Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 466 - 320 It’s Not Time Yet

Chapter 466: Chapter 320 It’s Not Time Yet

Yu Fei arrived at the frontcourt like a fire-breathing dragon.

His target was Wade, and no matter who Miami had defending him, he would call for a pick and roll to force Wade to switch onto him.

When Wade realized that Yu Fei had him in his sights, he decided to take on this formidable opponent head-on.

After Wade and Posey had a communication breakdown that Yu Fei forcefully exploited, Wade said to Posey, “JP, let me handle him.”

Posey was doubtful, “Are you serious?”

Wade insisted without any hesitation, “He’s targeting me; instead of avoiding, better to face him.”

The logic was sound, but Posey didn’t know whether this move was good or bad.

Defending against Yu Fei head-on is different from occasionally switching defenders, and no one on Miami understood the pressure of doing this better than he did.

Could Wade do it?

On the offensive end, Wade found that Yu Fei had already taken the initiative to defend him.

Perhaps this was their tacit understanding.

They both knew what the other was thinking.

But, Yu Fei’s defense wasn’t aggressive like Bell’s; his basic strategy was to guard against drives and not worry about shots.

Wade had no intention of shooting because even with Yu Fei giving him space, his height and wingspan meant he could easily disrupt Wade’s shots.

In a moment of indecision, Wade stepped into the Bucks’ trap.

As he drove to the inside, the Bucks’ help defense was everywhere, with Yu Fei beside him and Mutombo in front posing the greatest threats to Wade.

Wade decided to pass the ball to Mourning.

This old-timer, who played every game as if it were his last and constantly muttered “survive” as a kidney fighter, received the ball and craftily shook off the helping Kwame Brown to score an easy basket underneath.

Then, Yu Fei noticed Wade was beginning to follow him.

This could only mean one thing: Miami had decided to let Wade match up with him.

But such a bold decision couldn’t have been made by Riley on the spot, so it was likely Wade’s own initiative.

This made Yu Fei reflect on the series with the Knights; James had rarely done this, whereas Wade had decisively chosen to match up with him after making a bid for leadership.

Perhaps, this was the biggest difference between James and them. In his latest commercial, James played four different aspects of himself, including a businessman James—too shrewd, too calculating, which on the court translates to being overly cautious.

Wade was also crafty, but in a game, he wouldn’t think too much.

However, Wade really should have thought more.

The size difference between them was too obvious, and even if Wade’s defense was good, taking on Yu Fei head-on was bound to be a laborious and thankless task.

This made it easier for Yu Fei to take him on.

“Dwyane, you don’t think you can guard me, do you?”

“Only one way to find out!”

Yu Fei liked his attitude but not Wade’s belief that he could guard him.

Liked to try? Then let it be your demise.

Suddenly, Yu Fei instructed Brown to clear out and moved to the left low post, using his body to seal off Wade and called for the ball.

“!@￥#￥”

What kind of offense could maximize the use of the attacker’s physical advantage? Naturally, the answer is post-up plays.

Low-post offense is equitable for both offense and defense; larger players have an advantage, and those lacking strength would be crushed. Even for a post-up player as raw as Yu Fei, with a significant physical advantage, Wade’s defense would shatter upon contact.

Most importantly, this type of offense could wear down opponents while attacking them.

Yu Fei got the ball and slammed hard into Wade’s body. In that moment, Wade understood what it felt like to be bulldozed by Shaquille O’Neal.

Powerless.

And painful.

Before Wade could recover, Yu Fei’s second collision came.

This time, Wade couldn’t hold his ground and was brutally knocked to the floor.

Yu Fei turned and jumped, easily hitting a left-side 45-degree angle bank shot.

“You can keep trying,” Yu Fei said. “Maybe you’ll succeed once in the next ten defenses?”

Wade had already experienced “Frye Hell.”

Because he was O’Neal’s teammate.

He didn’t need to ask Jordan about Yu Fei, nor did he have to look up Yu Fei’s exploits; by observing during the games against the Bucks, he knew how Yu Fei treated O’Neal.

Compared to Yu Fei’s treatment of O’Neal, what was this trash talk?

Wade was helped up by Mourning, then ran forward.

Payton brought the ball up front, waiting for Wade to get into position before passing.

Wade, eager to score, used his superior ball-handling skills to push inside the three-point line and then take a jump shot.

Yet, Yu Fei wasn’t shaken, and Wade, hoping for a better shooting spot, ignored that his opponent could jump up to contest at any time.

In mid-air, Yu Fei’s fingertips brushed Wade’s shot.

This changed the trajectory of the ball.

The ball spun through the air and began to fall.

Kwame Brown snatched the air ball and tossed it to Yu Fei.

Yu Fei started from a standstill, sprinting at full speed towards the frontcourt, with Wade pressing him closely.

However, Fei suddenly stopped in the paint, switched hands behind his back before gathering the ball and taking off, shoving Wade fiercely to draw the foul. Then, gripping the ball with his left hand, he slammed it into the hoop with force.

Ever since Fei and Wade had been matched up, besides an assist to Mourning, Wade had failed to make any other contributions.

On the other hand, Fei had his way with him.

The matchups of these few rounds seemed to tell others that counting on the current Wade to confront Fei was unrealistic.

Pat Riley was acutely aware this was not a fair matchup.

In every aspect, Fei was more mature than Wade, whose technical flaws were not corrected by recent high shooting percentages, leading him to be able to play offensively as he wished and defensively shut down with a single allowance for shooting.

What caused this?

Riley looked towards the seated Shaquille O’Neal.

He believed Shaq’s absence was a big part of the reason, a fact perhaps unnoticed before but now, O’Neal’s role was becoming apparent.

If O’Neal was on the court, the Miami Heat’s offensive and defensive rebounds would be secured, and Wade and the others would shoot with more confidence.

Now, with O’Neal sitting out and Wade challenging Fei, each unsuccessful challenge was met with a counterattack.

The worst part was that Fei was playing too hard.

If this continued, Riley feared that even someone as determined as Wade might lose confidence in himself.

There was once a story about the Emperor of Cinema, Rocko Sidi, who before shooting a film, asked a new actress what her boundaries were. She said she didn’t have any. Rocko immediately chastised her, saying you have to have boundaries because male actors on set are devils, and if you don’t have boundaries, they will destroy you.

Placing this story in the current context, Wade was that actress who thought she had no boundaries.

Riley actively disrupted the matchup between Wade and Fei.

The Miami Heat called their second timeout of the game.

“Dwyane, stop matching up with Frye from now on,” Riley stated clearly. “If he calls for a screen, you and James double team him. Also, we abandon offensive rebounds, the moment anyone shoots, everyone is to fall back immediately for defense!”

Wade didn’t think he was defeated yet.

“Pat, I want to try again.”

But Riley dismissed his idea, “No, Dwyane, it’s not the time.”

Riley wouldn’t act impulsively like a young person; he had realized that, at least against the Bucks, Wade should never fully match up with Fei.

He was better suited to dominate when playing against secondary Bucks players like Bell, just like in the previous game.

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O’Neal had been resting for a number of minutes; he had already calmed down, wanting to go in, but Riley had no intention of subbing him in.

Now seeing Wade being suppressed by Fei, he grew a bit impatient, “Pat, I’m ready, let me in.”

“No, Shaq,” Riley said, “wait for the second quarter, then you go in.”

The timeout ended, and Fei scored on the free throw.

Afterward, they discovered that the Miami Heat’s style of play had changed.

Wade was no longer single-mindedly attempting to attack the basket.

Payton took over ball-handling, restoring Miami Heat’s half-court game.

Wade became a weak-side slasher, moving about.

After a screen, Bell switched over to defend.

But the Heat did not use Wade as the focal point of attack.

Payton did what he was most accustomed to doing in Miami; he lobbed the ball inside.

Mourning played one-on-one against the Bucks’ recently substituted Haslem, with a real man’s battle ensuing between the two muscular and shorter centers, making contact several times within seconds, each impact with a thud.

Haslem, once the soul of the Miami Heat and now Big Fei’s minion, defended Mourning with all his might, but still got faked out, jumping into the air.

Mourning banked the ball off the wrong foot, breaking the Heat’s stalemate once more.

Heat fans who were considering leaving after seeing Wade get blown out now thought the game might be worth watching a bit longer.

Coming to the frontcourt, Fei could confirm that the Miami Heat had stopped Wade from continuing to match up with him.

The person now defending him was James Posey.

While Wade went on to guard Kevin Martin in the corner.

As if to say: Can’t beat me and you hope to hide from me, right?

Fei thought, this is the end?

Do you think it’s that easy to just end it?

Fei called for a screen from Martin, then the Miami Heat immediately double-teamed, completely cutting off Fei’s thoughts of playing hard against Wade.

Fei passed the ball to Martin.

Martin’s three-pointer missed, Payton’s counterattack was blocked, but Antoine Walker scored with an offensive rebound.

The game entered another round of deadlock.

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