Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 580 - 417 Red’s Inner Demon

Chapter 580: Chapter 417 Red’s Inner Demon

The Celtics players on the court reacted a bit faster than Coach Rivers.

Especially Rondo, who was the first to realize that the Supersonics were no longer using Yu Fei as the sole core. In fact, he could guess the real intentions of the opponent by their style of play.

However, he dared not act recklessly because Rivers had already laid out a game plan and prepared a whole set of strategies for Yu Fei.

Rondo could only follow the arrangements, even if they were wrong. If he didn’t, he would be benched since he wasn’t the only reliable point guard for the Celtics.

The Supersonics almost showed contempt for Rondo’s shooting ability.

They gave him too much space, allowing Rondo to dribble up to the free-throw line for an awkward jump shot.

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Though it looked uncoordinated, Rondo made the shot.

So, Carl reminded Roy at the sidelines, “Don’t give him that much space.”

Roy shrugged, indicating his helplessness at Rondo’s unusual shooting rhythm.

Then, the game entered a rhythm dominated by Fei.

But this wasn’t the type of domination by Fei that the Celtics had imagined.

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Yu Fei didn’t dribble the ball all by himself from the backcourt to the frontcourt like they remembered. He didn’t call for a pick-and-roll or directly overpower his opponent in one-on-one situations.

None of that happened. Fei went down to the low post.

Before Pierce could react, Fei had already received the ball, turned around, and scored with a jump shot over his head.

The Celtics likewise tried to play the ball inside on their next possession.

Garnett was up against Marion. In terms of height alone, this matchup could be described as big against small. But Marion had a solid build and did not lose out in the confrontation. Garnett, who had faced him countless times over the years, was well aware of this.

He didn’t want to rely on his strength to overpower Marion. Against this stocky long-armed player, Garnett always preferred to take a chance on a jump shot from outside the paint.

With his athletic ability, as long as he wanted to do so, no one could block his shot.

The problem was, with such a big body and great athletic talent, constantly thinking of resolving issues through jump shots was bound to be problematic.

Marion stuck close to his lower body, making Garnett’s shot uncomfortable.

“Bang!”

Fei grabbed the rebound under Brown’s cover and passed it to Durant on the fast break for a dunk.

The Celtics’ rhythm was beginning to falter.

First, there were issues with their defensive strategy, then on offense, they were relying too much on inside play.

The Celtics continued to focus on Garnett.

This time, Garnett grew impatient. He realized the game had just started, and it wasn’t even the final minutes yet. Why was he obsessed with jump shots from outside the paint?

Thus, this man who always took some time before each Celtics game to do interviews with ABC, TNT, and ESPN talking about “victory,” “responsibility,” and “how I lead the team,” drove the ball towards the basket. With his height and long arms, he forcefully scored over Marion.

“It was a good shot, but Boston’s inside and outside play is becoming disjointed,” said ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy. “This is not a good sign.”

Fei’s influence began to permeate every corner of the frontcourt.

The Celtics were too concerned with him.

As long as he held the ball, they had to invest more than two players in defense.

But Fei wasn’t fixated on personal offense. He did not riskily pass the ball to Brown inside, although he was well-positioned but marked; instead, he passed to Marion, who had cut to the basket from the baseline.

While Marion’s one-on-one offensive capability was not strong, his ability to finish plays was among the best for wing players.

With Garnett’s help on defense, Marion used his body as a shield, withstood the interference, and then reverse placed the ball into the basket.

At that moment, the Celtics realized they could not focus just on one point in their offense.

Wing player Pierce and outside shooter Redd were both skilled and trustworthy.

However, the other two stars who hadn’t touched the ball for several possessions reacted differently after receiving the ball.

Pierce first attacked Fei, but sensing something amiss after getting to the inside, he passed the ball out to Redd.

Redd shot a three-pointer directly.

Without finding his shooting touch, Redd watched as the ball, before his eyes, hit the rim and was grabbed off the glass by Fei. The Supersonics’ defensive counterattack poured down like a torrential rainstorm, and Redd felt as if he could sense the mocking from the other team.

Fei sprinted to the frontcourt at full speed, adjusting his rhythm until just before the three-point line, arrived outside the top of the arc, and launched a trailing three-pointer.

The ball went in!

Instantly, the roar surged through Key Arena.

The score gap widened to 10 points.

The Celtics called for a timeout.

Redd found this scene all too familiar, especially the commentators’ reactions when the Supersonics got going.

“Many people say that Frye can’t play every game like he did in Game 3, but you can see he has more than one way to play!” said ABC’s Doug Collins. “He can play inside, he can play outside, and he can play the mid-range; no matter what part of the court he’s on, he is dominant.”

“When you have such a player, your job becomes easy. You just need to give him the ball, and he will lead the team to success. That’s what Frye has been doing for the past seven years!”

Michael Redd did not like what was happening in front of him.

He did not want to hear the commentator praise Yu Fei so much.

It reminded him of his days playing in Milwaukee, when they succeeded, it was because of Yu Fei. When they failed, it was because they had not provided enough support for Yu Fei.

What a twisted double standard it was! Why did people like Yu Fei get such a thick filter in the media’s eyes?

Redd could not understand it until he was traded to New York. As he struggled in a terrible team, no one blamed his teammates. The media did not say, “Someone from the Knicks did not provide enough help for Redd.”

What would the media say?

“Without Frye, Michael Redd is just a mediocre player.”

This was the demon in Redd’s heart, and he would never let go of it.

His success was easily denied, while his failure was confirmed in bold by the media, portraying him as a “loser player” in a unique narrative.

This was why he was willing to come to Boston and why he liked Boston.

Here, among the big three, there was no distinction of status. Pierce gave up the final shot to Redd, in exchange for Redd reducing his shot attempts and focusing more on defense. Garnett, the biggest of them all, voluntarily gave up the way he played in Minnesota, bulking up and focusing on defense, tirelessly sweeping the high post before flying back to protect the basket and the boards.

He turned from a super versatile big man who averaged 22+12+4 to a super blue-collar player with 18+9+3 averages.

See, everyone gave up something, which led to the rise of the Celtics.

But why could the media understand the rise of the Celtics and not understand that Yu Fei was Yu Fei because he had a bunch of people silently sacrificing behind him?

Why did they overlook everyone else’s contributions for Yu Fei’s success, yet point out the lack of contributions from others when Yu Fei failed?

When would such logically twisted double standards end?

Redd could not accept it, or rather, he could not forgive Yu Fei for never making any effort on this matter. Yes, he would praise his teammates, but that was just a form of image management to make the media think he was a good teammate.

What really was Yu Fei like?

Redd knew crystal clear, he simply did not care about anyone!

A storm was brewing in Redd’s heart, and he was completely oblivious to Rivers’s speech, thinking about things unrelated to the game.

But in the end, he had to return to the game itself.

If he wanted to avenge the media’s insult to him, or to get back at Yu Fei who “had everything,” he had to win the finals.

Only by winning the finals could he then speak as a new identity—a winner who had won the championship without Yu Fei—he wanted the whole world to know: Victory was not brought by people like Frye; it was brought by teams like the Celtics, where everyone was selfless and not self-centered. They were a unique team. They did not have Yu Fei, nor did they need Yu Fei.

That would be his speech after winning the championship.

As long as he won the championship, he would tear off all the masks mythologizing Yu Fei.

“Do you hear me? That’s how we play!”

Rivers had finished his instructions, but Redd did not hear a single word.

It was not until he was on the court that Redd realized Rivers had replaced Rondo with Cassell.

The Celtics inbounded the ball, Cassell skillfully dribbled forward.

Pierce came to the perimeter, facing off against Yu Fei.

“You said you would make me eat my words,” Yu Fei pressed, “Is that the kind of performance you call eating your words?”

Pierce responded, “Just watch, Big Fei!”

Originally, the Celtics had designed a strategy for Garnett to set a pick for Cassell and then move to his sweet spot to receive and shoot the ball. This was to spread the offense.

However, Redd disrupted the play.

He shook off Roy with a back cut and got to the top of the arc.

Garnett oddly sensed that he could screen for Redd to shoot a three-pointer, although it was not their original plan, but it might be a better solution.

Garnett decisively passed the ball and used his body to shield Redd from the defense.

Redd took the three-point shot, and it went in!

“Paul!” Redd called out to Pierce in front of Yu Fei, “If you want that bastard to eat his words, you have to play like this!”

Pierce laughed loudly, “Alright, alright, I will learn from you, Michael!”

Yu Fei had no idea where Redd’s hostility towards him came from. When he was traded by the Bucks, it essentially came down to not being able to compete with Ray Allen and not getting support from others. He wanted to move up and needed to go to another team, so he requested a trade, which the team granted. Redd went to New York, and after that, they lost touch.

To Yu Fei, he was just a former teammate.

Or rather, a former colleague.

Now, it seemed this former colleague held a full grudge against him.

“What did you do to him?” Not only Roy, but the others also heard Redd call someone “that bastard.”

“The problem is, I don’t know what I did to him,” Yu Fei considered himself someone who remembered old friendships. If not for today’s incident, maybe someday in the future, he would sit down with Redd and reminisce about their 2003 championship win.

But now.

“I do need to do something about him,” Yu Fei said, “He asked for it!”