When pride still matters

Chapter 325 Before the finals

There is a basic consensus in the league that if the Bucks harvest nothing this year and next, Yu Fei will definitely leave Milwaukee.

The irony is that when they established this consensus, Yu Fei himself didn't know it.

For Fei, he can't say it's impossible to leave Milwaukee, but he really has no idea of ​​leaving now. To leave, you have to give him a reason.

An irresistible reason.

But Yu Fei also understands that as his status changes, his position is crucial to Reebok and other sponsors.

Milwaukee is not a good place to build a personal empire from a business perspective.

It's college football that rules here, it's the Green Bay Packers, it's Vince Lombardi's legacy of half a century ago.

⑴Just think of him as the NFL version of Auerbach (only during the coaching period).

A generational genius like Yu Fei would have already had a Michael Jordan-like effect in other cities, but for the Bucks, his main influence in Wisconsin is limited to Milwaukee, and even Milwaukee has more football fans than basketball fans. many.

Therefore, when Yu Fei faces a choice, these factors will become a problem, especially for the people around him, it is a decisive factor.

"There's no way I could work with that pig."

However, after hearing Riley's question, Yu Fei asked back: "Coach Riley, you might as well be more direct and ask me if I will join Miami next summer."

Riley never imagined that unsteady fans would actually become an obstacle for Yu Fei to join Miami.

"I also want fans who won't take the initiative to abandon the team when they are in desperate situations." Yu Fei asked, "Does Miami have one?"

This made him smile self-deprecatingly: "Fry, I can give you anything you want, except this."

This allowed the Heat to join Yu Fei's blacklist.

Riley's answer was explosive.

Yu Fei remembers that when Jordan forced Jordan to trade him, the Heat were the ones most willing to trade. Only now he's glad the deal didn't go through.

Riley asked expectantly, "Can you?"

Although the Bucks only played two away games in the Eastern Conference Finals, Heat fans abandoned the team five minutes early in the only game the home team lost.

Riley had no expectations about transferring to the Heat, but after talking about it, he had an indescribable feeling.

Yu Fei said directly.

After Yu Fei finished speaking, he turned and left.

Riley said incredulously.

"I'd send him to the Clippers."

"He's a smart guy and knows how to position himself."

"This is Dwayne's team."

He's not saying that you can't leave early in garbage time, but this is the playoffs, and it is a key battle related to the fate of the Heat's season. There are still 5 minutes to go before the end of the game. Although they are 15 points behind, they are not completely desperate, right? But they left immediately.

"Then I still prefer Milwaukee." Yu Fei said, "At least the fans here will accompany us to death."

Well, Yu Fei now believes that Riley wants him very much.

The audience at American Airlines Arena lost 1/3 in a short period of time.

That feeling led him to believe Milwaukee couldn't keep the player long-term.

When Yu Fei came to the parking lot, Lin Kaiwen and Lawson had been waiting for a long time.

"Da Fei, what are your plans tonight?" Lawson asked.

Yu Fei smiled and said, "You should ask my assistant."

"Okay," Lawson turned to Kevin Lin, "Assistant Sir, how are you going to reward Da Fei for defeating the Eastern Conference again?"

Kevin Lin said: "Laura has been waiting for Da Fei to ask her out."

"Stop it," Yu Fei said, "I don't want to touch the cheerleaders."

Kevin Lin said: "Then we may have to try our luck at Spree's party."

"Spree's party?" "Well, they celebrated the team's victory in the Eastern Conference again on Kristallnacht."

"Idle time is idle, let's go."

While the Bucks eliminated the Heat in five games to get tickets to the finals, the Mavericks in the Western Conference were struggling with the Mavericks.

Compared with the Bucks' crushing all the way in the east, the road to clearance in the west is full of difficulties.

Starting from the semifinals, the Mavericks encountered the challenge of the Suns. The two sides reached a stalemate at Tianwang Mountain. Seeing that Nash was about to kill his old team for the second time, Nowitzki inspired a bloody rage, spraying German swear words and scoring 50 points and 12 rebounds.

The heartbroken Suns lost their ability to resist in the sixth game and were eliminated by the Mavericks.

Then came the Western Conference Finals, where the Mavericks faced their old rival and defending champion Spurs⑴.

For fans of both sides, this is the most intense and exciting of all past and future collisions between the two teams. The records of both sides rank among the top two in the Western Conference, and most of the players are in the best condition. The only one who shows signs of aging is Spurs point guard Jason Kidd.

The fallout from signing Kidd and trading away Parker is disrupting the Spurs' preparations.

Parker played an All-Star season this year, while Kidd has aged further. Although he is still very comprehensive and has good defense, the Spurs have Duncan who has the same attributes and is several levels more influential than Kidd.

What the Spurs urgently need now is outside firepower to share the offensive pressure inside, but this is not what Kidd is good at.

With Luol Deng being suppressed by Josh Howard, the Spurs are in trouble. They need Duncan to break down the Mavericks' inside line, and they also need Ginobili, who is quite dual-purpose, to continue his "god-go-go" play. play.

However, it was Ginobili who caused Spurs fans to feel the deepest pain in Game 32. He first hit a three-pointer 3 seconds before the end of the game, giving the Spurs a 2-point lead. Then he showed his filial piety to Nowitzki and gave him 1+. Nowitzki made an extra free throw, and then at the last moment, Ginobili again, as if to prove that Nowitzki was an excellent defender, gave the Germans a chance to block the shot.

The game went into overtime.

Ginobili's series of performances were like Zhou Qi's final minutes against Poland in the 2019 World Cup, which destroyed the team's morale.

In overtime, the Mavericks blasted away the Spurs with a 15-7 offensive, and struggled to get a ticket to the finals.

Some people who like to be unconventional believe that Nowitzki's playoff performance is more impressive than Yu Fei's.

For example, Bill Simmons, who had a long-standing feud with Yu Fei, wrote an article specifically to praise the German on the night the Mavericks eliminated the Spurs.

In one of the most hyperbolic passages, Simmons wrote: "My opinion is that Dirk is at a higher level than any power forward since Bird. Everyone else over the past 25 years has been flawed in some way. Plus Nate and Malone were unable to take over the game in critical moments. Barkley was better suited as the second option. Because of his inconsistent shot selection, opponents could limit him in the final minutes. Duncan is the best all-around power forward of all time, but he Poor free throw shooting makes him a risky choice in crunch time. But Nowitzki has no holes - he scores against everyone, hits free throws consistently, grabs key rebounds in traffic, and even protects the rim, There's also the right amount of sneer, and, having played the role of a killer since this spring, he's a true assassin. I certainly never thought of writing an article about Dirk Nowitzki. In After he pulls out the Spurs, if you ask him who is going to win the Finals, Dirk or Frye Yu, intellectually I might lean toward the latter, but emotionally I would 100 percent support the former."

While the world was praising Nowitzki, Yu Fei was actively preparing for war.

Suddenly, life became simpler.

They just need one more series to give themselves a break.

Even if you want to start planning for the offseason now, that's no problem.

But Yu Fei knows that opening champagne at halftime is the most untouchable slide in the sports world. Therefore, in addition to participating in daily training, the only extraordinary thing he does is to change his female partner every day.

Lawson said that this is a stress behavior after returning to being single, and it will get better in a few months.

What Yu Fei was thinking was, how many months? Then doesn't he want to kill a hundred people? It sounds exciting, but why does it look like Magic Johnson?

Fortunately, the battle between cows and horses has finally come to an end.

June 2006, 6, today is the opening day of the finals.

Yu Fei arrived at the Bradley Center half an hour earlier than usual.

Since he came early, the media naturally would not miss the opportunity to interview him.

So, a host from a Dallas radio station decided to pose a creative question to Yu Fei.

He believes that his questions will definitely make Da Fei more interesting than those stupid media who ask Yu Fei about his historical status, grievances with Jordan, national team recruitment and other annoying questions.

Of course, creative questions always face criticism from the outside world because they are not politically correct and even a bit disgusting.

But Davidson insisted on doing so. He liked to challenge the players and ask questions that made their pupils tremble.

After buying off the Bucks staff, Davidson came to Yu Fei and asked the question that stunned everyone around him: "Fry, if a snake bites your mother's chest, would you be willing to suck out the venom for her?" To win a championship?”

"No." Yu Fei's response at this moment was priceless, "But I am willing to do this with your wife for the sake of the championship."

⑴ Let me ask you a question, why did the 06 Bulls and Horses meet in the semi-finals? The records of these two teams are first in the Western Conference and second in the Western Conference.

PS: My approach to this round of finals will be the same as in 04. The Eastern Conference Finals in 04 is equivalent to the Finals, and the same is true in 06. I will finish it in one or two chapters. That means the results will be out tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)