Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Although Yu Fei popped the champagne for the semifinals early, it wouldn't change anything.

In Game 4, the Philadelphia 76ers bravely held on for three quarters before being swept away by the Bucks' 5 OUT lineup.

111 to 97

4 to 0

The Philadelphia 76ers once again fell before the Bucks.

For a team that had decided to trade away its core and rebuild by the trade deadline, stopping at the semifinals was not a failure.

Their real issue was where to go from here.

If they continued to build around Allen Iverson, this was as far as the team could go.

But if they sold Iverson for a low price, they were a hundred times unwilling to do so.

Before the offseason arrived, Iverson said to Yu Fei, "Win another championship. You guys have a good chance."

"If I win, I'll give you last year's ring," Yu Fei joked.

Iverson confidently replied, "No need, I'll win one sooner or later."

Seeing Iverson was still as tough-mouthed as ever, Yu Fei felt relieved.

Now they needed to turn their attention to the other set of Eastern Conference semifinals.

The distasteful Pistons and the so-called Bucks slayers, the Pacers.

Speaking of which, these two teams had quite a fateful entanglement.

It was the Pistons who swept the Pacers in the first round last year, leading directly to Isiah Thomas being fired. However, the Pistons who had done the deed soon got their punishment in the semifinals by the Nets—they too were swept.

Rick Carlisle also got the axe because the Pistons management believed that while he was effective in managing the team, he couldn't control the hearts of his soldiers and failed to communicate effectively with players. Then Larry Brown came on board, and with the foundation Carlisle had built, officially launched the Iron Bucket Formation, and the Pistons were transformed.

Now, Carlisle was like the ex coming back to provoke their old flame with a new love—I'm doing better than you.

Moreover, he emphasized, "I'm someone who always learns from life. Overall, I'm not much different from a year ago."

Meaning, I'm still myself, but I've led the Pacers to a better record than the Pistons, and you were wrong to fire me for last year's loss; now it's your turn to pay the price.

The Pistons and Pacers' matchup was a bit like the Knicks' bloody battles with the Miami Heat in the late '90s.

Both are extreme products of the same basketball philosophy.

Except the Pistons went even further down this path—perhaps the farthest in history.

In this series, the two teams battled fiercely for six games, with the Pacers being held under 70 points in 3 games and under 80 points in 2 games.

Especially in Game 6 that ended the series, the Pistons "furiously scored" 69 points and restricted the Pacers to 65 points.

As a time-traveler, Yu Fei had never seen such an ugly game.

The teams' shooting percentages were 36% against 32%, foul counts were 20 against 18, turnovers were 13 against 12, and free throw attempts were 15 each.

Few fouls, relatively low turnovers, few free throws, and the intensity was terrifying.

The Pacers were dragged into the Pistons' domain and then suffocated under this insanely intense pressure defense.

"Hey, we don't care. As long as we win, people can mock us, they can talk about how ugly the game was. Who cares? We just want to win,"

When the world criticized the Pistons' style of play as ugly, regressive basketball, Chauncey Billups said this.

Having watched this set of semifinals, even without experiencing it firsthand, Yu Fei knew that the current Pistons were a notch stronger than before the trade deadline.

The Pistons' starting lineup had its flaws, and with Milicic being discarded, players like Okur couldn't meet Larry Brown's demands.

Then, they blew up their rotation at the trade deadline to bring in Rasheed Wallace, this volatile star power forward was like a long-lost brother to the Pistons' starting four, elevating them to another level of a team instantly.

May 22, 2004

Today is the start date for the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals.

While the Western Lakers vs. Spurs bloodbath had already captured everyone's attention, the looming battle between the Bucks and the Pistons was also a much-anticipated focal point.

"Doug, do you think the Bucks will be eliminated before the Finals, just like the Spurs?"

In the ESPN broadcast studio, the commentator asked his partner Doc Rivers with a smile.

"That's an interesting question!" Rivers said, speaking freely, "I think the Spurs imploded internally. Tony Parker was a top surprise for San Antonio last year, but this year he was their stumbling block in the semifinals. In Milwaukee, Michael Redd could have played that role, but the Bucks traded him before he could get worse. I think the teams that are better at foresight will win in the end."

"So you think the Bucks will make it to the Finals."

Rivers laughed and said, "Everyone wants to see Frye and Shaq face off in the Finals."

Yu Fei and Ray Allen stepped up to center court, and from the Pistons side, the greeting party was Billups and the Wallace brothers.

"Where's my dear Rip?" Yu Fei asked.

Rasheed Wallace shouted, "What, are we not worthy enough to shake your hand?!!"

"I'd be nice just not to knock the shit out of you, let alone shake hands," Yu Fei retorted with a laugh, "Beat it, I have nothing to say to you!"

It was clear Rasheed wasn't used to dealing with Yu Fei; a couple of exchanges and he was on the verge of blowing his top.

Billups and his team were already immune to Yu Fei; a nod on the court was as good as a greeting, and the rest could be settled during the game.

Ray Allen shot a glance at Yu Fei. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire

The guy was being an asshole himself, which was bad enough, but he insisted on dragging Ray into it too.

He wasn't the kind to shit on his opponent's face before the match even started.

But Yu Fei had already talked enough trash, and it wouldn't be right for him to play the good guy now.

"Don't drag me into this kind of stuff next time," said Ray Allen.

"What are you shy about?..."

After warming up, the Bucks' starters took the court.

Since the Bucks hadn't had a chance to play against the post-trade-deadline Pistons, Coach Karl only had previous games to go by in assessing the Pistons' strength.

Rasheed Wallace's addition had undoubtedly given the Pistons an immediate boost, but their style of play hadn't fundamentally changed.

They still operated the Iron Bucket Formation, they still relaxed their guard on outside shooting, and they still clogged the inside three-point line to pressure one-on-one players, a strategy Fei happened to restrain effectively.

Thus, the Bucks' fate in this playoff series rested on Fei's shoulders.

If he played well, they could advance to the finals for the second consecutive year; if not, their fate wouldn't be much better than the Pacers'.

To support Fei, Karl replaced Anthony Mason with Robert Horry as the starting power forward.

The center position was taken by Dan Gadzuric.

The Pistons won the opening jump ball.

Billups moved leisurely to the frontcourt, waiting for his teammates to get into position without running any plays, routinely passing the ball to Hamilton on one side, who then lobbed it to Big Ben.

This was nearly a set play for the Pistons.

Start the game by giving Big Ben a little sweetener; whether he scored or not, it was his turn to take the first shot. Then, he'd better buckle down and play defense for his teammates.

Big Ben's power move didn't go in. Fei grabbed the rebound, only to see the Pistons go hard at him right from the start.

Larry Brown had learned from past experiences and wasn't treating Fei as a regular point guard anymore.

Instead, the man sent to guard Fei was Tayshaun Prince.

Prince's long arms and legs and excellent athleticism were key to the Pistons Iron Bucket Formation.

The more the opposition respected him, the more Fei wanted to trample that respect beneath his feet.

Fei didn't push for a fast break, dribbling slowly over the half-court under Prince's watchful defense. Then he gestured for his teammates to spread out.

With the signal for ISO out, his teammates knew what to do.

Due to his wingspan, Prince's defensive reach might have been the largest in the league (at the small forward position), allowing him to threaten the ball even after getting past him, thanks to his reach and the rules in his favor.

To beat someone like that, you needed to play with rhythm.

Fei lowered his center of gravity, the ball moving back and forth under his crotch like a flea, as Prince's defense momentarily lost its spirit, unable to catch the attacker's intentions.

Suddenly, Fei took a step to the right, creating a large gap in the defense, gathered the ball, and shot a jump shot.

Prince reacted, but Fei was already up in the air.

"Swish!"

Breaking Prince's defense on the first possession was a considerable shock to the Pistons' morale, knowing how good Prince was on defense.

When Prince was still a rookie, he was put in charge during the famous "I'm Already Thinking about the Next Round" series, where he held McGrady to a shooting percentage under 30%. This year, under Brown's favor, he kept both Stephon Marbury and then Ron Artest's shooting percentages below 30% in the first and second rounds respectively.

The Pistons had immense confidence in using Prince to guard the opposition's core, believing he could fulfill the mission with the support of the Iron Bucket Formation.

Who could have expected Fei to slap back so hard.

Being tough on defense had its side effects, causing problems for the Pistons on offense.

They had let Big Ben take a pointless shot at the start, and now they were setting screens for Hamilton to create space for the masked man.

But the Bucks' defense wasn't weak either, with Sprewell squeezing through screens along with Horry to trap Hamilton.

Hamilton hastily passed the ball to Rasheed Wallace in confusion.

Rasheed's jump shot didn't go in.

Fei grabbed another rebound, shook off Billups, who was trying to commit a tactical foul on him, and pressed forward with accelerated pace.

Prince chased at full speed. Defensively speaking, the guy could be considered a hexagonal warrior—wingspan, speed, physical fitness, one-on-one defense, help defense, switch defense, and chase-downs were all complete.

However, that didn't mean he was invulnerable; he had one glaring issue—weight.

At 206 centimeters tall, Prince weighed less than 100KG (212 pounds/96KG), which was too frail compared to the nearly 109KG Fei.

On the break, Fei powered through, knocking Prince to the ground, gathered the ball, and sprung up for a forceful tomahawk slam right over Prince's head.

"!#￥!@#￥%"

Fei taunted as he pulled on the rim, not even looking at Prince, and threw a contemptuous glance at Larry Brown, "Change someone to defend, he can't handle it!"