LeBron James, your house got robbed.

"You know, Paul is very important to us; he's the team's brain and on-court commander."

"His absence is precisely why the team suffered its first four-game losing streak."

When asked by reporters about the team's performance, Chen Shuo sincerely described Paul's importance.

When pressed by reporters about whether they would consider bringing Paul back to the court earlier, Chen Shuo offered irrefutable reasons.

"We are very eager for Paul to return, but as the team management, we must be responsible for the health of every player."

"We will not let Paul return until he is 100% recovered."

In the three games Paul missed, the Cavaliers lost to the Heat, Knicks, and Chicago Bulls, suffering their first four-game losing streak this season.

They relinquished their top spot in the Eastern Conference.

In the game where Paul was injured, he made a series of mistakes against the Heat's high-pressure defense, which led to several fast breaks.

Fortunately, the Cavaliers increased their defensive aggression, which dragged the game into the final moments.

The Cavaliers had a chance to take the victory from Miami.

Unfortunately, Thompson's game-winning three-pointer missed.

Leonard grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and went to the free-throw line, giving him a chance to tie the game.

Making only one of two free throws cost the Cavaliers their last chance.

In the subsequent game against New York, Kerr gave Thompson complete control over his transition, but the results were not ideal.

In the home game against the Bulls, which was also a battle for the top seed in the East, Thompson, who had the ball a lot, completely lost his way.

Thompson's game included more face-up isolation plays, but he either couldn't get past his opponents and forced a shot, or his face-up drives were intercepted, and there were even instances where he dribbled the ball to his own feet and committed turnovers.

In previous games, Thompson used his back-to-the-basket moves to exploit mismatches and was quite efficient at one point, but he completely collapsed in this game.

His three-point attempts after a screen kept missing, and he even missed three-pointers when he ran into open spots off the ball.

In this game, Thompson took a total of 22 shots, making only 5 of them, scoring 13 points, but also committing 5 turnovers, most of which were converted into points by the Bulls.

The Cavaliers ultimately suffered a crushing 30-point defeat at home, setting a new record for the most points lost by the Cavaliers this season.

It's worth noting that in the Cavaliers' previous losses, the point difference had never exceeded 20 points.

The four-game losing streak quickly put the Cavaliers on the front page of major media outlets.

Some newspapers began analyzing Paul's importance to the Cavaliers, which ironically earned him even better reviews than before, further fueling calls for him to be named MVP.

Chen Shuo then laid the groundwork for Paul, and hinted to Paul to inform his management team to seize this opportunity to publish more analytical columns to boost his MVP popularity.

This eased the conflict between Paul and Chen Shuo caused by their different recovery times due to injuries.

As for another group of media outlets, they began to ignore Paul's injury and directly stated that the Cavaliers were a strong team in the regular season.

At the beginning of the season, their rapid rise to prominence meant that other teams hadn't figured them out yet, which allowed them to maintain a winning streak.

Renowned journalist Brian Windhorst, in an ESPN roundtable analysis, stated that the Cavaliers' over-reliance on Paul, Garnett's aging, and Chandler's limited role meant that such a team was destined to fail in the end.

Chen Shuo naturally welcomed these fierce criticisms with open arms.

At the beginning of the season, the Cavaliers could gain attention and traffic by winning, but now they have to lose games to become a hot topic.

As for the team's record, it's meant to be squandered.

Under Chen Shuo's instructions, Tyronn Lue completely handed over the tactical arrangements to assistant coaches Cole and Nurse.

Kerr may have pinned his hopes for a perfect shooter on Thompson, continuing to give him a lot of responsibility despite Thompson's increasingly dismal stats and declining performance on the court.

The team won only one of their next three games, even allowing the Heat to overtake them and move up to third place in the Eastern Conference.

Chen Shuo remained calm about this.

After losing the home game against the Mavericks, Thompson knocked on Chen Shuo's door.

Standing before Chen Shuo, Thompson seemed to have a thousand words to say, yet he remained silent.

The two remained silent and locked in a stalemate.

Finally, Chen Shuo broke the silence.

"I'll talk to Cole and see if there's a more suitable role for you."

Thompson breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

He understood that the team's transformation of him must have been with Chen Shuo's tacit approval, so he tried his best to do well.

But one match after another made him realize that there are some things he has to give in to.

Chen Shuo's trust and inner pride prevented him from speaking, but fortunately, Chen Shuo understood what he meant.

After leaving the office, Thompson felt a great sense of relief and thought he should get a good night's sleep.

Chen Shuo was actually somewhat surprised by this result.

After all, in the original timeline, Kerr had a user manual for Thompson.

Chen Shuo and Cole's first conversation revolved around Thompson's role.

A ball-handling shooter doesn't actually dribble the ball the entire time to attack.

Instead, it adds some simple ball-handling skills to the basics of shooting.

Use this part of the ball to increase the shooter's offensive versatility, resistance to interference, and stability.

For example, shooters often experience fluctuations in their shooting touch and may miss several shots in a row. In such cases, changing tactics, such as backing down opponents or drawing fouls, can greatly help restore their shooting touch.

Shooters have limited tactics; a series consists of seven games, making them easy targets.

Having more possession of the ball means more opportunities to touch it, making it more difficult for the opponent to set up their defense.

For example, a simple single screen followed by a shot can sometimes be more difficult for the opponent to defend against than a whole set of tactics.

But the essence of all this is to focus on shooters without the ball, with a small portion of the game involving possession as a secondary element.

This is basically Thompson's game format in the original timeline.

Chen Shuo believes this is Thompson's most perfect state, and basically the upper limit of Thompson's talent.

Making Thompson the primary ball-handler, as Kerr does, is indeed putting Thompson in a difficult position, and even affecting his off-ball movement.

After careful consideration, Chen Shuo decided to invite Cole and Nas together.

……

West Cleveland.

It was still at the same private club where the last gathering took place, but this time Chen Shuo only invited three people.

Chris Paul, Steve Kerr, and Nick Nurse.

The dim, flickering lights and the four people sitting on two green velvet sofas basically represent the group that has the most say in the Cavaliers' offense.

"We need to get back on track. I'm fit enough to play."

Looking at Paul's anxious expression, Chen Shuo said calmly:

"Chris, I need you in our discussions more than in the game."

Regarding Thompson's role.

Since Chen Shuo knew Thompson's final form, he only needed to inform Cole and Nurse. With their understanding and tactical skills, they could quickly find the instructions for using Thompson.

The reason Chen Shuo brought Paul into the game was to make Paul fully understand Thompson's role and the responsibilities Thompson should bear on the court.

Compared to short-term gains or losses, integrating the team's tactical system is more important, and Paul is an indispensable part of that.