When pride still matters

Chapter 148 Between Love and Hate (Thanks to Nan Cangxi for the alliance leader reward)

Doug Collins walked up to Jordan and asked, "Michael, are you feeling okay?"

The subtext is, do you want to take a break?
Now if Jordan takes a rest, he can avoid Yu Fei's sharp edge.

But the game ended less than 3 minutes into the game, and the intention to avoid the battle was too obvious.

"I feel good." Jordan had no intention of leaving the game, "but our inside line needs to be adjusted."

Jordan's wishes override Collins's authority to coach, and he must ask, "How to adjust?"

"Replace Tim (Thomas) and put Oke in," Jordan said.

Collins narrowed his eyes slightly. Last season's failure taught Jordan and his team a lesson: Don't try to find problems for yourself.

Therefore, during the draft, they no longer pursue players with unlimited potential but character problems, but instead focus on mature, stable, serious, and obedient college players.This kind of person has basically no chance of achieving greatness in the NBA. At best, he can only provide a plug-and-play reliable service.This is a change in Jordan's team's draft strategy, and the signings are even more direct.

Jordan exemplified what nepotism meant, as he trusted assistant general manager Rod Higgins.Therefore, in terms of signing strategy this offseason, Jordan prefers old people he is familiar with, especially those old friends who are still lingering in the league, such as Charles Oakley, who is about to turn 39.

Oakley in 2002 is like Reiko Kobayakawa in 2023. Fans are surprised by the longevity of the former, just like movie fans are surprised by the long career of the dark world star.

The question is, what does signing Oakley do?Does Jordan still need bodyguards now?Who dares to attack him on the court?

What's more, there is no real "executor" in today's NBA.

The golden age of thugs is long over.

If it weren't for Oakley's accomplishments in rebounding and defense, he would have been eliminated from the league long ago.

Jordan's decision to play Oakley left Collins feeling helpless.

At his peak, Oakley could still protect the star players, but if he is put in now, it will have no effect at all except for showing toughness.

But this is Jordan's team.

Whoever Jordan wants to play, let him play.

When the timeout ended, Collins saw the Bucks replaced Ray Allen with Devin George, and knew that George Karl had decided to let Yu Fei play alone to the end.

In less than 3 minutes of the first quarter, Yu Fei has already scored 8 points. If the timeout cannot disrupt his feel, Collins feels that the chosen one who was exiled by DC is likely to score the highest score in his career tonight.

During the Wizards' offensive round, Jordan really wanted to get the ball, but Yu Fei never let him get in a comfortable position.

This is Yu Fei's strategy.

It is impossible to completely prevent Jordan from getting the ball, but it is possible to force Jordan out of the sweet spot.

And, he knew where Jordan liked to attack.

Once you take him out of those spots, his shooting percentages will drop as well.

Yu Fei rarely goes all out when defending alone. Jordan is a rare person who allows him to spare no effort when defending.

Cassell watched for a few seconds and felt that something would happen if he gave the ball to Jordan at this moment.

Because Jordan never got into a safe position, if Yu Fei suddenly attacked, it would be difficult to say whether the ball would be given to Jordan or whether it would be destroyed or even stolen by Yu Fei.

Cassell chose to let Stackhouse catch the ball at the foul line.

Stackhouse faced off against Devin George. There was no work, all talent. He obviously moved very quickly, but because of his poor ball-holding ability, he couldn't get away from the defense at all.

I saw Jordan's junior struggling there for a long time, and then he made a sudden stop, turn and fadeaway jumper.

The last time I saw someone playing on such a high level of difficulty was when they played against the Lakers.

Stackhouse suddenly makes this move, and the interference provided by George is extremely limited. Whether he advances or not depends entirely on his opponent.

"boom!"

The result is no progress.

But Oakley seemed to want to prove that it was correct to replace him. He actually grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a second attack under the basket.

8 is better than 5
"If you don't even have the awareness to help your teammates protect rebounds, I can only say that you have no progress." Jordan suddenly sprayed Yu Fei.

It can be seen that he has been putting up with it for a while, otherwise he would not use this reason to talk trash.

Yu Fei glanced at Oakley in the distance maliciously.

Sprewell behind him asked: "Do you want the ball?"

"of course yes."

As soon as Yu Fei replied, Sprewell passed the ball over.

Then, Yu Fei clearly signaled to Leitner and asked him to come out for the pick-and-roll.

Why did the Wizards replace Oakley at this time?This problem is easy to understand. Oakley himself did dirty work in the previous era. Since he is to be replaced, he must be wanted to do some dirty work.

But sometimes, being too immersed in an era that's over doesn't end well.

Laettner dropped the pick-and-roll, and Oakley took the initiative to switch defense. Yu flew past him without any effort at all. He instantly got close to him, and in the blink of an eye, he pushed away Oakley's defense and rushed to the basket for a layup.

"10 to 0." Yu Fei first provocatively reported the score ratio between the two to Jordan, and then glanced at Oakley, who looked unhappy, "defend well, or he will trade you again."

Yu Fei openly "unjustly" accused Jordan, which really made the Flyers feel aggrieved. Who doesn't know that he was firmly opposed to trading Oakley in the first place?But Krause remained firm and traded Oakley from New York for Cartwright.Jordan, who had to be separated from his friend, directed all his anger at Cartwright, publicly clamoring not to pass the ball to Cartwright because his offensive efficiency was low, and mocking Cartwright's technical moves.It wasn't until one day that Cartwright threatened to break Jordan's legs if he didn't stop bullying - then Cartwright earned Jordan's respect.

It was obviously a story about good brothers willing to bear the bad reputation of isolating and bullying new teammates, but Yu Fei made it seem like Jordan himself traded Oakley.

"You don't know a damn thing!"

Jordan ran to the frontcourt and said to Fei.

That's fine, but why do people need to understand?

Let me ask you whether it is true that Oakley was traded?
Yu Fei responded provocatively: "Does an old loser who has nothing to lose dare to speak so loudly?"

Jordan's blood rage was triggered, and he demanded the ball angrily. Then without making any unnecessary movements, he jumped backwards on the spot and made a fadeaway jumper with a huge arc.

Finally, a furious Jordan scored and broke the egg.

7 is better than 10
“That’s it, it’s a duel that comes and goes!”

"Michael is finally in Superman mode!"

Bill Walton applauded, and then, in less than ten seconds, Yu Fei held the ball directly from the outside and drastically changed direction to the left. After shaking Jordan's center of gravity away, he collected the ball immediately and made a three-pointer from the top of the arc. Take action.

Jordan's defense was completely shattered, and it wasn't until Yu Fei's ball flew to the highest point that he realized that it was about to get stuck.

However, Yu Fei didn't even bother to look at the basket, because the shot just now felt good.

That feeling is unmistakable.

"Shh!"

"13 to 7! Frye has taken all the points scored by the Bucks so far! So far, the Bucks have not had a second person touch the ball in the frontcourt when they are attacking!"

Brad Nessler addressed the most unusual aspect of the opening so far.

Yu Fei is playing one-man basketball.

Moreover, it is very effective.

Scored 5 points in less than 13 minutes, this terrifying efficiency is frightening.

Jordan, who has lost his athletic ability, cannot attack as he pleases like Yu Fei.

Especially under Yu Fei's defense, he needs to be careful every time he takes a shot.

Although the sudden fadeaway jump shot just now was successful, it must not be used continuously because Yu Fei was already on guard.

"Shall I remind you of our scoring ratio?"

After Jordan got the ball, Yu Fei started talking trash.

"13-2."

Yu Fei's tone was not indifferent. Compared with Larry Bird's role as a ruthless reporting machine in front of Dr. J, Yu Fei had more thoughts of revenge and humiliating his opponent.

Bird's humiliation of Dr. J is proof that the new generation of superstars will end the old era's superstars, but Yu Fei is not.

This is a personal vendetta.

He wants to make Jordan unhappy and make Jordan feel that his character is humiliated. This is his purpose.

Therefore, when Yu Fei used "13 to 2" to force Jordan to take another fadeaway jumper, he was already prepared.

Jordan, who was so angry that he forgot that there was a significant gap in body size between him and Yu Fei, the gap between 198 cm and 206 cm, as well as the nearly 10 cm difference in wingspan, as well as the age difference of one generation in physical fitness.These gaps caused Jordan's forced shots to have devastating consequences.

Yu Fei accurately grasped Jordan's take-off point, jumped up at a faster speed, and struck forward hard.

"boom!"

Jordan's shot was fanned out of bounds by Yu Fei.

"Are you angry? Can you tell me about that thing again?" Yu Fei said sarcastically against Jordan's body, "It's about you winning six championships. I haven't heard about it for a long time. Can you tell me about it again?"

When a proud man is cornered and the glorious achievements that have brought him to his lofty position are spoken of in a contemptuous tone by a junior, the stirring up of emotions is astonishing.

Jordan, who lost his mind, pushed Yu Fei away and shouted: "You have no fucking right to say those words to me!"

The referee stopped the game, and Yu Fei caught the crux of Jordan's words, "Qualification? Why am I not qualified? Because I don't have a championship? By the way, that's it. You have six championships, so I'm not qualified to tell you Rubbish talk. That’s right, I just like to see you talking about the championship when you are completely defeated. This is all you have left. This is enough for you.”

If teammates on both sides hadn't already participated in the mediation, Yu Fei and Jordan would have had a bigger conflict on the spot.

Eventually, the Bucks requested a timeout.

George Karl walked back and forth in front of Yu Fei, not knowing what to say.

"I know what I'm doing."

Yu Fei said before he was stunned by Karl.

"You know what you are doing? Thank God! You actually know what you are doing!" Karl laughed angrily, "In the first half of the quarter, your teammates did not touch the ball when attacking, but you, obviously in excellent condition, are persistent On a personal note? Tonight is probably the best night you've ever had since you entered the NBA. How do you want to commemorate it? With a fight on the court with a 40-year-old man? Are you fucking serious? ?"

Yu Fei considers himself a pacifist and will not take the initiative to fight on the field.

However, hearing what Karl said, Yu Fei felt that if a fight had just started, it might have been a major blow to Jordan's reputation.

"Michael Jordan punched and kicked his opponents because of his complete defeat on the court," Yu Feixiao asked, "How pleasant does this news headline sound?"

Karl had only heard about Yu Fei and Jordan.

But as Yu Fei went out of his normal way and showed an aggressive attitude to tear Jordan's hands apart on the court, he realized how serious the conflict between the two was.

It's no wonder Jordan would go to this step of trading.

With his current strength, he simply cannot suppress Yu Fei. If not traded, second-year Yu Fei will take away the dominance of the Wizards.

Karl has already learned how strong Yu Fei is during the Bucks' time with him.

Karl exhaled and said in a deep voice: "I don't care how big the grievances you and Michael have, now I want to change you and calm down for a while."

Yu Fei said: "This is your right, I accept it."

Karl felt that he should be happy and satisfied because Yu Fei still recognized his power.

If he doesn't approve, all he hears is "I refuse."

In this way, Karl replaced Yu Fei, who scored 13 points in less than half a quarter.

Ray Allen also preached a few words when he came on the court: "No matter how angry you are, it is not a reason for you to completely ignore your teammates on the offensive end!"

"I do still have many shortcomings." Yu Fei said humbly, "I still want to learn a lot from you, Rey-ray."

Ray Allen, who really regarded himself as the boss, hummed: "Then watch and study hard off the court!"

Yu Fei blinked: "Okay."

Yu Fei was replaced, but Jordan stayed on the court.

Not long after, Jordan hit a graceful turnaround jumper over Ray Allen.

That was his second shot of the night and his last shot of the first quarter.

Ray Allen's return has injected some vitality into the Bucks' offense, and his shooting threat has benefited both Sprewell's breakthrough and Mason's inside singles.

However, the irony is that in the remaining half of the first quarter, the Bucks, who resumed team basketball play, did not score as much in total as they did in singles.

In the past 7 minutes, the Bucks were inaccurate from the outside, relying solely on attacking the basket and a few free throws to score 12 points.

Fortunately, the Wizards' offense also struggled, and the Bucks still maintained the lead.End of one quarter, 21 to 25.

The Wizards, playing at home, entered the second quarter with a 4-point disadvantage.

Four minutes into the second quarter, the Wizards tied the score with Cassel's excellent court control.

31 is better than 31
At this moment, Karl replaced Yu Fei, who had been resting for a long time.

"Can I fire freely?" Yu Fei asked Karl.

Karl said angrily: "Does my opinion matter to you?"

"unimportant."

"Then what are you asking?"

"Let you be mentally prepared."

He is so considerate.
George Karl showed a smile that was uglier than crying: "I am the idiot coach tonight, you can do whatever you want."

Collins seemed to intentionally stagger Jordan's playing time with Yu Fei's.

Just a few minutes after Yu Fei came on the court, Jordan was replaced.

“What does a hunter do if he cannot find his prey?”

It's as if Yu Fei's aggressiveness will weaken if Jordan is not present.

Yu Fei recalled George Karl's words in his mind.

If this is his best night in his two years in the NBA, what does he want to be remembered for?
Then Sam Cassell's face came into view.

"You don't think defeating the 39-year-old MJ is a big deal, do you?" Cassel mocked, "Many people can do it now, it's not a big deal at all!"

Who would have thought that the most reasonable statement tonight would be uttered by the most uniquely ugly man in NBA history?

Yu Fei opened his hand and the basketball flew into his palm.

"You're right." Yu Fei's tone was indifferent, but it sounded like it was about to come true. "You are the next one to be beaten."

Those were the last words Yu Fei said to Sam Cassell before the end of the first half.

A few seconds later, Yu Fei's breakthrough caused Cassell to foul.

The Bucks served again, Yu Fei received the ball and broke through Cassel again. This time the alien failed to block him.

Yu Fei got into the basket and dunked with both hands.

The Wizards tied the score on Stackhouse's single.

However, Yu Fei called for a pick-and-roll, broke through the Wizards' outside defense without any pressure, attacked the inside line, completed a second pull in the air, caused a foul and scored with a basket.

And One!
After making the extra free throw, Yu Fei's personal score came to 18 points.

The Wizards were in a positional battle. Yu Fei grabbed the defensive rebound and rushed to the three-point line at the top of the front court. Cassell hesitated and his chasing three-pointer came out.

Enter again!

One minute later, Cassel fouled again to prevent Yu Fei.

However, Yu Fei then asked for the ball.

This time he got the ball in the low post, with his back to Cassel. He was under no pressure at all. He used his body to get to the basket, then stepped back, feinted, and started the defense with a sharp step forward to beat the time difference. Score a basket.

His style of play was exactly the same as in the first quarter.

As long as you have the ball, there is no passing option.

When Cassell fouled Fly for the third time, Collins finally couldn't help shouting: "Double-team! Don't let him play alone!"

When opponents began to double-team Yu Fei, he also resumed his previous style of play and found a balance between personal offense and assisting teammates.

The Wizards couldn't guard him.

But this is by no means just a Wizards problem.

"Who can guard Frye tonight?" Collins asked the assistant coach around him.

No one answered.

Then, 30 seconds before the end of the first half, Yu Fei carried Cassel's body like a tank and rushed in. He suddenly jumped up in the paint area and knocked the alien out of bounds. At the same time, his friend Kwame... Brown completed a bloody dunk on his head.

"Is it a great thing to defeat a 33-year-old All-Star?" Yu Fei looked down at Cassel on the ground, "This is not worth mentioning."

So what's the big deal?
半场结束时，于飞拿到30分7篮板4助攻，雄鹿以59比44领先奇才15分。

With a 15-point advantage, Yu Fei's data looks so dazzling.

But he was still thinking about that. What was the most amazing thing tonight?
If it's not beating Jordan, if it's not beating Cassell, what is it?
George Karl's halftime interview provided the answer.

ABC frontline reporter Michelle Tafoya asked Carr at halftime: "Coach, how important do you think this game is to Frye?"

"That's not a question, Michel," Carr said. "The real question is, how important is this game to Frye and Washington? Frye single-handedly led the Wizards to the playoffs last season. After the season, the team rewarded him by trading him to Milwaukee. I think this game is very important. The important thing is not the quarrel between Frye and MJ, but what this deal means. I think Frye Lay gave the answer in the first half."

Yu Fei in the second quarter set the tone for the second half.

He's still targeting Jordan, but no longer just targeting Jordan.

This is reflected in his indiscriminate singles.

No matter who the Wizards put on him, he would blow them up.

Throughout the third quarter, Yu Fei scored 14 points, all in singles.

When the fourth quarter came, Yu Fei's statistics were 44 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.

44 points is already Yu Fei's career high, but it's not over yet.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Yu Fei shook Cassel from the outside, causing the opponent's three-point defensive foul - this was also Cassel's sixth foul tonight.

Sam Cassell fouled out and left the game, and Yu Fei made three free throws.

The Wizards' defense against Yu Fei became extreme.

As long as Yu Fei gets the ball, double-teaming is the starting point. Once he starts to move, a third person will usually join the defense.

In one possession, Bobby Simmons, Michael Jordan and Jerry Stackhouse drove him to the corner at the same time.

Yu Fei took off from the edge of the bottom corner. When he shot, his eyes were almost on the back of the backboard.

However, the most shocking thing on the pitch was this.

Like a miracle that happened during a religious ceremony, Yu Fei's bottom corner, which was at a negative angle of two minutes, fell right into the net.

MCI became dead silent.

Jordan opened his eyes wide and finally felt what it was like when his opponents were defending him when he was young.

For most, it was more of a soul-searching lesson in how Frye Yu would behave if he was provoked. For the players, 50 30-point games. A scoring performance doesn't carry as much weight as a jaw-dropping, dominant performance.

"Would you like to try sending four people to guard against me?"

Yu Fei asked heartily.

DC collapsed.

The Wizards lost their fighting spirit and the game quickly entered garbage time. When Yu Fei was replaced, his remaining statistics were 56 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists.

In the end, the Bucks defeated the Wizards 122-88 and won the game that attracted national attention.

Post-match interview
"I once offered to let Frye continue the game and score at least 60 points, but he refused." - George Karl was asked why Yu Fei did not play in the last 8 minutes of garbage time.

"It's hard for me to believe that someone can score 28 points in 56 shots, not to mention 13 rebounds and 5 assists. Except for the few assists, the other performance is simply impeccable. There is no doubt that this is what I have seen. The greatest individual performance I have ever had." - George Karl commented on Yu Fei's performance tonight.

"Fry didn't pass the ball in the first half, and I criticized him, so he increased the pass in the second half. Although there were still too many singles, he is a young man who is very willing to accept guidance." - Ray Allen talking about Yu Fei Performance.

"My job tonight was to give the ball to Frye and get out of the way." - Latrell Sprewell talked about his 8 assists.

"We couldn't do anything against Frye tonight. I've never seen anyone play like this." - Jerry Stackhouse commented on Yu Fei's performance.

"Why can't I touch him on my home court? If everyone is so protected, then it's not a big deal to play like this." - Sam Cassell expressed dissatisfaction with Fei's star whistle.

"If there's anything good to say, it's Frye. We even used three people to guard him in the fourth quarter and couldn't guard him." - Kwame Brown expressed his helplessness about being dunked by Yu Fei.

"I take my hat off to Frye tonight." - Doug Collins on Yu Fei tonight.

(Jordan declined a postgame interview)

The downside to being a star in the spotlight is that there are always more media people to deal with after every game.

Live interviews, hallway interviews, locker room interviews, post-game interviews.

And that's not all.

Occasionally, some reporters who know Yu Fei would like to schedule an interview privately.

Today, Yu Fei met ESPN columnist and reporter Adrian Wojnarowski at MCI.

Is this name hard to remember?His name also has an abbreviation, WOJ.

That's right, he is the future first generation king of whistleblowers.

But at this time, WOJ was only a slightly famous reporter and columnist for ESPN, and he did not specialize in professional basketball, but also dabbled in baseball and football.

Since Yu Fei came to Milwaukee, he has been interested in making friends with the media, especially those at ESPN.In his impression, these people all became influential experts when they left ESPN.Building a good relationship now won't hurt the future.

The first question WOJ asked was: "What's your motivation tonight?"

"Simply put, love and hate."

"Love or hate? Which is more?"

"Hard to say."

"There are a lot of people who think it was a failure for Washington to trade you too early. What do you think?"

"I'm not going to dwell on what happened."

"Do you want to talk about the fight you and Michael had in the first quarter?"

Yu Fei smiled and said, "I said some unpleasant things."

"Can you reveal that?"

"Of course, there is nothing inappropriate for children," Yu Fei said. "At that time, I scored 13 points and he scored 2 points, so I reminded him of this matter repeatedly."

"And Michael got angry?"

"I don't know. You've all seen what exactly happened."

WOJ asked keenly: "You just mentioned that your motivation tonight is your love and hate for DC. Who does your hatred come from?"

This is the basic quality of a seasoned reporter, knowing the answer but not revealing it.

Because if Yu Fei wants to point it out, he will say it himself.If Yu Fei didn't want to point it out, asking himself would make the atmosphere awkward.

According to WOJ's understanding of Fei, he is not a person who knows how to respect his seniors.

So he will definitely say it.

The result did not surprise WOJ. Yu Fei said in a calm tone with an expressionless face: "My hatred comes from the person who didn't even dare to accept an interview tonight."

"That's a well-known fact."

No matter how people want to view this game, no matter how sports writers want to attribute value to this game, its impact is there.

Yu Fei destroyed the Washington Wizards with 56 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists, causing the proud Michael Jordan to refuse a post-game interview.

The motivation that enabled him to accomplish such a feat was his hatred for Jordan, but when he mentioned the source of his resentment, he spoke softly like talking about his lunch and put it down slowly.

Because Michael Jordan lives in the past, and Yu Fei will continue to move forward with this hatred.

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(End of this chapter)