When pride still matters

Chapter 237

At the beginning of the pre-season training camp, Yu Fei had only one feeling about Udonis Haslem.

Did he bring about some butterfly effect that affected Haslem? Why is he so fat?

Haslem is a bit overweight.

But this is not a big problem. As long as he loses weight, he will still be the same person in Yu Fei's memory.

Mason began to become Haslem's mentor. They ate together every day and trained together. After one season, Haslem lost dozens of pounds, and his body developed muscle lines like Mason.

This is the person in Yu Fei's memory.

It's just that in the Bucks, he got few opportunities because he couldn't shoot, and as a blue-collar player, he couldn't compare with Mason.

Tonight is a special opportunity.

Karl has only one request for Haslem, and that is to be obedient.

He would do whatever Yu Fei asked him to do.

In the first offensive round after Haslem came on the court, Yu Fei asked him to come out for a pick-and-roll.

The Pistons knew very little about Haslem, so they chose to surround Yu Fei with all their strength.

This gives Haslem a chance to attack the basket.

Yu Fei made a light pass and assisted Haslem for a dunk.

"Well done, UD (nickname)." Yu Fei said loudly, "As long as you can score goals like this steadily, your next contract will be secured."

Haslem suspects the gang is PUA himself.

When he first joined the team, head coach Karl asked him to learn from Laettner. If he could learn to shoot three-pointers, his next contract would be secured.

Mason then scoffed at the idea of ​​practicing three-pointers as the work of a wimp (which he believed) and suggested losing weight. If he can lose weight, his next contract could be secured.

Now Yu Fei said that if he can eat pie steadily, the next contract will be secured.

Although he has just entered the first year of his rookie contract and is far from worrying about the next contract, others talking about the contract all day long have brought him a lot of insecurity.

Hearing what Yu Fei said, Haslem dared not ignore it, but he soon discovered that eating cakes was not a technical job.

The only difficulty was his passing route. As long as he succeeded in passing the ball, Yu Fei's ball could be passed over.

Yu Fei's passing is very comfortable, neither fast nor slow. Every time he catches the ball, it feels the same.

There is only a basket in front of you, just put the ball in and that's it.

This is the feeling of putting food in your mouth.

After a few minutes of playing, Haslem had an evil thought: If this is what it feels like to play pick-and-roll with Da Fei, then he can also start.

However, replacing Mason is not just a matter of picking and rolling and taking advantage of the pie.

The Pistons' offense was sluggish for a few minutes. When they realized that Haslem was profitable, they concentrated on finding a breakthrough in the rookie.

Haslem is tough but inexperienced. He first fouled and then gave the opportunity to misplace the opponent. Then, just as the Pistons thought, many flaws appeared on the defensive end.

The Bucks didn't expect him to completely replace Mason.

Haslem lost points on the defensive end, and Yu Fei recovered them one by one on the offensive end.

In the second half of the second quarter, Yu Fei's control of the game became increasingly obvious.

The Pistons scored through the offensive end, but Yu Fei controlled the rhythm and looked for suitable opportunities to launch an attack.

No matter how much the Pistons gained from Haslem, they eventually paid it back on the defensive end.

In the last attack of the first half, Yu Fei controlled the ball and pressed for time.

At this time, the Bucks had replaced Mutombo, allowing Laettner to open up space for Yu Fei.

The Pistons didn't dare to bet on Laettner's shooting, so they asked Prince to defend to the end.

Yu Fei also doesn't call for pick-and-rolls. He is confident that he can break down the defense on his own.

In the last five seconds of the first half, Yu Fei dribbled the ball, feinted to the left, started a breakthrough to the right, stopped suddenly, made a fake move to try to jump on the spot, shook Prince, stepped back, collected the ball, and shot a three-pointer. Jump shot from outside the line.

The buzzer sounded, and Yu Fei didn't give the piston even a second.

"Shh!"

"56 to 49! Frye Yu's three-pointer at the buzzer allowed the Bucks to enter the second half with a 7-point advantage!"

"With 25 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, Frye almost had a triple-double in the first half!"

The commentator's exclamation, the fans' cheers, and the opponents' fear were all concentrated on Fei.

His outstanding performance reflected the collapse of the Pistons' defensive system, which forced Larry Brown to make a decision that violated his ancestors.

Zone defense is the only thing they have not tried yet, and it is also a suggestion that someone will make when the topic of "how to limit Da Fei" is mentioned.

Even fans know that zone defense may work against Da Fei, but Brown has been stubborn for four and a half games.

Now he has no choice. If he doesn't change his thinking, the Pistons will be completely defeated.

"Is change a good thing, Helt?"

Brown asked his brother before the second half.

"I don't know, Larry, I just know that if we don't change, Frye is going to kill us," Hurt said.

Brown is uneasy about the upcoming changes in the team. Although the risks are high, he must take a gamble.

If successful, perhaps he will become the first professional basketball coach in history to have both an NCAA championship and an NBA championship resume.

What if it fails?

That would just be a failure, just like it was in the 21 previous NBA seasons he coached.

As Yu Fei walked through the tunnel, fans reached out through the fence to give him a high-five.

Yu Fei responded and took a look at James' VIP area, only to find that the person was missing. Just when Yu Fei thought his wonderful performance had stimulated Xiao Zhan, he met him and the group of relatives and friends who had been following him all day in the corridor.

"Brother, impeccable performance!" James came up and shook hands with Yu Fei, "I'm proud of you!"

Yu Fei said sincerely: "It's nothing. In a few years, you can do it too."

Hearing Brother Yu's praise, James smiled modestly: "I still have a lot to learn."

"Bron, this is what I like about you. You are obviously very outstanding, but you are still so humble." Yu Fei had to go back to the locker room. Before leaving, he gently patted his little brother's shoulder and said, "Go back." See."

After Yu Fei left, the people around him began to express their opinions.

Assistant Mims said: "Bron, I don't think you need a few years, you can do what he has done now."

What James longs for is not to do what Yu Fei did, but to be in the center of the stage and be the center of attention like him.

As for what he can do there, that's another story.

He believes that he is no worse than Fei, but he still needs to wait for the opportunity to come.

Rich Paul didn't like Yu Fei, because whenever Yu Fei came in front of James, he always put on airs and gave people a strong bro flavor.

It is true that Yu Fei is two years older than James, and he has taken good care of James before, but Paul does not think that the relationship between him and James is that of an elder brother and a younger brother.

However, through Yu Fei's efforts, he successfully made people understand that LeBron James is his little brother.

In the short term, there seems to be no problem.

Yu Fei is the hottest young superstar in the NBA. He led his team to win the championship in his second year and has the potential to win the Presidential Hill. Who wouldn't want to have a big brother like this?

But the "big brother's bond" will change everything. The expectation of "surpassing Jordan" that James carried when he entered the league will gradually turn into "surpassing big brother Frye Yu."

These are two different expectations.

For those in the James camp, their goal has never been Yu Fei.

However, James' perspective is completely different from theirs. Paul and the others had never heard James speak from the bottom of his heart about his views on Fei, but they all knew that the voice deep inside James was by no means as harmonious and friendly as it sounded on the surface.

Yu Fei hummed a little tune and walked to the locker room.

He actually has no ill intentions toward James.

If there is any negative view, it is also the reason why the basketball circle that has traveled through the former domestic Internet is launching an anti-share movement.

But he himself is a person who pays more attention to reality than the Internet. He does not care so much about the opinions on the Internet. He is just influenced by it, more or less. But after traveling through time, it is another matter to come into contact with each other face to face.

It is easy to blind people's prejudices through the Internet, but in reality, even if you only see the surface, you can have a more three-dimensional understanding.

James has excellent senses, high emotional intelligence, and is nice to talk to. He enjoys the feeling of being the other person's big brother. He believes that Xiao Zhan also enjoys the feeling of being the little brother.

Ok.

Back in the locker room, George Karl gave an impassioned speech about how "Detroiters have reached the end of the road."

The central idea is that the team still needs to stick together.

Finally, the prospect of defending the championship was used to arouse the players' fighting spirit.

Karl wants to enter the finals, because the Lakers F4 has a high probability of sweeping the Western Conference.

The Bucks have proven in the regular season that they can beat the Lakers, and once they enter the Finals against them, they have a great chance of winning.

Last year Yu Fei liquidated Jordan, and this year it is his turn to liquidate Phil Jackson.

Five minutes before the start of the second half, the Bucks returned to the scene to shoot to warm up.

With a 7-point lead and Yu Fei, a weapon that can break the iron barrel formation, the whole team is full of confidence.

After that, at the beginning of the second half, the Pistons' starting lineup was still the same five people. Just as the Bucks expected, they had become immutable.

In order to exchange for Rasheed Wallace, the depth of the lineup was exhausted, and the main force must be roughened in the playoffs.

In the positional battle, the Pistons created outside shooting opportunities for Richard Hamilton.

Hamilton made a three-pointer and hit.

56 is better than 52

In the second half, they broke the game with outside shots, which is an uncommon aspect of the Pistons.

Subsequently, the Bucks attacked the round.

Yu Fei controlled the ball and Prince harassed him from the front.

It took the two sides six or seven seconds to reach the frontcourt.

Yu Fei took a closer look and thought there was something wrong with his eyes.

He took another look to make sure it was correct.

The Pistons are defending a zone. This is a 1-3-1 zone defense. Larry Brown has changed. Doesn't he hate zone defense the most?

The Pistons' use of a 1-3-1 zone defense was clearly well thought out.

The zone defense mainly limits the defense at the top of the arc, the free throw line and both sides. This is exactly the area where Yu Fei launched attacks frequently in the first half.

The disadvantage of this set of zone defense is that it is easy to miss the corners of the paint area and the three-pointers from the left and right bottom corners.

But the Bucks' three-point shots from the corner tonight were inaccurate.

After Yu Fei made a strong breakthrough, he found Sprewell in the bottom corner and passed the ball.

Sprewell made a three-pointer from the bottom corner but missed.

As the Pistons expected, the Bucks were not accurate from the corner three points tonight.

The rhythm and confrontation mode of this game have entered a new realm. Although the Pistons' zone defense is unfamiliar, they have the defensive resources to do a good job in zone defense. The Wallace brothers can press into the high post, sweep up from the top of the key, and retreat to the basket. The comprehensive defensive pillar that can protect the basket makes them a bit overqualified as the axis of the iron barrel formation. Zone defense is a clever way to fully unleash the defensive potential.

Now that the Pistons have played all their cards, the Bucks need to face the test of a three-pointer from the corner. If the shot is made, everything will be alive. If the shot is not made, life or death is uncertain.

Yu Fei fed Ray Allen and Sprewell each with corner three-pointers in two of the next three rounds. As a result, one hit the iron and the other was interfered by Prince's long arm. None of them scored. The only one that scored was Gazulic's hook shot from the corner of the left paint area.

This did not quench their thirst. The Pistons used zone defense to revitalize the situation. They once again put the Bucks in trouble, and the game was climbing towards the peak of pressure.

(End of this chapter)