playing for their lives on the court.

The other thing is the tacit understanding of the whole team.

However, tacit understanding and hard work do not necessarily mean they will be useful.

In the face of absolute restraint, these two things often appear vulnerable.

Shaquille O'Neal dealt a devastating blow to the Celtics' interior.

This is the situation inside.

Looking at the outside line...

Suwan enjoyed the same treatment that Kobe originally received.

As soon as he gets the ball, Ray Allen will stick close to him, and at the same time, Pierce and Rajon Rondo on the left and right behind him will form a "triangle" position with Ray Allen and put pressure on him from behind.

but……

The main reason why the Celtics can deal with Kobe like this:

In 10, the Lakers' original outside players were Artest and Fisher.

The only one who is somewhat useful among them is Artest, and Fisher is a point that the Celtics can completely give up.

Suwan's outside partners are different, one is Billups and the other is Afflalo.

Even though Afflalo is only a junior and his shooting performance is not stable in this level of game, but Suwan still has Billups!
This is Mr. Key.

The more critical the moment, the better the response.

This game fully demonstrated this point.

By the end of the first half, Billups had already made three three-pointers.

This scene made the New York reporters on the sidelines wet their clothes.

you ask why?
Because they have seen how Suwan works with Stephen Curry.

Just look at the three-pointers made by Billups. Which one can Stephen Curry not accomplish?

Although he has just finished his rookie season, Stephen Curry has already perfectly demonstrated his three-point shooting ability, ranking 166th in the league with 7 three-pointers.

The person ahead of him is none other than his future "good big brother" in the eyes of New Yorkers:
Suwan!

This is another reason why the Celtics' defense is not effective.

Su Wan could have completed a three-point shot the moment he received the ball.

There is not much point in "triangle positioning" against him every round.

The Celtics paid the price.

At the end of the first half, Su Wan had 5 assists.

From this, we can see how many times the Celtics left Suwan's teammates open in order to target Suwan's possession of the ball.

But the result of the failure was tragic, as the Pacers led by 11 points at halftime.

In the second half, Rick Carlisle brought Shaquille O'Neal up again and continued to put pressure on the inside.

Kevin Garnett and Perkins performed poorly throughout the first half.

The reason was that they lost their temper at the beginning due to Shaquille O'Neal, and even after he left the court, they were unable to adjust quickly.

The end result is that even Marc Gasol, a second-year rookie, can shit on his head!

The Pacers' series of initiatives on the outside in the first half were only gained after they had established an advantage in the interior.

That's why Rick Carlisle was so determined to continue using this style of play at the beginning of the second half.

At the end of the game, the Pacers defeated the Celtics by 119 points with a score of 100 to 19.

Although the final score was not high, the Pacers had been firmly in control of the rhythm since the second half, and the score difference never dropped below 15 points.

This kind of "boiling frog in warm water" style of winning can sometimes make the opponent lose without any temper.

When the buzzer sounded, the Celtics' "Big Three" lowered their heads one after another.

Barkley looked at the three of them and seemed to think of his unwillingness in the late stage of his career: "Sometimes it's like this, fighting hard may not necessarily bring you a satisfactory result, but we have to applaud the Boston Big Three. At least they came together in time for the Auburn Lane Cup and fought once."

The biggest regret of Feizhu is that it did not join the group earlier, but waited until its fuel tank was only down to the last bar of gas before joining the group. Moreover, when joining the group, it did not see clearly whether it was a human or a dog, and chose the Dream and Glider, which had no fuel in their tanks.

The camera turned to Shaquille O'Neal at this time.

This old guy is so lucky!

Just when it seemed that his entire career was beyond redemption, he met Suwan. Last season, as the tactical core, he directly hit back at his reputation. He spent most of the first half of this season on the bench. Now, facing Kevin Garnett and Perkins, whose playing styles are extremely restrained by him, he played with style and received a wave of praise after the game. He was called the "secret weapon prepared specifically for the Celtics and the Lakers."

Yes!

I don’t know how many years of life it cost!

The more Barkley thought about it, the more sour he became.

If he wasn't sitting in the studio, he would have spat at him.

After this game, most media people thought that it would be difficult for the Celtics to even win the next game.

The main reason is that as a "Big Three" team, the Celtics do not make many lineup changes.

This season they are mainly focused on defense.

The biggest reason they lost this game was...

Their defensive strength is clearly insufficient.

The disconnect between inside and outside defense resulted in the Celtics' entire defense being unable to coordinate.

There was no change in formation, and their best defensive tactics were broken again. How do you think the Celtics won?
Unless each of them can turn on "The zone" mode like Su Wan.

But if they could open "The zone", they wouldn't have to come together in their 30s to form a group.

The result was not beyond the expectations of the outside world. The process of the next three games was almost exactly the same. The only difference might be the final score difference, which was getting bigger and bigger.

In Game 4 of the series, the Pacers completely broke the mentality of the "Big Three" at Boston's TD Garden.

The Boston fans, who are known for their die-hard loyalty, rarely chose to leave early.

There is no way. Not to mention the 30-point difference, the more important thing is that this summer, none of the contracts of the "old Big Three" will expire, but the contracts of Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen are about to expire.

This means it will be difficult for the Celtics to maintain their current lineup.

As for the deal...

Who would want these three “old guys” who haven’t won a championship as a team?

Even if the deal was completed, given their situation, they wouldn't be able to gain any promising bargaining chips.

You can't...

The remaining Boston fans at the scene suddenly had a bold idea in their minds.

The way they looked at Su Wan gradually became hot.

"Su Wan!"

"Su Wan!"

"Su Wan!"

Of course, these fans are not the self-important old white people in Boston. It is impossible for them to condescend to shout at Suwan.

Most of the cheering fans were of Chinese descent and some black fans.

When they were shouting, they were met with all kinds of cold stares from these old white people in Boston.

What a shame!
Are you guys worthy of being Boston fans?
Can we write a plaque outside the stadium in the future?

Dogs and these fans are not allowed.

The old white people, whose rebellious psychology was aroused, booed Su Wan wildly.

Su Wan heard the shouts, but he was too lazy to pay attention to them. However, the boos from these old white men did arouse Su Wan's interest.

Looking at these hateful eyes, Su Wan pointed at the championship banner above the ancient arena and said, "You only deserve to live in the past!"

Just this one sentence made these old white men even more defenseless.

Because Su Wan touched their pain points:

As the team with the most championships in the league, the Celtics lifted their last championship trophy in 1986, 24 years ago.

The young Boston fan back then should have been a middle-aged man with a big belly now.

Paul Pierce originally wanted to say hello to Suwan, but when he saw how he treated Boston fans, he said to the camera on the sidelines: "I will never respect anyone who doesn't respect Boston fans. I won't congratulate him!"

Finally I found a reason for him!

After saying that, he left angrily.

This successfully earned him cheers from all the old white people in the audience.

This is what the “city kids” who can’t hold the championship trophy look like.

Ray Allen pretended not to see what happened and still greeted Su Wan.

There was a sudden booing at the scene.

Kevin Garnett was smarter. He did not go up immediately, but walked up to Suwan when the reporter was about to start interviewing Suwan, pretending that he had just finished his work and ran over to congratulate Suwan.

The atmosphere had calmed down a lot by this time, and the group of old white men who were causing trouble had already left, so his actions did not attract much attention from the sidelines.

Three people, three personalities, reflected vividly.

However, Kevin Garnett quickly realized that it was not a wise choice for him to come over now.

Su Wan, who was angry, looked at him with a sneer on his face: "Kevin, now it seems that loyalty has not harmed me. Lack of strength is the main reason why I can't win the championship!"

Kevin Garnett was stunned at the time.

Because he was paid such a high salary every year, he ultimately failed to lead the team to win the championship, and even did not make it to the finals, so he left the Timberwolves.

Although the fans of Minnesota understood him very well, he was still upset during that time, so he always said, "Don't let loyalty hurt you." He not only said this to Su Wan, but also to other core players he eliminated.

As long as they did it, Kevin Garnett wouldn't feel so guilty.

result……

A deep "boomerang" hit him so hard that he was silenced.

At the same time, it also made him hate Su Wan.

The next morning, the news that the Pacers had made it to the finals dominated the screen.

He has been in the league for 6 seasons, and led his team to the finals in 5 of them.

Su Wan's performance as a coach has attracted attention from the entire league.

The New York Times said: "This will be the most glorious era in the history of the Pacers. They will never be able to have such glory again in the past 20 years or the next 20 years!"

This is so flattering!
The Indiana media was uncomfortable, not that they had any doubts about the New York Times' views.

But...

Can't we say this ourselves?
Why do you have to speak for us?

There are so many things happening in New York, but you don't pay attention to them. Why are you staring at Su Wan every day?
They had every reason to believe that even if Su Wan farted in front of the camera at this moment, New Yorkers would definitely say two words:

Nice!

Of course, the Indiana media will say the same thing.

Can……

They just look down on New York.

It has been said that the New York media is the craziest, but in the past two years, they are no longer worthy of such a title!
They have become Su Wan's most loyal "suck-ups"!
So disgusting!
Why don't you dare to fight Su Wan?

The Pacers successfully advanced to the finals.

In the Western Conference, Kobe and the Lakers defeated the Suns 4-2 and entered the finals.

For the second consecutive year, the third "Buhu Battle" in four years has begun!
However, this is the third time in 4 years.

But outsiders believe that this will be the last season for these two teams in the finals.

Yao Ming's injury caused the Lakers' team's strength to plummet. More importantly, this injury usually takes about a year to recover, and even the doctors cannot give an accurate answer as to what the player will look like after recovery.

It took O'Neal two years to recover to 70% to 80% of his peak level, and he sacrificed some weight, and also underwent very patient rehabilitation in the summer.

Yao Ming...

Is there time for recovery?
In addition, it is still unknown whether his overall strength will be affected if he loses weight.

You have to know that O'Neal's playing style in recent years has relied on mobility and mid-range shots.

Yao Ming is different. He is a big center who makes a living by working under the basket.

If he really loses weight, it would be equivalent to a complete transformation, which is quite difficult.

Therefore, most outside media are not optimistic that Yao Ming can return to his peak.

After all, his weight is there, he is at least 40 kilograms heavier than O'Neal Jr.

Players with large tonnage are most likely to suffer from recurring stress fractures!
Many media even believe that Yao Ming will be out for consecutive seasons until he retires completely.

This is the situation on the Lakers side.

The situation on the Pacers side is more serious.

First of all, there is the conflict between Su Wan and the new boss.

Then there is the fact that the contracts of many key players in the lineup are expiring, and the cost of keeping them all is very high.

These two points combined have made it a foregone conclusion that the Pacers will break up this summer.

Most importantly, Larry Bird, the general manager who could turn stones into gold, was replaced by a new owner, which meant that there was no possibility of turning decay into magic through trade. It was also these two factors that made the Lakers and the Pacers' encounter this time like the last glorious collision.

There is a lot of attention from the outside world.

The first game of the finals was played at the Lakers' home court.

Before the game, when the media asked if he had confidence in this round of the finals, Kobe said: "Of course!"

It is an objective fact that Yao Ming is out for the season, but in Kobe's view, this cannot be a reason for them to give up resistance.

Their goal is still the championship, and Yao Ming's season-ending injury cannot change that.

Led by him, the entire Lakers team is full of fighting spirit.

There is no sign of the team being shaken by the fact that the team's "second core" will be out for the season.

In fact, up to now, the Lakers have performed very strongly in the three rounds of series before reaching the finals.

They lost a total of 3 games in the three-round series.

On the other hand...

This gave confidence to the Los Angeles media and fans, especially all the Lakers players. In their view, the team's fighting power is still the best in the league.

It's just that adding Yao Ming makes it more buggy...

Come to think of it!

If they were not a "Cosmic Lake" level team, how could they have achieved a record of 72 wins and 10 losses?
Now that Yao Ming is gone, even if the Lakers win 10 fewer games, they still have 62 wins.

The gap with the Pacers is actually not that big.

Of course, this is what they said to encourage themselves before the finals began.

When the game really starts, they will realize that sometimes the restraint in playing style has little to do with the record.

Even with Yao Ming on the court, last season's Lakers still couldn't withstand the Pacers' inside line in the finals.

Now without Yao Ming...

Pau Gasol was like a young tree in a storm, being hit all over the place. He also felt what Yao Ming felt when he met the Spanish team in the international competition.

It's no longer something that can be described simply as "uncomfortable".

After the first game, we could see from Pau Gasol's data how uncomfortable he was. Not only did he make only 18 of 6 shots, he also made 5 turnovers. His condition was affected so much that he even made only 6 of 3 free throws.

If you don’t know, you might think Shaquille O’Neal has returned to the Lakers.

最终扎克-兰多夫砍下21分11篮板，小奥尼尔砍下19分8篮板，帮助球队在内线建立了20分的巨大优势。

This is still the most straightforward reflection of the scoring end.

If we take into account rebounds and other aspects, the lead is...

The Pacers relied on these "twin towers" to at least gain a 30-point advantage in the interior.

This advantage is not something the Lakers can make up for through the outside line.

Although Afflalo and Billups had poor shooting performance in this game and Ariza made 5 three-pointers as if he was assisted by God, the Lakers' outside shooting as a whole only won by 7 points more than the Pacers.

In the end, the Pacers defeated the Lakers by 109 points, 89 to 20.

You know, this is the Lakers' home court.

After losing their first home game, the Lakers' situation became even more difficult.

In the second game of the series, Phil Jackson went all out, directing all his defense at the Pacers' inside line, and then placed all his hopes of victory on the confrontation between Kobe and Suwan.

When Rick Carlisle saw that his inside players were being targeted, he immediately did the opposite and asked the inside players to help Suwan limit Kobe.

In the second half, both sides played to their respective tactical needs. Kobe was limited to only 13 of 4 shots, while Zach Randolph and O'Neal Jr. of the Pacers were not in good shape either.

But Suwan made 15 of 10 shots in the second half, made all 5 free throws, scored 27 points in the first half and 42 points in the whole game, helping the team to win 109 to 88 and successfully won the second victory in the finals.

Big score 2-0!

The Los Angeles reporters at the scene have never missed Yao Ming as much as they do now.

If Yao Ming was there in this game, the Lakers would definitely win.

No, not just this game, but the first two games, the Lakers have a chance to win.

The combination of Zach Randolph and O'Neal Jr. is not as strong as Zach Randolph and Shaquille O'Neal last season.

At least this year, the Lakers have a way to limit the Pacers' interior "twin towers", but last year, the Lakers had no way to limit them at all.

Although Shaquille O'Neal was still sitting on the bench.

But judging from his poor performance of 6 of 2 shots tonight, it can be seen that Shaq really has no gas left in the tank.

This season he is really just messing around...

This statement is correct or incorrect.

Shaquille O'Neal was definitely not in good shape in the finals.

However, the reason for this abnormal state is that he consumed too much energy in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The reason why he worked so hard in the Eastern Conference Finals was that he knew that the Lakers without Yao Ming were definitely no match for the Pacers, and as long as they could beat the Celtics, the Pacers would win the championship.

That's why he worked so hard and exerted his power to restrain the Celtics.

And if Yao Ming had not been ruled out for the season, he might have saved his energy to play against the Lakers.

So even though he didn't play well, he didn't feel guilty at all when facing the media after the game: "The most regrettable thing this year is that I can't lift the championship trophy in front of the ungrateful Lakers fans!"

The Los Angeles media felt furious when they saw him being so arrogant.

But given the current situation...

They also know that it is extremely difficult for the Lakers to win an away game.

What else can be done?

All they can do is watch Shaquille O'Neal shit on their heads.

Two years ago, they could never have imagined that Shaq, who had been knocked to the ground, could actually make a comeback.

Su Wan...

Is it so magical?
Ok!

This was also something the Los Angeles media did not expect at the time.

He was able to resolve the "dynasty sequelae" that appeared in a small city like the Pacers.

Of course……

The Larry Bird trade was also key…

In this way, the Pacers in recent years not only have one of the best players in the league, but also have the best general manager in the league!
All I can say is that Indiana has indeed had the fortune to create an era in recent years.

Even the Los Angeles media was a little envious.

In fact, even the Lakers have not won championships as frequently as the Pacers since the 80s.

The only team that can catch up with the Pacers in terms of championship frequency is Michael Jordan in the 90s, who won 8 championships in 6 years.

And judging by the Pacers' current momentum, they have a chance to break this record...

Completed the exaggerated record of 7 championships in 6 years.

Well, this hope doesn't seem very great now.

Everyone can see that the new boss and Su Wan don't get along.

It is impossible for someone as arrogant as Su Wan to stay.

The more important point:
The new boss is obviously a person who is very particular about returns.

This is a common problem among Wall Street bosses.

Rather than championship trophies, they would rather see beautiful financial statements.

Let’s put it this way, between a championship trophy and a profit of 2 million, they will definitely choose 2 million!

What's more, the new owner is not from Indiana, so it is even less likely that he will consider the glory of this city.

If the Pacers renew O'Neal's contract with a maximum salary next year, and if Suwan fulfills the third year of his contract, the combined salary of all the players plus the luxury tax will definitely exceed 9 million.

A cruel reality is that even if the Pacers win the championship, they will not earn 9 million.

First of all, the tickets to Conseco Fieldhouse are the cheapest in the entire league, and back row seats can be purchased for only a few dollars.

Then there is endorsement revenue. During the “three consecutive championships” period, the Pacers’ highest endorsement revenue was only 2 to 3 million in one year.

It’s not that Suwan has no commercial market.

His commercial value can be seen from the fact that he collaborated with ESPN on "Suwan's Predictions", which attracted 2 million in sponsorship for one episode.

only……

Suwan in Polis can't support more brands.

His sneakers can sell well, and his jerseys can sell well too.

But these are all based on his identity as a player.

Apart from this role, he needs the support of fans when promoting other brands of products.

Often, the fans of his own team are the ones who support him the most.

But how many powerful fans of Boris are there?

and……

Wouldn't it be better if they just asked Su Wan to be the spokesperson?

Why should I sign with the Pacers?
The brands that sign contracts with the Pacers are often local Indiana companies.

An endorsement worth 20 to 30 million is really the limit of this city.

By this calculation, if the Pacers want to keep all the players in the summer, they will lose at least 10 or 20 million. Do you think a boss from Wall Street would do this kind of charity business?

However, the Los Angeles media will not feel sorry about this.

They were eager for Suwan to leave Indiana.

Not only do they hope so, but the other 29 teams in the league also hope so.

Because only if Suwan leaves Polis, they have a 29 in 1 chance of becoming the city that owns Suwan.

I don’t know who will be the lucky one in the end.

Two days later, the third game of the finals officially started at Conseco Arena.

The audience seats were filled with darkness.

Since Suwan's arrival, the audience seats at Conseco Arena have always been packed.

The auditorium looked even more crowded tonight.

Barkley took a look at the data and found that it was not his illusion.

Tonight, Conseco Fieldhouse temporarily added 3 seats, but they were still sold out immediately and demand could not keep up with supply.

All Pacers fans seem to have gradually accepted one thing:
Su Wan will leave this summer!

Now they know the whole story.

They were angry at the new boss's disrespectful behavior towards Su Wan.

Before the game, media reporters interviewed Pacers fans in front of the stadium.

The fan was indignant facing the camera: "If I were Suwan, I would definitely leave Polis. Steve Cohen has no respect for him at all. I understand his pride, so... leave, Suwan. As your diehard fan, I respect your choice. What you have brought to this city is something that has never been seen in the past 30 years!"

Su Wan also saw the news.

He is not sure yet whether this is Nike's arrangement or...

There are really Pacers fans who really think from his perspective.

Although Su Wan stayed at that time, it was because of his sense of responsibility and to build his personal image, and then for the fans.

But if this is a real Pacers fan, then Suwan would be very touched and would feel that staying for the Pacers two years ago was really a very correct choice.

And if, no Pacers fans think so, this is just Nike's arrangement.

Then Su Wan would not be depressed or lost.

On the contrary, I am even more glad that I chose to leave at this time.

After all, if these Polis people don't care about him, why should he care about Polis?

If he really stayed, he would be abandoned like a lost dog when he was no longer in good shape...

He hopes this is true for Pacers fans.

Even if there is only one.

He will be very happy too.

Su Wan played with extra motivation that night.

In the end, the Pacers changed the score to 3-0.
With one more win left, the Pacers will win their fifth championship trophy in six years.

On the night of Game 4 of the Finals, David Stern arrived.

Suwan and the Pacers did not leave the outcome of the championship in suspense.

Although Kobe played very hard, no one else on the Lakers could maintain the fighting spirit except him.

At the end of the game, Kobe scored 40 points, and the Pacers won the fourth game 110 to 96, 14-4, sweeping the Lakers 0-.

It is worth mentioning that this is the first time since the first round of NBA reforms that a team has won all the games and finally won the championship.

16 wins and 0 losses!
Barkley muttered: "There is no more perfect ending than this!"

"Let us congratulate Su Wan and the Pacers for winning the championship trophy again!" In the CCTV-5 studio, Yu Jia and others shouted, their eyes filled with excitement.

They really never thought that a Chinese person could be so dominant in the NBA.

Do not……

This can no longer be described simply by dominance!

From 04 to 10, this is an era!

When the final whistle sounded, the Boris fans in the audience did something that surprised Su Wan. They seemed to have been prepared for this. They took out the banners and posters in their hands and held them high:
"Sue, thank you, Indiana will never forget you!"

"Thank you for bringing glory to this city. You don't owe us anything. Make the decision you want to make, Su Wan!"

"Su Wan, leave now. That idiot Steve Cohen is not worth your continued efforts. You should stand on a more shining stage!"

……

Su Wan first looked at the reporters from Nike, and when he saw them immediately raised their cameras after being surprised, he smiled!
It seems that there are indeed people in Polis who are willing to consider the problem from his perspective.

Today is the second update. Brothers, please vote for me.

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(End of this chapter)