When pride still matters

Chapter 129 The big brother should take good care of his little brother
If Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon both announced their retirement at the end of August, playing an elegy for the old era, then Bucks coach George Karl leads a team full of NBA All-Stars, but lacks stability. The dream team of superstars suffered two consecutive defeats at the Basketball World Championships held in their home country and only achieved No. 6, which completely changed Americans' view of world basketball.

The era when Team USA could field a bunch of stars and beat the second-best team in the world by a score seems to be over.

"Reggie was injured, we also had a lot of problems, the players were not united, you should have heard the stories that happened here. Some people didn't pass the ball, some didn't defend, some treated the game like an All-Star Game, and we didn't have Jason Kidd, no Tim Duncan, no Tracy McGrady, the five best players in America are not on this team!"

George Karl chose to excuse himself and did not shy away from placing the blame on the players.

This will bring him a lot of bad feelings and win a lot of sympathy, but the price is that he will never want to be in charge of the national team again in his life.

For Carl, it was a shame and a nightmare.

It was an honor to coach the Dream Team. A patriot like him was very willing to play for his country, but soon, this experience became the thing he hated the most.

Most of the superstars refused to be drafted, the second-tier stars didn't cooperate with each other, and European basketball grew beyond imagination.

This is the first time since 1992 that the Dream Team composed of NBA stars has suffered a major defeat in an international competition.

Karl lost not one game, but two games, and the Dream Team won No. 6 at home.

From Yu Fei's point of view, Karl's complaints are problematic. Even if the players have problems, is there no problem with the coaching staff?
Playing a FIBA ​​game, but using Ben Wallace and Antonio Davis, a pair of rough guys who have no offensive threat outside the paint, as the starting lineup. As a result, there is no room for breakthroughs on the outside, and they can only gamble on touch from the outside.

He underestimated the strength of FIBA ​​and committed the sin of arrogance in selecting and using tactics. If he doesn't lose, who will lose?

Yu Fei didn't care so much about the victory or defeat of the American team. He was just more concerned about the coach who had already left him with a lot of stereotypes before he had formal contact with him.

Will the cooperation between them be happy?
Yu Fei didn't know it, but Karl's stubbornness and strength destined him and the star player to always have problems of one kind or another.

Currently, Yu Fei is concentrating on special training.

This summer, his training focuses on three things: shooting, small muscle group exercises and slight weight gain.

Excluding the month of the Asia trip, Yu Fei's special training lasted for nearly five months from the end of the Wizards' season.

Except for those small muscle groups that are invisible to the naked eye, the only thing that can be felt numerically on Yu Fei's body is his weight.

Yu Fei gained 5 pounds and now weighs 106KG.

The trainer believes that if Yu Fei mainly plays the forward position from now on, his current weight will be enough to withstand the confrontation and melee combat in the NBA. If he continues to gain weight, his linear speed, lateral speed, agility, movement speed and even coordination and ball feel will all decrease. affected.

Yu Fei accepted the suggestion and stopped doing a lot of strength training for the purpose of gaining weight, and increased the training of small muscle groups in the body and shooting training.

"Fu Lai, what do you think of the Wizards trading Rip?"

After training, Lawson talked about the major events that happened to the Wizards last month.

The Wizards sent away Richard Hamilton, who promised Collins he would gain weight and focus on strength training, without warning.

The Wizards sent Hamilton to Detroit and, as has happened historically, traded Jordan junior Jerry Stackhouse, who claimed he had found a home in the Motor City.

"What's there to see?" Yu Fei said sarcastically, "That guy keeps shouting "Xinjie Xinjie" all day long. Who doesn't know what he means? He made it clear that he is the future of the team because he wants the Wizards' senior management to It attracted attention, but he didn’t know that the top management didn’t care about him at all.”

"That's right. A person who doesn't want to stay in the gym at all is destined to not be able to gain weight and play the third position as the old guy wants." Lawson said with a smile, "So, in fact, you Michael is a perfect match."

"Go away, don't disgust me!"

Assistant Alex Clark saw that Yu Fei didn't like this topic, so he interrupted, "The Bucks have changed a lot this year. How do you think they will position Fulai?"

Lawson believes that with Cassell being sent away, the most senior Robinson being traded, and Ray Allen always being outside the team, there is no doubt that Yu Fei will directly take the top spot in the Bucks.

"Except for DC, I really can't think of any rebuilding team that would stop Fu from being No. 1."

"But will the rebuilding team keep Anthony Mason and bring in a problematic guy like Latrell Sprewell?"

"Okay, how can it be that simple?" Yu Fei rolled his eyes at them, "Nothing can be decreed. In the end, strength will speak for itself."

※※※

For a team like the Bucks, the location of preseason training camp doesn't matter because not many media care about them.

Therefore, they sometimes do not deliberately choose training locations.

For example, this year, they decided to stay at the St. Francis Training Center (Bucks training facility) and hold training camp here.

George Karl became a laughing stock because of his failed coaching experience with the Dream Team. Some people said that John Thompson should send him a bouquet of flowers⑴ to thank him for creating a new history of American basketball. From now on, there is one more person on the pillar of shame, and he is no longer alone. .

The failed national team experience made Karl want to turn his attention to the NBA, and then he remembered the tricks Larry Harris did in the Sprewell trade.

Seeing Travis Knight, who was two meters taller but useless, Karl thought of Antonio Davis who was severely humiliated by the European white bear at the World Championships.

"Hey, Nate! Why can't you be tougher?" Carl's anger exploded. "Do you want me to give you a skirt?"

As Cal's new head assistant, Ron Adams doesn't know if he can do any better than his predecessor, Jerry Stotts.

But he did have news for the head coach.

"George, there's something going on with Frye," Adams said.

Carl asked: "What happened to him?"

"He needs to report to the camp the day after it starts," Adams said. "His assistant said he has received an invitation to this year's Hall of Fame celebration and he will go to the event."

"understood"

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, Karl thought that his old friend Larry Brown was also inducted into this year's Hall of Fame.

But Carl won't be there because he doesn't want to show up right now.

As for why Yu Fei had to go to the scene, Karl felt that it had something to do with Magic Johnson, who was also inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.Yu Fei in his rookie season was also called a contemporary magician by some.

And with a personality like a magician who is always merciful and wants to be friends with all the influential people, he will not miss Yu Fei's potential.

He will definitely invite Yu Fei to his night of glory.

Thinking of this, Karl was relieved.

Although he doesn't like players to be special, he does have privileges for people like Yu Fei, not to mention that this privilege is not excessive.

Then, Adams added: "Anthony Mason will also miss the first day of training camp."

"What's going on with him?!" When it came to Mason, Carl's attitude was obviously much more irritable.

Adams hesitated. "He said he had no comment."

These words directly sent Karl into a state of blood rage, and he broke a brand new tactical board on the spot.

Yu Fei subjectively doesn't want to attend the Hall of Fame speech.

Although he had never participated before, he had seen lecture videos on various websites carried and translated by enthusiastic netizens before traveling.

It can be said that except for a few people who have a sense of humor, most people just thank everyone here, make some jokes that are not funny, and finally walk into the hall of glory amidst cheers and applause.

Who gave the most wonderful Hall of Fame speech that Yu Fei has ever seen?Although he didn't want to admit it, it was indeed Jordan.

Why?Because Jordan cleared everyone up in his Hall of Fame speech.From the kid who stole his place on the school team in high school to the displeasure that Van Gundy/Riley/Klaus and others had with him, he responded to them all.Some people said that it didn't look like a Hall of Fame speech, and that Jordan seemed to have no grace when speaking like this.But after Yu Fei had been in contact with Jordan for a year, he found that Jordan in the state of the Hall of Fame speech was infinitely closer to the real Jordan.

That was the most unabashed he had ever been in public.

As for coming to the Hall of Fame today to congratulate the magician, it is purely out of the need to relax and work.

The reason for relaxation is that Yu Fei has just finished special training. He has not really had a rest since the end of the season. Seeing that the pre-season training camp is about to begin, it is not too much to take a day off.

The work is arranged by Reebok.

Larry Brown has also been inducted into the Hall of Fame. According to the news received in advance, Allen Iverson will appear as a special guest. This is Reebok's marketing plan.

When Iverson and Brown stage a nasty "master-disciple reconciliation" drama, Yu Fei can attend the event with him.

As a result, Iverson suddenly changed his mind and did not get on the plane, which ruined Reebok's plan. Yu Fei will have to attend the event alone after the Hall of Fame ceremony.

According to Quint DeMeo, Reebok executives are deeply disappointed with Iverson and will take "drastic measures" if the situation does not improve.

Although Iverson was absent from Brown's Hall of Fame ceremony, Brown still paid tribute to the rebel in the interview: "I stayed with him in the past three weeks, and I watched him come to the stadium and watched him. He's interacting with his teammates, watching him practice hard on the court, seeing him out there trying to lead the team. "So he's definitely not going to be at your Hall of Fame ceremony because you're not on the team, there's always someone who has to lead the team, Right? "I've never seen anything like this before. I know what he's been through, especially this year. I think it's going to make him better and stronger."

If you kick your wife out of the house, then go to the house of the person who took her in with a gun and beat that person up, will this make the great AI better and more powerful?
Then the Portland Trail Blazers should be the champions next season, the season after that, and the season after that.

"I think Allen has enough respect for our new guys and our returning veterans. I really believe he understands that he has to change the way he plays."

In order to lead the team, he did not even attend the Hall of Fame ceremony. This change is more than just 01:30.

"I watched him play like a point guard and get everyone involved. Watch him play hard on defense in practice games, speak loudly, and he took a leadership role by setting an example for himself. Showing up with his teammates every day. , which is a huge improvement.”

That's enough, that's enough. Yu doesn't want to complain anymore, but he must say that Brown knows diplomacy very well. He obviously scolded Iverson like a piece of shit every day when he was in Philadelphia, but he is trying to speak for him here. .Great, this is what a good coach should do.

"Showing up with teammates every day is a huge improvement." This statement sounds like the media saying that Kobe was already a perfect team player before Yu Fei entered the NBA. What is the reason?He started joking with his teammates.

Then the Hall of Fame speech began.

Regardless of other people, the only thing Yu Fei cared about was the magician's speech.

When Magic finally took the stage and was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame to end the night, his eyes were moist. Magic was steadfast when he told the world in 1991 that he was HIV-positive, but this time he couldn't stop the emotions from coming over him as he thanked (among others) Pat Riley, his parents, and The wife cannot restrain her emotions.

In the end, Bird’s interview elevated the theme.

The Dream Team's defeat at home made people more nostalgic for the golden era of American basketball.

But Bird said: "Boston should stop hating Moji. The battle is over. Maybe you will see the two of us sitting in a coffee shop talking and laughing together."

"No, no." Magic said with an excited smile, "If Larry's back is better, I will take him to my garage or Rucker Park, and I can still play 1-on-1 with him."

Bird laughed and said, "I'll be with you anytime."

Then the two laughed.

This scene did briefly reverse the door of time, as if the people present were transported back to 1979.

It was an "ancient" era for Fei, and he had no interest in it.

Just as he accepted Reebok's arrangement and was on his way to attend the event, LeBron James sent him a text message.

"Hey Frye, my friends and I happened to be there for your first game against Philadelphia. Can you give me some tickets?"

Yu Fei replied: "Of course, you can have as many as you want."

"Thank you bro, this is awesome, I only need eight votes!"

"You're welcome. It's just a small matter. The older brother should take care of his younger brother, right?"

⑴ John Thompson: The legendary coach of Georgetown University. As the head coach of the US team in 1988, he insisted on selecting random players, and then defeated the Americans in the Olympics, which indirectly led to the birth of Mengyi.

(End of this chapter)