pertwk Chapter 24 Deception and Violation of Rules
Chapter 24 Deception and Violation of Rules
At the start of the second quarter, both teams fielded their star players and their bench players.
The Cavaliers replaced their center with Anderson Varejao and their guard with Daniel Gibson. The SuperSonics replaced their point guard with Delonte West, their power forward with Joe Smith, and their center with Robert Swift.
Before going on the field, Du Xiaoshuai used a newly drawn white-level status card.
With only one hour of effective time remaining, Du Xiaoshuai took the ball and began his toxic playing style.
The substitutes cooperated very well and gave him as much ball possession as possible. In the first 8 minutes of the second quarter, Du Xiaoshuai, with full focus and hot shooting, took 10 shots and made 7, including two three-pointers and 4 free throws, scoring a whopping 20 points. He also used his gravity to deliver 3 assists, widening the gap to nearly 10 points.
James, leading the bench, did not perform poorly. The Cavaliers' bench also fit his system seamlessly. In the first three minutes, he led the bench to shoot a three-pointer, a dunk, and a free throw, scoring 6 points, dishing out 2 assists, and grabbing 2 rebounds.
Faced with Durant's outburst, Blackbread quickly substituted his starters back onto the court, while Durant's coach P.J. boldly let his substitutes continue to play, only replacing rotation center Robert Swift with Chris Wilcox.
James, in his early twenties, didn't rest for a minute and led the main force to continue the attack.
In the original timeline, young LeBron James averaged nearly 41 minutes per game this season, occasionally playing the entire game, setting a new career high in playing time. Even the donkeys on the production team would be moved to tears.
Even after the timeout, Durant's outburst continued.
So Mike Brown changed his formation again, replacing Gooden with Varejao when the ball was stopped, and Coach P.J. brought on all of the SuperSonics' starters.
In the second quarter, with 3 minutes and 42 seconds left, James drove to the basket but was forced to stop by Durant again. He then passed the ball to Varejao, who caught it in the paint and made a big looping motion, leaning against Thomas who was coming up to him. He stumbled and shot, his body falling to the ground like a spaghetti.
"Whistle—" The referee blew his whistle and made a gesture, indicating that Kurt had committed a defensive foul.
Kurt Thomas, hands raised and looking utterly astonished, walked towards the referee, his face full of grievance: "He's faking a foul!"
He's usually a bit aggressive on defense, but who would have thought Varejao would be so soft! He didn't even put in any effort, and the opponent just fell down on his own.
The referee nodded, pointed to his eyes, and insisted that the ruling was correct.
Billups quickly pulled Thomas, who was about to turn red with excitement, away.
Du Xiaoshuai walked to the free-throw line and the shooting guard area to grab a rebound, his face expressionless. He clapped his hands loudly to indicate that he had expected this.
Playing for LeBron James' team always means encountering a lot of bizarre mishaps or troublesome people, which also shows that the King himself has a lot of attention and popularity.
Controversial officiating is common in the NBA; in fact, it's fair to say that controversial calls can occur in any game.
After all, it's a commercial league. Although it claims to be a professional basketball league, it has never emphasized fairness above all else. Commercial value is what this league values most.
Of course, if too many unfair things happen in the game, it will definitely lose the support of fans and viewers, and the overall commercial value of the league will inevitably be negatively affected.
David Stern, a lawyer by training, is a man who values rules and regulations. During his tenure, there were instances where league referees influenced the game, but relatively few and less obvious.
His philosophy is not to establish fairness but to emphasize that everyone should rely on their own abilities. The league only uses rules to balance teams and adjust their development direction, and it still adheres to its original intention.
Unlike the jokes that followed, it was truly all about money. They acted as both referees and players, completely shameless! The most outrageous thing was the 16 playoffs, where they came back from 1-3 down to win two consecutive rounds – can you believe it!
Something's fishy going on. If there's no betting pool, I'll let the dogs fuck me!
Ironically, the more he interfered with the league's ratings, influence, and commercial value, the more it declined.
With so many dramatic comebacks, viewers' excitement threshold has been raised. Without further thrills, viewership will inevitably plummet. Especially with the referees being so conspicuous, the match feels artificial and uninteresting, inevitably leading to a drop in ratings.
That being said, since Stern advocates for players to use their own methods, drawing fouls and faking fouls are skills that players possess, and the league has always tacitly accepted this, provided that your foul-faking actions are convincing enough.
In this respect, Brazilian actor Varejao is exceptionally talented, even surpassing the young emperor who had to take him as his teacher.
Durant himself despises this kind of offensive foul-drawing behavior, which is much more disgusting than driving into the paint to draw fouls. But it's not worth getting angry over Varejao, who is just a little Karami. If you can't even handle this, you'll explode when you encounter Harden and free-throw shooter Yali in the future.
Amid boos from the home crowd, Varejao made both free throws, allowing the SuperSonics to launch an attack.
Du Xiaoshuai received the ball at the high post, drawing a double team from Larry Hughes and LeBron, and then threw the basketball high to Jeff Green, who was cutting to the low post, for a layup.
Larry Hughes is known for his defense. He is one of the few players who has won the steals title, made the All-Defensive First Team, but never made the All-Star team. His career highlight was the 04-05 season with the Wizards. In the past two years, his performance has declined due to injuries. Last season, he was still able to help James on the defensive end. This season, his athleticism has dropped a bit, and apart from an inconsistent three-point shot, his defensive threat has plummeted.
In the original season, Larry Hughes, who was exhausted and unruly, would be traded by the Cavaliers' management.
Blackbread dared to double-team Larry Hughes, but Durant dribbled past him like it was nothing!
However, during the transition between offense and defense, James attacked the basket again under Varejao's screen.
Durant was a step too slow defending the pick-and-roll, and Kurt Thomas switched in to defend him, only to be fouled by James.
The basketball flew almost vertically into the air, but this time it can't really be said that James drew a foul, because his impact was too strong. Thomas's defensive move couldn't withstand it and started to deform, with obvious pulling posture, so the call wasn't unfair.
Regardless, the starting power forward has three fouls, and it's only the second quarter.
During the free throws, P.J. substituted power forward with Joe Smith.
The veteran's talent is no less than Thomas's. In order to control injuries, the management has always kept him on the bench. It looks like he will have to play a few more minutes today.
One made out of two free throws—that's very LeBron James-like shooting percentage.
The SuperSonics lead by 11 points, 58-47, and still have possession of the ball.
The game continued, and Du Xiaoshuai, with his rich experience on the court, quickly discovered what the unscrupulous coach was up to—the Cavaliers were attacking the paint and drawing fouls.
In just the last three minutes of the second quarter, the Cavaliers drew seven fouls, even Durant was fooled into committing one. The game was intermittent and the scene was extremely ugly, with boos coming from the fans on the sidelines.
Even the referees couldn't stand it anymore; this was the SuperSonics' home court!
But the Cavaliers achieved their goal. At halftime, the score was 66-55, with no change in the point difference. They were still down by 11 points. All four of the SuperSonics' starting lineup and reserves had 3-4 fouls, including Durant.
The SuperSonics' interior defense will be in big trouble in the second half!
During halftime, the home fans were in a frenzy, shouting "ugly game!" and some even jumped onto chairs like gorillas.
Sitting behind the front row bench, sisters Paris and Nicole Richie gave the middle finger to the Cavaliers' coaching staff, looking just like a typical Mary Kay version of a delinquent.
James returned to the locker room with a dark expression and didn't say a word.
The LeBron James of Cavaliers 1.0 didn't have the idol baggage that comes with four championships, and he didn't go around asking people for respect.
Now he even feels a bit aggrieved—the tactics were arranged by the coach, so why are they all attacking me personally!
During the quarter, Coach P.J. emphasized overall defense and required the perimeter players to limit their opponents' attacks on the inside, focusing on preventing drives but not shots.
The cheerleaders leave the field, the second half begins, and the Supersonics gain possession.
Seeing that there was less than half an hour left on his status card, Du Xiaoshuai continued to switch to one-on-one mode and sped up his pace and shots.
The Cavaliers' inside attacks had to be slowed down by the SuperSonics' hard-fought defense and the referees' lenient calls.
This is when karma struck. After a whole quarter of battling for the ball on the perimeter, their shooting touch collectively cooled off, missing six consecutive mid-range and three-point shots, relying solely on Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden each scoring one basket under the rim.
With the boost from his performance card, Du Xiaoshuai played the entire third quarter, efficiently scoring 13 points, grabbing 4 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists, and blocking 1 shot.
By the last two minutes of the third quarter, the two teams had widened the gap to 24 points, and the game was essentially over.
At the end of the third quarter, the score was 97-73.
杜小帅三节28投17中，三分9中5，罚球6中6，砍下45分8板6助攻2盖帽1抢断的平平无奇数据。
The game was broadcast live on ESPN across the United States. The young and ambitious LeBron James still wanted to fight back. He played for three minutes at the beginning of the fourth quarter with the substitutes, but then he ran into Angela Leslie, who was not yet his teammate, and he exploded.
With the home-court advantage, Delonte West suddenly transformed into a mini-Wade, repeatedly attacking the basket, either scoring or drawing fouls, just like the Cavaliers did in the second quarter to teach his godson a lesson.
The score didn't improve, and James even committed a foul, so he simply left the court to surrender.
In the final stretch, the two teams' bench players were locked in a fierce battle, and the outcome seemed certain. However, the home fans' shouts and venting from the sidelines did not stop, making the Cavaliers' rotation somewhat hesitant.
The excited Supersonic rotation and bench players couldn't stop, widening the score gap to 9 points.
The game ended with the SuperSonics defeating the Cavaliers 121-87.
As soon as the final whistle blew, LeBron, dressed in his tracksuit, was the first to enter the locker room tunnel, just like a high school student rushing to the cafeteria at lunchtime.
Du Xiaoshuai, meanwhile, was on the sidelines, posing for photos and signing autographs for the home fans.
Paris and her best friend, taking advantage of their proximity, gave Du Xiaoshuai a warm and familiar hug and even asked him to sign the jerseys they were wearing.
The majestic mountain range wasn't rugged at all; Du Xiaoshuai wrote that he discovered it was a vacuum inside...
At the post-game press conference, the visiting team was interviewed first, with James and Mike Brown in attendance.
Yahoo Sports' Woj told James about Kevin Durant's pre-game declaration of certain victory, "Even Jesus can't save us," and asked for his opinion.
"I told the ESPN reporter before the game that Kevin is a unicorn rookie, and you can't define him by other player templates. It turns out I was right." James clasped his hands behind the interview table, looking like a single woman in her late thirties being criticized.
What's the use of you being right? Why don't you mention that we were blown out by 34 points!
Woj, who wanted to improve in the league, knew better than to hit someone in the face, so he didn't continue to make sarcastic remarks.
Seattle media outlets were less scathing: "LeBron, you guys picked up 7-8 fouls in the last three minutes of the second quarter, briefly halting the game. Was that part of your strategy?"
James paused, glancing at the man beside him, who tactfully pulled the microphone over and continued, "Yes, I noticed that the SuperSonics' interior players were quite rough at the start of the game, committing a lot of fouls. We went with the flow... and the referees made fair calls. This is how we maintain fairness in the game."
James leaned back tactically, glaring at the black man with his eyes wide open. "No wonder you're a coach, you've got a thick skin!"
"Next question"
After answering, Blackbread quickly switched to the Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter to ask a question.
The Seattle Herald reporter was immediately enraged...
It was nearly midnight when Supersonic was interviewed.
Woj asked, "When I interviewed you before the match, I saw your extraordinary belief in winning. What gave you such confidence?"
Du Xiaoshuai took the microphone and began his usual boastful rambling: "When I pick up a basketball, I always feel like I control this planet, and when I look at the basket, nothing can stop it from going in..."
ESPN's Tim Legler then turned around and stabbed LeBron James in the back: "Before the game, LeBron said he would do everything he could to win as a welcome gift for you entering the NBA. What do you have to say about that?"
"He clearly didn't give it his all—" Du Xiaoshuai shrugged and said casually, "Hopefully, he can make up for it with a new gift next time we play."
......