When pride still matters

Chapter 178 Remember my words

The Bucks' first playoff defeat came earlier than expected.

George Karl's stated goal is to try his best to win the first two home games, and then find a way to win one of the next three away games to ensure that the Bucks can get the match point after the first five games of the series.

However, the first victory made Karl misjudge the Spurs' strength.

In fact, although the two sides played two games in the regular season, the strength of each other must be judged by their respective playoff opponents.

Karl thinks the Spurs are nothing more than that.

He was able to play six games against a bad team like the Suns in the first round, and it also took him six games to play against the Lakers, who had no dynasty momentum at all, in the second round - Karl privately believed that if the Bucks were allowed to stop the Lakers, they could sweep them - and then in In the Western Conference finals, they were lucky enough to encounter injuries to their opponent's absolute core, which brought them to the finals.

Karl believes that the Spurs are not the strongest team in the Western Conference, and the team that really gives the Bucks a headache is the Mavericks.

After the first game, it was true. Although Fei's defense showed his ability in the second half, the Bucks are not a team that can be defeated by just locking in Fei.

Spurs: Indeed, you are right.

In the second game of the Finals, the Spurs suddenly transformed into the New York Knicks of the early 90s, who had "the hardest training, the toughest attitude, and the most desperate defense." They silenced the Bucks on the outside through a lot of physical combat.

Throughout the game, except for Yu Fei and Ray Allen, no one on the outside of the Bucks could score.

The irony is that Yu Fei felt good from beginning to end tonight, but his teammates could not reap the bonus of "flying has gravity".

In the second half, even if Yu Fei passed an open opportunity, his teammates could not make a shot.

This is the Achilles heel of the shooting team in the big ball era. From the playing style to the team structure, it can be said that the Bucks are in line with the teams in the small ball era. If they fail to shoot accurately, there is theoretically no second plan.

Yu Fei and Ray Allen can only play unlimited singles.

But the Spurs are different. When Duncan's free throws are not as outrageous as the first game (19 of 9 free throws in the game), his influence is reflected.

Duncan can beat the Bucks inside led by Anthony Mason, and at the same time provide ball for the outside, allowing Tony Parker and others to get into shape.

全场比赛，邓肯砍下27分15篮板6助攻4盖帽，力压空砍35分8篮板3助攻的于飞，登上第二天的头条。

"There were 15 offensive rebounds among the 8 rebounds. Tim Duncan's dominance continued from the backcourt to the frontcourt. He is a true MVP!"

ESPN's front page was completely ruined, and Bill Simmons was so excited that he wrote a long article overnight to demonstrate how far Yu Fei was from Duncan.

Spurs coaches and players began to express their anger at Duncan for missing out on the MVP award.

"The only reason why Frye Yu deserves to be elected MVP more than Tim is that by doing so, he can have the youngest MVP in the history of the league." Stephen Jackson boasted about Duncan, "It turns out that this doesn't make any sense, Tim Duncan will Tear him apart like Hakeem Olajuwon did in 1995!”

Then, Popovich took over Jackson's words and made a cold joke: "Tim is a peaceful man, he will not tear anyone apart. But he likes swimming, so I think he will drown his opponents in the swimming pool."

Duncan responded to the coach's dry humor: "You know, I wouldn't do anything like that."

Looking at their faces, it's as if they are celebrating their victory in the finals in advance, as if the Bucks will not be able to fight back and will lead to a 02 Nets-style ending.

When the Bucks arrived in the Holy City, a reporter from the famous local "San Antonio Express" criticized Yu Fei and the others as if they were rushing to torture the spring: "Tim Duncan averaged nearly 20 points per game in the first two games. Rebounds, what makes your inside line so fragile?"

"I think you might as well ask another question." Yu Fei responded to the reporter on the spot, "Why did the experienced Spurs let a second-year player under 21 years old average 30 points per game in the finals? Why did their defense So vulnerable?”

"This...this is not the main problem."

"What?" Yu Fei asked in disbelief, "You want to say that compared to our inability to prevent Duncan from getting rebounds, allowing a second-year player under 21 years old to average 30 points per game is not a major problem? Could it be that, in San Antonio, basketball games are won or lost based on who has more rebounds? Or you think rebounds are xxx, now I know why there are so many fat people here."

"This is slander and discrimination against San Antonio!"

"It doesn't matter how you interpret it. I just want to tell you that we will win two games in San Antonio and then return to Milwaukee to win the championship." Yu Fei said with great confidence, "Remember my words and put it on your website." In the newspapers, this is what’s going to happen!”

Yu Fei chased the reporter away.

Lawson smiled bitterly and said, "You said something bad again."

Yu Fei asked without any self-awareness: "Which sentence?"

"The phrase about bringing a fat man..."

"Oh, this is not a bad word, just a bad truth."

Yu Fei forgot again that people live in the era of "telling the truth is bad", and bad truth is bad words.

In the first game at the Spurs' home court, Yu Fei's biggest adjustment in game strategy was to invest more energy on the defensive end.

Although he is unwilling to admit it, this is indeed an era that is more conducive to defense. It is difficult to defeat a top team like the Spurs with a balanced offense and defense by relying on offense alone.

This is also the direction that George Karl hopes Yu Fei will work towards.

Although Karl already has a reputation as a defensive coach, he is not a person who cares about details. He will only set a direction based on the player's style.

For example, Payton's one-on-one defense is fierce, so he emphasizes man-to-man.

Yu Fei's assisted defense is far better than his single defense, so let Yu Fei try his best to guard against those players who are not good at shooting to increase the chances of assisted defense and sweeps.

So, at the beginning of tonight, Karl arranged for Yu Fei to face off against Bruce Bowen.Although Bowen has a high three-point shooting percentage, he usually only shoots from the corner. Therefore, as long as he is not given the opportunity to shoot the corner three-pointer and the people next to him pay attention to Bowen's position, as long as he stands in the corner, he will shoot in time. Rotate defense.

Yu Fei's defense focused on Parker.

This second-year player, who is from the 2001 class like himself, is now also an indispensable main player for the Spurs.However, Parker has a hidden danger that Yu Fei does not have, that is, he is prone to brain fever and burning the CPU.

The specific manifestation is that the opponent's defensive intensity has increased, and after the frequency of double-teaming has increased, Parker's pass error rate has begun to soar.

In less than 3 minutes of the opening, Parker made three mistakes, one of which was a low-level error in hitting the ball, sending the ball directly to Sprewell's arms.

Yu Fei counterattacked with a slam dunk.

In the opening game, the Bucks turned around and beat the Spurs 9-2 on the road.

"I really believe now that they will replace you with Jason Kidd without hesitation." Yu Fei always likes the bottle of water that cannot be opened.

Parker's pupils shook, obviously confused by Yu Fei's trash talk.

The Spurs called a timeout, and Popovich replaced Parker with Steve Kerr and thoughtfully gave the Frenchman a wave of "fatherly teachings."

Seeing Cole, Yu Fei became even more excited.

Whenever the MVP is mentioned, every Spurs player will complain about Duncan. Among them, the one who complains most enthusiastically is Steve Kerr. He doesn't like Yu Fei, he is a supporter of Jordan, and he is very eloquent. What he said is even more thought-provoking - in other words, Cole indirectly made more people believe that Master Yu stole Uncle Deng's MVP.

In addition to substitutions, the Spurs also made adjustments to their offensive and defensive strategies.

Popovich saw the disadvantages of using double-teams to press the defense, so he put Cole, one of the league's best marksmen, on the court, and also asked his players to pay attention to the open spaces on the outside.

In the following minutes, the Spurs hit three three-pointers.

The Spurs' three-point rain frustrated the Bucks' defensive strategy, but the Bucks mainly played a simple and rough one.

It is often Karl who decides a strategy, and then the players perfect the details.

Karl's pressing defensive strategy at the beginning worked, so from now on, unless the Spurs beat the Bucks to the point of being powerless, everyone will have to do what they can on the offensive end, while the defensive end will remain the same.

The defense failed, and the Bucks still had offense.

Yu Fei took the initiative to call Cole with the ball and launched consecutive singles.At the same time, Sprewell dropped to the corner, and Ray Allen was positioned between the other corner and the three-point line, ready to respond at any time.

Different from the second game, the Bucks, who started with a high-pressure defense, gradually took the initiative and ended the first quarter 29-24.

In the second quarter, Yu Fei took the initiative to challenge, leading a 5-OUT lineup of Ray Allen, Michael Reed, Devin George and Christian Laettner to open up the score.

Seeing the Bucks' lineup, Popovich immediately remembered how the game was disrupted when he played against the Bucks for the second time in the regular season.

He originally wanted the substitute lineup to take the lead, but he immediately changed his mind and asked Bowen to mark Yu Fei, and then let Duncan, who played the entire first quarter, continue to play in the second quarter, providing support to Bowen at any time as a pillar inside.

As a result, Yu Fei called a pick-and-roll to disrupt the Spurs' defense and assisted Laettner in a three-pointer.

Spurs pass error.

Yu Fei called Duncan again in the pick-and-roll, and hit the board with a throw from inside the free throw line.

Duncan responded with a single.

Yu Fei began to show off his personal abilities. He changed direction with one hand, took a hesitant step, then took a sideways step forward and opened up two positions with Bowen, and hit a three-pointer with the ball.

When this shot was made, the faces of the people in San Antonio were ashen.

Bill Walton screamed: "At this moment, Frye Yu surpassed Pete Maravich, he is the most gorgeous player in history!"

Walton's assessment is exaggerated in most cases, but in this moment it is appropriate.

Yu Fei's highly entertaining performance gave many neutral fans a reason to turn on the TV to watch the NBA Finals.

A player with smooth movement control, a fondness for dunks, and advanced skills is enough to make fans intoxicated.

But it's still not enough for him.

He doesn't just want to attract fans, he wants to win.

At halftime, the Bucks led the Spurs by 13 points.

At the beginning of the second half, the Spurs were forced to make a series of mistakes, allowing the point difference to quickly expand to 20 points.

In the remaining time, the Spurs basically passively chased points.

Three minutes before the end of the fourth quarter, Popovich replaced the main player, announcing tonight's failure.

In the end, 105 to 89, the Bucks defeated the Spurs, overwhelming the Spurs on the road, and taking back the initiative in the series.

Post-match interview
"Fry, you said before the game that you would return home with match point. Is this true?"

"I can be more specific."

"How specific?"

"We will win two away games and then go back home and win the championship."

(End of this chapter)