The Best Point Guard
Chapter 391 - 124: Advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, Batty’s Comparison Method
You couldn’t play too complex a game against the Bulls. Getting too fancy just held you back.
The moment Su Xi moved to the two-guard and started breaking them down with one-on-one plays, the Pacers’ offense clicked into place. They also started to suppress the Bulls on the defensive end.
It was like treating a second-rate martial artist like a top-tier one. You’d fight with restraint, only to find yourself in an unexpectedly even match.
But if you just let loose and fought without holding back...
How could a second-rate fighter possibly stand up to a first-rate one?
Besides, the Pacers were more than just a first-rate team.
Su Xi went on an offensive tear, relentlessly using one-on-one plays to break through the defense of Hinrich and Ben Gordon.
The Pacers had found their solution. They quickly retook the lead and began to pull further and further away.
The Bulls were put back in their rightful place.
After a stretch of bricking shots in the fourth quarter, the Bulls fell further and further behind.
In the end, the Pacers defeated the Bulls 118-96, securing the first win of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
"Next time you see me, try to be a little more humble."
Su Xi told Hinrich after the game, "There’s a difference between having a dream and being delusional."
Hinrich was not happy.
But it wasn’t up to him.
Faced with defeat, it made no difference whether he was happy or not.
"Honestly, we’re already thinking about our opponents in the next round," Ron Artest said, flexing for the cameras.
Meanwhile, the other Eastern Conference Semifinals series was in full swing, with the Miami Heat and the Detroit Pistons battling it out fiercely.
Unlike the lopsided matchup between the Pacers and the Bulls, the Heat and the Pistons were evenly matched. It was anyone’s series, and many predicted it would go to a Game 7.
And regardless of who ultimately emerged victorious, they would have to face a well-rested Pacers team waiting for them.
The East’s number one seed had secured the best playoff path.
This was the complete opposite of the situation in the West. Over there, the San Antonio Spurs had successfully manipulated the standings. Now, the first-seed Phoenix Suns and the fourth-seed Dallas Mavericks were beating each other’s brains out, while the Spurs’ matchup against the SuperSonics was practically a guaranteed win.
Although Artest was talking big, his comments didn’t cause much of a stir.
After all, it wasn’t exactly arrogance; he was just stating facts.
Even the fans were already thinking about the next opponent, let alone one of the players.
The Bulls were pissed. They felt insulted.
Artest was unfazed, and instead, he doubled down. "Back when the Bulls traded me for a player on Jalen Rose’s level, they should’ve known I’d be back for revenge one day!"
The fact that Artest was dredging up such old grievances just showed how little excitement there was in this series.
After the first game, Su Xi even went out of his way to challenge Kobe Bryant to a one-on-one. For Su Xi, playing one-on-one with Kobe was more important than the actual playoff game.
Although playing one-on-one with Kobe could no longer trigger an upgrade to his Super Offensive Technique...
...Su Xi’s current 87-rated Super Offensive Technique was more than enough for an opponent on the Bulls’ level.
Besides, Su Xi’s 87 rating was stronger than Kobe’s own 87 rating.
Su Xi’s natural talent was better than Kobe’s, with the exception of his vertical. If Su Xi could improve his jumping ability, he would become a true "hexagonal warrior," and his offensive skills would take another massive leap forward.
For a 6’4" shooting guard like Su Xi, jumping ability was crucial.
In the minds of many fans, vertical leap was often the most important standard for judging a player’s talent. If you could jump high, you were talented.
This was thanks to the influence of a whole generation of super-guards like Jordan, Drexler, Carter, and more.
In fact, very few superstar shooting guards had a poor vertical.
In this physical era of basketball, a higher vertical meant a greater ability to shake off defenders.
This was still the age of the two-motion jump shot; the era of the one-motion shot had not yet arrived.
In between their one-on-one games, Kobe was constantly recruiting Su Xi. He wanted Su Xi to come to Los Angeles and build a dynasty with him, even promising he would always treat Su Xi right in the future. He explained that his falling-out with O’Neal wasn’t what the media made it out to be, that he wasn’t a bad guy, and he certainly wasn’t some stubborn egomaniac. ’If I were really that selfish and arrogant, would I have come all the way out here to recruit you?’
The logic was sound!
Kobe was laying the sincerity on thick.
He also brought greetings from the Buss Family and gave Su Xi a long speech about the Lakers’ glorious history and storied franchise.
In the end, Su Xi could only say, "Right now, I’m only focused on the playoffs. I’m not thinking about anything else."
Having failed to get a verbal commitment from Su Xi, Kobe left feeling a bit dejected.
In reality, Su Xi’s agent, O’Connor, was fielding fawning phone calls every day. Eighty percent of the teams in the league had called him, hoping to sign Su Xi.
But O’Connor just acted high and mighty, putting on an air of arrogance. He never made any promises.
He simply enjoyed this feeling of looking down on everyone.
This was the only psychological need O’Connor had left.
Nothing else interested him.
After all, he had spent the first half of his life in debauchery, experiencing everything he should and shouldn’t have. Now, he just wanted to experience what it felt like to be on top of the world.
Su Xi had given him the perfect opportunity.
He was savoring every moment of it.
Game 2 against the Bulls arrived right on schedule.
The young Bulls were fired up to redeem themselves after losing Game 1, and Artest’s trash talk only added fuel to their fire.
And then... they started bricking everything.
It’s never a good thing when young players get too hyped up.
Their minds were racing ahead of their bodies, so of course they started bricking shots.
The Pacers, on the other hand, were like a dull knife slowly slicing away—methodical and unhurried.
The hot-headed young Bulls were beaten into a daze.
The game was over before the third quarter even ended.
The Pacers’ overall roster was simply too powerful. They let their defense fuel their offense, crushing the young Bulls on both ends of the floor.
This led many Pacers fans to wonder with a hint of regret, ’If it hadn’t been for the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills, could we have broken the 72-win regular-season record?’
According to statistical models, it was entirely possible.
But regrets aside, the fans still felt the future was bright. Whatever they couldn’t accomplish this season, they could just try for again next year.
But Larry Bird wasn’t so optimistic.
The entire league was chasing Su Xi.
Su Xi had become the biggest fish in the 2005 free-agent market.
Many in the media even stated outright that Su Xi’s decision would change the landscape of the league, an impact on par with the Shark moving East.
This created a sort of paradox. On the one hand, many people didn’t believe Su Xi was the kind of superstar who could single-handedly alter the league’s landscape, yet on the other hand, they were all talking about the massive impact his changing teams would have.
Some of them even said Su Xi was the next Latrell Sprewell or "Skywalker" Thompson.
Both Sprewell and Thompson had peaked extremely early in their careers, then slowly faded into run-of-the-mill All-Stars, and eventually, not even that.
"Madman" Sprewell made the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive Second Team in just his second year. His future seemed limitless, and he was considered a budding superstar, but for various reasons, his peak quickly passed. Sprewell’s downfall was his volatile temper. In the eyes of these critics, Su Xi had a similar flaw: his constant presence in the tabloids. They argued that Su Xi’s scandals were just as damaging as Sprewell nearly choking his head coach, Carlesimo.
The comparison to Skywalker Thompson was even more apt. They were about the same height, both 6’4", and both had found fame at a young age. Thompson had earned most of his career accolades before he was 24—two All-NBA First Team selections, an ABA Finals appearance, a 73-point game... Wasn’t Su Xi on the same trajectory?
With these two "gems" as precedent, the critics’ predictions seemed all the more credible and well-reasoned.
Su Xi automatically tuned out the outside noise.
In Chicago, he led his team to victory in Game 3, and then again in Game 4.
Both were easy wins, with no real struggle.
The massive gap between the two teams was something not even home-court officiating could bridge.
In their two home games, the Bulls shot 11 and 12 more free throws than the Pacers, respectively.
This disparity was partly due to the Pacers’ aggressive defense, and partly due to the home-court whistles.
The Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals with at least a week to spare.
On the other side, the Heat and the Pistons were tied 2-2, with each team having won their respective home games. If the trend continued, the series was headed for a decisive Game 7.
"I don’t know what great deeds Michael Jordan accomplished when he was 20, but in my mind, the God of Basketball is Little Sheep Su Xi."
"Hu Su Bao" Tony Battie dropped this bombshell in Chicago—the very place where Jordan’s legend was born—causing a massive media uproar.
Obviously, before him, very few people had ever compared Su Xi to Jordan.
They were considered to be in completely different leagues.
In fact, even though Su Xi had won both a Finals MVP and a regular-season MVP—the two honors most indicative of the "best player in the league"—the media and the league still treated him like a young star. They hadn’t even definitively placed him above LeBron James, let alone compared him to megastars like O’Neal and Duncan.
But Tony Battie was Tony Battie.
He directly compared Su Xi to Jordan and claimed Su Xi was better.
And he had his reasons.
At 20, Jordan was still in the NCAA. What had he accomplished? He was riding the coattails of his upperclassmen to an NCAA championship.
Su Xi, on the other hand, was already draped in glory: an NCAA championship, an NCAA MOP award, an NBA championship, an NBA Finals MVP, and a regular-season MVP.
In a direct, age-for-age comparison, Jordan was indeed completely outmatched.
However, not a single media outlet supported Tony Battie’s claim.
Some outlets even commented sarcastically, dubbing it the "Tony Battie Comparison Method."
In the minds of most fans and analysts, Jordan’s status was unassailable. His legend was long past the point of being questioned.
At present, no one could be seen as a challenger to Jordan’s GOAT status.
O’Neal, with his three championships and three MVPs, was the closest, and he was still a distant second.
Duncan had two championships and two Finals MVPs, the first of which he won as the undisputed team leader in his sophomore year, but he was even further behind. He had yet to establish a dynasty.
Therefore, comparing Su Xi to Jordan was considered pure delusion.
Su Xi himself had no interest in these comparisons, but he was pissed that Tony Battie was being ridiculed.
On the flight back to Indiana, while chatting with a team reporter, he asked frankly, "So, what had Michael Jordan accomplished by my age?"
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