When pride still matters

Chapter 116 This is the offense

This is Yu Fei's first time in Los Angeles.

Unlike Washington, which is full of political atmosphere, Los Angeles gives him the feeling of a colorful world in a literal sense.

For a country bumpkin who grew up in Kent, Los Angeles gave him a sense of "I don't belong here."

Yu Fei entered the hotel with the team bus and watched TV for a while, which contained the harsh words O'Neal put down.

It seemed that the question Yu Fei asked Kobe at the ABCD training camp made O'Neal a little annoyed.

Would he really be angry with Yu Fei, who had not yet entered the NBA at the time?

As far as Yu Fei knows, O'Neill will.

Although he has the most majestic physique in NBA history, his narrow-mindedness ranks among the worst in NBA history.

Yu Fei is not worried about tonight's game. The troops will come to block the water and the soil will cover it, that's all.

Two hours before the game started, as a guest, Yu Fei went to the opponent's home court in advance to get a feel for the game as usual.

Here, what Yu Fei saw was not the legendary training fiend Kobe Bryant, but a Lakers player named Devean George (SG/SF).

The first impression he gave Yu Fei was ugly.

In terms of being ugly, he can be compared with Yu Fei's teammate Popeye Jones.

If Jones used his pair of eye-catching eyes to forcibly lift his face to a height that does not belong to him, then George is three-dimensionally ugly, with eyes, nose, and sausage mouth all looking... They are normal black characteristics, but when combined, they have an indescribable temperament.

However, by chance, Yu Fei discovered that his character was completely inconsistent with his appearance, just like Popeye.

When George was practicing, he accidentally let the ball fly to Yu Fei's half.

George ran over cautiously, not as reserved as a black man: "Excuse me, can you give me the ball?"

Yu Fei, who had been quarreling with Jordan for a season, didn't have a very good reputation in the league. Although George played in the NBA for two more years than Yu Fei, he didn't dare to show any veteran attitude in front of this terrible rookie.

Yu Fei didn't say anything, just picked up the ball and threw it to him.

Cold, ruthless.

This was George's first impression of Fei. He was indeed a ruthless person who dared to speak ill of Shaq publicly before entering the NBA, and also had a heated argument with Jordan in DC.

After that, George and Yu Fei had no intersection, and Yu Fei had no interest in this Lakers substitute player.

As game time approaches, the atmosphere at Staples Center is noticeably different.

Yu Fei not only saw Staples in game form, but also met celebrity fans of this legendary arena.

Jack Nicholson, Will Smith, JAY-Z, Gwyneth Paltrow and one of Yu Fei’s favorite female stars, Kate Winslet.

When Yu Fei discovered that Winslet had come to the Staples Center, his surprise was far greater than that of other celebrities combined.

That was the first time Kwame Brown discovered that Yu Fei was interested in women.

"Honestly, it's a relief," Brown said. "I always thought you were... uh."

Yu Fei heard what Brown said, and he said angrily: "You are about to face off against Shaquille O'Neal, but you still have the time to make sarcastic remarks."

Brown looked heartless: "I'm not the one who made Shaq angry by talking nonsense before the draft. Besides, I'm a power forward, so Shaq and I are not in the same position."

Yu Fei discovered that since Jordan was retired for the season, Brown is like a young lion who has regained his confidence, jumping more and more.

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tell Doug to let you play the fifth position later!" Yu Fei threatened.

Jordan was away, and Collins followed Feiyan's advice. Brown was so frightened that his face changed: "I was wrong, Fulai, don't let me play against Shaq. I'm really no match for him now."

With ambition, you actually said "I am not his opponent now" instead of "I will never be his opponent".

Collins paced the sidelines.

It was obviously just the warm-up session before the game, but the sweat on his face looked like he had just finished coaching a game.

Only a few people know how much he values ​​playing against the Lakers.

But the problem is that it is difficult for the Wizards to defeat the Lakers now.

However, for the Wizards, who are determined to hit the playoffs, defeating the Lakers is a shortcut to their return to the playoffs. If they can crack this hardest bone, it will also be helpful for subsequent games.

Is this a business necessity? What about private matters?Collins always believed that Phil Jackson was the main culprit when he was fired at the speed of light after leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals.

What made Collins even more resentful was that Jackson had Jordan's love and respect.

Jordan could threaten retirement to keep Jackson with the Bulls.

Will Jordan do the same thing for Collins in the next 100 years?

Now that Jordan is gone and Hamilton is gone, the Wizards only have Yu Fei. The Lakers, who aim to win three consecutive championships, have a special habit of quickly finding game form when the playoffs are approaching.

If he can beat the Lakers tonight, Collins is sure it will be his most memorable night of the year.

However, looking at the players on the Wizards field, Collins' ambitions have withered for the most part.

Eventually, Collins turned his attention to Yu Fei.

Miraculously, Collins' will at this moment reached an agreement with Yu Fei's high school coach.

All hope lies in flying!

At this time, Yu Fei was meeting with Kobe Bryant on the recommendation of his agent Arne Trim.

When Kobe met Yu Fei, his first words were: "I didn't expect to see you in the NBA so soon."

"If it weren't for the flu, we would have met in DC." Yu Fei replied.

"Is Michael okay?" Kobe asked the wrong person.

Yu Fei replied: "I don't know, maybe he is dying."

Even Kobe, when hearing this sentence, will feel that someone needs to learn more from himself in terms of emotional intelligence.

"Is Michael that bad?" Kobe didn't know why Yu Fei had such a big opinion against Jordan.

Just like Yu Fei never knew what the problem was between OK.

"Is Shaq that bad?" Yu Fei asked the same question back to Kobe.

Kobe opened his eyes wide. Is this the same boy who said at the ABCD training camp that O'Neal was lazy and slow and not worthy of being the face of the Lakers?

Arne Tram was surprised that these two people were already familiar with each other: "Oh my god, when did you meet?"

"Before I entered the NBA." Yu Fei said.

"Now that you know each other, I can save some time." Trem looked at two of his three most satisfied employers with pride, "We're going to have a wonderful game tonight!"

Then Trem walked away, leaving the rest to his subordinate, a young man named Rob Pelinka.

Pelinka said a few words in Kobe's ear.

Kobe nodded and motioned for him to do something.

So, Pelinka left.

Judging from this scene, Yu Fei feels that Pelinka is more like Kobe's agent.He understood Kobe's needs and developed a friendship with Kobe that went far beyond Trim.

If one day, Kobe feels that Pelinka is more suitable to be his agent, what will he do?

This arrogant young superstar can completely drive his relatives out of his life for a woman, and even cut off the most important link between him and them - the link of profit (money).

Isn't it natural to replace an agent who is not close to you with an agent who knows both cold and hot, and has a close relationship with you?

"Whether Shaq is bad or not, you can decide for yourself tonight." Kobe suddenly joked, "He wants to play with you more than me."

Since we are all dissatisfied with the status quo, why don't we swap teams?
Yu Fei believes that as long as he is a normal person, he will not choose to leave Los Angeles and play in Washington.But when it comes to Kobe, it's a bit unclear.

This is not a normal person.

Even though Kobe now seems to have the least respect for Jordan among all the younger generations, Yu Fei has watched "The Last Dance" and he can guarantee that among the superstars in the post-Jordan era, no one respects Jordan more than Kobe. Idol's.

"Many people compare me with MJ, but I learned every move from him. Without him, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Who would confess to Jordan like this in a documentary?
Faced with such a pure Jordan fan, Yu Fei really couldn't say who he would choose as a teammate between the lazy and unprofessional No. 1 player in the league and the old, weak, sick and disabled barker.

After 20 minutes of pre-match warm-up, the starting lineups of both teams came to the sidelines.

Collins completely changed the previous interior configuration tonight.

Normally, he would follow Yu Fei's suggestion and let Kwame Brown start, but today, facing O'Neal, if he only puts a Jasidi White, who is about the same height as Yu Fei, to guard the inside, it would be really seeking death.

So, the Wizards' starting lineup is as follows: Tyronn Lue, Bobby Simmons, Yu Fei, Popeye Jones, and Jaxidi White.

To deal with O'Neal, directly let the two best defensive and most experienced insiders in the team start. This is respect.

The Lakers are more casual.

Phil Jackson obviously didn't take the Wizards seriously. The starting lineup was Brian Shaw, Kobe Bryant, Rick Fox, Robert Horry and Shaquille O'Neal.

In this lineup, neither Shaw nor Horry are regular starters for the Lakers. It can be seen that Jackson intends to use this game to test the on-the-spot effect of other lineups.

As soon as the two sides came on the court, O'Neal approached Yu Fei and said in his hoarse voice with very personal characteristics: "Chinaman, do you know that Big Diesel will never let go of those who offend him?"

"Really? Then why did I offend you?" Yu Fei asked and answered, "Oh, I told you the fact that you are lazy and slow, and then you felt offended?"

O'Neal laughed angrily: "You can continue to talk nonsense, I will shut you up! I swear that after tonight, you will no longer have any hope for the playoffs!"

The angry O'Neal is the most dangerous creature in the NBA. This is a big test for Fei's inside teammates.

O'Neal didn't pay much attention to the jump ball.

White, who is obviously shorter than O'Neal and can't jump as well as O'Neal, actually won the opening ball for the Wizards.

The ball soon came to Yu Fei's hands.

Brian Xiao, a tall point guard with a height of 198 centimeters, wanted to stop Yu Fei's sudden advance, but he obviously underestimated the former's impact.

Yu Fei pushed Xiao away with just a little effort.

Rick Fox, who was supposed to play against Yu Fei, failed to catch up due to speed issues, and a one-on-one situation between Yu Fei and O'Neal suddenly formed in the frontcourt.

Yu Fei made an emergency stop, made a change, collected the ball, and directly challenged O'Neal's defense with a throw.

O'Neal's teammates haven't seen him jump so high since he had toe surgery early in the season.

Even though he had jumped to the highest height he could reach, Yu Fei's throw was still out of reach for him.

"Shh!"

Yu Fei successfully scored the Wizards' first point tonight.

"Shaq, cheer up!"

"Don't let that rookie do whatever he wants!"

"It's time to teach him a lesson, Shaq!"

The most emotional person was undoubtedly Nicholson, who acted as angry as if Yu Fei scored under his defense: "Damn it! Shaq, you can't always let your opponent score in front of you! Teach me a lesson to that rookie ! Damn it! I don’t want to see him score with that boring move again!”

The extremely angry O'Neal wanted to get the ball in the low post, but unfortunately, this season is the first year of zone defense.

Collins, who was originally indifferent to zone defense, watched his opponents continue to torture Yu Fei with zone defense after Yu Fei became the leader. He gradually discovered the wonderful use of this defense.

The original intention of the league to legalize zone defense was to end the dominance of O'Neal and Duncan. The negative impact on ball handlers like Fei, who has unstable shooting, is additional damage.

Now, the Wizards have also adopted a zone defense against O'Neal. As long as he gets the ball, three or four people must shrink the defense.

The price is that one or two players on the Lakers' perimeter will be obviously open.

This time, the man who got the slot was Brian Shaw.

Coach Lu completely gave up on his outside defense.

Xiao, whose career three-point shooting percentage is only over 30%, did not live up to the "trust" of Coach Lu and missed a wide-open three-pointer.

Yu Fei picked off a long rebound, and the Wizards' counterattack came.

The Lakers retreated quickly enough, but after Yu Fei's experience in leading a single-core team at the end of the season, he pushed back faster and faster. His experience, experience, and passing choices in various situations are extremely reasonable.

On the contrary, it is the Lakers. The starting lineup with two substitutes does not have a high level of tacit understanding. In addition, Xiao and Horry are both veterans and cannot retreat quickly.

Even if Kobe tried his best to fight back, he couldn't stop Yu Fei's scalpel-like ground pass.

Bobby Simmons came out from the side, rushed directly into the inside and dunked to score.

"Why are there three of us in a fast attack and only two of you are back on defense? Where are the others?" Yu Fei is never late with his sarcasm, "Big Diesel Engine, what are you doing? Hurry up and use your strength, Big Diesel Engine!"

Staples immediately became extremely hostile to Fei.

Harsh curses and noisy catcalls rushed towards Yu Fei.

O'Neal no longer cares about zone defense or not, and directly blocks Jacid White and allows Brian Shaw to pass the ball.

As long as O'Neal wants to take the position, with White's physique, there is no possibility of blocking him.

Therefore, White must count on his teammates to double-team.

Yu Fei decisively gave up defending Fox and came to the inside, forming a three-way team with Coach Lu.

Just when O'Neal was about to pass the ball out, Yu Fei saw it clearly and took a fierce shot to intercept the ball. Unfortunately, the angle was wrong. Although the ball was intercepted, it went out of bounds and the Lakers still had the ball.

"What the hell are you looking at?" O'Neal complained loudly to the referee, "Didn't you see this damn Chinaman fouled me?"

Unexpectedly, O'Neal did not wait for the referee's feedback. Instead, he was directly insulted by Yu Fei who was beside him: "Shut up, you real fat pig without a seed! Look at your imbecile moves, I didn't touch you at all." , you want to foul? If you are a weakling who is afraid of others touching you on the court, then go back to the pig den and eat your fucking pig shit!"

"!#￥#@!￥"

Because there were many teammates around Yu Fei, the furious O'Neal was unable to use violence immediately. The two were separated. The referee controlled the situation in time, and each player ended up with [-] rebounds.

O'Neal was given a technical foul for disrespecting the referee.

Yu Fei was also sentenced to a technical foul for insulting his opponent, which was against sports ethics and sportsmanship.

The two of them received a T at the same time. While Yu Fei raised his hand to accept the punishment, he actually said to O'Neal who wanted to eat him alive: "Big fat pig, this is the offense."

(End of this chapter)