MTLNOVEL Chapter 403: Math Genius
The SuperSonics vs Hornets semi-final might be the series with the lowest profile among several playoff battles.
The Lakers and Spurs' feud dates back to 1999, and the Bucks, even without Yu Fei, are still strong, leading 2-0 against the Knight in the first two games of the series, which raises a question.
If James can't even beat a Bucks team without Yu Fei, how should Yu Fei's tenure with the Bucks be evaluated?
This might be an "angle" that Yu Fei's camp never expected.
Because Yu Fei didn't leave chaos behind but instead nurtured several excellent young players for the Bucks, allowing them to quickly take over after his departure and keeping the Bucks competitive in the Eastern Conference. Then, surprisingly, some people questioned Yu Fei's abilities.
Could it be that it wasn't Yu Fei who was strong, but the Bucks who were strong for those five years and four championships?
However, Yu Fei's performance with the Supersonics is well known, and it's not something that can be erased by a superficial combination of factors.
On the other hand, the camp promoting this narrative, led by James, will sooner or later have to face an issue.
If they lose to the Bucks, they'll have to confront the outcome: LeBron can't beat the Bucks with or without Yu Fei, and no matter how many excuses there are, once a team loses the league's best, it can never be the same as before.
As Yu Fei has widened the gap with James, now, the marketing direction for James and his marketing machinery is "the best after Frye."
Moreover, they don't forget to remind people that James doesn't have a good team. Actually, he and Yu Fei are not much different; if the strengths of their teams were equal, perhaps the results would be surprisingly different.
Now, Yu Fei is no longer with the Bucks. Without a doubt, James is the most capable individual player in this round of the series.
If a star can't use his personal abilities to change the course of a playoff series—like Yu Fei decimating the Pistons in the 2005 semi-finals—then that star's abilities must be reassessed.
Plainly put, in the end, this matter falls back on James.
If he loses to the Bucks, there will be no excuses left.
And now, he's already down 0-2.
Besides James facing a challenge, the most astonishing thing is the Celtics, who seemed all-conquering during the regular season.
They have the most solid starting lineup in the League and the deepest bench depth, only to struggle through seven games against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round.
In the semi-finals, they face the Magic, the Eastern Conference's rising power, which has adopted the style of winning at home.
The Celtics won all their home games, but on the road, they just can't play basketball.
Their glory seems to work only at home.
Away from home, without the boost of home-court advantage, their defense is limited, their offense is tentative, and the whole team looks like they have plenty of energy but just can't bring it out.
Situations like this naturally provoke doubt from the outside.
Are the Celtics unable to play in the postseason?
Do the Celtics only play at home?
Can a team that can't win on the road truly be considered a championship contender?
While the East has been the focus of attention, the SuperSonics silently broke the Hornets' playoff winning streak in New Orleans.
In Game 3 of the semi-finals, the Hornets were in full force, firing on all cylinders, with Paul displaying his point guard mastery, scoring 30 points and handing out 10 assists to the delight of New Orleans.
"Apart from Frye, Kwame, and Shawn, no one else on our team has deep playoff experience," George Karl said when he discussed the loss, "So, I can totally accept a breakdown like we had tonight. They are young, and when they play without distraction, they can break through anything that stands in their way, but once they encounter problems, they can also be caught in a tight spot."
Tonight, Yu Fei performed even better than Paul, with 38 points, 14 rebounds, and 9 assists. However, Roy was off his game, Durant turned into "the player most deserving to be thrown into the trash," and the performances of other young players were also lacking.
Even with Marion's 18 points and 8 rebounds, and Brown's contribution of 16 points and 7 rebounds, the SuperSonics still lost ground to the Hornets.
In the locker room, most people were silent.
Among the young players, only Josh Childress voiced his frustrations.
"NBA games are really ridiculous!" Childress exclaimed, "Why do they have such a big advantage at home? I can't touch Chris Paul at all!"
Childress provided a palatable perspective for the youngsters.
We lost not because I played poorly, but because the damn refs are unfair.
Putting aside that everyone's shooting percentage was below 40%, that's about right.
"Is this why you only made 1 shot out of 7 in the whole game?" Yu Fei asked.
Childress was left speechless.
Yu Fei then turned to Durant: "Kevin, you shot 3 for 11 tonight. Can you tell me, was your low shooting percentage because of the refs?"
Durant really wanted to blame the refs, because he truly was stifled by tight defense, which made it tough for him to find his rhythm.
Would the Hornets dare to target him like that if it were at home?
But he could not say such things facing Yu Fei, who had gone 12 for 20 from the field.
"Listen, when we play terribly, it's best not to make those kinds of excuses!" Yu Fei said loudly, "Don't forget, we were also favored when we were at home."
Then Roy took the initiative to say, "It's my fault tonight, I didn't play well."
"Indeed, it's your fault," Yu Fei said with an implied meaning, "It's precisely because you played so poorly that the others couldn't even reach a 40% shooting rate." Find more to read on My Virtual Library Empire
Roy was responsible, but upon hearing this, he felt it was debatable, "You can't blame it all on me, can you?"
"Since you want to take responsibility, then take it all. Look at me, I played well, but still have to spout nonsense about the defeat being my fault to the media, don't I?"
"That makes sense, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility."
"So, do you have any other questions?"
"No," Roy said, pointing at Durant and by extension all the young players, "It's entirely my fault these damned guys had such low shooting percentages tonight!"
Yu Fei looked calmly at the others, "Since Brandon has taken responsibility, I won't say much. It's all his fault that we played like this tonight. But, if the next game is the same, then it certainly isn't just Brandon's problem."
Yu Fei skillfully completed the post-game mobilization.
When Karl returned to the locker room, all he needed to do was point out the problems they encountered tonight and then solve them in tomorrow's training.
Unconsciously, Yu Fei had adapted to the role of a leader.
He was no longer the one who, during his time with the Bucks, focused on the court, occasionally cared for his teammates, but most of the time, was stubbornly independent.
In Seattle, he had to become a leader.
Otherwise, the team would be like a dragon without a head, and even if they could advance deep into the playoffs, winning the championship would be impossible.
Two days later
The SuperSonics were once again on the Hornets' home court.
Tonight, Karl specifically targeted Paul.
First, on the offensive end, Karl let Roy take the lead in the attack, to wear down Paul as much as possible.
Then there was Yu Fei, although the Hornets continuously avoided having Paul face off against Yu Fei.
But Yu Fei had a considerable number of off-ball plays in the SuperSonics, where he was both a beneficiary of pick-and-roll screens and the initiator, and all the screening and rolling was bound to create mismatches and switches.
Whenever Yu Fei faced Paul, he would post up in his spot and call for the ball.
As the game went on, even Durant began to call for isolations against Paul.
Paul's defensive pressure had never been so great; tonight, he was run ragged and could not shine as brightly as he had in the third game.
Once Paul could not play to his core value, the Hornets' offense became mediocre.
David West isolations, Peja's three-pointers from outside, Morris Peterson's scrappy fighting and Bonzi Wells and other reserves' isolations.
Chaotic, sometimes useful, mostly not.
While Paul faded, Yu Fei became the core of the SuperSonics in the low post.
He continuously used his low post threat to assist his teammates.
He looked like a combination of great interior passers such as Sabonis, Weber, and Walton; however, those were traditional big men whose playmaking could not be divorced from the team's response, whereas Yu Fei truly used his personal threat as a gravitational pull, forcing the Hornets' defense to collapse inward and then breaking them down one by one with his passes.
Tonight, Yu Fei only had 16 points, but he also grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 17 assists.
The impressive triple-double of 16+15+17 made ABC's Doug Collins exclaim, "USC's O.J. Mayo was once called a combination of Kobe, Frye, and LeBron in his high school days, and in the 90s, Billy Owens was hailed as the incarnation of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. We always have the wildest imaginations for those promising young talents. But let me tell you, Frye is the imagination itself. He attacks like Michael, passes like Magic Johnson, and is more versatile than Larry Bird. He can do anything he wants, as long as he is willing!"
124 to 101
The SuperSonics brought down the Hornets on their home court, leading the series 3 to 1 in the score.
"Many people say that Seattle's Frye isn't as great as Milwaukee's Frye, but I can only say that these people neither understand basketball nor Frye; look at tonight's game. Frye is still Frye, he becomes that person when we need him to," Karl told the media.
The time had come, and the young players within the SuperSonics began to express their views on the away games.
"We were bound to lose the last game because we weren't used to New Orleans' away field," Childress confidently said, "Now we have adapted, so you can see each of us is performing comfortably."
When the reporter asked, "Is it really because you've adapted, and not because Frye performed well?"
Childress pondered a moment. Although he believed Big Fei wouldn't mind his trash talking, he didn't want to take any risks.
Since the reporter asked it that way, for the SuperSonics players, they had a politically correct formula to respond.
"Half and half," said the mathematical genius Childress, "Frye's performance probably accounts for 99% of the credit, but don't underestimate my 1% contribution. You know Edison, right? I believe you also know his famous quote. While Frye's talent has a 99% impact on the game, if it weren't for my 1% contribution, his talent would be aimless, wouldn't you say?"