Chapter 509 God is not good to me
After the timeout, the Sonics discovered a strange phenomenon.
As the ball-carrying core second only to Yu Fei in the league, James became a porter, dribbling the ball across half the court and then passing the ball to Xiaojia.
Letting Kaguya act as a pivot in the high post directly caused the inverted triangle offensive system led by James to collapse.
The Lakers returned to the right path in the eyes of Zen Master, and Garfield did not disappoint. He found Antoine Jamison's opportunity in the first round when he got the ball, and made a lob pass to help the opponent score.
Jackson hopes that James will be like Frye, but this is just the idea of the coaching staff. For someone like His Majesty, who shoulders the hopes of Nike, the hatred of his hometown elders, and the obsession of transcending Yu Fei, there are many things to consider.
Let Marc Gasol be the pivot, and James can still contribute.
His current three-point shooting percentage is similar to that of Yu Fei in the regular season, reaching 39%. But like Xiaojia, his efficiency can only be guaranteed by controlling a certain output, so it is impossible to sell in large quantities. Even so, as long as he is willing to move, he can still get many opportunities under the Lakers' system.
But James is unwilling to give in. Now that Kobe is away, he should be in control of the game. Before he can exert his strength, Jackson is eager to ask him to take care of the overall situation and dedicate himself to the greater self.
In this case, he could only stand aside and watch.
A strange scene suddenly appeared on the field.
The player that the Sonics care about the most is the Lakers' least active player.
As long as there is no ball in his hands, James will stand at one end of the court, neither directing nor running. Jackson asked him to be like Frye, but to be honest, he is really like Frye now.
Yu Fei is resting off the court, and he is resting on the court. You can tell whether it is the same.
This scene is familiar to Cavaliers fans.
This is how James sent the Cavaliers away in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals.
Yu Fei was more familiar with this scene.
Because the phenomenon of James being a spectator on the court as long as he is unhappy is not unfamiliar to him.
If the coaching staff wants to blame him, he has something to say.
He has played a whole quarter, and now he is stopping to take a few breaths without holding the ball. Isn't Xiaojia better suited to holding the ball? Then let him hold it.
James's decline in offensive influence is not fatal to the Lakers, because the Lakers are a team with overflowing offensive firepower. Even if Cojan is misfired, they will not have a headache for scoring.
Hamilton, Miller and Jamison stepped up to score at this time.
However, weakness on the defensive end is inevitable.
Especially when James delegates power on the offensive end and doesn't do much on the defensive end, Durant just hangs around on the outside.
Facing Hamilton, he can pull it off.
When he met Jamison, he dribbled the ball with big steps and broke through.
Garfield's assisting defense only worked in the penalty area, while Durant and Bosh's pick-and-roll offense forced García to often leave the basket.
The Lakers need to limit Durant, and the only one who can do this is James.
But James is now like Gao Yuliang in the opening scene of "Human Justice", neither slow nor slow, and seems to have everything under control.
Jackson's face was gloomy.
After coaching for so many years, he has seen all kinds of teams, including overlords like Jordan, hillbillies with low self-esteem and sensitiveness like Pippen, and gamers like O'Neal who are game but quick-thinking, and even Kobe Bryant who is easy to get into trouble. He can handle any paranoia. However, for James, he never felt like he was coaching the opponent.
Because among these people, only James will regard victory or defeat as a bargaining chip.
Probably because the Yufei virus has penetrated deep into his bones, James has a morbid desire to share the cake on the court.
In the Lakers' balance of power, he and Kobe should each have half, and the others should share the rest.
Once you touch his cake, he won't fly into a rage like Jordan. He will just put on a posture of "I have seen through the world" and compete fiercely with an attitude of no contest.
The opponent is the Sonics, and the Lakers can't afford his failure.
It's just that Jackson didn't expect that just an instruction to temporarily hand over the control of the ball to Xiaojia would lead to such a rebound.
But Jackson is not one of those tool coaches who is being ridden over James' head.
During the regular season, he could allow James to play his mind on this matter. Now, since he wants to delegate power, let Kobe take over.
A few minutes later
Before Kobe came on the court, Jackson said to him: "LeBron has no energy tonight, you have to bear more."
This was never a problem for Kobe.
"Wrap it around me."
Halfway through the second quarter, the SuperSonics replaced Durant and Bosh, and the Lakers replaced James.
However, with Durant in good form, the Sonics not only failed to be led by the second team led by James, but also led by 6 points.
"You played well." Yu Fei joked, "You have a greater chance of becoming Kobe 01 than Kobe himself."
Durant suddenly said for no reason: "Can becoming 01 Kobe allow me to get Scarlett's contact information?"
"Did you forget something?" Yu Fei said, "She is married."
Durant smiled triumphantly and said: "Really? It doesn't matter."
As soon as Yu Fei came on the stage, he greeted his Marvel friends: "I'm a little bored after sitting on the bench for a long time. If you want to watch something, I'll give you a live performance."
Robert Downey Jr. wanted to watch the alley-oop. Scarlett didn't understand the ball, but she pretended to understand, so she ordered a program that Yu Fei couldn't complete: "Let's hit a home run!"
As soon as he said this, the friends around him all showed ambiguous expressions.
Although the words "on base" and "home run" are baseball nouns, they have special meanings in life.
Although Yu Fei has always denied that he has any relationship with Scarlett, Downey has always suspected that the two were having an affair. He heard that Scarlett's husband had conflicts because of this incident.
Could it be that all the gossip from last summer was true?
Tang Niu's smiling eyes let Yu Fei know that he had been misunderstood again. It was his principle not to touch married women, but if he got divorced in the future, it would be a different matter.
Now, the focus is on the game.
, Yu Fei fulfilled Downey's wish for an alley-oop in the first round.
He controlled the ball in the high post, and the Lakers stepped forward to double-team him like they did in the first quarter.
However, the effect of this double-team was not as good as in the first quarter.
Because Jenko was there at the time.
Now, Kobe was not even a member of the double team. Yu Fei struggled with him for a while and then threw the ball into the sky.
Xiao Ao caught the ball and violently smashed the basket.
"What's stuck!!!" Bosh hammered his chest and yelled with spittle flying, "What's stuck!!!"
Afterwards, Kobe quickly entered the state.
Although Yu Fei brought the small ball era to an early stage, it hurt some people, but it also benefited many people, and Kobe was one of them.
The Lakers are now the best spacing team in the league, so Kobe doesn't have to make as many unreasonable forced shots as he did in his previous life.
Now, not only are there plenty of one-on-one opportunities, there are often open looks.
There is too much space.
He can use picturesque technical moves in a small space to deal with all kinds of opponents. This era of wide space and extremely fast speed is extremely friendly to him.
No one on the SuperSonics back line is Kobe's opponent.
Within a few minutes, Kobe's points were like drinking water. It was as big as the Zen Master said. But what made the Zen Master happy was that all his points were within the framework of the triangle offense.
Cut-out shots, wing one-on-ones, low-post singles, none of them are done alone with the ball from the outside, they are all part of the offensive end of tactics.
Kobe's performance inspired Yu Fei's fighting spirit.
The last few minutes of the second quarter were a real fight.
Kobe Bryant scored a goal, and Yu Fei must return the favor in the next round.
On the other hand, if Yu Fei scores a goal, Kobe will find a way to get it back quickly.
The two were never out of position with each other, just attacking, and then directly came to defend each other from behind, carrying out the super giant showdown to the end. This was what was expected, and it was also the scene that this imperial battle that had been brewing for a whole year should be.
At halftime, 56 to 62, the SuperSonics led the Lakers by 6 points. Yu Fei had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the half, and Kobe had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in the half.
"No. 44 and No. 24 are already jealous!"
"The question is, what are you doing on the 23rd?"
"On the 23rd, I sat down and watched them go crazy."
"The second half continues."
Bryant said coldly at the end of the first half.
Yu Fei sarcastically said: "Where is LeBron? Where do you put LeBron?"
"He's a little timid." Kobe said in the most arrogant and conceited tone Yu Fei had ever heard, but there was no problem at all when it came out of his mouth. "I will teach him how to win the championship."
How can you fight with others with such a heartless look?
Yu Fei didn't look like James was timid.
Based on Yu Fei's understanding of James and what happened in the first half, the reasonable explanation is that the opponent's C position was cancerous.
Just like some traffic stars who are obsessed with ranking and some people in competitive games who are useless as long as they can't be a carry point.
Jackson should have figured it out, so he increased Kobe's offensive role.
Kobe really didn't lose his temper, and the closing stage of the first half was of a super high level. This performance was enough for Jackson to give James some face.
Everyone saw what happened, but Kobe didn't.
Not only did he not see it, he also wanted to teach James how to win the championship.
Yu Fei smiled without saying a word and left directly.
The two sides returned to the locker room, and the live stage was given to the coach.
Coach Lu was very satisfied with the team’s performance in the first half.
Jackson's words were poignant with a gun and a stick.
"I have been emphasizing that as long as the Lakers become a whole, we can beat any opponent, just like in 2001." Jackson said, "As a coach, I failed, and until now, we are still not a whole. We have too many There are too many stars and the minds cannot be unified. You can see Kobe's determination and the obvious carelessness of some people. If we want to beat the Sonics, this mentality is absolutely not advisable."
Then who is careless on the court?
Jackson is a person who is very good at mobilizing external forces to apply internal pressure.
This started when he was fighting with Jerry Krause in the Bulls. After coming to the Lakers, he defeated the LOGO man again, and finally staged a plot with Kobe that was comparable to a romance novel - first to torture and then to love - now, using insinuations to give James a little strength is just a small trick for him. .
Professional football commentators from major TV stations soon won this ghost-catching game.
They realized the man Jackson was referring to was James.
In the first half, the Lakers performed well, but there was something strange about it.
That is, this Lakers looks like a single core with Kobe as the main player, rather than a dual core with Kojan dancing. When they needed James to work hard to seize the connection advantage, James disappeared.
This is the reason why the Lakers fell behind by 6 points after Kobe Bryant came on the court, and it was also the reason why Lu, a rookie coach, dared to defeat the Lakers for 48 minutes.
Yu Fei actually took a six-minute break in the first half.
This is like telling the world that the Lakers are not strong enough, and the Sonics can still arrange time in their free time to let Yu Fei take a breather.
"The biggest problem with the Lakers is that when they face other teams, they act like the strongest team in the league, but once they face the SuperSonics, there will always be something abnormal among Kobe and LeBron." ESPN In the studio, former NBA player Jaylen Rose said, "If this problem is not solved, it is difficult for me to believe that they can beat the Sonics, because Frye will not let go of any flaws."
"Wait a minute. Jaylen, are you trying to say that LeBron is the Lakers' flaw tonight?"
"I didn't say that." Rose laughed, "But we all know what happened on the court."
From ESPN, to TNT, to ABC, a trial about James suddenly began.
Commentators and analysts are divided into two groups. One group believes that James is just habitually timid in front of Yu Fei, while the other group believes that there is an internal problem with the Lakers.
No one doubts James' strength. He is not as good as Yu Fei, but it is absolutely no problem to play a 50-50 situation like Kobe.
In the first half, if the Lakers added James, how could Yu Fei cope with it?
The tsunami of public pressure seems to be enough to crush James.
But James has already seen the power of public opinion.
He was discussed like this every day for months after the "decision."
Now he has become accustomed to it and will post various chicken soups for the soul on social media to cleanse his heart.
He knows what he wants.
"Kobe is in such good shape, the Lakers probably won't change their strategy."
In the visiting team's locker room, Yu Fei suggested that Coach Lu concentrate on dealing with Kobe.
"Where's LeBron?" Lu asked, "Are you ignoring him?"
Yu Fei laughed and said: "Before he gets what he wants, he will only play like he did in the first half."
"Don't he just want the ball? What if the Lakers give him the ball directly?" Kwame Brown asked.
"That's another question." Yu Fei said, "And I think it's unlikely to happen."
As to why, it's hard to say.
From the perspective of Yu Fei, a newcomer with little experience in palace fighting, since Jackson decided to give James more intensity, he couldn't just put some pressure on him and then give up. James's idea is simple. He has always had the habit of letting his teammates know that "you can't do it without me."
Especially after he turns 30, as long as he starts to mess up on the court, his team will definitely undergo major changes, as it always has.
The former is Yu Fei's judgment based on Gong Dou, and the latter is based on his understanding of James.
Therefore, in the second half, we only have to deal with Kobe. James will not do nothing, but his current performance will not be much better than the Spurs' Iguodala.
Putting Iguodala next to Kobe will not bring about qualitative changes.
In the second half, James symbolically attacked the basket, broke through for layups, and made three-pointers from the outside. He was only active for a few minutes, and then began to return to the rhythm of the first half.
However, if James doesn't exert his strength, the Lakers will still be a strong opponent.
Because Kobe is in excellent shape and has enough helpers around him.
Richard Hamilton, Antoine Jamison, Mike Miller, Mike Bibby, and Ron Artest are all good players.
When the Lakers' shooters worked hard, the SuperSonics' shooters did not fall behind.
Anthony Morrow and veteran Michael Finley both played as shooters.
But it’s the stars who decide the game.
In the fourth quarter, Yu Fei used a roll call to make Xiaojia a loophole on the court, and Kobe's lethality at the second position also made it too much for the Sonics.
Yu Fei chose to attack Xiaojia and defend against Kobe.
However, restricting Kobe was not the work of one person. Yu Fei's teammates also participated in assisting defense and double-teaming.
This is the reason why Kobe's offense was inaccurate in the fourth quarter.
Kobe has shown his full strength, but now, they need a clear-headed person to stabilize the situation. This person is either James or Garfield.
James was not online, and Xiaojia had already played for 35 minutes. He was even called out by Yu Fei for being nervous and unable to handle the ball calmly.
At the last moment, the Lakers made mistakes one after another.
But Yu Fei was as calm as ice. After strangling Xiaojia by name, he caught the opponent's mistake and allowed Durant to let himself go during the defensive counterattack.
In the last four minutes before the end, Durant, who was not involved in the star duel at all, had full physical strength and started running.
In the scene where Durant received a flying pass and rushed forward to dunk like a flying swallow, people discovered David Stern.
That dunk brought the Sonics' lead to 10 points and the Lakers requested a timeout.
Major TV stations reported tonight's ratings.
Approximately 17 million Americans watched the game. As for overseas viewers, it is difficult to count.
The local viewership of 17 million means that this game has more viewers than 95% of the finals even if it is placed in the finals.
And this is just the first game of the Western Conference Finals.
Stern and the interests he represents have reason to smile about tonight's game.
The three best players in the world appeared in a series at the same time, and Durant, who symbolized the future, was also there. He could actually end the fight between Yu Fei and Kobe on this stage.
Stern liked the young man.
Although Yu Fei is the best player in the world, he lacks respect for the league and the franchise. His idol has been built, molded by the commercialist world of sports into a man who cannot be offended.
His image is too tall, even for the Alliance, it is difficult to get close to him.
Stern prefers retro stars like Durant.
Of course, when it comes to attracting money, ten Durants are not as good as one Yu Fei, but liking this kind of thing is very personal.
Durant's counterattack fast break ended the suspense of the game.
In the final minutes, he turned the game into a Ukiyo-e on the court.
Everything in the defensive counterattack can be seen in him. That kind of pure basketball skills are possessed by a 22-year-old young man who has already grasped the future.
The artist of this painting dribbled the ball before the end of the game and hit a step-back three-pointer over Kobe's head.
121 to 104
"I think you can not only teach LeBron how to win the championship," Yu Fei said with a smile, "you can also teach him how to win the runner-up in the Western Conference. You are very experienced in this, aren't you?"
This is Yu Fei's home run, but it's a pity that Scarlett Johansson can't hear it.
But seeing Kobe furious was something far more satisfying to Yu Fei than sleeping with Scarlett.
Post-match interview
"42 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists is not Frye's limit, but I believe that 38 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists is definitely Kobe's limit in this series." Tyronn Lue vowed not to let Kobe perform like this again. "He will never play a game like this again!"
"Kobe definitely played his best, but some people may only play 30% of their abilities." Phil Jackson said, "I won't name that name. You can watch the video and you will have the answer. .”
"When the next game starts, I'll let Tyronn know if this is my limit." - Kobe Bryant publicly responded to Tyronn Lue.
"We'll find the problem in the video analysis meeting, and we'll be fine." - LeBron James looked regretful as if he had tried his best for this game.
There is a low pressure on the Lakers, which makes what they say and do not be as simple as it seems on the surface.
It's a different story here with the Sonics.
Durant's attire when he left the court was a combination of sunglasses and a backpack. He looked more like a Star Wars enthusiast and could not be compared with the future superstar of the NBA. After defeating the Lakers in Game 1 in Los Angeles, he gave his mother and family a warm hug and was humble when talking about his amazing performance.
"I thank God." Durant said, "I must thank God. Only God can give me such a good teammate."
When reporters wondered if he was jealous of Yu Fei taking all the spotlight, Durant laughed: "Do you know who ended the suspense of the game?"
"It's you."
Durant smiled; "So, I also have the spotlight, Frye didn't take everything away."
Retired player Steve Smith, who serves as an NBATV commentator, commented: "Whether it is his playing style, personal attitude, and the way he handles the media, as well as his love and passion for the game. It has been a long time since I was young. I get similar feelings from people.”
"He's one of those retro-style players, like someone from the 80s and 90s."
When Yu Fei brazenly signed a short-term contract, James chose to join forces, and Anthony even threatened the Nuggets to trade him. This made Durant refuse to test the free market and directly renew his contract with the SuperSonics for five years. Highlights.
The world is focused on the Battle of Empires, and countless people are looking forward to the conclusion of this series between 44 and 23 and 24. Durant is willing to take up most of the time to humbly introduce how to do it better. This sounds more like It's what a backup should do, not what a superstar who should be the protagonist of the series should do.
"He's just so pure. That's his charm. He's the most humble superstar." ESPN's Mike Breen said. "He's a unique, special player, but he has such a charisma that even people who don't like basketball will like him."
Durant was deeply grateful for this and said: "I'm not as good as you said. I just try to be myself, because in the NBA, it's too easy to be arrogant."
These moments were the culmination of Durant’s hype, the moments when Nike’s dreams came true.
They have been polishing their characters for several years and finally shined on this stage.
From the nature of basketball, basketball is a sport based on star influence. More than any other sport, a basketball player has a greater impact on the game. One player has the ability to turn a weak team into a great team, or at least a decent team. So a small group of athletes who hold this responsibility develop a sense of self-aggrandizement, which may lead to one of those guys doing a one-hour special announcing where they're going to play.
Durant is like a holy son who eliminates all negative things, leaving only good things in him.
That night, Durant joined the party of Marvel actors through Yu Fei's relationship, and he tried to get close to Scarlett.
But Scarlett had no interest in him, and she was always with Yu Fei.
She obviously acted as if she hated Yu Fei, but in the end, they left together.
Durant looked at their backs, thoughtfully.
"Kevin, do you believe nothing happened between the two of them?"
Robert Downey Jr. asked with a smile.
Durant was stunned for a moment and said: "Fry is not interested in married women."
"I know," Downey said, "but her marriage is over."
Durant didn't know how to respond, but Downey wasn't done yet.
"A handsome face, a perfect body, and the attraction to make women angry but not hateful." Downey shook his head, "Damn, this is the trinity of Playboy!"
Durant once heard Yu Fei say that he believed that Downey's almost identical personality to Tony Stark in public was a strategy of Marvel and himself. Marvel has long-term plans to make Iron Man a classic character, so Downey must become the incarnation of Tony Stark.
So even in life, whenever he attends Marvel-related events, he has to behave like Iron Man.
"So, you and he are the same type of person." Durant said.
"That was before." Donnie said lightly, "Look at me now, God is not good to me."
Durant could only laugh it off.
But he still had a problem.
Was God too good to Frye Yu?
(End of chapter)