Champion, please stay!

Chapter 95, 93. Can you shut up and stand aside?

As evening fell, Madison Square Garden erupted in cheers, with the fans showing exceptional enthusiasm.

As the live broadcast camera panned across the stands, the commentators exclaimed that in their more than ten years in the business, this was the first time they had ever seen New York fans so excited during a preseason game; they had never seen anything like it during the gangster era of the 90s.

And it wasn't because the opponent had a superstar; the sounds coming from the live stream were all shouting "Brook" and "BIG"!
The Knicks are the only team that broadcasts every preseason game live; their owner, Dolan, is also the owner of an American cable television system company.

Not only was it broadcast, but the viewership was also quite good. The live broadcast had just started and the players had just entered the field when the number of paid viewerships exceeded 500 million.

Last season, the Knicks' average paid viewership during the regular season was just over 400 million.

On the court, Beasley was furious when he saw Yi Shui exchange a few words with Wade before returning to the bench to listen to the tactics, without even glancing in his direction.

Not only are they ignoring him now, but when Yi Shui was interviewed this afternoon and asked what he thought of his remarks, Yi Shui only gave the camera one expression.

That expression is all too familiar to Beasley, who participated in this year's Madness 3.

Fans have turned them into memes—disdain, blatant disdain, disdain that's obvious at a glance without any preamble.

At that time, Yi Shui showed that expression to Mayo. Later, Mayo, who was the top pick at the time, was dropped to the 5th pick and was not selected in the top three.

The reason why the Grizzlies chose Rose instead of Mayo is obvious to anyone with even a little knowledge of basketball: Mayo himself was completely devastated when the Timberwolves traded their draft pick to the Grizzlies.

But news is all about grabbing attention, and the prevailing opinion was that Mayo was knocked down to 5th place by Yi Shui.

Yi Shui naturally noticed Beasley's gaze, but he genuinely didn't care about the guy.

His deepest impression of Bisley was that he had a negative win-loss ratio every single season for more than ten years of his professional career, without exception.

A high win-loss ratio does not necessarily indicate a significant contribution to victory.

But if your win-loss ratio is negative every year throughout your entire career, that's an absolute disaster.

One statistic that Yi Shui will never forget: In the 13-14 season, when Beasley was on the court, the Heat scored 120 points and allowed 131 points per 100 possessions; when he was off the court, the Heat scored 133 points and allowed 123 points per 100 possessions. That was a runner-up team with 54 wins, and his teammates were Wade and Bosh.

He almost felt sorry for James. That year, Beasley played the three and four positions, and James was his direct backup.

As soon as James sits down, someone digs a hole; after he goes on the court to fill the hole, he sits down to rest for a while, and then the hole is dug up again.

Although it's just a preseason game, Yi Shui still wants to win, so they can just ignore Beasley.

The key issue is that his opponent has Dwyane Wade, so he went to compete against Beasley.

...

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra fielded a starting lineup of Dwyane Wade, Daequan Cook, Beasley, Marion, and Haslem.

After many years, Wade once again stepped onto the court as the starting point guard. He was somewhat emotional, as the last time was during his rookie season, and now... the team has to start all over again to make a run for the playoffs.

During the offseason, the Heat acquired a point guard from the Timberwolves, Sebastian Telfair, who averaged 9.3 points and 5.9 assists last season. However, this point guard plays a highly individualistic style, has an unstable personality, and tends to play emotionally... His biggest advantage is that he was cheap at $750 million for 3 years.

While Cook's overall strength is not as good as Telfair's, he is more mature and stable.

D'Antoni fielded a starting lineup of Curry, Q, Yi Shui, David Lee, and Swift.

The arrangement was made based on the Heat's roster being short and fast-moving.

He said at the beginning of the training camp that, apart from Yi Shui and David Lee, all other positions would be filled through competition, and whoever played well or was suitable would be selected.

At 8 p.m., the game started. Swift defeated Haslem to win the jump ball, and the Knicks went on the offensive first!

Curry advanced to the frontcourt, where he encountered Wade's close defense, but managed to protect the ball well.

Wade was a little surprised. This skinny point guard was actually quite strong. He was moving with Curry and was about to increase his output... when he was blocked!
Curry used Swift's screen to drive forward, and Yi Shui, who was outside the three-point line at the right 45-degree angle, turned around and pushed past Beasley to the right side of the free-throw line.

Curry passed the ball back from the elbow, and Yi Shui received it just as he regained his footing—the timing was perfect!
Before Wade, who was helping out, and Beasley, who was chasing, could double-team Yi Shui, he had already passed the ball out with his second pass... Swift cut in, caught the ball, and scored with a layup!
The fans at the scene cheered and shouted.

The tactical coordination was as smooth as flowing water!

As Yi Shui retreated on defense, he saw a middle-aged man on the sidelines wearing his No. 13 jersey and all Knicks orange gear reaching out to him. He ran two steps to the sideline and gave the man a high five.

Spike Lee gave a high five and excitedly shouted at Yi Shui's retreating figure, "BIG, that was a beautiful shot!"

Upon hearing this, Yi Shui thought to himself, "How could it not be beautiful? From the 3rd to the 7th, plus yesterday and today, it's been a whole week. Their team of five has practiced their teamwork at least 800 to 1000 rounds."

What about D'Antoni's ability to train role players? To put it bluntly, it's all about training and training... even though he enjoys training the most. Of course, D'Antoni's patience with role players is also amazing.

In the transition, Wade advanced the ball up the court and passed it to Beasley, who was calling for the ball on the right side of the top arc. Beasley tried to drive past Yi Shui but couldn't get past him. Yi Shui guided him to the baseline and into the paint, where he took a step and powerfully pulled up for a layup... and it went in!
Beasley pounded his chest and shouted, "You can't stop me!"

Yi Shui ignored him, glanced at the empty area under the basket, and speechlessly picked up the ball and passed it to Curry.

David Lee and Swift have absolutely no team defensive awareness. They didn't even need to interfere with the shot. Even if they just came in and stood there, Beasley would have had a hard time getting into the restricted area to shoot.

Wait a minute, he suddenly realized that the coaching staff hadn't arranged a single defensive drill since the team assembled.

He was so focused on training during camp that he completely missed this! We probably can't rely on the head coach anymore; he'll have to figure it out himself. He needs to adjust his one-on-one defense tonight too…

As Yi Shui ran to the front of the field, pondering, he was about to put aside his distractions and focus on teamwork when he heard Beasley's voice again.

"Are you going to run around like a coward again? You can't defend against me, and you don't dare to attack?"

Yi Shui couldn't understand where Beasley's confidence came from.

I didn't want to bother with them; I wanted to focus on playing well with my teammates in the first preseason game.

But since the other party had said that much, Yi Shui waved to Curry for the ball.

After receiving the pass and Curry moved to the left 45-degree angle to take Wade away, Yi Shui turned around to face Beasley and said, "Ready? Here I come!"

As he spoke, Yi Shui accelerated and made a strong breakthrough down the right flank!

Beasley moved sideways to press forward... but was directly knocked away by Yi Shui!

The cheers that had just subsided after Yi Shui scored on a one-on-one defense suddenly surged again!
Violence, tyranny, and brutality!
Yi Shui drove straight into the paint. Marion on the wing couldn't even collapse in time, and Haslem, who had retreated to the basket, hadn't even gotten his footing before the huge Knicks logo was already plastered on his face...

The first basket in NBA history: a dunk over Haslem!

After landing, Yi Shui put on the 'Tabit block expression' again, as if he had just done something insignificant, and turned to lead his teammates to the backcourt.

During his retreat, Yi Shui specifically found Swift and said, "Keep an eye on Beasley, ignore the rest of the Heat. If I drive in close behind, just block his shot!"

After giving the instructions, Yi Shui stayed at the three-point line, waiting for Beasley to come over.

Beasley, who had come to the frontcourt, still looked fierce, but he was inwardly devastated—he had gained 10 pounds! How could he still be knocked away?
He actually accepted that he couldn't defend against it. He wouldn't care if Yi Shui used speed, rhythm, and technique to get past him. He would just turn around and continue to attack. But this skinny guy overpowered him just like he did half a year ago!
He had started to be wary of Yi Shui's power again, but when he got closer and saw Yi Shui's disgusted expression, he got carried away and asked for the ball to play one-on-one!

After receiving a pass from Wade, Beasley was about to fake a move when Yi Shui blocked him. The opponent's rough movements and fierce strength caused him to stumble, and the ball was almost stolen.

After securing the ball, an enraged Beasley slammed it towards Yi Shui and charged forward with all his might.

But unlike when they faced off half a year ago, this time he couldn't use brute force to push through the space and accelerate, and he was stuck to the spot!

He squeezed his way to the right side of the three-second zone, just past the free-throw line, and was forced to stop the ball!
He reacted quickly, not giving Yi Shui a chance to steal the ball. After standing firm, he jumped up and attempted a fadeaway mid-range shot... but missed!
David Lee secured the defensive rebound, and the game transitioned. Beasley was still rantting, but in his exasperation, he could no longer speak normally as before, and his speech was filled with extremely vulgar language.

Yi Shui continued to demand the ball at the top of the arc for one-on-one attacks!
Beasley no longer tried to block directly by moving sideways. He had realized that he couldn't outrun Yi Shui and wanted to defend with his footwork. But his footwork... Yi Shui pulled him to the left, and he lunged directly to the right.

Yi Shui drove straight into the paint, but Haslem collapsed to the basket to block the shot. Yi Shui jumped and, in the midst of the confrontation with Haslem, pulled up for a layup... and it went in!
When the Heat were on offense, amidst the chants of "Mike dunk" from the crowd, Beasley, caught up in the moment, continued to demand the ball and attempt a one-on-one attack.

He might not have a brain, but Beasley's one-on-one awareness is indeed good. After receiving the ball, he immediately pulled back half a step and made a move, not giving Yi Shui a chance to directly engage in close combat. However, after penetrating the inside, he still walked off the baseline and into the three-second zone under Yi Shui's guidance.

But just as he squeezed past Yi Shui to get under the basket and launched a powerful floater, just like in the first attack... the ball had barely flown out and hadn't even hit the backboard when Swift, who had rushed in, grabbed it!
Swift looked around, found Curry, and passed the ball out.

Because Swift delayed for a moment, the opposing team had already started to retreat on defense, but Curry still decisively launched a counterattack after receiving the ball.

A crucial aspect of run-and-gun tactics is transitioning between offense and defense, exploiting the opponent's unpreparedness, and forcing them to switch defenses!
However, this offensive and defensive transition didn't go well. The opposing team had three players with good defensive awareness and habits: Wade, Marion, and Haslem, who led their teammates to maintain a good formation.

Curry was about to play it safe and pass the ball to Yi Shui for a one-on-one play... when he saw Yi Shui shake off Dae Quinn Cook who had switched onto him and rush in, he immediately passed the ball!

Beasley, under Haslem's direction, blocked Swift's run down the middle towards the free-throw line, and saw Yi Shui rushing in from the left!

He immediately moved forward, heading towards Yi Shui as she leaped, aiming for the hat...

In a static confrontation, he could still use his weight to hold off Yi Shui, but Yi Shui was completely overwhelmed...

A second later, the rim groaned as Beasley flew backward and crashed out of bounds.

He was rubbing his sore backside when the light was suddenly blocked. He opened his eyes wide and saw Yi Shui's face! A gentle voice came from behind...

"Could you please shut up and stand over there? I need to fight Dwyane; I don't have time to play games with you."

(End of this chapter)