Chapter 563 GOAT doesn’t care
Not long after Yu Bufan was born, the pre-season training camp for the new NBA season was about to begin.
Yu Fei originally wanted to take a leave of absence from the team and spend more time in Los Angeles, but Elizabeth Olson believed: "A leader cannot leave his post without permission."
Yu Fei looked at his fiancée with a smile: "You seem to know how to be a leader better than me."
"Anyway, the baby won't know that his father left home shortly after he was born." This statement sounds ambiguous.
Yu Fei will feel like the kind of scum who doesn't take care of his children.
"I can stay."
"But how long can I stay? The new season is about to begin. Besides, there are many things you can't help with."
Elizabeth said it tactfully.
The thing is, families like theirs employ cooks, nannies, and bodyguards in addition to themselves.
In most cases, they don't need to pay as much attention to their babies as parents in ordinary families.
Therefore, what Yu Fei does most for his child is not to change his diaper or put him to sleep, but to make faces and make him laugh.
Needless to say, this is indeed a very replaceable role.
In the end, Yu Fei returned to Seattle on time to report.
The only thing that comforted Yu Fei was that Elizabeth would take the baby to Seattle to live for a while when he was four months old.
This caused Yu Fei to encounter a more realistic problem.
The season is long. Will he only be able to spend time with his children every summer before retiring?
As a promising young actor, Elizabeth's career focus will definitely be on Los Angeles, not to mention she is originally from California.
In the long term, Seattle is no longer aligned with his interests.
This is a more realistic problem, but Yu Fei hasn't thought that far yet.
In late September, Yu Fei joined the Sonics' preseason training camp.
The team is still the same team, but there are a few less familiar people.
Grant Hill retired, Kevin Durant was traded, and Chris Bosh left for Cleveland. This series of changes had a decisive impact on the dynasty team.
However, seeing Yu Fei appear at the Furtado Center, everyone seemed to see hope of five consecutive championships.
The GOAT is still there, and there is hope.
"Fry, is everything okay?"
Tyronn Lue came over to say hello cordially.
Yu Fei said: "It couldn't be smoother. How is the team's situation?"
"Not bad." Lue specifically mentioned Stoudemire, "Amare is in good condition."
Yu Fei is not as optimistic as Lu.
Stoudemire is one of the few legendary rehabilitation kings who recovered from minimally invasive surgery in the early days. This is certainly a factor that can make people optimistic about him, but as a player who relies on physical fitness, he is over 30 years old. After suffering a serious ACL injury, even if you recover, how much success will you have as you did in your heyday?
In Yu Fei's impression, Stoudemire even made it to the CBA at the end of his career, which shows how huge his decline has been.
"Where's Brandon?" Yu Fei asked again.
Lu said: "I was slightly injured, but it doesn't matter."
The second and third players in the team are both glass men, and this season looks really promising.
Yu Fei decided to say hello to Stoudemire first.
As one of the representatives of high school players, Stoudemire has made a name for himself. At his peak, he was undoubtedly a top ten player in the league. Unfortunately, although he is a great pick-and-roll attacker, he has never been a great pick-and-roll attacker. Thinking about using his talents to defend well is the key to limiting his progress.
Now that he is older and has suffered serious injuries, Yu Fei doesn't expect much from him.
"Fry, long time no see."
Stoudemire was enthusiastic.
"If the full score is 10 points, how much do you think you have recovered?" Yu Fei asked.
"To tell you the truth," Stoudemire replied, "I think it's only 3 or 4 points."
This is bad news. People like Stoudemire, if they have confidence in themselves, will never say that they will only recover 3-4 points.
Things may be worse than expected.
"Be optimistic and things will get better," said Frye Yu, a temporary pessimist.
Then, Yu Fei went to meet Roy.
Roy came yesterday and strained his thigh in the first training session.
"How is my godson?" Roy asked. "Why don't you take him back to Seattle?"
Yu Fei said sarcastically: "I don't want you to be his godfather anymore. It seems like you won't give him any help. Children under four months old are not allowed to fly. Fortunately, you are still the father of two children. ”
"My kids have been in Seattle since they were born," Roy said pointedly. "They don't have to fly around."
"It's a pity, I'm from Kent." Yu Fei said directly, "In my hometown, capable young people are proud of 'going out'."
The GOAT is like this. When he needs a savior aura, he is closely connected with Seattle. Now that everything was done, he had other thoughts, and it occurred to him that he was a Kentish man.
"Have you made a decision?" Roy asked.
"Not yet." Yu Fei said, "But I need to think about this realistically eventually."
Roy understood.
They did not pursue the subject.
The Sonics are now showing signs of the end of their dynasty.
The second boss transferred and the third boss left. To fill their vacancies was a young talent and an All-Star recovering from a serious injury.
Even if you don't talk about the downgrade of the star level, the Sonics' lineup of role players is actually still good.
The backcourt includes Beverley, Livingston and Danny Green.
Jae Crowder and Chandler Parsons are on the wings.
After losing Bosh and DeAndre Jordan, the inside line has returned to the state of the 2007-08 season and has become their weakest link.
However, it is common for teams to have flaws, and flawless lineups are rare.
At present, what the Sonics need to solve most is to determine the starting lineup for the new season as soon as possible.
Specifically, finding the fifth man to start.
The first four people have been confirmed, namely Yu Fei, Roy, Irving and Stoudemire.
Coach Lu decided to let Yu Fei return to the third position, and then let Roy and Irving share the ball. As for the fifth player in the starting lineup, he hopes to choose a power forward.
Therefore, the final choice will be between Parsons and Carl Landry.
The Sonics are famous for their "kindness" to mercenaries, and Landry soon felt Bosh's "happiness."
Coach Lu appreciated Landry's defense, but didn't like his blue-collar attributes, so he directly promoted Parsons to the starting lineup without considering his contribution on the defensive end.
As for Landry's mood, Director Lu will still "take care of" it.
"Karl, I believe you can start in most teams, but those teams cannot win the championship. Our goal is to win five consecutive championships. You can understand that, right?"
How could Landry, a rough guy, withstand Lu's guidance, so he took the initiative to accept the position of sixth man and successfully followed Bosh's path.
However, new problems soon emerged.
Irving's ball possession problem is imminent.
From a visual point of view, Director Lu is willing to compare Irving with Allen Iverson back then, which refers to not only the explosive scoring ability, but also the sense of déjà vu that the two clearly surpass others in dribbling skills.
Moreover, although both have the ultimate ball control ability, their styles are completely different. Iverson relied on his top physical fitness under the same conditions to make unexplainable and large changes in direction, while Irving's offensive method relied on rhythm and indiscriminate switching between left and right hands.
Irving was born left-handed, but his father Dredd urged him to play with his right hand since he was a child. Eventually, he developed an indistinguishable advantage in the skills of his left and right hands. This makes him an equal threat with both hands when attacking. Even without Iverson's physical fitness, it is difficult for opponents to guard against.
On the third day of training camp, Irving led the white team to defeat Roy's red team. He scored 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists alone, winning applause from the crowd.
Even Vice President George Karl, who has always disliked offensive defenders, couldn't help but sigh: "Kyrie's talent cannot be taught."
"Unteachable" is a neutral term in the context of professional basketball.
It usually has two meanings. One is a compliment to technology, just like Karl's evaluation of Irving. The other is questioning of character. For example, when Yu Fei first arrived in D.C., he had a reputation of being "unteachable".
Karl said that Irving's skills are too good to be taught. The deeper meaning behind the words is that the team needs to give him more ball rights, only in this way can he improve quickly.
If Irving has more ball rights, Roy will have less.
Coach Lu encountered difficulties again at the beginning of the season.
On the seventh day of training camp, something big happened at the Furtado Center.
The training was over at that time. Irving took the ball and said to Fei: "Fry, 1 on 1, are you coming?"
"That kid's doing it again!" Roy yelled.
This summer, when the U.S. team was training in Las Vegas, Irving was a member of the training team, and he made the same request to Kobe.
"Did Kobe agree?" Yu Fei also heard about that.
Roy said: "Agreed, they agreed on a bet ($50,000), but the rules and venue of the game are to be determined."
Yu Fei smiled and said: "I won't be that troublesome."
He glanced at Owen and said, "Let's get started." Out of the style of a senior, Yu Fei decided to let Owen start first.
Therefore, the Sonics' second pick, who was not afraid of tigers as a newborn, used an excellent change of pace to pass the GOAT, changed hands in the air to avoid the block and then hit the board to score.
"You can't guard against me!" Owen said excitedly, "No one can guard against me!"
For the second goal after that, Yu Fei stepped up the pressure on Irving's dribbling space. Unexpectedly, the young man used an unexpected method to twist his waist and fall back to make a strong shot, and he also scored.
Yu Fei suddenly thought that due to the lockout, Irving entered the league one year later than in the main timeline, so his immediate combat ability should be judged according to the second-year level.
Irving may be one of the NBA stars he is most familiar with. He certainly knows what level the second-year Irving is, averaging 22 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists per game, leading the Cavaliers to become the first draft pick in NBA history.
Of course, he cannot be blamed for the mistakes in the draft. His poor performance in leading the team is also a common problem of this type of offensive defender who specializes in offense, neglects organization and support, and lacks the ability to improve his teammates.
If you put him on a weak team, he can lead the team to compete for the top pick. But if you put him on a strong team, such as next to James, let him soar and even be 50-50 with Curry.
Thinking of this, Yu Fei's concentration and defensive pressure increased.
Irving once again relied on his dribbling rhythm to pull away half of his body and wanted to finish with a layup, but this time, Yu Fei's chasing block followed closely and nailed the ball to the backboard.
"There are many people in the league who can support you like me." Yu Fei said casually, "Young people, don't be too arrogant."
"It doesn't matter!"
Owen turned around and said something that almost made Yu Fei stop: "I can guard you!"
Irving's defense is not good, at least since school days.
However, he actually believed that his defense could prevent Yu Fei.
Yu Fei didn't know where his confidence came from.
This may have something to do with his father Dredd.
It is said that Owen was a child with no self-confidence when he was a child, so Dredd filled him with self-confidence for a long time in order to make his son believe that he was the most powerful person in the world.
Yu Fei doesn't know how Dredd did it specifically, but it shouldn't be as abstract as Mima Ito's mother⑴.
Under the watch of the whole team, Yu Fei didn't hold back at all, quickly stepped over Irving's defensive position, directly broke the defense, and scored a layup.
"Next time, don't talk about your dreams casually." Yu Fei teased.
Owen looked serious.
But the more serious he was, the harder it became for Yu Fei to hold back.
Because his defense is really bad.
This defense was so bad that Yu Fei suspected that Irving had never conducted defensive training since he was a child.
One on the left, one on the right, and one on the front.
After Yu Fei had fun, he did all kinds of things.
Suddenly he collected the ball at the free throw line and leaned on Irving to hit a long-distance skyhook.
"Whoosh!"
"Are you okay, Kairi?"
Carey is not good at all.
Irving thought that as long as he defended every ball with all his strength, he could always guard Yu Fei once or twice.
As a result, his defense couldn't put any pressure on Yu Fei.
Yu Fei not only scored on him as he pleased, but also seemed less and less serious.
This frustrated Owen who had the courage to challenge Yu Fei.
On the last ball, Yu Fei obviously pretended to attack Irving's left hand, but the opponent was still fooled.
Yu Fei took advantage of the situation and made a change from behind, throwing off Irving's defensive focus, accelerating to the basket and scoring a dunk.
Irving, who lost his reliance, not only failed to defend, but also jumped forward.
This must be the most embarrassing moment for a defender.
11 to 2
Yu Fei did not give Owen a second chance.
"Your offense is okay." Yu Fei commented simply, "It's a pity that the defense is so inferior."
"Don't Coach K teach defense?"
"I taught you." Owen was surprisingly honest, "But I don't take it to heart."
Yu Fei joked: "You'd better take it to heart, otherwise there will be more and more people like me teaching you a lesson."
Owen stood up, completely defeated.
But that doesn't matter. Failure is expected. Discovering his own problems by challenging GOAT is his real purpose.
Judging from the one-on-one just now, there is no problem with his offensive ability, the problem lies in defense.
This skill that has been neglected by him for a long time may be the key to his further improvement.
So he decided to add another task to his rookie season goals: lead the team on the defensive end.
Afterwards, Yu Fei found Director Lu and suggested that he assign more defensive tasks to Irving.
Giving young players the football and unlimited firepower is a common way for weak teams to develop core players, and it makes as many people as it destroys.
In strong teams, due to different competitiveness and goals, the training of super rookies is always more restrained. The first thing to do is not to promote their strengths, but to correct their shortcomings.
Director Lu also understood this after watching today's bullfight.
Although Irving looks dazzling, there are also many problems. Now that he's a rookie, it's time for the coaching staff to use their authority to rein in him. If he is given the same or even better treatment than Roy in his rookie season, he may be too conceited in the future.
A few days later, media day arrived.
Despite losing Durant and Bosh, the Sonics are still the most talked-about team in the league.
The power of four consecutive championships overwhelmed the entire league. Before their complete defeat, no one could say that they had no hope of defending the title.
After all, GOAT is still there.
Even if they fail to defend their title, the Sonics will still be a championship contender for years to come.
As long as GOAT is still there.
That's the point.
The media wanted to know whether GOAT, who has only one year left on his contract, thinks his future is still in Seattle.
"I don't consider anything except five consecutive championships," Yu Fei said. "As for the future, personally, I hope it is a two-way choice. Behind the choice lies the effort put in for this choice. I think I Already tried hard.”
His words were cryptic.
It’s so obscure that it requires media people who understand Yu Fei’s thoughts to interpret it for the public: “Frye, as the savior, has completed his mission to save the Sonics. For him, Seattle is the place of glory, the place where he became famous, and the place where he became famous. He wanted a place to live forever, but as the best of all time, he needed to think about his legacy. However, the team's owners never seemed to consider this. He let DeAndre Jordan and Chris go. Bosh, also traded Kevin Durant for a second overall pick who needs time to grow and Amar'e Stoudemire who suffered a serious ACL injury. This is the reality. Frye gave everything to Seattle. , and when he needed the Sonics to defend his legend and honor, the team's owner told him with practical actions - Damn Frye, I don't want to spend more money to defend your legend!"
Some things need to be paved. Yu Fei still doesn't know what the future will be like, but people around him have begun to warm up for it.
What Yu Fei said is only the truth. His short-term goal is to win five consecutive championships. The future depends on choice, and this choice has not yet been determined.
When taking a family photo that day, Owen held a piece of paper in his hand, which was a letter he wrote to himself.
Owen is an emotional person with a rich spiritual world. He has always had the habit of writing letters to himself since he was a child, and he has never been shy to admit this to others.
Today's letter was shown to the media. It is a letter from Kyrie Irving of Cyberspace to Kyrie Irving of Three Dimensions, telling him his goals for his rookie season.
Generally speaking, Irving has set three goals for himself:
Lead the team defensively.
Was elected Rookie of the Year.
Achieve greatness.
After reading the letter, Yu Fei said: "As long as you complete the first goal, you will be considered great."
"I think the second goal is also very important." Roy interjected from the side.
"Rookie of the Year? Is that considered an honor?" Yu Fei asked.
"Doesn't it count?"
"Who will remember the Rookie of the Year?" Yu Fei asked, "Who was the Rookie of the Year last season?"
This conversation later spread widely and became an interesting anecdote between Yu Fei, Roy and Irving.
Harrison Barnes, the Rookie of the Year until the 2011-12 season, complained on Twitter: "Why would Frye say such a thing? Young players need to be respected too!"
Kwame Brown replied: "Little brother, what are you talking about? Why does Frye disrespect you?"
Subsequently, more NBA players gathered under this tweet.
Barnes is getting angry because really, really, really no one remembers that he was the Rookie of the Year last season.
In the end, the Feijiajun, who are rampant on the Internet, rushed into Barnes's Twitter like locusts, forcing him to delete the tweet and apologize.
From then on, there was another anti-fan of Yu Fei in the world.
It doesn't matter, GOAT doesn't care.
⑴The Japanese national table tennis player, when she was a child, her mother would chant beside her bed every day before going to bed: "You are the only one who can beat China."
(End of chapter)