Even though he played aggressively, Su Wan still couldn’t stop him.
Just after two encounters, he let Arenas shake him off to one side.
At this mont, he understood what the scouts ant by the indefensible offensive choices of a breakthrough.
The breakthrough rhythm of this "Special Agent Zero" differed from most ball-handlers, years of additional training in the gym—yes, don’t doubt your eyes, Arenas, before his downfall, was also a "training maniac"—had allowed him to develop a completely different breakthrough rhythm.
Adding to that, his fast first step made it really hard for anyone facing him for the first ti to guard him effectively.
Su Wan was no exception.
When he turned around to chase, Arenas didn’t head straight for the basket; instead, he opted for a jump shot...
Well, this was the poor offensive choice by Arenas ntioned earlier.
With a "clang," Arenas’s first shot missed.
The screams that had just erupted from the crowd due to Arenas’s successful breakthrough suddenly ceased.
The scramble under the basket turned chaotic; Jeffries had just resisted when Little O’Neal squeezed him out of the paint; the Wizards basically relied on Haywood’s "one against two," despite Haywood averaging only 6.8 rebounds, 3 of which were frontcourt rebounds.
His role in the Wizards was similar to Foster’s with the Pacers.
Besides him, the best at frontcourt rebounds for the Wizards was Jia Misen, who could grab 2.4 per ga, a skill he developed while playing as a reserve for the Mavericks.
However, this round, he hadn’t gotten into position when Arenas took the shot, too late to rush to the basket, leaving only Haywood desperately struggling for the rebound, slowly losing his position while Little O’Neal secured the rebound.
The ball was then passed by Tinsley to the frontcourt, into Su Wan’s hands.
Su Wan initially wanted to call Little O’Neal for a pick and roll, as he thought he would be facing Larry Hughes.
This season, Larry Hughes was the final "Steal King" and a mber of the "All-Defensive First Team." Relying solely on Su’s ability without activating "The zone," he had no chance of taking him one-on-one.
But to his surprise, as soon as he got the ball, the first person to slide step in front of him was Arenas!
That wasn’t sothing to worry about.
Just as Little O’Neal had moved to the high post, he very tacitly turned and walked away, positioning himself near the right corner by the three-point line.
Arenas was 1.91 ters tall, his advantages being explosive power, strong upper body strength, good balance, and an outstanding wingspan of 2.06 ters...
But these were also Su Wan’s advantages.
Oddly enough, Su Wan’s height at 1.98 ters and weight of 96kg also completely outclassed Arenas’s 86kg.
There was nothing more to say, "bulldozer-style" breakthrough scheduled and done!
Through consecutive confrontations, Arenas held on fiercely. Even the head coach, Eddie Jordan, found it unexpected. "Special Agent Zero" was not a leader who liked to exert so much effort on the defensive end. But in this ga against Su Wan, he put forth his full energy.
Jordan suddenly wished the Pacers would have a 100-ga training match with them.
If Arenas maintained such a level of aggressiveness on defense in every ga, after a hundred training gas, he’d definitely develop very good defensive habits.
"Bang!"
In the final confrontation, Su Wan got to the basket, raised high and shot, the ball in mid-air confrontation with the layup, bounced twice on the rim, and eventually, just narrowly, fell through.
It must be said Arenas’s upper body strength was truly outstanding, without activating "The zone" mode, maximizing body control ability, he really couldn’t outperform this guy. —You know, as Su Wan increased the frequency of activating "The zone" mode, his ability to control his body definitely surpassed 70% of the players in the league, but after confronting Arenas, he felt that his opponent’s recovery of balance was noticeably faster than his own.
Of course, this is one of the best point guards in the league, so it’s normal for Su Wan at this stage to have so gaps with such players.
In the end, he still made the basket.
"Special Agent 0, co on! Don’t let people see the gap between Special Agent 0 and Special Agent 99 so quickly!" Su Wan shouted at Arenas as he ran back to defense.
"The Great General", not to be outdone, retorted furiously, "Shut up, rookie. So what if you made one basket? What are you so proud of?"
Su Wan shook his head and countered, "If I don’t take pride in scoring, should I wait for you to score and then feel proud?"
"..."
His point was so reasonable that Arenas had nothing to say but chose to respond with his offense.
This round, Su once again shook off his unique breakthrough move to one side, and this ti, Arenas didn’t go for a poor "jump shot." Instead, he charged straight into the lane, trying to score with a layup.
But at that mont, Arenas realized that his challenge wasn’t just Su Wan’s defense— the Pacers had additional defensive backups.
O’Neal leapt out.
"Good chance, pass the ball!" Eddie Jordan saw Jeffries, who was left unguarded. He believed Arenas saw him too, usually needing no reminder, but tonight’s restless Arenas was acting like a "Lone Wolf" on the offensive end; he had to speak up.
However, it was to no avail.
Once in that state, Arenas wasn’t a "genie in a bottle" that one could just call to wake up; they could only watch as the worst shot attempt ca back with a resounding clang.
After missing two good opportunities, so fans in the arena began to hold their heads.
They loved Arenas, and they also hated Arenas.
What they loved was the hope Arenas brought to Washington; what they hated was the team cancer, who seed blind to his teammates on the floor.
It was a love and hate that was just like being in love.
As the ball moved to the frontcourt, Su Wan took control again facing Arenas, this ti more adeptly using Special Agent 0’s impetuous mindset to successfully draw his foul.
Two free throw opportunities.
Eddie Jordan quickly walked to the sidelines, clapping persistently to catch Arenas’ attention, gesturing to him to relax. It seed Arenas interpreted it as "go ahead and foul;" after Su made both free throws, he made a ball-handling error during a breakthrough. Luckily, Larry Hughes saved the ball and, seizing Pacers’ attempt for a fast break, scored amid the chaos, giving the Wizards their first score of the night.
Unfortunately, the Wizards couldn’t capitalize on the montum; the Pacers were consistently ahead. The quarter ca to the 6:45 mark with Arenas having a poor tally of 2 for 6 shooting and two turnovers.
Eddie Jordan couldn’t stand it any longer; he called a tiout, clearly set up offensive and defensive tactics, and emphasized twice, "Larry, you guard that Huaxia rookie. Gilbert, focus on offense and get back into your damn form!"
Whether the outburst had an effect or not, Arenas returned to the court and delivered his first assist of the ga, showcasing his dual-purpose guard abilities. Eddie Jordan’s face showed a hint of a smile but was mostly stern.
It seed things were halfway better; the rest was up to whether Larry Hughes could guard Su Wan.
Seeing Larry Hughes, Su decisively called for O’Neal to set a screen.
Larry Hughes, showing his excellent "screen defense" skills, planted himself firmly before Su Wan could use the screen, and smoothly pushed through.
At that mont, Su Wan made a "look back at the moon" hook pass to the screening O’Neal.
Just as Jeffries was about to close in, O’Neal, preparing to shoot, took two big strides to the basket and completed a slam dunk.
Bill Walton, comnting on the Pacers ga today, seeing this synergy, exclaid, "This is the screen power of the Eastern Conference’s best duo of February, unstoppable!"
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