When pride still matters

Chapter 105 I don’t want to see your face again

In mid-to-late January, the NBA announced this season’s All-Star Weekend shortlist.

The most eye-catching thing is naturally the main competition list.

On the Eastern side, the selected candidates are Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Grant Hill, Alonzo · Mourning, Jason Kidd, Dikembe Mutombo, Ray Allen, Baron Davis, Jermaine O'Neal.

Since Hill is out for the season, there is a replacement spot for the Eastern Conference All-Star Game. The suspense is only between Sharif Abdur-Rahim and Yu Fei.

Suddenly, Wizards fans were overjoyed. Is it possible for Yu Fei to be selected as an All-Star in his rookie season?
Even if he is selected as a substitute, he is still an All-Star!
In terms of votes, Rahim, who came from the 96 golden generation, is naturally more popular than Yu Fei. However, Yu Fei did not become a starter until the second month, and the impact of the previous "He said he wanted to trade me" incident, the popularity It fluctuates up and down, and is nearly 10 votes behind Rahim, ranking No. 5 among the Eastern Conference forwards.

论数据，拉希姆场均21分9篮板2助攻，而于飞场均17分7篮板6助攻。

In terms of team record, Rahim has no advantage.

The Wizards are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference, while the Hawks are in the lottery.

Out of the original intention of praising people, the league should let Yu Fei get the gimmick of "being selected as an All-Star in his rookie season". However, since Yu Fei entered the NBA, he has shown his sharpness and his reputation as "unteachable" is well-known throughout the country. He is recognized as someone who needs to be praised. If he is a good prospect who can be suppressed for a while, if he is selected as an All-Star in his rookie season, who else can suppress him in the future?

Raheem has a clear advantage in this replacement debate, and that's his seniority.

For Raheem, this may be the only opportunity in his career to be selected as an All-Star.

Yu Fei is still young, and Rahim has no "next time".

Even in the MVP competition, the judges often select someone who is neither high nor low because of similar plots, especially for the All-Stars.

After a day of discussion, the league decided to let Raheem be added to the Eastern Conference All-Star roster.

Yu Fei missed the opportunity to be selected for the All-Star Game in his rookie season.

The media and fans in Washington were devastated by this, all saying that the league was unfair, but Yu Fei felt that it was okay not to play this All-Star Game.

There is no All-Star reward clause in the endorsement contract he signed, so there is no loss whether he is selected for the All-Star this year or not.

And once he is selected as an All-Star, he will inevitably be asked hundreds of questions related to Jordan.

However, although being around Jordan will be bothered by these problems, it is not without benefits.

That is, when players really encounter problems, the media's focus is still only on Jordan.

For example, last week Kwame Brown was stopped for speeding, but he only received a slight internal punishment from the Wizards, and the media paid no attention to the matter.

Jordan's divorce suddenly attracted all the media's attention.

This made Jordan very angry. Tim Grover also felt unworthy of his old partner after stopping reporters for Jordan: "Is it because he is Michael Jordan that he can't have his own privacy?"

After the All-Star Game roster was decided, Yu Fei actually had one more thing to consider.

Both the league and Reebok hope that Yu Fei will participate in the dunk contest.

Although Yu Fei is just a rookie, he is already a famous dunker. The total number of dunks so far this season ranks among the top ten in the league. At the same time, he is also the only small forward on this list.

But Yu Fei refused after careful consideration.

It's not that he has anything to hide like James, he just simply feels that the slam dunk contest is not suitable for him.He is a practical dunker, and the dunk contest requires variety and difficulty.

Yu Fei doesn't have enough tricks because of his height and weight.

Unless he hopes to win the championship with a windmill dunk like Zhang Zhenlin from beginning to end, but this kind of thing is simply not feasible in the NBA, so forget it.

The only thing Yu Fei is sure about is participating in the Rookie Challenge.

Then, the Wizards still have a few games to play before the All-Star break.

For the final game in January, the Wizards headed to Milwaukee.

At the same time, this is also the comeback battle for Christian Laettner.

When the Wizards came to Milwaukee, Yu Fei realized the difference between small cities and big cities treating NBA teams.

If it's a big city, there will be media waiting outside the airport.

Milwaukee doesn't.

The whole atmosphere in Milwaukee, just like Wisconsin, they're a real football area and basketball is the less popular local sport.

The Green Bay Packers are the local fan favorite.

Yu Fei, who lives under intense surveillance by the media all day long, has an indescribable liking for this kind of atmosphere where no one pays attention.

Check into the hotel, rest for a while, and then go to the Bucks' home court.

This is what Yu Fei must do every time he arrives at a new away game.

When Yu Fei came to the Bradley Center, he unexpectedly met Ray Allen.

He came earlier than Yu Fei.

What is he doing here?

Just shooting.

Ray Allen catches the ball from the trainer and then shoots a three-pointer. If he makes a shot, he goes to the next catch point. If he fails to make a shot, he scores 10 consecutive goals before changing points.

Even Yu Fei would not come to the scene to practice in advance on a home game night.Because no one knows the home court better than him.

And Ray Allen seems to insist on doing this no matter home or away.

The Eastern Conference All-Star guard, who claimed to dislike Jordan and felt that the Wizards were sucking away all the attention that should belong to the Bucks, was extremely focused at the moment.

Before Yu Fei traveled through time, he often heard people say that Ray Allen's shooting posture was like a textbook. In fact, upon closer inspection, it was really not a textbook.

His catching-lifting-ball movement is too smooth. Without sufficient coordination and touch, it would be impossible to shoot like him.

Yu Fei brought Lawson over and asked, "Can we train together?"

The trainer looked like he was watching the show.

Ray Allen looked at Yu Fei seriously, then shook his head vigorously: "I don't think it's possible."

"As my opponent tonight, don't you want to see how I feel?" Yu Fei asked.

Ray Allen said: "No."

He behaved solemnly, like an impersonal pedant.

"But I really like your shooting. Can I exchange techniques with you?" After that, Yu Fei took action.

Ray Allen was a little dissatisfied: "You can go to another venue."

"No, I'm right here."

Ray Allen looked at the trainer and then at the familiar Yu Fei. Although he was unhappy, he couldn't let it go completely.

In the end, Ray Allen gave up the court and would rather go to another court to shoot than stay with Yu Fei.

Miraculously, after changing the venue, Ray Allen's touch quickly declined.

His hit rate used to be frighteningly high, but now he has trouble stabilizing his arc.

Trainers who have worked with him for a long time know that this is the result of changing venues.

Is there anything strange about this venue?No, but Ray Allen is a person with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. He acts according to a plan. If someone doesn't let him act according to the plan, he will get angry, angry, and lose control.

Originally, he was shooting smoothly on the previous court, but Yu Fei suddenly made a cross, disrupting his rhythm and forcing him to change the court to shoot. Can Ray Allen adapt to this?Is his anger still good?Are your thoughts still clear?Will there be a lack of oxygen?

When Ray Allen fumbled three times in 10 balls, the trainers knew something was wrong with his rhythm.

"Lei, do you want to pause?" the trainer asked.

Ray Allen grabbed the ball and glared at Yu Fei, who was happily warming up, "That bastard!"

"Today's young people are indeed becoming more and more unruly." The trainer agreed.

In the evening, fans began to enter the venue.

Players from both teams also came to the court to warm up.

The Bucks players felt a little strange because Ray Allen often came to the scene two and a half hours in advance to get a feel for the game, and he always chose the opponent's basket (in the first half) to practice.

But today, Ray Allen occupied his own basket.

Teammates wanted to know what was going on, and Allen didn't want to explain much.

After the warm-up, the lights dimmed and the DJ began to introduce the starters of both teams.

For the Wizards, except for Laettner returning to the starting lineup, the other positions are relatively regular.

The starting lineup for the Bucks is: Sam Cassell, Ray Allen, Anthony Mason, Tim Thomas, Joel Przybilla.

Currently, the Wizards have 24 wins and 19 losses, while the Bucks have 27 wins and 17 losses. This is a game between the fourth in the East and the second in the East.

Even though the Bucks finished second in the Eastern Conference, it was still lower than expected for outsiders.

No one knows why the Bucks are mediocre, and the offseason addition of Anthony Mason is more like a weakening for them.

After the starting players came on the field, Yu Fei glanced at his opponent, Cassel, and then turned his attention to Anthony Mason.

He's a little glad that he won't be playing forward tonight. Mason's size does look a bit bluffing.

It's so strong, it's hard to imagine why basketball players can be so strong?

What is going on in the minds of people like him and Karl Malone?Does building such strong muscles help a lot in playing basketball?
Of course, facing Cassel is not a pleasant thing. First of all, the opponent is very good, and secondly, he has an ugly face that is rare in NBA history.

I originally thought that the appearance of Popeye Jones on the team was enough to shock the world, but I didn't expect that there are still masters in the NBA.

Before the game even started, Cassel smiled at Yu Fei, showing his white teeth, "Rookie, I won't show mercy to you."

Then, Jasidi White won the jump ball, and Yu Fei caught the ball with one hand. Facing Cassel's defense, he suddenly pulled the ball from behind and changed direction to throw him away. He rushed to the free throw line and suddenly threw the ball away. To Jordan who followed up.

Jordan stabilized his body and scored a jump shot.

Then, Yu Fei looked at Cassel. He wanted to say some trash talk to cheer him up, but when he saw Cassel’s face, he couldn’t hold it back. “Old bird, I don’t want to see your face again. , have you ever considered playing with a mask on?"

(End of this chapter)