The longest river

Chapter 112 No comparison, no harm

After the media day ended, the related reports were much more interesting than those last year.

The most anticipated team was undoubtedly the Bulls. Could Jordan lead them to another three-peat, truly living up to the inscription "Unprecedented and unparalleled" on the sculpture outside the United Center, and become the real GOAT?

In reports about the Pacers, the media used a very eye-catching headline: "They have the present and the future."

The accompanying picture under the title is a photo of Yang Shuai and Jermaine O'Neal as a pair of high school students.

With championship-caliber strength and top-tier talent, the Pacers, a small-city team, are arguably the most unique force in the league today.

However, the Pacers are not the most watched team besides the Bulls.

The Knicks, Heat, Hawks, even the Lakers who acquired O'Neal, and the SuperSonics who reached the Finals last season are not among them.

Aside from the Bulls, the Rockets are the team that has garnered the most attention this season.

The Rockets were eliminated in the second round last season, and the reason they are receiving attention this year is not because of the old adage "Don't underestimate the heart of a champion," but because of a trade.

In August, after the free agency period ended, the Rockets suddenly reached a trade agreement with the Suns.

After trading away Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, and other assets, they acquired Charles Barkley from the Suns!

Yang Shuai was unfamiliar with the history of that era, and he hadn't paid much attention to the free market, so he was quite shocked when he saw the news.

Although Barkley and Olajuwon were already 33 years old, and Drexler was even older at 34, in an era when most teams still had two stars, suddenly forming a "Big Three" felt like the end of the league.

Moreover, his fellow LeBron fan had always told him that this kind of super team was pioneered by the Celtics in 2007, but it turned out that the information was wrong; it had already happened in the 90s.

Following the conclusion of Media Day, the NBA preseason games commenced.

In the first two preseason games, the Pacers' starting lineup was: Walkman, Miller, McGee, Davis, and Schmitz.

But after the third game, Yang Shuai pushed McGee to the bench.

Bird originally planned for this to happen at least one to two months after the start of the regular season.

However, after two games, anyone with eyes could see that Yang Shuai's influence on the game had far surpassed McGee's, and it was only natural for Yang Shuai to enter the starting lineup.

Furthermore, by the fifth game, Best had replaced Walkman in the starting lineup.

No one expected that the two players the Pacers drafted last season would both make it into the team's starting lineup in their second year.

However, this also reflects Bird's coaching style; he was bolder in his personnel decisions compared to Brown.

After the preseason ended, the Pacers began their new season.

Their regular season opener is a home game against the 76ers.

Compared to last season's disastrous start, with a road game against the Bulls, this season is much better.

Although there is a gap in strength between the two teams, this match has attracted a great deal of attention.

Besides the feud between Yang Shuai and Stackhouse last season, there are two other points that deserve more attention:

One of them is Allen Iverson, as this was Iverson's career debut.

As the first-round draft pick for a short guard in NBA history, and a rookie who signed a massive 10-year, $5000 million contract with Reebok upon entering the league, his debut was naturally the focus of much attention.

The other one is Larry Brown.

After resigning from the Pacers (and being fired), Brown eventually found new employment with the 76ers.

Now, his first game coaching the 76ers is back in Indianapolis, which seems almost predestined.

On the night of the match, the City Square Stadium was packed to capacity, with fans beaming with enthusiasm.

During the pre-game warm-up, in addition to showing shots of several key players, the camera also repeatedly focused on the Pacers' bench.

In addition to the previously mentioned highlights, this was also Bird's debut as the Pacers' head coach.

Although Bird was a coach, he received just as much attention as an All-Star player.

Then, when the opening ceremony began, the fans in the stadium went wild.

Yang Shuai has officially taken on the role of the team's starting small forward!
After losing to the Bulls last season, Pacers fans had a "what if" thought: what if Brown had started Young in Game 1, would the outcome have been different?

The photographers at the scene were also very savvy; immediately after the opening ceremony, they focused their lenses on Brown, which drew boos from the fans.

After the boos began, Brown's face turned extremely ugly.

As Albert said in "NBA Insider," he led the Pacers from a first-round exit team to two consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances, and the way the team and the fans treated him in the end was disheartening.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both sides were announced.

Pacers: Best, Miller, Young, Davis, Schmitz
76ers: Iverson, Stackhouse, Clarence Witherspoon, Coleman, Scott Williams
On paper, the 76ers are not without a chance against the Pacers. After all, in addition to Allen Iverson, they also welcomed the return of Coleman, the same Coleman who once dunked over rookie Shaquille O'Neal.

Amid cheers from the fans, Schmitz earned the Pacers the first offensive opportunity.

Then, in the very first possession of their offensive game, the Pacers showed the fans in the arena that they were different.

When Best had the ball at the top of the key three-point line, Davis and Schmitz set up screens on either side of the free-throw line, while Miller and Yang Shuai stood on the inside and outside of the free-throw line respectively. After the play was initiated, Miller began to run towards the right 45-degree three-point line using Schmitz's screen.

Miller was guarded by Witherspoon, who was a good defender. He successfully bypassed Schmitz's screen and did not give Miller a chance to receive the ball and shoot a three-pointer.

But at that moment, Schmitz moved to the high elbow area to set a second screen for Miller, while also pulling Williams away from the paint.

At the same time, Yang Shuai and Davis, who was at the high post on the weak side, executed an off-ball screen, moving towards the weak side at a 45-degree angle to draw attention away from Stackhouse and Coleman.

By the time those two plays were completed, the 76ers' paint area was completely empty.

Miller didn't stop, using Schmitz's screen to quickly cut to the basket, and finally received a pass from Best to easily score two points with a layup.

The crowd erupted in a deafening roar of cheers from the fans.

After witnessing the Pacers' signature pin-down offense for several seasons, and their offense consisting solely of pin-down tactics, suddenly seeing such a sophisticated offensive tactic felt like a sewer that had been clogged for years finally being cleared.

Although it may sound exaggerated, after just this one round, they knew that even if Bird had never been a coach before, his coaching ability was definitely not bad.

The game switched between offense and defense, and it was the 76ers' turn to play a half-court offense.

Then the fans saw the very familiar pin-down tactic, executed by Stackhouse.

Although Iverson was a prodigy, Stackhouse, in his second year, is now the 76ers' star player.

However, even after Stackhouse ran through all his tactics, he still couldn't shake off Yang Shuai.

Stackhouse passed the ball back to Iverson and continued running the play.

Then Yang Shuai stood in front of him once again.

Yang Shuai used this tactic to death last season, and it's too simple. Not to mention Yang Shuai, even McGee couldn't stop it.

Stackhouse prepared to pass the ball back to Iverson.

But it was at this moment that Yang Shuai spoke up.

"Hey, it's only been a few months, and all you've learned is tactics?"

"Negative energy from Jerry Stackhouse +444".

Yang Shuai's words immediately broke Stackhouse's composure.

Actually, if we're talking about who suffered the most after Brown joined the 76ers, it has to be him.

His forte is chaotic battles and one-on-one situations, but Brown immediately asked him to play defense and then demanded that he run plays.

Those two things are the things he's least good at.

But Brown was very stubborn. He tried to communicate with Brown, and the final answer he got was: if you can't do it, then go play as a substitute.

He was so angry he almost cursed on the spot.

However, for the sake of his future, he had no choice but to back down, but Yang Shuai just had to bring up the very thing he didn't want to talk about.

Yang Shuai... of course he did it on purpose. He could guess with his toes that Stackhouse was definitely not having a good time under Brown.

Stackhouse gestured for a one-on-one opportunity.

After two consecutive tactical runs, there's very little time left on the shot clock. If he goes one-on-one with Brown again, he probably won't be able to say anything.

Before the singles match began, he responded to Yang Shuai's trash talk: "I'll show you what it means to not see each other for a few months and how big the gap in our strength has become."

Yang Shuai laughed. Look how difficult it is for Americans to say "a scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days of separation".

Stackhouse initiated a breakthrough, and his change of direction was indeed much faster than last season.

It's clear that after the 76ers drafted Iverson, he felt a strong sense of crisis and was determined to improve himself.

only……

"Snapped!"

When he tried to change direction to break past Yang Shuai, Yang Shuai immediately stole the ball from him!
After Yang Shuai improved his one-on-one defense to 93, his steal ability also improved to 88.

Stackhouse's sudden breakthrough was practically a gift of the ball.

Amid cheers from the fans, Yang Shuai stole the ball and launched a fast break down the court, unleashing his signature tomahawk dunk.

The Pacers started with a mini-boom.

Then, halfway through the quarter, the score became 14-4, with the Pacers quickly establishing a double-digit lead.

In Bird's spacing offense, the Pacers perfectly demonstrated what a fluid and unstoppable offense looks like, while the 76ers' offense was a familiar constipation, with either Stackhouse's pin-down or Coleman's low-post isolation plays.

This vividly illustrates what it means to "not feel pain without comparison."

(End of this chapter)