When pride still matters

Chapter 80 Desire for happiness, but please ask for more blessings

After his physical fitness declined, Jordan's offense became less effective. Although he could still rely on Joe Johnson's rookie bonus to score points, it was ultimately unstable.

With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, Doug Collins replaced Jordan and Laettner and replaced Yu Fei and Brown.

Although the progress was limited, Collins finally realized that letting Yu Fei and Brown play together was a good thing for them.

"Paul Pierce is very lazy on the defensive end, and Antoine Walker's defense is terrible." Collins hopes that this rookie can bring positive feedback every time he replaces Yu Fei.

It's not normal.

Collins also doesn't know why he can't give full play to Yu Fei's role and expect him to perform well every time he plays. Maybe it's because he hasn't played a bad game so far this season?
"Can I express myself freely?" Yu Fei asked.

"It depends," Collins said.

It depends?Can it be understood that if my "freedom of expression" brings good results, then this power is given by you, but on the contrary, I will bear the whole blame?
Yu Fei didn't want to think too badly of Collins, but he couldn't expect too much from the head coach who put kneeling and licking Jordan first.

17 is better than 15
Although Richard Hamilton played like he had acute gastroenteritis tonight, Jordan's performance prevented the Celtics from taking advantage at the beginning.

After the formation change, the direction of the game lies entirely in Fei's hands.

He controlled the ball and came to the frontcourt. Tyrone Naseby thought that his time had come, so he wanted to follow the team's tactics and go to the high post to ask for the ball to support him.

"Don't block there!" Yu Fei pointed at Naseby and shouted.

Naseby showed dissatisfaction with his hands, but when Yu flew past the lazy Pierce and made a cannonball pass from the free throw line to the inside of the paint area without looking at anyone, assisting Hamilton to successfully eat the pie, Sibi wisely shut up.

17 is better than 17
"Hey, you're quite capable." Pierce whistled at Yu Fei.

Yu Fei laughed and said, "Your defense is quite good."

It's a pity that Pierce didn't hear the sarcasm and actually smiled complacently: "That's right, I have always been an offensive and defensive player."

Then Yu Fei can only hope that the league is full of such "offensive and defensive" players.

At this time, the Celtics' main point guard is Erick Strickland (PG). This person does not have the aggressiveness of starting point guard Kenny Anderson, but he is not an organization-first point guard either. Master, average in all aspects.

In other words, very mediocre.

The Celtics had no good offensive opportunities under his organization, and in the end they let Pierce catch the ball and make a strong shot within a few seconds.

The moment Pierce took action, Yu Fei felt that it would not go in, and could predict where it would land.

"boom!"

Yu Fei jumped to grab the defensive rebound and launched a lightning-fast counterattack after landing.

It's a completely different rhythm than when Jordan was on the floor.

Yu Fei ran at the front, followed closely by Hamilton, Naseby and Whitney.

Then, in the frontcourt, Yu Fei collected the ball from behind and turned away from Walker's pursuit. He took two strong steps and picked up the basket with his left hand to score.

19 is better than 17
"Fry Yu doesn't look like a rookie at all!" NBC commentator Tom Tolbert said, "Like an experienced veteran, he does a good job every time he comes off the bench. Get ready!"

After Yu Fei fought back, Walker regretfully said to Pierce: "Qiao and Kedrick combined are not as powerful as him."

Pierce believes it was a serious mistake by the front office not to be more aggressive in this year's draft.

If Yu Fei is transferred to the Celtics, he will definitely be a starter.

It's a waste to put him in DC. They don't know what they are doing. That is, if such a strong rookie is not promoted to the starting lineup to accelerate his growth, what does it mean to die on the bench?
Pierce is still playing the game calmly.

He only gets nervous when Jordan is on the court.

But Yu Fei's impact is eye-catching, and if you don't pay attention to it, you will be swallowed up.

The 23-year-old Pierce plays like an old man, and Yu Fei plays against him like he is guarding Jordan.He didn't make a first step that was too fast to react, nor did he make a drastic change of direction that was difficult to handle. He didn't even have a very tricky rhythm. He perfectly integrated technique and body.

Pierce played almost every ball with his defender. Yu Fei guarded him for a few seconds. Somehow, he saw his teammate's open space, and then passed the ball to the basket, assisting Walker for a dunk.

"No way, rookie, you let me in so easily, let Michael come, you can't."

Pierce thought he was very humorous, but he didn't know that the name Jordan was the "switch" for Yu Fei to change his form.

"Chris, you take care of the ball."

"What do you want to do again?"

Whitney had a very bad feeling.

When Whitney dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, he saw Yu Fei letting Brown and Naseby leave the penalty area, clearing one side himself, and taking a position in the low post.

"Are you serious?" Pierce continued to tease Yu Fei, "This is a slide you can't even touch."

Whitney saw that everyone was separated and Yu Fei was still in position, so he could only pass the ball.

This scene is unusual in the eyes of many people.

On the Wizards, usually only Jordan and a few big men play in the low post.

Playing in the low post is a bounden duty inside, but Jordan playing in the low post is a way to show his core status. What about Yu Fei?What is the purpose of this move?
Yu Fei took the ball, poked his head to the left, but turned his shoulder inward to the right to start the breakthrough. Pierce was too relaxed and was deceived by the first movement, and was completely unable to stop Yu Fei's breakthrough.

The moment Yu Fei completed his turn, because he was not yet familiar with the steps of turning in the low post to face the basket, his right elbow hit Pierce's shoulder hard. However, the scene happened too suddenly and too fast for the referee to see clearly, and Pierce was too late. Reaction, everything happens in an instant.

"damn it!"

Pierce called out, but his defense collapsed.

Yu Fei rushed to the basket and completed a one-handed back dunk like a beast, causing exclamations and boos to be heard in the center of the fleet.

Pierce glared at Yu Fei angrily, the young man's actions were too unclean.

Unexpectedly, Yu Fei was unapologetic and just glanced at Pierce, "Don't act like you can kill me easily, and don't look at how bad your defense is."

There was only one minute left in the first quarter, and Yu Fei unsurprisingly angered his opponent.

This is a fixture at Wizards games.

If there is any game in which Yu Fei does not make his opponent angry, it can only mean that his opponent has a very good temper.

"You ignorant brat, I'm going to teach you a lesson for MJ!"

Pierce angrily came over to claim his seat, opened his hands and yelled at his teammates.

When Pierce was about to reach a favorable position, the ball also came over. The big butt bump caused Yu Fei to retreat by more than half a meter, and then he was about to take action.

Yu Fei instinctively stretched out his hand and cut off Pierce's ball like a fruit knife.

This was an extremely clean steal, but the referee did not allow the rookie to show off like this in the away game, so a body hair foul fell on Yu Fei's head.

"Is this a foul?" Yu Fei said and was about to walk towards the referee, but Whitney stopped him immediately, "The referee will say whatever he says, shut up!"

Pierce said impatiently, "Haha, it's a foul! Rookie, this is professional basketball. You're still fucking green. You should first understand how to avoid fouls!"

Yu Fei glanced at the time.

50 seconds left in the first quarter.

It was almost enough for the Celtics to complete an attack after serving, and then let the Wizards finish the last attack of the first quarter, and then give the Celtics a buzzer-beating attack with more than ten seconds left.

Jordan is in good condition tonight and shouldn't sit on the bench for too long. This also means that Yu Fei won't play for too long, so the foul number is not important at all.

In fact, Yu Fei could use it as a means of punishing his opponents.

For example, give a lesson to some idiot who doesn't take himself seriously and plays the game like a fucking superstar.

Paul Pierce was still laughing and didn't notice the malice in Yu Fei's eyes.

The Celtics, who resumed serve, allowed Antoine Walker to single on Kwame Brown.

As the head coach of the Celtics, Walker's performance tonight was far less impressive than Pierce.

But if you underestimate him because of his negative impact on the defensive end, you will suffer a big loss.

Brown didn't take Walker's offense to heart, and ended up being beaten by someone with a tip, turned around, dribbled, and made a sudden stop and throw.

"What's so great, I can do this trick too."

Now Brown only dares to speak big words in front of Yu Fei.

Well, Yu Fei believes that he can do it in practice, but in actual combat, there is a high probability that his attack will fail because his sexy little hands cannot control the ball.

With Jordan sitting next to Collins, Yu Fei was sure that he would play directly in the second quarter, which was when he came off the court.

"Kwame, do a 45-degree pick-and-roll."

After Yu Fei ordered, about ten seconds later, Brown obeyed.

A vacuum immediately appeared in the Celtics penalty area, with Brown alone. Yu Fei decisively sent a lob pass, assisting Brown for a dunk.

23 is better than 21
With 12 seconds left in the first quarter, the Celtics passed halftime quickly, and Pierce wanted the ball to challenge Yu Fei.

"You can't prevent me at all!"

Having said that, Pierce took aim at the flaw that Yu Fei deliberately leaked, took a sharp step, occupied a favorable position, and jumped up with the ball.

What Paul Pierce didn't expect was that Yu Fei never thought about guarding the ball from the beginning to the end.

What he has to do is-

Yu Fei jumped from the side of Pierce and put his entire weight on the opponent. He swung his hand hard and knocked all the balls off his arms. Pierce lost his center of gravity in the air and fell to the ground.

“@#￥%@#%……”

Yu Fei turned around and shouted to the referee who had just called his steal a foul: "This is a fucking foul!"

Originally, this foul that was close to the flagrant foul standard was only called a common foul. After this shouting, the referee added a technical foul to Yu Fei.

The furious Pierce was pulled away before he could find Yu Fei to fight, and Yu Fei was replaced by Doug Collins. There were 18000 spectators sitting in the center of the fleet, expressing strong dissatisfaction with Fei's bad behavior.

Cats, curses, everything.
"It's so abominable, this young man should be ejected!" Celtics star Tom Heinsohn shouted, "I don't want to see him in this game again!"

Doug Collins looked at Yu Fei with disappointment: "You seem to have completely ignored the biblical admonitions."

"Leave the admonishment to Jesus." Yu Fei sneered, "My task is to let him meet Jesus in his dream!"

In the final seconds of the first quarter, Jordan came on the court again.

According to the plan, he was supposed to play in the second quarter, but Yu Fei's "loss of control" disrupted Collins' arrangement.

Collins didn't know why Yu Fei was angry, but Jordan knew it was because of playing time and Pierce's dismissive attitude.

As a competitor, Yu Fei takes every opponent seriously. What Pierce wants from Jordan is also what Yu Fei wants.

Therefore, Yu Fei faced Pierce extremely seriously. What was the result?Pierce played with a playful smile and talked trash like a friend.Yu Fei is not that familiar with him, and Yu Fei doesn't want to get close to his opponent.

From this point of view, Jordan believes that Yu Fei is very similar to himself.

However, Jordan was dissatisfied because Yu Fei never took the initiative to show his kindness to him. This is the reason why he still suppresses Yu Fei and does not let him start.

As a rookie, you can be proud, have your own temper and character, and disrespect the veterans because you are young, but you must not not know who is the owner of the team.

Yu Fei didn't know, or he didn't admit it.

Jordan was both player and owner, he was the master.

Yu Fei did not recognize him as his master. He had not taken the initiative to say a word to him, made a joke, or even hypocritically cared about his tenosynovitis injury since he joined the team.

This disregard made Jordan more angry than Kwame Brown's weakness and incompetence.

After playing against Yu Fei before today's game, Jordan gradually understood the opponent's thoughts.

Yu Fei wants to compete with himself. He will not bow his head, show humility, or have any rookie self-consciousness. What he wants is not only the starting lineup, but also control of the team.

This is consistent with Doug Collins’ judgment.

Yu Fei is ambitious and Jordan should be happy.

But he found out today that he might not be able to dominate Yu Fei on the court.

Then this matter becomes subtle. Is he going to give up his position like a sky hook giving way to a magician?
If he had to make a choice, Jordan would rather be Larry Bird in 1992. He would be proud to the end. As for Fei, let this stupid rookie die like Reggie Lewis!

After Yu Fei came off the field, Brown's condition also declined rapidly.No one was playing for him anymore, and Jordan's command was mixed with curses, making him walk on thin ice.Soon, Brown was replaced.

"Welcome back!" Tyronn Lue said hilariously, "This will always be your home!"

Yu Fei also asked jokingly: "Why did you suddenly not know how to play when you were partnering with Michael?"

Brown answered Yu Fei with a sentence that perfectly fits the hopeless Generation Y waste: "Because Michael won't let me be myself."

"Shh, don't call the elder by his name, call him boss."

Steve Wyche observed with interest the young players off the court complaining and joking about Jordan. Then, Jordan on the court was like the God of War, resuming his early performance.

As long as he has physical strength and touch, Jordan is still a difficult player to deal with.

The Celtics learned it in the second quarter.

Pierce, whose mentality was disturbed by Yu Fei, lost his enthusiasm in the first quarter. Faced with Jordan's repeated defeats, it was the Celtics' boss who stepped forward.

However, Jordan is still the brightest one on the court.

A spiritual alley-oop layup after running back;

Receive the ball in the center of the paint and turn around for a jump shot;

The iconic crossover dribble and pull-up jump shot.

He found his form again and proved with his best performance since his comeback that he is still the dominant player on the court.

Pierce was frustrated, Walker lost momentum, and Jordan seemed to have never left.

Steve Wyche recalled being in the Wizards' office at the beginning of the year and listening to Jordan talk about his desire to play.

Isn't that why he came back?
What makes professional sports, especially basketball, so different from almost all other sports is that they only have one unique league, the NBA.Therefore, the space at the top is extremely limited, as narrow as a funnel, and can only be reserved for one player at the top.Therefore, it is nothing like Hollywood's entertainment industry, such as the film industry, where there is always enough room for great old actors and promising new actors: Pacino and De Niro can compete with the established Nicholson and Hall Fuman coexists, younger stars such as Sean Penn, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe will not occupy their ecological niches, Hollywood will never refuse new stars to come up, they allow these people to be in the same pantheon exist.

As for the NBA, an eternal rule has been born since the McCann era: someone must fall before someone can rise.Those at the top can only maintain their position by defeating their competitors. 24 seconds destroyed McCann, Russell dominated Chamberlain and the Western Conference year after year, Magic won the battle between black and white, and the most special thing was Jordan.

Stern's dominant league and Jordan's team spoke solemnly of Jordan's commitment to team philosophy and victory, thereby obscuring the importance of a championship-worthy team to the superstar.In the end, all this publicity created the idol of Jordan. Like all basketball players who have achieved success, everyone is forced to play to Jordan's standards. If you don't dominate your opponent, if you can't take over the game at the last moment, if you run away , if you take shortcuts, you will never be Jordan.

Pierce is part of a generation that is superstitious about Jordan. They grew up in the latter's legend and are eager to write their own Jordan legend.

So, he talked a lot about Jordan and wanted to beat him in the game.

Steve Wyche understands the behind-the-scenes background of this game, and Yu Fei is a variable.

His performance, actions, and words indicate that he also wants to be a part of this competition.

But Jordan didn't give him a chance, and Pierce didn't regard him as an opponent.

This is why he behaves irrationally.

But now it seems that he has calmed down.

But Wyche decided that calming down the contemporary Elvin Hayes would be a better idea than letting him get emotional.

Jordan played the entire second quarter and led the Wizards to end the first half 50-43.

Then, of course, he continued to start in the second half.

Pierce and Walker both stalled, and Jordan scored 7 points in a single quarter. This was supposed to be a key quarter for the Wizards to take away the Celtics. However, Green Army rookie Joe Johnson bravely stood up and responded to Jordan. , making the game still suspenseful.

In the last 3 minutes of the third quarter, Yu Fei returned to the game.

He knew that he only had 3 minutes to play at most, so he couldn't waste a second.

In the last three minutes, Yu Fei was a complete ball lord, controlling the ball throughout the game. He first hit a three-pointer and then a two-pointer. Unfortunately, all the cakes he fed to his teammates were spat out.

第三节结束，于飞在6分02秒内拿到9分2篮板2助攻，奇才带着9分的优势进入最后一节。

In the fourth quarter, Collins replaced Yu Fei with Jordan.

Yu Fei put on his appearance clothes to avoid catching cold.

Although they only played 6 minutes, they tried their best to get 9+2+2 data, which is not bad, and the plus-minus value is also positive. Although they have a high probability of winning tonight, if they lose accidentally, it will be the team. Lost, not that he lost.

At the beginning of the last quarter, both sides felt bad and were fighting each other. But starting from the 7th minute, Pierce took the initiative to confront Jordan, which brought the game atmosphere to a climax.

But Pierce overestimated his defense. Facing him, Jordan scored two jump shots.

However, Antoine Walker's responsible personal performance came a bit suddenly.

It was originally thought that Jordan's 10 points in the final quarter could seal the victory, but Walker's 18-point performance in a single quarter allowed the Celtics to turn defeat into victory 3 minutes before the end.

Then, in the second half, Pierce, who was basically beaten by Jordan, realized his shame and bravely expanded the point difference with a three-pointer.

Jordan, who had only rested for 6 minutes since the start of the game, began to feel tired.

Old things make mistakes when they get tired.

Jordan rushed to the basket and missed a layup. He grabbed the offensive rebound but had a walking violation. Then, he turned around and the Celtics completed a 2+1 counterattack.The Wizards are already 5 points behind.

It was Jordan again. Facing Pierce, he leaned back but was blocked.

Pierce caught up with the ball to complete the counterattack, and the Celtics led to 7 points.

This round actually killed the suspense of the game.

The Wizards don't have an accurate three-point shooter, Jordan is tired, and Laettner, who scored the second highest score on the team, can only hit the ball with the wind, and no one can stand up.

In the last minute, the Wizards desperately shot three-pointers, but failed to score a single goal.

Yu Fei waited silently for the defeat. 40 seconds before the end of the game, Collins glanced at Yu Fei and wanted to know if he was willing to play for a few more seconds, but Yu Fei, who was wearing his playing uniform, made his attitude clear.

When free throws occurred on the court, Jordan had completely relaxed and the Wizards were about to lose, but he was chatting leisurely with referee Nolan Fine. It was obvious that they knew each other and had a good relationship. Fine also A joke was made and a rare sight was given to a national audience.

Jordan, who was about to lose, smiled, which directly reflected his good mood.

Could he be in a bad mood?Although the team lost, the duel with Pierce was won.Pierce's final winning block could only be spread in the Boston area, but the story of Jordan's victory over Pierce in the duel could be spread around the world.

At the end, 109 to 99, the Celtics successfully defended their home court, causing the Wizards to suffer two consecutive losses.

Post-match interview
"I just saw through his game." - Pierce on his key block on Jordan.

"Paul was strong, Paul was really strong, and whatever Michael threw at him, Paul was going to stand up to it. Michael might score on him, but Paul would respond, and Paul would jump right at him, Surround him. Once Paul gets used to his tricks, he'll do better. I love Michael. But this is not the same Michael as he was when he was young. I don't know if Michael can accept this result. Anyway, we won. ” —Walker on the game and the Pierce-Jordan matchup.

"This is Michael's best game yet, you know? He's going to get better and better and better and better, and there's no limit to what he can do." - Collins on Jordan's performance.

"I know you want to see Frye play longer, but he is a rookie and still learning how to play longer, and we have plans for him." - Collins talked about Yu Fei's playing time.

"Fry, did you lose tonight?"

"You know my answer."

"You scored nine points in six minutes. What do you think prevented you from playing longer?"

"I don't know. If you ask me to answer this question, I will say that I have the physical strength to play 40 minutes, but it is not something I can decide. I also want to play longer and I also want to help the team win the game. , but I couldn’t have done it if I only played 6 minutes.”

Jordan may be the only person on the Wizards who feels that he has not lost. He told the media: "I played well. I found the rhythm in the third and fourth quarters, and my legs feel much better." Then he talked about the opponent. Pierce's defense, "I just tried not to let him catch the ball. I didn't want him to have any rhythm, and he really didn't maintain the rhythm."

You thought Jordan was just talking about this game, but in fact he had already vaguely announced his victory.

Later, Jordan's old friend Dick Stockton (Dick Stockton) appeared. As a member of the media, he was qualified, serious and friendly, and hoped to get the latest information about Jordan on and off the court.

"I'll show you something."

Jordan reached into his locker, took out a jar from his suit pocket, opened it, and took out two cigars.

Stockton's face lit up. "Good stuff. Where did you get it?"

"Cuba."

The word seemed to hover in the air but never landed.

Stockton laughed and said, "That's why you're back, Michael. Can we do a quick interview?"

"You can ask a few questions." Jordan replied kindly.

"How are you feeling?" Stockton didn't know whether he was asking about Jordan's current condition or his joints. "how are you feeling--"

"I'm very happy with myself."

"Of course, I can see that."

"In these last moments, I want to be happy, happy, always."

"Where's Pierce?"

"Nice player, but..."

"but what?"

"How's your golf game, Dick?"

(End of this chapter)