Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Keep insisting if you want to, old man, just don't keel over on the court...

Yu Fei slandered Coach in his heart, and the first half ended without him getting his second chance to play.

49 to 45

The Knicks were leading by 4 points.

Back in the locker room, Grover looked as tense as a surgeon entering the operating room when he examined Jordan's knee.

"Playing a whole quarter is too much for you right now," Grover warned.

Despite the acute pain in his joints, Jordan gritted his teeth and said, "I'm fine."

Then, Collins began criticizing the substitute players, "I didn't want Michael to play for 12 minutes, but if you guys don't step up your game, we'll have to keep Michael and the other starters on for longer..."

Different people took these words differently.

Upon hearing this, Yu Fei felt particularly aggrieved.

Was it really because the substitutes were not good enough that Jordan played the entire second quarter? Wasn't it because Jordan refused to be subbed out?

Going into the second half, Yu Fei was still on the bench.

With four minutes left in the third quarter, an exhausted Jordan finally agreed to be subbed out by Collins after missing several shots in a row.

Only then did Yu Fei get his chance to come on as the substitute small forward.

Once on the court, Yu Fei was desperate, his craving for stats surpassed everything else because he didn't know when he'd be pulled out again, so he had to seize every opportunity.

Yu Fei was after every rebound and possession.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The three dunks in the first quarter had the Knicks wary of Yu Fei's drives.

This was the first year of zone defense in the NBA, and there was an urgent need to end the dominance of big men in the league, as it had been proven that only a player of Jordan's size could bring good TV ratings. Since no successor to Jordan could replace him, the solution was to use rules to eliminate traditional post players.

Zone defense not only contained traditional centers' offense, but also seriously disrupted outside penetration—the league, of course, considered this, and thus the unique defensive three-second rule was introduced at the same time as the zone was unbanned.

Together, these two rules only truly harmed traditional post players.

The desire for the death of centers was written all over Stern's face.

Due to the defensive three-second rule, the NBA's zone defense was nothing like FIBA's zone defense, a gap even wider than that between Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

Nevertheless, even though the NBA's zone defense had clear flaws, Yu Fei still decided to test his shooting.

When the opponents formed a zone defense in the paint, Yu Fei called for Whitney's pick-and-roll on the perimeter, specifically targeting the opposing point guard, and pulled up for a shot over his defense.

"Swish!"

Be it the shooting rhythm or the feel of the shot, Yu Fei felt he was in peak form.

If that was the case, why not keep shooting?

Yu Fei's show started from there, and in the next seven rounds, he called for a pick-and-roll four times, challenging the opposing guards.

These five rounds were like replaying the same footage: all happened at the free-throw line, all with exactly the same offensive patterns and rhythm, and all shots made it in.

After scoring 10 points in the quarter, Yu Fei broke the Knicks' zone defense, leading Van Gundy to call for high traps, which instead created shooting opportunities for Richard Hamilton.

Before the end of the third quarter, Yu Fei assisted Hamilton in making a long two-pointer with his foot on the line, 77 to 76, and the Wizards took the lead.

"How about we pretend that Frye Yu is the Wizards' first draft pick?"

NBC's commentator Lewis Johnson joked.

However, Collins did not continue to use the excellent Yu Fei in the fourth quarter but switched back to the main lineup.

The teams grappled with a 1-point difference, exchanging leads many times.

An energized Jordan held up the Wizards' offense for the first half of the quarter, while Hamilton made sure the lead wasn't extended in the first five minutes of the second half.

But entering the final minute, Allan Houston and Sprewell each scored a mid-range shot and a three-pointer, expanding the difference to 4 points.

Chris Whitney's clutch three-pointer brought the difference back to 1 point.

In the crucial moment, Popeye Jones was fouled out with six personal fouls, and the Knicks missed two bizarre free throws, giving the Wizards a chance for The Shot.

At this point, Collins suddenly remembered Yu Fei, who had been on the bench the whole quarter.

With 20 seconds left in the game, Collins decided to substitute Yu Fei in for Jones.

Without any particular reason, Collins recalled Yu Fei's flawless performance earlier when calling for pick-and-rolls to attack the Knicks' guards.

"Everybody spread out, make room for Michael!" Collins said first, "Michael, you'll get the ball here, and if there's no opportunity, Frye will be here to support you... and if Frye gets the ball, Rip, be ready for the screen!"

Having 20 seconds meant the Wizards had plenty of time as a safety net.

Try Jordan first, and if that doesn't work, go to Yu Fei.

This was the first time tonight that Yu Fei and Jordan were on the court together.

Yu Fei had a feeling that Jordan wasn't going to pass the ball because the Knicks would likely let Sprewell guard him alone.

This wasn't a lack of respect for Jordan; for a 38-year-old who had not yet fully returned to game shape, Sprewell was more than enough.

After all, Jordan's shooting percentage tonight was just over thirty percent.

So, from the start, Yu Fei was prepared to crash the boards.

The ball was successfully inbounded from the sidelines.

Chris Whitney dribbled for a few seconds, and as Collins had arranged, he passed the ball to Jordan on the weak side.

Jordan started to control the tempo of his dribble, and the first shake off was crucial. Devoid of explosive power and absolute speed, the veteran needed to use rhythm to confuse his defender if he wanted to make a play in a one-on-one situation.