When pride still matters

Chapter 201 He’s quite nice

The Bucks and Timberwolves, as the "seeded teams" in the East and West, were ranked among the "championship contenders" in the major media's season previews before the start of the season.

However, the bucks are more mature overall.

They are not a massively restructured team like the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves look more like the Bucks at the beginning of last season. They still lack stability and chemistry in the game.

"The Timberwolves' offense is not coherent. You can see that they are fighting independently, and the defensive end also lacks the necessary chemical reaction. These two points are fatal in front of the Bucks who are very mature on both offense and defense."

ABC commentators commented on the opening of the two teams.

The Bucks quickly entered the state after the game started, while the Timberwolves kept playing the same old tune.

In the past few years, the Timberwolves have been Garnett's one-man team.

The offense relied on Garnett, and the defense relied on Garnett. However, in the playoffs, Garnett's offense was not working well, so they could only stop in the first round.

Unexpectedly, after ushering in a group of helpers, except for the shining point of Big Dog Robinson, the overall performance of Szczerbiak, who returned from injury, was very abstract, and Olowokandi was even more disappointing. As a center, defense There is no bright spot in , blocking and rebounding. On the offensive end, he can only shoot the right hook but it is not accurate.

The Timberwolves view Olowokandi as a replacement for Rasho Nesterovic C, who averaged 50 points and 28 points per game in the first round of last season's playoffs when O'Neal was at 15%. Rebounding can be said to be the main culprit for the Timberwolves leading the Lakers 2-1 in the first round and then losing three consecutive games - he couldn't stand up to O'Neal?How can there be a piece of trash that even O'Neal can't stand?Substitute, must substitute!
Looking at it now, Olowokandi can't even handle the Bucks' rookie center, let alone challenge O'Neal.

On the offensive end, everyone is working on their own, and on the defensive end, it all depends on Garnett.

The Timberwolves, known as the most talented team in team history, have played the classic weird flavor of the Garnett-era Wolves.

At the end of the first quarter, 27 to 15, the Bucks led the Timberwolves by 12 points at home.

Yu Fei scored 11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists without any pressure, and rested comfortably.

"What do you think of the Wolves?" Karl asked Yu Fei seriously what he thought of his opponents.

As far as the senses in the first quarter are concerned, Yu Fei is not optimistic about the Timberwolves because their lineup has an upper limit that can be seen at a glance.

Cassel can control the court, defend and organize a little offense. He is a seasoned pure point guard. Big dog Robinson is inefficient offensively and has basically no defense. The most important thing is that he is really good as a wing who likes to stand up in the high post and play singles. It's too Buddha-like and can't support the main attack role of the championship team.Szczerbiak still needs time to recover, and Olowokandi's recruitment basically failed.

"Unless they have other players off the court who can bring changes," Yu Fei said, "otherwise, I don't think they can make it to the first tier."

Karl's views on the Timberwolves are consistent with Yu Fei's.

At the same time, Karl also noticed that Yu Fei seemed to be deliberately snubbing Ray Allen on the court, "You just didn't pass a ball to Ray."

"He can't get any of my assists until he apologizes to me."

Karl did not expect Yu Fei to warn Ray Allen so bluntly.

In Karl's view, this was the moment when Yu Fei finally saw the true face of Ray Allen.There was a reason why he hated Ray Allen, and now, Yu Fei finally agreed with him.

"I won't interfere in this matter. Just have a good rest."

Karl immediately replaced Devin George to play the third position, asked Sprewell to guest point guard, and then asked Michael Reid to replace Ray Allen.

Reed, who had endured the whole quarter, didn't want to miss the opportunity.

In the minutes that followed, Reed's teammates saw a change in him.

Reed was a dedicated shooter last season.

Although he has shown offensive skills other than being a shooter, he still focuses on outside shooting.

Therefore, Reid brought the Bucks a top-44 three-point production in the league with a [-]% three-point shooting rate.

Yu Fei likes this kind of dedicated man.

If Reid can always focus on outside shooting, then he will be the most suitable player in the league for flying.

However, contentment, a fundamental human quality, rarely appears in professional sports.

Because this line of work is all about going beyond the limits.

For the highly commercialized NBA, a pure shooter means the position of a role player, never able to get a maximum salary. Reid will not forget how long the Bucks considered before matching his contract.

His contract was only 4 million U.S. dollars over four years, which was only a little better than the basic salary, not even the middle class. But in the end, it took Yu Fei's public statement to get the boss to agree to match the contract.

Nothing is more uncomfortable.

Why do teams disrespect him so much?Because he is just a shooter, if he is as versatile as Ray Allen and can help in all aspects, they will regard himself as a star.

Ray Allen's loss, Yu Fei's rise, and Reid's key performance in the Finals contributed to this result.

Reid doesn't want to continue to be a pure shooter off the bench for Ray Allen.

This is the signal that his actions after taking the field send.

Reed is less like a shooter on the court and more like a combination of Ray Allen and Sprewell.

He shoots three-pointers, attacks with the ball, and calls pick-and-rolls.

Karl never knew that anyone on his team besides Yu Fei could have this privilege.

However, as Reed made consecutive shots, it was hard for Karl to say anything.It was Yu Fei who noticed the changes in Reed's statistics.

He made 6 of 4 shots from the field, and all the shots he scored were from inside the three-point line, and the shots he missed were the three-pointers he was best at.

The rhythm required for shooting with the ball as the main attacker and catching and shooting as a shooter are completely different. This is the reason why Reid's three-point touch has declined.

Of course, a two-goal sample doesn't mean much.

But this is basic basketball logic.

The rhythms with and without the ball are different, unless there is a matching shooting mechanism - this is the magic of Curry.

And Reid obviously does not have the same technical reserves. Although he did prove that he has the ability to average 20 points per game as an attacker, do the Bucks lack his 20 points?

What the Bucks need is a sharpshooter that opponents have to guard.

This is the valuable thing about Ray Allen. He can not only attack with the ball like Sprewell, but also maintain a 40% three-point shooting rate.If Reid can do it, then there is a possibility of rising to the top.

Therefore, until Reed can truly play both offense and shoot like Ray Allen, the problems he poses only belong to Karl.

Yu Fei's only idea was to use him to PUA Ray Allen.

"Hey, I guess it won't be long before Redd Hot (Reed's nickname) will become the focus of the media. I wonder if anyone in our team will be jealous of him at that time?" Yu Fei smiled kindly, "What do you think? , he averaged 20 points per game as a substitute and played better than some starters. How should the media praise him?"

Mason, an old bastard who had trained his muscles into his brain, naturally couldn't hear Yu Fei's voice.

But Leitner knew what the young master was thinking and said, "I guess he is better than Ray."

"It's true, he played much better than Rey in some games." Yu Fei smiled at the melancholy-looking Ray Allen, "What do you think, Rey-ray?"

"Rey-ray, why don't you speak?"

"Not happy?"

"Oh, I know, you must be angry because I didn't pass the ball to you." Yu Fei said casually, "Actually, I was thinking about you."

Ray Allen can tolerate all the innuendo, sarcasm and teasing in front of him.

He really couldn't bear this.

Don't pass the ball to me, ignore my open space, play selfishly, and still think about me?You are quite a nice person, should I thank you?

Ray Allen asked coldly: "Is it for my own good that you don't pass the ball to me?"

"You were unhappy before because I got too many compliments, right?"

Ray Allen was silent.

"Now that I play more selfishly, the media will criticize me, so you won't be angry?"

How can such outrageous words be logically consistent?Ray Allen didn't know whether he had a problem or Yu Fei had a problem.

But he was sure that Yu Fei was talking nonsense, because the opponent had clearly and unmistakably told him on the court that this was his punishment, but now he said it was for his own benefit?
In addition, variables have emerged on the court.

Although Reid's main attack style worked at first, the high shooting rate was not sustainable.

The Timberwolves first tightened their defense against him, and then replaced him with another player acquired in a multi-party transaction during the offseason - Hedo Turkoglu.

It has to be said that the Kings at the beginning of the century were full of talents, and potential stocks like Turkoglu were highly competitive for the same position, and the Princeton system was not enough to bring out all of his strengths. His performance had highlights in the limited playing time but was limited. , since there is only one year left on the rookie contract, the Kings, who are unwilling to pay a large price to renew the contract, can only sell it.

But other teams don't know the goods either, including the Timberwolves themselves.

Taking over Turkoglu was a no-brainer for the Timberwolves. The main reinforcement they obtained in that deal was Big Dog Robinson.

At least that's what they think now.

However, Turkoglu, as a tall point forward, controlled the situation on the court. He took advantage of the situation where Yu Fei was not present, the Bucks' offense lacked structure, and Reid did not play according to tactics.

The Bucks immediately fell into a disadvantage, and their advantage was continuously eroded.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Yu Fei returned to the court again.

If the Bucks' starting lineup has a clear advantage, then the problems exposed in their second lineup in the transition period also require attention.

Reid is no longer the shooter with no distractions.

That's the problem for the Bucks.

They need to revamp their second unit.

The Timberwolves saw a glimpse of life from the bench in a lifeless starting lineup.

For two ambitious teams, these five minutes are far more valuable than the first quarter.

What is beneficial and what is harmful, everything is clear.

(End of this chapter)