When pride still matters

Chapter 88 I will always respect MJ
Due to foul problems, McGrady's playing time was limited in the first half. The Magic expected Hill to support the situation, but they did not expect him to fall again like the undefeated Zoffi.

The moment Hill went down, you could see the look of shattered dreams on Doc Rivers' face.

The best team in the Eastern Conference, 60 wins, entering the Finals and blocking the OK Lakers' three consecutive championships will never happen again.

McGrady didn't feel it as deeply as Rivers did, and he felt a sense of loss.

A year ago, he came to assist Hill, and a year later, he became Hill to assist him.

So far this season, although McGrady has averaged 26 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists per game, he is always tied up and unable to exert his full strength because he needs to give Hill the ball to quickly get back to the game.

However, this kind of respectful relationship has not been effective. The Magic's winning rate so far this season is only 50%. Therefore, some people compare them to Julius Erving and George McGuinness in 1977.

They are also a pair with similar styles and need to be humble to each other to achieve coexistence. The latter reached the finals. In this era of weak competitiveness in the Eastern Conference, getting tickets to the finals is the minimum requirement for the Magic.

Hill was injured again, and the so-called lower limit finals became empty talk. McGrady didn't know what he had lost at that moment. He only knew that the ball would be monopolized by him again.

For a young superstar who is only 22 years old, is there anything better than having unlimited ball rights?

In the second half, McGrady scored 24 points, but the Magic's morale was poor and they failed to achieve a reversal. In the end, the Wizards at home defeated the Magic 105-94.

The same question gets different answers on different nights.

Today, Richard Hamilton, who scored the highest score on the team, was asked in an interview what he did to help Jordan in this game.

"Throw the ball in, baby!" Hamilton said happily, "I just throw the ball in!"

Then, the reporter asked: "Tonight is Frye Yu's first start in his career, but you came on as a substitute. Do you think there is a competitive relationship between you two?"

"No, as long as you watch our games often, you will know that we have put together a variety of starting lineups this season. Everyone may start and everyone may be a substitute. I am not worried about this."

Jordan was very happy. Although McGrady's final statistics surpassed his own, the Magic lost.

As long as you win, experts will naturally speak for you.

Moreover, Jordan's performance was indeed crucial. If he had not put McGrady into a foul crisis in the first half, Hill might not have fallen so early, and the Magic's morale would not have collapsed.

"I have no advantage in front of Tracy," Jordan said, appearing to be modest but conceited. "The only thing I have is experience, which he doesn't have. I know how to create opportunities. He is still young and has a long way to go." Walk."

Jordan was inevitably asked about Yu Fei's outstanding performance in his first start.

"He did a great job," Jordan said succinctly, "and I'm happy for him."

Collins, by contrast, is more direct and realistic.

When a reporter asked him about Yu Fei's performance, Collins replied: "His performance was beyond imagination."

"Will he continue to be the starter?"

"Unless we don't want to win," Collins said self-deprecatingly.

"Where's Kwame Brown?"

"We don't expect to get anything from him right now," Collins said rationally and calmly, "He and Frye are two extremes."

Tonight, Yu Fei played 30 minutes and scored 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. He was basically satisfied with his performance.

"Fry, this is your first start. How would you rate yourself?"

"You know, I don't like to rate myself, that's a matter for the fans and the media."

"Do you think you'll continue to start?"

"You know, I don't get to decide who starts, that's the head coach's job."

"How do you feel about the tacit understanding between you and MJ on the court?"

Good question, one of us likes to play fast, and the other likes to grind the position even though we can no longer fight in position. What do you think of our tacit understanding?I think it’s a little better than Tian and Doinb in the second week of the S11 group stage, what do you think?
"You know, there's no one better for MJ than me."

This pleasant evening passed quickly.

The next day, the Magic announced that Grant Hill suffered a severe bone contusion in his left ankle and will be out indefinitely starting today.

This news is reminiscent of last April, when Hill suffered a medial fracture of his left ankle and now a severe contusion of his left ankle bone. Can he still get better?
In any case, this is a worry for people in Orlando. The Wizards need to rush to Philadelphia immediately to participate in back-to-back games against the 76ers that night.

This is also the Wizards' last game in November.

The Wizards, who have won two consecutive games, hope to win three consecutive games on the road, which will give them more confidence to face the December game.

Due to Allen Iverson's injury, last season's Eastern Conference champions started this season with a five-game losing streak.

This certainly proves the value of Iverson, who despite his inefficiency was the reason the Sixers got as far as they did last season.

Not long ago, Iverson signed a lifetime contract with Reebok. As a member of Reebok, Yu Fei was arranged by the company to attend events with Iverson after he came to Philadelphia with the team.

Privately, Iverson was Kwame Brown's dream self.

Iverson is very "big brother" and acts like the boss wherever he goes, but Yu Fei has no intention of getting closer to him.

Yu Fei's feelings for many stars come from the memories of his previous life. Iverson, as a player who regularly comes to China to hunt for gold every once in a while after retirement, almost always only consumes his feelings instead of consolidating them like Tracy McGrady. own connection with Chinese fans.

This is a person who can't even cut a leek. In Yu Fei's impression, the most joyful time he came to China was when he was surrounded by princesses of unknown origin in a KTV.

After the event, Yu Fei returned to the hotel to rest for a while, and then got on the bus with his teammates to the Fuwajovia Center Arena, the home of the 76ers.

⑴ The 76ers' home court was not renamed the Wells Fargo Center until 2010.

Since the 76ers' starting power forward is Derrick Coleman, Collins will try to start Yu Fei at the fourth position tonight.

In this case, Richard Hamilton returns to the starting lineup.

The only thing Coleman has left now is a bad reputation and a body that still has some talent left.

Although Coleman has talents that Malone envies, he can't even achieve an absolute advantage when playing Yu Fei at the fourth position.

Larry Brown regarded Collins' move of Yu Fei as the fourth position as a mistake, and let the team make a fuss about Coleman at the beginning of the game.

However, Coleman currently only weighs 230 pounds, not much better than Yu Fei.

The most important advantage of confrontation in the inside singles was missing, and Coleman's skills were not good enough to make up for the lack of physical confrontation. Instead, Yu Fei's severely reduced physical fitness was restrained.

At the beginning, Yu Fei gave Coleman two consecutive blocks, both of which allowed the Wizards to complete their counterattack.

Then Iverson entered Tongtiandai mode, eating Chris Whitney alive on the offensive end, and also intercepted Yu Fei's pass on the defensive end. The two sides entered the second quarter with a tie.

Yu Fei, who temporarily serves as the starting fourth position, is not as familiar with the Wizards' high-post offense as Laettner. He uses his personal offensive threats more to create greater chaos in the area from the free throw line to the paint area, either by himself or in chaos. Center shot.

Jaxidi White is the winner of Yu Fei’s chaos bonus.

This made Kwame Brown off the court see red eyes, "I can score those opportunities if they are given to me!"

But no one listened to him. The more chaotic Yu Fei made the situation, the more uncomfortable Jordan became. He has a core position under the Collins system, and the characteristic of chaos is that there is no core, and whoever has the opportunity will take action.

Collins saw that although the situation was good, Big Daddy was not playing well, so he gave up the idea of ​​letting Yu Fei continue to serve as the fourth position. With 6 minutes left in the second quarter, he replaced Yu Fei and replaced Laettner.

Jordan was liberated, he became the core again, and could continue to take shots with an average shooting rate of over 30% per game.

Yu Fei sat off the court with 7 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists. Until the end of the half, Iverson, who relied on the advantages gained from chaotic battles, gradually led his team to catch up.

In the second half, Yu Fei came on as the starting three, and Hamilton returned to the bench. Jordan was still trying to blast Aaron McGee at a single point, but his touch tonight was far inferior to that of his opponent Allen Iverson.

"That's enough. If you don't feel good, shoot less. Don't you understand such a simple truth?"

When Jordan made 6 of 1 shots in the third quarter, Yu Fei said what he had been thinking about his teammates.

Remember, Jordan didn't like to be questioned.

Jordan called a timeout and walked up to Yu Fei and said angrily: "I have played basketball for decades more than you. You are not qualified to tell me which truth is right and which truth is wrong!"

If you really grow old and don't die, you are a thief!Yu Fei refused to accept this trick and said even more harshly: "If you don't want to win, just keep shooting, but don't fucking tell me how many years you have been playing. What's the use? It will allow you to score one more goal." Or can you make Allen Iverson crazy like you??”

"!￥@#"

"Fry seemed to have had an argument with MJ."

"It's not like...they are indeed a little unhappy."

“Oh my gosh, this is definitely going to be the headline story tomorrow!”

"Young people do do some irrational things because they are hot-headed."

Collins launched the ostrich trick, pretending that everything was fine and picked up the tactical board and said to Fei: "Fry, let's play like this after the timeout."

Collins drew a beautiful play, but the end point was Jordan.

Jordan went 6 for 1 in the third quarter.

The tactics are good, but Yu Fei doesn't believe in Jordan tonight.

However, Yu Fei will not waste Collins' timeout. Since the tactics are drawn like this, they will play like this, but he will be prepared to rush for the rebounds as Jordan will.

The timeout ended and the Wizards started running according to the tactical route drawn by Collins.

Things went smoothly. Yu Fei released the ball in advance one second before Jordan appeared. The moment he released the ball, he was already running towards the basket.

Jordan caught the ball with graceful movement, but he was probably the first person in the game to know that the ball was going to hit the ground running.

The feel doesn’t lie!

"boom!"

Coleman was already in position, and he could grab the rebound with just one jump, but he ignored the people behind him and didn't expect anyone to run in and rush the board with reckless impact.

Yu Fei almost grabbed the rebound against Coleman's body, and slammed the ball into the basket as the audience roared.

Maybe this is a foul, but the NBA is a business league after all, and referees usually don't embarrass the offensive team in these wonderful moments that can be selected as highlights of the season.

Coleman suffered a dull loss, and Iverson came to the frontcourt to respond quickly.

After Yu Fei served, he said to Whitney: "Give me the ball!"

Yu Fei used practical actions to confirm that the original style of play was no longer effective. After dribbling to the frontcourt, he didn't look at Jordan at all. If Coleman dared to come out to defend, he would break through. If someone replaced him, he would call Coleman to defend. People came out to pick and roll and change positions. Soon, Larry Brown couldn't stand Coleman's defensive vulnerability.

Coleman was substituted.

Then, Yu Fei started to name Mutombo.

The floater and the emergency stop jumper that break through to a certain position after setting up the pick-and-roll are Yu Fei's two most powerful weapons in the military training inside. Now that he is in a state of emotion, he does anything regardless of the consequences. In the remaining 5 minutes of the third quarter, Yu Fei 9 In 7 shots, Jordan didn't touch the ball once.

"This is not our way of playing!"

When the Wizards entered the fourth quarter with an 11-point advantage, Collins didn't know whether he was angry or happy. Even Tom Hanks couldn't act out that complicated expression.

"But," said Johann Bach, "it works."

"But that's not the way we play!" Collins said weakly, "He isolates everyone."

The dangers of letting Yu Fei enter the starting lineup are emerging. His style, his style of play, and his personality are almost all at odds with Jordan.

Especially tonight, which was particularly bad for Jordan and happened to be a night where Yu Fei performed well, has an obvious weakening effect on the former's majesty.

This was only his second start.

In the fourth quarter, another thing that rattled Collins happened.

Teammates began to trust Yu Fei and accept Yu Fei's leadership, especially starting point guard Chris Whitney and starting center Jasidi White.

Whitney gave the ball to Yu Fei as soon as he passed half court.

White actively gives Yu Fei pick-and-rolls because he knows that Yu Fei can give him countless opportunities.

Jordan was left at one end of the field.

As long as Yu Fei gets the ball, he won't look at him.

Is Yu Fei blatantly isolating Jordan, or has he not found a way to cooperate with Jordan?
Collins doesn't know, intellectually he's leaning towards the latter, but emotionally it's definitely the former.

The feud between the two has been a semi-open secret since training camp, and now it's just a matter that everyone knows within the Wizards.

Yu Fei was replaced 5 minutes before the end. At that time, the Wizards led the 76ers by 19 points, and the game was almost garbage time.

Yu Fei scored a team-high 24 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks. This was his best game so far this season.

John Bach found that when Yu Fei came off the field, almost all his teammates off the field kept a certain distance from him.

They are afraid of Yu Fei, just like they are afraid of Jordan.

Only Kwame Brown could still joke: "Fry, I'm a reporter from the Washington Post. Congratulations on your three consecutive victories. What did you do to help Michael tonight?"

Yu Fei smiled and said rebelliously: "I prevented his hit rate from continuing to decrease by not passing the ball to him. I am very happy that I did this."

"Wow, Fry, you are such a perfect team player, Michael will definitely appreciate you, right?"

"Yeah, like you spend half an hour in bed every day grateful that he drafted you with the No. [-] pick."

There is no suspense. In the slow-paced NBA game in 2001, the comeback rate of a 5-point lead in the last 19 minutes of the fourth quarter was close to 0. The Wizards only needed to patiently grind out their positions to win the game.

And they did.

At the end, 99 to 85, the Wizards won three consecutive away games and used this victory to return their ranking to the playoffs.

Post-match interview
"No. 44 is so brilliant. I can't believe he is a rookie. His performance in the second half was so dominant that even the AI's edge was overshadowed by him." - Larry Brown commented on Yu Fei.

"I'm surprised. This guy on the court hasn't played in three years. You can't imagine that a guy who hasn't played in an official game for three years can maintain such a high level." - Larry Brown commented on the 20 shots in the game Jordan in 6.

"When the season started, everyone thought Michael was going to be a teacher for the young guys on the Wizards, but in a way, that's not the case." - Doug Collins on Jordan's status on the team.

"I know you want to get the so-called shocking inside story, but let me tell you, arguments between Frye and Michael happen from time to time on the court. You can see similar scenes in every game. They are full of personality competition. I'm not worried about that." - Doug Collins on the in-game altercation between Yu Fei and Jordan.

"I keep hearing people say Frye is the Rookie of the Year, but I'm telling you, he's by far the Rookie of the Century." - Doug Collins on Frye's high praise.

"You have to believe in your teammates so that the situation can open up completely." - Michael Jordan talking about the comeback point in this game.

"I have no problem with Frye. I know what kind of person he is, and he also knows what kind of person I am. After tonight, this matter will be over." - Michael Jordan talking about himself and Yu Fei quarrel.

"Believe me, Michael is the best mentor in the world. Only he can fully inspire the potential of young people." - Allen Iverson spoke highly of Jordan.

"Fry, what do you think about the rumors that you and Michael are feuding?"

"You know, no one in DC respects MJ more than I do."

"So, you think this is fake news?"

"Yes, definitely and definitely fake news."

"Would you like to talk about the argument you and Michael had at the game tonight?"

"You know, it's because I respect MJ that I poured cold water on him when he was in a bad state. It turned out to be very effective. From that moment on, we took control of the situation. I don't know what else to do. Who would suspect that MJ and I have a bad relationship? In my opinion, that is proof of our deep friendship."

"A deep friendship? Has your relationship with MJ developed to this point?"

"Yes, I've said it many times, but I don't mind saying it again. MJ is my mentor and I will always respect MJ."

——Yu Fei’s post-game interview
(End of this chapter)