When pride still matters

Chapter 233 Only after reading this did I realize he was me

February 2004, 5

It was the match day of the Battle of Tianwang Mountain. It was probably the reason why he was severely rewarded by Christina last night. Yu Fei only felt that he was full of energy today.

It's just that Christina has to go to Los Angeles for an audition today and can't come to watch the game.

Yu Fei felt a little regretful. The absence of such an eye-catching person on the sidelines of such an important game would be a big loss to the old Bradley Center.

Fortunately, Yu Fei learned a piece of news during the afternoon training that stirred up his emotions more than Christina to some extent.

"Fry, your little brother may come to watch the game tonight." George Karl said playfully, "You have to behave well."

Yu Fei snorted softly: "Where did you come from, bitch, and you come up and call me brother?"

"LeBron."

"Huh?" Yu Fei felt there was a conspiracy in this, "No way, LeBron will definitely say hello to me in advance if he comes to watch the game!"

Karl said helplessly: "He wanted to surprise you, but there were too many people and the tickets were sold out."

"He can buy scalper tickets!"

As soon as Yu Fei finished speaking, he felt that he didn't understand Xiao Zhan a little bit.

This is a person who claimed in the social media era that he would not surf the Internet in places without WIFI. How could he spend several times or even more than ten times the money to buy game tickets?
  "That's not necessary." Karl laughed. "It would be an insult to us if we let LeBron buy a second-hand ticket to enter the stadium."

Yu Fei understood: "Did you help him solve the problem?"

Karl nodded and said: "I also promised to keep it a secret for him, so please act a little surprised when you see him tonight."

"no problem."

Suddenly, Yu Fei was looking forward to the game even more.

The Pistons are of great significance to James' career - they were the first stumbling block James encountered in his long career.

But now, a person who shouldn't have appeared in his life - his brother Yu.

Now Yu Fei is a representative figure of high school players, and his every move will be used as a benchmark for James.

Since the original version of James could beat the Pistons to pieces in 2007, as the eldest brother, he beat the peak Pistons to pieces in 2004. Isn't this a high request?

Yu Fei thought it was not high. As long as he did this, even if James staged the legendary Battle of Tianwang Mountain as scheduled a few years later, to people, it would just be a symbol of him "catching up with Yu Fei".

As the eldest brother, Yu Fei thinks this is good for James.

Although the outside world's praise for him has decreased, it has also created a more relaxed environment for him to grow. He no longer has to compare with Jordan in everything, he only needs to compare with his brother Yu.

Yu Fei couldn't help but feel excited when he thought that stealing the limelight could bring so many benefits to Xiao Zhan, and his momentum became even higher.

Then, it was evening.

With half an hour left before the start of the game, the Bucks were the first to arrive.

By this time, James and his three best friends had also arrived at the scene.

Yu Fei recognized the three, namely Rich Paul, Maverick Carter (who was assigned to work at Nike) and Mims (assistant).

James and the three of them call themselves the "Four Horsemen" together. Although they are not related by blood, they are close friends who are closer than brothers.

"Yeah, LeBron, it's so nice to see you!" Yu Fei said grandly, "Why don't you say hello to me in advance?"

His acting was so fake that James exposed him on the spot: "You already knew that, right?"

"Of course," Yu Fei smiled, "No one in Milwaukee will do anything without telling me."

Having the right to know everything is a status symbol.

James believes he is in the same position with the Cavaliers.

James sighed: "George's guarantee is indeed not credible."

"Since you are here, prepare to enjoy my performance." Yu Fei said excitedly, "Thanks to you, I am full of energy now!"

James played against the entire Pistons at the end of the season.

In that game, the Cavaliers only scored 76 points, and his own performance was even more disastrous. He made 17 of 5 shots and only scored 15 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

James still remembers the night he felt ashamed that he had let down Carlos Boozer (12 points and 10 rebounds on 21-of-17 shooting).

James also knows that as a rookie, he will not be blamed even if he has one or two bad performances.

But he's also happy to have such a great teammate as Boozer.

He believes they can create great things together in the future.

At this moment, seeing Yu Fei being so confident, James couldn't help but look forward to the game more.

Yu Fei returned to the court to warm up.

In fact, you can find clues about a person's state just by looking at his warm-up.

Yu Fei felt like he was on fire tonight. He shot all the way from the free throw line and farther and farther away, hitting consecutive shots until he missed the shot in the center circle.

Mason, who was responsible for passing the ball, said in surprise: "Are your hands so hot tonight?"

"It's just average. If you want to get 50 points, it's still a little short of that."

50 points...

Although Mason believes in Yu Fei's strength, what is the concept of scoring 50 points against the Pistons? Since the Pistons formed a complete body, it is common for them to limit their opponents to less than 70 points in a single game.

Now, you have to score 50 points on their heads, which is really fanciful.

But Mason would not deny Yu Fei all of a sudden.

After all, this is a man who dared to promise himself to win the championship when the Bucks were not looking like a champion at all.

Soon after, the warm-up ended, and the players from both sides came off the court to listen to the head coach's pre-start instructions.

Karl doesn't want much, as long as the team can play with characteristics in the opening game.  His attention was entirely on Fei.

"Fry, watch out for their double teams."

This was Karl's only advice.

This sentence sounds simple, but actually it is not simple at all.

Starting from the third game, the Pistons' pick-and-roll defense against Yu Fei is no longer formulaic.

They like to choose to suddenly surround themselves in some unconventional positions, forcing Yu Fei to find someone to pass the ball in an uncomfortable position.

But these unformulated double-teams contain the Pistons' tactical intentions under the appearance of randomness.

Since there is a tactical intention, there must be a pattern.

The Bucks have internally summarized this pattern, but the key to how to counter it lies in Fei Shang.

Subsequently, the two sides made their debut.

One change the Bucks made is to let Laettner enter the starting lineup. In this way, the Bucks can provide 4 OUT support to Yu Fei at least in the starting stage.

Whenever Karl thinks about the way he defeated the Pistons in the first game, he feels unfinished and wants to do it again.

The sense of powerlessness that comes from all directions and indiscriminate bombing, the feeling that even the best defensive team in history is unable to do anything, the pure offensive beauty and a state above all else brings about a scene - the future of basketball The sight fascinated Carl.

As for the Pistons, unlike the Bucks, their starting lineup has already been fixed.

Brown is not the kind of person who will change the starting lineup easily, especially the Pistons' starting lineup, which seems to be impeccable. In terms of this style of play, he doesn't know who among these five people can be replaced.

If Brown were asked to select players from across the league to optimize the lineup, the only change he would consider is to replace Hamilton with Bryant.

He didn't consider anything else.

But even if they don't change, this lineup can be regarded as the five most correct players for this style of play.

On the opening jump ball, Gazulic jumped high to help the Bucks get the ball.

Yu Fei wanted to break quickly, but was blocked by Prince.

Although Prince failed to guard Yu Fei in the past four games, he is an emotionally stable person and will not doubt himself even if he is beaten.

Yu Fei wanted to destroy him with trash talk, but Prince acted as if he didn't understand English.

No matter how many times he is beaten, he will continue to fight in his own way.

He's one of those guys who can take any hit and keep fighting.

Yu Fei admires such people.

In his opinion, what his good buddy Kwame Brown lacks most is this indomitable quality.

Yu Fei waited patiently for Leitner to run to the frontcourt and start a pick-and-roll with him.

Before Rasheed Wallace could react, Yu Fei had already broken through to the free throw line, forcing the Pistons' defense to shrink toward the center and then pass the ball to the outside.

This is the opportunity Laettner has been waiting for.

"Shh!"

3 is better than 0
  Laettner clenched his fists excitedly. This was the first time he had found a good touch in the series. He was eager for more passes.

The Pistons are still playing a constipated offense.

Whenever he sees the Pistons playing like this, Yu Fei is glad that he is not participating in Larry Brown's national team. This is really not a basketball game played by humans.

They launched their tactics meticulously, but the Bucks, who knew everything about them, blocked the tactical route, so they changed their tactics and gave the ball to Rasheed, allowing Big Ben's half-brother to force a single.

This is another benefit that Rasheed's arrival has brought to the Pistons.

They can really score with this kind of unstructured isolation play.

Rasheed turned over and shot a jumper after playing in the back, and there was almost no interference from Laettner.

3 is better than 2
  Watching the Pistons players running past, Yu Fei sighed.

He believes the Pistons certainly don't feel constipated offensively.

The reason why Yu Fei feels there is a problem with the Pistons' style of play is because he comes from the future, and the Bucks are playing an advanced offense under him. But if you don't compare the Pistons to the Bucks and don't look at them from the perspective of the future, the Pistons don't seem to have much wrong with them.

In the playoffs, they conceded an average of 80.7 points per game and then averaged 87 points per game. This kind of suffocating offensive and defensive dominance is rare.

Yu Fei once again called for a pick-and-roll at position [-].

After learning the lesson from the start, the Pistons decided to switch defense and stick close to Laettner without giving him a chance to shoot.

But in this way, Yu Fei will have an opportunity to take advantage of it.

Rashid, who switches defense in front of Yu Fei, is naturally considered an elite defensive player, but Yu Fei is a person who can defeat Duncan in the finals. Why should he be afraid of a roaring emperor?

"Boom!"

The Pistons only saw Yu Fei dribbling the ball quickly. In the blink of an eye, Rashid lost his defensive position and watched Yu Fei rush into the basket, causing Ben Wallace to commit a defensive foul.

Although the score was not 2+1, Yu Fei's performance full of desire to win was enough to bring cheers from the audience.

Excited fans even chanted MVP before he made the free throw.

Yu Fei's performance fascinated James, who has yet to play in the NBA playoffs.

James often puts himself in Yu Fei's position. Looking at what Yu Fei does, he feels that if he were in his place, he could do the same thing.

Many people around James think so, and they are more than willing to share their opinions with James.

"LeBron, I have always felt that Frye is the more mature version of you." Rich Paul said, "In fact, his athletic ability is not as good as yours. You might have scored that goal just now."

(End of this chapter)