Chapter 522 No matter what the cost

Chapter 522 No matter what the cost

"Frye, what do you think about LeBron claiming he doesn't play for numbers?"

"I don't have much to say, so far."

"Does this loss frustrate you?"

"If I say that we are not frustrated by tonight's failure, it would definitely be a lie." Yu Fei said, "The answer is a little bit, but not that serious."

"Kobe Bryant told you before the game that the Lakers were going to win tonight's game and that they were going to win the series. How many chances do you think he had to achieve that goal?"

Yu Fei remembered what happened before the game started. Kobe had already completed the first half of this goal.

But completing the remaining half is not that simple.

Although they lost completely to the Lakers tonight, looking back, there are many uncontrollable factors. For example, everyone except Durant was dumb, and the referee team headed by Dick Bavetta made the Lakers feel like they were playing at home. Same as the game.

As long as the core players continue to perform, there will definitely be a lot of room for role players to perform.

Because the ball-carrying core can not only suck up data from teammates like blood packs, but also has the magic power of "making teammates better."

As for the referees, it is foreseeable that the penalty scale in the next game will be adjusted back to a normal range.

In other words, the Lakers' shooters will not get as loose an offensive opportunity as they did tonight.

Although the Sonics' offensive talent is far inferior to that of their opponents, they can still put enough pressure on their opponents defensively.

Therefore, Yu Fei confidently replied to the reporter: "If this is a marathon, Kobe has finished half of the marathon tonight, but he will never finish the second half."

The last question is a bit like a funeral.

A reporter from the "Seattle Times" asked: "Fry, tonight you became the first player in NBA history to score 50 points in a row in the playoffs. This is even the case for Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan." What has it meant to you to have accomplished this feat?”

Yu Fei looked unhappy because he lost the initiative in the series, but he replied: "It doesn't make any sense. If there is, it will disappear soon. Because I will score 50 points in three consecutive games."

The shadow of G4's failure is spreading, but Yu Fei is already building momentum for the next game.

This is why many consider him a superstar born for the social media age.

He really knows how to find images for himself.

Just when everyone was lamenting the strength of the Lakers, James' selflessness, and helping him catch the Sonics' war criminals, Yu Fei once again used a 50-point preview to divert the outside world's attention.

Now, the pressure seems to be on the Lakers.

At the Lakers' post-game press conference, Cojan, who always entertained reporters separately, rarely appeared in the media room at the same time.

Oddly enough, Kojan didn't look excited about his big win.

The reporter asked Kobe: "This is a rare victory in your record against Frye, but you don't look happy. Why?"

"The big score is 2 to 2." Kobe asked, "Do you think I have any reason to be happy?"

In the past year, James has had an unpleasant relationship with the media. Seeing Kobe treat reporters like a wild dog barking at him on the side of the road, his mood instantly improved a lot.

"When we beat the Sonics, I guarantee you'll see genuine smiles on our faces."

James helped Kobe ease the embarrassment caused by his harsh remarks.

Then, the reporter consciously played the role of a messenger and brought Yu Fei's latest 50-minute trailer to the head of the evil empire.

"Is this old news, or did he just say that again?"

James asked jokingly.

"Just now," the reporter said, "Frye said he would become the first player in history to score 50 points in three consecutive games in the playoffs."

"He's dreaming!" Kobe said with an angry look on his face, "I've had enough of this!"

Kobe could completely foresee that Yu Fei could dilute the subsequent impact of the SuperSonics' defeat at home with just these words.

In the next few days, until the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, the only thing the outside world will care about is whether Yu Fei's 50-point prediction can be realized.

This hypocritical bastard once again used damning words to dilute the haze of failure.

The Lakers won't get the credit they deserve.

Kobe can fully foresee that in the next two days, he and the people around him will be asked countless times about how to prevent Yu Fei from scoring 50 points in the Battle of Tianwang Mountain.

It's obviously a painting in the air, but people just follow this trick, because the person who said so is Yu Fei.

"Kobe, what do you mean?"

"I put my words here, you can let it be published in the newspaper, or you can post it on the Internet. In short, we will not let him score 50 points in three consecutive games!" Kobe's face has turned red, and his body temperature looks like Very high, "We won't let him succeed again!"

"If."

"No if!"

Kobe interrupted the reporter's assumption.

But how can there be no if in the sports world?

"But."

"No but!" Kobe said loudly, "If he does it, I will retire!"

Therefore, human beings have no brains when they are angry.

Kobe was angry not because of Yu Fei's arrogance, but because the other party used to guide public opinion to downplay the impact of tonight's game on both sides.

The Lakers don't get much praise for their big wins, and the Sonics don't get too much blame for their big losses.

Everyone just needs to wait patiently for the fifth game.

If Kobe hadn't made the statement "I'll retire if...", maybe the Los Angeles media could bring back public opinion a little bit. But now that he has said this, he has truly made the fourth game "irrelevant."

Now, people are just looking forward to Game 5 in Los Angeles two days later.

When leaving the media room, Kobe noticed that James looked at him very playfully.

"Speak directly."

Kobe didn't want to be stared at like that.

"The stakes are a bit high." James asked with a smile, "How can you be sure that person can't do it?"

"I can't guarantee it," Kobe said, "but doing this can bring us some challenges. LeBron, don't you like challenges?"

This question is somewhat ironic.

If they like a challenge, why come together to make it less difficult?

James's true feelings are never truly revealed.

He said flatly: "I like winning."

"This is a good thing, but your desire in these games is obviously lacking." Kobe said, "What's wrong, man, do you still remember your first press conference when you first arrived in Los Angeles?"

James thought for a moment.

Kobe reminded him in a more direct way: "More than one, more than two, more than three."

"If we are going to win more than three championships together, I really need you to do more on the court." Kobe encouraged, "After two days, use all your energy and shut that person up completely!"

This is the first time in nearly a year that James thinks his knot can be untied in Los Angeles.

"Dude," James asked, "do you really not mind? I mean, if I'm in charge"

"Do your job." Kobe said, "Winning is the most important thing."

At the beginning, strong alliances often aim for a common goal, but in the process, distribution of interests, competition for status, and the right to speak in matters large and small can turn many relationships sour.

James has been struggling for a while, but tonight he discovered for the first time that Kobe Bryant isn't as narrow-minded as he thought. Their covenant is strong. Now, the common enemy is standing in front of us. Defeat him, win the cup in the finals, and let the haters scream.

This is his idea and the purest idea.

The internal integration of the Lakers was not nearly complete until the end of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.

They have infinite possibilities, either to become infinitely powerful or to fail infinitely. This is infinite charm. Infinity means that anything can happen.

The next day, the post-match remarks of the two teams’ commentators indeed grabbed the media headlines.

No one is really talking about Game 4 anymore.

The post-game hunt for war criminals was replaced by a preview of the Battle of Tianwang Mountain.

Yu Fei's teammates are rarely free from the pressure of public opinion and can concentrate on preparing for the battle.

But Kobe's seemingly mindless assists actually helped the Lakers unify their thinking.

If these things don't happen, Seattle will arrest war criminals, and the Lakers will continue to amplify Kobe's leadership performance and then pick on James. As the second leader, 14 assists in a single game seems good, but is 14 points in the game not enough? OK?

Is it really possible to have such low desires?

Now, no one talks about this anymore.

When Yu Fei heard about Kobe's retirement remarks, he was a little dumbfounded.

This reminded him of a story he saw on an online forum in his previous life. In the early days of his career, Jordan played against the Celtics in their heyday. He scored 49 points in the first game and 63 points in the second game. The reporter went to ask Bird. , will Danzi score 77 points in the third game if this continues?

Bird immediately replied that if Danzi scored 77 points, he would retire and become a truck driver.

Yu Fei didn't know the authenticity of this incident. He only knew that Jordan only scored 19 points in the third game. But the media's shock at Kobe's retirement remarks gave the matter some unexpected program effects.

It's a good thing that Kobe takes the initiative to cooperate with his off-court hype.

Let the idle media and fans pay attention to these gossips and tidbits, and they will have no time to arrange their teammates.

That afternoon, Yu Fei noticed in the Furtado Center that the eyes of his teammates were bright, and everyone looked like they had never been raped by the net after a disastrous defeat. It was great. Yu Fei did his best to reduce the impact of the loss, and now the problem comes to the coaching staff.

Tyronn Lue needs to summarize last night's failure and find countermeasures for the battle at Tianwang Mountain.

G4's fiasco made Lu understand one thing.

It is unrealistic to expect to defeat an opponent like the Lakers with one move.

The aggressive defensive strategy could work in G3 under the cover of the referee, but when the referee's scale changed, I couldn't adapt to it.

Therefore, they need to be prepared.

But the problem is that since Lu took office, the work arrangements within the team have been clear. The offense is left to Yu Fei to create alone, and his coaching staff focuses on defense.

The Lakers are a team that cannot be killed by defensive strategies.

This forced Lue to work with the coaching staff to develop offensive strategies.

But when it came to formulating offensive tactics, they hit a dead end from the beginning.

When Lu took office, he simply and rudely identified Yu Fei as the core ball-handler and asked him to carry everything by himself. Now that he can't carry it alone, he needs to change his tactics. How?

Just when Lu and the coaching staff were at a loss what to do, news suddenly came from outside.

Brandon Roy has received clearance from his doctor and will participate in 5V5 training starting today.

"Really?" Director Lu felt quite excited that there was no way out.

But old assistant coach Tim Gergulic poured cold water: "Brandon has not participated in training systematically for half a year. It will take some time just to recover physical fitness."

The implication is that Roy can't make it to the Western Conference finals.

Lu refused to give up and took the initiative to go to the scene to see Roy's recovery.

It turned out that Roy's ball sense still needs to be restored, but there is no problem with his physical fitness.

After understanding, Lu learned that Roy himself paid great attention to physical training during rehabilitation. Although the amount of training was not large under the restrictions of the doctor, it was by no means the kind of state where he was recovering from a serious injury without exercising for half a year.

Then, there's his performance in training.

The coaching staff, which has allowed Yu Fei to dominate the ball for a long time, has almost forgotten that their championships in the past two years were achieved by relying on two ball-holding cores.

Roy is still looking for a sense of the ball, but his ball-holding ability, breakthrough threat, feeling near the basket, and ball vision will greatly reduce Yu Fei's burden, allowing Yu Fei to return to the third position and focus on offense. Durant can punish the opponent's role players with the restraint of the two cores as he did in the past.

This is the fundamental reason why the Sonics have been so strong in the past two years.

"Brandon," Lu asked the team doctor in a low voice, "Is it possible to come back in the fifth game?"

The team doctor said: "It's best not to. His physical recovery still needs to be tested through a lot of training."

"About 70% of players who suffer knee injuries will be injured again during training." The team doctor told Lu a pessimistic figure, "Less than 30% of players can eventually return successfully after a normal recovery cycle."< br>

"But..." Lu refused to give up, "Didn't Brandon say before the operation that he would only be absent for 6-8 weeks? He has rested for such a long time, so he should..."

The team doctor replied seriously: "This is precisely why we should carefully plan his comeback timetable, because his recovery speed is not as fast as expected, and his body may be more fragile than we thought. In any case, it is not a good time to come back now." Timing.”

The light of hope was shrouded in darkness the moment it appeared.

Lu sighed and returned to the office to continue thinking of countermeasures.

What happened next was something Tyronn Lue could never have imagined.

After training, Brandon Roy said as loudly as President O's inauguration speech: "Guys, I will come back in the fifth game!"

"Really?!" Durant yelled.

"Impossible!" Yu Fei said, "You have just resumed 5V5 training, and you need at least a month of observation period."

"Did I play poorly just now?" Roy asked a speechless question.

"This is not a matter of whether you fight well or not!" Yu Fei seemed to be exercising the veto power of the master of the empire. "Don't try to imitate Willis Reed! I disagree!"

"I don't need your consent, just the coach's consent. I'll go find him right now."

Roy said to leave.

"Stop the hell!"

Yu Fei chased after him.

Everyone was speechless. They were looking forward to Roy's return, but they also knew rationally that Yu Fei's idea was correct. Roy had been away from the competition for half a year. Even though his training status was better than expected, he had just resumed training and had to fight. The Western Conference finals, and it's still Tianwangshan, the intensity may be higher than the tiebreaker of the finals, it is too risky.

But what if Roy insists on coming back?

Can Fry stop him?

An extremely complicated thought lingered on the training ground. Roy's teammates admired his decision. They looked forward to Roy's comeback but did not want him to come back.

"Is it acting this time?"

DeAndre Jordan looks at Kwame Brown.

Brown shook his head and said, "No, Brandon is serious."

"Fry is serious too."

"If Frye doesn't agree, Brandon shouldn't be able to come back, right?" Jordan said.

"God knows"

At this time, Clay Bennett, the owner of the Sonics, came over and asked with a smile: "I heard that Brandon is coming back?"

"But Frye disagrees." Someone said.

"Indeed, it's too dangerous." Bennett changed his position directly.

He walked to the coach's office and heard a fierce argument breaking out from a distance.

"In short, I don't agree." Yu Fei said to Lu, "I will not agree to let a player who may be injured again at any time come back in the name of saving the team!"

Yu Fei said loudly: "I will not allow anyone to risk their career to pursue glory. These are two different things. There is no room for negotiation on this matter!"

"Fuck you, Frye, this is Seattle, not your dictatorship!" Roy roared angrily.

"You're damn right!" Yu Fei responded, "The SuperSonics is a kingdom under my dictatorship!"

Tyronn Lue is in a dilemma.

When Roy rushed in and said that he was going to come back no matter what, the image of the other party was as bright and moving in Lu's eyes as a prince charming falling from the sky.

Immediately afterwards, Yu Fei rushed in with a murderous expression and shouted: "I don't agree!"

Then it was none of his business.

He wants Roy to come back, but he can't object to Yu Fei.

In the end, this was really something that wouldn't have happened if Yu Fei hadn't nodded.

Roy was furious and shouted at Yu Fei: "You have only been in Seattle for a few fucking days? Is it your turn to be a dictator? You are not even from Seattle! I tell you, I must come back. If you object, then I will Fuck you!”

Yu Fei sneered: "I object!"

"Shut up!" Roy took a step forward, "I've had enough! I won't stay on the sidelines watching you play anymore! The team told me a few days ago that they want me to serve as the team's player during the finals. The representative submitted the financing plan for the new arena to the city, and I rejected it. Do you know why? Because I don’t want to be a mascot! This is the most important year in the history of Seattle professional basketball! A hundred years later, people living here will also remember my name! So, I believe that all this is God's will! I am recovered and I can play, no matter what. Neither you (looking at Yu Fei), nor the coaching staff, nor that damn Oklahoma hillbilly owner who only cares about money can tell me that I can’t come back in the fifth game!”

It was quiet in the coach's office.

Yu Fei stopped talking.

Lu stared directly at Roy, especially the man behind him.

The answer to this came from behind Roy.

"I agree with you coming back in the fifth game." The redneck boss from Oklahoma walked to Roy with a smile and said, "I fully support you, Brandon."

Roy's rationality returned and he swallowed with difficulty.

"Boss, me"

"No need to explain, I understand how you feel." Bennett looked at Lu, "Coach, what do you think?"

Lu took the risk and said through gritted teeth: "I support Brandon."

Then, everyone's eyes fell on Yu Fei.

"I will tell you the final decision tomorrow." Yu Fei said, "If you still decide to come back then, I will not object again."

After that, Yu Fei left.

"I believe now," Bennett said to Roy, "that Fry considers you his best friend."

If you want to confirm whether a friendship is reliable, the most direct and convenient way to test it is to ask your friend to do something that is good for you but only bad for him. But on the other hand, someone who truly considers you a friend will not make such a request.

Roy knew why Yu Fei strongly opposed his comeback.

"I know," Roy said. "He's my best friend too."

This is also the reason why he is determined to come back.

For Roy, the past three years have been like a dream. Together with his best friend, he has created the most glorious achievements in the NBA. Now, at the critical moment of the season, he has an opportunity to defend his glory and hurt his friend. Right in front of him, he would never let it go.

Whatever the cost, fuck it!

(End of chapter)