Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 569: Chapter 407: Big Fei, It’s You Again

In terms of ability, the star shooting guards Roy and Kobe had a gap between them.

However, if Roy got into his rhythm, even Kobe couldn’t show the difference in level within a single game.

That’s exactly how the game started tonight, with Roy feeling disrespected, and as a Kobe hater, what could be more infuriating than that?

So, he unusually shed his role as organizer and transformed into an arrowhead, focusing solely on playing one-on-one against Kobe.

This forced Yu Fei, who had wanted to go head-to-head with Kobe from the start to get under his skin, to concentrate on organizing the play instead.

Since Roy had already relinquished the organizing role, if Yu Fei didn’t take it on, the team’s offense would be disorganized.

While relying on individual play could be effective in the short term, in the long run, it was detrimental.

Provoked by Roy, Kobe seemed a bit surprised.

Because he hadn’t expected Roy to dare to respond to him.

Having faced the Supersonics several times this season, Kobe’s impression of the team was that Yu Fei was as his name implied, Brown was arrogant, Marion was an old opponent from the Phoenix Suns, Durant still needed to practice, and Roy? He barely had any impression of him, only remembering that he had once refused to sign an autograph for him.

Kobe played one-on-one casually.

He wasn’t as heated as Roy, just shooting with his normal rhythm.

But Roy had a clearly different attitude.

As a diehard Kobe fan for twenty-four days, Yu Fei could assert that Kobe definitely wouldn’t be able to respond effectively this round.

His offense looked too routine, not putting any pressure on Roy.

Seconds later, Kobe drove to the left side of the free-throw line for a jump shot, which Roy disrupted, resulting in a miss.

The Lakers retreated quickly on defense, thwarting the Supersonics’ fast break.

Yu Fei, controlling the ball at the top of the key, gestured for a teammate to set a screen, confounding the Lakers’ defense.

Roy, at the baseline, suddenly cut back, using this to shake off the determined defense of Kobe, which was the real offensive move of the Supersonics.

Yu Fei watched the angle of the screen, but his hands suddenly pounded the ball to the floor, threading it through the defensive area of several Lakers players to reach Roy.

Roy, receiving the ball at the baseline, immediately scored with a reverse layup off the glass.

“Ladies and gentlemen, that’s Frye magic!” boomed Key Arena announcer Bob Blake, “Deadlier than any magic the Lakers have ever seen!”

Yu Fei and Roy had a buddy-like understanding.

They knew each other too well.

When they first went to play in AAU games together, they already coordinated well. And as Yu Fei entered the NBA, although many years had passed without them competing on the same court, their individual improvement and a deeper understanding of the game, made their collaboration in Seattle seem like a match made in heaven.

Yu Fei’s exceptional organizing ability and passing technique meant Roy didn’t have to challenge Kobe’s defense every round.

Kidd, upon seeing Yu Fei’s actions, couldn’t help but also want to make his presence felt.

Kobe missed another jump shot.

His shooting touch seemed off tonight.

But Kidd’s advanced anticipation allowed him to grab the offensive rebound and pass it back to Kobe.

At that moment, Kobe was beyond the three-point line on the left, with Yu Fei on the left baseline and Brown inside, so Roy defended like a Spurs player, aggressively using the “push middle, give baseline” defense.

“Push middle, give baseline,” a defensive concept well-understood by every Spurs coach and player who’s played for the Spurs.

Compared to the wide-open middle lane, the narrower baseline required higher decision-making from the ball handler because of less space and fewer options; they had to decide quickly whether to shoot or pass, or else when the baseline defender came up to double-team, making a good decision would be nearly impossible.

Because by then, the ball handler needed to think about passing the ball out quickly, otherwise, even if they weren’t stripped of the ball, they’d be forced out of bounds for a turnover.

Given the Supersonics players’ current positions, Roy’s defensive decision was sound.

The only issue was that this defense was being used against the world’s best shooting guard at handling the Spurs’ scoring.

In the recent semifinals, Kobe had dismantled the Spurs’ defense with unanswerable jump shots. Now that Roy was imitating him, it was natural for Kobe to teach him a lesson.

Kobe first deliberately went baseline, then made a quick stop and change of direction, stretching and compressing the Supersonics’ defense with his proximity and drawing away, and finally, he made a stop-and-fade jumper from the free-throw line, swishing it in.

4 to 4

Yu Fei passed to Roy, whose jump shot after the crossover missed.

The Lakers’ fast break quickly advanced to the frontcourt, and although Yu Fei’s quick transition defense intercepted the first wave of attack, Kidd swiftly passed to the following Kobe.

Kobe dribbled, jumped first to use his body against Yu Fei, then scooped the ball in with his other hand.

4 to 6

Less than two seconds later, as Kobe was about to toss some trash talk, Yu Fei suddenly hurled a quarterback’s long pass from the backcourt that cut through the entire court, directing the ball straight to Roy, who turned around and scored with a hook shot.

6 to 6

“When we talk about the best offensive players in the league, Frye, AI, and Kobe’s names come up in the discussion,” said ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy. “But who is the best at using their offense to create opportunities for their teammates? There’s only one answer, and that’s Frye! Both Kobe and AI are heavy artillery on the attack, but Frye is the one who can both lead the charge and enable heavy weapons to do so!”

Van Gundy’s partner Mark Jackson added, “I think Kobe can do the same thing, if he wants to.”

“Maybe,” Van Gundy laughed. “But he might not want to.”

Yu Fei’s onslaught hadn’t unfolded yet, but his presence was already immensely strong, even stronger than Roy, who had scored every point for the Supersonics so far.

It was clearly a duel between Roy and Kobe, but the experts’ focus seemed to be on the differences and similarities between Yu Fei and Kobe.

However, Yu Fei felt that Roy’s challenge to Kobe had an effect.

Kobe now had a high desire to shoot.

In the next round, the Supersonics only gave Kobe a second of space.

Kobe actually thought this was a good opportunity and decisively took a three from the top of the arc.

“Bang!”

“Why does Kobe think this is an opportunity?” Karl laughed and asked the person next to him, “Doesn’t he know that his recent three-point shooting percentage from the top of the arc is less than 30%?”

The rule of the playoffs is to target your weak points.

If Kobe’s three-point shot from the top of the arc was not accurate, the Supersonics would occasionally give him space, tempting him to shoot.

Two people reacted to Kobe’s miss.

They were Yu Fei and Kidd.

Two people sensitive to long rebounds simultaneously predicted the correct position to be, and in that moment, the battle of awareness had ended, and the contest of talent was about to begin. Once it came to talent, Kidd didn’t consider himself weaker than anyone, priding himself as the elephant among point guards—who could compete with him?

If Kidd was the elephant among point guards, then Yu Fei, who had played point guard for several years, was the Tyrannosaurus Rex of that position.

Yu Fei stretched out his long arm to grab the rebound, then used his body to push Kidd away as the Supersonics’ defensive counterattack instantly unfolded.

“!#￥!@#￥”

Key Arena erupted because Kobe had caught up with Yu Fei at full speed.

And Yu Fei had also launched his first offense since the start of the game.

Kobe’s pressure-filled defense would make most ball handlers back down, but Yu Fei, with a body stronger than Kobe’s, stood his ground against the pressure, powering through to rip open the defense. One step forward, he seized the defensive position; another step, and Kobe was trailing by more than half.

The head referee for tonight, Steve Javie, bit down on his whistle but did not blow it.

His leniency on contact gave Kobe a chance to stop Yu Fei, who was going full speed. However, this same leniency also meant that once Yu Fei realized this, Kobe’s defense was about to face its doom.

Yu Fei let out a shout, and like a truck, he plowed through Kobe’s defense outside the paint, completely losing his defensive position. Yu Fei stormed to the basket and executed a ferocious draw bow tomahawk dunk.

“Lucky this isn’t Staples Center.” Yu Fei tauntingly said to Kobe, “Otherwise, I would have been called for an offensive foul by now.”

Kobe, still enduring the pain from the harsh collision, said, “That would be an offensive foul.”

Yes, if we set aside the thousand fouls you committed against me before I knocked you down, that would be an offensive foul.

“So what?” Yu Fei glanced at Javie, “Mr. T won’t call it.”

As Yu Fei retreated to the backcourt, Roy said, “Aren’t you a Kobe fan? Why so harsh on your idol?”

Have we now entered the phase where Kobe haters think Kobe fans are too tough on their hero?

“Because you’re so useless, I had no choice but to make a move,” Yu Fei mocked.

Yu Fei’s dunk over Kobe in the counterattack seemed to have cooled down both sides substantially.

The attacking rhythm between Kobe and Roy was broken.

Kidd took timely control of the game, aiming to reestablish the Lakers’ offensive rhythm.

Little O saw his chance.

He felt that he really had to thank Big Fei. If Big Fei hadn’t woken Kobe up, who knew how long this maniac would keep playing iso. He still needed to settle a score with that dog Brown.

Sensing that Little O wanted the ball, Kidd decisively passed it to him.

From the past few games, it was clear that Little O had a high chance of success playing one-on-one against Brown.

Since Marion often had to switch on defense, mismatches between Little O and Brown occurred quite often.

This round was no exception, Little O received the ball and displayed an array of moves against Brown.

The audience could see the essence of a star interior player in Little O, as he nearly played Brown like clapping hands.

Little O faked, dribbled, and faked again; Brown’s defense was completely shook, and just as Little O was about to leap and finish, suddenly he heard someone say watch your back.

Little O looked back, his excited heart and trembling hands, in this moment, solidified into a sorrowful roar, “Big Fei, it’s you again!!!”

With a loud bang, Yu Fei blocked Little O with a massive pin block, and Brown, laughing, grabbed the ball, throwing it to Roy.

The Supersonics’ counterattack swiftly connected.

Roy, halted by Kobe in the frontcourt, hadn’t forgotten his duty though.

He was not only the Supersonics’ second scorer but also the main playmaker of the team.

Kobe, like a wild beast, blocked his path, but Roy simply stopped in his tracks and passed the ball to Yu Fei, who was about to arrive on the scene.

In the frontcourt, Yu Fei received the ball and took a chasing three from one meter beyond the top of the arc.

“Swish!!!”

The commentator cheered for Yu Fei, who dominated on both ends, while the Lakers felt the crisis as the game rhythm was entirely in the hands of the opponent.

Phil Jackson’s expression fluctuated, and in a speed seemingly uncharacteristic for him, he called a timeout.

PS: The second chapter should arrive before three o’clock. If it’s not on time, it means it wasn’t finished yet.

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