When pride still matters

Chapter 295 The Second Star

After the arrival of the New Year, Yu Fei's pace of life has obviously become much faster.

The Bucks are on a roll and have been No. 1 in the league since December.

Yu Fei's triple-double became a cultural phenomenon, allowing him to defeat Vince Carter, the GOAT in voting since the beginning of the new century, in the All-Star voting and become the league's vote leader.

Although the voting has not yet ended, there is no suspense about Yu Fei's vote-leading victory, because his main opponents are either underachievers (James), self-destructive (Carter), or notorious (Kobe Bryant).

Except for Yu Fei, no one on the Bucks has locked up a spot in the All-Star Game. The closest ones are Kevin Martin and... Kwame Brown.

Since the new century, centers in the league have withered, especially in the Eastern Conference, where stars have dimmed. That’s why Brown was able to squeeze into third place in the voting for the Eastern Conference All-Star center position with an average of 13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks per game this season.

However, Brown has two great gods hanging on his head. One is center O'Neal, who is voted first in the Eastern Conference, and the other is center Big Ben, who is voted second in the Eastern Conference.

Moreover, the vote advantage between these two compared to Brown is millions. This kind of gap can no longer be solved by Yu Fei just opening his mouth.

Regarding Brown's disappointment and regret, Yu Fei went up and said: "Kwame, as the best American center under the age of 30, do you have any doubts about the fact that you will be selected as an All-Star at least once in the future?"

Brown said dejectedly: "But... this is a million-level gap..."

Yu Fei smiled and said: "Don't worry, they will always grow old."

Brown had no choice but to admit it.

Compared with the hard-to-make-up gap in center votes, Kevin Martin is currently sixth in the Eastern Conference guard votes, less than 10,000 votes away from Richard Hamilton, who is fifth in the voting.

In addition to calling on his fans to vote for Martin, Yu Fei also wants Martin to perform at a high level in the near future.

This not only requires Martin to maintain the corresponding game state, but also requires Yu Fei to share the ball and use the gravity of the star to deliberately create opportunities for him.

In terms of personal status, Martin is undoubtedly in a hot state.

The overhand ban not only paves the way for the full unlocking of the ball-carrying core, but also provides space for a light and agile defender like Martin to take off.

In early January, the Bucks and Cavaliers ushered in their third game of the season.

Not long after the Christmas War, both sides seemed to be very familiar with their work, just like Yuki Yuzuru, who has collaborated with Fukada Eimi 2020 times between 2021 and 25. Everyone knows each other's materials, so there is no need to fix the fictitious ones. Give it a try.

Tonight, LeBron James was on full fire, scoring 31 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in front of Yu Fei, who is known for his triple-doubles. Tonight, Yu Fei did not seek to overwhelm his little brother in terms of statistics.

Because every game between the Bucks and Cavaliers is broadcast live across the United States, if you want to attract votes for Kevin Martin, this is your opportunity.

于飞把自己作为诱饵，不断给马丁创造机会，最终送出创个人纪录的单场23次助攻，让马丁以26投18中的惊人效率砍下职业生涯最高的48分5篮板4助攻。

Although the Cavaliers lost this battle, James won unanimous praise from the media.

Those media who favor James believe that this is "the first time LeBron has taken the initiative in front of Frye."

After all, James had a 30+ triple-double, while Yu Fei had 21 points, 8 rebounds and 23 assists. Although 23 assists have a greater impact on the game, there are two statistics that are surrounded.

This gave some people an excuse to attack James' teammates.

Regarding this phenomenon, Xiao Zhan, who just celebrated his 21st birthday, tried his best to dissuade him: "You know, I have the responsibility to protect everyone under my wings. If we fail, I hope it is me who will be criticized, because I didn’t make them better.”

Yu Fei congratulated James on his performance, and then concentrated on canvassing votes for Martin: "I have been telling Kevin that he can definitely become an All-Star this season. Tonight he played a performance that many All-Stars cannot. I'm proud of him."

"I don't want to listen to other people's flattery." Martin showed obvious disgust with outside public opinion. "For me, the only important advice is Frye's advice. He saved my career. I I feel like I can’t repay him no matter what I do.”

Martin's gratitude surprised Yu Fei. In his view, Martin's take-off depended on the league banning him in the second year of his career. But from Martin's perspective, Yu Fei was the one who advocated for the team to take action in the draft. The guy who drafted him and was patient with his shitty rookie season and kept giving him chances.

Different perspectives lead to different opinions.

Yu Fei continued to work hard, hoping that Martin would squeeze out Richard Hamilton's position and become a member of the Eastern All-Star Team.

After the game against the Cavaliers, Martin's popularity soared, and overnight, the vote gap between him and Hamilton was almost the same.

This is the time to strike while the iron is hot.

Two days later, the Bucks played against the Bulls at home, and Martin continued his hot streak.

This night, Yu Fei did not specifically pass the ball to Martin. He just scored the goals that should be scored, and also scored the goals that should not be scored - such as the midfield buzzer-beating three-pointer before halftime - and finally With 32 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, George Karl suggested that the league directly award the Most Improved Player of the Year award to Martin. "Averaging less than 3 points per game in his rookie season, he averaged 18 points per game in his second season, and his three shooting percentages were among the top in the league. Seriously, what else do you want?" George Karl said, "Kevin... Martin is not only our second most important player, but also the best shooting guard in the Eastern Conference. As a coach who has led the team to two championships in the past three years, I think I am qualified to say this. If you want to say that history does not apply, then Let's look at it right now, we're No. in the league, Frye is our leader, and Martin is the second guy under Frye. As the second guy on the best team in the league, I say he's The best shooting guard in the East just out of respect for Kobe Bryant, you know, Frye was a fan of his (laughs)."

Martin's performance, coupled with the media power behind Yu Fei, allowed Martin to surpass Richard Hamilton in votes in just two games.

Carr's comments and the fact that Martin was about to squeeze Hamilton out of the All-Star Game made the Pistons anxious.

In terms of record, they are second only to the Bucks.

In terms of strength, Hamilton has been in the league for many years and has always been a renowned pitcher. As the first scoring point on the Pistons' wing, his biggest regret is that he has never won any individual award since entering the league.

That's right, Hamilton was not a member of the All-Star team until the 2005-06 season.

And his contemporary in Philadelphia, Kobe Bryant, was not only selected as an All-Star in his sophomore year, but is now an NBA superstar. Their situations are no longer the same.

This season, the Pistons rely more heavily on Hamilton's outside offensive firepower. The stars in the Eastern Conference are dim, especially on the back line. Since Ray Allen went to the Western Conference, the top players are only Iverson, followed by Wade, Arenas and other popular players. Spicy chicken.

Hamilton doesn't expect to compete with popular niche players. He just wants to be selected as an All-Star. Even if he is a substitute among the substitutes, he is still an All-Star.

I thought this year was stable, but I didn't expect a second-year rookie to suddenly appear.

"With my resume and my performance, I think I deserve (the All-Star)." Hamilton said after a game. "If I don't get selected, that's not my problem. It just means I'm not mastering the game. Rules man.”

Looking closely at these words, it is not difficult to find that Hamilton was bluntly saying that someone was up to something here.

So who has been pushing Martin to be selected as an All-Star? Of course it was Yu Fei.

Yu Fei and Hamilton have a grudge, so Hamilton's strange charisma is logically logical.

This was an unexpected gain for Fei.

Of course he knew that promoting Martin to the All-Stars would squeeze out another person, but at first, Yu Fei did not expect that person to be Hamilton.

Now that it is known that the person competing with Martin is Hamilton, Yu Fei has even more reason to play tricks.

Someone who controls the rules of the game? Hamilton was right.

Unless they are highly popular superstars, in places like Milwaukee or Detroit, if players want to make the All-Stars if they perform well, they can only rely on the power of local fans.

Well-meaning local media will also help blow the trumpet to let people see how good their children are, but the same media, the "Los Angeles Times" and the "Milwaukee Sentinel" are two different things, just like the sex dragon and the cold front to the world They are two different people.

One has global influence, and the other only has regional influence.

The history of basketball superstars controlling media opinion started with Dr. J, continued until the development of Magic, and reached its peak with Jordan, thereby defining the relationship between professional basketball superstars and the media.

This relationship is both extreme and unequal. People like Jordan can reasonably disrespect every media person, but the media people still have to smile and tell themselves, this is Danzi, this is the kind of person he is, I It had to be endured or I would never interview him again.

Now, Yu Fei is also like this, and he has similar influence on the media.

Hamilton knew this very well.

And he knows that his complaints and accusations can't change anything. As long as Martin continues to output, and as long as Yu Fei wants him to become an Eastern Conference All-Star, he can naturally squeeze out himself and become the second star of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Hamilton didn't stand a chance.

From the New Year until late January when the All-Star Weekend voting festival ended, Kevin Martin averaged 30 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game. During this period, the Bucks won all the games.

In the end, Martin not only opened up a 10-vote gap with Hamilton in the number of votes, but was also close to another Pistons player Chauncey Billups for the fourth vote-getting spot among Eastern Conference guards.

Some believe that if the voting deadline is pushed back a few days, Martin will surpass Billups and become the fourth guard in the Eastern Conference voting.

In any case, this star-making movement driven entirely by flying individuals was successfully completed.

Kevin Martin was successfully selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star roster for the 2005-06 season.

(End of this chapter)