Chapter 518: Hard to reach in this life
"I really liked the energy we showed in the first half." Tyronn Lue was elated during ABC's halftime interview. "You know, that's the best you can see on a team. I just want to enjoy this moment.”
"Frye scored 32 points in the first half. He is not far away from the prediction that he will score 50 points tonight. Do you think he can achieve this goal in the second half?"
"Frye is always Frye." Coach Lu said confidently, "18 points is easy for him. I guess he will complete the goal before the end of the third quarter."
Unlike Coach Lu, Phil Jackson once again showed bitterness and hatred.
The decision he was about to announce in the locker room was not good for James.
But they have to do that if they want to beat Seattle.
When a reporter asked him what problem the Lakers had in the first half that led to such a passive situation, he said: "It's still the same problem, we are all too selfish."
"For example?"
"If the miller only wants to bring water into his mill, there will be withering outside the mill." Jackson quoted a Western prophecy, "Honor and self-interest are not to be confused."
The media noted that Jackson rarely praised the Sonics.
If the Lakers don't play well, there's something wrong with them.
If the Lakers play well, that's a given.
Conceit permeates this team. Not only the players, but also the coach give people an indescribable sense of self-importance.
In comparison, Director Lu is undoubtedly more popular.
Commentators on major television stations began to attack Jackson's arrogance.
"I think both the SuperSonics and the Lakers performed very well. The only thing that hasn't kept up is the Lakers' coaching staff." Charles Barkley said bluntly, "I don't want Coach Jackson to fail every time the Lakers are in adversity. Criticizing the team for not being united, as if the Sonics wouldn't be ahead if they were united."
"Man!!!" Barkley said helplessly, "Is it so difficult to acknowledge the excellence of the Sonics and to recognize Tyronn Lue's coaching staff?"
Barkley bluntly stated Jackson's little thoughts.
In the NBA, there are factions among coaches.
For example, Popovich worked as an assistant coach for Larry Brown and Don Nelson in his early years, but was soon poached by the Spurs because of his excellent ability, so he established himself in San Antonio. For him, Brown and Nelson just have a relationship. Not a mentor.
Although Phil Jackson played under the Knicks godfather Reed Holzman in his early years, this does not mean that he comes from the Holzman line, because the subsequent coaching path was his own.
The same goes for Tyronn Lue. Although he has played for Jackson for several years, he is not included in the opponent's faction. If you insist on counting, he belongs to George Karl's faction.
Nowadays, Karl is the only one who can threaten Jackson as the "GOAT of modern basketball coaches". Naturally, he will look down upon a rookie like Lu who has limited professional abilities but is only talented in coaching and can understand by analogy.
Jackson would not admit that Lue's guidance used the referee's penalty scale to strengthen the defense, making it difficult for the Lakers to adapt and making it difficult for him to find a suitable response plan tonight.
If you can't admit how powerful your opponent is, but don't want to find fault with yourself, then you naturally have to shift the responsibility to the players.
But although Zen Master's practice of blaming players is also common among coaches, the Lakers' several passive situations tonight were caused by James being beaten by Yu Fei.
So when he said this, he was somewhat holding James accountable.
Although he does not have this idea, a knowledgeable professional will "sip" the implication.
"Regardless of whether Coach Jackson's statement is reasonable or not, I want to know, who is the 'miller' he calls?"
ESPN's Mark Jackson discussed the topic during halftime.
"First of all, exclude Marc Gasol." Mike Breen is a fan of Gasol. He appreciates Gasol's retro and tough style of play. "He can never bear the name of selfishness."
Jeff Van Gundy smiled sinisterly and said: "Mark can never be a miller. We must know that role players cannot be millers because they are not qualified to be selfish on the court. I think Coach Jackson should be referring to those two Personal? ”
His colleagues started to play dumb: "Which two people?"
"Ah, those two people." Van Gundy smiled, "I can't say more."
Yu Fei didn't care about the gossip on the sidelines. He held a towel and walked down the aisle.
Will Smith, sitting in the front row, complained to him: "How many times do you have to beat me before you give up?"
Yu Fei asked: "As one of the most influential celebrities in the world, to what year do you want to maintain your influence?"
Smith said matter-of-factly: "Until the day I die."
"Look, you have the answer." Yu Fei smiled, "Instead of asking me to show mercy to the Lakers, why don't you follow LeBron's example and take a shortcut?"
To a celebrity, it doesn't matter which team he is tagged with.
Not everyone is as famous as Jack Nicholson for being a Lakers fan.
After Yu Fei finished speaking, Smith only thought about it for a minute before patting his thigh and saying, "That's right. Why should I support a team that is destined to not win?"
After saying that, he ordered his assistant to go to the commercial street outside the Key Arena to scan for all Yu Fei-related products.
"Then do you want to clean up the Lakers' things?"
"Not yet," Smith said, "What if they win?"
"It makes sense."
Yu Fei greets the top ranking people passing by one by one. This is his life.
But this life is illusory and those relationships are not strong.
He walked into the aisles, flanked by fans chanting his name wildly and holding up jerseys and pens hoping to get his autograph.
Yu Fei has a habit of signing autographs in the aisle for one fan every game.
Tonight he randomly selected a female fan.
The problem is, she only has a pen.
"Where do you want me to sign?" Yu Feixiao asked.
I saw the other party puffing up his chest unrestrainedly, and his weighty peaks stood straight through his clothes. In front of Yu Fei, "You're welcome, Frye."
People around him began to boo, and there were so many gossips about Yu Fei that many of his hobbies became known to the fans.
"I won't be polite."
"It would be great if every one of my fans was of such high quality." Yu Fei met Lin Kaiwen in the player tunnel.
"What female fans?" Lin Kaiwen asked.
"Nothing." Yu Fei asked, "What happened?"
Kevin Lin said: "The people at Reebok heard about your pre-game prediction. If you really score 50 points, they will release a 50-point night commemorative T-shirt next month."
"What else?"
"Same as before, you get 10% of the profit dividend." Lin Kaiwen said, "You have to work harder in the second half."
Yu Fei is not interested in cutting leeks, but he also understands that this is the operating logic of the sports economy, using some gimmicks to sell a mediocre product.
A T-shirt with mediocre workmanship and not very good materials. As long as it is linked to tonight's game, they can put it on the shelves before the fans' enthusiasm subsides. One piece costs US$150, and the manufacturing cost + labor may be less than US$30.
Fans know this very well, and they will always take advantage of it.
It's as if they put on this T-shirt and have an incredible connection with Fry Yu.
"I didn't say that just to sell clothes." Yu Fei said.
Lin Kaiwen smiled and said: "Anything related to you is not a business? Frye, fame and fortune are a big deal. And you"
Lin Kaiwen hesitated to speak.
"I know." Yu Fei said mockingly, "I am probably one of the most famous and wealthy people in the world."
During basketball season, not even one.
Lin Kaiwen added in his heart.
Away team locker room
Phil Jackson had a unique perspective on many things.
In his decades of coaching career, he has also encountered many difficult situations.
Now, his coaching career is nearing its end.
His contract with the Lakers will expire in the summer of 2011.
Previously, he has hinted many times that if the Lakers can win two consecutive championships next summer, maybe he will renew his contract for one year for the opportunity to win three consecutive championships for the fourth time in his career.
But now, he doesn't have so many ideas anymore.
Let Cojan reach the heights he deserves and leave with a victory next summer like Jordan in 1998, that will be his best ending.
To achieve this goal, they must first let James understand that the Lakers are Kobe's team, but sooner or later they will also be his team.
He is only 25 years old and still has a lot of time.
"Kobe, I need you to be aggressive in the second half." Jackson clearly established Kobe's core position. "When necessary, the ball can be concentrated on you."
"LeBron." Jackson called out James' name seemingly casually, "Do you remember how we defeated Seattle in the second game?"
James said calmly: "I have a good memory, coach."
"Be who you were that night." The Zen Master said, "We still have a chance tonight."
James liked the victory in Game 2, but he didn't like himself in Game 2.
In other words, he thinks he can do more, but he can't get the biggest piece of the cake with the Lakers.
Now the Zen master wants him to be the same person he was that day, which he can understand, because tonight he was completely defeated by Yu Fei as the core.
The Lakers have two plugs. If one plug fails, it is natural to try the other one.
He accepted this arrangement, but he didn't know if he would still get the chance.
If he doesn't get the chance, will he have to be the unquestioned deputy, as the outside world calls him - Scottie Pippen next to Kobe - to win the first championship of his career?
Is this what he came to Los Angeles to pursue despite being accused of so much?
There was not much time, so short that even James couldn't find the correct answer.
At the beginning of the second half, the Lakers had an urgent desire to chase points.
Even if you are playing small ball, it is not easy to fill the 20-point hole.
Kobe didn't play much in the first half. He had to be aggressive in the second half, but he wasn't familiar enough with the Key Arena basket.
Logically speaking, the baskets in NBA arenas are all standard, but the differences in player performance between venues are just like Nadal on clay and Federer on Wimbledon. Statistics show that Key Arena is the arena with the lowest affinity rate for Kobe Bryant.
He has rarely played well here.
Suddenly burdened with a heavy responsibility, Kobe first chose to shoot from the outside, and then displayed a post-up shot like a textbook.
He got off to a great start.
He can score from the outside and is solid in post-up play, but the SuperSonics have two stars working together.
Durant called a screen to get rid of James and then hit a three-pointer from Yu Fei's pass. Yu Fei retaliated with a back hit in the next round after Kobe's back hit.
The two sides competed for a round of personal ability, and then distributed the ball to the outside shooters.
SuperSonics' strong confrontation strategy is still working.
The outside three-point shooting that the Lakers relied on lost its accuracy tonight.
Richard Hamilton missed a three-pointer. Marcia grabbed the rebound and was blocked by DeAndre Jordan. James grabbed the offensive rebound and passed it to Kobe. Kobe turned over and made a jump shot, but still missed.
What hurts morale more than being continuously grabbed offensive rebounds is missing the additional offensive opportunities gained by continuously grabbing offensive rebounds.
TNT's veteran coach Hubie Brown sharply commented: "I don't know what the Lakers are worried about. They are indeed behind by many points, but if they can't stay calm, they can't do anything."
This time, the Sonics protected the backboard.
Yu Fei made a long pass to Hughes, and Hughes scored on a fast break.
The score difference came to 21 points.
The Lakers made a quick change and replaced Hamilton with Mike Miller.
It proved to be a timely adjustment.
Miller played very well in the second quarter, and now he came on the court again, hitting a three-pointer from James' pass as soon as he came up.
The Sonics failed in a positional battle, the Lakers counterattacked, and Miller followed up and hit a chasing three-pointer.
Miller's three-pointer gave the Lakers a breath of relief from the brink of defeat.
When Yu Fei saw that Durant was obviously unable to guard against Miller's off-ball attack, he reminded Lu to direct a timeout.
After the timeout, the Sonics repeated their old tricks. DeAndre Jordan came off the court, O'Brien moved to the fifth position, Yu Fei played the fourth position, and then replaced Alonzo Key, who had nothing but energy, to defend Mike Miller.
The referee's loose standards for defense gave Key the conditions to restrict Miller.
When the game started again, what awaited the Lakers was physical contact like a demon.
James wanted to score Miller's third three-pointer of the quarter, but after a timeout that interrupted the rhythm and Key's defense, Miller couldn't even find a chance to shoot.
"Tylenn Lue is definitely underrated!" Jeff Van Gundy said unexpectedly, "We all thought he was a loophole in the Sonics, but so far in the series, he has behaved not like a rookie coach at all!"
Although many on-the-spot adjustments are the result of collective efforts, such as the timeout just now, it was completely Dafei's decision.
But this does not affect Director Lu at all when he hears compliments from others and smiles at the camera with a confident smile that says, "If you know how to compliment people, just compliment them more."
All the Lakers can do is respond to the Sonics with the same tough defense.
The Sonics, who also lack shooters, are more conscious than the Lakers in giving the ball to their stars to solve the problem.
Yu Fei caught the ball in the low post and hit hard with his back, causing Jamison to foul and then made two free throws.
The Lakers came to the frontcourt, passed the ball around, and was returned to James' hands.
James took a look and saw that Hughes, who was guarding him, had been beaten like a toy by him as early as the Cavaliers. Now he was old and lustful, so why could he guard him?
James dribbled the ball fiercely, but Hughes used a kind of physical contact that he was not qualified to use against James.
Although his defense was broken, it greatly delayed James' speed. Other Sonics players assisted in defense, and James hit the mark in the mid-range shot.
Singles is the answer to break the game, but James cannot provide the right option.
The rebound caused by a missed position battle was grabbed by Yu Fei, and the Sonics player running like a scud became the focus of the audience.
"Oh! Alonzo Key!" Mike Breen exclaimed dramatically, "He's literally flying!"
Yu Fei sent a wonderful long pass. This pass was not only in place, but the timing was also perfect. It was not pointed at Ji's body, but led him to run forward at full speed.
In the end, Key caught the ball in the frontcourt and rose up in two steps. The physical fitness that was highly praised in the scout report when he was drafted was now performing a dunk performance for the Key Arena audience.
When Ji ran back, he pointed at Yu Fei with both hands and shouted: "You saw the right person!"
And Yu Fei almost forgot that he was the one who suggested that the team draft Alonzo Key.
He just raised his hand and gave a loud high-five to Key who returned to the backcourt without saying any extra words.
With a margin of nearly 20 points, the Lakers needed three points, and the Sonics' defense stifled the possibility of hitting a large number of three-pointers.
They have to carry hope into the fourth quarter, and that requires star play.
Then came the decisive minutes.
Yu Fei missed a three-pointer, and Kobe scored in a counterattack.
Durant singled out, and the Lakers counterattacked again.
A glimmer of hope entered the Lakers game, and was overshadowed by Yu Fei's unbelievable outside defense-ignoring pull-up three-pointer.
"Whoosh!"
Kobe scored on a post-up shot.
"He struggled to support the Lakers' game!" ABC's Doug Collins said, "Others need to step up. Kobe alone is not enough."
However, Yu Fei picked and rolled with Bosh and then threw a pass into the air. Bosh caught the ball and dunked.
Hope is such a precious thing, what teammates can give, opponents can also take away.
James organized the offense in confusion, and finally transferred to Xiaojia to miss a three-pointer at the buzzer. Yu Fei grabbed the rebound and pushed back, and the point difference returned to more than 20 points.
"Has LeBron lost his confidence? Why doesn't he fight on his own?"
The commentator's questions echoed all around.
James might not hear what they said, but he could guess.
Kobe broke through as hard as he could, drew a foul, and made both free throws.
The Lakers are still alive.
Durant attacked with the ball and was defended by James. This was an opportunity for the Lakers, but Yu Fei's tactical foul prevented James' fast break attempt.
Damn bastard!
James was full of resentment. He did not receive enough support, nor did he receive ideal penalty treatment. Yu Fei's tactical foul was considered a malicious foul in his opinion. The other party dared to do this because the SuperSonics had far fewer fouls in a single quarter. A foul would result in a free throw.
James glared at Yu Fei resentfully, then made a bold mid-range shot under Hughes' defense, hit the iron, and was beaten back.
Subsequently, James broke through and was double-teamed. He panicked and passed the ball to Miller who was standing on the outside.
The Sonics' subsequent offense failed to score, but all players retreated and defended. The Lakers had no chance of a fast break and could only fall back. James continued to direct the transfer of the ball but could not create any space. In the end, he was almost done with 24 seconds at the top of the arc and could only force a shot.
"Bang!"
"This is the worst critical performance I have ever seen from a superstar in his prime!" Hubie Brown continued to comment harshly, "LeBron looks useless!"
The other side of James' missed three-pointer was that Yu Fei grabbed the 12th rebound of the game, passed James who was about to foul him, and quickly came to a stop one meter outside the three-point line in the frontcourt.
A chasing three-pointer flew out of the palm of his hand without waiting for anyone to take position.
Yu Fei didn't even bother to see if the ball fell into the bag, he turned around and went back to defense.
Then——
"Ugh!!!!"
This ball sent away the Lakers tonight.
They can rest in peace.
Phil Jackson was hopelessly begging for a timeout, unable to do basically anything.
The third quarter wasn't over yet, but Yu Fei had already scored 45 points. He walked past James, with no sign of him in his eyes.
After that, Yu Fei was replaced and did not return until the fourth quarter to score 5 points, thus fulfilling the pre-game prophecy.
The Lakers' resistance in the last quarter was not as strong as in the third quarter. They also knew that the game was over, so they only resisted a little and let the game enter the rhythm of garbage time.
At the end, 119 to 95, the Sonics returned the favor at home, beating the Lakers with a 24-point victory, taking a 2-1 lead.
Post-match interview
"This game proves our ambition to defend the championship. We will not fall in the Western Conference." Tyronn Lue said with confidence, "No matter how difficult it is, no matter how many obstacles there are, no matter who else is ahead!"
Phil Jackson spoke deeply about this defeat: "In terms of the result, we need to pay tribute to Seattle. This is a game worth reflecting on. We were completely defeated. However, I believe we will rebound like never before."
"Frye is the best player in the world, but even the best players don't always win the game. The battle is not over yet." - Marc Gasol looked at the subsequent game this way.
"Substitute, who hasn't been a substitute? Don't worry, I'll be back soon!" Kwame Brown talked about tonight's substitute arrangement, "This is just a technical adjustment."
"I couldn't have performed the way I did tonight without the support of my teammates, so I have to pay tribute to my teammates. I have the best team in the world!" - Kevin Durant on his 26 points in a single game Thoughts on 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
"2 to 2." Kobe Bryant expressed his determination to win the next game in a special way, "This is the score of the series that we will take back to Los Angeles."
"If he didn't have those vanilla whistles, he would have scored under 20 points." Ron Artest expressed disdain for Durant's performance. "He wouldn't have scored in double figures on his own without his teammates covering him."
For LeBron James, tonight is a repeat of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
However, his performance was even more indefensible than in the first game.
In this game that the Lakers couldn't afford to lose, he made only 6 of 16 shots.
Charles Barkley of TNT studio even said bluntly after the game: "I call on people in Cleveland to stop attacking LeBron and look at his performance. Can't you understand him? He didn't betray you, he just wanted to save What's wrong with him? Tonight's game proved that he will never be the Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan of this era. At best, he is just a better-looking Scottie Pippen, as he needs to be. Cody needs Michael the same.”
Naturally, the focus of the media's inquiries was James's failed ball-handling offense in the third quarter that led the team to a complete failure.
"I didn't feel it tonight, and I will be responsible for the failure." James still has confidence in himself, "I can score on anyone."
"It's just that everything didn't go well tonight."
This was destined to be a bad night for the Lakers.
But Yu Fei attended the press conference with Alonzo Key.
Key was the Sonics' surprise player in this game. He played 24 minutes off the bench and scored 11 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist. Among them, a counterattack dunk in the third quarter won the full house.
"Before the draft, not many people knew me, and Frye picked me. When the team didn't know who to draft with the last pick, Frye was in the draft war room and said, 'Hey, I think Alonzo Key is good. '." Ji seemed to have witnessed this scene with his own eyes, "I will never forget the moment I was selected. I thanked God, hugged my mother, and then swore in my heart that I would not let this man (pointing to Yu Fei) Disappointed!”
Yu Fei felt a little bit, but his random action made a strong-minded man like Alonzo Key grateful.
He never asked for anything in return.
What he is today is due to his own efforts.
"I think you all saw how active he is on the court. He is as eager to play and perform as he is to breathe. This is what he deserves." Yu Fei said with a smile, "I hope you will give him all the time in tomorrow's report Praise.”
Finally, someone asked about Yu Fei's prediction that Kobe would score 50 points before the game started.
"It's not difficult." Yu Fei said, "You only need to score 45 points in the first three quarters and then score 5 points in the garbage time of the fourth quarter to create a 50-point game. It's very simple."< br>
In the Western Conference finals, he scored 50 points and led the team to victory. The opponent was an era-class team like the Lakers. The result was very simple?
Alonzo Key could only stare silently in the face of these cool remarks.
This is a height that is difficult to reach in his life.
(End of chapter)