When pride still matters

Chapter 488 They are all right (unity)

On the first day of 2010, the Sonics received a nasty New Year's gift.

After an examination, Brandon Roy discovered he had a torn meniscus, and the injured knee was not the same knee he underwent ACL surgery on.

If anything is lucky, it is that Roy is in a better environment now than in his previous life.

In his previous life, Roy suffered a torn meniscus during the playoffs. He mistakenly believed in the legends of heroes who played through injuries and never forgot that there was only one Willis Reed. Even Reed was never the same after the battle of "Reed Returns."

Roy chose conservative treatment and returned in the playoffs eight days later. The injury eventually worsened and the meniscus was removed from both legs, ending his career in 2012.

Now, Roy is important to the Sonics.

He is the key to Yu Fei's transformation.

But is he indispensable?
Not really. Yu Fei can transform into an orthodox all-around three position, but it doesn't mean that he can't be himself back to the Bucks. Now that Roy is injured, if he undergoes surgery, it is conservatively estimated that the recovery period will be 6-8 weeks. If the recovery effect is not good, there may be a risk of being reimbursed for the season.

Therefore, starting from the next game, Yu Fei returned to the No. 1 position.

This period was the lowest mood Yu Fei had experienced in several years.

He almost broke James.

The media will always give him some topics to use his eloquence on.

Durant only has to repeat the right nonsense to make his image stick.

Pau Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge inside have advantages, but the advantage they gained lost their effectiveness in the face of the SuperSonics' three-point rain.

This is "when a whale falls, everything comes to life" on the basketball court.

Did they deliberately misinterpret Yu Fei's words? Not really.

So, here he comes.

Yu Fei, on the other hand, does not have that sense of belief in fighting for his teammates.

When a reporter asked him whether Roy would return in the playoffs, Yu Fei replied: "The doctor told me that if he is lucky, he can return in the last month of the regular season."

Roy's injury caused an unspeakable anger in his heart. He might lose his biggest helper and his best friend in life.

If they hope to make Sonics fans optimistic through Yu Fei's remarks, then a well-intentioned misinterpretation of these words will also be considered feasible.

In Durant's first game as the third position, he scored 34 points and 5 rebounds.

The core of journalism is to disseminate some content that journalists think must be disseminated.

The Sonics need a guard who can organize and attack? He seems to be doing both. Except for not shooting three-pointers, everything is up to standard.

Not surprisingly, Durant spent a few more minutes talking about the "play for your teammates" mentality.

Wherever there is an opportunity, he will play.

Marksman Anthony Morrow moved from the bench to the starting lineup, veteran Michael Finley moved from the bench to the main rotation, and rookie Alonzo Key, who originally could only play garbage time, also received a few more minutes of playing time.

Yu Fei plays the No. 1 position, and he can play his favorite No. 3 position.

This is his repertoire every game day.

But when the referee blew several whistles to maintain the balance of the situation, this discomfort irritated Yu Fei.

What matters is what they want you to know in the news.

This sentence became a headline in the Seattle Times the next day: Frye believes Brandon will return before the playoffs begin.

At first, his anger made him act like a god.

Yu Fei doesn't seem to have a strong desire to attack.

"I told Brandon, I will get his points together!" Durant told reporters, "No matter who falls, the rest of us will fight for each other. This is my mentality!"

The person happiest about this is of course Durant.

In the first game of the new year, the SuperSonics faced the Bucks.

As a historical offensive machine, Durant has now shown his potential. For the Bucks, Danny Granger faced off and lost.

Days later, Roy underwent successful surgery, and Presti's replacement for Roy arrived belatedly: Seattle signed free agent Shaun Livingston.

So he became a homeless man.

He suddenly felt that the whole world was against him, so he yelled at the referee.

If an absolute main player falls, his tactical status and playing time will be swallowed up by other teammates.

Durant, on the other hand, can be said to be elated.

Livingston joined the team at the wrong time in a backup role to Roy.

Then, the SuperSonics ushered in a second battle with the Lakers.

Durant came to the position before Yu Fei, repeatedly asking for the ball to attack, with no disadvantages.

Although he was at home, Yu Fei's emotional state made his state fluctuate.

At this time, Livingston had recovered from the most horrific injury in NBA history, but many people still doubted whether he could adapt to the intensity of the NBA.

Moreover, Durant's mood is very complicated. He knows that Roy's injury will greatly weaken the team's strength, but from a personal level, this injury has also reshuffled the SuperSonics' main rotation. .

However, Livingston arrived at the wrong time.

This earned him a technical foul.

On the other end, Phil Jackson summed up the failure of the Christmas Day game and began to divide Artest's responsibilities.

Nominally, Artest is still the fourth position.

But he only plays the four position on offense.

Coming to the defensive end, Artest actually plays the third position, mainly used against Durant.

At the same time, let James stand in the fourth position as much as possible on the defensive end to help James protect defensive rebounds.

This move worked wonders, especially in limiting Durant.

Artest's death coil left Durant lost on the court.

In the fourth quarter, after Kobe and Hamilton attacked from the outside, the Lakers firmly took the lead.

At that moment, James was emotional.

He knew that the nightmare of more than six years was finally coming to an end.

Yu Fei kept attacking with the ball, again and again.

He beat Kevin Garfield to six fouls before the end of the game. Then, the Lakers replaced Bynum, another extremely talented seven-foot center.

Only Bosh provided help on the offensive end for the Sonics.

Morrow was nailed by Kobe.

Durant was overwhelmed by Artest's defense.

Yu Fei finally scored a season-high 64 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. This is an extremely directional data.

He tried his best on the offensive end, but history has long proved that it is difficult for one person to defeat a super team.

111 is better than 106
The Lakers beat the SuperSonics on the road.

At the end of the game, James, who scored 22 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, had tears in his eyes.

"This is a team victory!" he said excitedly, "We don't have the chosen one, and we don't need the chosen one. We don't need to rely on someone to score 60 points to win the game!"

"Before tonight, everyone thought you were going to lose to Frye for the 30th time in a row, but you won, how does that mean to you?"

James looked extremely excited. He said with red eyes: "I didn't defeat Frye, the Lakers defeated the SuperSonics. This is what I have been emphasizing. Individual strength can never override the collective. Chris has just come back. , Brandon got injured, we didn’t beat the best Sonics, but, you know, injuries are part of the game, and a win is a win, and I never have to hear anyone talk about it again. "

As the losing party, Yu Fei faced an equally huge interview scale.

For a long time, James' inability to win against Yu Fei has become a part of popular culture.

After seven years, James finally won once.

Does this mean that the two camps have changed their offensive and defensive positions?
"Their performance tonight was impeccable," Yu Fei said. "This is a game they deserve to win, and I will give them the praise they deserve."

The reporter asked again: "How big is the impact of Brandon's absence?"

"It's big."

"Is it enough to affect the outcome?"

"I don't know." Yu Fei said, "I was a little emotional during the game. If Brandon was on the court, he would calm me down."

"KD didn't perform well tonight, only 22 of 7 shots. What do you think of his shooting percentage?"

"He made some unreasonable shots. I understand that this is a common problem for young players." Yu Fei said, "The main responsibility lies with me. I did not create a better scoring space for him."

Yu Fei has been emphasizing that he is a bit emotional tonight.

But no one asked him why he was emotional.

If someone really asked, he wouldn't be able to answer.

Because he couldn't say it, he was worried that Roy would never recover.

Many people are excited for James to break the unbeatable record, but the initiator of this record himself does not have so many psychological fluctuations.

It's easy to beat James, but almost impossible to win forever.

It is undeniable that James is indeed one of the top three players in the league and has a longer peak period. Coupled with a smart mind that is different from ordinary black people, he will create championship windows for himself. That said, his teams are always strong.

Yu Fei has been tense since 2003 when he played against him.

After the two broke up, they became even more determined not to lose to him.

However, Roy's injury broke Yu Fei's Taoism.

When his mind is in chaos, the game is also in chaos.

Although he scored 64 points, he only had 4 assists. Only three people on the Sonics team scored in double figures. Durant was stalked by Artest throughout the game. His high-scoring performance did not alleviate the defensive pressure Durant faced.

So, he wasn't going to blame anyone.

As a ball-handling core, he played like 03 Kobe tonight.

Although he scored high points with a high shooting percentage, his function as a big core was dysfunctional.

He is the first person responsible for the failure.

But in the end, this is just a regular season game, and they have plenty of opportunities to come back.

In the locker room, Karl simply said a few words and let everyone disperse.

Yu Fei stood up and said: "I made a lot of shots outside of tactics, and I only had 4 assists. As the alpha dog who holds the key to the system, I did not lead you on the road to victory. So, tonight is all mine." Wrong, go back and have a good sleep.”

After that, Yu Fei left.

Lin Kaiwen followed him with a surprised look on his face.

In the locker room, everyone stared at each other. It wasn't until Yu Fei walked away that someone asked: "Is Frye mocking us?"

"He scored 64 points, and then he said the loss was all his fault?" Even Brown couldn't understand, "This is irony, Da Fei is very disappointed in us!"

Xiao Ao looked understanding: "Why do I think Da Fei is serious?"

"You scored 64 points and 10 rebounds, and then you lost. Do you blame yourself?" Brown asked. Xiao Ao snorted; "I will hold a machine gun and shoot everyone in the locker room!"

"But" Xiao Ao said, "he is Da Fei, he is the master of the empire. The glory of winning only belongs to him, and the shame of losing certainly belongs only to him."

Brown asked, "What do we do?"

Xiao Ao smiled and said: "We just play ball."

"So says the guy who didn't play for a second tonight," Brown taunted.

The locker room became noisy again.

George Karl saw everything.

When Yu Fei just put all the blame on himself, he was puzzled. There are many ways to take responsibility, why should he use this way of damaging his prestige?

Then Carl understood.

There are too many Imperial bastards in the locker room.

Yu Fei only needs to put down his words, and they will deconstruct it in their own way.

As long as Yu Fei didn't raise an army to accuse him, everyone would not go home in fear.

Accepting defeat calmly is a lesson that must be learned in professional sports, even if the person who defeats you is an opponent you don't want to lose anyway.

So, is this all a show?
Is Frye leading the team his own way?
Could he have foreseen what would happen in the locker room after he left?
Or is it that Brown and O'Neill were in cahoots with Frye from the beginning?
Karl doesn't know, but it's always a good thing for the atmosphere in the locker room to recover quickly after losing to the Lakers.

Speaking of which, he was also very annoyed.

Everyone is saying that Yu Fei's winning streak against LeBron is broken, but as everyone knows, his winning streak against Phil Jackson is also broken. Who has thought about him?
Carr may very well be the only person in the Sonics organization losing sleep tonight.

Yu Fei doesn't care that his winning streak against James is broken, he is very precious.

※※※

Yu Fei sat in the back seat, and a heavily armed bodyguard drove the car.

Kevin Lin asked: "Do you really think you are the first person responsible for losing tonight?"

"If I had more assists, we would have won."

"If KD plays better, you guys will win too."

"Is KD the Chosen One?" Yu Fei asked, "Does anyone say he is the founder of the empire?"

Is the unity of honor and disgrace the standard for becoming a god?
Lin Kaiwen doesn't think so.

Although Yu Fei thinks so, the servants of God will naturally blame those burdens that drag down God.

In just the past few hours, Durant has been trending on Twitter.

Even Bosh was questioned because he failed to dominate against the Lakers' weak fourth position.

Kwame Brown, the self-proclaimed number one big man in history, has become the target of public criticism.

This season, Brown has not advanced but retreated. His strengths have not become longer, but his shortcomings have become obvious under the SuperSonics system.

Because every team is studying the Sonics, everyone found that when Brown is on the court, the Sonics' offensive system is basically a four-on-five state, because after Brown picks and rolls, he does not shoot outside, and the ability to cut inside and finish depends entirely on Yu Fei and Roy. The skills of these two pastry chefs.

He has a short arm span and small hands, so he is a "picky eater" and cannot eat ordinary cakes.

Therefore, facing the group of insiders like Xiaojia who have evolved due to the early arrival of the "three-point, space and speed" era, Brown looks useless.

Losing tonight, Brown, who scored 0 points, 5 rebounds and 4 fouls, was ridiculed by the crowd.

How can the Twitter king endure this? In the 2020s, Klay Thompson was possessed across space. When Brown saw a black man, he opened his mouth and said, "I have four crowns, what do you have?"

However, it is Durant who is under siege.

Because no one would have high hopes for Brown. When Yu Fei scored 64 points, Durant made 22 of 7 and only scored 19 points. This performance cannot be justified.

This is the biggest difference between the virtual world and reality.

Yu Fei was kind to his teammates in the locker room and took the initiative to take responsibility. His teammates lined up to enter the military court in cyberspace to be tried.

This is also characteristic of the social media era.

Everything is amplified and no one is immune.

Yu Fei went to visit Roy.

When the two met, Roy's first words were: "Don't you think you were a little too competitive with the referee tonight?"

Yu Fei said: "I noticed it."

"You didn't trust your teammates enough in the second half."

"Yes."

"You only had 4 assists in the game."

"That's why we lost."

Roy looked at him strangely: "Are you so good at accepting criticism? It's not like you."

"The doctor told me that listening to the patient will help him recover faster."

Roy was amused by Yu Fei's joke.

"I know you need me very much, but I will definitely not be able to make it in time for the regular season." Roy said, "You have to be prepared that I can't come back in the regular season."

The SuperSonics announced that Roy will return in 6-8 weeks.

According to this time, he can come back in April.

But Roy now said that he could not catch up with the regular season, and Yu Fei thought there was a new situation.

"The surgery went well, but expectations for my recovery time were a little optimistic," Roy explained.

Afterwards, they talked about the game.

"Aren't you a little unhappy that LeBron's seven-year winning record was cut off just like that?" Roy asked with a smile.

"No." Yu Fei looked at Roy unhappily, "But I'm not happy with someone making sarcastic remarks to someone lying in a hospital bed."

"Are you envious? I got this privilege with my torn meniscus. If you like, you can be my patient."

"It seems like you really want to see KD win the scoring title this season."

"Isn't this what he wants to do most?" Roy said, "After I got injured, he seemed to be the one who benefited the most."

Yu Fei ended the topic with a wicked joke: "I don't know if it's him, but he did turn into a sunny and cheerful boy after you were injured."

Of course, tonight is an exception.

After returning home, Durant was busy using his trumpet to fight against the haters on Twitter.

After ending their winning streak with a loss that made national headlines, the Sonics quickly adjusted.

Yu Fei got rid of his irritable mood and returned to the No. 1 position to take charge of the team's organizational power, but he did not want to control the overall situation like the Bucks.

The last loss to the Lakers made him realize that Bosh's star instinct was slipping away.

When Roy was there, the SuperSonics had a clear distribution of ball rights, and Bosh was in the sacrifice position. Compared with the Raptors period, his tactical status was completely different.

But Bosh himself also knew that he was here to hug his thigh. Since he had this awareness, he was naturally ready to sacrifice his status.

Therefore, he blue-collared himself.

Even if the team tilts their tactical position towards him, he does not have the mentality of "I am a star, and I have to play with Kerry".

The Lakers' fourth position is their weak point, so letting Bosh play a star role at the fourth position will be the main test against the Lakers next time.

Yu Fei did many things that Roy would not do before.

He gave Bosh regular opportunities to play singles with the ball, and then kept calling pick-and-rolls to allow Bosh to get familiar with the mid-range shot instead of outside the three-point line.

When Bosh was hesitant, Yu Fei asked him: "Chris, don't forget that you are also a star player, don't doubt yourself like a minor character!"

Taking this day as the dividing line, Bosh's scoring average rose from the original 15 points to 21 points.

At least from the offensive end, Bosh has returned to his Raptors self.

Durant is restricted by rules and regulations.

He originally thought that he could have unlimited firing rights by replacing Yu Fei at the third position, but Yu Fei told him that if you want to play my position, you have to play like me.

Does Yu Fei only care about scoring when he is at the third position? No, he also shares the tasks of defense, blocking, rebounding and most importantly, helping Roy share the organizational pressure.

In this case, Yu Fei averaged 18 points, 27 rebounds and 8 assists on 7 shots per game.

After Roy was reimbursed, Yu Fei went on a rampage for a while, and his scoring average rose to 30 points per game, but now, he is back to normal.

For Durant, this is the resurgence of a nightmare.

Roy is out injured?
No, Roy is still here.

It's just that Yu Fei played the role of Roy.

He did a better job than Roy, and at the same time, he was far harsher than Roy because Durant played Yu Fei's original role.

His organizational skills are weak, his confrontation is poor, and his defense basically depends on his physical condition. This makes him unable to complete other tasks associated with Yu Fei's position except scoring.

Therefore, he was reprimanded by Yu Fei in every game.

Indiscriminate investment? Defensively out of position? Not stuck? Not passing the ball? Bad pass? Lost a rebound?

Any incident will be an opportunity for Yu Fei to fire at Durant.

In front of Durant, Yu Fei became more irritable than ever before, as if Durant had injured Roy.

"Why is Frye so tougher on KD than he was in the past?"

The standard answer is: different positions, different responsibilities, and different standards.

But some people's answer is: Frye's winning record against LeBron was interrupted because of KD's disastrous performance against the Lakers.

In mid-January, the league announced its All-Star roster.

Yu Fei and Durant were selected as All-Star starters.

Bosh was selected at the buzzer due to his explosiveness after the New Year.

That day, the SuperSonics played against the Warriors at home.

Durant rarely refused a pre-game interview: "I don't have anything to say about being selected for the All-Stars. This is a matter of course. The team is going to have a meeting. Frye is waiting for me. I don't want him to wait too long." For a long time, I was afraid that he would scold me.”

"Does he really scold you?" the reporter asked innocently. "This is a joke, right? Kevin, would you like to talk about how Frye helped you this season? How he helped you become an All-Star starter. of?"

"He was like Neil's (Dead Poets Society) father figure, helping me," Durant said. "Whenever I made a mistake, he would go crazy."

"Is this another joke?"

Durant smiled.

The reporter also laughed.

Durant laughed that the world couldn't see Frye Yu's obvious true face, and reporters laughed that he didn't understand the world.

They're both right.

(End of this chapter)