The Best Point Guard

D’Antoni lost his temper in the locker room. He was jumping up and down in the middle of the room, furious, slapping the tactics board and shouting, "Look at yourselves! Do you look anything like the run-and-gun elite with the best record in the West? Where’s your shooting? Where’s your running? Where are your thunderous dunks? As long as you score more than the Knicks, who cares how many tricks they pull? Real men just keep shooting, keep attacking. All these fancy plays the Knicks are running... they don’t have any real skill."

D’Antoni’s words were sharp and to the point.

But Stadumier, sitting on the bench, muttered quietly, ’The whole world knows Little Sheep Su Xi is a powerhouse. With so many women falling head over heels for him, he’s definitely better at ’scoring’ than we are.’

But he didn’t say it out loud.

In truth, everyone was thinking more or less the same thing.

Although every man possesses a certain baffling self-confidence, Su Xi was the real deal—the kind of guy who could make a woman’s gaze go syrupy with desire. You can’t hide the look a woman gets when she wants to sleep with a man.

Not long ago in New York, a rumor even spread that Paris Hilton was planning to hire professional killers to kidnap Su Xi and take him to the Hilton Hotel for a night of passion.

When reporters asked Paris Hilton about it, the predatory heiress didn’t even deny it. Instead, she asked, "Are there really people who’d take that kind of job? I’m so looking forward to it."

A reporter asked Paris Hilton what she was looking forward to, and she retorted, "You’re a woman, too. Don’t you know what I’m looking forward to?"

At that moment, the camera captured the female reporter blushing beet-red.

Among Western women, Su Xi had long been regarded as Tang Monk’s Flesh—everyone wanted a bite. And if you couldn’t get a bite, even a lick would do.

Women are often irrational, frequently swept up in a kind of collective unconsciousness.

Compared to fawning over male celebrities who were complete nobodies, Su Xi at least had a stellar reputation—everyone who’d "used" him said he was good. Look at the three sexy starlets, Scarlett, Fox, and Jessica, attacking and cursing each other in the media. But have you ever seen them say a single bad word about Su Xi?

They all accused each other of seducing Su Xi, but none of them ever claimed that Su Xi lacked willpower, or that he was a cheater or unfaithful.

What does that tell you?

Doesn’t that just say it all?

Women understand other women very well.

Actually, men understand women too; they just see through their act and choose not to expose it. It’s like, do you really think men can’t spot a "green tea bitch"? It’s just that when they call you "big brother," it feels really damn good.

BZZT!

The whistle blew, and the second half began.

The Phoenix Suns strictly executed Coach D’Antoni’s tactic of nonstop shooting and nonstop attacking.

After all, the head coach wasn’t very interested in defense anyway. D’Antoni’s only requirement for the team was, "You must score more than your opponent."

Such a simple philosophy.

The greatest truths are the simplest, and D’Antoni had it all figured out.

Right at the start of the third quarter, the Phoenix Suns’ shooting was hot. First, Nash hit a three-pointer, then Shaun Marion hit a three, followed by Stadumier driving into the paint for a dunk.

They quickly closed the point gap.

In fact, they even looked poised to pull away with a strong lead.

The Knicks, at this moment, were experimenting with a new lineup: Su Xi, Quentin Richardson, Jalen Rose, Antonio Davis, and Tony Battie were running a half-court set.

The results were rather mediocre, mainly because of Antonio Davis. The guy was a blue-collar player who had played defense his whole life, but upon joining the Knicks, he had suddenly started acting like a white-collar star. On possessions where he was just supposed to facilitate ball movement, he would insist on taking the shot himself—with poor results.

Coupled with Phoenix’s offensive onslaught, the Knicks immediately fell behind.

In the commentary booth, Larry Brown said, "This is the drawback of not having a core philosophy. The Knicks are biting off more than they can chew, following Su Xi’s lead in trying to be clever, running one tactic for a bit, then another. In the end, they’re just squandering their own advantages. If a team wants to go far and be consistent, the first task is to establish a strategy, then find the right players for that strategy and maximize its effectiveness."

"Especially in the playoffs. A lot of the time, the playoffs aren’t about who has more strengths, but about who exposes fewer weaknesses. Not making mistakes is half the battle. A style like Su Xi’s, changing the game plan every quarter, won’t survive a single series in the playoffs."

Larry Brown said bluntly.

He was an authority, and many people watching on TV believed him.

After all, he was a bona fide, old-school head coach with a long and storied resume. Even though he wasn’t coaching in the NBA anymore, his disciples and their disciples were all over the league, forming one of the NBA’s largest coaching trees. Popovich was his student, and just think of how many coaches came from Popovich’s own branch with the San Antonio Spurs.

But just then, Reggie Miller said something that cut right to the heart: "So, why did the Pacers beat the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals then? We used to change tactics all the time back then..."

"You..." Larry Brown’s chest suddenly felt tight. He felt his ancient heart begin to pound violently.

This was a classic case of picking at an old wound.

The Pistons losing to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals was one of the most painful moments of his career.

Now, Reggie Miller was bringing up the past, which was like slicing open his wound again, pouring a ton of salt in it, and grinding it in for good measure—all in front of a national audience.

The experienced Mike Brin stepped in, saying, "You can’t compare the Knicks’ lineup to the Pacers’. Back then, the Pacers had one of the strongest rosters in the league. The Knicks now just don’t measure up."

This comment helped calm Larry Brown down considerably, but he still remained silent for the next two or three minutes. When an old man gets that angry, he needs a long time to catch his breath.