The longest river

Chapter 252 James's Difficult Situation
Yang Shuai's performance in the first quarter was amazing, but after the first quarter, the Cavaliers only led the Knicks by single digits.

The Knicks' outside shooting was hot in the first quarter, which rendered the Cavaliers' double-team strategy ineffective. However, their defense also exposed many problems when it came to one-on-one defense.

The first to be affected is James on the perimeter.

James has excellent physical strength, but his lateral quickness is average, which makes him easy to get past when defending guards of Marbury's caliber.

Boozer lacked Rasheed Wallace's help defense ability, and Ilgauskas couldn't defend the paint. Marbury scored 15 points with ease, fully demonstrating his scoring explosiveness.

James' performance in his regular season debut was amazing, but his problems were fully exposed in the second game.

Not only was he left wide open on offense due to his shooting ability, but he also couldn't defend opposing guards on defense, which basically sealed his fate as an unplayable point guard.

In the second quarter, Scott made adjustments on the defensive end. He still had James play point guard, but on the defensive end, he assigned Ricky Davis to guard Marbury and James to guard Houston.

As a result, Houston made three three-pointers in this quarter, scoring 12 points.

Houston's playing style is completely different from Marbury's, but similar to Reggie Miller's, leaning more towards shooting after off-ball screens.

This tests more on off-ball defense and the ability to get around screens.

James' lateral speed is average, but his straight-line speed is excellent. His off-ball chasing defense is not a problem, but as a high school student, he is very poor at going around screens.

As Houston continued to score, the fans in the arena went wild.

Whoever LeBron James is guarding explodes!

Scott didn't make any further adjustments, because doing so would mean having Yang Shuai guard Houston or Marbury.

On the one hand, Yang Shuai is now in charge of the team's offense, and no coach would want him to wear down the defense; on the other hand, and more importantly, given Scott's coaching style, he would never assign Yang Shuai to defend the opponent's offensive spearhead.

The Cavaliers led the Knicks 62-54 at halftime.

Yang Shuai scored 45 points in the first half.

James only managed 2 points and 3 rebounds in the first half, shooting 1-for-5.

Without the simple ball of counter-attacking, his performance in positional attacks was quite struggling.

This first half of the game perfectly illustrated what Yang Shuai said after the game against the Pacers: not every game offers easy opportunities, and shooting ability is something that must be practiced.

Especially if your goal is to win the championship, your opponents will only target you more in the playoffs.

Returning for the second half, Houston scored another mid-range shot after an off-ball screen.

Seeing this, Yang Shuai finally couldn't stand it anymore and switched defenses with James.

If they continue playing like this, even if the Cavaliers win tonight, it will be a very ugly victory.

When James faced off against Anderson, the Knicks' weakest offensive player, the Cavaliers' defensive problems were finally alleviated.

Yang Shuai also demonstrated his ability to handle both offense and defense in the third quarter, leading his team to a 35-21 score in the quarter and turning the final quarter into garbage time.

Yang Shuai scored 62 points in the final three quarters.

In the final quarter, fans chanted "We need Hansen," hoping Scott would bring Yang Shuai back onto the court.

Because Yang Shuai has a chance to break his own single-game record of 83 points set last season tonight.

Scott also walked over to Yang Shuai and asked him if he needed to go on the field.

Yang Shuai shook his head.

Although he wants to and is good at pleasing the audience, just as the most beautiful part of basketball has never been the statistics, breaking his own records by padding his stats would only ruin that beauty.

The game was over, but some unexpected things happened in the final quarter.

The Knicks' bench lacked spacing, which gave the Cavaliers opportunities for fast breaks.

However, during a fast break, James, facing a defender in front of him, did not choose to pass the ball to Davis on the other side, but instead forced his way in and drew a foul.

This was originally just an ordinary round, at most James didn't make the best choice.

However, Davis on the other side appeared very angry and directly questioned James loudly.

This immediately caused a stir at the scene.

Davis seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill.

Seeing this, Scott quickly substituted Davis off the court to calm him down.

Davis remained angry after leaving the court. He ignored Scott's high-five and, after sitting down, took the towel that Kapono handed him and threw it to the ground.

This scene also exposed the increasingly sharp conflict between Davis and James.

He was already unhappy with Scott's decision to have James play point guard, and tonight Scott even assigned him to clean up James's defensive mess. One thought kept running through his mind: Why?
He can do everything that James can do, and he can do most of them better than James. So why does Scott keep favoring James?
Just because of some bullshit "chosen one" propaganda from the media? He doesn't believe it!

The Cavaliers ultimately defeated the Knicks 115-101, securing their second consecutive win to start the season.

Although both games were decisive victories, the Cavaliers gave off a completely different feeling compared to the first game.

After the opening game, the Cavaliers really gave the impression of being championship contenders; however, without Yang Shuai's outstanding performance, the Cavaliers would most likely have lost this game.

詹姆斯今晚的表现和首场比赛相比也是判若两人，他全场比赛15投5中仅得14分6板4助攻。

Even excluding his points in the final garbage time quarter, he wouldn't have scored in double digits in this game.

James did not attend the team's post-game press conference, but reporters still asked him quite a few questions.

"It's normal for a rookie's performance to fluctuate, and he's only 18 years old."

Scott's answer, as before, focused on James's rookie status and potential.

"LeBron should feel a greater sense of urgency to improve his shooting now, and he also needs to improve his one-on-one defense."

Yang Shuai remained as stern as he was after the last game, but after giving his due urging, he also offered James some encouragement.
"The good news is that the season has just begun, and he has plenty of time to improve those aspects."

As fellow high school rookies who had also been through the rain under Brown's tutelage, he was more forgiving towards James.

He also believes that if James can truly take the time to do what he said, the help he can bring to the Cavaliers will be enormous.

Time flies, and it's already mid-November.

The Cavaliers performed well in the first two weeks of the season, achieving a record of 7 wins and 2 losses. Due to their superior head-to-head record, they temporarily surpassed the Pacers, who had the same record, to rank first in the Eastern Conference.

This performance exceeded expectations, but the Cavaliers' record also exposed several problems. Most notably, their defensive counter-attacking system didn't achieve the same effect as with the Nets; many of the Cavaliers' wins were due to Young's performance.

After 9 games, Yang Shuai is averaging 41 points per game, heading straight for Player of the Month.

The reasons for this outcome are twofold: firstly, as mentioned earlier, teams in the league are increasingly emphasizing spacing; and secondly, and more importantly, the Cavaliers' roster.

The Cavaliers don't have a top-tier defender besides Young. If it were the Trail Blazers, with two Wallaces and Prince, this tactic would be incredibly effective.

Then there's James's situation.

Improving James' shooting and defense is not something that can be accomplished in a short period of time, and his penetration is not yet at the point where he can ignore the defense, which makes his performance seem somewhat strained.

9场比赛下来，他场均只有15.1分5.2板5助攻，投篮命中率是43%。

At first glance, these stats seem pretty good for a rookie, but if you consider that most of his goals come from fast breaks in defensive counter-attacks, you'll know what his overall performance is like.

In addition to his performance on the court, James also faced a lot of internal pressure within the Cavaliers.

The pressure didn't come from Scott or Young, but from the rest of the Cavaliers.

Davis needs no further explanation, and Boozer also expressed his dissatisfaction.

Boozer put up some good numbers last season and had the opportunity to improve further in his second year as a rookie. However, this season, with the addition of Yang Shuai and James, his ball possession has plummeted, and his scoring has mostly come from second-chance points after grabbing offensive rebounds. This is undoubtedly a bad situation for him, who has the opportunity to extend his contract early after the season ends.

Yang Shuai certainly couldn't refute it and genuinely agreed, but why should James, a rookie, receive better treatment than him?

Boozer's mentality is also shared by most other Cavaliers players.

The fact that they are constantly asked questions about James in various situations makes them even more dissatisfied with him.

Although not everyone has openly expressed their dissatisfaction like the outspoken Davis, it has begun to show in team training and on the court.

They were consciously isolating James both on and off the court.

This is also different from the historical record.

Historically, LeBron James, as an Ohio native, the "Chosen One," and Nike's number one star of the new generation, represents the Cavaliers' hope for resurgence and Nike's future.

In this context, apart from people like Davis, most others would choose to swallow their grievances or dissatisfaction.

But now everything has changed because of Yang Shuai's presence.

The Cavaliers are now Yang Shuai's team, and Reebok's star player is also Yang Shuai. In fact, as Barkley said, Yang Shuai is the emperor of Cleveland.

In addition, the media previously portrayed Yang Shuai and James as having a good relationship, but judging from Yang Shuai's remarks at several post-game press conferences, their relationship is actually just so-so.

In this situation, the team members naturally stopped suppressing their emotions.

All of these factors have ultimately led to James' current difficult situation.

With Thanksgiving approaching, the team members were preparing for this holiday, which is second only to Christmas in importance in the United States.

For Yang Shuai, this was also the first Thanksgiving he had spent at home since entering the NBA.

Just the day before Thanksgiving, James visited Yang Shuai's home.

He was carrying a large pile of Thanksgiving gifts, all of which were valuable and things that Yang Shuai liked. It seems that James had indeed studied Yang Shuai's book, "The Road to Conquest," very carefully.

If it were anyone else, Yang Shuai would think they were trying to get closer, but with James, he felt that the other party probably wanted something from him.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, things indeed unfolded as he had predicted.

"I hope you can support me within the team."

James's request did not surprise Yang Shuai too much.

He has absolute authority in the Cavaliers. If he can stand up for James in the locker room, his teammates will be more considerate of him.

"LeBron, the only way to truly change your teammates' perception of you is to improve your performance on the court."

However, Yang Shuai did not agree.

“But what you’re asking me to do isn’t something that can be done overnight.” James was still somewhat unwilling to give up, believing that his demands weren’t unreasonable.

"Then do your best in everything you can and increase your training."

Yang Shuai then shared his insights, stating that the system only raised the ceiling of his talent, and his strength also stemmed from extensive training.

A hint of disappointment flashed in James' eyes, just like when Yang Shuai only gave him an 8 out of 10 in his debut.

"I understand."

After exchanging a few more polite words, James got up to take his leave.

Watching James' departing figure, Yang Shuai couldn't help but shake his head.

His refusal to help James wasn't out of concern for his reputation, but because he felt that doing so would only address the symptoms, not the root cause, and might even backfire.

Some say the NBA is like a company, but it's not a real company. The only way to earn respect here is through skill. Respect gained through other means is only temporary and will eventually backfire.

Just like when he was with the Pacers, if Miller had stood up for him in the locker room, it would have reinforced his "nepotism" label among his teammates, making it even more difficult for him to establish himself on the team.

What he told James was all based on his experience as someone who had been through it all.

On Thanksgiving, the Cavaliers will host the Mavericks at home.

The Cavaliers ultimately lost to the Mavericks 116-124 at home, suffering their third loss of the season.

Yang Shuai scored 46 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.

James scored 21 points, marking his second 20+ point game since the opening game.

However, after the game, the Cavaliers players' dissatisfaction with James reached its peak.

Because James, as the point guard, didn't have a single assist throughout the entire game; he basically just drove straight in as soon as he got the ball.

After this game, Davis once again expressed his dissatisfaction to reporters, and in a more direct way: "I don't think LeBron deserves to play point guard."

The conflict between Davis and James has reached an irreconcilable point.

(End of this chapter)