The only concern is that "Mad Fan" is too old, and the others are too young, with hardly any ga experience. It’s still uncertain what kind of performance they can deliver.
Fortunately, even the Pacers’ original lineup was strong enough to be highly competitive.
Barkley believed, "As long as Jermaine and Ron don’t create conflicts, this team’s competitiveness in the new season won’t be any worse than any other team."
Su Wan saw his statent and really wanted to sew his mouth shut.
There was no helping it, the "poison milk" ability was just too strong!
Moreover, Su Wan was fully aware that Little O’neill and Artest did have a fierce rivalry over the lead role in the new season.
The only difference was that this ti, the Pacers had him.
Therefore, whether the Pacers could change their fate also hinged on him.
Before that...
What Su Wan needed to do was to enhance his own abilities first.
Bill Duffy quickly arranged a training team and practice facility for him.
The next day, Su Wan officially began intensive training.
Ti flew to August, and Su Wan had completed the first phase of his physical training.
The training team gave him a week off to rest.
Reggie Miller’s "retirent party" was just happening during this break.
Su Wan t Little O’neill and was relieved to see that Little O’neill had lost quite a bit of weight.
At that ti, Little O’neill also saw Su Wan and approached him proactively. Noticing Su Wan’s surprised look, he said, "Dude, this is what the coaching staff arranged; they believe I need to have a faster speed of movent, and they’ve also asked to practice shooting a lot. I’ll need to take on more responsibility next season..."
As he said these words, his eyes shone with light.
It was hard to imagine just what Larry Bird had said to convince him.
But it was indeed good news.
The weight loss ant that Little O’neill’s fragile knees wouldn’t need to bear such a heavy burden anymore. If the knees were liberated it also ant the legs were freed, significantly reducing the chances of injury.
Moreover, losing weight didn’t an Little O’neill lost his offensive threat; his close-to-basket threat was top-notch in the league.
If he wanted to handle the ball, he could also go the Kevin Garnett route, focusing on high post-ups with a "fight-and-retreat" turnaround jump shot.
Little did Su Wan know that Little O’neill hadn’t finished speaking when a black man, probably one of Little O’neill’s high-status "bad influences" who he took care of, already tipsy from cocktails, overheard Little O’neill’s words and scoffed, turning to Su Wan, "What do you an he’s taking on more responsibility? Isn’t it the league’s core inside player’s job to gain weight and play the post? Su, tell , would you let your fellow countryman lose weight? That’s all bullshit; they just want Jermaine to assist you, to fit in with your tactics!"
"Shut up, Stuart; you’ve had too much to drink today, now get lost, and I don’t want to see you around for a while!" Little O’neill tried to send him away from the start, but the man stubbornly refused to leave, and his words grew more offensive, prompting Little O’neill to finally lose his patience and send him off with a curse.
He apologized to Su Wan, "Su, I’m sorry, this guy has been insisting that I maintain my original weight. I didn’t listen to him, and he’s actually holding a grudge against ."
Su Wan casually replied, "Don’t worry about it, Jermaine, your brother is just considering your perspective..."
At the sa ti, he was glad that he hadn’t brought these issues up with Little O’neill himself but had the managent communicate with him instead.
Otherwise, there might already be a rift between him and Little O’neill.
He didn’t think his relationship with Little O’neill was as strong as the one between Little O’neill and his brother.
Thankfully, Little O’neill was a professional, always listening to the team’s requests.
After so thought, Su Wan said, "Jermaine, do you believe it? The basketball landscape is slowly changing. In the future, quality inside players won’t necessarily need to have excellent low-post one-on-on skills. If they can shoot from farther out, have a strong finishing ability at the rim, defend the hoop, and fight for more ’Second Attacks,’ they can still be the league’s hotshot superstars. It’s going to be a trend."
This wasn’t just empty talk anymore.
Looking 20 years ahead...
Forget 20 years, just 10 years from now, the significance of the inside post-up play had already begun to diminish.
David Stern’s series of ga reforms made it clear that he wanted to give more play to the periter players and speed up the ga.
And with the pace of the ga increasing, inside players inevitably had to improve their mobility.
That’s why those slow-footed inside players got phased out.
I won’t even ntion others, just look at Boban. In the early 2000s, he was an absolute "double-double" monster, a borderline first-tier, or above, inside player in the league.
But 20 years later, he beca known as a "Wandering Man" in the league.
Everyone coveted his physical attributes, but no one could make up for his mobility issues in the "Small Ball Era."
It might still look like the "traditional center" era, but in reality, with the tweaks to the "hand-checking" rules, it was not far from the "Small Ball Era."
It’s just that the league’s mindset hadn’t caught up yet, and the evolution of basketball philosophy also needs ti.
But Su Wan, the transcender, knew very well that the current league was capable of adopting "small ball."
If the 2011 Mavericks could win gas with "Counterattack Shots," then the current Pacers could also rely on the "small ball concept" to take the championship in the new season.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢
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