After Yu Fei was elected MVP, the voice of aggrieved for Duncan suddenly skyrocketed.

Many people wonder why the long-awaited Yu Fei became an "MVP thief" overnight, in this regard, Yu Fei can only say that this is a "god" punishment!

Losing the MVP is a big deal for Duncan, but the Spurs shouldn't be distracted by it right now.

Unlike the Bucks' 3-0 lead over the Nets, the Western Spurs and Mavericks started their first battle as rivals in the new century.

The Mavericks, who are No. 1 in the West and No. 2 in the league, relied on owner Cuban's Golden Dollar basketball plan to pile up a large number of quasi-All-Star players around Dirk Nowitzki, and as a result, they failed to rely on the depth of the roster to win the league's No. 1 record, not to mention, and were almost completed by the Trail Blazers in the first round. The Kings lost home-court advantage at the start of the semi-finals, and then Chris Webb was reimbursed for the season with a knee injury at the end of Game 2. The king, who lost his general, still fought with the Maverick to the tie-break.

If Webb stays healthy, there is a question mark over whether the Mavericks will be able to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

It's just that for a multi-giant team like the Mavericks, playing more games also helps to run in. The problem is, luck doesn't always favor them.

In Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, Nowitzki played 40 minutes and then injured like Webb.

Nowitzki, who wanted to play with an injury, was held back by coach Don Nelson.

In this regard, Nelson's attitude is resolute: "Nothing is more important than Dirk's career, and I will not let him take any risks. ”

As a veteran coach who officially took charge of the coaching whip in the late '70s, Nelson's mentality of treating players as human beings is rare in the eyes of the older generation.

What is the old generation mind? Like Larry Brown, George Carr, Pat Riley, it's right to play with injuries, it's part of an athlete's job to take pain, take risks? If you don't dare to take this risk, what else do you play?

Nelson is clearly a man of the times, and he won't forget the 2000 Spurs who stopped him from playing in the playoffs after Duncan's knee injury. While the Spurs lost hope of defending the title, Duncan has remained healthy since then. That same year, the Pistons' Grant Hill pushed back to the court despite an ankle injury, and since then, he has never been healthy.

Nowitzki's injury has made the Mavericks uncompetitive.

Tim Duncan ended the first place in the West with an average of 28 points, 17 rebounds and 6 assists per game, leading the Spurs back to the Finals after four years.

Duncan, who is both strong and inexplicable, looks as dazzling as Apollo, and with the help of a certain force, before the start of the finals, there was a demonic wind in the field of public opinion, almost to characterize this season's MVP selection as the first shady in history.

Yu Fei knew that this was a divine punishment, and he knew that this was the result of the all-round efforts of God and Nike's media power, but he was not convinced.

Then he looked at Duncan's data.

Let's not talk about the regular season, because in terms of regular season performance alone, Yu Fei and Duncan are on par, although the MVP regular season award, but the performance in the playoffs can be praised.

When Yu Fei read Duncan's stats, he decided to shut up before the finals.

is just an average of 25 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks per game

What kind of data is this typed out by people?

Yu Fei admits that Duncan is very strong, but he always thought that Duncan was the kind of macho man whose data could not reflect his strength, but the data also looked very fierce, which shows that the other party's MVP call is not all divine punishment.

It's a pity that he didn't win the MVP, but who made him bump into the Chosen One?

The interior is the Bucks' biggest weakness and the Spurs' biggest strength.

With Duncan's playoff form, it's a sure thing to be blown up inside, and the focus is on how to minimize the damage.

That's what the Bucks coaching staff cares about.

George Carr's response was to study the Nets' game footage.

Although the Nets were the inferior horses who were beaten by the Bucks eight times in a row in the regular season and playoffs, their joint defense is indeed worth learning.

From the time the Bucks swept the Nets to the start of the Finals, for more than ten days, the focus of the Bucks' daily training was joint defense.

However, no matter how much the Bucks practice, their combined defense is not half as powerful as the Nets.

Because the Nets traded Mutombo from Philadelphia in order to better play their joint defense.

Originally, it was reserved to deal with Duncan, and he didn't want to die before he could get out of the division, and the Spurs were sent home by the Bucks before they could see each other.

"What matters is the timing of the contraction of the line and the strength of the pack!" "You have to know if your defense is going to foul or not, you have to know if you're going to foul before you even make a move," Karl emphasized. ”

"If you're going to foul," Carl slapped the ball off Ray Allen's hand, "just give me a hard shot, don't be shy!" ”

Ray Allen said dissatisfiedly: "Don't use me as an example. ”

"Fuck you, Ray!" Since signing the "fart to the face" clause, Karl has become more blunt and brutal when coaching, "Do you think you are better than Tim Duncan?" He also has nothing to do in front of Popovich, so he can win the championship in the second season! If you fucking want to reach the same heights, you'd better shut up and listen to me! ”

This kind of thing happens from time to time, and although the scene is not harmonious, it is much better than the way Carl used to find reporters to vent his bitterness and then indirectly lead the rhythm.

4 June 2003

Bradley Center, Milwaukee

It's the start day of the NBA Finals, and the Spurs are on the court early in the morning.

Forty minutes before the start of the game, the Bucks also came to the scene.

This was followed by teams from various live streaming platforms, as well as various activities done by ABC for the competition.

Since this is the Bucks' return to the Finals after 32 years, they brought in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the team's first-time player, to do a symbolic jump.

Abdul-Jabbar held the ball, and the crowd cheered loudly as if they had seen the bald old man play.

"So you're Lou Alcindor." When Yu Fei first heard this name, he was confused, but after inquiring, he found out that it was Jabbar.

I have to say that Karim Jabalbi's original name is much more pronounced.

Yu Fei's greeting did not make Abdul-Jabbar happy, he did not like his original name: "No, Lou Alcindor has left, there is only Kareem Jabbar in the world." ”

"Oh, okay."

Who cares?

Yu Fei rolled his eyes, then watched as Abdul-Jabbar tossed the ball, and both David Robinson and Ray Allen only made a symbolic jump.

Because this is a tribute, it does not determine the ownership of the ball.

This is probably the most common and boring way to pay tribute in the NBA, and Yu Fei sincerely advises the old men in the league office to use their brains to think about it, who wants to watch such an inconsequential pre-game game? It is better to hold an actuarial "how many bald spots does Abdul-Jabbar have" actuarial competition.

Yu Fei's whimsical idea left with Abdul-Jabbar.

After that, the referee of the match, George Carr's favorite Dick Bavita, came to the center of the field and threw the ball up.

Gazuric jumped hard and won the ball for the Bucks.

Yu Fei received the ball and quickly rushed to the frontcourt, taking advantage of the chaotic defensive formation of the Spurs, everyone was unstable, and directly stopped the jump shot on the spot.

2 to 0

"Bruce, haven't you eaten? So easy to let him shoot? ”

Unlike the regular season, the Spurs put Bowen and Yu Fei in the opposite position as soon as they came up this time.

It's just that after the opening, Yu Fei rushed too fast, and Bowen didn't have time to hit the upper position, and the attack was over.

The Bucks defense was open, and even though the Spurs were two on the outside, they still had to rely on Tony Parker to use his speed to force a breakthrough to the basket, collect the ball and turn to the basket.

Sprewell didn't keep up with the speed, and his action rate was slow, and he was actually eaten by Parker in front of him.

2 to 2

Every time Yu Fei was scored in front of someone, Sprewell would consciously pass the ball over.

Therefore, if Sprewell is singled successfully, Yu Fei will also give up possession of the ball in the next round and let Sprewell decide how to play for himself.

This is a tacit understanding between them.

Parker's advantage against Sprewell is also the same advantage for Sprewell against Parker.

Parker is strong in speed and agility, Sprewell is strong in explosiveness and physical confrontation, acceleration start, may only be a small step ahead of Parker, but as soon as the body grinds forward, the Frenchman enters the "believe Duncan" link.

Sprewell's must-win goal was easily blocked by Duncan.

Yu Fei picked up the floor ball and also chose to challenge Duncan, but the opponent did not move at all, just stood in place, relying on his arm span to interfere, which made the Bucks' second attack miss.

The Spurs countered like the wind, and Stephen Jackson scored with a dunk in frontcourt.

2 to 4

"Brilliant defense, from Tim Duncan!"

"What a terrible defender he has been by making five blocks per game since the start of the playoffs and limiting every opponent who shoots in front of him to less than 20 percent!"

Looking at Duncan, Yu Fei inexplicably remembered that his Oriental friends destroyed the "six-dimensional map" of the dragon for the empire.

It doesn't seem to have any weaknesses.

If you put it in the small-ball era, Duncan's weakness is the range. But in the age of the big ball, that's not a thing at all.

It's just that, because of Yu Fei's existence, the Bucks have become the forerunner of tactical innovation. Therefore, as long as Yu Fei's play is not abnormal, the Bucks have the ability to play the game in the style of the small-ball era.

Yu Fei stood still in the front court.

Ray Allen dribbled across half court from the back and handed over the ball directly.

Outside the three-point line, Yu Fei found that the Spurs chose to let Bowen take a big step to create more favorable defensive space.

This is because [math formula] Popovich is determined to fly, and it is impossible to seize this half-step space and pull out his hand like Maddie.

Since the game had just started, since the opponent had given him a chance, Yu Fei felt that there was no reason not to try his touch.

Bowen's expression changed suddenly, as Yu Fei had only thought about it for less than two seconds before making a decision.

He voted!

As a wing ball carrier, Yu Fei's shooting speed is fast, and the consequence of Bowen's big step is that he has no time to react.

"Huh!"

Yu Fei's outside three-point shot was accurate.

Then, he looked at Popovich a little defiantly, "Do you want to put it a little bigger, maybe I just hit the ball?" ”

It's like a blindfold indeed.

Ray Allen, who inexplicably rubbed an assist, said in his heart.

(End of chapter)