Yang Yi: Everyone says he is overrated, but he is the most successful!

When Halliburton walked onto the free throw line and heard the "overrated" shout from the Cavaliers fans, he just smiled.

In the past few years, it is not just fans who think of him in this league. Two weeks ago, The Athletic announced an anonymous player vote, asking 90 NBA players the same question, one of which was particularly pointed: who is the most overrated in the league. Halliburton's colleagues generously gave him 14.4% of the vote, allowing him to lead Rudy Gobert (10%) and Trae Young, successfully being the most overrated player in the minds of NBA players.

Voters have countless reasons to vote: Halliburton's physical talent is not very strong, in the minds of many people, this means that the ceiling is not high, otherwise the Kings will not give up on him decisively; Halliburton's shooting moves are weird, and people do not believe that a player who pushes from his chest every time he shoots can shoot steadily with three-pointers; Halliburton shines for the first time in the mid-season championship last season because other teams don't know him yet; as for Halliburton's Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, it was all because of too many injuries from his opponents; he won the gold medal with the US team at last year's Olympics, but in people's eyes he is only the 12th player on the team...

It's a bit ironic. He has won too many things in the past two years, but these things do not seem to have really proved anything for him, but have pushed him to the forefront.

In the NBA, there are many players who claim to not watch social media, which can "block the noise". But Halliburton is not that kind of person. He likes to share and communicate, and is willing to listen to the outside world's evaluation of him, so when he became more and more dark-spoken last summer, his performance inevitably fluctuated a little. This is the two sides of Halliburton's character and style of play: when he plays with passion and happiness, he always seems unstoppable, and once his mentality changes, everything becomes unhappy. In the first nine games of the season, he averaged less than 15 points per game and shot only 38% from the field, and his confidence reached the lowest point.

These comments and negative emotions brought to him even affected his life. In early November last year, he made 2 of 11 shots against the Hornets, scoring only 6 points, and the team also lost to his opponent 20 points. He said that the next day he didn't want to get up and train: "I really wanted to escape everything that happened. I felt that everything was wrong. When I looked in the mirror, I felt that it was not me in the mirror. I could only force myself to train and go to the gym to lift iron, but I only knew how painful that everything was."

His friends and family told him that he was good, he just needed to continue playing and shoot firmly to get through his lows. Everything will be fine. He wants to hear it. He wants to be grateful and stay optimistic. But he also thought he might never be able to do all that again.

So he called his trainer, Drew Hanlun.

Hanlun is a well-known big-name trainer in the industry. His clients include NBA superstars such as Antetokounmpo, Embiid and Tatum. Since 2022, Hanlun has not only helped Halliburton train various skills, but also served as his spiritual mentor, willing to give this confused young defender a guide.

Hanlun is not the kind-hearted mentor of the kindness of fatherhood. He is more accustomed to guiding Halliburton with harsh love. He never stings with pointing out the problems that Halliburton had encountered. When Halliburton shows hesitation, he will also push him forward with a tough move. Halliburton recalled: "Sometimes I said something discouraged and he would interrupt me and say, 'Tyres, shut up, that's not the problem.' The psychologist never talked like that, but Drew could always use this way to get me to focus on where I really should be. I didn't tell anyone what I had happened to, but when Drew and I actually had that conversation and tried to turn it around together, I felt the turn of the season came."

The next day, Halliburton walked into the Gainbridge Arena with only one thing: attack without reservation and take the Knicks. After 35 points and a big comeback in the final quarter, he embarked on a long road to revival.

Rebirth is not achieved overnight. The Pacers started the season with a record of 10 wins and 15 losses, with Halliburton's average per game also slid to 17.5 points and 8.4 assists, with a shooting percentage of only 42%. The Pacers also missed his generous NBA Cup last season.

Didn't have a trip to Las Vegas, Halliburton also had more time to reflect on himself. With his own form improving and the return of his backcourt partner Nembhard, the Pacers scored five straight wins and jumped from 11th in the East to 4th before the All-Star Game. This may not be enough to get Halliburton back on the All-Star roster, but laid the groundwork for his third-stage outbreak.

After the All-Star Game, Halliburton, we see, is back to the familiar, omnipotent super magician. He averaged 20.6 points, 11.0 assists per game, only 1.2 turnovers, and his real shooting percentage reached an astonishing 68.1%. The Pacers scored 16-5 in the last 21 games and beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. At the last moment of Game 5 of the series, Halliburton changed direction significantly and shook Antetokounmpo with a big change, and hit the final note with a pull-up layup. While sending the team into the second round, he also slapped those who said he lacked the ability to solve one-on-one.

Heart challenge has never been Halliburton's strength. Unlike young stars who are eager to score points through singles, Halliburton prefers to cooperate with his teammates. His most fun on the court has long been created by creating better offensive opportunities for his teammates. But Hanlun also told him that if he wants to go further on the field, he needs to have a tougher mindset to seize those fleeting opportunities.

We did see this more determined Halliburton in the series against the East No. 1 Cleveland Cavaliers. When he tortured Cavaliers center Jaret Allen with emergency stops, mid-range shots, three-pointers, up and down steps and small throws in the first game of the series, we realized that his arsenal was so complete. He may not have the ability to implement such a passionate, cold-blooded and bloodthirsty strategy in the past, but he was unwilling to play such a game from the bottom of his heart.

Now, in order to win and to take off the "overrated" hat, he finally became the most terrifying appearance in the opponent's mind. We all knew about the next thing yesterday.

Amid the boiling sound of the Cleveland Rockets Arena, he used a shocking set of "1+3" to freeze the score at 120-119, leading the Pacers, who were optimistic about ESPN experts, to score two games in a row on the road, and put the Cavaliers, the number one in the East, into a desperate situation, and became the second super killer to invest less than 2 seconds of the playoffs twice in the same year since the NBA had a specific record in the 1997-98 season.

He certainly doesn't have to take the sarcasm of Cleveland fans to heart, because the "overrated" label is now ridiculous. Is he still relying on luck this time? You can't say there is no luck in the two winning shots. Did he rely on injuries this time? Both the Bucks and the Cavaliers did suffer injuries this season. As the saying goes, God helps him. If you pay attention to the journey of Halliburton in these two seasons, you will definitely admit that Halliburton’s star quality is real. When he gets the chance, he can always grasp it. When he was in a desperate situation, he seemed to be able to find a turning point again.

Not only was he not overrated, he might have been underrated. Because under his humble speech and sunny appearance, he has a big heart that longs for victory, is persevering and always lives up to expectations. When he hit the finale again, those doubts were already drowned by the cheers of victory, leaving only a brilliant counterattack script belonging to him and the Pacers.

No one is optimistic about you, but you are the most successful.