When pride still matters

Chapter 185 When Mason is a Matchmaker
Chapter 185 When Mason is a Matchmaker

Although the Bucks have yet to win the championship, their 3-2 lead and two home court advantages are enough for people to open the champagne for them in advance.

The Spurs faced not only a team with a stronger lineup and more advanced play style, but also a history that has never been broken in NBA history - no team has lost a tiebreaker at home.

Moreover, being able to win two out of three games at the SBC Center has proven that the Bucks are stronger than the Spurs in terms of hard power.

As usual, after the post-match press conference, Yu Fei will also accept exclusive interviews with individuals.

Yu Fei's old friend Bill Walton was close to the stage and attended the scene as a commentator. He also had immediate contact with the players after the game.

Wharton naturally approached Yu Fei for an exclusive interview.

Yu Fei did not refuse.

He has two close writers at ESPN, one is hydrology king Mark Stein, and the other is Bill Walton, who is talented in both literature and sports.

Yu Fei and Wharton came to a cafe in the SBC Center to chat.

Wharton asked many questions.

One of the questions was: "How did you prepare for this game?"

"To tell you the truth, I was nervous before the game started, and then George told me to have fun."

"How do you do it?"

"I drove to a small town near St. Francis and had a pork chop with rice."

Wharton laughed in surprise, as if he heard Yu Fei's secret to winning.

The interview lasted less than half an hour and ended.

Afterwards, Yu Fei returned to the hotel to rest.

The next day, the entire Bucks team returned to Milwaukee on a special plane.

On the first day back from the away game, the Bucks shortened their training time from 150 minutes to 100 minutes.

Basically, except for the 40-minute tactical lesson, the rest of the time is arranged by the players themselves.

Such training courses are undoubtedly loose and are also George Karl's habit.

The closer you get to the end of the season, the more important it is to reduce the risk of injury.

Like Pat Riley, it is simply retarded to suddenly convene a short-term high-intensity training camp and injure all the core players because he is worried that the players will not be in the best condition to enter the finals.

Carr believes that a well-trained team will not lose form because of a slack practice.

What's more, for some people, no matter what the coaching staff arranges, they will practice at their own pace.

No matter what anyone else thinks, Ray Allen takes 800 shots every day.

Even Devin George, who was forced to train with him, had to work hard for this.

Yu Mou doesn't have Ray Allen's mentality of training to death. He feels that Karl's loose training is just right.

Anthony Mason sees it that way too.

"This is the time when I think George is the most human in a season." Mason was wearing a sexy vest, exposing muscles that were more exaggerated than a sandbag, and murmuring.

Yu Fei looked at this old guy with a worrying self-discipline with contempt, and mocked: "This is the most unhuman thing you said today."

Mason's brows twitched, and he was ready to argue with Yu Fei: "Do you dare to say that you don't like this arrangement?"

"I hate this arrangement!" Yu Fei jumped up and said, "If we are dragged to the seventh game by the Spurs due to lack of training, it will be all your fault!"

Mason was stunned: "I didn't arrange this fucking training!"

"This is George's plan!" Yu Fei seemed to be a wise man who had seen through everything. "He deliberately arranged for us to have loose training to see if we would slack off. What's the result? You old bastard really did what he thought!"

Mason glanced at Karl from afar.

He didn't believe that Karl was so insidious, but why did this bastard coach who had always been indifferent suddenly become a person?

Mason stared at Karl's touching hairline for a long time.

Blind people would only laugh at Carl's hairline, but Mason saw through the hairline the brain surging inside - it should be black... No!The brain of this evil old bastard must be black too!
After a while, Yu Fei's assistant Alex Clark came over and said: "Fry, Larry invites you to go to his office."

Larry Harris (general manager)?

Mason asked: "The season is not over yet, what is that guy doing with you?"

"You should come to me to discuss trading you." Yu Fei joked, "Do you like playing for the Clippers?"

"Don't fucking joke with me like that!"

"My contract will expire after this season. Can he trade for free agents? He is a bullshit trader!"

Whenever Mason screams on the training field, no one is surprised or even looks over with curiosity.

Is it worth watching?Master Yu must have pissed people off again.

Miraculously, the angry Mason was the most terrifying creature on the Bucks a year ago.

But a year later, the same people and the same anger became the scenery for everyone to adjust their mood.

Although Yu Fei has been with the Bucks for less than a season, he has become familiar with most of the people.

The only key executive unfamiliar with the team is general manager Larry Harris.
Harris belongs to the standard second generation of basketball. His father is Del Harris, who is familiar to Chinese fans. The younger Harris did not have the talent to play professional basketball, so he used his father's relationship to participate in backstage work.

Now that he is the leader of the Bucks' backstage, it can be regarded as a breath of fresh air for the old Harris.

However, Harris is not very popular within the Bucks.

Yu Fei knew that he had a bad relationship with George Karl, but he also found that the connection between him and the players was also very shallow.

In the player camp, the person with whom he has the closest relationship is not veteran Ray Allen, but Yu Fei.

Yu Fei had no idea about little Harris. Since the other party was looking for him, he must have important official business, so he went directly to the general manager's office without delay.

"Larry, are you looking for me?" Little Harris skipped the small talk, put a stack of documents in front of Yu Fei, and asked straight to the point: "Fry, although the season is not over yet, the team's draft work has already begun. We’re starting to prepare, do you have any ideas?”

It is a necessary procedure for the team to ask the opinions of the leading players before the draft.

However, if Yu Fei was asked to give his opinion, even if the time traveler's eyes were opened, he could only give the following opinion:
"I think LeBron James is good."

Little Harris smiled and said, "Is there more?"

"Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, too."

Harris Jr. would like to be content with flying, but it is impossible for the Bucks to get these people.

Without Yu Fei, the Bucks would have this year's No. [-] pick -- the consolation prize they acquired from the Hawks in the Glenn Robinson trade.Unfortunately, the timeline has been disrupted by time travellers, and Big Dog was sent to New York in exchange for Sprewell.

The Bucks only have their first-round pick and second-round pick this year. Since they rank first in the league, both picks are the last picks in their respective rounds.

Harris Jr. didn't expect to get useful advice from Yu Fei. He just went through the motions and informed the team of the draft direction.

"The team currently lacks interior depth, so our draft direction is mainly on the interior. These are the interior lists we have locked in. You can take a look."

Again, this is going through the motions.

Because it is impossible for Yu Fei to pay attention to the draft, let alone find the best candidate among a bunch of leftovers with unknown prospects.

Yu Fei took a few glances and suddenly remembered the game the day after tomorrow.

Spurs...?
Why do you think of the Spurs?

The name Spurs evokes something older - Kawhi Leonard, uncle, "my injuries were fifty times worse than his."

The source of this farce was a clumsy Warriors insider who sent Leonard a magical kick.

Who is he?
Suddenly, that name popped into my mind.

"Zaza Pachulia." Yu Fei asked, "Have you heard of this person?"

Little Harris said, "Oh, I know, he is a European, his physical fitness is very mediocre, but he has good skills and is hard-working. Our scouts rated his mental quality quite highly."

Yu Fei put down the document and asked, "Can we select him?"

Harris Jr. said: "His draft price is in the middle to late second round, and we do have a chance to select him."

"Then choose him."

Leaving these words behind, Yu Fei left.

Larry Harris watched Yu Fei leave and found Zaza Pachulia's scouting report from the file. He wanted to know why Yu Fei liked this Georgian.

He couldn't see Pachulia's characteristics.

At the moment, the NBA is extremely enthusiastic about potential big men in Europe, but Pachulia is the kind of big man who doesn't attract attention.

He has no talent for running or jumping that can be seen with the naked eye, and his skills seem to be average. He is average in all aspects, with huge shortcomings and no obvious advantages.

However, if Yu Fei wants him, the team will have to seriously consider it.

For the Bucks, Yu Fei is not only the team's new business card and the second MVP in team history, but also the team's gold magnet. Every word he says has weight.

Harris Jr. immediately called the scouts and asked them to focus on inspecting Pachulia and start arranging trial training. Then, he put the documents aside.

Harris Jr. then took out another document with "Bucks Asset Assessment" written on it.

After a while, the phone rang.

"Hey, it's me."

"Yes, Senator Cole, the current public valuation of the team is $2.3 million. I believe you can get this data through your own channels, but there are some values ​​that outsiders cannot count. If you add those in , the team’s current valuation is $2.7 million.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Before Yu flew here, the Bucks were valued at only US$1.7 million. In just one year, the value increased by US$1 million.

"I see."

The phone hangs up.

Harris Jr. returned to his day job, and even if few people on the team were on good terms with him, his position was secure because he knew who he was working for.

On this basis, as long as there are no major work mistakes, no one can kick him from this position.

...

That night, Yu Fei and several teammates went to the Japanese restaurant where he had a feast.

Their appearance caused a small stir, but it soon subsided.

Because Mason and a few of his bodyguards seemed quite difficult to deal with.

They entered the store successfully.

Yu Fei ordered pork chop rice as usual, and then kept his eyes on the waiter who left a deep impression on him.

Mason asked playfully: "Do you like this one?"

"A bit."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"I'm waiting for a kind person to ask for her contact information for me."

Yu Fei said jokingly.

Hearing this, Mason immediately stood up and walked towards the waiter. Yu Fei secretly thought something was wrong. This scary bastard like a murderer should not scare people away.

As a result, Mason came to the waiter and said uncharacteristically: "Hey, can I ask for your contact information for my friend?"

Much later, Yu Fei learned that Anthony Mason was a famous matchmaker in college and was famous for his high success rate in asking for women's phone numbers for his friends at various parties.

(End of this chapter)