When pride still matters

Chapter 296 Will that day come sooner or later?

February 2th is the last game day before the All-Star Weekend.

The Bucks face the Rockets at home.

What’s interesting about this game is that this year’s All-Star Weekend is being held in Houston, home of the Rockets. As a strong team in the Western Conference, the Rockets were eliminated in seven games with the Mavericks in the first round last year.

This is the second season of Yao and Mai teaming up, and they have higher expectations.

However, their upward momentum was interrupted by Yao Huang's injury.

In mid-December last year, Yao Wei, who has been called an iron man since entering the NBA, suffered a serious foot injury and missed 20 games. During this period, the Rockets had 6 wins and 14 losses, directly at the bottom of the Western Conference.

At the end of January, Yao Wei returned from injury, and the Rockets immediately rebounded, winning 9 of the past 7 games, starting their journey to the north in a mighty way.

For the Rockets, they do not want the All-Star Game to be held as scheduled, because it will disrupt their recent good state.

When encountering the Rockets, the Bucks did not hesitate because this was the last game before the break.

At this time, the Yao-Mai Rockets are like Shohoku in "Slam Dunk" who have both Mitsui (if they are not misguided) and Akagi. They have a strong internal and external core, but their book strength is higher than that of a real championship team. Make a judgment.

The Bucks let Kwame Brown go around and harass Yao Huang without hesitation to foul. As long as Yao Huang gets the ball, he will double-team.

As for Tracy McGrady, having a traditional insider like Yao Shuan with devastating low-post offensive capabilities is a blessing for him.

On the one hand, Yao Huang can indeed share the pressure for him. On the other hand, he must always endure a big man occupying his offensive space in the interior. Compared with the free half-court running during the Magic era, he must do more Opt for the inefficient dry pull that haters hate.

This is not because he has a low IQ, but a compromise with reality. The Rockets role players are not strong enough, so to be competitive, Yao Mai has to play a core role, and if you want Yao Huang to play a core role, you have to put him in the low post. Welding to death, but once Yao Wei is welded to death in the low post, McGrady will have fewer offensive options in positional warfare.

This is an endless cycle. It can be said that the Yao-Mai Rockets lacked book strength due to the boss's willingness to invest, and the two core players' styles of play were not perfectly matched. They were doomed from the moment they debuted as a team. There is a ceiling visible to the naked eye.

The Bucks blocked Yao Huang, and McGrady's shooting touch was not good that night, which led to the opponent's sharp attack.

A major defeat was inevitable.

111 is better than 79

The Bucks defeated the Rockets and ushered in the All-Star Weekend with a record of 44 wins and 8 losses.

"Thanks to you, I'm not in the mood for a vacation at all now."

After the game, Yao Huang said this to Fei.

Yu Fei replied: "Thanks to me, you only played 19 minutes tonight. This is a good thing for you."

Losing is unpleasant, and the Rockets, who are outside the playoff ranks, especially need to win, but Yu Fei's words reflect his concern for Yao Huang's health.

"See you in Houston." Yao Huang said.

Yu Fei joked: "Is there any plan to release a second part of "Yao Huang Biography"?"

"Don't even think about it!" Yao Huang said plausibly in Mandarin and Shanghainese, "This kind of thing should be done to everyone, absolutely!"

"I think it's quite generous. I want to listen to that song, that YAOMING~~~ (repeat infinitely)"

Yao Huang fled. At this speed, Yu Fei was sure that his foot injury had healed.

At the press conference after the game, Yu Fei congratulated his coach George Karl for becoming the head coach of the Eastern Stars again after a few years. Secondly, he encouraged Kevin Martin, who was selected for the All-Star Game in his second year: "First of all I hope Kevin has a great time in Houston, and secondly, I hope he defends the three-point contest for me."

Since Yu Fei unexpectedly won the championship at last year's All-Star Weekend, he has no interest in continuing to participate in this event. As the player with the second highest three-point shooting percentage in the Bucks (second only to Raja Bell), Martin wants to both To participate in the All-Star game, you must also participate in the three-point contest.

Then, Danny Granger will participate in the Rookie Challenge, and high school rookie Lou Williams, who usually has little chance to play, will participate in the Skills Challenge.

Calculated in this way, this year can be said to be the largest number of Bucks participants in the All-Star Weekend since the Yu Fei era.

Yu Fei originally thought that he would just need a good vacation for a while, but he did not expect that the second long article written by Gary Smith for him would be officially published in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated magazine before the All-Star Weekend.

The cover character of this issue is Yu Fei.

He was wearing a Bucks jersey, a disdainful smile on his face, and a red crown nonchalantly held in his left hand.

On this attractive cover, there is also a sentence: Frye Yu wants a bloody crown more than becoming the Chosen One.

Gary Smith's article was brought to the front.

All readers who subscribe to the magazine can read this article immediately.

Title: "After Being Chosen by God"

Quote: In a year that tested him brutally, Frye Yu delivered a remarkable, unparalleled performance -- and that's why he and the Bucks could be NBA champions again.

It is still a long article that Smith is good at, just like his other articles, readers can see Yu Fei's life in this article, as well as the pressure, concern and troubles he needs to face to become the chosen one, as well as There is the way he gets along with the people around him. It must be said that Smith's writing power is astonishing, and everyone who reads this article feels like they have re-recognized Yu Fei.

But the most surprising thing is the end of the article.

Smith wrote:

"Fry still hates Jordan and O'Neal, and he will never forgive these two people. This reminds me of another question. In the future, will he love LeBron as much as he does now? Even if LeBron becomes an obstacle to his championship?

The crystal ball in Times Square fell, and Frye sent New Year's greetings to LeBron. At that moment, he was smiling and speaking softly, as if he was calling his closest family members.

It made the hair on my head stand on end as his response echoed in my head.

"No, Gary," he said to me in a "Happy New Year" tone, "I will dye my crown red with his blood."

This article easily stood out from the magazine articles in this issue and became a popular article with high circulation.

An obvious question it brings is whether there is a rift in the relationship between Yu Fei and James.

Some believe this is a fabrication by Gary Smith.

Even if Yu Fei really said that, it was impossible for Smith to be allowed to write it in the article.

Others feel that Yu Fei and James are just superficial brothers, and this article is proof.

To James fans, this seems like a huge offense.

Yu Fei wants James' crown to be stained with blood. This not only shows that the Bucks-Cavaliers game will be a brutal massacre, but also implies that James, nicknamed KING, will lose his crown due to failure.

How could any elder brother treat his little brother like this?

For a time, the topic of Yu Fei and James' breakup was widely circulated on the Internet.

This is what Yu Fei wants.

No matter how serious this matter is, at best, it's just that Da Fei finally drags Xiao Zhan, who has been tying him up to hype the "two heroes", during the hype.

However, his words were rather rough, and he was suspected of trying to set off Xiao Zhan.

But what Yu Fei really wants to express is that if they meet in the playoffs, he will not show mercy.

Because this year's Cavaliers have a high probability of entering the playoffs. If the two sides meet by chance, whether the person in the Cavaliers' formation is dear James or the old Zhang he talks about, he will try his best to defeat him.

It is this attitude that he wants to express in this article.

Others are additional effects.

What Yu Fei can be sure of is that the people around Xiao Zhan will be very angry about this, especially Randy Mims. He has to scold himself severely and then say to Xiao Zhan: "LeBron, when I What are you talking about, this is your good big brother!"

Although Yu Fei always speculates on other people's thoughts with the greatest malice and often makes mistakes, this time, he guessed correctly.

Since the publication of the latest issue of Illustrated magazine, Randy Mims, James' full-time assistant and player liaison with the Cavaliers, has been tempted to cut out the "Bloodstained Crown" section and paste it wherever James can see it. .

As early as when Yu Feimanshi said, "You know, LeBron is my little brother," Mims saw that this person had bad intentions. Now it's better, the fox's tail is exposed, and LeBron can finally fight with this hypocrite Cut off the seats.

"LeBron, he doesn't respect you at all!" Mims said exaggeratedly. "He actually wants you to bleed on the court, and he wants to use your blood to dye his crown red. You saw that cover. Is that so? I've said it before, he doesn't regard you as a friend at all, he has been using you."

The reaction from Mims and others was greater than James could have imagined.

In his opinion, isn't this the kind of criticism Frye likes to make the most? He says a hundred things like this every day, why should he care about it?

Moreover, if their response had not been so great, the impact of this article would have been very limited.

It will never become the current situation.

It was this group of people who were filled with righteous indignation that increased the spread of the article a hundredfold, making the "blood-stained crown" meme well-known in the basketball circle.

Now that the commotion is so big, James also has some resentment towards Fei, the instigator, but he is very clear-headed. After all, his team is tied to Yu Fei to hype him up, and it can be said that it is a routine operation to praise him and suppress him. Such things are always ignored. If they really make trouble in front of them, they will say "LeBron is still young" with a look of disgust, which will bring a greater blow to Xiao Zhan.

"Enough!" James stopped the chattering Mims, "Let Rich arrange a press conference in Houston and try to let acquaintances attend. The impact of this incident cannot continue to expand!"

"But LeBron, that bastard."

"Shut up, Randy!" James rarely lost control of his emotions. "Do you know what the best way to respond to Frye is? Dye my crown red with his blood! This is the only way! I won't be a complainer. Just like a woman, you'd better go to him and ask for an explanation, and you'd better not do it unless you think I can never beat him on the court."

"No, LeBron, I knew that day would come sooner or later, I just"

Randy Mims just doesn't know how far away "that day" is.

This year? next year? The year after tomorrow? Or five years or even ten years?

"Then shut up!"

James muttered: "I will personally win back the respect I deserve!"

(End of this chapter)