When pride still matters

Chapter 513: Poor acting, but useful

At the end of the game, Yu Fei was sweating profusely and looked exhausted, but he went straight to the assistant coach to ask for the statistics of the first game.

In the first game of the Western Conference Finals, the free throw ratio between the two teams was 24 to 20, with the Supersonics having 4 more free throws.

In tonight's game, the free throw ratio was 25 to 19, with the Supersonics having 6 more free throws.

Getting more free throws in two consecutive games at the Lakers' home court certainly says something.

Yu Fei was going to tell Tyronn Lue this information.

However, no one is in the mood now.

It's just that some people feel worse.

Yu Fei is the only one on the SuperSonics who can walk out of the Staples Center with his head held high tonight.

Since Yu Fei moved to Seattle, the discussion surrounding the comparison between the big city and the individual status of the players has never stopped.

Some conspiracy theorists believe that Yu Fei's move to Seattle was not to save the SuperSonics, but simply to escape the sluggish Milwaukee market.

After all, the influence and commercial value that Yu Fei created in Milwaukee during his five years were far less than those in Seattle during his three years.

This is a very realistic argument.

But it's easy to debunk.

That is, before Yu Fei arrived, the basketball market in Seattle was in a half-dead state. But after Yu Fei arrived, not only the basketball market, but also the teammates around him began to have commercial value.

In recent years, there are many players who have signed sponsorship contracts with Yu Fei.

Kwame Brown is one of the best.

Not only did he sign with Reebok, he also endorsed many foreign brands.

Suddenly, the Sonics players became commercially valuable, and even the substitute players could become product spokespersons. Is this the magic of big cities?
Only people who blindly believe in big cities would think so.

It is also possible that some people who think highly of themselves think that this is the result of their own performance and charm.

But most people were sober. They knew that Yu Fei was eating the meat in front and they were drinking the soup.

When the SuperSonics win big and are invincible like they were last season, these commercial values ​​are often accompanied by praise from the outside world and love from the audience.

Players will feel like members of a band in their heyday, treated like kings wherever they go.

However, once you lose, the backlash is extraordinary.

Especially on a night like tonight.

Yu Fei scored a big triple-double of 40+10+10 but lost the game. Whether objectively or subjectively, he deserves the evaluation of being in defeat with honor.

That's why the team lost but he didn't.

Why didn't he lose? Because if his teammates had played a little better, the Sonics might have won.

The first person to bear the brunt of this is naturally Kevin Durant.

"Kevin, what do you think caused your poor performance tonight?"

"The Lakers changed their defensive style," Durant said. "The opponents also changed. They put a lot of defensive resources on me. I'm not making excuses. I know that as a professional player, I need to be prepared to deal with adversity."

“Do you think you can bounce back in the next game?”

"Of course, I have confidence in myself."

"There's a view that your poor performance tonight was because Frye no longer had you under his wing like he used to because he was facing the full force of Kobe tonight. What do you think about this?"

Durant's mood began to change: "I am taller than him. I think he really can't protect me under his wings."

"Are you ready to be on your own on the court without Frye's protection?"

Durant hates these questions.

But he couldn't resist the reporters' questions.

Because in the eyes of the world, the key reason why the Supersonics lost the second game was that he, the guy who always claimed to take on more responsibilities, who would spend 5-10 minutes talking about "responsibility", "undertaking" and "core mission" on major TV stations before every game, did not fulfill his due duties tonight.

As a man who aspires to be a superstar, he made only 19 of 6 shots in this game and scored only 15 points.

For someone who wants to be 01 Kobe, this kind of performance is an insult to 01 Kobe.

What Durant couldn't understand was why his previous excellent performance should be negated because of one bad game?
The reporters' words gave him the impression that his previous performance was due to the fact that he was protected by Yu Fei.

He respected Yu Fei's strength and felt sorry for Yu Fei's good performance tonight. He felt guilty, but he could not understand, accept, or forgive the reporters for looking at his previous outstanding performance in this way.

"I grew up in the suburbs of DC," Durant said, pursing his lips. "I've seen a lot of things you haven't seen, mostly the dark side of the world. Since I was a kid, I knew how to be self-reliant. I don't need anyone to protect me behind my back."

"Do you have confidence that you can crack LeBron's defense in the next game?"

Durant said indifferently: "I was just not in shape tonight."

The subtext is: It has nothing to do with LeBron's defense.

Even from the perspective of official language, Durant's remarks were very arrogant.

This is not his usual speaking style, which shows that his mentality has changed.

Just as the Los Angeles media was preparing to criticize Durant, Bill Simmons, the world's number one Durant fan, said with relief on Twitter: "KD finally knows how to talk trash. This is a key step in his growth into a superstar."

Now is the end of Bill Simmons' creative peak. In the basketball world, he is like Han Han on Houbo at the same period, and is an opinion leader in the eyes of a generation of netizens.

Simmons' comments downplayed a potentially PR-problematic rant from Durant as trash talk off the court.

As for trash talk, anyone can say anything, like Miller and Payton who greeted someone's whole family, or like Bird who insulted the opponent's IQ. Of course, there are also those who lose the game but not the trash talk like Durant.

Doesn't he look more like a schoolbag boy?
The ones who like to be stubborn after making mistakes are those rebellious teenagers with school bags on their backs.

Although Durant's adolescence has long ended, this does not prevent some people from wanting to portray him as a big boy as simple and innocent as a teenager.

Durant ended the interview and walked back to the locker room with an indifferent expression.

He saw Yu Fei, but said nothing.

Yu Fei seemed to have nothing to say about tonight's game.

He accepts his teammates playing badly because he has his bad days too.

This made what was happening in the media room all the more ironic for Durant.

The master of the empire was as steady as a rock, but the jesters behind him were all going crazy with anxiety.

After all, this season is a crucial season for Yu Fei to become the GOAT. If he defeats the Lakers, enters the finals and wins the championship, it will actually be five championships in five years, and his personal number of championships will surpass Jordan. Even if there is a little controversy about Joe's struggling performance, he will become the recognized new GOAT.

So the jesters are anxious. How frustrating would it be if such a good opportunity was lost by their teammates?

Durant's heart is unbalanced.

He didn't blame Yu Fei, but the longer this incident lasted, the more he felt that Yu Fei should bear the consequences of the loss alone.

Because when the Supersonics win, not many people will praise their contributions, but instead there will be quite a lot of people praising Fei.

The only empire.

That was Yu Fei’s empire alone.

Since this is an empire of one man, isn't it fair to attribute all the glory and sin to one person?

Durant is well aware of how dangerous his current thoughts are. These are extreme thoughts that come from a person under extreme negative emotions.

He didn't say anything, just as Yu Fei remained silent.

Tyronn Lue walked into the locker room and summed up tonight's defeat in one sentence: "I think we played well."

The rest is consolation for the players.

"Even though we lost tonight, don't forget that we have stolen their home advantage." Coach Lu said reasonably, "We didn't let them win two home games. Next, we have to strive for a big score of 3 to 1 at home! Don't be discouraged, everyone, you performed very well."

Coach Lu called on the players to stand up, asked everyone to put their fists together and shout "Come on!"

The night passed like this, and it seemed nothing else happened.

The only person who caused discussion was Yu Fei.

He did not return to the hotel with the team bus.

This is because Christina Hendricks gave her current contact information to Yu Fei's assistant Lin Kevin.

After Lin Kevin handed it over to Yu Fei, he asked Christina out.

The old lovers met again after a long separation, and when Christina asked to see the tattoo on Yu Fei's back, they found their old tacit understanding.

The next day, what woke Yu Fei up was not years of inertia or the alarm clock, but Lin Kevin's bombarding phone calls.

Due to the tossing and turning of last night, Yu Fei slept for two more hours. When he received Lin Kevin’s call, there was still half an hour before the team’s gathering time.

"What happened?"

Christina lifted part of the quilt, revealing a glimpse of spring light.

For a real woman, posture and manners are more sexually attractive than appearance.

"We are going back to Seattle," said Yu Fei.

Christina asked, "When is the next game?"

"Two days later." Christina used an extremely charming look to remind Yu Fei of last night's joy: "Do you mind if I go there?"

"That's fine with me." Yu Fei joked, "But Scarlett might mind."

But Christina was not the kind of girl who would get angry when teased. The more Yu Fei said this, the more interested she was in making Scarlett "mind" her, a rabbit who suddenly wanted to go back to her.

"I want a ticket for the family area." Christina said softly.

"That's easy." Yu Fei saw that time was running out, so he said goodbye to Christina in a hurry, "See you in Seattle."

When Yu Fei left the hotel, he saw many paparazzi.

Generally speaking, although paparazzi will follow celebrities, there shouldn't be so many of them.

With so many paparazzi, it is enough to put myself on the gossip headlines again.

He had just been reported in gossip news to be flirting with Scarlett, and now it was confirmed that he had spent the night in his ex-girlfriend's hotel.

This will indeed cause some negative public opinion, but lighting a cigarette to relieve sorrow on the night of a loss is definitely better for your physical and mental health than flying to Las Vegas to play cards all night like Jordan did.

In less than half a day, photos of Yu Fei having close contact with Christina in the car last night, entering the hotel together, and leaving the next morning spread all over the Internet.

As the mouthpiece of the Lakers, the Orange County Register commented: "How much of a blow did Fry Yu suffer that he chose to go to his ex-girlfriend to relieve his depression? It is well known that Fry will not be involved with the same woman twice. Is Christina Hendricks really his muse?"

The most impressive one was the Seattle Times. Even in the face of such irrefutable sex scandal, they still had the foresight to discover Yu Fei's shining points.

"The fact that the person in the car was Christina and not Scarlett as rumored for a long time proves many things. First, most of the gossip about Fry and Scarlett is false. Second, Fry is a nostalgic person. Third, Fry and Christina are both single, and no matter what happened between them last night, it was the freedom of adults."

For Fei, this is indeed not a scandal.

The media mainly just made fun of it.

Among the players, this incident seems to only prove that Yu Fei is also a mortal. He will be depressed after losing a game and he also needs a channel to vent.

The most important thing is Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals tomorrow night.

The Supersonics' goal is to win both games, so that they can take a 3-1 lead. If that doesn't work, they have to keep at least one home court.

If the score is 2-2, it means the best-of-seven series will return to the starting point, which is not unacceptable.

That afternoon
Yu Fei gave Tyronn Lue feedback on the subtle changes in penalty standards he felt during the two games at Staples Center.

Lu attached great importance to the information shared by Fei.

The coaching staff had long sensed that the team had received more whistles than its opponents in the Lakers' home court in the past two games, but on the one hand, the free throw advantage was not significant, and on the other hand, the penalties were not the reason for the Supersonics' loss.

This causes them to ignore the key issues.

Even if it's not the Lakers, if it's a normal team playing in the playoffs at home, they should be given corresponding care.

But the referees at the Staples Center almost treated the game equally, and judging by the number of free throws, the game was somewhat biased towards the Supersonics.

If they return to their home court, wouldn't the advantage in penalties be even more obvious?

The home court penalty scale is the most important home court advantage.

Having a home-court advantage not only allows you to get more free throw opportunities on the offensive end, but also allows you to proactively increase intensity on the opponent on the defensive end.

The most frustrating thing about the Lakers' current strength is the strength of their core.

Kozan is not as good as Yu Fei alone, but when they are put together, it is unimaginable.

Kobe is in hot form now, while James was invisible in one game and played normally in another. He just played normally and defended Durant to death. The Lakers' offensive firepower is sufficient to allow James to concentrate on defense, while the Supersonics need Durant to score.

Lue has no confidence that Durant can adapt to James' defense in the series.

The information provided by Yu Fei gave him new ideas.

Although the foundation of the Supersonics is offense, if they are really pushed into a corner, using the penalty scale to put defensive pressure on the Lakers is also a good countermeasure.

Lu immediately notified the coaching staff to hold a meeting.

Although Yu Fei provided the information, the coaching staff still needs to review the game to confirm whether the penalty scale is consistent with the intelligence.

In the afternoon, the SuperSonics trained as usual.

But morale within the team is not high.

A big part of the reason is that the public opinion that "Da Fei tried his best, his teammates are CBA" has caused trouble.

Durant has heard similar voices enough, but others have not heard them enough.

Most players usually stay away from media narratives, but now, they are the key to the playoffs. If they can't exert their strength, it will be difficult for the Supersonics to win.

Over the years, countless media camps have sided with Yu Fei.

Initially, Yu Fei asked Quint DiMeo to set up his own media company for public relations and publicity, but as Reebok grew stronger and his achievements increased, he is now able to compete for the GOAT title.

More than half of the media that spoke ill of him back then have now turned to his side.

Yu Fei can supervise the media companies under his name and influence those media friends who have direct contact with him, but he cannot control those media who have inexplicably excessive self-consciousness, pretend to be loyal to their master, and are eager to send every teammate who has betrayed Yu Fei to a military court for trial.

They often have their own interests.

It seems to be defending Yu Fei's honor, but in fact it is just because criticizing Yu Fei's teammates just happens to meet the demands of Yu Fei's fans.

If you can get countless Feimi traffic by mocking Yu Fei's teammates, who would refuse?
The traditional journalistic spirit of seeking truth from facts has long died, and the fourth power’s favorite trick is to spread whatever news is popular.

This is the nightmare that accompanies Yu Fei's empire.

However, Yu Fei does not intend to apologize for this.

At most, he expressed regret and apologized? In what name? Sorry, buddy, I didn't win the game with my 40+10+10 last night, and I'm really sorry that you guys got scolded by the media?

Yu Fei chose to practice on his own.

The Furtado Center looked peaceful and everyone was busy.

Until Brandon Roy walked to the sidelines in training clothes and said to Fei: "I'm ready for a 5V5 training game, what about you?"

Everyone's eyes were fixed on him.

"Really, Brandon?!"

"You're back? Why wasn't there any news before?"

"Oh my god, this is the best news!"

You can see everyone is happy for Roy.

But Yu Fei was not optimistic. As some people said, if Roy was ready to make a comeback, it would be impossible for him not to get the news in advance.

"Show me your medical report," Yu Fei said, "and the doctor's signature that allows you to participate in the 5V5 training."

Roy seemed to be trying to evade the question: "None of this matters. What matters is that I am standing here. I am ready."

In an instant, Roy pulled the fuse, angering Yu Fei.

"Are you kidding me? Are you ready? Is that a reason?" Yu Fei yelled, "Without the latest medical report and the doctor's permission, you cannot come back!"

"I'm ready."

"Are you ready?!" Yu Fei laughed angrily, pointing at Durant and saying, "Not long ago, that bastard promised me that he would become the Kobe of 2001. He also said that he was ready, but what about last night? He was like a piece of stinky shit. He was defended by LeBron and it was difficult for him to breathe!"

Everyone was shocked. Yu Fei, who had remained silent about Durant's performance since the game last night, suddenly turned hostile.

"And these bastards!" Yu Fei began to shoot at everyone, "We just won a game in Los Angeles, and they don't take the Lakers seriously! Everyone acts as if they are sure to win. This is the most arrogant team I have ever been on. We deserved the loss last night, and we didn't deserve to win! Because our team is full of idiots like you who think they are ready!"

Roy seemed to be furious, and he responded with trembling lips: "What about you? Do you think you have no responsibility? Don't you think you are self-righteous? You are the most arrogant person in Seattle. Besides you, who else in the world thinks he is the master of the empire? You are the idiot who can't see himself clearly!"

"You're fucking right!" Yu Fei laughed angrily, "I'm an idiot, because I only scored 40 points last night instead of 50, because I didn't fucking score 50 points and caused us to lose the game, because I failed to lead you idiots to win, and now there are a million asshole reporters out there questioning how many of you are NBA-level players! I'm sorry, this loss may make some of you unemployed next season! But before you fucking lose your jobs (pointing at Roy), at least don't let this cripple think that we can't beat the fucking Lakers without his help!"

Is the problem solved? No.

Is the pressure gone? No, it's greater than before.

But speaking out is more important than anything else.

Bosh nodded and said, "If we have to rely on a disabled person to beat the Lakers, we might as well retire."

"Yes, I disagree with what Frye said today, but the last sentence is correct," said Larry Hughes. "We don't need a cripple."

Inside the Furtado Center, the Sonics players quickly reached a consensus.

Although they dislike each other now, especially those who were criticized for their poor performance in Game 2 have some prejudice against Yu Fei, but Yu Fei is right, they don't need the help of the Cripple to defeat the Lakers.

"OK!" Roy said angrily, "Remember what you said, don't come to beg me when the time comes! Even if you kneel before me, I will not come back!"

Then Roy left.

"Did he say that on purpose?"

Kwame Brown has seen it.

"That's right." Yu Fei said, "The acting is very poor."

However, Brown was the only one on the team who noticed Roy's poor acting skills.

Isn’t this a terrifying thing to think about?

It's time to re-examine the average IQ of this group of people.

(End of this chapter)