When pride still matters

Chapter 364 The Idea King and Devil Du

"KD, what did you just do to the referee?"

George Karl stared at Durant, as if he wanted to read his heart from this face that seemed to have no intention.

But Durant was as humble as ever: "Coach, what bothers me is I really didn't do anything to him."

Coach, what a pleasant title.

Karl had not heard this word from Yu Fei for a long time.

But for him, he prefers Yu Fei to call him "George", because it shows that their relationship has gone beyond the ordinary relationship between coaches and players.

"I saw you dancing on the court, what was your purpose of doing that?" Karl asked.

Durant replied: "I was fouled, but the referee didn't seem to see it."

"Kevin, I wonder if there is such a possibility." Karl said, "The referee deliberately did not give you the whistle. This is to let you understand their authority more deeply. In this case, the more restrained you are. , they become more unscrupulous. You have to know that the referee is Bichi, if you give him a good look, he will forget his identity."

Then, Yu Fei will actively put pressure on the weak assistant referee and No. 3 referee.

Yu Fei doesn't recommend attacking the referee personally like Posey did, because if you really push someone into a hurry, the referee can stare at you all night long.

On the road, his star power suddenly evaporated.

"Not necessarily, Kevin." For a moment, the image of Durant overlapped with Dr. J in Karl's mind.

This kind of pressure caused the referee to quickly call a blocking foul on the Magic, which could be called or not called, as compensation for Yu Fei.

A reliable superstar has a killer instinct at critical moments, but how can you, a good person, be associated with such words?
Karl wondered how Durant would develop his character. Would this kid from the D.C. suburbs really be a humble angel? Will he become another bridge connecting the NBA to fans after Yu Fei? How long will his routine of kissing his mother before and after games last? Also, when will he put down the Bible in his school bag?

When Yu Fei came off the court, the SuperSonics led the Magic by 21 point, 20-1.

For most of the first quarter, Yu Fei's control of the referees meant that the Magic clearly had the home court advantage but could never play the rhythm they wanted.

Can Durant maintain this image?

The Magic often fouled him, but the referee's whistle was rarely blown.

This type of complementary penalty is common in all major leagues, but only some skilled communicators can consistently obtain balanced whistles.

"Do your job, didn't you see I got fouled?"

If he is truly a good guy, will he lose his dominance over the game by being too nice?

At least for now, Durant's image is impeccable.

When dealing with a referee like Joey Crawford, who is as sensitive and fragile as a mad dog, Yu Fei usually makes a brief complaint.

But even Dr. J was once stimulated by Bird to the point of losing his mind, and punched the damn poisonous white bird.

The image of a good guy is not exclusive to Durant. Looking back on NBA history, there are many superstars with this image, and Dr. J is one of them. However, Dr. J was too focused on dignity and found it difficult to kill decisively at critical moments. Until Moses Malone arrived, he was like Magic and Bird's experienced baby, a stepping stone to their early legends.

On the court, Yu Fei began to face similar experiences to Durant.

However, Yu Fei didn't open his mouth to greet the referee like Percy did.

Yu Fei was indeed fouled, but the referee did not call it.

Durant replied sincerely: "Coach, you may be right, but I wouldn't use that word, it's not right."

The Magic seem to be a team that keeps pace with the times. They have fully embraced the Bucks' small-ball philosophy and gathered a group of shooters around Howard.

Nelson, Carter, and Bell formed a good offensive and defensive strength, and then promoted Turkoglu to the fourth position.

In terms of paper strength, they are at the top level in the Eastern Conference.

However, Yu Fei believes that they cannot compete with the Celtics and Bucks, but they are definitely stronger than teams such as the Cavaliers.

The SuperSonics' bench lineup worked hard in the transition period.

Mainly Childress and Channing Frye.

The former likes to attack the basket, while the latter is good at shooting. When paired with a white inside man like Nick Collison who can do everything but is not good at anything, he plays brilliantly.

Especially Childress, this person's ideas are very novel. As a fourth-year player, he has been a wing that the Sonics have vigorously cultivated in the past three years, but his performance and data have always been tepid. Then, once Durant comes, the team's resources will naturally be tilted towards more talented and younger young talents.

For a player in a contract year, losing the starting lineup is undoubtedly a major blow, but Childress has never shown dissatisfaction. He also said self-righteously: "The coaching staff asked me to substitute because they wanted me to use my smart brain to find out. The team’s problem.”

If someone questioned his IQ, Childress would ask, "I can go to Stanford, can you?"

When playing on the court, Childress also has strange ideas and always plays cards out of common sense. If he is facing the opponent's most accurate shooter, he will take the initiative to leave the opponent open and then double-team his teammates.

Because the most dangerous things are the safest. This kind of stadium relativity makes people dizzy. That's not all, if the man he let out scored consecutively, then he would have something to say.

For example, Childress is now facing Jason Kapono, the replacement for Rashard Lewis that the Magic found in the free market this summer. This is a player who has no other use in the NBA except shooting, but it was his one-handed shooting that allowed him to get a mid-level contract.

Last season, Kapono's three-point shooting percentage was 51%.

However, Childress did not hesitate to let him go. As a result, the Magic ball quickly passed to Kapono's hands, and he easily hit an open three-pointer.

Karl couldn't bear to see such a low-level defensive mistake. Is it a human thing to leave a shooter with a shooting percentage of 51%?
"Josh, what the hell are you doing?"

Childress replied: "Coach, I'm playing to my strengths!"

"What are your strengths?"

"Help defend, coach!"

"Stop helping with defense!" Karl roared, "Keep an eye on that person!"

As a top student at Stanford, Childress also has the advantage of being obedient.

Karl only felt that he was holding a breath in his body, and it was difficult to vent.

"Do you think he has a brain problem?" Karl has been in the league for many years, and he has never seen anyone whose behavior on the court is so off-line.

Yu Fei smiled and said nothing. Carl had never seen such a person before because he didn't play games.

If he plays some online games, he knows that the Internet is full of such people.

Commonly known as the King of Ideas.

It's just that most of the idea kings just have a lot of ideas and no ability to take action. However, Childress is a person who has many ideas and dares to take action. This will test the patience of the coaching staff.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Yu Fei and Roy returned to the court.

The Magic improved Yu Fei's defensive targeting to the highest level.

Bell defends alone, Carter double-teams at any time, and Howard helps defend.

This defensive arrangement means that Yu Fei has to face the defense of at least two people no matter where he is.

If Yu Fei is still a big core, this kind of defensive intensity is still effective, at least it can block his personal offensive.

But now, Yu Fei is completing what Karl calls a "Larry Bird-like" transformation, from a big core field controller to an all-around core striker with half the ball and half the ball.

The advantage of this is that Yu Fei can finally devote his remaining energy to the defensive end.

This has greatly increased Yu Fei's defensive threat this season, averaging nearly 4 steals and blocks per game.

Although the Magic's defensive routine is useful, it is an excessive abuse of defensive resources for Yu Fei, who has greatly increased the proportion of off-ball play.

Roy took advantage of the situation and beat Nelson, scoring 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the half.

"I don't understand." Roy said, "What do they want to do by using so many people to surround you?"

Yu Fei said proudly: "This is the appeal of the four-time Finals MVP."

"That's right." Roy joked, "Everyone knows you are the 'Most Attractive Ever'⑴."

⑴Memory of a kill: In the 2004 All-Star Game, Da Fei snatched the Fatty AMVP and named himself "MAE".

The Magic soon realized that this wasn't working, so they doubled up on Roy.

The SuperSonics are driven by a dual core. Roy is the core with the ball, and Yu Fei is the core who can exert his core abilities with and without the ball. Once Roy is targeted, the SuperSonics' ball rights will shift to Yu Fei.

Then, the familiar Buck Fly will appear in the Supersonic formation.

In the second half, Yu Fei continuously took advantage of the defense of Carter and Bell, causing Howard to frequently come outside the paint area to help defend. Kwame Brown cheered for the arrival of good days and continued to score under the basket. He scored 10 points in a single quarter. There is momentum to overwhelm Howard.

The Magic was out of balance internally and externally, and the Sonics responded internally and externally, and the collapse happened in an instant.

Carter missed a three-pointer, Yu Fei grabbed a long rebound and hit a chasing three-pointer; Howard hit a back-up to attract a double team and then passed to his teammates, but still missed the three-pointer. Yu Fei grabbed a long rebound again and dribbled away Carter, even if it was Everyone in Orlando exclaimed at this scene, because after Yu Fei shook Carter, he used a high degree of rotation to throw a ground-breaking pass to the follow-up Kevin Durant. .

The humble angel, the No. 2007 pick in the draft, had a rough night in Orlando, but his team still didn't give up on him.

Durant caught this wonderful pass that could be elected as the best of the season. He was outside the three-point line at a 45-degree angle on the left. At that moment, the Durant wearing the Warriors jersey was possessed deep in Yu Fei's memory. , he jumped up and shot a three-pointer. The flight arc of the ball was unshakable. This was not a shot that humans could interfere with.

"Shh!"

"Hands down the best shot of the season so far!"

The announcer roared, and the Sonics' performance turned the away game into a home game.

But Durant turned around with relief and exhaled, just like when he defeated the Cavaliers for the second time in that familiar position in the 2018 Finals, he got rid of the filth of that season and didn't know what Green's formula was. Waiting for yourself not far away. He just wanted to take the pressure off himself.

At this moment, Durant couldn't sense such far-term things. He just didn't want to waste Yu Fei's dazzling performances just now.

The Magic were already 16 points behind and they requested a timeout.

Durant noticed that Yu Fei was looking at him, and he subconsciously said: "Fry, your performance just now was great."

"I still like your expression just now." Yu Fei's words made Durant's hair stand on end. "Like a psychotic killer who kills his target again. I like you like that."

(End of this chapter)