Anyway, they were playing two different systems.
Honestly, after Artest left, the Pacers’ first line of defense against LeBron was reduced to just Su Wan.
And as long as LeBron called for a pick and roll, it was easy for him to get an open shot.
Compared to previous encounters with the Pacers, LeBron seed much more at ease, at least, he had a lot of control in his breakthroughs.
Just...
Once he charged in, the effect of his attacks under the basket weren’t very good.
Zach Randolph and Foster were standing under the basket, compressing the space, which made it very narrow for him even after he had broken into the paint.
In that tight space, he still had to avoid Zach Randolph’s 7’4" arm span and Foster’s interference...
It really wasn’t an easy task.
What Barkley wanted to say was, "When will LeBron finally develop a reliable mid-range shot? The Pacers’ defense can no longer cover him fully, and if he had a steady mid-range shot, he could completely tie up the Pacers’ defense, preventing the two big n from staying under the basket..."
The key was that when he had the ball, he had only one option, which was why Randolph and Foster could stay under the basket.
In fact, Randolph’s defensive habits and enthusiasm were almost non-existent when he first ca to the team. But after Su Wan took away his shooting rights a few tis, his initiative gradually erged.
There’s no doubt Randolph could defend.
He and Marc Gasol ford the "grinders" of the Western Conference that year.
And even though Randolph had slowed down by then, there was really no periter player on the Warriors who could walk over him; if not for the referees suspending Randolph at the most critical ga, it would have been possible for the Grizzlies to advance to a higher stage those years.
Declined mobility and still not being "walked over"... now it’s even less likely.
Plus, with Foster’s influence on the defensive end, Zach Randolph was now willing to play defense. - Actually, Zach Randolph is a bit like one of those kids who need "three moves by ncius’ mother"; when he hung out with a bunch of "bad guys", he slacked off too. But when he tead up with Little Gasol, who was an active defender before his knee injury, he also showed good defensive enthusiasm.
LeBron’s "Tank Collision," a hugely destructive tactic against other teams, was like a small iron rod smashing into a steel plate in front of these two.
Thankfully, the referees still gave him so whistles.
Otherwise, judging by LeBron’s expression, he probably would have lost all desire to charge at the basket.
In fact, when facing teams with heavy-duty centers, LeBron rarely made frequent dashes to the basket. He preferred to pass the ball after beating his man.
But in this ga, Channing Frye and Quentin’s shots were cold, leaving him no choice but to head stubbornly for the basket.
In the third quarter, he drew fouls repeatedly and scored 11 points through free throws.
At the end of the third quarter, the score difference was only 5 points.
Su Wan taunted LeBron, "After the ga, rember to hug every single referee. Without them, we wouldn’t have made it this far into the ga!"
By the end of the third quarter, LeBron had already been given the opportunity to shoot 15 free throws, and his touch that night was good, sinking 13 of them.
Getting an extra 13 points out of thin air, it’s no wonder the score difference was down to just 5 points.
Faced with Su Wan’s "trash talk," LeBron chose the sa as most players in the league...
Silence!
Su Wan looked at him and chuckled.
Okay, he didn’t expect to trigger LeBron into "The zone" mode.
Besides, do they even need "The zone" to play against the Cavaliers?
As soon as the fourth quarter began, Rick Carlisle had Su Wan and Randolph take turns with the ball for one-on-one plays.
Su Wan was up against Vince Carter or Quentin, neither of whom were defensive stalwarts anymore.
And the defenders on Randolph were even easier to bully.
Channing Frye, like most "High Post Guns," could only make his presence felt on the offensive end with long shots.
Defensively, there wasn’t much difference whether he was present or not.
Faced with Zach Randolph, he was almost guarantee to get pushed aside upon contact.
Mike Brown then had Vallejo take on Randolph.
Randolph actually had issues with these "big at shields."
But Vallejo’s problem was that his movent was just too slow, and Randolph quickly picked up on this, no longer aiming for a goal on his power drives.
His main tactic was to surprise, and as long as the ball touched the rim, he felt confident in grabbing the offensive rebound before Vallejo could, then quickly taking the shot to finish the "second attack."
It’s not an exaggeration to say, Zach Randolph tore apart the Cavaliers’ interior in the fourth quarter, single-handedly scoring 11 points.
Helping the Pacers beat the Cavaliers with a score of 101 to 90, an 11-point victory.
Su Wan finished the ga with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Randolph, in this ga, scored a "double-double" with 28 points and 15 rebounds. Of course, many of those rebounds were thanks to Foster’s boxing out.
The next day, the Indiana dia described him with the words "hero."
When Zach Randolph saw the newspaper, he read the headline again and again.
In the past, the dia always described him as a "cancer," a "parasite of the team"; this was the first ti he was described as a "hero" by the dia. A surge of unfamiliar emotions welled up in his heart. To this day, 70% of his motivation on the court was due to the Damocles’ sword that Su Wan held over his head.
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