The Best Point Guard

Capitalist society is truly a world of deep waters and fiery passions.

Many male viewers watching on TV sighed with this sentiment. As for what was fiery and what was deep, well, that was left to their own interpretation.

The CCTV announcers pretended they didn’t see it. Although they couldn’t hear the audio from the arena, the beautiful woman’s actions said it all. It wasn’t like they could interpret it as the woman wanting Su Xi to put a medicated plaster on her thigh.

Besides, they don’t have those in the United States.

On the TNT Channel, Charles Barkley was cackling. He said, "Kim Kardashian seems even more desperate than Paris Hilton. But I guarantee you, Jack isn’t going to give her what she wants. Just look at Scarlett’s face! She looks like Black Widow right before a kill."

Kenny Smith pulled him back to the topic at hand. "Let’s get back to the game. I think tonight will be the end of the Knicks’ winning streak. Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady aren’t going to let the Knicks keep evolving like this."

As he spoke, Su Xi had already closed in on Tracy McGrady, spreading his arms and getting into a defensive stance.

Meanwhile, Jamal Crawford was guarding David Wesley, while Jalen Rose stuck close to the young rookie, Luther Head.

The Knicks’ defense was still a relatively ’primitive’ man-to-man.

Tracy McGrady looked at the young MVP in front of him, who was a good bit shorter than he was.

In his heart, he was intensely jealous of Su Xi. He envied how Su Xi’s achievements in just two years already surpassed his own entire career. He still remembered their first matchup, when he had thought Su Xi was just a rookie with a few interesting quirks. He never believed Su Xi could reach his current level of success. He’d even magnanimously said, ’Even if you had my talent, you could never achieve what I have.’

But now, with Su Xi standing before him, he felt immense pressure. Su Xi’s constant, shuffling steps were making his offensive choices difficult.

He could feel Su Xi’s formidable athletic talent exploding right in front of him. Especially after watching Su Xi throw down a vicious dunk over Howard, he was even worried Su Xi might be able to bother his pull-up jumper.

McGrady was not a tenacious fighter. He was always hesitant, sensitive, and prone to overthinking.

He had been blessed with once-in-a-generation talent, skill, and touch. He should have achieved even more than LeBron James or Kobe Bryant.

But injuries and his own mentality had destroyed him.

Su Xi lunged at him, initiating physical contact.

McGrady squirmed uncomfortably, but Su Xi just got tighter... Su Xi’s defense was like a classic scene from a Hong Kong movie: the more McGrady struggled, the more excited he seemed to get. The more McGrady wanted out, the more intense he became.

If it had been Kobe, he would have welcomed the challenge and exploded right back at him.

But McGrady turned his body and passed the ball to Yao Ming. Yao caught it with little time left on the clock. Rushing, he turned to the side and put up a hook shot.

CLANG!

Eddie Curry’s contest was solid; he tenaciously stayed right on Yao Ming. His help defense was a total mess, but he was decent at bodying up on his man. After all, he was a big, beefy guy.

Tony Battie outmuscled Howard for the rebound.

He passed to Su Xi. Su Xi charged forward two steps with the ball and then whipped it to Crawford. Crawford put on a show in front of Head, hitting him with a double behind-the-back dribble into a hop step that left the young rookie completely lost. Head could only watch as Crawford drove into the paint for a layup.

The Knicks’ fast break was incredibly smooth and sharp.

This was a problem the Rockets had to face.

Van Gundy was meticulous about the details of his half-court defense, but his transition defense against fast breaks left something to be desired. In truth, the Rockets didn’t have the personnel for it anyway.

On the next possession, McGrady scored on Su Xi. He made a quick drive, then pulled up for a sudden jumper... Su Xi really couldn’t stop it.

Although McGrady was a little past his peak, he was still at the level of an NBA superstar. With his coordination, explosiveness, speed, leaping ability, and the rhythm and touch on his jump shot, no defender could stop him one-on-one.

However, Su Xi came right back and answered with a basket of his own.

The Rockets still had Wesley defending Su Xi. Su Xi backed him down for two steps, then hit a turnaround jumper... The elite offensive techniques Su Xi had copied from Kobe were already taking shape. He could easily overpower anyone below the level of an elite defender. Against elite defenders, his efficiency was lower. And against top-tier defenders... Su Xi would just use his dribble penetration.

Su Xi had all the offensive firepower he needed; he just preferred not to play iso-ball. If he wanted to pad his stats, getting a 30-point triple-double every game would be no problem at all.

The game continued.

The Rockets didn’t have many other tricks up their sleeve: it was either McGrady in isolation or facilitating from the high post, and Yao Ming in isolation or facilitating from the low post.

Jeff Van Gundy was an old dog who couldn’t learn new tricks. And don’t be fooled by his shiny forehead; he was completely inflexible. He was the kind of man who’d stick with one position all night long. He stayed up late every evening preparing for games, his wrinkled suit pockets stuffed with notes on tactics.

This kind of rigid, by-the-book coaching style could still be effective against traditional teams.

But against the Knicks, it was tantamount to walking right into a trap.

The Knicks’ own head coach, Isaiah Thomas, didn’t even know what plays his team was going to run. Everything was freestyle; the team was running entirely on its own.

How could Van Gundy possibly prepare for that kind of playstyle in advance?

Besides, Su Xi alone had multiple ways to play. With his basketball IQ, he could create different chemical reactions with any teammate.

The Knicks were currently in the process of building their system.

The Rockets relied entirely on their two superstars for offense.

The Knicks, on the other hand, had everyone contributing in their own special way.