When pride still matters

Chapter 144 When the Dynasty Collapses

Although Yu Fei's words were only directed at Mason, the listener was interested.

George Karl remembered similar words Yu Fei had said to him before.

Yu Fei doesn't like Karl criticizing players in front of the media, but if this is Karl's habit, he will respect it.However, if Karl insists on continuing this habit with him, then he will commit to giving the Bucks a new coach.

At that time, Yu Fei had just finished three games for the Bucks. Although he had performed well, he did not scare Karl.

He did not publicly criticize Yu Fei afterwards, but that was also because Yu Fei had never played a bad performance worthy of public criticism.

However, during this period, Yu Fei's enthusiasm for participating in team activities has skyrocketed. With his performance, he has gradually become a signature figure that can attract fans to the cold Bradley Center to watch games.

Can Yu Fei, who has taken over Glenn Robinson's wardrobe, gain the former's appeal in a short time?

Karl doesn't believe that Yu Fei has such charm, but in the NBA, if you want to directly determine the popularity of the players, the easiest way is to have the DJ announce the names of the starting players of both sides before the game starts, and the fans on the scene will comment on each player's popularity. Players' reactions.

Yu Fei received loud cheers from the beginning, but the cheers were no more intense than that of Ray Allen.

However, this situation has changed in recent games.

Yu Fei's popularity at home obviously surpassed that of Ray Allen.

Then, Yu Fei-related products are also selling like hotcakes.

There are many players who can play well, but those who can truly connect with their city are rare, and those who can make a team profitable are even rarer.

Once you possess both of these qualities, a player is no longer just a player.

They will be given privileges.

The so-called privileges are reflected completely differently in different teams.

For a team like the Bucks, the biggest privilege they can give a star is to make him feel like one of the owners of his team - they will get the right to advise on transactions and make decisions in the offseason.

Once Yu Fei gets the franchise, there will be no difference in the literal sense between "we will have a new starting power forward" and "we will have a new coach."

As long as Yu Fei wants it, things will come true.

For George Karl, this was the scariest thing.

At this time, Yu Fei on the court did not know what kind of inner fluctuation his head coach had experienced.

25 is better than 28
Thanks to Mason, the good situation that Yu Fei had achieved before leaving the field was ruined.

Yu Fei looked at his teammates on the field. Karl asked Ray Allen and Sprewell to rest, but Yu Fei still liked the lineup on the field because the other four players were: Michael Redd, Devin George, Jason Caffey, Christian Lightner.

Except for Caffey, a blue-collar power forward with no range, the other three are all above-average shooters.

On the other hand, for the Lakers, O'Neal, who has just returned, does not have the physical fitness to play for a long time, so he will not play at the beginning of the second quarter.

The leader of the Lakers during this period was Kobe Bryant.

After he was replaced in the first quarter, the Lakers frequently chased points, which allowed Zen Master to explain the principle of "correct basketball" in front of him, but the more he explained the principle, the more Kobe became disgusted.

In his view, this is still a double standard.

He was not the reason why the Lakers fell behind by a big margin at the start, O'Neal was. Why did Jackson deliberately avoid this?
This resulted in Kobe not actively repenting for what happened in the first quarter.

He will just be like all the fans who know him well. The more you think I am not good enough, the more I will show you that I am good at it.

Although fans mostly remember the times when he was good, there were actually more times when he was not good.Because basketball is a team sport after all, superstars can decide the direction of the game in one or two days, but it cannot always be like this.It was Kobe's innate extreme paranoia that made it impossible for him to make the right decision during intense emotional fluctuations.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Lakers had the ball.

The Bucks asked former Lakers guard Devin George to guard Kobe.

George spent three seasons with the Lakers. He practiced with Kobe every day and he knew Kobe.This was Karl's original intention in arranging this matchup.

However, understanding it does not mean that you can prevent the effect.George's weak character caused him to be bullied a lot in the Lakers. Although Kobe was not the one who teased him off the court, he put no less pressure on the court than other veterans.

Facing this weakling who had been tortured by him for three years, Kobe was not afraid at all. His back was stuck, his shoulders turned around and he faced the basket and turned over to shoot a jumper.

It was a shoulder-swinging turnaround jumper one step inside the free throw line.

Outrageous shot selection, overloaded shooting style.

"Shh!"

27 is better than 28
Who is it that keeps saying that Kobe is the player most like Jordan?How does this look like?
Yu Fei showed a strange expression.

Although the old guy also made many unreasonable shots, Kobe's unreasonableness had a prerequisite, that is, he had a bad touch and continued to shoot.Jordan also has the habit of shooting against defense, but always in or near the paint area.

It's like one step away from the three-point line. Even if you throw a top shot, you still have to turn around with your back and shoulders to make it more difficult?

"DG (nickname)," Yu Fei said to George, "Give him a little more pressure. I will come over and attack him when necessary!"

George nodded yes.

Although the agent told George that the Bucks were Ray Allen's team, the reason why he wanted to play here was entirely because Yu Fei was here.As for why he wanted to follow Yu Fei, he couldn't tell.

Whenever he wavered, the scene of Yu Fei beating the Lakers at Staples would appear in his mind.

His conflict with Jordan was well-known, and he could not accept Jordan's so-called "championship crash course" standards to lead the team.His resistance led to more intense suppression by Jordan, and then the conflict got out of hand. The farce ended with Yu Fei being traded.However, doesn’t trading Yu Fei also mean that Jordan really has nothing to do with him?
George was fed up with the endless pranks and humiliations from his Lakers teammates. He wanted to change his environment, so he chose the Bucks. He wanted to know whether Yu Fei, a young star who openly opposed the veteran's oppression of young people, would become like those hateful people. Veterans also use their status and privileges to insult their teammates.

George was not disappointed.

Yu Fei is indeed not a kind person, but his trash talk and violence are often aimed at his opponents. He will occasionally taunt his teammates, but he will never insult his personality or let others act according to his will. He is the only one who Mason was given a "trade threat" for violating his boundaries.

Everything is normal, even a little too normal.

Then, Yu Fei, who was the point guard, dribbled to the frontcourt and beckoned George for a pick-and-roll.

George ran over and exchanged glances with Yu Fei.

Without words, George already understood Yu Fei's intention.

In an instant, George ran to the other side before the pick-and-roll was set.

A bad fake pick-and-roll can cause the ball carrier to get trapped in the opponent's double-team, but a properly used fake pick-and-roll can completely disrupt the opponent's layout.

Yu Fei passed the ball before the opponent's double attack put pressure on him.

Devin George caught the ball from the outside and made a three-pointer.

"Shh!"

27 is better than 31
"Why don't you cherish such a good player?" Yu Fei asked Kobe.

Kobe said without any emotion: "I am not the reason why DG left."

Yu Fei really didn't know how Kobe got along with his teammates.The dirty stuff he learned about Kobe from the Internet in his previous life was basically about Eagle County, his numerous lovers, the legends of playing alone and being one-on-one.

Then, the Lakers passed the ball to Kobe's hands.This time, George pushed him to the bottom line.

Yu Fei decisively left behind Brian Shaw, who lacked a shooting threat, and stepped forward to double-team.

During this period, Yu Fei kept paying attention to Xiao's position, because Kobe's position was too bad. He was double-teamed in the bottom corner. This was basically the worst position on the court. Passing the ball to his teammates was his only option.

Yes, passing the ball to a teammate in this situation is what a normal player would do.

The premise is that the opponent must be a normal person.

Yu Fei had been preparing for Kobe to pass the ball. Suddenly, the opponent actually drifted along the bottom corner and took off - even if he was like this, Yu Fei believed that he would make a jump pass - but when Kobe held the ball to Above his head, Yu Fei completely gave up his fantasy.

Yu Fei and George jumped with all their strength. They are the two best jumpers on the Bucks.

Kobe can never see the basket when he takes the shot, but this does not affect his ability to shoot the ball to the basket.

"boom!"

There was no backboard and the basketball bounced out of bounds.

But Kobe's game was indeed very annoying. The two of them trapped someone in the corner, but the other party forced a shot without passing the ball. Are they so disrespectful?What do his teammates look like?How confident, arrogant, conceited, and self-righteous do you have to be to shoot like this?

Kobe Bryant's game was just Yu Fei's impression from his previous life. He had never seen Kobe Bryant play.

After traveling through time, and until tonight, he had only heard the legend that Kobe made 47 of 17 shots. He didn't know what Kobe was like in that state.

But with just this round, the vague impression of Kobe Bryant's game was instantly upgraded to a stereotype.

In the frontcourt, Yu Fei handed over the ball, cut into the basket through running movements, and received the support of Leitner to easily take the cake.

27 is better than 33
When the score difference reached 6 points, Yu Fei then greeted George and decided to face off against Kobe himself.

He wanted to see how independent Kobe was, who had gone crazy.

As a result, Kobe is indeed unimaginably unique.

Judging from the scene, Kobe in the second quarter was like Mason in the first quarter.

The Bucks gained back the advantage Mason gave away with Kobe.

Since Kobe basically only plays in singles and does not participate in tactics, although the Lakers have a super scorer on the outside, they cannot rely on him to use his offensive threats to create opportunities for his teammates.

Because if he can even choose to break a double team in the corner with a jump shot that glides out of bounds, you can't expect any defense to let him pass the ball.

Kobe's singles shooting percentage tonight is only about [-]%. If this is an anxious and critical game and neither side can find a way to score, a [-]% singles shooting rate can make Kobe the Lakers' savior.But if this is just a regular season game and the lagging Lakers need Kobe to hold up the situation before O'Neal comes back, Kobe can only lead them to a darker abyss.

The tense situation lasted until about the 7th minute of the second quarter.

At that time, the Lakers were already 12 points behind, but Phil Jackson didn't call a timeout, as if he was enjoying the Lakers' collapse.

Obviously, if this continues, everyone will blame Kobe.

Jackson did nothing to stop the process.

Even when O'Neal expressed a desire to play, Jackson told him to sit back.

Zen Master, who is good at playing with people's hearts, decided to give Kobe an unforgettable night this time.

As for the competition?unimportant.

As long as he can kill the demon in Kobe's heart, the Lakers can win four consecutive championships.

As for the outcome of a regular season game, he doesn't care.

The Lakers will make the playoffs anyway.

As their opponent, the Bucks can indeed feel that there is a serious problem with the atmosphere of the Lakers.

The biggest problem is that the Lakers don't know how big their problem is.

How long will it take for O'Neal to get back into shape?How much time will it take to get yourself back to where you were before the injury?When can Kobe give up playing alone?Do the veterans still have fighting spirit?Does Jackson still have control over the team?

At halftime, the Lakers, playing at home, trailed the Bucks by 24 points.

At the end of the third quarter, the Bucks led the Lakers by 30 points, and fans at Staples Center began to leave in large numbers.

At the end, 111 to 75, the Bucks beat the Lakers by 36 points.

Post-match interview
"I won't apologize for this game. We are all professional players and we have to be ready at all times. But look, we do have five players on the court, but there is always someone playing one-man basketball on the court." - Shaquille O'Neal talks about the game.

"I don't have anything to say." - Phil Jackson replied when asked if the Lakers are still confident of winning their fourth consecutive championship.

"I didn't get enough help." Kobe Bryant, who made 35 of 17 shots from the field, said about the reason for the loss.

"We had ugly moments, but most of the time it was wonderful, and I like the result." - George Karl on the victory over the Lakers.

"It feels great to be back at Staples and I want to prove that I'm better than I was in the past." - Devin George on the feeling of beating the Lakers.

"I don't care about my performance, I just care about whether we win or not, as long as we win." - Ray Allen talks about his performance.

"Fry, you scored 24 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists tonight. This is your 12th career triple-double. How does it feel?"

"Just like the first eleven times."

"What do you think is the difference between the Lakers this season and last season?"

"The difference between a championship and [-]th in the Western Conference."

"Have you reconciled with Shaq?"

"No, there are many things in life worth doing, but this isn't it."

"There are a lot of people looking forward to your first game in DC next month against the Wizards. Is that going to be special for you?"

"It's definitely something special."

"Michael said the Wizards' slump is only temporary and they will eventually go further than any other Eastern Conference team."

"Oh, you don't believe it, do you? He just has Alzheimer's disease."

"You think this won't happen?"

"If it happens, I'll kiss the donkey's ass too."

——Yu Fei’s post-game interview.

⑴ Just the night before this game, Barkley fulfilled his promise of "I will kiss Kenny Smith's (assumed ass) ass if he (Yao) scores more than 19 points in his rookie season."

(End of this chapter)