Chapter 183 I hope this day will never come
I hope this day will never come
Bruce Bowen has met many opponents, including Kobe Bryant of the Lakers and Nash of the Mavericks. They are all passive opponents.
Bowen tried to step on Kobe again and again, but the opponent saw through it and responded with a sneer. After the game, he taunted him with "I love playing against him."
Nash was weaker and more like a prey. Even if he suffered a loss, it was difficult to respond. His flopping was like a child's game in front of Bowen.
Bucks are completely different.
Yu Fei is not a ruthless person like Kobe. Compared with Kobe, he has greater autonomy and can easily avoid Bowen's plot. And if Bowen really pushed him, no one knew what he would do, given his notorious reputation.
If there was just one Yu Fei, it wouldn't be that troublesome. The crux of the problem lies precisely in the fact that the Bucks' personnel structure is very similar to that of NBA teams in the 1980s and 1990s.
Goons, enforcers, thugs, you name it.
Compared with the Bucks, except for Bowen, the Spurs are pure and pure per capita. They are not the kind of team that actively seeks conflict with their opponents.
As Bowen was caught by the Bucks, the scumbags of the Bucks showed their true colors one after another and expressed their intention to have a serious collision with the Spurs, thus leaving their opponents helpless.
After a timeout, Duncan said: "Give me the ball."
His statement was simple, without too many words. He just used actions to show that things are getting back on track. Relying on Bowen's "deterrence" is not a long-term solution after all.
Popovich acquiesced to Duncan's request.
The de facto number one player in the league instantly stabilized the situation for the Spurs with a clever low post shot.
The Bucks also saw the Spurs' transformation.
Popovich no longer lets Bowen's opponents fly, which seems like a statement - let's play well and not make any mess.
The truth is correct, but Yu Fei's idea is, why should I let you step in for nothing?
If their teammates weren't ruthless enough, would the Spurs give up this strategy?
Since you started it first, it's not up to you to decide how it ends.
If this kick is not returned, Yu Fei will not be able to sleep even if he wins the ball.
In the second half of the second quarter, the Spurs' offense revolved around the Twin Towers.
Duncan is in the low position and Robinson is in the high position.
During the lockout season, the high-low coordination of the Twin Towers was the Spurs' trump card tactic. However, with the degradation of Robinson, the Twin Towers gradually changed from a dual-core drive to a single-core drive by Duncan.
Robinson mostly plays a supporting role in tactics.
The starting position of the inside attack naturally determines that they need to face more troubles.
Duncan got the ball in the low post, and Yu Fei ran over from the bottom corner to double-team.
Because Yu Fei's intention was too obvious, Duncan waited for him to get closer and then passed the ball to Bowen's position.
Yu Fei predicted in advance that Duncan would pass the ball, so he immediately shifted his weight back and rushed towards Bowen's position.
Not counting tonight, Bowen's three-point shooting rate in the playoffs was as high as 44%. He is a player who cannot be left empty.
At this time, he felt good about catching the ball, and the bottom corner was his hot spot, so there was no reason to miss the shooting opportunity.
Bowen naturally jumped up and shot.
Yu Fei was not quick to return to defense. When Bowen took action, he returned to the defensive position. By then it was too late to jump to block the shot. All he could do was move his feet forward.
A stepping stone? No, Yu Fei thought he just suddenly became a little clumsy, so he accidentally stretched his leg between Bowen's legs.
Bowen landed, lost his stable foothold, and was tripped to the ground by Yu Fei's foot that had nowhere to rest.
"What is this?" Popovich, like a court defender, could not tolerate any evil actions that did not belong on the court, and directly put pressure on Dick Bavetta. "This is not a fucking basketball move!"
Yu Fei laughed and said: "Indeed, compared to Bruce's behavior of chasing people's feet, I am too immature and still need to learn."
Bavetta scolded Yu Fei: "That's enough! Fry, have a good game!"
As for Popovich's pressure, it was thrown thousands of miles away by Bavetta.
Fortunately for the Spurs, Bowen is fine.
Although he was stepped down, Yu Fei really "needs to improve" in this aspect. He chose to put the foot in the middle and put it on both sides. This is something only a novice would do. A veteran like Bowen will always give priority to the foot. There is only a small chance that the middle of the foot can hit the opponent's groin and cause greater damage.
For Fei, this is not a regrettable thing.
He used Bowen as a reciprocal counterattack and at the same time established deterrence to let the Spurs know that he was not the kind of person who would not fight back when being tricked.
When he met Bowen in the next round, Yu Fei jumped in the face and threatened: "Bruce, if we do it again, I promise to double the reward."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Fei ran back and rushed into the basket, jumped up, caught the high throw pass from his teammate, and made an alley-oop dunk.
Bowen didn't have the guts to continue to deal with Fei Fei.
Not to mention Yu Fei's revenge, the existence of Mason and others can act as bodyguards.
Now, Yu Fei extended the advantage to 5 points with a strong alley-oop dunk.
For the Spurs, Duncan's pick-and-roll helped Tony Parker break through.
Then, Yu Fei broke into Stephen Jackson on the outside, disrupted the Spurs' defense in one fell swoop, and passed the ball to Ray Allen.
Ray Allen made a fake shot and passed the ball to Sprewell.
Sprewell made an outside jumper.
"Whoosh!"
"Good shot!!!" Yu Fei shouted, encouraging his teammates and high-fiving the madman.
Duncan watched him running and jumping back to defend, without any disturbance in his heart.
He and Yu Fei are two different people.
It's not just the age difference, but also the style difference.
A rebellious young man like Yu Fei, who is high-spirited, radical, youthful, and possesses the attributes of overcoming inferiors and superiors, is destined not to be the type of person that Duncan likes.
This kind of person is too self-centered and too arbitrary.
"He's strong," Duncan said.
Robinson nodded and said: "Yes, it is indeed very powerful." "But we will win."
Duncan and those who believe in Duncan feel that this year belongs to the Spurs.
They may not be the best team in the league, but they have the best players.
A best player in his prime can lead his team to the end if he has a decent team configuration.
This is also the most decisive point of this season.
The 2002-03 season was like most of the past seasons in the NBA. The OK dynasty, which had reached the end of its strength, was killed. Killing the Lakers does not prove that the Spurs have the strength to win the championship. Compared with the Spurs, there are at least two teams in the Western Conference that are better than the defending champions.
They were the Kings and the Mavericks respectively. As a result, the core players of these two teams suffered major injuries in the playoffs. The Spurs had no near misses along the way.
This is a generational season, not an era. The era-level season will only determine the strongest team of the season, while the era-level season usually has historically strong teams.
The Spurs, who have the strongest team in the league, are superior in terms of cutting-edge combat capabilities and playoff experience. This is why they are favored.
But...
Three minutes before the end of the first half, Duncan's 2+1 allowed the Spurs to catch up to 1 point.
Subsequently, George Karl replaced Anthony Mason, letting Sprewell and Yu Fei take turns playing the fourth position, and then Michael Reid came on to play the second position.
Suddenly, the Bucks showed their trump card.
Led by Yu Fei, assisted by Ray Allen, Sprewell, Reed and Laettner.
This was the point where Duncan showed his full power, and Carl chose to believe in Yu Fei.
X under 5OUT lineup? Is it the future of offensive basketball?
George Karl believes he can find the answer in the Finals.
The four of them opened up and continued to pick and roll.
The space on the court brought by the four shooters prevented the Spurs from looking at each other.
Yu Fei first used the space to attack the basket.
There is no one here.
After Stephen Jackson's defense broke down, Yu Fei scored.
The Spurs had seen how powerful X?'s offense was during the regular season.
After analysis, the Spurs believe that locking the ball on the fly or emptying a certain shooter is the only solution to this tactic.
The Spurs first chose to target Yu Fei.
Yu Fei began to encounter various double-teams.
Early double-teaming from the outside, as well as preemptive double-teaming after encountering a pick-and-roll, and encirclement in the middle to force the wing after a breakthrough.
In four rounds, Yu Fei made only one mistake, and the other three offenses brought 5 points to the Bucks.
As for the Spurs, although the offensive pressure was not entirely tied to one person, they only scored 3 points in four rounds.
Every time Duncan got the ball, he was double-teamed in advance, and he passed the ball to his teammates but couldn't get any points back.
Bang!
Bang! !
Bang! ! !
What could be more ironic than this scene?
The Spurs carefully chose the Bucks' shooter to let go. As a result, Yu Fei's pass still brought back 5 points, but every pass from Duncan failed to return points.
The Spurs' 3-point score relied on Duncan grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring 2+1 on Laettner.
At halftime, the Bucks led the Spurs by 7 points 52 to 45. Yu Fei was elected as ESPN's Halftime Star with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
"Fry Yu, who is 20 years and six months old, is pushing the Spurs into a desperate situation. He is not a Tim Duncan-style overall influence, but as long as the ball is in his hands, the Spurs will feel scared!"
"This is a rising superstar!"
"Can Tim Duncan stop him? Let's take a break..."
Yu Fei walked into the player tunnel and found Leitner waiting for him here.
"Is something wrong, Chris?" Yu Fei asked.
Leitner was here to tell Yu Fei not to compete with Bowen, and he would take action if necessary.
But he didn't want to be too flattering, so he didn't say what he meant: "If you are ejected because of Bowen, we will be in big trouble."
Yu Fei took a serious look at Leitner, "Of course I, the MVP, will not compete with a dog that eats shit. But, Chris, have you ever taught a dog a lesson?"
Leitner was embarrassed.
He has never taught a dog a lesson, but he was once treated as a dog by Yu Fei.
"Dogs are the most bullying creatures. No matter how ferocious a dog is, once it is knocked to the ground by someone's momentum, it will just tuck its tail and become a dog from now on. This is why I did it, I want Bowen to know , if he dares to do anything to me again, I will kill him!”
Star players should maintain their shape, this is Laettner's understanding.
At the same time, Leitner believes that Yu Fei's biggest shortcoming is currently.
But now, Leitner found that things were not as he thought.
There is not just one kind of star either.
Some celebrities are aloof, and some celebrities practice it personally.
From the moment Yu Fei resisted Jordan's rule in DC, what he showed was that he was at the forefront no matter what happened. He would not stay away when his teammates were in trouble, nor would he remain silent when faced with provocation. No expression, let alone inaction when the team needs him.
This is the secret of how he shook Jordan's foundation in just one year.
This is how he drove Jordan to a dead end, and he will continue to do so. If one day, he no longer does this, then the magic in him will disappear at the speed of light like the Wizard Pill.
For an extremely proud person, losing his greatest personal label is the beginning of the end.
Lightner hoped that day would never come.
(End of chapter)