noveldrama
Chapter 928 928 557
Chapter 928 928 557
?Chapter 928: 557 Chapter 928: 557 The SuperSonics decisively defeated the Spurs with a 4-1 series victory, earning themselves ample rest time.
Who will their opponent be in the finals, New Jersey or Miami?
Yu Fei’s answer to this question was, “Doesn’t matter. Either works.”
The GOAT’s stance could be interpreted in many ways: arrogant, conceited, or having absolute confidence in winning.
Yu Fei’s camp would naturally choose the third explanation, but those media outlets looking for trouble would consciously pick the topic that generates the most traffic.
The SuperSonics were in a relaxed state.
When the Miami Heat led the Brooklyn Nets 3-2 and entered the night of the sixth game of the Eastern Conference Finals, Tyronn Lue gave the team a break and rewarded them with a trip to watch “Twilight City.”
Personally, Yu Fei would have preferred to watch “The Avengers,” but “Twilight City” was okay, too.
The movie was just as simple and uninteresting as the SuperSonics players, who were strong in limb but simple-minded, had expected.
Kwame Brown complained, “The protagonists are all too pale. Why do they think black people can’t play the main characters in vampire movies?”
“Don’t worry,” Yu Fei joked, “as long as President Obama is reelected, everything’s going to be okay.”
Roy became engrossed in the movie’s plot.
He found it strange that the latest installment of “Twilight City” featured a plot where Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart engaged in human reproduction, resulting in her pregnancy.
Having read some bizarre books, he knew that vampires were supposed to be bloodless, and if they lacked blood, how could Pattinson’s ‘little brother’ stand up? Without his ‘little brother’ standing up, how could he perform the necessary procedure for reproduction?
Afterwards, Roy tweeted, “Robert might be the first man in human history to successfully reproduce without an erection.”
Yu Fei quickly responded to the tweet, “Forgot to switch to your burner account, Brandon?”
“Dude, what are you talking about?” Brown also joined in the fun.
Soon, the tweet was swarmed by NBA players and went viral.
Everyone wanted to know why Roy would post such a bizarre tweet.
Then, something more important happened.
In the sixth game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat fought bitterly and ultimately won a defensive showdown.
4-2
The Brooklyn Nets’ Big Three, lacking in depth, did not make it to the finals as anticipated by the outside world.
Instead, the Miami Heat, who had “merely” strengthened with Yao Ming, showed a strength beyond imagination.
This result was not surprising to the SuperSonics.
Because in the Heat’s roster, there were two purple cards that had not been fully developed before the lockout.
Those were Curry and Love.
Not to mention, they had also drafted Jimmy Butler before the lockout.
Yu Fei felt they would be stronger next year, but ultimately, like the SuperSonics, they would implode due to swollen salary space.
Fortunately, with a similarly star-studded roster, the SuperSonics had a far more reasonable personnel mix than the Heat.
Whether it was Wade or Curry, or Yao Ming and Love, they were not the best partners for each other.
However, the League was happy about this development.
The storyline of the Brooklyn Nets’ Big Three battling the SuperSonics dynasty was fresh, but the viewership was nowhere close to the spectacle of Yu Fei and Yao Ming clashing in the finals.
Yu Fei was China’s most popular foreign sports star, and Yao Ming was China’s most influential sports star.
In the past, since the NBA Finals lacked the participation of Chinese players, even though China’s NBA fans paid attention, it didn’t reach nationwide fervor.
Now, the Yu vs. Yao matchup was bound to stir up astounding attention across the ocean.
A few days later, the SuperSonics left Seattle.
Due to various reasons, the SuperSonics didn’t have the home-court advantage in the Western Conference Finals, nor in the NBA Finals this year.
This undoubtedly added some additional difficulty to their defense.
June 12th
The first game of the NBA Finals tipped off at the American Airlines Arena.
The strength of Miami lay in Wade’s indiscriminate solo play, Curry’s ability to effortlessly switch between on-ball and off-ball play while posing a lethal three-point threat, and the fact that Yao Ming and Love both had a three-point shooting percentage as high as 40%, with Ariza being one of the best 3D players in the whole League.
On paper, the Heat undeniably would compare to the 2010 Lakers.
But still, such a mix had its problems.
Even though Curry’s off-ball threat was as substantial as his on-ball threat, the off-ball threat needed a system to drive it.
Without the Warriors’ cutting and passing game, Curry’s off-ball threat couldn’t be fully unleashed, and his on-ball threat was limited by the presence of Wade.
Yao Ming and Love in the paint were overly reserved.
On the one hand, Yao Ming knew he was an outsider and did not want to occupy Love’s tactical position, but Love also tended to yield tactically because of Yao Ming’s proactive choice to play on the perimeter. Neither defined a clear primary role, both opting for preserving harmony over establishing hierarchy, which led to both developing into big men capable of post-ups but primarily focused on pick-and-roll and spreading the floor with outside shooting.
It was only against the Nets that Yao Ming’s ability to counter Howard elevated his offensive status within the Miami Heat.
Facing the SuperSonics, they immediately targeted Yao Ming’s inability to defend pick-and-rolls and Love’s inability to defend just about anyone.
The Heat suffered the same fate as the Lakers.
Wade’s individual offense did bear fruit, but it could not compensate for the points lost due to the interior defense.