When pride still matters

Chapter 286 For the Championship

On December 12, the Bucks came to Detroit for their first game against the Pistons this season.

Interestingly, Latrell Sprewell, who was suspended for one year last year due to the Brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills, was released from the ban not long ago, but did not officially return until today.

Sprewell's comeback has lost one thing - his starting lineup.

In the NBA, not to mention a year, even a month's absence will cause a lot of things to happen.

Now, the Bucks have replaced Sprewell with Raja Bell and are vigorously cultivating Kevin Martin, who is very likely to be elected as the most improved player of the year.

For a former star, losing his starting position is difficult to accept, but Sprewell has nothing to be unhappy about.

He received a big contract for retirement, which was enough for him to accept all adversities.

Ever since Yu Fei secured the pension contract for him last season, Sprewell knew that he owed a huge favor, a favor so big that he had to spend the rest of his career repaying it.

He has only one mission, and that is to defend Yu Fei's glory.

If Yu Fei needs him to be a substitute, he will be a substitute.

Tonight, Yu Fei had a rare inefficient night because he used a lot of post-up shots against the Pistons.

However, his low-post shooting percentage is not high, and whenever he starts to post up, an old friend wearing Wizards No. 23 often appears in his mind.

Whenever he wanted to imitate his old friend's actions to deal with the piston, his body would produce an instinctive resistance, making him want to get rid of the figure in his mind.

But he can't do it. It's like when you have insomnia in the dead of night, but a catchy song keeps thinking about you. No matter how you divert your attention, that song will play in your mind. .

This is what Yu Fei experienced.

However, the Pistons are no longer the tough team they were in the past two years.

Larry Brown's system has been dismantled by their current coach Flip Saunders. The Bucks' outside shooters are scrambling to make a difference, and Kwame Brown is reaping big bonuses.

Because the Pistons' defensive focus is Yu Fei, Brown will get one opportunity after another without having to do anything.

This also allowed Brown to have his season masterpiece against the Pistons, with 26 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks in a single game.

"I think my experience in Milwaukee proved one thing." Brown said like a philosopher. "Following the dog, you can only eat shit, but hiding behind the wolf king, you can pick up meat to eat."

As for whether the dog Brown refers to is Nowitzki or Jordan, that's a matter of opinion.

However, it is also possible that it is both, a German Shepherd and an American Blackback, huh.

Yu Fei shot 21 of 7 tonight and only scored 22 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. However, he still won the game, but he became a big core being dragged forward by four teammates tonight.

But he enjoys his current situation very much.

When his teammates can play with Kerry, he takes the opportunity to practice in the low post. Against a strong defensive team like the Pistons, his low post offense cannot be used as a normal offensive method.

However, he does use some Michael Jordan-esque low-post moves that are formulaic and don't yet combine footwork with skill, but are still effective.

The low shooting percentage tonight is related to my own touch.

Yu Fei feels that he may need dozens of games before he can get started.

After getting started, if you want to improve, you need to find a master for special training in the offseason.

At the press conference that night, reporters mainly focused on Sprewell's comeback performance.

Although security at the Palace of Auburn Hills has been tightened and the situation is not as bad as it was a year ago, there are still a lot of unfriendly things happening.

Sprewell played 18 minutes in extremely bad circumstances and scored 8 points and 3 rebounds.

"I'm pretty sure Spree won't rush into the audience again." Yu Fei said, "Over the past year, he has not only maintained training, but also participated in mutual aid meetings to calm his inner anger. His emotional management has become better. , I believe he prepared a lot for tonight's game, and as you all saw, he was not affected."

Brown's departure and the Pistons' decline in strength seem to have eased the conflict between the Bucks and Pistons.

Reporters didn't get any bad words about the Pistons from Yu Fei.

Then, a reporter from ESPN asked: "The Bucks currently rank first in the Eastern Conference with a record of 14 wins and 5 losses. As a team with a large number of young people, how do you train young players and maintain competitiveness?" A combination?"

"There is no need to worry about both. As long as our young people are as good as Kevin Martin, their potential will naturally be developed and the team's record will be guaranteed."

Then came the strangest question of the day, a question that had nothing to do with the Bucks, Pistons or even Fei himself.

"What do you think of Stan Van Gundy's dismissal?"

Yu Fei said casually: "I think Coach Riley may be coming back."

This is not a prophecy, nor is it the vision of a time traveler. Yu Fei just said something that the outside world has been talking about for more than a year.

Since the Heat traded O'Neal, rumors of Riley's comeback have become increasingly common. In the playoffs last season, the Heat lost to the Pacers and stopped in the semifinals. Van Gundy's coaching methods were questioned by O'Neal, and the relationship between the two deteriorated.

Now, this relationship is gone forever. With Van Gundy losing control of the team, Riley, who has retreated behind the scenes for several years, is keenly aware that this is his last chance to win a championship as a coach.

On the day the Bucks defeated the Pistons in an away game, Van Gundy dismissed get out of class, and Riley returned to the stage and picked up the pointer again.

This seems like a declaration.

The Heat have championship-caliber players and coaches, and now they have to turn that into a championship.

Two days later, the Heat came to Milwaukee.

This is the first time the Heat have played against the Bucks this season.

The arrival of the Heat reminded Yu Fei of the reporter who asked him about Van Gundy's dismissal the night before.

Now it seems that that question is not pointless. After all, the Bucks are about to play against the Heat.

The Heat coached by Riley should be the complete version of the Heat that defeated the Mavericks in 2006.

Yu Fei regards the Heat as the biggest competitor in the Eastern Conference, and he also attaches great importance to tonight's game.

Bradley Center

At a press conference yesterday, Pat Riley, as the president of the Heat, announced that Pat Riley would succeed Stan Van Gundy as the new head coach of the Heat.

It was a little joke Riley played on the media.

A reporter from "Sports Illustrated" asked him: "Do you feel that the world is completely different now compared to the past?"

Riley admits that his time has passed, but he still has faith in himself and wants to be the same person he was in his heyday: cunning, driven, resourceful, passionate, creative and with the means to turn his ideas into reality . In the 20s and 80s, Riley was the epitome of success, a stylish shark who made NBA coaches look as cool as the players through sophisticated grooming.

Riley was in the locker room with the team today, but not by choice.

It's 6:45 p.m., more than an hour before the Miami Heat's away game against the Eastern Conference's first-place Bucks, and the media is pouring in from the door. Riley is insular at home and away; when reporters are in the locker room for the required 45 minutes, he's almost never seen -- and the same goes for most of the team's key players.

Riley usually retreats to his office and the players retreat to the practice field, but the Bradley Center is an old arena whose designers, like the older generation, are not friendly to guests. . Legend has it that Cardinal Red Auerbach often turned up the temperature in the visiting team's locker room to increase the fatigue of visiting team players.

The Bucks did the opposite. They opened the door to the media. Not only did the visiting team's locker room not have a small door, but the visiting team was prohibited from entering for training half an hour before the game started. The visiting team's coaches and players could only hide in their own room. In front of his locker, he faced reporters swarming in.

Soon, the team of Mourning, O'Neal, Wade, Jason Williams, Gary Payton, and Antoine Walker, who were expected to win the championship this season, found themselves surrounded.

Only Riley stood there undisturbed, as if there was a force field around him that would scorch any stupid reporter who tried to get close to him. He was staring at an oversized tactical board, which was covered with text, slashes, arrows, and tactical diagrams.

"Eric, what's on the blackboard today?"

Riley asked suddenly.

The so-called writing on the blackboard can actually be understood as the team's game slogan that day. This is Stan Van Gundy's habit and was inherited by Riley.

"How about 'First Step to a Championship,'" said Erik Spoelstra, Riley's top assistant.

Riley nodded without thinking: "Okay."

Spoelstra wrote this sentence on the tactical board.

Looking at Spoelstra's words, Riley couldn't help but think of Van Gundy's tearful speech when he resigned the day before yesterday. He said that this was to return to his family.

What a good reason to return to your family? Every man needs a haven.

But if a man cannot hold back his tears strongly, no matter how beautiful the harbor is, it will be destroyed.

So, why did Riley come back?

Riley clearly remembers answering reporters: "To win the last championship."

That last word reminded Riley of his old nemesis - Phil Jackson, who made the 1997-98 Bulls season theme The Last Dance - the lucky bastard who had the privilege of coaching OKC because he had the privilege of coaching Michael Jordan. Yes, it's a mouthful, but you can understand it, right? He is so "lucky".

What about me?

"Eric," Riley said, "your handwriting is much worse than Stan's."

Si Bo was stunned.

"In other words," Riley said, "For the championship."

"For the championship?"

"Yes," Riley repeated, "for the championship."

(End of this chapter)