Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

"Wow, what a spectacular dunk! And one for the free throw, the referee called a defensive foul on Kenyon Martin!"

ABC's commentator Brad Nessler exclaimed, "Considering the conflict between Frye and Kenyon, the impact of this dunk might be even greater than we imagine!"

Meanwhile, Nessler's partner Bill Walton performed steadily: "In this moment, Frye has surpassed Julius Erving in 1977, becoming the greatest dunker of all time!"

Hyperbolic commentary was Walton's trademark, and while people were once surprised by this excessively impassioned style, they have now grown accustomed to it.

If Walton said that Fei's dunk was the dunk of history, then it was the dunk of history. If you wanted to argue, Walton had his response prepared. Didn't you see the phrase "in this moment"? He could freely define how long "this moment" would last.

Fei stepped to the free-throw line and scored the additional point.

5 to 5

Kenyon Martin's momentum was severely undercut.

However, the strength of the Brooklyn Nets wasn't due to Martin alone.

Kidd knew well that whether it was a layup or a season-best slam dunk, they both eventually resulted in 2 points. As long as the Nets could keep scoring in time, Fei's visually striking dunk would be offset.

Coming to the frontcourt, Frye once again left him unguarded.

Kidd chose to shoot himself.

The shot looked stiff, and the posture wasn't good, but Kidd wasn't incapable of shooting, he was just off-target.

If left too open, he would make the shot eventually.

And in this round, that's exactly what happened. Kidd exemplified leadership by scoring a critical jumper just when the Nets needed it most, replenishing the team's energy.

7 to 5

Fei dribbled forward, and Karl no longer gave close instruction.

For Fei, this was best; he didn't need Karl buzzing in his ear like a nanny.

In the frontcourt, after the Nets' zone defense had opened up, Fei served as a decoy, breaking through the defense to create a gap, and then passed the ball out.

His teammates were active in their movement, with picks and screens occurring simultaneously.

As the secondary ball handler, Sprewell cut into the paint just like Fei, passing the ball out from inside for the second time.

The Nets' defense collapsed, and outside, Ray Allen hit a three-pointer.

7 to 8

The tactics were still those of the team, but the players' style of play had lost its control.

Throughout George Karl's entire coaching career, he had pursued two things: disrupting the opponent's rhythm on defense and finding their own rhythm on offense.

Though he valued defense most, he didn't regard offensive systems as lightly as those coaches who became obsessed with defense. However, Karl's upbringing, playing experience, and the legacy of North Carolina all instilled in him a desire to control the game just like his fellow alumni Larry Brown.

Yet, in that round, Fei showed him a different style of basketball.

It was still the team's tactics, but there was no set pattern. Fei called for a pick and roll and penetrated, throwing the defense into disarray. If there was a chance, he'd shoot; if not, he'd pass it out. He chose the latter, then Sprewell, holding the ball, penetrated again. This time it created an open shot on the outside, and Ray Allen directly received the ball and hit the three-pointer.

It seemed tactical, but the continuous dribble penetration causing defensive chaos and resulting in an open shot was, essentially, a disorderly way of playing.

It was random.

In theory, a team relying on disorderly play couldn't become a strong team, but Karl didn't think that last round was disorderly.

Because the penetrations by Fei and Sprewell were initiated by pick and rolls, and the position and direction in which the pick and roll was executed was calculated.

The problem was that the tactic appeared randomly.

They were simply playing based on what they learned in tactical training, which looked messy. This mess appeared easy to exploit, creating opportunities for the opponent, but in the end, the Eastern Conference team with the most defensive discipline had a problem.

They left Ray Allen wide open.

George Karl believed it was one of the key points emphasized by the Nets before the game not to leave Ray Allen open.

Why did it still happen?

The answer lied in the offense itself; it was a tactic initiated randomly, not controlled by the coaching staff, relying entirely on the players' initiative.

Random on the court meant chaos.

If someone said a team played chaotically, that definitely wasn't a compliment.

But the Bucks' recent performance wasn't pure chaos.

They had tactics.

One chaotic tactic was executed twice in a row, and as a result, the Nets' defense crumbled, leaving Ray Allen wide open.

Because, chaos is relative. The Bucks played chaotically, but the Nets couldn't predict this chaos either.

Could this chaos be sustained? Was that last instance just a coincidence?

George Karl, always shouting from the sidelines, suddenly became like Phil Jackson, silent, calm, devoid of energy, just silently watching the game.

Just when Karl wanted to observe this "random offense" a bit longer, Anthony Mason suddenly became ill, unbelievably stretching out his hand asking Frye for the ball.

Karl sneered because Frye wouldn't pass; that old bastard Mason was dreaming.

Then Frye passed the ball to him...

What shocked Karl wasn't just Frye's pass, but what happened afterwards.

After passing, Frye set a screen for Sprewell right on the spot.

Before Sprewell's screen was even set, Frye had already turned and cut inside.

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Beautiful! Karl couldn't help but say. "If Yu Fei were playing the power forward, that fake screen and slash would directly pose an offensive threat."

This was a tactic from the Bucks playbook, but why would Yu Fei, a power forward, be executing it?

Yu Fei would let Karl know why.

Although Mason was known for ball hogging, the core reason he picked up this bad habit was that he truly had the ability to organize the offense.

When Yu Fei made a beautiful cut, Mason delivered a close-range pass, helping Yu Fei score at the basket.

"Aren't you capable of passing the ball?" Yu Fei asked humorously. "Who the hell said you hog the ball?"

Mason barked angrily, "That's all rumors!"

They hustled back on defense, seemingly in perfect harmony.

This reminded Karl that Mason hadn't acted out in a while.

Ever since Yu Fei's stern warning, Mason started to play like the player Karl had hoped he would become when recruiting him.

As a power forward, screening, pick-and-rolls, cover—any skill that utilized physicality, he was top-notch. His defending could occasionally handle centers; his one-on-one defense against players other than the top five power forwards—Weber, Duncan, Nowitzki, Garnett, and Little O—was quite effective. His help defense was limited by his physique, rim protection was average, but he had good positioning and was adept at drawing offensive fouls. A Mason who played well was all strength, like a tank version of Draymond Green.

On the surface, Mason still seemed to be resisting Yu Fei.

He refused to play along with Yu Fei's jokes, did not give high fives after a successful play, and was very domineering when asking for the ball. He appeared to have little respect for his teammates, but he was indeed playing team basketball.

He wasn't hogging the ball anymore.

And it was Yu Fei who turned Mason from a cancer to a team's glue.

This gave Karl the impulse to trade Ray Allen again.

Even if you gave Allen a hundred years, he would never be able to tame Mason.

But the problem was, Yu Fei was against trading Ray Allen.

After the rumors of Allen's trade surfaced, Yu Fei expressed his support for Allen on various occasions.

This put Karl in a quandary.

On one hand, his relationship with Allen had completely deteriorated, beyond the point of no return; on the other, he wanted to see Yu Fei rise, but Yu Fei had his own ideas.

Then, something happened on the court.

Kenyon Martin couldn't get an advantage over Yu Fei, but he didn't think the current Mason was a match for him.

So, as soon as the Nets set up their offensive formation, Martin powered his way into a low post position, blocking Mason to ask for the ball.

Kidd now had the expression of an old man on a subway looking at his phone— Martin was lighter than Yu Fei, so going to the low post to play against Mason was asking for trouble, wasn't it?

But seeing the confidence in his lottery pick, he couldn't refuse and had to pass the ball.

Martin was arrogant, but not stupid. Knowing he couldn't shake Mason's body, he immediately used footwork to turn and face the basket upon catching the ball, opting for a ball-driven attack, which played to his advantage.

In terms of first-step quickness facing the basket, Martin was one of the fastest among power forwards, and Mason failed to preemptively block his driving lane, leading to a defensive failure.

Martin charged under the basket like a beast and slammed in a dunk.

At the moment of scoring, Martin made a ferociously mean face; it was his habit to overpower his opponents with his presence.

"How dare you old dog stand in front of me?"

The young man's insult enraged Mason, who wanted to confront him but was blocked by Yu Fei.

"You have to speak with your game on the court," Yu Fei said.

Mason, with his anger built up to a certain point, was struggling to control himself: "Pass me the ball, I'll teach him how to talk to people!"

"I have a better way."

Yu Fei dribbled to the frontcourt and once again gestured for a center's pick-and-roll.

This put Martin on alert; just a while ago, his opponent had taken advantage of Mutombo leaving the paint and charged in for a dunk while he was guarding the rim.

Martin believed that as long as he was prepared, Yu Fei would have no chance of succeeding.

However, Yu Fei unexpectedly gave the ball to Dan Gadzuric after the pick-and-roll, then pointed to the sky.

Gadzuric threw a terrible pass, off-target, and Yu Fei had no possibility of catching it. This excited Martin. But a wrong pass, if utilized correctly, could still produce positive results, sometimes even better than a correct one.

Yu Fei, upon catching the ball, immediately initiated Plan B, leaving Mason open as Martin went for the interception.

Without landing, Yu Fei flicked the ball with the right hand he used to catch it toward Mason's position, and it flew past.

Martin looked puzzled, but soon felt something charging at him from behind. By the time he turned around, Mason had already slammed the ball onto the ground with both hands, barreling forward as the ball bounced up with a force beyond Martin's ability to withstand, knocking him over in place and then leaping up for a dunk like pulling a radish from dry land.

"You filthy cur, you can take this ball and shove it up your mom's ass!"

Mason, ever the seasoned gunner, let loose a fragrant mouthful.

First, Yu Fei pulled off what could be a contender for dunk of the season over him, and then Mason, an old warhorse on the verge of retirement, rode his face in humiliation. An angry Martin got up and shoved Mason away, swearing back at him in vulgar language.

Then, Yu Fei and Sprewell rushed in, standing in front of Mason, unhesitatingly shoving back and spewing even nastier words.

George Karl wasn't worried at all; he was pleased with the players' toughness.

But when he saw Ray Allen standing indifferently on the perimeter, he felt an urge to rush onto the court and shove Allen into the thick of it so he would have to stand up for his teammates.

George could never understand such things. When your teammate is getting into a conflict on the court, how can you stand idly by?

"I want to trade him!" Karl said angrily, "I'm going to trade that sissy!"

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