Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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109 to 98

The Bucks won the first game of the Finals.

Just looking at the stats, Duncan's performance was the most eye-catching.

Duncan scored 24 points, grabbed 21 rebounds, dished out 5 assists, and blocked 5 shots, arguably the best performance on the floor, yet the Spurs lost by 11 points. And it mainly came down to Duncan not being able to go all out on the offensive end.

Gregg Popovich told reporters, "If you think this is TD's normal, you'd better fold your hands and pray devoutly to God. See if God will let tonight's TD keep showing up."

The biggest problem for Duncan today was free throws.

Once the Bucks saw he wasn't shooting well from the line, they started fouling him from the second quarter on, and Duncan ended up hitting just 9 out of 19 free throws, which was pretty ugly to say the least.

George Karl couldn't care less about Popovich's "Believe in Duncan" speech. He joked with reporters, "The Lakers clearly didn't make it to the Finals, so why was there a Shaquille O'Neal on the court?"

Even Ray Allen started showing his sense of humor.

"There clearly wasn't a Shaq on the court," said Ray Allen. "Otherwise, Frye's numbers would have been doubled."

Although Yu Fei's Finals debut didn't yield Duncan-esque numbers, his performance of 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists could still be considered comprehensive.

Yu Fei was mainly dissatisfied with his offensive performance in the second half.

He scored 17 points in the first half, but his field goal percentage took a clear hit under the Spurs' tight defense in the second half, managing only 11 points. Even though the Bucks won, he felt he only played at 70% of his capabilities.

Therefore, he chose to stay back at the Bradley Center to practice.

"You're probably the only player in the world who isn't satisfied after putting up 28+7+9 and leading your team to a victory,"

Anthony Lawson said helplessly to Yu Fei.

"Talkative as ever, just pass the ball."

Yu Fei's practice focused on mid-to-long-range shots from both sides.

While passing the ball, Lawson chatted, "Did you watch the Spurs' post-game interview?"

"When would I have the time for that?"

"You could take a moment to watch it, might fire you up some."

"Can't you just tell me?"

"Sure," Lawson said, "Stephen Jackson said their second-half defense on you was effective, and that's what you'll be dealing with going forward. They're confident they can contain you. That guy really dared to say it!"

No matter what, as far as Yu Fei was concerned, Jackson's first statement was factual.

The trouble with the Spurs' defense lies in their inside-outside lockdown pair of Duncan and Bowen.

Bowen himself is one of the best one-on-one defenders in the League, and his defensive prowess, combined with Duncan's rim protection, can indeed shut down most perimeter stars' offenses.

Especially in this first year where hand-checking inside the three-point line and zone defenses were allowed, the darkest defensive era since the 70s.

Yu Fei struggled tonight to find his mid-range pull-up jumper after getting past Bowen's defense, and when he drove to the basket, his floaters also lacked touch, making it hard to challenge Duncan.

Yu Fei believed the lack of touch on his floater was temporary, and the first thing he needed to regain was his feeling for the mid-range pull-up jumper.

"I still prefer when they say things like TD deserves the MVP more than I do," Yu Fei said.

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"They actually did say that."

Lawson laughed, "Steve Kerr said a few words."

Yu Fei suddenly realized that having Lawson as his trainer was a waste of his talents, he should have been a megaphone.

The guy was up to date with all the gossip, knowing everything the Spurs had said after the game ended.

If it were anybody else, Yu Fei probably wouldn't take it seriously, but Kerr's words, from the man who helped Curry start the small-ball era and future top-20 coach, were worth listening to, "What did he say?"

"The same old clichés."

"Let me hear them."

"I understand the League's marketing needs to elevate the young man to such heights, but I hope people realize that he's not someone who could coexist with MJ. If he can't coexist with the greatest player of all time, he can't possibly be the best, not even the best of the regular season," Lawson said, careful to watch Yu Fei's reactions, "I'm just quoting, don't look at me like that."

"I'm not angry."

After saying that, Yu Fei's shot hit the rim hard, clearly showing too much strength, as the ball bounced sharply towards the backcourt.

Lawson swallowed, "Really not angry?"

"Do you think I'm angry?" Yu Fei smiled, "I just put a little too much into that shot."

Based on what Lawson knew about Yu Fei, his chances of not being angry were zero.

If Kerr had only supported his teammate, that would have been fine, but he went on to raise Doggett like Jordan's lackey.

To belittle him was one thing, but to bring up Jordan as an example was something Yu Fei couldn't accept.

Yu Fei's practice lasted 90 minutes.

"Get up early tomorrow."

That was the scariest thing Lawson had heard.

The same Yu Fei who played 37 minutes tonight and then practiced for 90 minutes after the game ended, and now was going home at midnight, was planning to get up early the next day?

Yu Fei wasn't the kind of naturally energetic person like Jordan.

Legend has it that Jordan could stay up all night playing cards, then attend a business event the next morning, catch a nap at noon, and then drop 50 points in the evening game.

This was something most people, including Yu Fei, couldn't do.

Similarly, it's tough to wake up early after such a night, but Yu Fei could manage it, as rage and the desire to prove himself can push a person to the extreme.

The next day at 6:30 a.m., Yu Fei woke up.

He ate the breakfast prepared by the housekeeper, rested for a bit, and then began his morning training.

In the afternoon, Yu Fei showed up on time at the St. Francis Center, first arranging a one-on-one with Devean George, then moving on to practice shooting alone.

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Everyone was puzzled as to why Yu Fei appeared as if they had lost the game last night.

But Christian Laettner knew the reason, "It's probably because of what Steve Kerr said."

Sure enough, having taken a punch from Yu Fei, he at least half got it right.

During the subsequent tactical class, George Karl clearly sensed that Yu Fei was not on the same page as the others.

Yu Fei seemed more tense.

If there was a game tonight, Karl would be pleased that Yu Fei was already in the gaming state so early.

But with a day left until the second game, being wound up this tightly was more harmful than beneficial.

After the tactical class, Karl called Yu Fei over, "Frye, do you have something on your mind?"

"No." Yu Fei answered.

"You look very somber," Karl said, "I'm not saying this state is bad, but obviously we won last night, you should relax a little."

Yu Fei was in an anxious state, eager to prove himself; he wasn't sure if Karl was worth confiding in, but looking around Milwaukee, did he have a better option than this middle-aged man before him with the moving hairline?

"I didn't play well during the second half last night," said Yu Fei, "I want to be in top form for the second game."

Karl understood. This sort of thing was easy to understand.

In Karl's perspective, Yu Fei's poor performance on the offensive end during the second half of yesterday's game was a normal fluctuation within the game.

He had faced it during the regular season, and now they were in the finals, and the opponent was the Spurs, a fierce team whose defensive style didn't quite fit the Western teams—they could artificially cause fluctuations in the opponent's performance.

Yu Fei wasn't accustomed to it, or rather, he felt threatened.

But still, being this nervy wasn't a good idea.

"Are you doubting yourself?"

Karl asked with a smile.

"No, not at all."

"Then what are you worried about?"

What made Yu Fei helpless was that he didn't know what he was worried about.

"Listen, young man, fluctuations during a game happen to everyone, anyone involved in this sport has experienced it, nothing special about that. You can't overreact when such things happen during the finals."

Phil Jackson really should take a good look at how his arch-rival was soothing his most appreciated player, like a Zen Master.

Oh no, Jackson couldn't see, because he had too many arch-rivals—Riley, Popovich, Sloan... they were enough to block his view.

It's just that, even though Yu Fei took Karl's words to heart, he still couldn't relax.

Karl sighed, "Ever heard of Jack McMahon?"

Yu Fei shook his head.

Karl thought as much, it would've been surprising if Yu Fei had known him. He'd passed away back in the late '80s.

"He was my predecessor, also a coach in the NBA. Once, his team faced a series of losses, everyone was tense and anxious, and they didn't know what the problem was. Do you know what Jack did?"

Yu Fei watched Karl intently, of course he didn't know.

This was George Karl's favorite NBA story. Whenever his players were down, he would use the power of the story to inspire them.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Jack prepared N hot tubs and plenty of drinks in the hotel for his players, then he told them 'enjoy life while you can, guys'."

"Guess what happened afterwards? Heh, they started winning again!"

Yu Fei eyed Karl skeptically, "You're not suggesting that I..."

"No, I mean, you could find something to do that relaxes you."

Indeed, what could be more relaxing than **?

"Is there anything else?" Yu Fei asked.

"That's it," Karl said, "You can go, today's training ends here."

Yu Fei went to the locker room for a shower, changed his clothes, and walked outside with Lawson.

"You finished early today?" Lawson asked, surprised.

Yu Fei said, "George said I need to relax."

"Indeed, you think too much," Lawson suddenly had a mischievous thought, "How about we go..."

Yu Fei cut him off; he would never do anything out of line during the finals.

When they left St. Francis Center, Yu Fei thought of a way to entertain himself.

Later, driven by Lawson, it took nearly 40 minutes to arrive at a Japanese restaurant in Arlington Town dozens of kilometers away.

"Two pork cutlet meals, thank you."

Lawson said with nostalgia, "How long has it been since you had this?"

"You forget. We had this last year in Korea," Yu Fei shook his head, "Pity about the taste."

Lawson said with a smirk, "But the taste of Korean women is quite right."

Yu Fei was non-committal.

The pork cutlet meal arrived, and it wasn't remarkable in itself. What was surprising was the waitress, an Asian woman with a girl-next-door vibe, a sort of cross between Junko Bihua and Rie Tachikawa; more importantly, she didn't have the skeletal thinness that Yu Fei would instantly blacklist among Asian women. Even swathed in her work clothes, it was clear she had substance.

"Big Fei, how much tip should we give?" Lawson looked at Yu Fei's reaction, clearly, that waitress deserved a 100% tip.

In that moment, Yu Fei understood the moral of George Karl's story.

Enjoy life while you can, buddy.