When pride still matters

Chapter 426 The last step

That night, SuperSonics fans sang happily as if the team had won the cup.

"I'm very happy because I know my team is about to win the championship!" An old fan said excitedly to reporters, "Because we have Frye!"

SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett also came forward for an interview.

"You can see the soul of Northwest basketball in Frye," Bennett said. "He was born for this."

After this night, Seattle's marketing efforts for Fei began to increase.

Unlike Milwaukee, which is located in a corner, once a metropolis like Seattle wants to favor someone, the power and resources they can use are on another level.

The Celtics, who have a record of losing all away games in the playoffs, have made themselves a humiliating team.

Even if they return to home and win two consecutive games to win the championship, their twelve consecutive away defeats are enough to make them the most doubtful championship in history.

And this may be the best result among many, at least they won the championship.

But what worries Celtic supporters is, will the team never recover?
Although Rivers expressed all kinds of pride to the players like a duck after the game, his chicken soup for the soul can always calm down the violent players, but this time it seems to be different.

Michael Redd drew criticism for his controversial shot in the fourth quarter, and as if he knew it was coming, he complained in the postgame press conference that he didn't get enough support.

He had no good cover and no one to make the ball, so he needed to rely on his own strength to save the team, but failed in the end and fell short.

He believes that even if he is not the savior of the Celtics, he is still a tragic hero who died fighting hard.

The reality was very different from what he thought.

No one hailed him as a hero, and the Celtics-leaning media took out a magnifying glass to search for mistakes during his game.

Those media outlets that favor Sonics are very direct.

Disparaging Reed is something they are used to doing.

As we all know, Reid had a brilliant performance when he followed Yu Fei in the 2003 Finals. He was a surprise player that year and dealt a cruel blow to the Spurs at a critical moment.

The biggest difference between him and the other two giants of the Celtics is that he has the experience of winning to the end in the playoffs.

But the few years he spent in New York seemed to have wiped out all his experience.

Last night's performance in the fourth quarter gave those media who like to criticize him another opportunity.

As a result, the public opinion circles were overwhelming with comments such as "Without Frye, Michael Reed is just an ordinary player", "The nature of a loser, Michael Reed has never been a winner", "Don't worry about Reed Surprised by the failure, that's what he did in New York." Even Roy was accidentally injured. Roy has been the main tool used by the media to attack Reid.

Their argument is that a player like Roy with mature skills but little professional experience can quickly grow into an All-Star under the guidance of Yu Fei, just like Michael Reid back then.

One reason is the media's complete denial of Reid, and the other is the chain reaction caused by Reid's post-game remarks within the Celtics.

Without teammates to help, this is to blame for Rivers' poor tactical arrangements; without good coverage, this is to blame for Garnett, the Eastern Conference's first screener, not helping to block the defense; no one to help him with the ball, this is to blame Rondo, who is often left open, lacks the personal ability to attract defenses, resulting in him having to run out of space under the defense of 1-2 opponents.

When Reid forced the controversial three-pointer, the Celtics still had ten seconds to attack, and they could reorganize their offense.

It was Reed who went his own way and broke the team's tacit understanding.

But at the end of the game, no one blamed him.

Pierce was knocked incontinent by Yu Fei and did not return to the game until the last minute, which in itself was frustrating. If Reed shuts up and lets himself be laughed at, everyone will only regret that Pierce can't fight until the last moment.

Because Pierce was the best Celtic player that night, without him, Yu Fei would have killed the game long ago.

But now, Reid's remarks put the blame on his teammates and coaching staff, which inevitably caused dissatisfaction among others.

Garnett, who has had a heated exchange with the media since being traded to Boston, spends a lot of time dealing with the media wherever he goes.

On the day he returned to Boston, Garnett expressed disappointment with Reid's postgame speech: "Whether it's me, Doug, or anyone else, we gave all our energy and should not be blamed."

Pierce, who was also interviewed, said: "I'm very happy that Michael didn't blame me for quitting midway."

The person most serious about it is Rivers.

He knew Reid's words were tearing apart the Celtics' intact chemistry.

This is something they spent a season building with the best record in the league.

When the Celtics' Big Three were first established, Danny Ainge was worried that Reid would not be able to integrate into the collective and become part of the team.

Because he is different from the other two giants.

Garnett stayed in Mingzhou for 12 years and only broke through the first round one year. His energy has disappeared and he just wants to succeed.

Pierce waited nine years, a similar experience to Garnett.

They have all had long waits, long periods of failure, and all are over 30 years old. The age of 30 is an important turning point for athletes. It is not as easy as the third year of life as the ancient Chinese proverb says. For athletes, the age of 30 marks the decline of physical fitness, physical strength, and recovery ability. Many things that could be easily accomplished when young gradually become difficult.

Therefore, they are called veterans.

Because at this age, they really have an old man's mentality.

Where's Reed? He is under 30 years old and was selected for the US team last summer. He had success with Yu Fei in Milwaukee in his early years. Later, he was dissatisfied with his status in the team and took the initiative to request a trade.

Judging from Reid's resume, he has never given people a convincing answer, making people believe that he can sacrifice himself for the team.

During the regular season, Anji was reassured by him because although Reed did not have the mentality of "I am for everyone", he had a strong mentality to prove that he could succeed without Yu Fei.

Maybe this is fate.

In other words, it is the curse of the Chosen One.

They met unexpectedly in the finals, and Reed's heart was broken by the Chosen One.

He can either accept reality and admit that he is a loser if he leaves the Chosen One, or he can only ignore reality and activate Makoto Ito mode.

I can't be wrong, and if I am wrong, it's the world's fault.

So Angie's initial belief was confirmed.

Reed is not and will never be a player who is content to be ordinary, selfless and willing to accept failure.

He will only turn into a viper, spewing venom and blaming the world.

If the world continues to turn against him, he blames his teammates and coaches.

Now, the Celtics have come this far.

Yu Fei's speech yesterday was obscured by the turmoil within the Celtics.

In normal times, "I didn't lose, it's just that the game time is over" would have brought about a welcome controversy, but now, sportswriters and reporters in the basketball world are all focused on Boston.

Bill Simmons, who was still complaining yesterday that the Sonics relied on referees to win three consecutive games, also came to his senses and joined the ranks of crusade against the team.

As a person who is familiar with NBA history, he certainly knows how humiliating it is to lose 12 consecutive away games in the playoffs.

What's scary is that the players don't know it yet, so Reid, who committed the war, can still blame his teammates?
Reid's rhetoric brought greater publicity to himself and created a rift in the team.

This turmoil let those who are interested know that the Sonics are closer to their second championship in team history.

A few days before the start of Game 6, the Seattle media came up with suggestions and fans spontaneously took to the streets, turning the Emerald City into a basketball city.

Key Arena announced that the sixth game of the Finals will be broadcast live on four large screens in the arena. Season ticket holders can enter for free, while fans without season tickets can enter for just $50.

This is the ultimate in making money.

Even a game that is not held in the SuperSonics can be broadcast live, and even tickets are charged, and there are really countless fans who are willing to go to Key Arena to watch a game like a big movie.

Mayor Greg Nichols then joined in the fun by announcing that the day the Sonics won the championship would be named "Supersonics Day."

Just this statement of "I can't give him anything but verbal support" helped his approval rating rise by several percentage points.

There is no doubt that Seattle is a well-deserved basketball city in recent times.

There may only be 1/3 or even 1/4 of the real fans, but no one doesn't like winning, and no one hates the championship. Today's SuperSonics are only one step away from the championship, and the passion of the fans has been mobilized.

6 April

On the sixth game day of the Finals, when the SuperSonics headed to the airport, thousands of fans saw them off outside the airport.

Their slogan remains the same.

Yu Fei had listened to it when he first returned to Seattle last year, but listening to it now, he had a completely different feeling.

"Save our Sonics!"

"Save our Sonics!!"

"Save our Sonics!!!"

Yu Fei stopped and promised as the team representative: "Tomorrow morning, we will come back with the O'Brien Cup to celebrate the final victory with you."

"!#￥￥!"

(End of this chapter)