Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 951 951 565 Bennett Knows the Answer

?Chapter 951: Chapter 565: Bennett Knows the Answer Chapter 951: Chapter 565: Bennett Knows the Answer Due to Amar’e Stoudemire’s recurring back injury, the starting and rotation of the Supersonics’ frontcourt were always unstable.

As the old saying goes, transitioning from luxury to frugality is difficult, and that was the Supersonics’ biggest challenge this season.

In the past few years, the frontcourt was their strength, and they could compete with anyone unflinchingly, but now they could only rely on their perimeter players. However, without the support of the frontcourt’s rebounds, the perimeter’s confidence in offense was somewhat weaker.

This was especially evident in the game against the Lakers at the end of December.

This season, the Lakers could be described as the most mediocre team in the Western Conference, with Pau Gasol inside and Kobe outside. These two could keep a playoff spot, but the Lakers had always only targeted championships historically; they were not the type of team satisfied just by making the playoffs.

Unfortunately tonight, Pau Gasol played inside like Chamberlain, and Kobe also fired away from outside, causing even the role players to fight more fiercely. The Supersonics gave away a tough defeat as a birthday gift for Yu Fei’s 30th birthday.

“It’s okay, December 31st will come again,” Yu Fei said about tonight’s loss.

Yet, he would probably never forget losing to the Lakers on his 30th birthday night.

Besides the evident flaws in the frontcourt, the Supersonics weren’t without surprises.

Irving had started showing All-Star quality after adapting to the NBA’s pace. By December, his performance even outshone Roy, who was affected by injuries and had a noticeable decline this season, averaging 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, becoming Yu Fei’s most reliable assistant.

Apart from Irving, Chandler Parsons, who had been promoted to the starting lineup this season, was also a big surprise for the Supersonics. Although he could not help the team defensively, he was a smart team defender. The prevailing myth about team defenders—that they won’t help now, but once the team improves, so will their defense, is completely flawed—ignoring his defensive Achilles’ heel, Parsons was excellent in shooting, smart in movement, and capable of facilitating, being a space-creating, off-ball four position.

In this era of small-ball, such a player was as valuable as a 3D wing.

Besides Parsons, Danny Green and Patrick Beverley, two young players who had often been criticized by Presti, also broke through this season.

Green was becoming an excellent 3D player, Beverley, as a defensive point guard, was fairly incompatible with most of the team, but also allowed the coaching staff to make timely substitutions to change the pace when Irving got destroyed defensively by the opposing team.

The flaws of the Supersonics were clear, but their merits outweighed the faults. Above everyone’s growth, it was Yu Fei, averaging 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists per game, who ensured the team had a very high lower limit and not insignificant upper limit.

But events like Yu Fei’s birthday night being blown out by the Lakers were rare.

Yu Fei did not wish to dwell on past failures.

His career was already long enough; he had seen enough rises and falls. He knew that it was just the victory or loss of one evening. If they dwelled too much on it, they would lose even more.

The fate of the Supersonics’ season still rested largely on the perimeter. As long as they stayed healthy, they would not fear any team.

Indeed, as long as they stayed healthy.

But Roy’s fatigue accumulated over a year of uninterrupted play was becoming a whole new issue.

After enduring a long and complete NBA season, Roy’s body was overwhelmed, and he even played for Team USA in London Olympics, missing the summer that should have been spent resting. He was injured in London, and this season, though there had been no major injuries, minor injuries were continuous.

These minor ailments were gradually draining Roy’s physical defenses like a sandglass.

By 2013, the last straw fell.

In an away game against the Bulls, a change of direction in the frontcourt not only shook off his opponent but also severely twisted his own ankle.

He collapsed at the United Center.

The examination results afterward brought both regret and relief to the Supersonics team. In such a non-confrontational injury, generally, it’s either nothing or not minor at all.

Tyronn Lue had already braced for the worst.

The hospital’s diagnosis was a high-grade three ankle sprain on the right foot, requiring 6-8 weeks of rest.

The good news was that Roy could return by the end of the season; the bad news was that the Supersonic’s trio of perimeter players was temporarily down to two.

Yu Fei turned to Irving and said, “Kyrie, Brandon’s injured; you need to work harder.”

Roy’s injury was a blow to the Supersonics, but for Irving, it was an opportunity. From today, he was no longer a secondary scorer, nor did he have to rely on leftovers from Yu Fei and Roy for ball rights. He could rightfully replace Roy’s position and dominate the primary baller status.

For a young player who just averaged 24+5+5 per month, the arrival of such ball rights was timely.

At the same time, Yu Fei was also liberated from his previous “restrictions.” In the past, with Roy on the court, the ball rights had to be meticulously distributed, but now, he needed to work with Irving to digest Roy’s ball rights, ensuring that the efficiency did not decrease.

For Irving, this was challenging. Although he was a rare rookie with All-Star capability, maintaining efficiency in the face of increased ball handling was not commonly seen in history.

For Fei, this was merely revisiting the days when he used to take on major responsibilities. As the sole major ball-handler, his only duty was to both draw resources from and contribute back to his teammates.

The main method of exploitation was to use the space created by teammates for numerous simple one-on-ones, continuously pressing toward the basket through the expansive offensive area, thereby ensuring a stable shooting percentage. This was Yu Fei’s comfort zone.