Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 512 - 353 This is What You Deserve
Chapter 512: Chapter 353 This is What You Deserve
Kidd considerately called a timeout for James.
“I really don’t know what kind of chance we have if we keep playing like this,” Boozer complained, “Who can stop Frye?”
Howard laughed and said, “He won’t come inside, or else I could try.”
“It’s impossible to guard him one-on-one,” Prince said, “We need to double-team.”
Kidd then said to James, “LeBron, I don’t think you’re ready to face him yet.”
To James, this statement sounded absurd, but his performance on the court proved it. Whether intentionally or not, he was indeed avoiding a head-to-head confrontation with Yu Fei.
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He could comfort himself by saying it was strategy.
But no matter how much he avoided it, being blown out by Yu Fei right in front of him and continually humiliated by his trash talk, it would look too bad if he didn’t respond.
“His defense is all fouls!” James complained, “And with the zone defense, I’m actually facing the entire White Team!”
Boozer retorted, “If they use the whole team to guard you, why don’t you pass the ball?”
“I did pass!” James said, his eyes widening.
Prince took the blame, “My bad, I didn’t make the shot.”
“The paint is where our strength lies!” Boozer complained, “But you guys never care about us in the paint!”
The Red Team was splitting apart in a predictable manner.
That’s the biggest problem with teams made up of stars.
Before coming here, each of them was the ace of their team with the highest tactical status and number of shots, but in the national team, they were forced to accept the definition of a role player.
Once the ball distribution became uneven, the stars’ egos would start to inflate.
Yu Fei choosing to play for the White Team in his first scrimmage with the national team had inadvertently avoided this problem.
Because this team was mainly composed of players from the blue and white squads.
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There were stars in these squads too, but more of them were rookies who had just entered the League and secondary players from their respective teams.
Compared to the Red Team, which was crowded with lead stars, they could more easily adapt to their supporting roles.
Moreover, Yu Fei happened to be the kind of star with tremendous leadership qualities.
Now, with Yu Fei setting the tone to break James down from the start, the White Team surged with momentum.
After the timeout, the Red Team made clear adjustments to their offensive and defensive tactics.
On defense, they mindlessly double-teamed Yu Fei, and on offense, they focused on the paint, letting James call for screens to create mismatches if he had the ball.
This not only prevented the defense from being broken by Yu Fei’s one-on-one plays, but it also allowed James to regain his confidence.
When James slammed it home over Durant, Yu Fei taunted, “Is that your response? You reply to me by blowing past a rookie who hasn’t even officially entered the NBA?”
James had calmed down now.
He knew he couldn’t respond to Yu Fei’s trash talk.
Yu Fei was the kind of asshole who gets more fired up the more you react to him.
By limiting Yu Fei’s perimeter one-on-one with double-teams, emphasizing paint offense and picking apart the White Team’s weaknesses with perimeter screens, and avoiding direct confrontation with Yu Fei, that was how the Red Team managed to turn the situation around.
After a few possessions, Yu Fei began to change his tactics.
Deron controlled the ball on the perimeter and raised his hand for a screen.
Yu Fei directed Durant to stand in the corner while he set a screen for Deron.
Deron tore through the defense and passed it back to Yu Fei.
Attracting Boozer with his gravitational pull, Yu Fei simply needed to pass the ball to Durant.
Durant hit a corner three.
Yu Fei nodded and pointed lightly, saying, “Not bad.”
Without Yu Fei, Durant would have had no chance to participate in a scrimmage this intense in Las Vegas.
Witnessing firsthand how Big Fei treated James and feeling Yu Fei patiently helping him adapt to the pace of the game, Durant felt a peculiar sensation in his heart.
Unlike the relentless chase on James at the start, the targeted adjustments made by the Red Team after the timeout actually allowed Yu Fei to fully demonstrate to Team USA’s coaching staff why he was more suited for the Dream Team’s starting small forward position than James.
While James struggled against the zone defense and had to endure Yu Fei’s mockery as he forcibly passed the ball to Kidd, Yu Fei had the ability to make strong outside shots even when double-teamed, and even without the ball, his presence was more conspicuous than anyone else on the White Team.
His habits from his time with the Bucks made him very adept at directing a tall and lean three-point shooter like Durant, and oddly enough, Yu Fei, who normally liked to control the ball, even managed to spark with Deron, a core point guard who couldn’t perform without off-ball screens.
Iguodala focused on defense, scoring mostly on cut-ins and fast breaks, while Brown hardly made an impact tonight.
That wasn’t his fault; he was completely overshadowed by Howard on both ends of the court.
Even if James started scoring a few minutes in, Yu Fei’s evaluations were forming a breakaway gap with him.
“The combination of Frye + Melo on the wings would be invincible,” someone commented from the sidelines.
As the White Team took an 11-point lead, James hit a high post jump shot, his first mid-range shot against the zone defense to score that evening.
“That’s the way to do it, LeBron!” Paul shouted from the sidelines, “That’s the performance you should have!”
James nodded as well, his commanding appearance radiating confidence.
The Emperor’s confidence seemed to be returning as Yu Fei, after helping Durant with a screen, suddenly moved down to the post, bodying up James, “Give me the ball!”
Yu Fei’s shout halted all of Deron’s actions.
When Big Fei unreservedly cooperated with him on continuous screens, Deron knew who he needed to serve that night.
