When pride still matters

Chapter 563 GOAT doesn't care

Not long after Yu Bufan was born, the pre-season training camp for the new NBA season was about to begin.

Yu Fei wanted to ask for leave from the team and stay in Los Angeles for a while longer, but Elizabeth Olsen believed that "a leader should not leave his post without permission."

Yu Fei looked at his fiancée with a smile: "You seem to know how to be a leader better than me."

"Anyway, the baby won't know that his father left home shortly after he was born." This sounds ambiguous.

Yu Fei would feel like a scumbag who only cared about giving birth but not raising him.

"I can stay."

"But how long can you stay? The new season is about to start, and besides, there are many things you can't help with."

Elizabeth put it mildly.

The situation is that families like theirs, in addition to themselves, also employ cooks, nannies and bodyguards.

In most cases, they don't need to pay as much attention to their babies as parents in ordinary families.

Therefore, what Yu Fei does most for his child is not to change his diapers or coax him to sleep, but to make faces to make him laugh.

It must be said that this is indeed a role that is highly replaceable.

In the end, Yu Fei returned to Seattle to report on time.

The only thing that comforted Yu Fei was that Elizabeth would take the baby to Seattle to live for a while when he was four months old.

This brought Yu Fei to a more realistic problem.

The season is long. Does that mean he can only be with his children in the summer before he retires?

As a promising young actress, Elizabeth will definitely focus her career in Los Angeles, not to mention that she is a Californian.

In the long run, Seattle is no longer in line with his interests.

This is a more realistic problem, but Yu Fei hasn't thought that far yet.

In late September, Yu Fei joined the SuperSonics' preseason training camp.

The team is still the same team, but a few familiar faces are missing.

Grant Hill retired, Kevin Durant was traded, and Chris Bosh went to Cleveland. This series of changes had a decisive impact on the dynasty team.

However, when everyone saw Yu Fei appear at the Futado Center, it seemed that they saw the hope of winning the fifth consecutive championship again.

The GOAT is still there, and there is hope.

"Fry, is everything going well?"

Tyronn Lue came over to greet him cordially.

Yu Fei said: "It couldn't be smoother. How is the team doing?"

"Not bad." Lu specifically mentioned Stoudemire, "Amare is in good shape."

Yu Fei is not as optimistic as Lu.

As one of the few legendary rehabilitators who recovered from minimally invasive surgery, Stoudemire is certainly a factor that makes people optimistic about him. However, as a player who relies on physical fitness and suffered a serious ACL injury at the age of over 30, even if he recovers, how many of his strength in his heyday can he have?
In Yu Fei's impression, Stoudemire even made it to the CBA in the last years of his career, which shows how great his decline was.

"Where's Brandon?" Yu Fei asked again.

Lu said: "It's a minor injury, but it's okay."

The second and third players in the team are both glass men, so this season seems to have great hope.

Yu Fei decided to say hello to Stadler first.

As one of the representatives of high school players, Stoudemire has made a name for himself. During his peak period, he was undoubtedly one of the top ten players in the league. Unfortunately, although he was a great pick-and-roll attacker, he never thought about using his talent to play good defense, which was the key factor limiting his further progress.

Now that he is older and has suffered a serious injury, Yu Fei doesn't have high expectations for him.

"Long time no see, Fry."

Stoudemire was enthusiastic.

"If the full score is 10, how much do you think you have recovered?" Yu Fei asked.

"To be honest with you," Stoudemire replied, "I think it was only 3 or 4 points."

This is bad news. If someone like Stoudemire had confidence in himself, he would never say that he would only recover 3-4 points.

The situation may be worse than expected.

"Be optimistic, things will be fine." said temporary pessimist Fry Yu.

Then, Yu Fei went to see Roy.

Roy came in yesterday and injured his thigh in the first training session.

"How's my godson?" Roy asked. "Why don't you bring him back to Seattle?"

Yu Fei said sarcastically, "I don't want you to be his godfather anymore. You don't look like you can help him in any way. Children under four months old cannot fly. You are the father of two children."

"My kids have been in Seattle since they were born," Roy said pointedly. "They don't need to fly back and forth."

"What a pity. I'm from Kent." Yu Fei made a direct statement. "In my hometown, talented young people are proud to 'go out'."

GOAT is like this, when he needed the aura of a savior, he was closely connected with Seattle. Now that everything is done, he has other ideas, and then he remembers that he is from Kent.

"Have you made a decision?" Roy asked.

“Not yet,” Yu Fei said, “but I need to think about this realistically eventually.”

Roy expressed his understanding.

They did not continue discussing the subject.

The Sonics are now showing signs of the end of their dynasty.

The second-in-command transferred, the third-in-command left, and their vacancies were filled by a young genius and an All-Star who had just recovered from a serious injury.

Even without talking about the downgrade in star level, the Sonics' role player lineup is actually still pretty good.

The backcourt includes Beverley, Livingston and Danny Green.

On the wings are Jae Crowder and Chandler Parsons.

After losing Bosh and Jordan, the inside line has returned to the state of the 2007-08 season and has become their weakest link.

However, it is normal for a team to have flaws, and a perfect lineup is rare.

At present, the most urgent thing for the Supersonics is to determine the starting lineup for the new season as soon as possible.

To be precise, it is to find the fifth starter.

The first four have been confirmed, namely Yu Fei, Roy, Irving and Stoudemire.

Coach Lu decided to let Yu Fei return to the third position, and let Roy and Irving share the ball. As for the fifth starter, he hopes to choose a power forward.

Therefore, the final choice will be between Parsons and Carl Landry.

The Sonics were famous for their "heartwarming" treatment of mercenaries, and Landry quickly felt Bosh's "happiness."

Coach Lue admired Landry's defense, but did not like his blue-collar attributes, so he completely ignored his contribution on the defensive end and directly promoted Parsons to the starting lineup.

As for Landry's mood, Coach Lu will still "take care" of him.

"Carl, I believe you can start in most teams, but those teams can't win the championship. Our goal is to win five consecutive championships. You can understand that, right?"

How could Landry, a rough guy, withstand the persuasion of coach Lu? So he took the initiative to accept the position of sixth man and smoothly followed Bosh's old path.

However, new problems soon emerged.

Irving's ball possession problem is imminent.

From the visual point of view, Coach Lu is willing to compare Irving with Allen Iverson back then, referring not only to their scoring explosiveness, but also to the fact that the two clearly surpass others in dribbling skills.

Moreover, although both of them have extreme ball handling ability, their styles are completely different. Iverson, with the best physical fitness under the same conditions, can make unsolvable large changes of direction, while Irving's offensive style relies on rhythm and indiscriminate switching between left and right hands.

Irving is a natural left-handed player, but his father Dred urged him to play with his right hand since he was a child, which eventually led to his advantage in both left and right hand skills. This makes him equally threatening with both hands when attacking, making it difficult for opponents to defend against him even if he does not have the physical fitness of Iverson.

On the third day of training camp, Irving led the white team to defeat Roy's red team. He scored 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists alone, winning applause from the whole audience.

Even Vice President George Karl, who has always disliked offensive guards, couldn't help but sigh: "Kyrie's talent cannot be taught."

"Unteachable" is a neutral term in the context of professional basketball.

There are usually two meanings. One is to praise the skills, like Carl's evaluation of Irving. The other is to question the character, such as when Yu Fei first arrived in DC, he had a reputation of being "unteachable".

Karl said Irving's skills are so good that they cannot be taught. The deeper meaning behind his words is that the team needs to give him more ball rights, only in this way can he improve quickly.

If Irving has more ball possession, Roy will have less.

Coach Lu once again encountered difficulties at the beginning of the season.

On the seventh day of training camp, something big happened at the Furtado Center.

At that time, the training was over. Irving took the ball and said to Fry: "Fry, 1-on-1, come on?"

"That kid started it again!" Roy shouted.

This summer, when the US team was training in Las Vegas, Irving was a member of the sparring team and he made the same request to Kobe.

"Did Kobe agree?" Yu Fei also heard about that.

Roy said: "It was agreed, and they agreed on the bet ($5), but the rules and venue of the game were to be determined."

Yu Fei smiled and said, "I won't be that troublesome."

He glanced at Owen and said, "Let's start." As a senior, Yu Fei decided to let Owen start first.

So, the Sonics' No. 2 pick, who was fearless like a newborn calf, used an excellent change of rhythm to get past the GOAT, changed hands in the air to avoid the block, and then scored on the rebound.

"You can't guard me!" Owen said excitedly, "No one can guard me!"

In the second ball, Yu Fei intensified the pressure on Irving's dribbling space, but unexpectedly the young man twisted his waist and made a strong shot in an unexpected way, which also went in.

Yu Fei suddenly thought that because of the lockout, Irving entered the league one year later than in the main timeline, so his combat effectiveness should be judged according to the sophomore level.

And Irving may be one of the NBA stars he is most familiar with. He certainly knows the level of Irving in his second year. He averaged 22 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists per game, leading the Cavaliers to win the first bust No. pick in NBA history.

Of course, he cannot be blamed for the mistakes in the draft. The poor performance of the team is also a common problem for offensive guards who specialize in offense, neglect organization and support, and lack the ability to improve teammates.

If you put him in a weak team, he can lead the team to compete for the No. 1 pick, but if you put him in a strong team, such as next to James, he can even be on par with Curry if he gets excited.

Thinking of this, Yu Fei's concentration and defensive pressure increased.

Irving once again relied on his dribbling rhythm to create half a body distance and tried to finish with a layup, but this time, Yu Fei's block followed closely and nailed the ball to the backboard.

"There are many people in the league who can block you like me." Yu Fei said casually, "Young man, don't be too arrogant."

"It's ok!"

Owen turned around and said something that almost made Yu Fei lose his temper: "I can defend you!"

Irving's defense is not good, at least since his school days.

However, he actually believed that his defense could stop Yu Fei.

Yu Fei didn't know where his confidence came from.

This may have something to do with his father Dredd.

It is said that Owen was an unconfident child when he was young, so Dredd fed him confidence for a long time to make his son believe that he was the most powerful man in the world.

Yu Fei didn’t know how Dredd did it specifically, but it shouldn’t be as abstract as Ito Mima’s mother⑴.

Under the watchful eyes of the entire team, Yu Fei did not hold back at all. He quickly stepped over Irving's defensive position, tore through the defense directly, and scored a layup.

"Don't talk about your dreams so casually next time." Yu Fei teased.

Owen looked serious.

But the more serious he was, the more nervous Yu Fei became.

Because his defense is so bad.

The defense was so bad that Yu Fei suspected that Irving had never received any defensive training since he was a child.

One on the left, one on the right, and one in front.

After Yu Fei had a great time, he tried all kinds of moves.

Suddenly he took the ball from the free throw line and made a long-distance sky hook with Irving.

"Shh!"

"Everything alright, Kairi?"

Kairi is not good at all.

Irving thought that as long as he defended with all his strength on every ball, he would be able to stop Yu Fei once or twice.

As a result, his defense did not put any pressure on Yu Fei.

Not only did Yu Fei score over his head at will, but he also looked less and less serious.

This made Owen, who had mustered up the courage to challenge Yu Fei, very frustrated.

On the last ball, Yu Fei obviously feinted to attack Irving's left hand, but the opponent was still fooled.

Yu Fei took advantage of the situation and changed direction from behind, shaking off Irving's defensive focus, accelerated into the basket, and scored a dunk.

Irving, who lost his support, not only failed in defense, but also fell forward and ate shit.

This must be the most embarrassing moment for a defender.

11 is better than 2
Yu Fei did not give Owen a second chance.

"Your offense is OK," Yu Fei commented simply, "but your defense is so poor."

"Doesn't Coach K teach defense?"

"I was taught." Owen was surprisingly honest, "but I don't take it seriously."

Yu Fei joked, "You'd better take it to heart, otherwise there will be more and more people who will teach you a lesson like me."

Owen stood up, he had completely lost.

But it doesn't matter, failure is expected. His real purpose is to find out his own problems by challenging the GOAT.

Judging from the one-on-one match just now, there is no problem with his offensive ability, the problem lies in defense.

This skill, which he has neglected for a long time, may be the key to his further improvement.

So he decided to add one more task to his rookie season goals: leading the team on the defensive end.

Afterwards, Yu Fei found Coach Lu and suggested that he assign more defensive tasks to Irving.

Giving young players football rights and unlimited firing rights is a common way for weak teams to train core players. This method can create as many talents as it can destroy them.

In strong teams, due to different competitiveness and goals, the training of super rookies is always more restrained. The first thing to do is not to develop their strengths, but to correct their shortcomings.

Coach Lu also understood this after watching today's bullfighting match.

Although Irving looks brilliant, he also has many problems. Now he is still a rookie, and it is time for the coaching staff to use their authority to restrain him. If he is given the same treatment as Roy or even better than Roy in his rookie season, he may be too arrogant in the future.

A few days later, media day arrived.

Despite the loss of Durant and Bosh, the SuperSonics are still the most talked-about team in the league.

The momentum of winning four consecutive championships overwhelmed the entire league, and before they were completely defeated, no one could assert that they had no hope of defending the title.

After all, the GOAT is still there.

Even if they fail to defend their title, the SuperSonics will still be a championship contender for many years to come.

As long as the GOAT is still there.

That's the point.

The media wanted to know if the GOAT, who only had one year left on his contract, thought his future was still in Seattle.

"I don't consider anything except winning five consecutive championships," Yu Fei said. "As for the future, personally, I hope it's a two-way choice. Behind the choice is the effort made for it. I think I have worked hard."

His words were cryptic.

It is so obscure that it requires media people who understand Yu Fei's intentions to interpret it for the public: "Frye, as the savior, has completed his mission to save the SuperSonics. Seattle is a place of glory for him, where he has achieved success and fame, and where he wants to spend the rest of his life. But as the best in history, he needs to consider his own legend. However, the owner of the team never seems to have considered this. He let go of DeAndre Jordan and Chris Bosh, and traded Kevin Durant for a No. 2 pick who needs time to grow and Amar'e Stoudemire who suffered a serious ACL injury. This is the reality. Frye gave everything for Seattle, and when he needed the SuperSonics to defend his legend and honor, the team's owner told him with practical actions - go to Frye, I don't want to pay more money to defend your legend!"

Some things need to be paved. Yu Fei still doesn’t know what the future will be like, but the people around him have already started to warm up for it.

What Yu Fei said was just the truth. His short-term goal is to win five consecutive championships. The future depends on the choice, and this choice has not yet been determined.

When taking the family photo that day, Owen was holding a piece of paper in his hand, which was a letter he wrote to himself.

Owen is an emotional person with a rich spiritual world. From childhood to adulthood, he has always had the habit of writing letters to himself, and he has never been ashamed to admit this to others.

Today this letter was shown to the media. It was written by Kyrie Irving in cyberspace to Kyrie Irving in three dimensions, telling him his goals for his rookie season.

In general, Irving set himself three goals:

Leads the team defensively.

Elected Rookie of the Year.

Achieve greatness.

After reading the letter, Yu Fei said, "As long as you complete the first goal, you will be great."

"I think the second goal is also important." Roy interjected.

"Rookie of the Year? Is that an honor?" Yu Fei asked.

"Doesn't it count?"

"Who will remember the Rookie of the Year?" Yu Fei asked, "Who was the Rookie of the Year last season?"

This conversation was later widely circulated and became an interesting anecdote between Yu Fei, Roy and Owen.

It wasn't until 2011-12 Rookie of the Year Harrison Barnes complained on Twitter: "Why would Frye say such a thing? Young players also need to be respected!"

Kwame Brown responded: "What are you talking about, little bro? How did Frye disrespect you?"

Subsequently, more NBA players gathered under this tweet.

Barnes is getting angrier and angrier because really, really, really no one remembers that he was the Rookie of the Year last season.

Eventually, the Flying Family Army, which was rampant on the Internet, swarmed into Barnes’ Twitter feed like locusts, forcing Barnes to delete the tweet and apologize.

From then on, there was one more anti-fan of Yu Fei in the world.

Never mind, the GOAT doesn't care.

⑴ A national player of the Japanese women's table tennis team. When she was a child, her mother would always say by her bedside: "You are the only one who can beat China."

(End of this chapter)