The Wizards need to keep going.

Their next away game is Portland.

Previously, the Wizards had already played a game against the Trail Blazers.

Several matchups between Jordan and Pippen were filmed in that game, and then a freeze-frame shot of Jordan and Pippen opposing each other was called "the most heartbreaking moment in NBA history," sounding as if two siblings had to fight each other.

In that game, the Wizards lost.

And tonight, the Wizards also lost.

While the Trail Blazers are fifth in the West, their roster depth is undoubtedly first in the West.

This is a team with a total salary of $80 million.

And now is an era with a salary cap of $40 million.

If you have a roster that's twice the salary cap and doesn't have jaw-dropping depth of roster depth, then the team's general manager has to be thrown into the hell of professional basketball, never to be turned over.

Rasheed Wallace, Bunch Wells, Damon Stoudemire, Scottie Pippen, Sean Kemp, Derek Anderson, Steve Cole, Zach Randolph Trail Blazers have a rich squad that can handle any opponent, but the question is, with so much talent, how do you make everyone happy with their playing time, tactical position, ball possession, stats?

Impossible.

It's impossible to do.

Even if you have a coaching staff of Reed Auerbach, Greg Popovich, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, you can't do that.

Of course, if they suddenly wake up to some kind of traverser system, or somehow have the infectious power that very few people have, such as making players selfless, reasonable, and don't care about anything but winning, there is a 1% chance that they will do it.

But the Trail Blazers don't have such people, and the entire NBA doesn't have such people.

Trail Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks was hired head coach by the Trail Blazers' decision-makers for his lubricant effect as an intermediary between Larry Brown and Allen Iverson in Philadelphia.

One thing they have forgotten is that as an intermediary they can say something to ease the atmosphere, but what about the head coach who directly determines the power hierarchy of the team?

Those are two different things.

While the Trail Blazers' successes and failures are tied to their lavish roster, their talent is clearly not something the Wizards can contend with.

Yu Fei encountered the all-out defense of the old Pippen, although he didn't find the shooting touch, but relied on the blocking offense to score 25 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.

His assist count is the reason why the Wizards lost.

Although the individual offense was open, the Trail Blazers' defensive system managed to force Yu Fei into a lonely situation.

105 to 88

The Wizards lost a game that was considered unlikely to win before the game.

Scottie Pipen glanced at Yu Fei in the distance, who was being interviewed.

Obviously lost, but he was in the spotlight like a big winner.

Is this the one who dares to compete with Jordan?

But Pippen doesn't think it's a big deal, because Yu Fei is competing for Jordan, who is almost 40 years old, which is completely different from the Jordan he faced when he was younger.

Pippen decided to leave, he didn't care about the spotlight anymore, as a veteran close to retirement, he just wanted peace and tranquility.

Until Yu Fei passed by him in the players' tunnel.

"Scotty, why do you always guess my breakout?" Yu Fei asked.

Pippen's expression changed, this kid scored 25 points tonight, but he praised me for defending well? Is this sarcastic to me?

"What's the difference? The points you should have gotten were still obtained. Pippen said.

Yu Fei shook his head and said, "No, if you are a few years younger, maybe I will be sad tonight." ”

Hearing this, Pippen, who was as serious and rigid as a robot from beginning to end, smiled, and his voice full of metal like a robot was also pleasant: "Don't you know? Every time you break through, your body swings to the side of the break, and any experienced defender can predict your break, but the problem is that you're too high to stop you even if you do. ”

Yu Fei never knew that he had such a problem.

If Pippen can find the clues through his habits, some teams that specialize in defense will certainly find out as well.

It may be difficult for them to find the right person to counter them, but they can design traps based on the breakthrough route.

"It deserves to be the greatest NO.2 of all time!" Yu Fei didn't seem to know what Pippen didn't want to hear the most, so he directly pricked his heart, "I have benefited a lot from competing with you." ”

Sure enough, as soon as Yu Fei's sentence "the greatest NO.2 of all time" came out, Pippen's face became unsightly.

Pippen never, never, never felt like the No. 2 candidate below Jordan when he was with the Bulls.

In his opinion, he is the same as Jordan.

But why is Jordan the king of the world, and he has to play as a star with a child labor contract?

On and off the court, Pippen is committed to aligning himself with Jordan, not because he feels like Jordan is "under his wing," but because he feels like him. Jordan doesn't train, he doesn't train, Jordan has privileges, he has privileges, at least within the Bulls, Jordan has it, he has to have everything.

He's not No.2, he's No.1 like Jordan.

"It's time for me to go." Pippon said indifferently.

"Okay, okay, let's go, Michael asked me to bring you a message, it seems that you don't want to hear it."

Strangely, Pippen no longer has any contact with Jordan, but he is still curious to see what Jordan has to say to himself.

He stopped and turned to look at Yu Fei: "What words?" ”

"Be nice to Scotty," Yu Fei made up a big lie without blushing or panting, "He's my best helper." ”

"Be nice to me?" Pippen's dissatisfaction skyrocketed, "We won easily, but he wants you to be nice to me?" ”

Does Jordan not endorse Pippen? No, he is recognized.

Before the publication of Pippen's autobiography, no matter what occasion Jordan encountered, whenever he mentioned Pippen, he would say that he was his best helper, and he could not have won so many championships without himself.

However, what Pippen hated most was his condescending posture and understatement.

The term best helper is too general to encapsulate Pippen's contributions, and Jordan always feels that this gives Pippen enough respect.

What did Pippen think?

Who temporarily took over the Magicians' matchup in the 1991 finals to change the tide of battle?

Who was the defending champions on the night of the defending champions in 1992 who brought the bench back with a bench to chase back the points when they trailed by 15 points in the fourth quarter?

And who took over the leadership responsibilities in 1994 after someone's irresponsible and sudden retirement and almost brought the team to the Eastern Conference Finals?

Who gave Malone a trash-talk at the free-throw line in 1997 that went down in history and gave someone a chance to kill at the whistle (1)?

Who was in 1998 who publicly broke with management, demanded that the team trade themselves, returned from surgery, and survived a torn back injury on the night someone pushed down an opponent to hit a medieval shot?

Pippen's biggest frustration with Jordan is that he gets everything, but when he doesn't play well, the media will say that he is a "man who makes occasional mistakes", and when his teammates don't play well, the media accuses them of holding Jordan back.

Remember, the "boss did his best, don't blame him for losing" rule applies to all superstars.

"He looks arrogant," Yu Fei laughed, "right?" ”

Pippen's dissatisfaction with Jordan rose to new heights in this instant.

"That's him!" Pippon angrily said, "This is him!" ”

Yu Fei could feel Pippen's dissatisfaction at all, "That's right, this is him." ”

At that moment, Pippen and Yu Fei met their eyes, and the two looked at each other.

It's the meeting of the century between the two super-big Joehei of the present and the future.

Pippen heard about the grievances between Taifei and Jordan, and he knew that Yu Fei was definitely not Jordan's dogleg, otherwise there was no need to talk to him about Jordan here.

Pippen doesn't care what Yu Fei wants from him, the important thing is that they are all poisoned by Jordan, they are all dissatisfied with Jordan, as long as Yu Fei and Jordan are against each other, Pippen will provide him with all support except practical actions.

Do you think Pippen only talks about it? No, Pippen is just unhappy with Jordan right now, and the two sides are far from breaking up.

This takes a few steps.

Pippen went bankrupt after retiring / Jordan became a boss after retiring - Pippen became a clown after retiring / Jordan lived in seclusion as a capitalist and disdained to be with him - when "The Last Dance" was broadcast / After "The Last Dance" was broadcast - Pippen lost his son and divorced - Jordan's son soaked Pippen's ex-wife.

Any man who has experienced the above things cannot have a normal and fair evaluation of Jordan.

Yu Fei knew that Pippen was full of prejudice against Jordan, but so what? Anyway, he only needs to ask Pippen for advice on defense, and then share Black Jordan's experience with each other from time to time, which is enough.

Two days later, the Wizards returned to their home court and played until the final minute of the game against the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors' best players are also rookies.

That man's name was Gilbert Arenas.

Yu Fei only has two impressions of Arenas, one is that he is crazy about the alliance after Morant holds a gun, and the other is that he admits that he was bean curd by James, and thinks that his James is a dog.

But Yu Fei didn't expect Arenas to be very good as a player.

That night, Yu Fei scored 24 points and Arenas scored 25 points.

The Warriors' use of joint defense for Fei has reaped certain results, and Yu Fei has also suffered the bitter fruit of not having Hamilton by his side.

A pitcher who averages 20 points per game is really hard to replace, and no one on the Wizards team can threaten the opposing wing like Hamilton.

This makes the opponent more daring to use the bag clamp and combo defense when facing the fly.

But luck was on the Wizards' side, and in the final moments, Jasidi White made a layup.

Subsequently, in the game against the Utah Jazz, Yu Fei played 44 minutes.

In the face of a more ruthless defense, Yu Fei decisively responded and shot at the free throw line, and although it worked, no one knew better than Sloan how to deal with such a ball carrier with outstanding individual ability.

If one is not enough, there will be two people, and if two people are not enough, there will be three people, in short, people must be pressed to death.

Sloan didn't believe that Yu Fei's teammates could bring enough help.

Yu Fei had to pass the ball in the bag, which made his seventh triple-double of his rookie season, but the result was just as Sloan expected.

114 to 107

Yu Feikong scored 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, and his lone heroic performance not only did not bring him applause, but instead caused Jordan cancer patients to question: "Fry, if you do it again, will you choose to let yourself decide the success or failure of this game?" ”

The reporter referred to the fact that Yu Fei was caught by the Jazz in the last few minutes and passed the ball to an open teammate and missed the shot.

Judging from the results, those missed open shots not only allowed the Wizards to miss the opportunity to bite the game, but also allowed the Jazz to play a counterattack score.

But Yu Fei had no better choice at that time.

He played 44 minutes, held the ball for a long time, served as the main attacker, and it can be said that the offense and defense were shoulder-to-shoulder, and there was no energy left to break through the Jazz's bag at that time.

In this case, it is safer to throw an empty space for a teammate than to choose to force a shot yourself.

"Are you trying to say that I should force my hand under the bag?" Yu Fei questioned the other party's IQ and intentions, "This is not a smart question, you are either stupid or have ulterior motives." ”

Jerry Sloan said fairly: "Looking at the whole game, I don't think the 44 could have done more. ”

Then Doug Collins ran into a dilemma.

One reporter asked, "Coach Collins, how do you get Frye out of being alone?" ”

Collins was anxious: "What is the problem?" I've never put a player in a bind! We lost two players who averaged 20 points per game, and it wasn't my fault."

The impact of this defeat not only completely exposed the problem of Fly's lack of helpers, but also allowed several other teams to catch up.

Playoff contenders like the Magic and Bucks all won tonight, and their record is in line with that of the Wizards, who have squeezed the Wizards from seventh to ninth in the East.

As soon as the Wizards fell out of the playoff circle again, the media began to criticize the Wizards.

They believe that the Wizards have become mediocre and incompetent after losing Jordan, that Yu Fei is the only bright spot, and that the rest are scraps.

"Look at the roster of this team, the incompetent Christian Leitner, the mediocre Tyrone Nesby, the low ball intelligence Tyronn Lue, the disappointing Kwame Brown, and the lack of independent thinking Bobby Simmons. It's the most unsightly team in the NBA, they're the cause of Michael Jordan's injury, it's the reason for Richard Hamilton's injury, it's the reason why Frye Yu is so painful! It's a wasteland for professional basketball! ”

With a stroke of the pen, the New York Times dismissed the Wizards' hard work and efforts for some time.

They went 3-5 after losing Jordan and 2-3 after losing Hamilton, and as a result are they rubbish, scum, and junk that drags them on?

Then, Jordan's team revealed that MJ, who was recovering from an injury, was not far from the team, and he often went back to visit his teammates and inspired them with "Jordan-esque" words.

A day later, during the pregame interview against the Denver Nuggets, an NBC reporter asked Yu how Jordan encouraged them.

"Oh, Michael said something about hard work, struggle, he's going to be back in the playoffs and stuff at Verizon, and everybody laughed."

Then, just before the game began, Yu Fei dragged his pants, lifted them up, and then turned to his teammates and said, "Waste, it's time to prove the value of waste!" ”

Tonight, Collins let Yu Fei play 46 minutes.

From the opening to the last two minutes ago, Yu Fei did not rest for a second.

Only when the overall situation was decided, Collins replaced Yu Fei.

In 46 minutes, Yu Fei scored 36 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, while Lightner and Bobby Simmons also scored double-doubles, and the Wizards, a total of three double-doubles, defeated the Nuggets, bringing the win to 34 games, squeezing out the losing Magic and returning to the playoffs again.

When the Wizards started winning, the media rekindled hope.

Because Jordan said he could make a comeback in the playoffs.

So the media asked Yu Fei: "Do you think Michael will come back in the playoffs?" ”

Yu Fei has long been dissatisfied with the media's nitpicking, and now he is even more angry when he hears this question: "Is this matter important? Michael is not here! Rip isn't here either! It was we who won the game! If we lost, you would say we were garbage and garbage, and now that we have won, you care if Michael can come back? Are you kidding? We're not playing hard to get Michael back in the playoffs, we're playing hard for ourselves, for the city, for the Wizards to be a respectable team, and I've had enough of your double standards! ”

Yu Fei's emotional response didn't change anything.

The media will still ask Jordan.

And when the Wizards win, Jordan is always gone.

He's only going to show up when the Wizards lose and look to say goodbye to the playoffs.

Yu Fei's teammates are still waste and garbage, and Jordan is not responsible for this.

Things haven't changed for the Wizards, who will lose one or two games and then win the next game on the night Yu Fei gets the help of his teammates.

As April approaches, teams in the Eastern Conference are expected to win at least 38 games in the playoffs, while the Wizards have won just 37 so far.

With six games left until the end of the season, the Wizards are undoubtedly the team with the worst schedule in the playoff round.

They are one or two wins behind their main contenders in ninth place, but they need to face the Lakers, two 76ers, Nets, Grizzlies, and Pacers (the main rivals).

It can be said that every game after that is a matter of life and death.

The more they lose, the slimmer the Wizards' playoff hopes become.

The first stop on this death tour is Los Angeles.

At the end of the season, the league's supremacy has come to life, and Shaquille O'Neal knows a little thing about Yu Fei - Yu Fei asked Kobe Bryant a question at ABCD training camp last year, he asked Kobe when he could replace O'Neal as the best for the Lakers, and he also said that O'Neal is lazy and fat, and is not qualified to represent the Lakers at all.

Childlike words? O'Neill didn't have that concept in his eyes.

“？ I know, I know this team, that's Michael's team, but now Michael isn't here, so they're just a bad team, but I know they have a very 'funny' youngster, I know what he said. Shaquille O'Neal said in a recent interview, "Big Diesel knows everything!" ”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Looking at the schedule, the chances of the Wizards making the playoffs are zero." —The Washington Times

"Frye Yu will easily be named Rookie of the Year with an average of 18.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game." —The Washington Post

"Despite all the obstacles, the most high-profile overseas players of the past three years have already qualified for the draft, and Yao Shu will easily become the top pick in the 2002 draft." - Sports Illustrated

With Nike launching the $160 Shox VC last week, they are matching Vince Carter's market positioning with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Although Carter is the All-Star voter, his reputation within the league is nowhere near as high as it once was. A growing number of executives, coaches and players are privately criticizing him as a superstar who shirks his responsibilities of defending and leading a team, and that he is unlikely to succeed. —ESPN: Mark Stein's column.

"Shaq said that if he wants to destroy the Wizards' playoff dreams with his own hands, then he will destroy the Wizards' playoff dreams, there's no doubt about it." - Los Angeles Times

(1) I'll just post Pippen's autobiography on the incident: "On Sunday, June 1, 1997, in the final 9.2 seconds of the first game of the finals against the Utah Jazz, the score was tied at 82, and their star power forward, Carl Malone, also known as the Postman, made two free throws. When Carl was at the free-throw line, I said to him, "The postman doesn't work on weekends. Karl shot 76 percent from the free-throw line, but he missed the last two free throws. In the next attack, Michael hit the whistle to help us win the game. We ended up winning our fifth championship with a six-game win over the Jazz. The trash I said to Carl should have been in the documentary (but they didn't mention it). I'm sure it's Michael who utters this trash, and this moment will be a part of his legend that has been repeatedly promoted."

(End of chapter)