When pride still matters

Chapter 401 What they believe
Although Yu Fei wants to go one-on-one with Paul, the Hornets will not let this happen easily.

Because from a physical point of view, it would be unfair for Paul and Yu Fei to compete on both offense and defense.

Therefore, the Hornets will let others consume Yu Fei, and then let Paul play small on the offensive end.

However, not all consumption is useful.

Peja can match Yu Fei in terms of size, but his speed and athleticism are far behind.

It was easy for Yu Fei to break through his defense. In turn, after Peja shouldered the defensive responsibility against Yu Fei, he came to the offensive end but could not guarantee that his silky shooting would still be effective.

Once he fails to score, Peja loses his spatial value as a shooter.

On the defensive end, he was unable to effectively restrict Fei.

Five minutes into the first quarter, Yu Fei caused Peja's second foul, forcing the Hornets to actively adjust their matchup.

Byron Scott replaces Peja and comes on for heavy forward Bonchy Wells.

Wells also had the reputation of Barkley Jr. in his early days, but this expectation would quickly go bankrupt in the NBA, proving how special Barkley was.

These people are of such low level that talking to them is redundant.

17 is better than 11
Yu Fei scored his 10th personal point.

Wells is no better than Peja in this regard.

Paul couldn't find an effective way for Wells to limit Yu Fei's offense.

"I know."

However, this is not easy.

"No matter how great you are, you are a thief this season!" Wells is a die-hard Paul fan, "Chris is the real MVP!"

Yu Fei sank into the low post and stuck Wells. After receiving the pass, he immediately sensed that the opponent's defensive center of gravity was on his weak side. Therefore, he first made a tentative move to shake his shoulders to the weak side, taking advantage of Wells. When he couldn't figure out the situation, he suddenly increased his speed and turned towards the strong side.

Is he speechless? No, he didn't bother to argue.

The weight advantage of the heavy forward can be seen when defending in the low post, but if he suddenly jumps to the basket, the flaw of poor lateral movement will also be exposed.

Paul dribbled to the frontcourt, and the person who greeted him was not Roy, but Yu Fei.

This is why Yu Fei hates facing these people on the offensive end.

All heavy forwards will be compared to Barkley when they debut.

It’s not even halfway through the first quarter, but the Sonics can already take the lead relying on Yu Fei’s personal ability.

Yu Fei swung Wells behind him and scored a layup.

"It's hard to deal with." Wells said with lingering fear, "He's very fast."

From the perspective of game matchup logic, it is unreasonable to proactively give a mismatch master like Paul a small hit but a big hit.

Paul glanced at Yu Fei and said to Wells: "The Bonz, I won't let you face him alone."

All he can do is respond as much as possible when his own side attacks.

But for Fei, he doesn't mind being beaten up by Paul.

He now does not shoulder the responsibility of the offensive system like he did during the Bucks, so he has enough physical strength to squander on the defensive end. He wants to explore some experience in defending small men when facing Paul.

It would be great if you could also disgust Paul by the way.

Paul controlled the ball steadily, and Yu Fei's interference seemed to have no impact on him.

He came to the basket at a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow. Brown's replacement allowed him to only get under the basket, and then came to the baseline on the other side and threw the ball to Maurice Peterson.

Steadiness is his strength. He plays with a clear head, knows what to do, and knows how to avoid mistakes, but it is precisely because he does not have absolute speed and explosive power that he does not have that kind of terrifying offensive attack.

Once Paul doesn't get the ball, the Hornets' offense becomes mediocre.

He spun around and seemed to disrupt Seattle's defense, but the way he released the ball was non-threatening.

Peterson shook Durant and attacked the basket, but Marion's defense forced a turnover.

Paul quickly returned to defense the moment the mistake occurred.

He really just makes the right decisions.

This is determined by his talent.

With a height of 183 centimeters, he needs to think carefully no matter what he does.

Only by doing the right things can he become a point guard god.

But for those who are more than 20 centimeters taller than him, the right thing is only one of the options. The most important thing is what is the benefit?

Yu Fei defeated Peja, and now he wants to defeat Wells.

He wants to beat the Hornets' wing group to pieces and fundamentally disrupt the balance of their lineup.

Roy is very willing to be a hands-off shopkeeper, throwing the ball to Yu Fei and letting him take care of the funeral. This is definitely the easiest thing in the world.

Yu Fei took the ball high on the left, and Wells' bulky body could not block his breakthrough.

Paul broke away from Roy's defense the moment Yu Fei made a move. The shortest guy on the court quickly realized that he could not stop his opponent in any legitimate way.

He does the right things and he does the dirty things.

It is a consensus in professional basketball that small guards equal poor defense, but Paul's existence refutes this stereotype. He is only 183 centimeters tall, but his defense is very good. This is of course not because he has the talent to reverse physical defects, but because he dares to use all means on the defensive end.

Suddenly, Wells is no longer Yu Fei's problem, and Paul's appearance is not surprising.

However, how can a 183 cm short man block himself?
Paul stretched out his hand, seemingly to steal the ball, but pointed directly at Yu Fei's abdomen. Yu Fei reacted in an instant and instinctively raised his left hand and swung it hard at Paul's body.

"Beep!!!"

Unless Kobe is playing at Staples Center, even the best player in the league cannot publicly elbow his opponent.

Yu Fei raised his hand to admit the offensive foul. His elbow hit on Paul was bound to cause discussion after the game, but what about Paul's move just now? No one knows what would have happened if he didn't dodge or subconsciously counterattack.

Yu Fei sarcastically said: "Look, this is why you can't even compare to Kobe Bryant in the MVP voting."

Paul remained silent. Although he didn't say anything, looking at his posture, it was clear that Yu Fei's elbow just now was not light, and the area affected by the attack was still painful.

Seeing this scene on the court, Karl finally knew what the Sonics currently lacked the most.

They didn't have anyone who could help Fei do his dirty work.

When I was in Milwaukee, there were a lot of people like that.

But when he arrived in Seattle, Da Fei needed to be "self-reliant."

Because the new players here are all newcomers during their rookie contract period, how do they understand the dangers of the league?
This made Karl think of something worse. If they met the Celtics in the Finals, would that team full of old basketball hooligans start from this aspect?
However, the current situation did not allow Karl to think too much.

Because Yu Fei came in front of Paul again, but his defensive actions were more aggressive than before.

Although aggressive defense can bring pressure, it can also leak holes.

Paul quickly broke through Yu Fei, but unexpectedly Marion was waiting on the road.

Paul was about to pass the ball when Yu Fei came over from behind. Roy's intention was clearly to block the line referee's sight.

In less than a second, Paul dropped the ball.

"They committed a foul!" Paul yelled.

Foul? Maybe, but who cares?

Yu Fei stole the ball, and Wells wanted to block it, but was deflected by a change of direction from behind, and lost contact with Yu Fei.

Yu Feiyun crossed the half court, slowed down, and sent a long alley-oop pass to Marion.

Marion caught the ball and dunked, a perfect finish.

"He committed a foul!" Paul shouted to the referee, "That bastard, he...!"

Referee Mike Callahan said solemnly: "I didn't see it."

"How can you?!!!"

If David West hadn't pulled Paul away, the Hornets would have been called for a technical foul immediately.

Yu Fei came back, looked at the red-faced Paul and sneered: "Did I complain about your little moves when I was called for an offensive foul just now? Chris, you can't be too LeBron. Do you think Mr. Referee is your grandfather? You can only Are you allowed to take advantage and not suffer a loss?"

In an instant, Paul felt warm, but Yu Fei's casual trash talk peeled off his skin.

"Don't mention my grandfather!"

Yu Fei sneered: "I can say whatever I want, you'd better respect my freedom of speech!"

When a steady person loses all reason, his behavior cannot be inferred from common sense.

Paul has all the qualities that a core point guard should have. If you give him an offensive core like Carmelo Anthony or Kobe Bryant, he may become the greatest point guard in the new century. However, not everyone has it. That's good luck, unless you're willing to make decisions at the right time that are bound to be controversial.

Paul only has himself. Although his teammates are all very good, in this case, can he count on others?

The furious Paul forgot his strengths. He was not Iverson, nor any other small steel cannon with explosive physical fitness. His strong breakthrough was exchanged for Yu Fei's personal defense.

Until the end, when he wanted to use the basket with his back to the defender again, he completely forgot that he had not suppressed Yu Fei's body at all.

What followed was Yu Fei's bloody block after taking off with all his strength.

"Snapped!!!!!"

Paul's basket was slapped out of bounds, and he himself fell to the ground under the impact of external forces.

Yu Fei didn't even look at him, turned around and spread his hands towards the camera.

Why did he dare to lay up in front of me like this?

That's what he wanted to convey.

KeyArena fans went crazy.

"MVP!"

"MVP!!"

"MVP!!!"

That kind of fanatical emotion turned this place into a personal temple, and Frye Yu's will dominated all creatures in the arena.

They roared for it, they went crazy for it.

Because they truly believe this man is the savior of pro basketball in Seattle.

For such a person, MVP is just an embellishment of all the auras he has.

But unfortunately, it's a lifelong dream for many players.

Paul stood up with red eyes and wanted to continue playing, but the Hornets requested a timeout.

Byron Scott saw Paul like this for the first time, and he couldn't let it go, otherwise, Yu Fei would completely destroy him.

(End of this chapter)