Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 781 781 511 Not One Not Two_2

?Chapter 781: Chapter 511: Not One, Not Two_2 Chapter 781: Chapter 511: Not One, Not Two_2 Yu Fei had seen Ray Allen, and that was a truly historic sharpshooter.

Putting aside Ray Allen’s other strengths and focusing solely on his role as a sharpshooter, he spent years showing Yu Fei how a historic sharpshooter prepares for a game.

Year after year, at the same spot, in the same way, Ray Allen did the same thing. He was the closest thing to a basketball robot. He treated three-pointers like how volleyball players treat serves, golfers treat tee shots, and baseball pitchers treat pitches—quick jump, quick release, perfect posture, perfect arc, perfect result. Every shot looked exactly the same.

Whenever he had the time, he would arrive at the venue hours early to train.

He developed consistent routines and eating habits, almost to the point of obsession.

It was such hard training that made Ray Allen the shooter he is today, so when others say his shooting is so good because God has favored him, Ray Allen can only scoff in response, “Don’t joke, God doesn’t care about me.”

Moro was just practicing at his own pace, his shooting was half from training, half from innate touch. But rigorous training allows a sharpshooter to seize the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow even in the most suffocating environments.

Yu Fei didn’t say anything to Moro because he wasn’t a shooter and didn’t understand how a shooter could maintain touch through training.

Speaking to Moro about it, suggesting he watch more of Ray Allen’s game footage, Moro would probably agree on the surface, but who knows how he’ll curse inwardly.

Inborn talent sets the lower limit, while training, habits, and personality crafting decide the upper limit.

Yu Fei wouldn’t press the issue; he just thought Moro still had room for improvement.

Another unusual thing on the court was the core players of the Supersonics and the Lakers hadn’t come to half-court to say hello.

Yu Fei originally planned to go through the motions, but Kobe had no intention of coming over to observe this ancestral NBA tradition.

If that was the case, Yu Fei wasn’t about to put his warm face against someone’s cold butt.

This was definitely a symbol, the Lakers team hoped to be adversarial from before the start of the game.

Then, as the game time drew close, the arena DJ began to introduce both teams’ starters.

Tyronn Lue walked to the sidelines for the last arrangements before kicking off.

Lue emphasized three things.

Defense, rebounds, and corner threes.

The Lakers’ offensive setup made it hard to contain them on defense, but the Supersonics did well last time, and Lue believed, that was the key to victory.

As for rebounds, it was understandable, if they let the Lakers have the rebounding advantage, it would be a scary thing as their shooters would be filled with confidence while shooting.

Corner threes were a regular scoring position for the Supersonics.

Moro and Durant were both proficient in corner threes.

And Yu Fei, as a ball-dominating big core, had established a foundation for this style of player—a qualified ball-dominating big core must be able to find every corner three in his sight.

That’s because the ball carrier’s penetration is bound to collapse the opponent’s defense.

Consequently, the defense at the corners would become loose, giving shooters a chance.

Finding corner shooters is one of the basic ways to validate the passing prowess of a ball-dominating big core.

However, tonight, the Lakers did not intend to give the Supersonics too many opportunities in the corners.

The defense between top teams can be summarized by trade-offs.

Teams clear-headed and precise in their goals, making targeted moves, tend to clinch victory.

Lakers’ first arrangement tonight was to block the Supersonics’ corner threes.

Because the left and right corners are Anthony Morrow’s sweet spots, with a 44% shooting percentage there, away from the corner, Morrow is not a 40% shooter.

But blocking the corner isn’t easy, for if Yu Fei or another Supersonics player penetrated the basket below, the player guarding the corner would have to collapse.

Therefore, Phil Jackson came up with a clever defensive strategy while designing: give Moro a half-open shot.

A half-open shot means the opponent has the opportunity and space to shoot, but still faces significant defensive interference.

This kind of strategy suited players like Richard Hamilton, who were not good on defense. His job was to choose a position that was close yet distant enough to both interfere and block the Supersonics’ penetration.

There are very few pure shooters who can maintain over a 40% shooting percentage in a half-open situation.

The answer is very few.

Those who can withstand pressure and maintain efficiency are basically shooters like Miller and Ray Allen.

Compared to them, someone like Moro, a bit player, does not have that big heart to handle adversity.

That’s why Moro started off the game with two consecutive missed shots, giving the Lakers two defensive counterattack opportunities.

Yu Fei’s concern became a reality at this moment, as the Lakers no longer gave Moro comfortable corner opportunities, and Moro was indeed affected.

With a scoring drought and turnovers, the Lakers launched into a 6-0 start.

The Staples Center’s morale was booming; Lakers fans could clearly feel that their team was different tonight.

Yu Fei dribbled the ball, with the Lakers assigning Kobe to match up against him.

He determined to break the scoring drought.

Kobe dealt with Yu Fei as Hamilton did with Moro, giving him a half-open space.

If Yu Fei dared to shoot, he could still step up to interfere.

If Yu Fei didn’t shoot, the offense would be stuck there.

And Yu Fei proved through his actions that he was not Moro, confident enough to score even with just a half-open space.