Chapter 286: Chapter 71: [Does Your Relationship Still Need Instigating?]

In a one-on-one, even the strongest defensive master can’t lock down a top-tier offensive master.

This is a law of the game.

Because offense naturally has the initiative.

Arenas’s offensive technique was actually quite simple. He relied on his incredible explosiveness, speed, and powerful upper-body strength, complemented by an extremely soft touch. He’d make a one-step drive and then force a jump shot.

You know all his moves, yet you still can’t defend against them!

This is the ability of a top-tier master.

During the high-intensity confrontation with Arenas, Su Xi’s agility talent improved again.

After the duel, Su Xi looked inward at his list of talents.

Super Explosive Power Talent: 99.

Super Speed Talent: 97.

Super Strength Talent: 98.

Super Flexibility Talent: 100.

Super Coordination Talent: 93.

Vertical Leap Talent: 78.

Agility Talent: 86.

Stamina Talent: 78.

In addition, his Super Spatial Awareness Talent, Super Entangling Defense Talent, and Super Low-Center-of-Gravity Rhythm Talent all saw a leap in improvement.

Strictly speaking, when Su Xi was at full stamina, he could definitely perform at the level of a top superstar in the league. With the support of the Pacers system, he could even reach the level of a true megastar.

But if you put him on a different team, one that he had to lead and carry, his influence would decline.

He and the Pacers had a symbiotic relationship.

"Jack, why don’t you learn from me? It would be great if you had my kind of super scoring intuition. Your shot is so good, how come you can’t learn this kind of on-ball offense?"

Arenas lay on the sideline, the effects of his Viagra seemingly worn off. Su Xi’s entangling defense had left him on the verge of collapse.

Su Xi shook his head helplessly. He thought to himself: ’Too bad your super scoring intuition hasn’t formed into an Acquired Super Talent. If you were like Reggie Miller and practiced this move to the extreme, to the level of a Super Talent, then with our relationship, what’s yours would be mine.’

’But right now, you’re not quite there yet.’

Arenas wasn’t far from an Acquired Super Talent himself. After another season of honing his skills, he would likely perfect it and reach his peak.

It was like Kobe; Kobe’s Acquired Super Talent was also on its way. He was even further along than Arenas, separated from his breakthrough by only a thin layer of paper. Perhaps one morning in Los Angeles, he’d wake up at 4 AM and have it.

Su Xi considered Kobe’s Acquired Super Talent to be the strongest. The guy had directly cultivated a "Master Scorer Compendium Talent," which was equivalent to entering a unique scoring rhythm of his own.

Su Xi didn’t know if the God of Basketball, Jordan, had this kind of talent, but he hadn’t seen it in other stars.

Even players as strong as Iverson and Tracy McGrady showed no trace of it.

This was probably why Kobe had fewer Super Talents than Iverson and Tracy McGrady, but his late-game impact was so ferocious.

"You have to teach me, Adidas’s number one spokesman," Su Xi said.

Arenas got up and began to coach him patiently. Arenas was a gym rat; his shot was entirely the product of hard practice.

Therefore, the quality of his teaching was very high.

But Su Xi was always missing something.

"It’s your vertical! Your vertical is a little lacking."

Arenas said, "Look at me. When I jump, I’m like a sturdy frog. And you? You jump like a tadpole."

Su Xi shot him a look. "Next time you make a comparison, use a different adjective."

"Though you really do look like a frog."

Hahaha.

Su Xi and Arenas were both training maniacs, spending every day soaked in the gym.

This would seem incredible to anyone who heard it. A guy with Arenas’s eccentric and flamboyant personality was actually training this hard in the offseason.

Arenas was the type of person in school who acts like a slacker, claiming he never studies and gets by on pure talent, but in reality, stays up cramming until four in the morning before an exam.

This kind of person values face more than effort, but at the same time, works extremely hard.

That’s why Su Xi said he fucking deserved to be successful.

Then, on the third day of Arenas’s visit, the Lakers won the championship—the Western Conference championship. After a two-year absence, the Lakers returned to the pinnacle of the West.

They took down the Minnesota Timberwolves 4-2, fighting their way out of the Western Conference Xiuluo Scene.

The "Super F4" had made their mighty presence known.

Looking at the roster, many people believed that after being forged in the great melting pot of the West, the Lakers were finally hitting their stride. Their superstars had found their chemistry, and they should be able to defeat the Eastern Conference champions.

After all, the competition in the East was nowhere near as intense as in the West.

If the Pistons were in the West, they might not even make it to the semifinals.

After all, they didn’t have any star players.

Frankly, the basketball world didn’t acknowledge that the Pacers had any superstar players either.

Even though Su Xi’s fame was great, Little O’Neal’s stats were excellent, and Reggie Miller had a certain legendary aura.

But the standards for being a star were different.

However, something incredible happened.

Kenny Smith, who had been the leading voice against Su Xi, suddenly changed his tune, and it was a complete turnaround. In the words of Jason Kidd: he was certain to make a 360-degree change.

Of course, Kenny Smith’s math was better than Jason Kidd’s; he only turned 180 degrees.

"How could the Lakers possibly beat the Pacers? How could the Lakers be the Pacers’ opponent? The Lakers may have the Super F4, but the Pacers have Little Sheep Su Xi! Little Sheep Su Xi is omnipotent! He’s the embodiment of miracles! He always wins against the odds, the few against the many, the weak against the strong!"