MTLNOVEL Chapter 227: The Celtics Should Re-sign Him for 20 Years
The season was nearing its end, and the Bucks had ended their experiment with carnival basketball.
Unlike last season, this year the Bucks' record couldn't look down upon the Eastern Conference as before.
This season, the Pacers, having optimized their coaching staff, immediately unleashed their potential, maintaining strong momentum during the regular season.
The Pacers had been a thorn in the Bucks' side last regular season and had taught Milwaukee a harsh lesson on the craziest night of carnival basketball promotion.
By the end of the season, the two had one more game to go.
This time, the Bucks did not let the Pacers earn the title of being the "Buck killers."
Yu Fei and Ray Allen combined for 77 points, the Pacers' perimeter defense collapsed, and their interior defense couldn't disrupt the Bucks, leading to a heavy defeat.
This victory put the Bucks one game ahead of the Pacers, granting them this advantage: as long as they won the remaining two games of the season, they could secure first place in the Eastern Conference.
In the Eastern side, the Pistons appeared to be a team whose potential wasn't reflected in the regular season standings, while the Pacers were the only team aside from the Bucks that could dominate the Eastern Conference during regular play.
The Western Conference's championship contenders each had their own issues.
In a way, it wasn't their problem, but the Western's, the fierce competition within the division meant everyone's record might not look as pretty.
The Bucks were determined to win the last two games of the regular season.
Because their final two opponents were teams outside the playoff bracket.
One was Yu Fei's favorite, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the other was a Toronto Raptors team that had dropped out of contention early due to Carter's injuries.
The last matchup of the season with the Cavaliers saw many stories unfold.
Yu Fei's success was beneficial for LeBron James.
In a previous life, the Cavaliers only gradually figured out how to build around James after 2008. But now, they didn't need to figure it out for themselves; they just had to look at the Bucks' setup for reference.
So although Cleveland couldn't provide James with the same kind of team that Yu Fei had, they knew how to position him.
After the All-Star weekend, James was playing increasingly well, and though playoffs were no longer in reach, he still managed to get 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists in front of Yu Fei.
Yu Fei's performance was slightly better with 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists, but it was no longer as nationally attention-grabbing as when he scored 49 points against the Cavaliers at the start of the season.
"You know, Frye is my big bro, and I aim to keep moving forward following his example!"
As long as the outcome remained 60-40 like now, James would happily talk about what Yu Fei meant to him.
And Yu Fei didn't mind at all when others said James's performance was on par with his.
Joking aside, since when does a big brother envy his little bro's good performance?
Moreover, Yu Fei praised his little brother's rookie season in his unique way, "I know a lot of people will blame LeBron for missing the playoffs, and I know you're all comparing him to me, but why bother? The Cavaliers won 17 games last season, and 33 this season⑴, I mean, Bron brought them an extra 16 victories, which is remarkable for a rookie. Moreover, if you put the 33-win Cavaliers in the 1985-86 season, they would replace the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs."
The reporters were stunned. Were you shadowing the GOAT with such a roundabout comment?
Yu Fei seemed oblivious to the fact that he had just subtly dissed the GOAT, and even clarified, "I don't mean anything else, just that 33 wins are great."
Yeah, well understood, applause.
In fact, Yu Fei wasn't trying to shade Jordan intentionally; he was initially trying to distinguish James's influence on the Cavaliers before and after his arrival to argue that James deserved the Rookie of the Year, telling those claiming Carmelo Anthony was the rightful Rookie of the Year to think again.
Then he realized, hold on, by that logic, Anthony had an even stronger claim to the title.
Because the Nuggets, just like the Cavaliers, had won 17 games last season, and this season they were already past 40 victories.
Plus, in terms of stats, Anthony wasn't lacking; his improvement in wins was even greater, and in terms of divisional competition, half of the teams in the Western playoffs were championship contenders, and five, maybe six teams were fighting for 50 wins in the bloodbaths – no comparison to the Eastern Conference's shallow pond.
The more he thought about it, the more Yu Fei's reasoning twisted in favor of Anthony—turns out the "melon-heads" were on his side. Anyway, this year's Rookie of the Year had to be his little bro, come what may, unless Anthony led the Nuggets to the finals and beat both him and the Bucks, Yu Fei was adamant to the end.
Therefore, that topic was off-limits, and Yu Fei could only fire shots at Jordan, hitting the mark by sheer coincidence – definitely not intentional...
The Bucks later faced the Raptors at home in the final game of the regular season.
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Ironically for the Raptors that season, Carter couldn't play when there was still hope but recovered during the "garbage time" at the end of the season.
That night, Carter took flight several times at the Bradley Center, delivering stunning dunks just as beautiful as the ones Yu Fei saw at the All-Star game.
From those dunks, he could understand why Carter hadn't developed as expected in recent years, despite starting from last season plagued with injuries, yet still reigning as the All-Star vote king.
But the terrifying thing was that Carter's pedigree (North Carolina) and Carter's dunks (reminding people of Jordan) gave him an original sin.
This original sin was called, "If you don't want to be Jordan, then you're a damn fool."
Everyone expected him to match Jordan's standards, only to find he fell far short. He wasn't a rabid victor; he was the kind of guy who would attend his own graduation on the day of a Game 7. He lacked a sense of responsibility and the killer instinct, so he would choose to pass the ball in playoff rounds that could determine a season's life or death. He wasn't tough enough, and would hide away at the slightest injury until fully recovered—look at what Jordan did in 1986, coming back from a not-yet 100% healed fracture, leading the Bulls to 30 victories and the playoffs. And then there's you, Vince Carter, you're such a wuss!
Overall, Yu Fei felt regret and pity for Carter's experiences.
When Carter was welcomed with cheers on the away court for his dunks, Yu Fei teased, "Our fans like you a lot too."
Carter said with self-mockery, "Apart from Toronto, fans everywhere else seem to like me."
A bit of a sting, but it's the truth.
The people of Toronto's high expectations, combined with the fourth estate's indoctrination that "this man could be Jordan but doesn't want to be", turned Raptors fans' love into hatred.
The game itself was without suspense, with the Bucks easily winning after four quarters.
This was their last regular season game of the year.
Yu Fei only played 24 minutes, scoring 16 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, and dishing out 5 assists before clocking out.
Carter, on the other hand, played 34 minutes, scoring 25 points but having no substantial impact on the game.
"I'll remember these cheers," Carter said, "I know I came for this!"
As for Yu Fei, he smiled, "It feels great to go up against the Celtics in the first round."
"Is it because of Bill Simmons?"
Yu Fei asked, "Who is Bill Simmons?"
Of course, that was another one of his jokes. Even if he forgot that Paul Pierce was nearly stabbed to death, forgot that The Celtics turned Antoine Walker into Ricky Davis, forgot how they tried to manipulate things before the draft to lower his pick, he could never forget Bill Simmons.
After tonight, the regular season ended, and the season entered its second phase.
The Bucks marched into the playoffs with the best record in the league at 59 wins and 23 losses for Yu Fei's second season.
This season, due to a wide range of injuries suffered by the Bucks, Yu Fei had the opportunity to go full throttle, his scoring average nearing 34 points for a time.
Afterwards, as the injured players returned, Yu Fei's number of shots gradually decreased, but he ensured at least 30 points per game through scoring efficiency, eventually stabilizing his average at 32.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block by the end of the season.
This earned Yu Fei his first scoring title in his professional career.
Yu Fei wasn't too fussed about the scoring title, but Reebok went to great lengths to hype it up.
Because even though Yu Fei didn't want to be narrowly defined as a scorer, the target audience for sneaker companies really enjoyed scoring.
Telling them how all-around Yu Fei is wasn't as effective as telling them straightforwardly that Yu Fei can really score.
Yu Fei didn't care much for this sort of thing; the folks at Reebok always viewed issues abstractly anyway. They even hoped he would only play in Milwaukee for three years—what did they mean, leave after his rookie contract ended? Was there a 0.1% chance the Bucks wouldn't renew his contract or match outside offers?
April 17, 2004
The Bucks' first-round playoff series against The Celtics commenced.
From the start of the game, Yu Fei played like he had a personal vendetta against The Celtics.
His forceful blocks on Pierce, his drives and dunks in set plays, and his provocative celebration to the camera after knocking down a three while he shook Ricky Davis.
"Frye is a beast tonight!"
"Who woke the beast?"
Not many knew the answer, but not all questions need answers.
Yu Fei was wild tonight, the game was entertaining, and The Celtics were in for a rough ride in this series—these three points alone were enough to delight the fans.
The Celtics were battered from the start to the bitter end, losing by 24 points.
Yu Fei racked up 41 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and after the game, he didn't mention anything about Bill Simmons or any grudges against The Celtics. Instead, he sincerely offered a piece of advice to the Celtics' general manager Ainge, "Ricky is such a great defender, without him, I could have scored 100 points tonight. The Celtics should re-sign him for 20 years."
(1)Some die-hard LeBron fans might correct me, saying the Cavaliers won 35 games this season. Let me clarify that in reality, the Cavaliers went 2-2 against the Bucks this year. In this timeline, it was 0-4, so 33 wins.