Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

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The second team to be targeted was the New Orleans Hornets.

The Hornets were a mediocre team, although they had a top-tier blue-collar center in P.J. Brown, the quality of other positions was simply too poor.

Yu Fei kept calling for 1-5 pick-and-rolls, targeting Brown, leading to three fouls drawn in a single quarter, four in a half, and before the third quarter ended, Brown had fouled out.

The only Hornet player who left a lasting impression on Yu Fei was the rookie J.R. Smith. Yu Fei had only seen Smith's brain-dead play in the 2018 finals, not expecting that as a youngster, he was a talented guy with endless possibilities.

He was the kind of player who brought a "WOW" moment to the audience in every game.

Against the Hornets, Yu Fei scored another 40 points, making it back-to-back games with 40-point performances.

Hornets' head coach Byron Scott said, "Imagine Larry Bird with Scottie Pippen's athletic ability, that's Frye."

Afterward, the Bucks headed to Washington.

Facing his former team, Yu Fei's performance was even better than the previous two games, but now the Wizards couldn't be viewed with the same old lens.

By signing Gilbert Arenas to a max contract and acquiring Antawn Jamison, these two moves allowed the Wizards to rise again.

Even though Yu Fei scored 40+ points for the third consecutive game, the Bucks still lost to the Wizards.

Because Arenas and Jamison together racked up 79 points.

Then, people started noticing a change in Yu Fei's recent games.

There was a significant increase in shot attempts, a slight decrease in assists, Yu Fei suddenly became the kind of ball hog professionals disliked.

"Terrifying ball possession rates, unreasonable shot attempts, irrational offensive choices, has Frye gone mad? Please, you are the number one on my annual top 40 list, you can't play like this! This is no different than Tyson suddenly going crazy and biting his opponent's ear off on the boxing ring,"

Bill Simmons criticized Yu Fei's transformation in the latest column.

Then, the Bucks faced a tough opponent—the Miami Heat, currently fourth in the Eastern Conference.

With the addition of Shaquille O'Neal, the Heat undoubtedly became the top team in the East, and Dwyane Wade, with his promising future, showed a trend of overtaking others in the highly competitive '03 draft class.

That night, representing the rest of the Eastern Conference teams, the Heat used an unreasonable amount of frequent double teams on Yu Fei.

This was the VIP treatment that Yu Fei's excessive isolation plays had brought upon himself.

As a result, Yu Fei found his passing rhythm again, showing with 14 assists in a single game that he wasn't the type to refuse sharing the ball after tasting the joy of scoring.

In the second half, the Heat, having caught on, reduced the frequency of double teams, but Yu Fei continued to publicly execute Shaq flawlessly.

Constant 1-5 pick-and-rolls put O'Neal in a dilemma, and the Heat barely held their ground thanks to Wade's whistle-baiting form.

Dragging the game to the last moment, the Bucks "chopped the shark," as O'Neal made one of two free throws, and Yu Fei called Ratner for a pick-and-roll a meter outside the three-point line.

This scene almost made Stan Van Gundy's eyes fall out.

The Heat, failing to react, could only watch as Yu Fei created an open three-point opportunity from an impossible position with the pick-and-roll, and, like an executioner, took the shot in the final second.

"Swish!!!!!"

That shot widened the gap to 4 points. The Heat's attempt at a quick three-point play failed, resulting in a loss.

As the final whistle blew, Stan Van Gundy was still replaying the shot that killed the game in his mind.

That pick-and-roll position would be difficult for any big man, whether it was Shaq or Garnett, to defend effectively. No matter who it was on the inside, if they switched onto the perimeter, their agility would be played with by the perimeter players. Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire

"It's not Shaq's fault," said Van Gundy, who had a strained relationship with O'Neal, defending his big man after the game, "I don't know who could have stopped that shot."

Wade showed his high EQ by praising Yu Fei as the best, "This is why I think the Bucks are still championship contenders. They have the best player in the League, and he ran roughshod over us tonight."

Yu Fei responded, "Dwyane was the reason Miami kept the game close until the end. I give his performance tonight a 9."

Seeing Wade display such respect in front of Yu Fei, Lebron James was eager to have a go himself.

They were the Bucks' next opponent.

The Cavaliers had clashed with the Bucks several times this season, with James performing well, even though they hadn't won a game; everyone who watched knew it wasn't the Little Emperor's fault.

Tonight, the Cavaliers didn't intend to have James match up with Yu Fei, but James thought it was a rare opportunity and wanted to personally experience the full power of Fei's strength.

"Bron, what's the most points I've ever scored against you guys?"

Going up against his little brother on the court put Yu Fei in a good mood, making him want to do something special to commemorate the night.

James knew the answer to this question like the back of his hand.

Yu Fei set a scoring record against the Cavaliers during the previous season, which was the first time James had faced Yu Fei on an NBA court.

Big Fei showed no mercy, racking up 49 points.

"If I remember correctly..." James said, "it's 49 points."

"No wonder I couldn't remember — it was just 49 points. It's not a memorable number," Yu Fei said. "I plan to leave a more memorable number."

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Recently, an out-of-luck LeBron James stated, "No, you can't even dream of it."

Unfortunately, it was not up to him.

Since March, Yu Fei has been averaging 37 points per game, taking at least 10 three-pointers in each game.

The media discovered a probability: if Yu Fei's three-point shooting percentage exceeds 40%, his scoring will invariably surpass 40 points.

Tonight, Yu Fei took 13 three-point shots, and his three-point shooting percentage exceeded fifty percent.

What made James miserable was that the way Yu Fei shot those threes wasn't the usual kind where he calls for a pick-and-roll and then creates space to shoot; instead, he incessantly dribbled between his legs confronting James's defense, used his rhythmic movement to shake him off, exploited superb footwork to create a timing discrepancy, or abruptly stopped and stepped back after a strong drive.

All of these three-pointers shared a common trait: a rapid stop before shooting, reminiscent of McGrady.

However, McGrady's trademark pull-up relied on his unblockable shot height for forceful resolution, but such shots actually heavily depend on touch and are easily disturbed by the opponent.

Yet Yu Fei's shots, though they looked difficult, were all about rhythm.

This was a result that James hadn't anticipated.

Yu Fei devastated the Knights with 58 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, creating a new personal high for the season.

Moreover, one thing is certain: Yu Fei would never again forget his highest score achieved against the Knights.

The Knights lost the game by a margin of 29 points.

Although James scored 27 points with 7 rebounds and 7 assists, Yu Fei's points were more than double his score, a fact hard to endure.

"Bron..."

After the game, Yu Fei wanted to offer some consolation to his younger brother.

"Don't talk to me," James said. "I want to be alone."

This was undoubtedly a heavy blow, but compared to the trials the Knights had faced since the end of February, it wasn't much.

Back then, the Knights were ranked within the top six in the Eastern Conference, looking hopeful for a playoff spot. However, after a string of losses and more defeats than victories, they fell out of the playoff race.

Yu Fei was a considerate person; since Little James wanted to be alone, he respected that.

Even during the post-game interview, his words were measured, not as outspoken as usual.

More important than setting a new personal best against the Knights, Yu Fei felt he had found some keys to success.

In the subsequent game against the Denver Nuggets, Yu Fei chose to go for a substantial number of isolation plays on the perimeter, scoring another 44 points without relying on pick-and-roll plays.

In the last ten games, Yu Fei's average score per game was below 40 points only once.

Currently, for this month, Yu Fei boasts an astonishing average of 44 points per game.

For NBA teams, defeating the Bucks had suddenly become a secondary goal; the most important thing was to keep Yu Fei's scoring below 40 points.

However, in the remaining games of March, only the Indiana Pacers managed to do so.

That night, Yu Fei faced a lot of physical confrontations, had an off day shooting from the outside, and had to rely on pick-and-roll plays to forcefully score 35 points. The Pacers, being the top team in the Eastern Conference with robust defense and strong offense, sealed the victory over the Bucks with a score of 107 to 99.

Still, it did not prevent Yu Fei from having a tremendous performance for the month.

In March, Yu Fei averaged 44 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists per game, and was voted the Eastern Conference Player of the Month.

Entering April, the regular season was coming to an end.

Yu Fei's exaggerated offensive displays had made the teams deeply wary of him.

Therefore, during games, strategies such as early double-teaming, high-post ambushes, and traps around the foul line area against Yu Fei emerged.

Yu Fei's turnover rate doubled in April, but his assists per game also increased by 4, and although his average points per game dropped from 42 points in March to 37, it was still an excessively high number.

Since a playoff berth had already been secured early, the focus of the remaining regular games was primarily on Yu Fei's scoring.

Clearly, Yu Fei was not the type obsessed with scoring to the point of madness; everything he did on offense was to better serve the team.

In the last five games, Yu Fei did not score more than 40 points in any of them, but he consecutively achieved triple-doubles for five games, leading the Bucks to a winning streak to end the 2004-05 regular season.

This season, Yu Fei played in 74 games, averaging 36.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game. Amidst the team's dramatic changes, he stood out. In March and April, he put forth immortal performances, leading the Bucks to the playoffs with an Eastern Conference third-best record of 53 wins and 29 losses.

Yu Fei's performance led many to compare him with Jordan during the 1986-87 season, when Jordan averaged 37 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. Yu Fei's stats were not only similar to Jordan's, but his versatility, efficiency, and shooting percentage were even superior.

Before the All-Star weekend, there was a hot topic claiming the 20-year-old LeBron James was far superior to Jordan.

Now, replacing James with Yu Fei in that debate was just as valid for the media.

- But when a reporter brought this up to Yu Fei, it only elicited an eye roll from him.

"What do you mean? The guy broke his leg at the age of 22, and you're comparing me to him? What are your intentions?"