When pride still matters

Chapter 208 What are you doing? Aren’t you here to assist me?
The Bucks and Cavaliers meet for the first time this season on November 11th.

The Bucks traveled to Cleveland as a guest.

As far as the records of both sides are concerned, the Bucks have won two consecutive games after Yu Fei's comeback and are currently 5 wins and 2 losses. The Cavaliers only narrowly defeated Yu Fei's team in the last game after suffering a five-game losing streak at the beginning of the season. His old club, the Washington Wizards, won their first win of the season.

In terms of record, the Bucks are currently third in the Eastern Conference, while the Cavaliers are at the bottom.

The game is not the focus.

But the "first showdown between the Chosen One and the King" was a huge gimmick.

After Kobe Bryant's reputation was tarnished, the NBA urgently needed to restore its reputation. Therefore, Yu Fei and Tracy McGrady, two promising superstars, received more hype and greater exposure.

And James, the star of tomorrow, is also the focus of the league.

Professional basketball needs stars, and everyone concludes that James is the destined future star.

As a result, the game was being hyped in the days leading up to it.

When Yu Fei arrived in Cleveland with the team, there were a lot of reporters outside the airport.

They kept asking questions about James.

As James' eldest brother, Yu Fei showed rare patience and said almost everything he knew.

The most interesting question at the scene was: "How did you and LeBron develop such a close friendship?"

Yu Fei smiled because he didn't know the answer either.

"This is beyond words." Yu Fei said, "You know, friendship, like love, is the simplest and most profound thing in the world."

In the evening, while Yu Fei was having dinner in the hotel, he received a text message from James.

"Fry, reporters asked me a hundred questions about you today and they were crazy!"

Yu Fei replied: "You know, LeBron, even if you say good things about me to reporters, I will not show mercy to you."

James replied almost instantly: "I will let you see the strength of King James!"

Gund Stadium

At seven o'clock in the evening, Yu Fei came to the arena to warm up. There was still half an hour before the start of the game, and major TV stations were already on site.

After ten minutes, a large number of spectators entered the venue.

About 1/5 of the people are wearing James jerseys.

To say Cleveland is Jamestown is an understatement.

Not only did he fill up the attendance at home, he also increased the ratings of the Cavaliers' games by nearly 500%, especially the previous opener with the Kings. The ratings of that game were second only to the Bucks and Wizards last season. a match.

Subsequently, a Nike advertisement was played on the four large screens at the scene.

Of course it's related to James.

Nike titled the ad “Pressure.”

Then, the commercial begins: James holds the ball for the first time in his NBA debut.Guarded by the Kings' Mike Bibby, James paused to survey the court.

"Can he handle it?" one commentator said to another, as James froze and the camera focused on his face.For the next 52 seconds - James stood there motionless, and the entire arena was silent.

"You said you couldn't handle the pressure," one commentator whispered.

"You are a joke!" one fan shouted from the stands.

“Come on, kid,” Hall of Famer George “The Iceman” Gervin said to himself as he sat courtside.

Finally, James smiled.The screen faded to black, and Nike's swoosh logo appeared on the screen.

After reading it, Lian Yu Fei shook his head. He could only say that Nike is worthy of being Nike, and even the advertisements are better than other sneaker companies.

However, if you think about it carefully, this is not an advertisement, but a question sent to James by Nike on behalf of the general public.

Can he withstand this kind of pressure? - Although there are gems like Moses Malone, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and Yu Fei in front of him, the NBA's pressure on James There are still more expectations than any rookie in league history.

This past summer, James' jerseys were the NBA's best-selling merchandise.In NBA stores, only the Los Angeles Lakers merchandise sells better than Cavaliers merchandise.In terms of television broadcasts, the Cavaliers, a weak team that has been ignored before and is almost certain to miss the playoffs this season, received 13 national live broadcasts.

Charles Barkley spoke out on TNT against the league hyping James so much: "I think the NBA is doing him a disservice by hyping him up so early and having him on TV all the time. I think he's very likely to Become a superstar in three or four years. But now, he still has a long way to go."

After learning about the hype, expectations and pressure faced by James, Yu Fei gave a "this is it" evaluation to all future players whose "hype is comparable to James".

In terms of public opinion, media, fan expectations and the league's popularity, James is the number one in history.

Therefore, when Yu Fei met James in the midfield, he was ready to give his little brother a real education lesson.

As the eldest brother, it is his duty to motivate his younger brothers and make them better.

Otherwise, what qualifications does he have to say that he is James' eldest brother?
"Fry, I promise my first shot tonight will be a dunk."

James seemed to be provoking, but it actually revealed the weak nature of the Bucks' inside line.

"Then let's go."

Yu Fei snorted lightly and took the initiative to apply to play against James.

The game hasn't started yet, but this scene has already aroused the excitement of the audience.

James' mother Gloria couldn't help but call Yu Fei.

Yu Fei looked over and wanted to know what his aunt had to say.

"Fry, be nice to my son." Gloria's smile was extremely bright, and her eyes were actually a little seductive.Yu Fei felt a chill in his heart. Could it be Delonte West's rumor?
He shook his head vigorously and stopped thinking about things that had nothing to do with the game.

The Cavaliers won the jump ball. James looked very excited. After his attempt to break through Yu Fei failed, he jumped up immaturely and gave a bad pass to Ricky Davis.

If Yu Fei were Davis, he would definitely criticize Xiao Zhan. How could he pass the ball like this?
But for Davis, the most important thing is to ensure that he is still the boss of the Cavaliers.

James' passing represents obedience. If the first ball is not given to the inside, it will be given to the boss. This is the unspoken rule of most teams.

Davis made a three-pointer from a 45-degree angle on the right side, scoring the Cavaliers' first point.

"Come on, Fry, come on!"

James clapped his hands, looking forward to Yu Fei's attack.

Yu Fei was not polite to him. After the face-off, he lowered his center of gravity, crossed his hips and dribbled to the left, then stopped and shot a step-back jumper.

3 is better than 2
"LeBron, are you letting me score on purpose?" Yu Fei teased, "Don't do this, it will develop bad habits."

James was a little embarrassed. He obviously defended very seriously, but he was not Yu Fei's enemy. He was even considered to have let go.

Frye is Frye.
James adjusted the position of his hairband and then came to the frontcourt with a more serious attitude.

However, James is too young in every aspect, and Yu Fei doesn't use his brain at all.

Get started, observe his center of gravity, and guess right.

James gradually forgot about his promise to score the first point with a dunk, because he did not have the ability to break through Yu Fei's defense one-on-one. He spent a long time dribbling alone on the outside, waiting for his teammates to come to the high post to clear the ball.

James, who had nothing to do, passed the ball.

Darius Miles missed the shot.

Cavaliers coach Paul Silas looked sullen.

Before the start of the season, he believed that Miles could serve as the team's point guard, with Davis as the second position and James as the third position.

But the five-game losing streak at the beginning of the season bankrupted his idea, and he had to put James at the No. [-] position like most people wanted.

Myers looks like a bust, and Davis and James have no chemistry to speak of.

As much as he hates to admit it, the Cavaliers are counting on James.

For a young man under the age of 19, this is an unreasonably large burden.

However, as long as you consider that the opposite Yu Fei led the broken Wizards to the playoffs a year and a half ago, the expectations that James endures become reasonable.

As the most hyped rookie of all time, he deserves to be as good as Yu Fei.

James has been suppressed by Yu Fei since the beginning.

He wanted to change this situation, so he showed a side that was unfamiliar to his teammates.

The previous James felt precocious and stable. He would not be eager to show his strength to the world like a normal rookie.

He always dribbles to the high post, then deals cards to Miles, sets the ball to Davis, and lobs the ball inside.

Usually only when he is rotating the offense, he will show his fiery desire to attack.

The advantage of this is that it covers up the offensive instability caused by the current rough technology, and secondly, it ensures a certain efficiency.

But now, James has become irrational and wants to use his 245 pounds (111KG) body to fly.

To be fair, James is even heavier than Yu Fei, who has played for two seasons.

For a player of his age to have such a strong physique is indeed a gift.

However, James has not yet strengthened his skills, while Yu Fei has two years of professional game experience, coupled with daily hard training in the gym, his core strength is at the top level in the NBA. It's unsustainable when he gets to the free throw line.

As a last resort, James chose to make a pull-up jump shot.

Yu Fei, who was not out of position at all, reacted instantly and blocked the shot in person.

"Innocent!"

Yu Fei catches up with the ball.

James followed closely behind, chasing shots is his specialty, but Yu Fei suddenly slowed down in the frontcourt, leaned back, pushed him away, and then used his strength to take off and dunk.

After 4 minutes, 5 to 11, the Bucks had a clear advantage.

The most important thing is that Yu Fei dominated James in the matchup. This offense and defense are the most intuitive.

A few days ago, after Yu Fei scored 36 points on Anthony, he gave the opponent a comment: "You are so bad, don't you usually train?"

As James' eldest brother, Yu Fei naturally would not speak harshly. He said with a little kindness: "Your skills are too rough, you still need to practice."

There's good news and bad news for James.

The good news is that his eldest brother is friendly to him. Although he also talks trash, it is not unacceptable.

The bad news is that he is a bit worse now. Although it is not incomprehensible, the outside world's expectations for him are too high. Although it is not exaggerated to the extent that he should be on par with his brother from the beginning, if he is beaten and has no ability to fight back. , King James is so shameless.

James wanted to try again.

Later, Ricky Davis, James' real brother on the team, came over angrily, "Bron, what are you doing? You have to pass the ball! You promised to help me reverse Cleveland's misfortune. What did you just do? What are you doing?!"

(End of this chapter)