Sports Medicine Master System

"Are you having an issue with the player rotations?" Chen Yu asked, taking advantage of a lull in the conversation.

The biggest change for Ewing this season was that he had been moved to the bench.

For a superstar of his caliber, it was almost unthinkable.

Even if he was playing backup for Olajuwon.

On top of that, Chen Yu had been monitoring Olajuwon’s condition all season. His availability was high, and he was still averaging 28 minutes a game.

And don’t forget, there was also Charalidis. He was a first-round pick, and the team needed to give him playing time to develop him.

As a result, Ewing’s average playing time was only about 14 minutes.

Last season with the Supersonics, he had still averaged 27 minutes a game.

But hadn’t the two of them already discussed and resolved this issue at the beginning of the season?

So why was Ewing bringing it up again now that they were halfway through the season?

Ewing pursed his lips, which was as good as a confirmation.

Seeing him stay silent, Chen Yu prompted him, "Patrick, what are your thoughts on it?"

To an outsider, a 15-man team might seem like a harmonious group, everyone working hard together to play games and get good results.

In reality, that wasn’t the case at all.

A team was more like a company. Every player had their own agenda, formed cliques, and got into conflicts.

It wasn’t just a team or two that had been dismantled by locker room conflicts.

The root cause, naturally, was personal gain.

More playing time and a good performance meant a bigger contract.

In that respect, the Phoenix Suns were actually doing pretty well. After all, they had a bunch of veterans on the verge of retirement who were past the age of scrambling for personal glory.

Logically, Ewing and Olajuwon should have been the same, so a problem like this shouldn’t have arisen.

Ewing furrowed his brow for a moment before saying, "I think I should be in the starting lineup. Even if I’m not playing the five, playing the four would be fine."

Chen Yu was taken aback.

He had assumed Ewing was just unhappy about being Olajuwon’s backup. He never expected him to say he was willing to play power forward.

The power forward, to put it bluntly, was just a secondary center—the position with the lowest tactical importance on the team.

The main role of that position was to do the dirty work for the center, especially on a team with a top-tier one.

For Ewing to say something like that meant he didn’t care about his personal stats and was willing to sacrifice for the team.

So, for him to still be saying this, there could only be one reason: he was unhappy with Gugliotta at power forward.

"Patrick, do you think Tom isn’t performing well?" Chen Yu asked, probing.

Sure enough, Ewing’s reaction showed that he had guessed correctly.

Ewing pursed his lips. "I’m not saying he’s a bad player. Tom’s a good guy, but he’s too soft. He’s always shirking his responsibilities on defense. When an opponent drives to the basket, he almost never comes over to help, just stands there and watches like an idiot."

"I know he had a major injury and it affected his athleticism, but he’s recovered now, isn’t he? Besides, who hasn’t been injured? He just lacks fighting spirit. He likes to drift around the perimeter and shoot. Damn it, he’s an inside player!"

"I think he just signed that big contract and decided nothing else matters. But our goal this year is to make a run for the championship. If he keeps playing like this, it’s only going to hurt our record. Look at us, we’re only sixth in the West right now. If he were playing well, I think we’d be in the top four."

Chen Yu understood completely.

Ewing wasn’t unhappy with Olajuwon; he was unhappy with Gugliotta.

Chen Yu himself had performed an artificial ligament reconstruction surgery for Gugliotta over the summer, and his athleticism had recovered significantly. But his previous injuries must have worn down his fighting spirit. That, combined with a big, multi-year contract, had made him complacent.

As for Ewing, while there might be a psychological component to this, since he was voicing it now, he likely wanted to use Chen Yu as a mouthpiece to express his dissatisfaction to the coaching staff.

His approach was understandable. He couldn’t just go straight to Skiles and say Gugliotta was playing poorly. If a reporter caught wind of it, Ewing would be blamed for creating locker room drama.

Returning to the present, Chen Yu thought for a moment. Instead of saying he’d go talk to Gugliotta, he said, "By the way, Teylon Hill is recovering quickly. He should be able to come back before the playoffs, and you know he’s a tough player."

At the mention of Teylon Hill, Ewing smiled and nodded. "He’s much better than Tom," he said. "In terms of fighting spirit, I mean."

Chen Yu nodded, closed his notebook, and ended the conversation.

After seeing Ewing out, Chen Yu couldn’t help but frown.

Before his conversation with Ewing, Chen Yu had already spoken with Gugliotta and asked him the same questions.

His response had been full of confidence, saying he felt the Phoenix Suns had a real shot at the championship this year.

But thinking something was one thing; actually doing it—being willing to sacrifice and work hard for the team—was another entirely.

The problem was, if they just pulled him from the starting lineup, it might affect his morale and cause him to just give up entirely.

After finishing his talk with the last player, Chen Yu left and found Skiles to tell him about the issue.

This was a headache for Skiles to deal with.

A few of them were in a meeting. After hearing Chen Yu’s account, Jim Boylan, who was sitting opposite, was the first to speak up. He nodded and said, "It’s true. Tom has always been a problem when it comes to interior and help defense. His focus and intensity on D are low. We’ve practiced a lot of zone defense this season, but he’s never executed it well."

Boylan was the team’s defensive coach, responsible for daily defensive drills.

"I’ve noticed this problem as well, actually," Skiles said, resting his chin on his hands.

Previously, the starting power forward had been Clifford Robinson.

Although his game leaned toward outside shooting, he was a defensive stalwart. In the previous two years, when the Suns’ interior defense was weak, he had been their anchor.

But he had been traded away.

Teylon Hill’s offense wasn’t as good as Robinson’s, but he was a classic blue-collar defender who could have filled the void left by the trade.

But he was still recovering from an injury.

And this year’s rookie pick, Elton Ford, was a complete bust. Skiles was already considering getting rid of him after the season.

With no other options, they had to let Gugliotta fill the spot.

Tapping the table, Skiles’s tone suddenly shifted. "Gentlemen, I’ve actually been considering playing Hakeem and Patrick on the court at the same time."

He sat up straight, waiting for all eyes to turn to him before continuing. "Actually, Hakeem has what it takes to play power forward. For the first three years of his career, he was a power forward. He even made his first trip to the Finals as a power forward."

Ralph Sampson was just too tall.

"Plus, his skills are well-rounded enough, and he has a decent mid-range jumper. At his age, making him battle against strong opposing centers under the basket is very taxing."

"In comparison, Patrick is actually a better fit for the five."

Ewing had been a center his entire career, with a tougher playing style and an offense centered on the low post.

Olajuwon, on the other hand, had the skillset to operate at the four.

"Most importantly, in recent years, especially this year, the rule changes have opened up the paint. The power forward can actually play a bit further out."

Before, you’d have both the center and power forward camped near the basket. With four bodies down there, there was basically no space in the paint.

But now, with the defensive three-second rule, the paint has opened up.

Look at the Kings. Divac and Weber often abandon the paint to run screens and offense from the high post.

With the paint more open, Skiles felt this change placed higher demands on the power forward. On offense, they needed to be able to hit a mid-range shot, initiate the offense off the dribble, and also pass and facilitate.

On defense, they needed to expand their range from inside the paint to the perimeter and have better help-defense awareness.

Olajuwon was exactly that kind of super well-rounded player: he could score, defend, provide help defense, and create his own shot.

The assistant coaches exchanged glances and fell into thought.

Skiles continued, "And we can’t ignore Patrick’s attitude."

This was Ewing. Making him a backup had already drawn plenty of criticism from the media and fans. What coach would dare to ignore his feelings on the matter?

"But we can’t put Hakeem on the bench, either."

Ewing didn’t want to be a backup, so why would Olajuwon?

As he said this, Skiles glanced up at Chen Yu.

’It’s all Chen Yu’s fault.’

’In the history of the league, what team has ever had two super-centers at the same time, even if they were at the tail end of their careers?’

’It was all because Chen Yu had attracted them.’

Figuring out how to manage the two of them had become his own unique, enviable problem.

Frank Johnson, who was in charge of tactics, spoke up after a moment of thought. "Why not give it a try?"

You never know if it’ll work until you try.

They were only midway through the season, so there was plenty of time.

It might even create some good chemistry.

The others all nodded in agreement.

Seeing everyone’s agreement, Skiles said, "Alright then. We’ll try this lineup tomorrow against the Wizards."

After that, Skiles turned to Chen Yu. "Chen, if anyone has any other issues in the future, please make sure you tell me immediately."

The head coach was like a boss; very few players had a close enough relationship with him to have a heart-to-heart talk whenever they wanted. Chen Yu’s "psychological chat room" had become an excellent channel for Skiles to stay on top of what the players were thinking.

"As for Tom..." Skiles sighed. They would just have to use him as a perimeter shooter.

Fortunately, they had also traded for Teylon Hill, who should be able to shore up their interior defense.

Chen Yu missed practice the next morning because he was performing surgery on Pires. He didn’t get to the arena until just before the game that afternoon.

"What did Hakeem think?" Chen Yu made a point of finding Nelson to ask about Olajuwon’s reaction.

For a top-tier center from the ’90s like Olajuwon, the power forward position was just a secondary center role, basically a non-factor. No one wanted to play it.

So Chen Yu was quite worried that Olajuwon would be unhappy.

"Hard to say," Nelson said, shaking his head.

Skiles had announced the decision during practice that morning.

At the time, Nelson had paid close attention to Ewing’s and Olajuwon’s reactions. Both were pure shock and surprise.

But during the rest of practice, the two of them executed the plan well. It didn’t seem like there was a problem.

"Do you want to go talk to him?" Nelson asked.

Chen Yu thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No rush. We’ll talk after this game."

Even if Olajuwon was feeling awkward about it, it was better to let him play the game first. It wouldn’t be too late to talk after he’d experienced firsthand what felt wrong.