Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 906 906 549 Remember These Disrespects_3

?Chapter 906: Chapter 549: Remember These Disrespects_3 Chapter 906: Chapter 549: Remember These Disrespects_3 Hill, standing nearby as if struck by lightning, always prided himself as a good man, steadfast in relationships and a friend to middle-aged and elderly women in the United States, could not believe that such evil things existed in this world.

“It’s a separate issue, Melo,” Yu Fei smiled as he retreated defensively, “I’m very dedicated when it comes to the game.”

The Earth-shattering showdown that Anthony had hoped for did not occur.

After a few exchanges with Anthony, Yu Fei started doing what he considered boring stuff. Running plays, setting screens, positioning, grabbing rebounds… My God, Anthony never knew that a superstar needed to do the grunt work of positioning. Does it make sense? I never did positioning when I was a star, so do superstars have to do it now?

Yu Fei became the spoiler Anthony deeply despised, and Paul consequently took back the control of the ball from Anthony. Durant quickly understood what Yu Fei meant by “the opponent’s power forward has terrible defense.” It wasn’t just terrible, it was useless. If Odom could no longer defend, then Arlington was like: is there even such a thing as defense on the basketball court?

Thankfully, with Paul locking down the opposing point guard on the perimeter, and Howard, a peak DPOY on the inside, otherwise Brooklyn Nets’ defense would have been a major issue. But in a championship-level matchup, it’s always about comparing weaknesses, and the one with the greater weakness suffers.

Although Yu Fei had stopped his offensive push, he was everywhere on the court. After becoming a power forward, Yu Fei had to let go of his superstar demeanor to do the dirty and exhausting work, which gave him a greater understanding and insight into the game. He couldn’t comprehend previously why some big men couldn’t position themselves immediately after a pick and roll, nor could he understand why some big men couldn’t hurry back to protect the basket after a delay at the high post. Only when he started doing these things himself did he realize how difficult they were.

Yu Fei’s goal wasn’t to become the best power forward in the league, he just wanted to be a competent one. So, in the minutes following the first quarter, he hardly shot the ball; he just set screens, provided cover, switched and helped on defense, boxed out, and contested for rebounds.

Durant fiercely took shots at Arlington with no one bothering him.

In just a few minutes, solely by leveraging the power forward position, Durant scored 12 points.

However, the response from the Brooklyn Nets wasn’t lacking either.

Paul called for pick and rolls with Bosh, while Howard’s dominance in rebounding was strong; as long as he held his position, no one could snatch the rebound from his hands.

Thanks to offensive rebounds leading to second-chance points, the Brooklyn Nets played on equal footing with the SuperSonics.

Defensive rebounds were now a major issue for the SuperSonics.

If Bosh got called out, Yu Fei had to contest Howard in the paint, and the level of their confrontation was not on the same scale.

If Yu Fei went out, Bosh likewise could not outrebound Howard.

After all, Bosh, primarily playing the power forward and acting as a center due to his height, was at a significant disadvantage in physique and core strength compared to top-tier centers like Howard.

The game proceeded to the nine-minute mark, and both Yu Fei and Roy were substituted off.

Tyronn Lue brought in Beverley and DeAndre Jordan.

“How does it feel?”

Coach Lu wanted to know if Yu Fei could still hold up.

Yu Fei candidly admitted, “I can’t outrebound him.”

After all, prior to this season, Yu Fei had not undergone any training to specifically play as a power forward.

He simply adapted to the changes in the era and the team’s needs by moving to the power forward position.

Against the majority of power forwards, not only could he hold his own, but he also had a clear advantage; however, against a center like Howard, he fully realized how significant the difference in strength was between forwards and centers.

Lu nodded and said, “I know what to do now.”

Lu’s approach was simple—whenever Paul called for a pick and roll, they’d promptly double team.

Paul wasn’t afraid of double teams, but no matter who it was, facing a double team required quick decision-making. This way, Paul couldn’t wait for Howard to roll back down to the paint but had to pass the ball immediately, whether to Howard or to someone on the perimeter, which was better than letting him run point in the paint and then get slaughtered by Howard crashing the offensive boards.

On the court, Durant, leading the second team, was finishing up the first quarter’s work. The Brooklyn Nets let Anthony handle the closing, which reignited the rivalry the two had started earlier.

Anthony preemptively struck, hitting a pull-up three over Durant and taunted, “That was too easy, you’re not even a hair on Frye’s head!” Durant, no less impressive, took over Beverley’s role, dribbling up to the left wing at a 45-degree angle and responding with a chasing three-pointer.

In that instant, Yu Fei was reminded of a certain old friend. However, unlike that person, Durant didn’t talk trash, nor was there a reporter interviewing him about how he prepared for that shot. Thus, people still didn’t know it was something he’d been training for all his life.

Anthony applauded continuously, preferring Durant over the disappointing Frye. The two of them started dueling, with Durant being the more efficient of the two.

Yet, in the final minute, Durant missed a difficult turnaround jump shot, causing Beverley’s discontent to erupt. “Do you think you can take all the shots just because Frye and Brandon aren’t on the court?” Beverley yelled, “What do you think of us?”

“Passers,” was Durant’s reply, as he returned the question, “Do you have a problem with that?”

This scene, unintended by the plan, revealed the unseen internal issues of the Brooklyn Nets, while the discord within the SuperSonics appeared sharply under the national broadcast cameras.

The entire world knew Beverley was a “mad dog” that Yu Fei “adopted” during the lockout period, as they went to China together to play games, and then Beverley joined the SuperSonics after the lockout ended. This unyielding mad dog relentlessly barked at Durant, Yu Fei’s protégé, causing a frenzy among TV commentators and on social media.

Durant walked away indifferently, casting a glance at Yu Fei who was lazily sitting on the sidelines.

“Remember this disrespect.”

These were the words Yu Fei had said to him when Anthony mocked him before.

Including this, Frye?