When pride still matters

Chapter 81 It’s not your turn
The Wizards returned to DC from Boston. After a day of rest, the Golden State Warriors became the first guest to challenge.

Since botching the Chris Webber trade that year, the Warriors have not made the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons, and there is no hope of the playoffs in the Wild West this season.

As a team with the goal of entering the playoffs, the Wizards should win against such non-playoff teams if they are really capable of reaching the playoffs.

The result was ridiculous. Fans expected to see a big win at home to clear away the haze of two consecutive losses. However, Jordan and Hamilton turned into garbage brothers and made a combined 23 of 8 shots in the first half.

Hamilton was also severely humiliated by Warriors 3D player Larry Hughes because of his size.

A furious Doug Collins once yelled at Hamilton from the sidelines: "Rip, you can miss the ball, but you can't miss the rebound!"

Hamilton never felt that protecting rebounds was his job, so he didn't listen to Collins' advice.

As a result, Hamilton was sidelined for much of the second half.

The person who replaced him was Yu Fei.

Substituting Hamilton for the second half and moving Jordan back to the No. [-] spot seemed like the best solution Collins could come up with.

The Wizards' wing height and athletic ability have improved, and the pressure on rebounds has dropped sharply. However, Jordan still has not found his shooting touch. Because Hamilton is not here, he feels that he needs to shoulder the heavy responsibility, so he took 15 shots in the third quarter and only hit 5 goals. 11 points.

This performance was easily overshadowed by the opponent's North Carolina junior Antoine Jamison, who scored 10 points on 7 of 16 in a single quarter. Moreover, Jordan played too many irons, giving the Warriors a lot of defensive counterattack opportunities. .

Yu Fei was worthy of Collins. The team needed rebounds, so he focused mainly on rebounds and left the offensive end to Jordan.

As a result, Yu Fei grabbed 5 rebounds in a single quarter, while Jordan made 15 of 5. At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors led the Wizards 85-70 on the road.

In the fourth quarter, Hamilton made 3 of 1 shots, but still failed to defend and still failed to grab rebounds. Collins completely gave up on him in this game.

Yu Fei is back again.

As if to make up for it, even Collins knows it's outrageous to play him only 6 minutes a game, so tonight he played 20 or more minutes for the second time in his career.

However, Yu Fei was not satisfied because Collins required him to be a blue-collar player, with the ball mainly in the hands of the point guard and Jordan.

Yu Fei grabbed the rebound as Collins said, but the game situation did not change at all. Jordan was still strong, but Collins would never get angry with him like he did with Hamilton. He lacked Hamilton's firepower output, and Yu Fei didn't change the rhythm with the ball. The Wizards' offensive firepower is seriously lacking.

The fourth quarter is basically garbage time.

At the end, 114 to 98, the Wizards suffered a three-game losing streak at home and were booed wildly by the audience.

"Except for Michael, I didn't see anyone else working hard for this game." Collins angrily scolded the other players in front of the media. "We can't do this again!"

Yu Fei has a different view. He is also very hard-working. He played as a substitute and scored 22 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists in 3 minutes. He ranked first in the team in rebounds, tied for the first place in the team in assists, and was third in the team in scoring. This is not even hard work. ?It would be better to ask what Collins described as a very hard-working person.

He made 30 of 13 shots and scored a game-high 32 points. Does this mean anything?

How to win?It's very simple, like the opposite Antoine Jamison, who scored 17 points on 10 of 28 shots, and distribute the remaining 13 shots to other teammates with good hands.

Fortunately, Collins did not target Yu Fei, he knew who the soft persimmon was.

Richard Hamilton was the focus of Collins' attack.

Speaking of this defeat, Collins said first: "There are two ends of the court, and we have to make sure that everyone can play at both ends. It's not just Rip; we have a lot of people who didn't maintain their energy on both ends of the offense and defense. I won't Point the finger at Rip." He paused and suddenly said, "But especially Rip."

In the NBA, it's rare for a head coach to complain about his star player to the media.

For Collins, this was nothing more than a "relapse."

When he was in Detroit, the Pistons lost a game by a high score, and a reporter asked Collins how they would improve their defense.

Collins asked rhetorically: "Improving the defense? Including Grant (Hill)?"

He then launched into a tirade about how Hill's defense was holding the team back.

Collins's criticism of Hamilton showed his disillusionment with the latter.

When the next game came around, Collins took decisive action.

Richard Hamilton left the starting lineup.

Who will replace Hamilton in the starting lineup?Tyrone Naseby.Naseby will serve as the three position, freeing Jordan up to the two position.

This is what Collins discovered in the last game. In the second position, Jordan played more easily.But who can make up for Hamilton's 20-point-per-game output?

Who can keep Hamilton's mentality from collapsing?
It is undeniable that Jordan is indeed much more comfortable playing the second position.

在汉密尔顿替补的三场比赛里，乔丹分别以50%、51%和55%的命中率砍下31分、44分33分。

But Hamilton collapsed. In his three substitute games, he shot 15 for 4, 16 for 3, and 13 for 2. As expected, the Wizards lost all three games.

The losing streak suddenly reached six games.

From the three-game winning streak at the beginning of the season to the current six-game losing streak, Jordan's magic disappeared a bit suddenly, and the gravity of reality was too heavy.

On November 11, Hamilton returned to the starting lineup, but the Wizards still lost to the Charlotte Hornets at home, losing their seventh consecutive game.

During this period, Collins changed eight starting lineups. Except for Yu Fei, everyone who could enter the starting lineup has made it.

Including Kwame Brown.

Yu Fei had been waiting for the day he entered the starting lineup, but he didn't wait.

Everyone has started, but the team's situation has not improved. They have suffered seven consecutive losses, and then, they still don't let him start?

Even if it's a permutation, it's his turn.

On November 11, the Wizards played against the SuperSonics at home.

The starting lineup is Tyronn Lue, Richard Hamilton, Michael Jordan, Tyrone Naseby, and Christian Laettner.

Yu Fei's patience has been worn out, and he feels like an infatuated dog chasing the goddess without success.

Because the answer is that it’s not even your turn.

Against the Sonics, Yu Fei didn't even watch the game. He closed his eyes the entire time before Collins called his name.

When Collins called him off the bench, there were 5 minutes left in the first quarter, 19-8, and the Wizards had been defeated. Jordan was 5 for 0 in the first quarter. This is why Yu Fei was substituted early.

The more this happened, the angrier Yu Fei became.

What do you think I am?Toilet paper?Or a fucking enema syringe?

You can only use me when the old guy can't poop out. Is that what you mean?

"Give me the ball."

After playing, Yu Fei only said this to Coach Lu.

From the moment Yu Fei came on the court, the ball was in his hands.

With a sullen face, he called for an inside pick-and-roll, and then misplaced his call. One emergency stop, another emergency stop, big and small, fast and slow. The accumulated anger found an outlet, but it was not enough, far from enough.

In 5 minutes, Yu Fei scored 11 points.

This allowed Collins to turn him around and play the first 4 minutes of the second quarter, and Yu Fei scored 4 points in those 8 minutes.

In the second half, Yu Fei was not called on until the team fell behind by 18 points and Jordan shot a terrible 8-for-1 in a single quarter.He doesn't look at the score or his teammates, he just wants the ball and then attacks.

What is visible to the naked eye is that no one on the Sonics can stop Yu Fei.

It seems like whoever he hits is out of position.

NBC's commentator said it was because Yu Fei met his hometown team and got excited about playing, but come on, it doesn't matter who comes.

Yu Fei was unstoppable tonight, and the only person who could stop him was Collins.

When Yu Fei scored a team-high 25 points and had to watch Jordan's ugly 10-for-4 performance in the fourth quarter, he left the game early 2 minutes before the end of the game.

When Yu Fei returned to the locker room, he called his agent on his mobile phone.

As soon as the other party picked up the phone, Yu Fei said: "No matter what method you use, let me leave DC and go anywhere. I've had enough!"

(End of this chapter)