Chapter 484 The Right Thing
Yu Fei came off the field and caught the towel thrown by his teammates.
All major TV stations have reported his statistics.
15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in a single quarter. This data basically shows that every score scored by the Sonics in the first quarter was related to him.
"I think LeBron is as good as Frye."
ESPN's Mark Jackson reasonably said: "He scored 8 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the first quarter. Since the Lakers have more attack points, LeBron does not need to bear the main offensive output like Frye."
Hearing this, Jeff Van Gundy couldn't help but yin and yang: "I believe LeBron has the ability to score 100 points in a single game. He just doesn't want to be a selfish player."
The Sonics don't want to let Durant fight James alone.
Brandon Roy, who had rested for six minutes, was replaced by Carr.
What was unexpected was that Roy and Durant had a small disagreement in the first round of the second quarter.
Roy felt that since Durant played the entire first quarter, let him play at the beginning.
Durant thought to himself, there was nothing wrong with me when Frye was here, and nothing happened to me when Frye was off the court, so wasn't Frye's job in vain?
So a scene like this happened. Roy directed Durant to pull away, but Durant stopped where he was and asked for the ball with both hands.
"Kevin, what are you doing?"
The first one who couldn't help it was George Karl, "Execute the tactics!"
Durant walked away.
Roy then smashed Mike Bibby's defense.
In front of him, Bibi looked like a defective product.
He used his slow pace to create opportunities and score jump shots.
"That's it!" Carl shouted loudly, "Go on, Brandon!"
Durant frowned. He wanted to say something. Yu Fei was not present, so he should be the main attacker. But he didn't say it.
The first instinct of a good person is not to embarrass others, and Durant could vaguely feel that the forces behind him were dissatisfied with his situation.
His feeling was right.
This scene made Lynn Mermet strongly dissatisfied.
He was happy when he initially saw Yu Fei come off the court but Durant stayed on the court.
The Lakers have James on the court and the SuperSonics have Durant. No matter who performs better in the transition period, Nike is the winner.
However, Roy broke their illusions.
Not only did Roy not give Durant a chance to show off his skills, he also controlled the ball like Yu Fei.
Durant showed a little intention to compete for the ball, but Karl immediately deflected.
In Memet's view, this is proof that the Sonics have been dominated by Reebok forces.
They won't let Durant grow. For them, the best arrangement is to let Durant become Horace Grant next to Yu Fei and Roy.
If you're confused by the name, you're right, that's exactly the role Reebok wants Durant to play in the Sonics Empire story.
Horace Grant was the third player in the Bulls' first three consecutive seasons, but in that Bulls team, although he ranked third, he obviously could not reach the same height as Choppi. When Jordan was absent from training sessions, Pippen would take time off in order to express that "I also have the privileges that Jordan has." When Grant wanted to imitate them, he was not allowed by the Jackson coaching staff.
Therefore, Grant always felt resentful, which is why Jordan determined that he was the "Deep Throat" of Sam Smith (author of "Jordan Rules")⑴. Because he had a motive and a reason to do it.
⑴Watergate informant.
However, could Nike tolerate the fact that the international brand they paid $70 million to build was being molded into a player like Horace Grant who would be lost in basketball history?
Memet was so angry that he gritted his teeth, but was unable to interfere with the Sonics coaching staff.
Because that’s Reebok territory.
They can only hope that Durant will mutate into the Kobe Bryant of the early 2000s.
But Nike's executives knew very well that Durant would never be like Kobe. He was a friendly boy. This is why they decided to tailor Durant's "boy next door" image. This is a role that Durant will never fail to play, because he plays his true character.
What happened in the second quarter was exactly what Memet had imagined.
Durant was reprimanded by the coaching staff for having a disagreement with Roy, so he began to blame himself. It looked like Kobe Bryant sent the Lakers home with three consecutive misses in his rookie season.
He never acted out of line again.
Until Yu flew onto the court, Durant took two shots with Roy's "charity" and hit them all.
It’s a testament to how good his hands are.
Memet couldn't help but wonder, what if he took a lot of shots during this period? Wouldn't this be his battle to advance?
Durant needs to prove himself in a game like this more than anyone else on the Sonics.
In the end, Roy didn't give him this chance.
Moreover, subjective speculation aside, Roy was generally believed to have held up the scene.
During the five minutes when Yu Fei took a break, James did not attack aggressively. He was like a humble prince doing favors everywhere, passing the ball to this and that. Only when he occasionally encountered a fast break opportunity, he would do his part. He "gives" this simplest scoring opportunity to his most unstoppable self in the counterattack.
This rational, sober, but not radical style of play will not be cheap in front of Roy who has returned to form.
Therefore, the SuperSonics maintained a 5-point lead.
After James played for 17 consecutive minutes, Phil Jackson finally ended his farm basketball game and let James take a rest.
James improved his statistics to 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in just five minutes. From a statistical point of view, it is impeccable.
The Lakers replaced James but allowed four other main players to return to the game.
The SuperSonics replaced Durant and brought back several other main players. In the most watched Christmas game in history, Durant missed the time period when he could dominate the game.
He obviously played the same 17 minutes as James, but his presence was not strong at all.
What fans can remember is that he repeatedly missed the opportunity ball from Yu Fei in the first quarter, and he received Yu Fei's alley-oop dunk at the end of the first quarter.
As for the two goals he scored in the second quarter after receiving an assist from Roy, they did not leave any impression.
On the contrary, it was Roy who shined in the second quarter. His combination of sudden shots was an unsolvable problem for the Lakers' second team.
Reebok CEO Paul Arrington saw Durant walking off the court in despair, and the comfort in his heart was hard to describe in words.
Maybe Nike doesn't believe it, but Reebok did not interfere with the Sonics' use of players.
The current situation is the result of supersonic internal self-propulsion.
Yu Fei's status is unshakable, and Roy's status is gradually becoming more stable. If Durant wants to replace Roy, the first thing he has to do is not to prove how good he can score, but to prove that he can play the role of point guard like Roy.
But Durant is just a version of Yu Fei without lighting up the point guard skill tree.
He wants to show off his prowess on the offensive end, but the last thing the Sonics need is a "kill, kill, kill" version of Durant.
Therefore, the whole thing is not driven by interests, let alone favors. This is a basketball decision.
The most irreversible decision on the pitch.
Nike wanted to use Durant to enter the market dominated by Reebok, but they did not expect that this red chip stock with great development potential would be ruined by themselves.
Business interests are intertwined within and outside this alliance, which regards business as a top priority.
But as a head coach, the only thing George Karl has to think about is basketball.
He will never forget the way Durant competed with Roy for the ball.
Although Durant is like a puppy who shuts up when being trained, how many challenges can the same human nature withstand?
At this time, assistant coach Tyronn Lue came over after comforting Durant, "George, there's nothing wrong with KD."
"Taylon," Carl asked, "what do you think human nature is most vulnerable to?"
"In a bookstore." Director Lu said humorously, "I can't accept someone yelling nearby while I'm reading."
"No," Carl said, "It's life and death, fame and fortune, and desires within reach."
Director Lu wrote this sentence down in his notebook.
As an assistant coach, he still doesn't understand the techniques and tactics, so he wants to take the Rivers route.
You don’t have to understand coaching philosophy, but you need to know how to give him chicken soup.
The two sides continued to face each other with one less main force.
Yu Fei accurately targeted Mike Bibby.
As the biggest reinforcement for the Lakers in the summer besides James, this person was still regarded as an All-Star who had passed his peak last season, but when he came to the Lakers, he immediately entered the realm of Payton in the team era.
A capable starter who sacrificed his team status for the championship.
Yu Fei called out Bibby, leaving the Lakers' point guard exhausted and unable to organize an offense.
However, Garfield came to the low post to catch the ball and solved the problem of point guard dysfunction.
The Lakers still have too many stars. Before Bosh's comeback, the Sonics didn't have any inside man who could compete with Kawhi.
Brown has been crushed in terms of skills and intelligence. Jordan has nothing but physical fitness. Ou's current state is like drawing cards. Sometimes he plays like an All-Star, and sometimes he is like a quasi-retirement who is half buried.
It can be seen how many talents the Lakers have recruited as organizers in order to control Kobe's temperature.
James, Bibby and Gasol ensured that Kobe's loss of control would not become the norm.
Moreover, as long as Kobe plays normally, Roy has no advantage in front of him.
Suddenly, the only advantage the Sonics had was flying.
Yu Fei lived up to expectations and scored another 12 points in seven minutes.
However, this performance was not enough to keep the Sonics in the lead.
After Kobe came on the court, he defended Roy to only 2 points, and he scored 8 points on 4 of 7 shots. On the other side, Richard Hamilton hit two three-pointers. Coupled with Xiaojia's inside advantage, Yu Fei's 12 The points just ensure that the situation is not unbalanced.
After halftime, the two sides were tied at 54 to 54.
The Lakers' fangs have been exposed.
Kobe and James are worthy of being ranked second and third in the world, and Richard Hamilton has become the Lakers' Durant - a person who focuses on shooting and has no distracting thoughts.
The continued improvement of Marc Gasol is another big surprise for the Lakers, and then there is the chemical reaction from veterans such as Mike Bibby who came to shoot in the offseason.
Tonight, they only had one player who was acting abnormally in Artest.
"If Frye wants to continue his winning streak against LeBron, 24 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the half will not be enough."
As soon as Mark Jackson finished speaking, Jeff Van Gundy put forward another point of view: "No, Frye's performance is enough, but Kevin Durant's performance is not enough. The Lakers don't just rely on Kobe and LeBron to play, others Everyone is performing, and the Sonics currently only have Frye and Brandon performing consistently, which is far from enough.”
Everyone was preparing to enter the locker room. Durant was about to enter the tunnel when he saw Lynn Memet at the fence.
"Kevin!" Mermet shouted, "Never let your moral sense stop you from doing the right thing!"
(End of chapter)