Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 828 828 524 Chase and Counterattack_4

?Chapter 828: Chapter 524 Chase and Counterattack_4 Chapter 828: Chapter 524 Chase and Counterattack_4 This was a standard pick-and-roll, and the Lakers still switched on defense. According to previous habits, Yu Fei would immediately call for another pick-and-roll to gradually compress the Lakers’ defensive resources, until Little Gasol had nowhere left to hide.

However, this time it was Artest who stepped up. He and James exchanged a look and suddenly, together, they abandoned Chris Bosh and aggressively pounced toward Yu Fei.

Yu Fei passed the ball early, Chris Bosh drove to the basket with the ball, tangled up with Little Gasol, but in the most intense moment he suddenly flung the ball towards the left corner.

Durant caught the ball in an open position. In front of him, the basket was as vast as the ocean. Artest, who should have been guarding him, was nowhere to be seen.

He gathered the ball, and a three-pointer swished through the net.

“Marc Gasol’s problem is turning from a specific area issue into a global one.”

As the series progressed, there were no secrets left between the two teams.

The Supersonics lacked a center with comprehensive qualities and were short on shooters and ball-handling points, but they compensated for the center’s role with depth.

The Lakers, in their prime, seemed to have it all: an abundance of shooters, wings like James and Artest, big men like Little Gasol and Big Z. But after four contests, the Supersonics had run out of options, so Yu Fei chose to go for limitless isolation plays, pressing Little Gasol’s influence to the lowest point in the series.

This also pushed the Lakers into an unprecedented predicament.

They had shooters, but that didn’t solve the urgent issues in the paint. The Kobe-James duo could keep them close in the game, but couldn’t share the defensive burden that Little Gasol carried.

Once Little Gasol was rendered unable to play in the game, the Lakers’ interior defense would face an avalanche, for they had invested too much in their perimeter game.

Now, to keep the interior from becoming a problem, they had to mobilize other resources to fill this bottomless pit.

Switching didn’t work, double-teams didn’t work, leaving shooters open didn’t work, and now even traps were ineffective.

Kobe stepped up, taking responsibility. After shaking off Moro’s defense, he scored with a high jump shot.

Little Gasol’s presence had become faint.

The Lakers couldn’t afford to feed him the ball to attack the inside just to keep him in the game.

But coming to defense…

Yu Fei, like the embodiment of a demon, approached James, but his gaze wasn’t on James at all. With the ball in his left hand and his right hand raised, he called out a pick-and-roll play as decisive as Thanos’s snap.

This time, Little Gasol came out, but there was no switch and no leaving Chris Bosh open. James fiercely squeezed past Bosh’s screen.

Yet, squeezing past a screen wasn’t the best solution for defending the pick-and-roll.

No matter how strong the defender who fought through the screen was, the ball handler coming off the screen always had a step advantage, and the defender could only ensure they didn’t lose their entire position.

For Yu Fei, the step that James lost was enough for him to complete the rest of his play.

Two steps inside the three-point line, Yu Fei suddenly pulled up, the ball travelling between his legs, while James couldn’t stop in time, almost stumbling and falling in front of Yu Fei.

Even though he used his formidable core strength to control his body, he could only do so much. Yu Fei collected the ball and leapt, shooting a long mid-range jumper over James.

“Swish!”

Was this the most James had ever given for his teammates?

How many times must one fall for it to be enough?

Every possible solution had been tried, everything that could be done had been done. If the Lakers wanted to protect Little Gasol from being targeted, then every player on the court would be played by Yu Fei like pawns in his hand.

James knew that the Spaniard was Jackson’s favored player, and as long as the Spaniard was on the court, the Lakers could execute the authentic Triangle Offense.

But now, they couldn’t protect the Spaniard anymore.

For those who no longer had the strength to defend, giving up early was the best way to cut losses.

On the court, no one was clearer than James about the costs and benefits of this calculation, and he had come to a realization.

“Marc,” James said, “from now on, let go of Chris Bosh and join me in double-teaming number 44.”

What if Bosh makes an open shot?

That wasn’t something for James to worry about.

He only cared about one thing, making Yu Fei’s actions on court predictable.

Forcing him to pass to Bosh was predictable.

He didn’t believe Bosh could shoot them to death. Since they couldn’t be outshot, it was time to see whose will was stronger.