When pride still matters

Chapter 5 Jeffrey Day’s Long Day

".Because in a few years you will see me on TV, and then you will remember how I sent you home today!"

Jeffrey Day said it so domineeringly that Yu Fei couldn't help but think about whether there was any fool with this name in the NBA.

He thought about it seriously.

What is certain is that there is no such person in the NBA after 2016.

What about before?
He is not familiar with the NBA before 2016. It can be said that that is his knowledge blind spot.

However, he has never heard of a star named Jeffrey Day in the NBA.

So it's certain that this guy didn't make a name for himself even if he entered the NBA.

What's more, as both insiders, Jeffrey Day's registered height is the same as Yu Fei's, both 6 feet 9 inches, but a close comparison shows that the opponent's height is obviously shorter.

Therefore, the high probability reported by the other party is the height when wearing shoes.

Yu Fei reported his barefoot height. According to the reporting method for American basketball players, he would be fine even if he reported 6 feet 10 inches.

Yu Fei didn't say anything to Dai Duo. After listening to the other party's trash talk, he went back to warm up.

It was Hank Selvan who asked Yu Fei to pay more attention to Jeffrey Day.

"Fu Lai, the composition of the Starfish team is similar to ours." Selvan said, "The only one worthy of attention is Jeffrey Day."

Generally speaking, promising stars who choose to join mediocre teams want to make themselves famous by taking over a lot of the ball and posting gorgeous statistics.

"Is that person very powerful?" Yu Fei asked.

Selvan smiled: "Seattle Prep High School is the state champion of this year's Washington State 3A Championship, and Jeffrey Day is the core of that team."

Hearing this, Yu Fei smiled.

He comes from Kent Meridian High School, which could not even make it out of the preliminaries in the Kent School District. He is the core of the Washington State championship team, so it is normal for him not to take himself seriously.

Yu Fei took a look at Dai's pre-match warm-up.

He found that Dai was a very traditional inside man who basically had no ability to hold the ball in the high post. He just caught the ball in the low post and played behind the ball, and then used his good physical fitness at the high school level to wreak havoc in the penalty area.

"I think I can handle him." Yu Fei said.

"You must deal with him." Selvan pointed to the sidelines, "Have you seen those people?"

Yu Fei saw a group of professionals coming for Rising Stars in the direction pointed by Selvan.

"There were college scouts and coaches, talent scouts from major sports merchandise, and sportswriters from the Washington area, and the only reason they were paying attention to this game was because they wanted to see how Jeffrey Day compared. Has it grown since the state championship game two months ago, because this is a talent who may play in the NBA in the future." At this point, Selvan smiled and said, "If you beat him, you will never play again. If someone pays attention to Dai, you will replace him and become the star of hope in Washington State!"

Yu Fei felt excited after hearing this.

“Is Jeffrey Day the top high school student in the state of Washington?”

"That's not true. There are no real top high school students in Washington state, like Jeffrey Day, Aaron Fitzgerald SF of Kennedy High School, Errol Nye of Chief Poster High School. Special (Erroll Knight SF), Rainier Beach High School's Mike Bethea (Mike Bethea C) and Garfield High School's Brandon Roy (Brandon Roy PG/SG/SF). If you have to choose here "The top high school player in Washington State, I think I would choose Brandon Roy." Selvan laughed, "He is the only player among these people who was unanimously selected to the first team of Washington State."

The first few names sounded like mantras to Yu Fei.

Neither their names nor their schools are memorable.

But when the name Brandon Roy came out, Yu Fei couldn't help but open his mouth to say something.

Brandon Roy, a famous shooting star player in the new century, rises and falls as fast as he did. Judging from the years when he was active, it would be difficult for Yu Fei to know him if it weren't for chance.

There is a player among Roy's Blazers juniors named Damian Lillard, who is the one-man, one-city championship as of the summer of 2023.

In Game 2019 of the first round in [-], Lillard used an incredible long three-pointer to defeat the Thunder, and also killed the basketball brothers of Paul George and Russell Westbrook.George, who had previously spent a month teasing the Lakers and even wanted to make a documentary to show the Lakers and explain why he wanted to stay in Oklahoma City, finally understood the truth that Tong Dawei told us in "Chinese Partners": Don't get along with good brothers. Start a partnership.

But Lillard is not Curry. The same three-pointer was more difficult for him than Curry. It happened in a life-and-death battle in the playoffs, but he couldn't capture the opponent's general like Curry.

This is an underrated potential case of "I'm not him" in the 10s NBA.

Yu Fei also got to know Roy from the time Lillard ended the Westbrook era of the Thunder.

This is passive.

Just like Lillard's bloody three-pointer against the Rockets in the first round of 2014, every time he does this, others will think of Roy who beat the Rockets in 0.8 seconds.

Yu Fei watched the highlights of Roy's three-pointer, but he felt that the three-pointer should have timed out.

But the NBA is a league of stars, and stars enjoy privileges. You can't go back in time and set things right when a star creates a great moment.

Now, hearing the name Roy again, Yu Fei couldn't help but ask: "Is Brandon Roy here too?" "The Nike Regional Invitational Tournament is one of the most influential AAU events in Washington state. I think he will come, but if you can't get past Jeffrey Day, what's the use of having him here?"

So, to put it bluntly, you have to win first.

Yu Fei was very motivated. He dribbled the ball first, then tried several ridiculously crooked shots, and then ended the warm-up with a dunk.

The Royals' starters are Bobby Jonas, Quinn Thomas, Andre Moore, Anthony Lawson and Yu Fei.

When Jeffrey Day saw that the Royals actually had a female player, he laughed and asked, "Do you think this is an exhibition game?"

"If your strength is not half as good as your confidence, this may indeed become an exhibition match." Yu Fei responded calmly.

"Then let's try it!"

Day was determined to prove himself.

During the jump ball stage, Yu Fei, who lacked practical experience as an inside line, did not seize the correct take-off opportunity, and Dai won the ball for the Starfish team.

"Give me the ball!" Dai shouted close to Yu Fei, "I'm going to knock over this chopstick man!"

Apparently, no one on the Starfish team was going to go against Day's will.

Even though Dai didn't completely occupy his position, they still passed the ball.

This is a taboo for insiders.

Yu Fei, who seemed to be forced to resist Dai, suddenly exerted his strength and swatted the ball away from his back with his wingspan.

Jonas picked up the ball and the Royal team launched a three-line fast break. Then Yu Fei knew why Jonas was so good at scoring but could not lead KM out of the preliminaries of the Kent School District.

He is the kind of player who only has eyes for the basket when he gets the ball.

In a three-on-two fast break, he insisted on playing one against two, but was blocked.

"It was your luck just now!" Dai shouted arrogantly, "I am the protagonist of the game, you are just a poor supporting role, prepare to learn my strength!"

Dai finally learned his lesson and used his strong body with the advantage of confrontation to stay in position, catch the pass from his teammates, push it in hard, and then turn around with the ball.

In Seattle, few big men can withstand his move.

Just when he swore that Yu Fei was the same as those who were easily crushed by him, the ball he held up was severely covered by a broad palm.

???

Dai's mind went blank, but Yu Fei ran forward at full speed the moment he blocked Dai.

Quinn Thomas, the only female player on the field, sent a beautiful pass to Yu Fei.

Yu Fei dribbled the ball and was intercepted by the opponent's defender. In less than half a second, he stopped suddenly, turned around, and threw the opponent behind him like a defender.

The scouts who came specifically for Jeffrey Day turned their attention to him.

Yu Fei rushed into the empty paint area in the frontcourt, received the ball, jumped up, and immediately connected with a windmill dunk that ignited the entire court.

"Excellent defensive habits, excellent motor nerves, both height and guard-like dribbling, extremely excellent elastic speed and jumping." A college scout from Southern California wrote this sentence in his notes, "In contrast to Much inferior to Jeffrey Day."

"What's his name?"

"Who is he?"

"The Royals? From Kent Meridian High School?"

"Who has heard of this school?"

Jeffrey Day was reduced from protagonist to supporting role in just one turn.

Talent cannot be hidden.

Especially on the basketball court, mediocre people can see their upper limit at a glance, while the seeds of greatness are shining and immeasurable even if they haven't sprouted yet.

Yu Fei returned to the backcourt and said to Dai, who had not yet recovered, "Hey, your protagonist's halo just now is really eye-catching, please let me take a few more looks."

For Jeffrey Day, this would be the longest day of his life.

PS: Two updates a day starting tomorrow

(End of this chapter)