Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

After the brief intermission, Jordan signaled to Collins that he was ready to get back in the game.

Collins was eager to see the chemistry between Jordan and Yu Fei, and now was a good opportunity. Yu Fei was in great shape, while Jordan seemed to be in average condition—could the former's good state feed into the latter? Maybe their relationship could improve, too?

With hopeful intentions, Collins subbed out Hubert Davis for a rest, allowing Jordan to return to the shooting guard position after a long absence, with the other positions remaining unchanged.

In his previous life, Yu Fei had read on a forum that playing basketball with a leader was an art form. It was the same when playing with Jordan. Making 'Lord Jordan' happy was beneficial for his development.

However, Yu Fei had no confidence in Jordan's condition.

After entering the game, Jordan was eager to test his shot, so he asked Brown to set an off-ball screen for him on the right.

Yu Fei never asked Brown to set any complicated screens for him because Brown's offensive awareness was extremely weak, and his screening positioning was even worse than Shiramine Miyu's acting—but at least "Miyu-chan" could use styling to cover up her acting flaws. What did Brown have?

He mechanically followed Jordan's instructions, then delivered a terribly bad screen.

When Coach Lu passed the ball to Jordan, Frye could see that his opponent wasn't affected by the screen and appeared menacingly in front of him.

Faced with no option to back down, Jordan chose to force a shot, which was naturally impossible to hit.

If your teammate gives you a trash screen that doesn't help you shake off the defense after you receive the ball, what should you do? You pass the ball back and let your teammate start over, instead of dribbling around looking for a chance and forcing a shot.

The greatest player in history ignored the best solution and resolutely took the shot.

Brown was supposed to take 100% of the blame for the offensive mishap, but with Jordan's move, he now shouldered at least 75% of the responsibility. In the end, the shot didn't go in, and in Jordan's eyes, it was all Brown's fault.

"What the hell can you do on the court?" Jordan roared like a demon, "If you don't want to play, then get the hell off the court!"

The Pistons' backup center, Zeljko Rebraca, was playing one-on-one with Jahidi White in the low post.

Rebraca, a Serbian with fair skin and blond hair, stood out on the court. Perhaps this was Joe Dumars' standard for European players for the Pistons: tall enough and looking talented, then with a head of blond hair, natural or dyed.

Rebraca's weakness perfectly matched the American stereotype of European big men; he couldn't move White, who was shorter by a whole section. He chose a fadeaway jumper outside the paint.

That kind of shot couldn't possibly go in!

Yu Fei returned to the basket early, accurately predicting where the ball would rebound, jumped up to catch it, and immediately after landing, pushed forward the counterattack energetically.

"Slow down! Slow down!" Collins realized he was wrong.

Yu Fei couldn't generate any positive chemistry with Jordan.

Clearly no one had told Jordan to conserve his energy on both ends of the court, that even a nearly 40-year-old could lead the league in fastbreak points. There was no offense more effortless and enjoyable than a fastbreak. Was grinding out half-court sets really something for an old man to do?

Yu Fei had no intention of accommodating Jordan's pace, running as fast as possible on the fastbreak.

The Pistons' attention was all on him.

After drawing the attention of most, Yu Fei then threw the basketball backward overhead.

The one following up was Kwame Brown.

Having been harshly scolded by Jordan, Brown needed a poster dunk to boost his confidence, and Yu Fei's alley-oop was perfect.

Gratefully, Brown leaped, grabbed the ball with both hands for security, and then firmly dunked it into the hoop.

"Thank you, Big Fei!"

Brown kept chattering behind Yu Fei, not sure what he was saying.

Yu Fei smiled slightly and did not respond.

Coach Lu felt left out, wondering why Yu Fei could see Brown behind him, but not himself beyond the three-point line?

"Maybe it's because you run slower than Cassidy?" Yu Fei teased.

White laughed loudly, and Coach Lu could only spread his hands.

Jordan pursed his lips; he found he couldn't get a word in.

Here, it seemed he was the one being isolated.

"Christian, Richard Hamilton, Chris..." Collins called out the names of the three starters, "Get ready to go on."

Chris Whitney had some thoughts about Collins's decision: "Frye is controlling the situation right now. If we substitute now, we might not be able to maintain this momentum."

"Chris, you're all veterans who've been in the league for years. Are you telling me you can't even match these rookies?" Collins said sternly, "The youngsters have brought good momentum. You should keep it going and not let down their efforts!"

A minute and a half later, the Wizards had narrowed the gap to 3 points.

With increased motivation, Brown showed potential on the defensive end, dashing from the left side of the paint to the right to deliver a powerful block.

The ball was slapped out of bounds.

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The situation was looking great for the Wizards, and at that moment, the scorer's table announced, "Substitution for the Wizards Team!"

Richard Hamilton, Ratner, and Whitney came in for Yu Fei, Brown, and Lu.

"Sub us? Are you kidding?" Brown grumbled discontentedly. "We were just getting into our stride!"

Maybe it's precisely because we're playing so well that they want to sub us.

Yu Fei gave Collins a subtle look, clearly a smart man, noting Collins' intentions.

Yu Fei had been isolating Jordan on the court, playing at his own pace whether Jordan was on the floor or not. He didn't give Jordan an extra glance on the offensive end, and the results proved that even without Jordan's participation, the Wizards' momentum in catching up remained unchanged.

Collins wouldn't tolerate this situation.

To him, Jordan's interests outweighed the outcome of the game.

This man could no longer be called a coach, merely a servant plucked by Jordan from the TV station to escort and protect him.

"You guys played well, brought energy to the team, keep it up, this is important for the team!" Collins said with a smile to the three players who were subbed out.

Yu Fei laughed.

This was truly amusing. Collins' words reminded him of a news program host who greets you at the start of the show, then goes on to tell you about all the bad things that happened yesterday, are happening today, and will happen tomorrow in the world.

After Yu Fei and the others were taken off the court, the Wizards' game reverted to its original form.

The pace was slow, very formulaic, every offensive play had to revolve around Jordan and Hamilton.

Ratner's non-threatening high-post playmaking stemmed from his own poor offensive capabilities.

NBC commentator Cotton Fitzsimmons expressed confusion over the Wizards' substitution: "If the fast-paced game is effective, why switch to a slow-paced game by choice? This approach has already been proven ineffective in the first quarter. A slow-paced game is just what Detroit wants, and D.C's initial lag can prove it."

Fitzsimmons predicted the subsequent slump for the Wizards.

After switching back to their original starters, the Wizards' pursuit was interrupted, and Starkhouse caught fire during this period, seeming even more terrifying than when he blew up Hamilton in the first quarter.

And Jordan just couldn't find his shooting touch.

Without Yu Fei, the Wizards lacked the answers to counter Big Ben.

Couldn't shoot, couldn't penetrate, couldn't defend.

By halftime, the Wizards had gone from a mere 3 point deficit to ending the first half 14 points behind.

In the second half, when Yu Fei returned to the court, his form was not as good as in the first half.

On the other hand, the Pistons relied on Big Ben's defense and Starkhouse's unstoppable individual offense to fully activate Dahntay Jones from beyond the arc.

If Starkhouse couldn't be contained in the first half, Barros' three-pointers in the second half were unguardable.

For the entire game, 107 to 79, the Wizards lost miserably to the Pistons away, and their three-win streak came to an end.

Post-game interview

"Let's not sugarcoat it, tonight was a bad game for us; we couldn't find the basket, and then we had no way of putting the ball in—it tends to be a trend in our games to complicate things. All this leads to a massacre, and that's what happened tonight... we got thrashed." — Jordan's assessment of the game

"He played great. Made a lot of buckets, he had good luck tonight." — Jordan's appraisal of Starkhouse

"We had established a lead in the first half, so I wanted to help my teammates score more in the second half. We were so far ahead, it didn't matter who scored." — Starkhouse's response to scoring less in the second half

"No matter how many points we lost by tonight, we have to look forward and make sure that we don't repeat this in the remainder of the season. The Pistons showed strong energy, and we didn't reach their level tonight. That's why we lost." — Collins on the Wizards' crushing defeat

"I've reflected on myself; maybe if I had kept Frye on the floor, it might have changed the outcome of the game, but who knows? We have a lot of experienced players who were a bit off tonight, but that doesn't mean that decision was wrong. Given another chance, I would do the same thing." — Collins' response to the substitution question in the first half

"Michael is still Michael; he just needs a little time. Yu Fei's performance was impressive. If it were up to me, I would let him play more minutes in the first half." — Carlisle's evaluation of the Wizards' players

"I don't like No. 44 (Yu Fei), he talks too much trash, full of arrogance and disrespect." — Big Ben on Yu Fei

"Frye, this is your first loss in the NBA, what are your thoughts?"

"What does it have to do with me?"

"Uh... obviously, the Wizards lost, and you're a member of the team..."

"I only played 18 minutes tonight, with a plus-minus of +9. Do you know what that means? It means we led our opponent by 9 points when I was on the floor."

"Can I interpret that as you complaining about the lack of playing time?"

"Don't misunderstand me, I am saying I didn't lose. We were winning when I was on the court; go ask those who lost the game."

— Yu Fei's post-game interview

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