When pride still matters

Chapter 405 A little boy from Kent

Facing the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, the Sonics have a certain psychological advantage.

Because they achieved a sweep of their opponents in the regular season.

Although only one of those victories came after the Lakers completed their reinforcements, it was enough to bring confidence.

"I haven't looked at their record over the past few years very well," Phil Jackson said before the game against the Sonics. "I think this time we can compare favorably with the last one."

Jermaine O'Neal also spoke out: "We also defeated the Spurs, but I won't say like someone that I beat Tim Duncan."

To be fair, Duncan is the only one who can say he is innocent after the Spurs lost in the semifinals.

He averaged 24 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks per game, which is comparable to the ancient greats.

"Why wouldn't I say that? Because we all know who led us to defeat the Spurs." O'Brien said pointedly. "It's a pity that man will never figure out his own weight."

Kobe was much more direct.

"It's been six years (since the last championship)," Kobe said. "I don't want to wait anymore."

Like some kind of mania attack, the Lakers took turns coming to the stage to speak harshly to the Sonics.

However, no one from the Sonics responded.

Yu Fei turned off the mic, and Brown didn't seem to know that Xiao Ao was blaming himself. Karl, who has always been good at talking, was certified as an "opponent" by Zen Master for the first time in his career, but he didn't look excited at all.

5 April

First game day of Western Conference Finals

The Sonics and Lakers know each other well.

Because they regarded each other as the biggest rivals in the division very early on.

This resulted in no information gap from the beginning of the series.

Both sides know what their opponent's weaknesses are.

The Sonics' problem is that they don't have enough interior depth, their players are too young, and their performance fluctuates greatly.

In addition to the Lakers' usual weakness at the third position, the players in the main rotation are quite young. This is both an advantage (rich experience, maturity and stability), and may also become a disadvantage (lack of physical strength).

That night, Key Arena attracted much attention.

The Lakers noticed that tens of thousands of people gathered on the big screen outside the arena, and the inside of the arena was even more airtight.

Except for the seats, there were one or two people standing in every place where people could stand.

This small but compact arena was flooded with more people than the arena could handle.

Local celebrities can also be seen everywhere in the arena's VIP boxes and front row auditoriums.

Former Sonics boss Schultz Howard was an unwelcome guest, but as long as he came, there was no reason not to welcome him.

Clay Bennett was sitting next to him.

An ironic thing happened between them.

The coffee king came to the scene tonight not to relive his old dream, but to invest in the SuperSonics' new arena.

Why does this seem ironic?

Because in the Schultz Howard era, a new arena was out of reach for the Sonics, and no one cared about the team.

When the coffee king sold the team, he said: "We have lost 5000 million in the past five years. I said that I did not buy the team to make money, but I assure you, I did not buy the team to lose 5000. Ten thousand."

He has nothing to do with the Sonics now, because he was in the Emerald City when they sold the team to an out-of-towner like Bennett who said, "A lifelong Oklahoman will steal the Sonics." Reputation ruined.

Now, he actually wants to invest in the Sonics' new arena?
This is something that is easy to understand in business.

Big names such as Buffett and Ballmer have taken action one after another, indicating that Supersonics has broad business prospects.

Investing in them is a sure-fire business.

The coffee king wanted an investment that would bring him fame and fortune, and Bennett certainly wouldn't refuse.

"It's easy to talk about." Bennett smiled, "Speaking of which, I have to thank you."

The coffee king smiled and asked: "Thank me for what?"

"If you didn't run an NBA team like a Starbucks, you guys wouldn't be in trouble, I wouldn't have the chance to buy the team, and Frye wouldn't be back here." Bennett's compliment It seemed sincere, but to the coffee king, it sounded murderous. "If the SuperSonics can rise again, you will definitely have 1/3 of the credit for it."

The coffee king laughed.

However, behind this smile, there may be countless fantasies about killing Bennett.

If he knew that Yu Fei could go to this extent to save the Sonics, even if he lost hundreds of millions, he would persevere and wait for the damn savior to come.

It's too late to say anything now. The team belongs to Bennett, and all the commercial profits brought by Yu Fei also belong to Bennett.

His only hope now is to have a hot bite of Xiang - yes, it is the investment in the new arena.

To him, that's Xiang, because that's why he decided to sell the team.

But now, it has become Seattle's hottest investment project.

How can things in the world be so unpredictable?

The main theme of the game that night was excitement and intensity.

The SuperSonics and Lakers took the enjoyment of the conference finals to another dimension, giving people a sense that "this is the highest level showdown in the Western Conference." Kobe Bryant got off to an early start, scoring 10 points to give the Lakers the lead.

The Sonics began to trail for most of the half.

Roy was extremely excited for his first appearance in the Western Conference Finals. Before Yu Fei took a shot, he first stabilized the morale of the army with two three-pointers.

Subsequently, the inside lines on both sides began to exert force.

Every time O'Brien succeeds in a single, he yells at Brown: "Are you okay, the number one center in the league?"

Can Brown take this? Of course not, but he didn't have the ability to fight back, so he counted on Yu Fei to set the stage for him.

Yu Fei and Brown connected in pick-and-rolls several times.

Brown once again responded to Xiao Ao by eating pie.

Every time he scored a piece of cake, he would flex his muscles to symbolize strength.

Roy's outside offensive and Yu Fei's organization made the SuperSonics fall behind in the first half, but overall they did not fall behind.

In the third quarter, Yu Fei showed off his power, as if he was going to use all the useless offensive shares in the first half.

Kobe Bryant scored 10 points in the opening period, while Yu Fei unstoppably scored 28 of the 22 points the Sonics scored in the third quarter.

Every spectator has only one impression of this game.

Yu Fei, Yu Fei, Yu Fei is everywhere.

From the front court to the back court, Yu Fei integrates offense and defense. Whoever he defends will die, and whoever he hits will explode.

This level of dominance is truly appalling.

The Lakers maintained their lead for most of the half but did not hold back at the last moment of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Sonics replaced Durant, who was out of tune with the intensity on the court, and used Yu Fei, Roy, Marion, Posey and Brown as the main lineup.

This lineup is balanced offensively and defensively, and since the Lakers lack a big killer inside, it can be said that there are no flaws.

Kobe, who had been a back-and-forth among the Spurs' wing groups, stalled under the Sonics' high-pressure defense.

When Kobe's fire was extinguished and Kidd's organization was no longer strong, the Lakers suddenly relied on the inside.

However, this inside line is not that easy to play.

Brown is not tall enough, but after following Yu Fei for several years, his understanding of defense has greatly improved. Now he has the league's first-class level in both single defense and assist defense. In addition, Marion is on the second defense, Yu Fei is on the first defense, and Posey, who is also a strong defender, assisted from the side. The Sonics' defense in the fourth quarter looked like the beauty of the Pistons and Pacers in the early years.

No one expected that the Sonics, which has always used offense to overwhelm others, would use defense to destroy the Lakers.

In the fourth quarter, the Lakers' offense misfired and then collapsed.

113 is better than 99
In Game 14 of the Western Conference Finals, the SuperSonics defeated the Lakers by points.

Their opponents had a lot to say about this game.

"They have 15 more free throws than us, and they can do a lot of defensive actions that we can't do." Kidd complained directly, "It's really difficult to win in this situation."

After Kidd made a speech that was enough to raise tens of thousands of fines, Jackson also had some opinions on the penalty scale at Key Arena.

"In my opinion, this level is a little too much," Jackson said. "Their defense on Kobe was limited. If we can do the same defense on Frye, he will disappear from the court."

The league's fines quickly fell on them.

However, fines are fines, and that does not mean that the league will not accept opinions.

The league pays great attention to public opinion, especially the Lakers' public opinion.

When the Lakers have objections to the scale of the whistleblower, it's best if there is something really worthy of correction in your whistleblower scale, otherwise, the league will overcorrect.

The Sonics had some home field advantage in the first game, but who doesn't have the home field advantage? When Karl noticed that the referees were particularly lenient on defensive penalties that night, he directly sent out a full defensive lineup to suffocate the Lakers.

But unexpectedly, the Zijin Nobles did not suffer any losses. They protested directly after the game. Although they were fined, the penalty scale changed 180 degrees in the second game.

The Sonics seemed to have arrived at a neutral venue, and the referees were completely unaffected by the home court and could call whatever they wanted.

This caused them to lose their "geographical advantage" and had to rely on the hard power of their players to win the game.

Luckily, Seattle has Yufei.

Tonight, a special group of spectators came to the Key Arena.

They are divided into a conspicuous position, each wearing the No. 44 jersey. However, these fans do not belong to the Sonics or the Bucks, but from Fei's alma mater, Kent Meridian High School.

They were Yu Fei's former classmates and teammates, and most of them are now married and starting businesses.

They brought their families to the scene tonight and gave loud cheers as a group of Yu Fei's relatives and friends.

This is another home-court advantage that the Lakers have been unable to capitalize on that public opinion has taken away from them.

This night, Yu Fei showed the energy of the best player in the league, scoring 47 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Without the support of the home whistle, he relied solely on his personal ability to defeat the opponent and win the series. Second victory.

"No matter how much I achieve, no matter how many championships I win, who I am is determined from the moment I was born."

"I'm Fry, a little boy from Kent."

——Yu Fei talked about the encouragement his high school classmates came to the scene in an interview.

　The doctor said it was just rhinitis, so kids, I'm back.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)