When pride still matters

Chapter 314: Beat him and you will be number one

December 2006, 5

This is the first game day of the Eastern Conference Finals.

As summer arrives, Bradley Center's heating system is no longer an issue and it becomes a beloved away arena again.

Shaquille O'Neal doesn't like it, though.

In other words, O'Neal doesn't like any situation where Yu Fei is present.

It's like a person who suffered stress trauma due to childhood abuse or other major accidents. Yu Fei's face, Yu Fei's photos, and Yu Fei's name will all remind O'Neal of what he has experienced in the past five years.

Sometimes, O'Neal couldn't help but wonder if Yu Fei was his nemesis sent by God. Why could he, who once dominated the NBA, be unable to win at the opponent's hands?

This is a question that O'Neal still can't figure out.

He has headphones around his neck, perched on his ears: Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise" is crackling just below his chin, quietly enough for others to mishear the lyrics, but loud enough that It's upsetting.

O'Neal looked at the blackboard written by assistant coach Spoelstra specifically for tonight's game: Let's hunt deer.

Then, Mourning came, seemingly calm and prepared for the game early. Just like in the series against Detroit not long ago, Mourning played Riley's favorite "I'm here to win the championship." A statement game, that's one Mourning would love to be a part of; it will speak volumes about the kind of team the Miami Heat are.

Just as Mourning was about to say something to O'Neal, he saw Shark walking towards him with a sullen face. For a moment, Mourning was frightened, and then the shark kept nodding to the beat of the music like a fool. Until the two sides were very close, O'Neal's silly-looking face suddenly smiled, which made Mourning lose his seriousness instantly, and the two giants laughed together.

As for why they were laughing, they didn't know. Only Stevie Wonder's singing was left in the room.

As night fell, fans began to pour into the Bradley Center.

Since Yu Fei came to Milwaukee, the Bucks' home court has rarely been full of seats.

Even in the long-tested season last season, the fans also strongly supported the team, and Yu Fei took advantage of the situation to bring a scoring performance of 36 points per game. Although this is roughly the same as Kobe's offensive performance this season, there are differences between them. The obvious difference is that one was completed in the last year when the game was banned, and the other was completely released after the game was banned.

This makes Bucks fans support the team even more.

However, the Bucks' market problem has never been market attendance.

Any team with a superstar doesn't have to worry about that.

Their real problems lie off the field.

However, this is not something to consider now.

Running into the court with his teammates, Yu Fei specifically asked Penny Hardaway for a duel.

"Penny, at your age, you can still meet that pig in the playoffs. Don't you have nothing to say?"

Pian Pian was helpless about Fei's joke.

For those lovers who do not break up amicably, they will mind whether their ex is doing better than themselves. In the NBA, partners are like lovers who are publicly scrutinized. Once they break up, who is doing well and who is not doing well will also be in the public eye.

O'Neal established a reputation as the most dominant center in Los Angeles history, and Pence was quickly crushed after shouldering O'Neal's burden.

He finally understood why O'Neal made himself so fat, otherwise he wouldn't be able to bear it.

However, it is useless to think clearly. Comparing people with others is infuriating. Regarding O'Neal's achievements, Pence can only be envious, jealous and resentful, while venting his anger on his domestically abusive wife.

"I don't care about it," Pence said. "I'm not the deciding factor."

"No, you can be."

Yu Fei's words sparked some hope in Pian Pian's heart.

"you mean"

"Although we can hardly expect you to perform on the court." Pence's face pulled down at a speed visible to the naked eye. Although he didn't say a word, his expression had clearly written "Then what are you saying?" ", "But I can use the grudge between you and him to say some nice trash talk. If he gets angry and causes the Heat to lose, then our victory will be due to you."

Pian Pian looked at Yu Fei with a subtle expression.

Yu Feixiao asked: "How is it? Do you agree that I use you to talk trash?"

Pence felt that he had entered a den of thieves. Although he had not won any major honors, he was once a player and officially ranked among the top five in the league, but now he can only be reduced to a tool for others to criticize?

"Isn't that why you signed me up in the first place?"

"How is it possible?" Yu Fei said sternly, "Who doesn't need a veteran like you who is experienced and can play multiple positions (but can't play)? Let me tell you, it is simply a waste for us to sign you with a basic salary. robbery"

Pence only hesitated for a second between asking for shame and "let O'Neal die", "I agree, you can put me in your cannon and kill that big fat pig." Okay, okay, Pence He is worthy of being the starter of the team that "want the big fat pig to die".

If you want to ask who else is on this team, of course, I can tell you that in addition to Pence, there are also Yu Fei, Kobe Bryant, Rodman and David Robinson. Bill Walton is the substitute, and then the head coach is Stan Van Gundy. .

Afterwards, there was a session where the top players from both sides greeted each other.

The first thing Yu Fei said when he saw Wade was: "How does it feel to let that pig lie low and be small?"

Wade has heard fifty-eight thousand similar questions over the past two years, and his brain reacts instinctively: "Miami is no one's team. We don't have a boss."

"What you said sounded like a boss." Yu Fei said happily, "No wonder Mr. Fat Pig is willing to be your dog."

Wade didn't want to talk about pigs and dogs with Yu Fei because it would be easy to get involved.

After saying hello, he retreated.

He is not a person without ambition. He said that the Heat have no boss. This is for the internal stability of the team. In fact, he knows, and O'Neal also knows, if the team wants to choose one of them. The Heat would trade O'Neal a hundred times faster than the Lakers.

If someone has questions about the question "Who is the boss of the team?", you can actually ask another question, "Who is the person least likely to be traded on the team?" As long as you get the answer, then that person is the team's leader. Boss.

Of course, this is not a 10% success. Like the Heat at 14-17, the Warriors at 19- cannot give you the answer. Because the real boss is overshadowed by outsiders, even if you know who the boss is, you will never trade that powerful outsider.

Wade knows his status. The biggest difference between him and other contemporary rookies is that as an older rookie with great potential, he is far more mentally mature than players of the same period. When he first came to Miami, he tried to dunk O'Neal in a game, was knocked over on the spot, and was warned never to do it again.

Wade really didn't continue to do this, because the way to gain team status is not just to dunk on the head of the big brother on the team.

This season, O'Neal's aging is very obvious. If he hadn't accepted Riley's advice and reduced his weight to 322 pounds (146KG) in the middle of the season, Wade suspected that he might have degenerated into an ordinary All-Star center. It would have been impossible. Just like he did against the Bulls in the first round, he scored 30+20.

Arriving at his own backcourt, O'Neal asked Wade: "That bastard didn't say anything nice, did he?"

Wade smiled and replied: "You know what he would say."

"I know." O'Neal could even imagine that scene, "His dog's mouth only has shit!"

A few minutes later, after the on-site DJ loudly introduced the starters of both sides after the lights dimmed, the game officially began.

Although O'Neal is not as good as before, the Bucks' coaching staff still gave him enough respect. Danny Granger was temporarily taken over as the starter, and the starting inside line was Kwame Brown and Zaza Pachulia.

Brown, who played the small-ball five position for a season, finally came to his favorite four position, and Pachulia, as a treasure center buried in the Bucks' interior group, was reused tonight.

Karl gave him only one task: "If Shaq doesn't get angry with you after the game, that's not his problem, it's your problem."

Pachulia wants to be a good guy, but he knows very well that only by being a bad guy can he continue to play in the NBA.

At the beginning, O'Neal's hatred for Fei overflowed, and a jump ball violation occurred - Yu Fei did not expect that a jump ball could also be violated - and the ball rights belonged to the Bucks.

"How come someone can't even jump a ball?" Yu Fei asked mockingly.

O'Neill ran away without saying a word.

As usual, the Heat brought James Posey to face Yu Fei.

But Yu Fei plays point guard most of the time, so Posey needs to lead the defense as a forward.

As usual, Yu Fei fed the insider first.

He called Pachulia to come to the screen.

Pachulia is an insider who has everything but is not proficient in anything. He is strong in pick-and-rolls, but his follow-through is not as smooth as Brown.

The good thing is that Pachulia's flying lob skills are superb. Pachulia can directly threaten the basket after receiving the ball, but he was stopped by the Heat for a foul.

Pachulia was about to take a free throw when he heard Yu Fei ask him: "Zaza, when did Kwame become the second center in the Eastern Conference?"

Pachulia replied: "At the end of the first round."

"Then, after the Eastern Conference finals, you will be the No. 1 center in the Eastern Conference."

Brown on the side heard this and thought that he also wanted to be the number one center in the East, but when he thought about the number one center, he had to risk his life to resist O'Neal, who was full of anger.

Hmm. It seems that he can only resign himself to being the number one power forward in the Eastern Conference.

(End of this chapter)