The longest river

Chapter 140 Yang Shuai: "I don't care"

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out in the summer."

At the post-match press conference, when Van Gundy was asked by reporters how he would adjust for the next season, he, who had regained confidence in the new season last year, was now in a state of confusion.

A narrow defeat can inspire a person's fighting spirit, while a crushing defeat can destroy their confidence.

However, Van Gundy was relatively better in comparison, while Ewing barely spoke at the press conference.

The Knicks couldn't beat the Bulls before because of Jordan, but Jordan's age is a factor; he could only play for another year or two before retiring.

However, this Pacers team is at its peak, especially with Yang Shuai being only 19 years old.

If the Knicks can't find a way to exploit the Pacers' spacing, they may never have another chance to make it out of the Eastern Conference.

Both the Bulls and the Pacers have won their first-round matches, but their opponents have not yet been finalized.

The Hawks and Pistons, as well as the Heat and Hornets, all went to a decisive Game 5.

After finishing the first round, including the points remaining at the end of the season, Yang Shuai accumulated another 5 points.

This time he can finally use this point to improve his ball handling and driving layups.

He redeemed a B-grade explosive power physical fitness enhancement pack.

After the exchange, his ball handling and rebounding caps increased to 78, his layup cap increased to 86, and his sprint dunk cap reached 90.

Of course, all of these require time to train, and reaching full potential will have to wait until the offseason.

It was at this time that the league announced the results of the Coach of the Season selection.

Bird ultimately defeated Riley to win the election.

Two days later, the two do-or-die games in the first round of the Eastern Conference came to an end.

穆托姆博砍下17分10板6盖帽3助攻，帮助老鹰队5分险胜活塞；
莫宁则在哈达威手感冰凉（20投5中）的情况下砍下22分12板4盖帽，带领热火队101比93击败黄蜂。

Despite some setbacks, the Pacers still faced the Heat in the second round.

Before the start of the second round of the competition, the league announced the winners of two major awards for the season: MVP and DPOY.

Jordan ultimately won the MVP award for the second consecutive year.

This result left Yang Shuai somewhat dazed, because he remembered what his fellow LeBron fans had said: the media, citing "aesthetic fatigue," ultimately voted for Malone as the MVP.

This result not only completely ended Jordan's chances of winning three consecutive MVP awards, but also created the most unfair MVP result in NBA history.

Because Jordan was better than Malone in both team record and individual statistics.

So Yang Shuai couldn't tell whether his deskmate had said something wrong or he had remembered it wrong.

Then, it's about who gets the DPOY.

Yang Shuai (31%) ultimately lost to Mutombo (33%) by a margin of 2%, and unfortunately missed out on the award.

Previously, thanks to Vaccaro's media promotion efforts, Yang Shuai had received considerable support as a candidate for DPOY.

But Yang Shuai was ultimately left out of the selection process.

However, this result was expected.

In the 14 years since the NBA established the DPOY award, only three perimeter players have won it: Sidney Moncrief, Michael Jordan, and Gary Payton.

The DPOY award is generally considered to be an award exclusively for interior players, since it is much easier for interior players to accumulate blocks than for perimeter players to accumulate steals.

Moreover, of the three players who won the award, even Jordan only received it in his fourth season.

Yang Shuai, who is only in second grade, is still too inexperienced in the eyes of the media.

The day before the semifinals began, the Pacers arrived in Miami for an open practice.

The Knicks didn't put too much strain on the Pacers in the first round, and with so many days of rest, the players inevitably became a bit lax in their form, so the training intensity was still quite high.

Moreover, Bird made no attempt to conceal it.

During the regular season, the Heat used a "one big, four small" lineup to counter the Pacers' spacing strategy. The Knicks also "unexpectedly" used it in the first round with good results.

So during practice sessions, the Pacers were practicing Dale Davis's low-post isolation plays.

Although Davis has always played a blue-collar role for the Pacers, he is physically strong, and it is really difficult to defend his low-post offense if you put a wing player against him.

Bird was clearly practicing for Riley's benefit.

After training, Yang Shuai was interviewed by reporters on the sidelines.

During the draft, he was always asked related questions whenever the team played against the Heat.

This time, he was even asked by a local Miami reporter about the possibility of joining the Heat in the future.

Asking this question at this time clearly indicates that the reporter has ulterior motives.

But this also illustrates some potential possibilities.

As Yang Shuai's value continues to rise, his contract extension may become the first challenge the Pacers will face in the future.

The Pacers are a small-city team, and they just signed three core players to big contracts. They may not be able to afford Yang Shuai's contract extension.

The reason Riley was able to trade for Mourning was because Mourning and the Hornets had disagreements on contract renewal.

Of course, it's not fair to say why the Pacers' management didn't consider it before, because no one could have predicted that Yang Shuai would improve so quickly.

"I'm only focused on the current series."

Yang Shuai didn't rule out any possibility, because after talking with Garnett, he knew that signing a big contract would have to be done this summer, and anything was possible.

Then a reporter asked about Yang Shuai's failure to be selected as DPOY.

"I don't care, I only care about the team winning."

Yang Shuai's answer this time was very straightforward.

The following night, the Heat and Pacers faced off in the semifinals at Miami Arena.

The arena was packed, and the fans were incredibly enthusiastic. Although after the first round, many believed the Heat were no match for the Pacers, Miami fans didn't share that view.

Knicks?
In their eyes, it was a trash team abandoned by Riley.

During the pre-match warm-up, the cameras immediately focused on Riley on the sidelines.

Riley looked calm and composed, as if he had everything under control.

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

Pacers: Mark Jackson, Miller, Young, Dale Davis, Schmitz
Miami Heat: Tim Hardaway, Worshan Leonard, Dan Mashburn, Alonzo Mourning

Riley started with a lineup of "one big man and four small men"!

Previously, the Knicks were coached by Van Gundy, and even though they knew that Oakley or Johnson would be better off playing as substitutes, they couldn't do it.

But the Heat are led by Riley, who is also the team president and can adjust the starting lineup as he pleases.

Moreover, Bird's public training session was meant to put pressure on Riley, but Riley still chose to do it.

Previously, Van Gundy couldn't match Bird's tactics, but now it's a battle of wits between two old foxes.

Schmitz flicked the ball back to half-court, Mark Jackson took control, and Game 1 of the series officially began.

Just like in practice, Davis directly called for the ball in the low post with his back to the basket.

The Pacers' spacing offense system doesn't actually conflict with the current mainstream low-post isolation offense.

Because low-post isolation plays also require space, the most classic example being the Rockets' "one star and four shooters" strategy when they won their first championship.

The Pacers are having a similar effect on the court right now, with Schmitz pulling up to the high post on the weak side, giving Davis plenty of space to isolate in the low post.

Davis's shot after receiving the ball and turning around with his back to the basket missed.

It's not that his post-up technique is flawed; most interior players these days have mastered those skills.

Rather, he didn't gain much advantage in his confrontation with Mashburn, and his final move was disrupted.

Mashburn, nicknamed "The Monster," is 2.03 meters tall, the standard height for a small forward, but he weighs 109 kilograms, making him a standard heavy small forward.

In contrast, although Davis is 2.11 meters tall, he weighs only 104 kilograms.

The camera then focused again on Riley on the sidelines, who reached out and touched his nose.

Although he lost to Bird in the Coach of the Year voting, he ultimately won the early game battle against Bird.

As the offense and defense switched, a commotion arose in the arena.

Yang Shuai is defending against Hardaway!
Upon seeing this provocative behavior, Hardaway immediately signaled to separate and engage in a one-on-one fight.

He then used his signature crossover dribble to break through.

Yang Shuai was not beaten.

He gave way a large portion of his body, just like he had done when defending Iverson.

Hardaway is clearly not as fast as Iverson, and Yang Shuai's lateral movement speed is also faster than before.

Hardaway was taken aback. He pulled back and tried to break through again, but still couldn't get past Yang Shuai.

A commotion arose at the scene.

Hardaway ultimately opted for a mid-range shot after stepping back.

But right after he released the ball, Yang Shuai appeared directly above it.

"boom!"

Amidst the gasps of the fans, Yang Shuai blocked Hardaway's shot!

That shot really hit him hard, Hardaway was completely stunned.

By the time he came to his senses and tried to steal the ball again, Yang Shuai had already landed and rushed past him, grabbing the ball and sprinting down the court.

He tried his best to chase back, but in the end he just couldn't catch up with Yang Shuai's fast-paced attacks, which seemed to be possessed by magic.

"Oh!"

Yang Shuai rushed to the frontcourt and unleashed his signature tomahawk dunk.

There was a commotion in the place.

The Pacers' bench erupted in cheers.

A fast break dunk is nothing special, but the key point is that Yang Shuai defended and blocked Hardaway one-on-one before launching a fast break dunk!

This is simply brutal.

After Hardaway advanced to the frontcourt, he didn't dare to go one-on-one anymore. He gestured to Mourning to move to the outside and run a pick-and-roll.

Using Mourning's screen, Hardaway quickly drove towards the basket.

However, with Schmitz in front and Yang Shuai chasing from behind, he dared not make a move rashly.

Finally, he opted to pass the ball back after slowing down.

The shot selection was fine. Mourning is also moving towards the basket now, and is almost at the free throw line.

From that position, he has a very high chance of either driving to the basket for a layup or hitting a mid-range shot from the free-throw line.

However... the ball didn't reach Mourning's hands.

Yang Shuai seemed to have a built-in scope; he turned and lunged to intercept Hardaway's pass!

Seeing this, Mourning had no choice but to step forward and foul in advance to stop Yang Shuai's fast break.

The scene was in an uproar.

Yang Shuai made a strong defensive presence at the start of the game. He really didn't care about the DPOY issue; he just wanted to help the team win through defense!

(End of this chapter)