Chapter 158: The world is sober
The rematch between the Bucks and the Lakers ended with another win for the Bucks, but the smoke that accompanied the game did not dissipate.
When Yu Fei brought up the old story again after the press conference and accused O'Neill of being a racist, some media outlets also began to question the big man who was once loved by the majority.
Just when things were about to get bigger, the Lakers used O'Neal's second-degree ankle sprain as an excuse to let him hang up the exemption card.
Although some human rights activists are eager to argue whether O'Neill is discriminating against Asians, now that everyone is hurt, no matter how big it is, it can only be postponed.
Yu Fei is not in a hurry about this.
Or rather, he didn't expect O'Neill to be punished through outside forces.
If the outside forces were willing to punish O'Neal, they would have cleaned him up as early as this happened, and there was no need for Yu Fei to make a move.
The feud between Yu Fei and O'Neal was tangled, and two days later, another game brought the Bucks back into focus.
It was an away game in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers were undoubtedly the first team to prepare for the 2003 draft, and they had only one goal: to gamble on the team's luck and try to bring the explosive superstar LeBron James to the team.
That doesn't mean the Cavaliers don't have talent, though.
The Cavaliers still have talent, such as KG II Darius Miles, who is a well-known talent when it comes to squandering talent, but tonight's star is not him, but another talent - Ricky Davis.
The game basically went in the direction of the Bucks' tyrannical Cavaliers, but Davis was very well-rounded, and when the victory was decided, he found himself one rebound away from achieving a triple-double.
So, he casually shot at his own basket, missed, of course, and grabbed the rebound.
His triple-double was achieved.
Yu Fei was dumbfounded, he thought that Brother Alphabet was the initiator of the artificially created triple-doubles, but he didn't expect that it was a proof from the talented people of the NBA.
After the game, Davis' actions came under wide criticism.
However, what about Davis's own response?
"It was a mistake."
Davis argued feebly.
Yu Fei smiled sarcastically: "If this triple-double is legitimate, then it will be a day of pride for the NBA." β
Ray Allen is not as roundabout as Yu Fei: "This is the NBA, you have to behave professionally, that's not professional." Yes, I think it's disrespectful to the game and disrespectful to me. There was a group of children watching him, do you think this behavior has any positive guidance for the children? β
The next day, the league declared Ricky Davis' 10th rebound nullified.
Very good, this is the most righteous episode Yu Fei has seen in the two years since he entered the NBA.
With the Bucks becoming the league's first 50-win team, they once again overtook the Mavericks in the West to take the top spot in the league.
As March enters the second half of the season, there are less than 1/4 of the regular season left.
Looking ahead, there is one remaining opponent in March that needs to be focused on.
That's the San Antonio Spurs, who are second in the West.
In Yu Fei's impression, the Spurs seem to be the champion of this season.
But judging from the actual battle, Yu Fei feels that the Mavericks are the strongest team in the West.
The Mavericks are the only Western Conference team to double the Bucks this season.
The Spurs also won their first meeting with the Bucks, so George Carr is taking the second meeting at the end of March very seriously.
Until then, the Bucks have a few games to play.
Two of those games were away from home in the West.
The Bucks will first go to Memphis to challenge the Grizzlies, and then go to Utah to play the Jazz.
Because of the addition of Jerry West, the Grizzlies can be said to be one of the more interesting teams before the start of the season.
One of the most surprising moves West made after becoming the Grizzlies was to bring out Hubby Brown, who has been active in the commentary world for many years.
West wants Brown to use his experience to help the Grizzlies' youngsters grow.
But for the audience, this thing is very difficult.
Since the '80s, Hubby Brown has been one of the biggest commentators in professional basketball.
No matter which cable company the NBA signs with, Brown will show up and provide his insights in the game, in the draft.
The funniness of this incident is basically equivalent to the CBA Ningbo team suddenly inviting Zhang Weiping as the team's head coach in the 2020s.
But it's funny, it's funny, it's really useful.
Hubbie Brown's comeback changed at least White Chocolate's career. Before that, White Chocolate was a playful king who only knew how to please the audience, and Brown taught him how to be a true point guard.
This season, White Chocolate ranks fourth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio.
So what? Yu Fei has no respect for white chocolate.
Long before Yu Fei entered the NBA, White Chocolate was embroiled in controversy for discriminating against Asians and LGBTI people.
In this game, Yu Fei is very aimed at white chocolate, and basically does not miss every opportunity to play the opponent in a misplaced single.
Due to White Chocolate's physical flaws, he was unable to stop Yu Fei, so he fouled many times in the game and ended up playing a bad game.
The Bucks left Memphis with a victory.
"I think the Bucks have a problem with the way they use Frye, and they should try to make him an off-ball player," Hubby Brown said. β
Brown's subtext is that only by playing without the ball can you maximize the strength of Yu Fei.
George Carr refuted this view as "an old stubborn eater".
The person concerned will feel very different when they hear the criticism.
Yu Fei put Brown's suggestion in the category of "yes but not necessary".
The regular season is about to come to an end, and except for the game against the Spurs at the end of March, Yu Fei's only concern may be whether the Wizards will make the playoffs.
Looking at the rankings, the Wizards are still ranked ninth in the East, and they are in a tense battle for the card position.
At the beginning of April, the Bucks had another game against them.
Yu Fei asked his assistant to pay special attention to that day.
If that day comes when the Wizards are confirmed to advance to the playoffs β and if they do, it's likely to be eighth β then Yu Fei will be happy to meet his old club in the first round.
It would be even better if the game against the Bucks was a crucial card game for the Wizards at that time.
Last year he single-handedly brought the team to the playoffs in the final quarter, and this year Jordan couldn't make the playoffs with two All-Stars, which will be a stain on his career no matter how you look at it.
Utah
A raucous away game, a grumpy Mormon, a never-departing Stockton and Malone, that's what everyone thinks of the Jazz.
An hour before the start of the game, Yu Fei came to the Delta Center to warm up and happened to meet Jazz coach Jerry Sloan.
This handsome man with a pair of lion eyes has an aura of not being angry and arrogant.
Yu Fei didn't know how to greet him, so he pretended not to see it and continued to shoot.
However, Sloan walked alone and said to Fly, "Fry, I want you to apologize to Carl. β
Yu Fei asked, "For what?" β
"Ling has publicly said that he is not worthy of the MVP of 1999." "That's what he holds dear." β
That's it. Malone was an accidental lay-up, he and Pepper Paltrow were spraying on the sidelines, and they pulled Malone in order to mock the gold content of the other party's Oscar trophy.
However, although Malone is lying down, it does not mean that this conclusion is wrong for Fei.
"That's my point of view, and I'm not going to change it."
Sloane's face didn't change at all, "Did you know that Carl likes to swing his elbows on the court?" β
Threatened?
Yu Fei said, "I know. β
"If you're ready to take that risk."
"Let him come." Yu Fei said lightly, "So I don't have to say that he is more worthy of MVP than MJ in 1998 to make him happy." β
Hearing this, Sloan left a "see you later" and left.
He seemed to get the answer he wanted.
"Why did this old man come forward on behalf of Carl?" Lawson showed Yu Fei on the spot what it means to have eyes and not know Taishan.
"Tony, don't say it, pass the ball."
In that night's game, the Jazz caused quite a difficult time for the Bucks.
The main reason is that there are three men, Karl Malone, Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Haplin, Malone's defense does not look like a veteran in his 40s at all, and Kirilenko's defensive coverage makes it difficult for the Bucks to attack when they are not feeling good.
Halprin contributed the outside firepower that the Jazz needed most.
And, throughout the game, the Jazz were interpreting a textbook pick-and-roll.
Absolutely tough, absolutely standardized, absolutely reasonable blocking, dismantling, down.
This is completely different from the "evil way blocking" under the Bucks' X-offensive system.
This can be known in the ABC's halftime coach interview, Sloan's views on the blocking of both sides.
An ABC frontline reporter asked Sloan: "The Jazz and Bucks are the best teams in the NBA to use pick-and-rolls to launch offense, what do you think is the difference between them?" β
Sloan's mind came to mind the Bucks' flirtatious strippers dancing on their legs, "Is that a pick-and-roll?" β
"I don't think so." Sloane shook his head.
As a result, it was the kind of blocking that Sloan disliked that allowed the Bucks to break the defensive system built by Malone and Kirilenko with an X-attack in the second half.
Yu Fei's position broke through and was unsolvable, throwing was difficult to prevent, and after the jump shot returned, he seemed to have the strength of the top five superstars in the league.
Yu Fei, who had a poor hand in the first half, scored 25 points in the second half, with 38 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, leading the team to reverse the Jazz and return victorious.
On March 30, the Bucks will play the Spurs at home, the last meeting between the two teams in the regular season.
On the eve of the game, Sprewell invited Yu Fei to a barbecue party.
Yu Fei went and found that the party was not serious, and the most important thing was that Rachel, who had a dewy relationship with him in Los Angeles last year, didn't know how he came to the party.
Yu Fei accompanied his teammates to eat, drink and play, but he didn't have fun.
Until the end of the show, Rachel was still hinting that Yu Fei could go to a quiet place.
But Yu Fei said: "I'm sorry, Rachel, I still have some things, and the team needs me to record a radio show."
Then he was gone, like a robot without lust.
"Don't you know each other?" Sprewell expressed surprise at Fly's self-control.
Rachel said disappointedly, "I don't know what I'm doing wrong. β
In fact, she didn't do anything wrong, Yu Fei was just too sober, since the relationship between him and the other party was only a one-night thing, it should always be only one night. He won't be involved with flesh and blood twice.
What's more, tomorrow is going to be a 300-round battle with Deng Dudu, and you can't be distracted by anything before that.
βββββββββββββ
"The Wizards haven't gotten significantly better when playing with Jordan, and some can make the point that the development of young players has been hampered by MJ. However, in the last two years, the Wizards have only had a chance to win when Jordan is on the court. βThe Washington Post
"With the Bucks becoming No. 1 in the league under Frye Yu, people in Wisconsin are starting to pay more attention to the Bucks." βThe Milwaukee Sentinel
"SuperSonics management is to blame for this failed season, and if they were willing to send Gary Payton and Rashad Lewis last year, then this evolved version of Frye would have led the team to a revival, but now, everything will be torn down and rebuilt!" βThe Seattle Times
(End of chapter)