When pride still matters

Chapter 203 The Emperor’s New Clothes
After defeating the Timberwolves, the Bucks had two days of rest at home before traveling to Indiana.

The Pacers set a league-only record last season.

They were the only team to kill the Bucks three times last season.

Jermaine O'Neal looks like a red-hot Ultraman every time he fights the Bucks.

Therefore, the Pacers and the Mavericks are also known as the two nemesis of the Bucks.

However, this nemesis was eliminated before the Bucks in the playoffs. This was a big regret last season.For Bucks haters, it's a fact that the style of play is incompatible. If the Bucks meet the Pacers in the playoffs, they will most likely be defeated.

So why are the Pacers not even qualified to stand in front of the Bucks?
The Pacers' new president, Larry Bird, said in action: This is all Isiah Thomas' fault.

Thomas believed Bird was biased against him because, as a player, he made the comment that Bird would be just a good bird if he were a black bird instead of a white bird.

"Larry and I didn't have a chance to work together. I'm disappointed that he didn't give it a chance," Thomas told ESPN writer David Aldridge. "I know he had a grudge about what happened back then, but that's in the past. "I'm disappointed that he didn't give himself a chance to get to know me. I think if he got to know me, he might like me."

Bird completely ignored the suggestion that Thomas' firing was based solely on personal grudges. He used the classic "three-year theory," "I said that a team needs a new coach after three years."

Interestingly, when Thomas was on the verge of being fired, Jermaine O'Neal, who was playing for Team USA as a free agent, issued a warning to the management.

"If it wasn't for Isiah Thomas, I wouldn't be here. Not only is he my coach, he's a second father to me. I don't care who you get to coach the team. If you can't find him every night The coach who makes us work hard, I don’t think there’s a reason for me to stay.”

Shortly after, the Pacers announced Thomas' dismissal.

As if on purpose, Bird just said earlier that he believes a coach can coach a team for a maximum of three years. This sentence is indeed reasonable for him.He took the Pacers to the Finals in three years and then stopped coaching.Now that the team has been stuck in the same place for three consecutive years under Thomas, changing coaches is a very normal choice.

However, Bird found his good friend Rick Carlisle and signed a four-year contract with him.

This is tantamount to saying: Yes, I just fucking hate Thomas, and any bullshit three-year theory is just an excuse!

At the time of the incident, people thought that O'Neal Jr. would angrily leave the team for his second father, just like his previous statements.

However, Jermaine O'Neal didn't waste a second to mourn the departure of Isiah Thomas and signed a seven-year, $7 million contract extension with the Pacers very directly.

About what you said?O'Neal Jr. doesn't remember.

He now says: "Larry made me understand that we have to play for the team, we have to play for the championship, not for ourselves, and when we get rid of our ego, we are close to success."

What about Thomas?
"He is really a great coach." O'Neal Jr. said, "I wish him all the best in the future!"

Carlisle instilled discipline and egalitarianism into the Pacers.

In Carlisle's eyes, there is no privileged class, and everything about the team serves the system.

Therefore, in the first game of this season, they relied on defense to defeat the steely Pistons.

Now, facing the defending champion at home, the Pacers are determined to prove that they have been reborn and are no longer the chaotic, disorganized and inconsistent team they were last season.

As for the Bucks, they also have the desire to defeat the Pacers.

If they lose again tonight, their losing streak against the Pacers will continue, which is not a good thing.

Although the Pacers defeated the Bucks three times last season, Yu Fei does not feel that there is a problem of restraint in the style of play between the two sides.If you have to say there is any restraint, it is because O'Neal beats the Bucks as fiercely as collecting debts.

The Pacers under Thomas gave Yu Fei a chaotic feeling.

It can be seen that Thomas works hard to mobilize the team's fighting spirit, but he cannot control the team.

If only Yu Fei of the Bucks cannot be controlled by the coaching staff, then everyone in the Pacers is not controlled by Thomas.

Thomas is just a coach in the name, and his significance to the Pacers is limited.Maybe the players feel free to play for him, but as long as they are taught by a coach like Carlisle who is good at everything, they know that Thomas is not involved in human affairs at all.

Carlisle turned the Pacers into a better team, and he didn't rely on O'Neal's offense as much as Thomas did.He instilled the concept of defense in O'Neal.

O'Neal, who is willing to defend and performs well in protecting the rim, paired with Ron Artest, who is entering his prime, and Reggie Miller, who is getting stronger, the Pacers have become a better team. team.

Yu Fei looked at the Pacers with an inherent impression. He entered the inside several times without taking O'Neal seriously, and ended up getting a hat-trick.

The Bucks' overall strategy against the Pacers is also based on last season's impressions.

Karl was worried that O'Neal Jr. would break out again, so he developed a strict zone defense and aggressive double-teaming tactics.

However, the Pacers' offensive firepower is concentrated on the outside.

Miller doesn't look like a veteran on the verge of retirement at all, and he's accurate on every open three-pointer from the outside.

The Bucks were frustrated at the start and ended the first quarter with a 13-point disadvantage.

The Bucks originally wanted to win, but they were knocked unconscious again at the beginning. Seeing that they were about to lose four games in a row to the Pacers, Yu Fei directly asked Karl not to replace him.

"Fry, this is just a regular season game, you have to rest."

"No." Yu Fei said, "Not all regular seasons can be lost."

If you lose this game, you will only lose a regular season game on the surface, but who cares if it is a regular season? Others will only say that the Pacers are the Bucks’ nemesis, because whether they were last season or this season, no matter Whether Thomas or Carlisle is coaching them, they can beat the Bucks.To break that narrative, a win over the Pacers is necessary.

The more losing streaks accumulate, the more psychologically the Pacers will have an advantage.

Once this advantage accumulates to a certain amount, even if they finally defeat the Pacers in the regular season, so what? If the two sides meet in the playoffs, the Pacers will remember that the Bucks are a team that often loses to them.

In order to reverse this mentality, Yu Fei played 20 minutes in the first half. The Bucks were once 13 points behind. However, under his roll call tactics, he successively eliminated Artest's foul crisis and called out O'Neal to protect the basket but defended strongly alone. The disadvantages of weakness.

The Bucks also chased 10 points in the second quarter, and at the end of the first half, they were only 3 points behind their opponents.

"Fry wasn't going to let us lose this game."

George Karl told ABC reporters at halftime.

On the other side, as a guest commentator, Lakers legend Magic Johnson was filled with emotion about Fei's maturity.

"Third-year Frye Yu only turns 21 in two months, but he is already one of the best players in the league." Magic said, "I think Frye's biggest strength is that he always It is the ability to calmly analyze your own situation and make the optimal solution based on the on-site situation. I will call Jermaine O'Neal an inside pillar, and I will praise Reggie Miller's professionalism, but Frye is all positive. collection. Yes, friend, Fry is everything!"

Magic's TV friends are used to hearing him praise Yu Fei.

This isn't the first time, nor will it be the last.

Everyone knows why the magician likes Yu Fei.

Because Yu Fei is like the "reincarnation" of the magician, the contemporary incarnation of his old man on the court.

This incarnation is much more impressive than the likes of Lamar Odom.

Therefore, ABC commentator Brad Nessler jokingly asked: "If Frye is placed on the Lakers, can he resolve the differences between OKC?"

"Oh no..." the magician said exaggeratedly, "This will trigger World War III!"

Exaggeration is the style of a magician, but it is not exaggerated if you think about it carefully.

The feud between Yu Fei and O'Neill is well known.

It can be said that, apart from Jordan, O'Neal is the player Yu Fei hates the most.If they were put into the same team, Yu Fei would be more rebellious than Kobe.

What about Yu Fei and Kobe?No one knows what will happen. Although the two of them have never had any conflicts, Kobe is also recognized as having low emotional intelligence and is difficult to get along and communicate with, so it is difficult to get along with someone with a strong personality like Yu Fei.

The topic of Yu Fei and OK ended when the second half arrived.

In the second half, Yu Fei tied the score with a pull-up three-pointer.

After that, the Pacers lost the initiative in the game.

Because the Bucks suddenly took action.

In the 4th minute of the third quarter, Karl used Ray Allen, Devin George, Michael Reid and Robert Horry to cooperate with Yu Fei to start the X offense.

With Yu Fei beside him, Reid didn't dare to make mistakes, and Ray Allen started the second half with a 100% three-point shooting rate.

The Pacers, who seemed to be both offensive and defensive, and more restrained than the Bucks last season, were suddenly suppressed.

After 7 minutes, the Bucks gained a 16-point lead through a mercury-laden offense, establishing the victory in one fell swoop.

The strange thing is that after the Bucks defeated the Pacers in an away game and broke their opponent's winning streak, the media after the game kept asking questions about the Lakers.

As Bryant's legal issues head to trial, it has become a protracted battle. The NBA will have no reaction until Kobe is found guilty, so Kobe can play for the Lakers in the new season.

Ever since, the Lakers with F4 are the team that has pushed this season to the finale.

As the absolute core of this team, Shaquille O'Neal will not forgive those who have offended him repeatedly in the past.

The Bucks and Lakers will face off for the first time this season on November 11.

It's only four days from now.

O'Neal warmed up for this in a unique way in Los Angeles: "I know everyone is talking about No. 44 now, saying that he is the new king and the taker of the king's power, but I tell you, he is nothing. He won before It’s the Emperor’s New Clothes, and if you think that’s going to put him on the throne, I’m going to tell you this season that’s bullshit! Yes, that’s bullshit!”

Reporters are always qualified, and they will not tell Yu Fei the exact words like a gossip.

Here's what they said to Fly: "What do you think about Shaquille O'Neal calling you a piece of shit?"

"I think even a piece of shit has value as fertilizer, and O'Neal has no value in my eyes." Yu Fei said eloquently, "He can abandon Orlando for the spotlight and flowers in Los Angeles, which shows that he has no loyalty. And a sense of belonging, Kobe said that he did something that O'Neal also did, which shows that he is not only morally corrupt, but also not a player who can bring positive influence to young people. Last year, he showed that he is a shameful race Activists."

"Such an unfaithful, unjust and immoral scum of the earth, no matter what he says, it is as disgusting to me as a rotting corpse, so don't mention this scum again."

"Do you have any other questions?"

(End of this chapter)