Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Yu Fei could tell that Jalen Rose was angry, but he couldn't immediately retaliate, because his offensive position with the Pacers wasn't prominent.

In the set offense, the Pacers' top priority was to get Jermaine O'Neal into position.

Isiah Thomas might have been a terrible coach, but at least he knew to have his teammates pass the ball to Jermaine O'Neal, who was locked in position, just like this round.

Jermaine O'Neal, with his back to Cassidy White, took the ball, firmly pivoted on his left foot, raised the ball with both hands for a turn-around move facing the basket, suddenly breaking the close defense, and then, right in front of White, dribbled the ball between his legs like a guard, and after a side body contact, he used White's force as a pivot point to complete a turn and cut inside for a slam dunk over the defense.

Beautiful, truly beautiful.

Jermaine O'Neal's footwork had earned Yu Fei's high regard.

7 to 4

"Cassidy, are you sure?"

White was actually posting up in the low block, and he got the position.

Chris Whitney had no choice but to pass the ball, even Jordan helped him create space.

Still, Yu Fei didn't expect White to get past Jermaine O'Neal's defense.

White tried to mimic the earlier play, backing down, turning inside, hoping to achieve the same result against his opponent. It was obvious that Jermaine O'Neal's defensive habits weren't good, as White actually managed to get past him. However, White's movements weren't smooth enough, allowing Jermaine O'Neal to recover and block the shot from behind.

"Fast break! The Pacers have a chance for a fast break!"

The announcer at Conseco Fieldhouse excitedly shouted.

Jamaal Tinsley unsheathed like a sharp sword, but Yu Fei's figure shadowed him closely.

Tinsley, lacking absolute confidence to score under Yu Fei's defensive pressure, drew defenders under the basket and passed the ball back out to a following Rose, who attempted a change-of-hands layup, only to have Yu Fei, who had briefly paused, turn around and deliver a fingertip block.

"Where's your shot, Jalen? Where's your shot? Who gave you the confidence to challenge defense head-on? Stupid offense! Pig-headed offense!" Thomas shockingly bellowed, "I'm going to trade you! I'm trading you tonight!"

Yu Fei didn't know what kind of player Thomas was on the court, but his coaching was clearly not up to par.

Compared to him, even Doug Collins seemed elegant.

Unfortunately for Thomas, although he berated Rose extensively, the Pacers' defensive counterattack was still successful.

Because the ball ended up with Tinsley on the perimeter.

Tinsley didn't rush to complete the offense but waited for his team to get into position before passing it to Jermaine O'Neal once again.

After exchanging a few moves with White, Jermaine O'Neal felt more confident about White's capabilities and started to play more relaxed. Where he had shown some fancy footwork earlier to forcefully score, now he used his body to run along the free-throw line for a long hook shot from a step inside, which surprisingly went in.

"Cassidy, you motherf***er!"

Jordan cursed.

White suffered the same fate as Rose.

Now Yu Fei understood why Jordan and Thomas didn't get along; fundamentally, they were very similar people, as the saying goes, like repels like, and it's only natural that they would find each other disagreeable.

9 to 4

But after these few plays, the gap in the score was showing signs of widening again.

"I'm really sick of jogging with the old man. Can you pass the ball to me, Chris?" Yu Fei asked.

Whitney had a 'do whatever you want' look on his face, since he was now firmly labeled as 'Yu-aligned' in Jordan's eyes.

This time, Yu Fei didn't give Jordan the chance for a low post one-on-one; before even crossing half-court, he signaled with his hands for him to stand at the baseline and not move.

Although that wasn't Jordan's habitual three-point spot, just his presence there would draw a Pacers defender to watch him.

Then, Yu Fei got another chance to go one-on-one against Rose.

"You're not getting in again!" Rose was the type to make bold statements before action, insisting on not losing momentum, regardless of the outcome.

Yu Fei didn't respond, dribbling the ball, and once again executed a Jordan-style lateral crossover dribble drive.

A plain and simple move, yet Rose couldn't keep up.

Yu Fei got ahead by more than half a body length, and by the time Rose reacted, all Yu Fei had to do was use his body to bump slightly, and he would completely take over the defensive position, signifying the defender's complete failure.

"What are you doing?!!!"

Isiah Thomas's roaring voice was deafening, while Yu Fei leaped into the paint, forcing Jermaine O'Neal to step up for the block, only to deliver a no-look behind-the-back pass to White for an easy score.

9 to 6

Jordan was a spectator again for a play, and although he was dissatisfied with Yu Fei monopolizing the ball, sometimes he thought it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

He was suffering from tendinitis and couldn't exert himself as he wished, nor did he want to invite idle talk by resting. Having a vigorous player like Yu Fei taking the lead was a good thing.

But he wasn't content, he just couldn't accept how smoothly Yu Fei had taken control of the team.

This was his domain, and even if he were to concede it to Yu Fei, it should have been his decision to bestow such a privilege. But there had been no such process, as Whitney, that damn fool, never sought Jordan's consent when passing the ball to Yu Fei.

"Michael, it looks like you can't run anymore..." Miller's words had just finished when suddenly, Jermaine O'Neal's screen landed beside them.

Jordan thought quickly, realizing it was bad. He wanted to follow up but was already blocked by Jermaine O'Neal.

Miller caught the ball in an open spot and brought it up to shoot with that distinctive and incredibly ugly shooting pose of his.

This was a defense Jahidi White couldn't make up for, but Yu Fei had been watching Miller's movements ever since Little O'Neal set the screen.

The moment the Pacers' play was executed, Yu Fei had already abandoned Ross.

Ross shouted a warning to Miller, but when Miller first saw Yu Fei, he realized the defender was still four or five meters away and didn't take it seriously. But when he took the shot, he was stunned by the speed and coverage of Yu Fei's block.

"Bang!!!"

A loud noise erupted as Miller was on the receiving end of one of the most terrifying blocks the NBC commentators had seen in recent memory.

Yu Fei hadn't even touched Miller, yet Miller lost his balance upon landing.

After landing, Yu Fei charged forward at full speed, his fearsome athletic ability in full display, truly altering the game with his defense.

9 to 8

Yu Fei's consecutive blocks led to several missed offenses by the Pacers, and an irritated Thomas, who couldn't accept that a rookie was so brazenly executing risky defenses and repeatedly succeeding, called for time-out.

The Pacers' lead was down to just one point.

"Enough! Enough! I've had it with that rookie kicking our asses on the court!" Thomas yelled out two names from the bench, "Al Harrington, Jonathan Bender, you guys swap out for Jalen and Jeff Foster."

On the other side, while Collins was happy to see Yu Fei changing the game with his defense, it was evident that Jordan couldn't fit into the fast-paced offense led by the latter.

"Tyronn, you're in for Chris." Collins first subbed out Whitney, who only knew how to pass to Yu Fei, and then brought in Kwame Brown to replace White, who was utterly unable to contain Little O'Neal.

This substitution puzzled Yu Fei; White was considered the best in the team at one-on-one defense inside, and Brown was nowhere near his level.

If Little O'Neal could toy with White, wouldn't putting in Brown be like sending in a lamb to the slaughter?

Although Yu Fei occasionally disrespected Collins, he did respect the coach's ability to adapt on the fly. Now bringing in Kwame could be seen as a desperate move; with Ratner injured, the Wizards' interior line had indeed become a lot thinner.

How come I never noticed how useful that Jianzhong was before?

Yu Fei thought to himself.

Seeing the Wizards substitute inside, the Pacers continued passing the ball to Little O'Neal.

Strangely, despite being physically and strength-wise inferior to White, Brown wasn't completely overpowered by Little O'Neal.

Yu Fei quickly spotted the reason.

Little O'Neal wasn't the type to rely on sheer physical dominance; he had the upper hand over White due to his agile steps and quick reflexes, which were coincidentally also Brown's strengths. Collins had cleverly matched the treatment to the symptom, using Brown as a surprise tactic to see how it would play out.

The result was pleasantly good; Brown made Little O'Neal uncomfortable in their very first engagement.

The shot ended in a clang.

Having their first offensive play after the time-out fail was definitely not good news for the Pacers.

However, the Wizards had their own issues; subbing out Whitney, who had good synergy with Yu Fei, for Coach Lu changed the rhythm of the game as well.

Whitney's own pace was suitable for Jordan; it's just that he liked to pass to Yu Fei.

Coach Lu was the kind of aggressive guard who knew no limits with speed, which was the foundation of his play, and given the opportunity, he could move so fast that even Jordan wouldn't have a chance to catch up.

"Too fast! Too fast! How can he be so fast?!"

Collins exclaimed, jumping up and down in frustration.

Collins aimed to change the pace but ended up speeding up the game even more.

It didn't seem fair to blame him, as the Wizards only really had two pure point guards fit for play; if not Whitney, then it had to be Coach Lu.

Unfortunately, when Coach Lu picked up speed, he couldn't even control himself, missing a fast-break layup and squandering the chance to take the lead. Coming back down the court, the Pacers also tried to speed up, with Miller missing a trailing three-pointer. But then, Brown grabbed the defensive rebound and once again passed the ball to Coach Lu.

This time, Coach Lu seemed to be mindful of the old man's feelings, galloping to the front court before abruptly stopping and passing the ball to the trailing Jordan.

Jordan also attempted a trailing three-pointer.

And he missed as well.

The long rebound was corralled by Yu Fei, who couldn't stand it any longer, gesturing with his hand to slow it down: "Tyronn, if you want to run the old man into the ground, just say so!"

Jordan was panting heavily, nearly bent over with hands on his knees. He heard Yu Fei's words, and although he felt upset and rushed, he was too out of breath to speak, resorting to glaring fiercely instead.

But Yu Fei didn't care about Jordan's feelings; he turned to Harrington and said, "Who are you? I'd rather be matched against the old man."

"Kid, show some respect, your ability to be a lottery pick is thanks first and foremost to pioneers like me!" Harrington said arrogantly.

With that declaration, Yu Fei really wanted to see for himself how this so-called pioneer's defense weighed up. He lowered his center of gravity and started with a crossover, then... no, there was no 'then' because Harrington might have had the height and speed, but his defense was definitely worse than Ross's. Thomas was misguided to expect a big forward who wouldn't lose speed and could keep up the size to be effective, focusing on the trees but missing the forest.

No matter how talented, if there's no defense, then to Yu Fei, they're just like a wooden stake.

With a single crossover, Yu Fei shattered Harrington's defense, charging into the paint, collecting the ball, and slamming it home, giving the Wizards the lead.

Considering Harrington's previous trash talk, the only information Yu Fei gathered was that this person also entered the league straight out of high school, skipping college. But with such unabashed bravado, it really made him, a junior, embarrassed for him.

"For someone with defense as retarded as yours to skip college? I feel ashamed for you, and I'm also a high school player!" Yu Fei couldn't help but say.