Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 889 889 544 Its Hard to be a Good Person

?Chapter 889: Chapter 544: It’s Hard to be a Good Person Chapter 889: Chapter 544: It’s Hard to be a Good Person When reporters asked Yu Fei after the game why there was so much intense physical contact in the season opener against the Knicks, Yu Fei also expressed his helplessness, “This really didn’t feel like the intensity of a regular-season game, but it happened, and all I can do now is to wish Amar’e good luck.”

Unfortunately, good luck was not on the side of Amar’e Stoudemire.

The next day, the Knicks announced Stoudemire’s injury condition.

Stoudemire suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and was scheduled to undergo surgery a few days later, with the expectation to be out for the season.

No one wants to see this happen, and Yu Fei’s relationship with Stoudemire was neither good nor bad. The two had communicated during the All-Star break, merely nodding acquaintances.

But now, Stoudemire had ended his whole season over a regular-season game.

Incidentally, Stoudemire’s injury could also be the end of the Knicks’ season.

After all, Stoudemire was the Knicks’ only major star, and with his performance of 29 points and 9 rebounds before the lockout, the Knicks made it back to the playoffs.

Now, with Stoudemire injured, the Knicks were left with nothing but the old, weak, and sick. No matter how effective Kidd’s “make teammates better” BUFF was, a point guard lacking personal scoring ability could not lead the team forward in the era of space basketball.

From that moment on, the Knicks became strong contenders for the Anthony Davis Cup.

However, in certain years, the NBA top draft pick has always been a competition of misery. Just like Seattle, facing relocation, drew the 2007 top draft pick, the Cavaliers harvested the 2010 first pick after James’s “Decision”, and the Wizards grabbed the 2011 first pick after their owner passed away.

In terms of misery, the Knicks may have a long history, but being backed by America’s number one basketball market, a team that can still make steady money even if it ranks last in the league hardly arouses sympathy?.

In the following games, the SuperSonics cut through the competition like it was nothing.

Because the opponents were generally weak.

Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz, and Portland Trail Blazers had made it clear from the start of the season that they were tanking.

After a five-game winning streak to start the season, the SuperSonics met their first somewhat substantial strong team.

They were the Boston Celtics.

However, not all strong teams are created equal.

The Celtics were not a championship-contending team, especially this season, when the top three of the Eastern Conference could look down on the bottom three when healthy.

One could say that the Celtics, a team with an old star core, were the biggest losers from the lockout-canceled season.

They wasted an entire season and potentially lost their last peak season.

As the SuperSonics arrived in Boston, their General Manager Danny Ainge personally attended the game, seemingly wanting to see if the team he had carefully built four years ago still had any competitive edge against the SuperSonics.

But after Tayshaun Prince and David Lee left one after another, the Celtics seemed even more decrepit.

Rondo was poisoned by the era.

A guard like him, who was not skilled in shooting but had a sharp drive, excellent organization, and top-notch defense, and was very good at grabbing rebounds, was highly valued in the Big Ball Era.

Although he was a bit of a drag offensively, it was still acceptable.

But in the era of space basketball, a core point guard lacking a long-range threat was no longer acceptable, making Rondo, who should have been at his peak, awkward.

He was like the Celtics’ current level of competitiveness, neither here nor there.

The Celtics could make it to the playoffs, just as Rondo was considered a satisfactory starter, but when facing championship-contending teams, the Celtics were too old, and Rondo’s style did not fit the times.

The SuperSonics established a lead from the first quarter and kept pressing step by step, leading by 20 points by the fourth quarter.

Ainge sat by the court throughout, as if he wanted to see how his team was being slaughtered.

He could see that the Celtics’ championship window had closed.

Even if Pierce and Garnett regained their youth, could the Celtics still be considered competitive against the new New Jersey Big Three and the Miami Heat, which was starting to live up to its potential?

Even when the Celtics’ Big Three was first formed, all core players were at the tail end of their prime, and they couldn’t beat the fledgling SuperSonics. That year’s failure already gave Ainge the answer.

But Ainge hadn’t given up hope.

He believed that as long as the Celtics stayed in the championship fray, the opportunity was always there.

Unfortunately, 2008 was indeed their only chance.

Now, watching this game.

The Celtics and the SuperSonics were no longer in the same league.

The Celtics still played a similar strategy, advocating for hard grind in ground tactics and emphasizing oppressive defense through the mobility of their inside players.

But the SuperSonics had changed their style since then.

In Ainge’s view, compared to the Celtics, the SuperSonics had strict hierarchy.

Yu Fei undoubtedly held a transcendent status above others, evident from his average shot attempts per game.

In this talent-overflowing season for the SuperSonics, Yu Fei’s shot attempts had actually increased compared to before the lockout, now averaging 21 shots per game, scoring an average of 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists.

Next was Roy, with an average of 17 shots per game, scoring 20 points and 11 assists.

Then came Durant, with 16 shots a game, averaging 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Poor true star Chris Bosh only averaged 10 shots per game, managing 14 points and 6 rebounds.