When pride still matters

Chapter 517: The Tragedy Forecasted in Advance

At the end of the first quarter, the Lakers chose to replace Kobe.

A 13-point gap is not a small number. If the team does not play well at the start of the second quarter and the home team Supersonics continue to widen the score, the game is basically over.

Phil Jackson placed his hopes on James.

"LeBron, you weren't the real you in the first quarter." Jackson said in a magical tone, "Now, show that guy what you can do."

James glanced at the Sonics bench.

Yu Fei sat calmly.

Because the Lakers did not put any pressure on them, the Supersonics could let Yu Fei rest without worry.

This is absolutely not allowed in the Lakers' game plan.

But tonight, this scene happened.

Also, they look very relaxed.

James made up his mind and said decisively: "I will get that bastard back on the court soon."

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Supersonics handed the game over to Durant.

The outside players are Shaun Livingston and Anthony Morrow, and the inside players are O'Neal Jr. and Kwame Brown.

Just talking about the second team, the Lakers have a lot of star players.

Mike Bibby, Mike Miller, James, Artest and Big Z.

Jackson wanted James to be the output point of this lineup, so he let Bibby go on the court to get the ball.

He wants to see a proper triangle offense.

This suddenly made Yu Fei think, could it be that the Zen Master was planning to let James play in the low post like Kobe?
If James' low-post defense is amateur-level, then his low-post offense is actually not much better.

It cannot be said that he has absolutely no skills, but his skills are very poor and he relies entirely on his weight to protect his opponent. However, even if he can push the opponent away in the low post, he has no reliable means of attack.

The only thing James can do is a turnaround jumper like Kobe, but his turnaround jumper in the low post is extremely unstable.

Obviously, the Zen Master knew this.

James knows it too.

So they modified the axis offense starting position in the triangle offense specifically for James.

The triangle offense of Tex Winter, the father of the triangle offense, is specially designed for inside players who have low-post offensive capabilities and can pass the ball.

Therefore, Shaquille O'Neal can be said to be a perfect match for the triangle offense.

Jordan before O'Neal and Kobe today are both guards doing the work of a center.

Now James is asked to replace Kobe. He has a much better organizational ability than Kobe, but his back-to-the-basket attack is not effective. What should he do? The ancestral method is dead after all. James believes that his low-post attack can be completely turned around and attack the basket after receiving the ball. In this way, his attack radius is reduced, his control is increased, and he can pass the ball to his teammates. Can't he still play a core ability in the triangle offense system?

In the first round of the second quarter, Bibby missed a jump shot.

The Supersonics failed to counterattack, so they fell into position and decisively started attacking from Durant's position.

Durant also made a jump shot, but it also missed. The Lakers began to pass the ball to James, allowing him to create opportunities.

Moreover, the Lakers also want to see how effective James' customized triangle offense is.

The results were mixed.

The good news is that James scored the first goal.

The bad side is that it looks forced.

Although face-to-basket offense is feasible, if face-to-basket offense is the only option, his offense would be easy to judge.

Although receiving the ball in the low post and facing the basket shortened the offensive radius, it also reduced the difficulty for the Supersonics to double-team him and for the inside players to protect the basket in time.

The key to the Supersonics lies in Durant.

He was alone on the court. Brown and Morrow, one could only catch rebounds, and the other focused on spot three-pointers. The only one who could help him share the offensive burden was O'Neal.

Livingston can post up, but as long as Durant is on the court, his singles take priority over others.

Therefore, Livingston, who has no three-point shooting ability and only a few offensive means, is just a porter.

The main reason for the last defeat in Los Angeles was that the SuperSonics couldn't find a reliable second offensive point.

Yu Fei scored a big triple-double of 40 points, which can be said to be impeccable, but Durant was restricted.

Now Durant has a 15-point lead and has another chance to prove himself.

In the first quarter, he and Yu Fei scored the team's first 10 points. Although he was not as outstanding as Yu Fei, who scored 16 points in a single quarter, he also scored 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

However, such a brilliant performance did not win the respect of opponents.

James, who successfully restricted him in the last game, seemed to have lost interest in him.

The Lakers let James defend the power forward position at this stage, and then let Artest come out to face Durant.

Such an arrangement usually has several meanings. It can be understood that the Lakers feel that Artest is enough to restrict Durant, or it can be understood that James is responding to Yu Fei from a distance.

Yu Fei said in the first quarter that Durant had lost interest in James, so he started to challenge Kobe directly.

James expressed his opinion in a non-aligned way. He also disdained to waste time on Durant. They are people of two different levels.

Unfortunately, Artest happens to be the player best suited to defend Durant right now.

This is a former Defensive Player of the Year who has obviously deteriorated, but despite the degradation, he is still a good player on the defensive end. It's just that due to weight problems, he feels unable to cope with the increasing number of pick-and-rolls in today's game, so putting him at the power forward position can just offset this problem.

However, it is just right to match up against Durant.

Like James, he can use his size and strength to crush Durant. Although Durant has skills and speed, they are not enough to get rid of Artest in one go.

If he can't get rid of it immediately, Artest's counterattack will make him feel powerless.

At the beginning of the game, Durant was blocked by the opponent and he already had some understanding of the opponent's style.

He knew it was not appropriate for him to confront Artest head-on now.

Seeing Durant pass the ball back to Livingston, Yu Fei nodded secretly off the court. It seemed that he had learned the lesson from the previous game.

There is really no need to fight hard against an opponent you cannot defeat.

Because the Supersonics have a mature pick-and-roll system.

Durant returned to the outside.

Livingston backed up Bibby from outside the three-point line.

This was like a two-thread offense. While Livingston was back-to-the-basket, Durant used Brown's screen to get rid of Artest and ran to the top of the arc.

Livingston passes the ball.

Durant received the ball and made a three-pointer.

As a result, the Supersonics' lead reached 16 points.

The Lakers need to continue attacking, but Durant looks like a completely different person from the last game. Maybe he can stop the second team led by James?
The coaches and players of the SuperSonics were optimistic for a while.

Then, James suddenly gave up the tactics, dribbled hard, created defensive chaos and assisted Miller to hit a three-pointer.

This may be the game that the league and the audience want to see the most.

No one played badly, and Durant and James, as the protagonists of this stage, both showed their strength.

It’s just that James is a better core player than Durant.

He knew that the Supersonics would double-team him, so he was more active without the ball. Even if his low-post offense was not good, he was still able to lead the offense steadily.

Durant became aware of his nemesis in Artest. He knew what he should and should not do, but his influence on the team was not as great as that of James.

He was unwilling to accept the result, but for the team, such performance was enough.

Four and a half minutes into the second quarter, James hit a three-pointer from outside the arc, narrowing the gap to 7 points.

The SuperSonics requested a timeout.

Coach Lu replaced other main players and replaced Durant with Alonzo Gee to rest.

Durant was very frustrated. He had tried his best but still couldn't maintain his lead.

"You are not LeBron's opponent yet."

Yu Fei said to Durant who was preparing to go off the court to rest.

"I know," Durant said. "He has more influence on the court than I do."

"Don't be depressed." Yu Fei said jokingly, "He has one formation, and you have no formation. This result is natural."

After saying that, Yu Fei went on stage without looking back.

Although he was not selected for this year's All-NBA Team, Durant believes that he has the strength to be in the top ten in the league. Hearing Yu Fei's last words, he was a little unconvinced, but the cheers of KeyArena welcoming Yu Fei's return swept his thoughts.

On the Lakers side, Kobe and other main players also returned.

Because James' form has recovered, they are confident that they can beat any team in this state.

A 7-point deficit? It only takes three possessions to make up for it. "LeBron, you're only going to go for our bench?"

Yu Fei immediately mocked James's staggered actions after he came on the court.

James didn't take it seriously.

Then, in Yu Fei's first round, he called Bosh for a pick-and-roll and named Antawn Jamison.

Jamison was the big loophole in the Lakers' lineup. In the first round, James did not double-team Jamison immediately after Yu Fei called for a pick-and-roll like he did in the first quarter, but let Jamison switch defense normally.

This on-the-spot misjudgment made Jamison like a toy being played around by Yu Fei.

Jamison was shaken, and worse, he couldn't control his center of gravity.

Yu Fei jumped from outside the three-point line, just like the 35+13 that McGrady scored against Duncan in his miracle of 3 points in 1 seconds against the Spurs. His body rubbed against Jamison in the same way. The referee blew the whistle, and the shot that seemed to have been affected flew softly out of his palm and fell into the basket in a graceful arc.

“Frye hits four!!!”

The announcer's screams plunged the KeyArena into an uncontrollable frenzy.

When Yu Fei walked to the free throw line.

Cheers of “MVP” rang out.

They didn't mean to insult Kobe, but they couldn't think of any other way to praise him.

Yu Fei is their MVP, and, in their eyes, the only MVP.

"MVP!"

The shouts spread from inside the KeyArena to outside the arena.

The corridors, the commercial streets along the street, and even the front door.

Every Seattleite knows who this cheer belongs to.

The people in front of the TV couldn't help but shout along.

Those outside the stadium who were unable to buy tickets could only watch the live game on the big screen in the square outside.

They also began to echo the MVP's voice at the scene.

Members of the MCCAIT organization, who occupied the main entrances and exits of the Key Arena, were angry that the dull public opinion could be swayed so easily.

Listening to this call, it seems like people all over the world are supporting Fry Yu.

"Let citizens focus on more important things!" MCCAIT tried to take control of the situation with a louder voice.

Every time they made a sound, the fans outside responded with even louder shouts of "MVP".

Ever since the Sonics became championship favorites, playoff season has been basketball season in Seattle.

Basketball will be the most important thing in Seattle during this time.

When Yu Fei performs well, the whole city will follow his lead.

What happened on the scene made MCCAIT leaders realize that their influence was being suppressed and their vision of preventing the SuperSonics from getting a new arena was being shattered.

But what can they do?
The influence of organizations like MCCAIT comes from the public's support for the people, but now, the public opinion is not on their side.

The people's hearts were on Fei, and he lived up to that.

Yu Fei used his personal ability to call upon the top of the arc, and when the Lakers began to double-team him, he gave the ball to his teammates and created chaos by playing pick-and-roll with Larry Hughes and others.

Then, he went back down low again.

James didn't want to repeat the mistake of the first quarter and tried his best to defend, but his poor low-post defensive skills made it impossible for him to limit Yu Fei in the slightest.

What's worse is that the return of all the main players of the Lakers did not bring him any positive benefits.

Seeing that he had played the axis well just now, the Zen Master simply treated him as the O in OK and let Kobe play his old role again.

Kobe had no objection, but James was able to play like that because his opponent was Durant.

Yu Fei is a person of another level.

Turning his back to face the basket? Yu Fei was so happy to see him like this.

The low-post face-to-basket offense put into the outside breakthrough is like the finishing stage of the breakthrough offense, which is the stage when the opponent interferes the most.

But if he is put in the low post, such interference is just the beginning. The hidden dangers of subsequent confrontation and surrounding defense are what James has to consider.

So James was in a dilemma.

This situation can be said to have exposed all his technical shortcomings.

He can't shoot accurately under strong confrontation, and likes to go hard against the inside rim guards, but without a whistle, his efficiency will drop sharply. He can't control anyone in low-post offense, and he can bully Durant's inexperience when turning to face the basket, but facing Yu Fei is just courting death.

Suddenly, James found himself a mediocre player, and he didn't know what to do in this situation.

The Lakers' offense failed, failed again, failed for the third time, and failed for the fourth time.

When Kobe saw the score difference gradually reduced from 7 points since he came on the court to 16 points by James, the hero who chased the points, he couldn't hold it anymore.

"LeBron!"

Kobe wants to attack.

But James doesn't want to delegate power in this way.

Suddenly, the Lakers' pick-and-roll offense moved Yu Fei to the outside, and the one who came to defend James in the low post was his old friend in Cleveland - Larry Hughes.

If I can’t beat Yu Fei, can I still beat Hughes?

The determination to prove himself dominated James' mind. He dribbled the ball and rushed and shot in the low post, but Hughes did not retreat a single step. Until the end, the embarrassed emperor had no choice but to choose an ugly turnaround jump shot.

"LeBron backs up Larry Hughes in the right post and shoots a jumper!" ESPN's Mike Breen yelled in less than a second. "It didn't go in! LeBron didn't punish Larry Hughes in the post!"

To some extent, James is lucky that the Supersonics do not have a pocket guard like Barea to test the lower limit of his low-post offense, but in this critical moment, the failure to back down Larry Hughes is undoubtedly a heavy blow to his psychological defense.

Jordan Jr. grabbed the defensive rebound and passed it to Yu Fei, and the subsequent defensive counterattack was unimpeded.

Yu Fei made a gliding slam dunk and scored his 26th point in the first half.

Back in the backcourt, Yu Fei looked at James and asked sarcastically, "Did you know that Larry couldn't defend anyone's low-post offense during our team's training game?"

James, who had lost the ability to think, desperately looked for an opportunity. He dribbled the ball continuously from the outside, and finally chose to pull up in front of Yu Fei.

This was done without Yu Fei's defense being out of position at all.

Yu Fei reacted instantly, jumped up suddenly, and blocked the basketball as it was shot.

James' mind was blank. Yu Fei called past him, caught up with the ball, rushed to the scene and made a 360-degree turn and slam dunk. The difference between the two teams reached 19 points, and the Lakers requested a timeout again.

What happened in the first half made Phil Jackson realize that they could no longer hold the idea of ​​letting James compete with Yu Fei and Kobe to defeat the Supersonics from the other side.

James couldn't compete with Yu Fei.

He is no match for Yu Fei.

This was demonstrated twice in the first half.

Yu Fei destroyed his fighting spirit in the low post, which is James' biggest technical shortcoming.

If the Lakers want to win, they must play at full strength as the offensive output point, just like in the second game, while James becomes the second role on the offensive end, mainly responsible for screening, passing and perimeter defense.

In other words, he needs to be Kobe's Scottie Pippen.

It is impossible to expect both Koz and Zhan to overwhelm the Supersonics with outstanding performance, because Yu Fei will definitely suppress one of them.

The most important thing is that the oppressed person must dare to sacrifice himself and cooperate with another person.

The Zen Master doesn't know how James will react to his decision, but from now on, the core of the Lakers will not change.

Kobe, who has no technical shortcomings, a mature mentality, and has performed well in the series so far, will be firmly locked in the core position.

This is the key to their victory.

And after the suspension, the situation did not improve.

Yu Fei's almost terrifying influence on the court began to motivate other teammates to perform.

Even though the Lakers shifted their focus to Kobe and their scoring efficiency became stable, the Sonics still saw the mid-range shots of Bosh, the long shots of Hughes and the finishing at the basket of Jordan.

The Lakers' hope of narrowing the gap to within 15 points before the end of the first half was dashed.

Before the end of the first half, Yu Fei caused Gasol's third foul and made both free throws.

65 is better than 46
At the end of the first half, the Supersonics led the Lakers by 19 points. Yu Fei scored 32 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in the first half.

The arrogant statement of scoring 50 points before the start of the game no longer seems arrogant at this moment.

Now, this is at most a tragedy that was foreshadowed in advance.

The main culprit is Yu Fei.

The accomplice was LeBron James.

(End of this chapter)