When pride still matters

Chapter 406: No. 24 is far worse than No. 8
Yu Fei and George Karl's winning streak against the Lakers since 2004 was unpretentiously broken in Game of the Western Conference Finals.

The Lakers returned to their home court and unlocked the seal. Everyone played well. Coupled with the home court advantage, the SuperSonics fought hard for four quarters but still lost.

106 is better than 101
"The number of free throws is 15 to 31." Karl's reaction was like the Zen Master before, questioning the penalty, "Why can't we play under the same scale?"

However, such complaints are useless to the Lakers.

Carr was fined, but the penalty for Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals remained the same.

It's not that Karl's prestige doesn't work, or that the league wants the Lakers to win, no, it's a kind of inertia and a reward.

For a long time, the Lakers' whistle power has been superior to other teams. This does not mean that the Lakers are the Dragons in the NBA. This is a reward for a big-market team that makes money.

If you make money for a long time, and if you can distribute money to other teams after making a lot of money, then getting some benefits on the field is not an unacceptable thing for the owners of the league and other teams.

Of course, it's hard on those who compete.

But that's tradition.

However, when the penalty issue is so obvious, this explanation is not convincing.

"Kobe made more free throws than our entire team." Yu Fei couldn't help but made remarks that would result in a fine. "This will definitely bring difficulties to our game."

Carl couldn't understand.

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said: "I understand people's complaints about the number of free throws, and I also admit that we have some advantages at home, but you also have to see that the number of three-pointers attempted by Seattle is much higher than that of the SuperSonics. For us, when you refuse to go to the basket to get free throws and choose to use outside shooting as the main offensive method, isn't it natural that there will be fewer free throws? "

The players in the whirlpool were silent.

This is something the league wants to avoid.

In the fourth game, the Lakers once again got 30 free throws, while the SuperSonics only had 9 free throws in the game.

The worst impact of Donaghy is that once there is any unfair penalty in the game, fans can't help but think about the worst.

The score was tied at 2-2. The SuperSonics returned to their home court and regained their geographical advantage. This was a game they could not lose.

Regarding the gap in the number of free throws, the Lakers have a leading version of understanding.

Although Game 5 is not yet a "win or go home" battle, based on the home whistle performance of the Lakers in Game 3 and Game 4, if the Sonics lose Game 5, they will go to Seattle again in Game 6. The Taps Center is definitely in danger.

In the end, the Lakers defeated the SuperSonics 104-95.

Bryant declined to comment on the penalty.

Stern is dedicated to improving the league's image, which has hit rock bottom after the Donaghy incident.

The aftermath of the Tim Donaghy incident still exists, and fans generally do not accept the league's so-called "Donaghy is a special case."

The media machine behind Yu Fei is also running, questioning the penalties in the third and fourth games from all angles.

Yu Fei also had some questions. He knew that the league had script arrangements for those highly anticipated series, but what did this script mean?

Yu Fei also said that he had said everything he wanted to say and now he just wanted to focus on the fifth game.

The media in Seattle began to build momentum, labeling David Stern as a villain, believing that the other party was hindering the rise of the SuperSonics, and the ultimate goal was to move the team away.

If the Lakers want a whistle, they'll get it.

Now that public opinion is gaining momentum, even if the league wants to intervene in the series according to its own ideas, it will be restrained.

Therefore, the Lakers' spirit must be thwarted at home.

30 minutes before the game, Karl saw tonight's referee list.

The head referee is Steve Javie, who has many years of coaching experience in the NBA and is a famous whistler with a reputation for being an iron fist, nicknamed "Mr. T."

Of course Yu Fei knows him. After all, he has played hundreds of NBA games and has been refereed by Javi for quite a few games.

But what impressed Jia Wei most about Yu Fei was the 2003 All-Star Weekend.

That was Joe Biden's last All-Star game, which was a bit of a legacy. Jarvis was one of the referees at the time.

When Vince Carter reluctantly gave up the starting job, Jarvie said Jordan deserved it. Because "Jordan is a role model for professional players, and you will never go wrong by following him."

Five years later, Yu Fei still remembers this incident, not because he doesn't like Javi, but because Javi's admiration for Jordan can reflect his whistleblowing style.

He is a conservative in the basketball world, likes collision and confrontation, and has a high tolerance for small moves.

This means the games he referees can be very physical.

This is obviously not good for the Sonics. They have too many young people. Once they are knocked confused, they may not be able to perform even half of their usual level.

But the matter has come to this, what else can we do if we don’t accept it?

Although a bad-tempered old-school referee is not good, it is better than those dog referees who consistently allow the Lakers to take several times more free throws than their opponents.

Warming up before the game, both teams looked very composed.

Yu Fei basically only does layups and fixed-point shooting.

There was a kind of low pressure on the court before the big battle, which made everyone feel depressed.

Until the Sonics' "big smart" Childress broke the silence: "Since the Lakers said we had fewer free throws because we shot more three-pointers, wouldn't we have free throws tonight if we all hit the basket?"

Percy looked like he was mentally retarded: "Look who is the referee tonight."

Then Childress learned that the referee was Steve Jarvie.

This made Da Mingming feel that his speech was a bit weak: "Why do we arrange for him to be the referee when we play at home?" Childress, who has always believed that the playoffs are controlled by the league's big hands, firmly believes that this is the league's way to let the Lakers win the game. Arrangements made on point.

After the warm-up, the first starts of both sides were broadcast live.

After the DJ enthusiastically announced the Sonics' starting five, the scene became brightly lit again and the game was about to begin.

Since the referee was a confrontational referee like Steve Jarvie, Carr chose to start with the lineup from the previous fourth quarter of the first game.

Yu Fei, Roy, Marion, Posey and Brown.

Durant was placed on the bench, which was also a helpless move by the coaching staff.

After entering the playoffs, Durant's performance was dismal, his scoring average dropped to 11 points per game, and his shooting percentage was only over 40%.

For a genius whose lower limit is a superstar. Such a blow is huge, but it is not unacceptable, because the confrontation in the playoffs is completely different from the regular season.

Durant can accept such a temporary arrangement. After all, he is only temporarily leaving the starting lineup, rather than being completely transferred to the bench.

Then came the opening jump ball.

The Lakers look like Kobe Bryant tonight.

Cold, aggressive, and determined to win.

Foster won the jump ball and Kidd launched a fast break to pick up the rhythm in the first round.

Xiao Ao waved his hand, attracting attention in the crowd.

Kidd hits the ball.

Xiao Oo first attacked Marion's defense but missed.

However, he used his height to grab offensive rebounds and score the second attack.

0 is better than 2
"Kwame, can you bear it?"

Roy was referring to the national curse that began with "F" that O'Brien used against Brown after his second offense.

"How can I bear this?"

Brown feels that if he doesn't come back, he, the league's number one center, will become a joke.

Which number one center would be provoked like this?

Was O'Neal ever provoked like this during the dynasty?
Not to mention, he was really provoked, and the person who provoked O'Neal so hard and still got away with it was right next to Brown.

Brown initially wanted to post up and come back.

After all, Xiao Ao just scored by relying on the second attack. What is the value of the second attack? Just have hands. He doesn't bother to do it, not because he has small hands, but because it's difficult, you know.

However, when Yu Fei controlled the ball at a high position, he found that Foster had a big problem with Brown's defense.

Because Brown only plays right-handed in the low post now, Foster's power seems to be all tilted to the right hand. This kind of defense that puts all its strength on one side is actually betting that the opponent will not change.

Brown originally didn't want to change.

But when Yu Fei pointed to the sky with his left hand, he understood.

Fighting back on one's own is certainly a skill, but what is a bigger skill than this? It is to let the league's number one willingly feed him cakes. Regardless of the lack of technical content, does Jermaine O'Neal, a fucking idiot, have such treatment? He was worse than a dog in front of Kobe!

When Brown turned around and took off Foster's defense and ran to the basket to catch Yu Fei's lob pass and dunk, he felt that he had won too much.

"Fuck!" Brown couldn't help shouting, "I'm really unstoppable!"

"Invincible!" Roy praised him, "You can catch this ball!"

The triumphant Brown completely ignored Roy's implicit ridicule for his small hands, and looked down on Xiao Ou like a winner.

Xiao Ao just wants to know, when will Kwame Brown understand that he is useless without Da Fei? Has he forgotten that he is a trash certified by Michael Jordan himself!
The angry Xiao Ou was about to find Brown to face off.

But when he looked back and saw Kobe getting the ball in the high post, he knew that no one would touch the ball in this round.

Kobe played Roy alone, without any fancy moves. He swung left and right, released the ball and only dribbled, stopped and made a fadeaway jumper.

"I'm not interested in you." Kobe said hurting his pride, "Let Frye guard me!"

Roy is not an aggressive person, and his overall view is rare among young players, but this does not mean that he has no temper.

It would have been very unpleasant to be shot in front of my face without losing my position, but the other party actually looked down on me.

"He doesn't think I'm really not his opponent, right?" Roy threw the ball to Yu Fei and asked him to serve.

Yu Fei didn't expect that he would be responsible for serving.

But compared to this matter, he felt that Roy's words were more offensive: "It's not that he thinks it, that's what he thinks."

"FUCK!" Roy said, "We have nothing to do next round, prepare to retreat!"

Yu Fei was wondering if there was something wrong with the situation. It had just begun and everyone seemed a little excited.

Then, Roy was right in front of Kobe, like a mirror image, responding with Kobe's offensive method just now.

"Shh!"

"We don't need Frye to deal with you." Roy said to Kobe, "Also, No. 24 is far worse than No. 8!"

(End of this chapter)