Chapter 9: Preventing Spiritual Connection

  Foul! Just as Kobe was about to break through successfully, Ye Feng grabbed Kobe's arm.

  Foul on Odom! Yao Ming screens for Odom and gets pushed down by him.

  Foul! Ye Fengzhong received the ball in the middle of the road and prepared to dunk, but the center Larry Turner standing under the basket became the victim and was knocked flying out.

  Block foul! Ye Feng blocked Kobe's breakthrough.

  Foul play! Ye Feng flies past Kobe...

  "I didn't mean to! I just slipped! Referee, don't send me off!" Ye Feng yelled, pulling at Bryan Shaw's jersey.

  "Hey, you know how many fouls you've committed? You know how many fouls it takes to get ejected from a basketball game on this planet? Even if you were David Stern's own son, you'd be outta here!"

  Ye Feng made his second appearance in three minutes, committing five fouls and increasing efficiency. He sat back down beside Divac, innocently saying: "Coach, I really did slip just now, and the previous time, I only lightly bumped Kobe, why was that also called a foul?"

  "Divac is about to go crazy, with his mouth wide open, gritting his teeth and saying: 'Just now your knee was on Kobe's crotch, that's not only a foul, he can also sue you for sexual harassment! And that dunk, what kind of dunk is that? Do you think rushing out of bounds will score points? Are you really here to try out or are you sent by the enemy team to play with us?'"

  "I really didn't mean to..." Ye Feng covered his face and sighed, he found it easier to foul than others did to score. As long as someone passed by him, he would involuntarily make physical contact with them. His brain had no memory of the football field, but his body's memory remained, and when faced with fast opponents, he even had an impulse to directly knock them down.

  In the first training session, Ye Feng only played for 8 minutes and committed 10 fouls. His performance made the fringe players very happy, as everyone felt they had one less competitor.

  After training ended, only Baynam comforted him. "Don't be discouraged, this is just the first day, you might still have a chance to stay." (Most likely won't be able to stay)

  Yefeng's face was expressionless. "Thanks, now that you mention it, I feel even more depressed."

  The next day, Ye Feng continued to play as a substitute, and didn't know if Kobe did it on purpose or not, but after blocking him, he faced off against Ye Feng and subjected him to inhumane torture.

  Ye Feng thought for half the night, this time he restrained himself and tried not to foul, but without fouling, Kobe could easily pass him with a change of direction and hit a shot. On offense, Ye Feng got shooting opportunities, twice missing high shots and twice missing low shots, four shots zero in, not being forced into desperation, his teammates didn't pass the ball to him again, his inaccurate shooting was fully utilized by the opponent, who could leave him two steps at high position, double-team Bynum.

  Later, Divac let him defend Kwame Brown. The supplementary defense task was handed over to others, and Ye Feng finally had the opportunity to play his own strength advantage. He held Brown outside the three-second zone, Brown's offense was limited, but the yellow team's offensive focus was on the outside line. Soon a new problem came again, Ye Feng didn't understand the positioning very well, nor did he predict the ball's bounce, and couldn't protect the backcourt rebound well, Brown continuously grabbed two frontcourt rebounds and scored twice.

  When he was substituted, Ye Feng was a little disappointed with himself. This is more difficult than imagined, today he still didn't get any points or assists, the only data is that he grabbed two rebounds. Yesterday it was Kobe who picked him up, but today he was bullied by the water-like champion Brown. As a champion, Brown is very average, but compared to ordinary players, he still has some skills.

  Ye Feng's face was as gloomy as a shareholder who had bought Chongqing beer for 80 yuan. Brian Shaw, sitting next to him, laughed and said: "What, are you ready to give up now?"

  Ye Feng shook his head and said: "What can I do to improve? Can you teach me a thing or two?"

  Brian Shaw said seriously, "You have too many questions, I can only teach you a little about the basics of perimeter defense. Let's just talk about defending the perimeter, your way of playing is not right, you shouldn't just try to keep up with Kobe and move at his rhythm. Good defense doesn't just mean keeping up, it also means trying to disrupt the opponent's rhythm, have you noticed that he scores a lot by turning around and jumping for shots from the low post on the right side?"

  Turning jump shot is very difficult, Kobe did it very smoothly, Ye Feng had no way. "His shooting difficulty is high, I was shaken off by him and it's hard to catch up with the cover, how can we disrupt his rhythm?"

  Brian Shaw explained patiently: "Disrupting the rhythm is before he shoots, when he singles you out, he will move the ball to his most familiar and accurate shooting position. What you need to do is to force him to receive the ball and shoot in an uncomfortable position. For example, if he is stable one step outside the three-second line at a low post, if you can force him to shoot from two steps away, you can lower his hit rate."

  Ye Feng understood a bit more. "Then how can I avoid fake moves? Now, let alone forcing him, I couldn't even keep up."

  It's easy to talk, but hard to do. Brian Shaw smiled and said: "I can teach you, it depends on how much you can grasp. The most important thing is to resist the inside line and back-to-back defense. You did a good job in defending against the spin move. However, when defending against the outside line, you pay too much attention to your opponent's fake movements and the ball in their hands. The key to defending against the outside line is to stick close to your opponent as soon as they receive the ball. As long as you stick tight, with both hands open, your opponent will have no space to dribble. If your opponent receives the ball and you can't stick close in time, such as when facing Kobe, don't get too close, leave a step of distance. This way, when he dribbles or shoots, you'll have time to react. Lower your center of gravity, keep your eyes level with your opponent's shoulders, because any fake movement starts with the shoulders. Also, keep your hands open. If your opponent drives to the right, use your right hand to disrupt their dribbling and your left hand to control their space for a breakthrough. If they drive to the left, do the opposite. Your footwork is also incorrect, take smaller steps, you should use sliding steps combined with crossover steps. Use sliding steps when defending against normal dribbling, and use crossover steps when defending against a breakthrough. Quickly change direction."

  Ye Feng didn't interrupt, listening very carefully, trying to remember everything in his mind. As a basketball fan watching games, he thought it was all simple, but now from the player's perspective, he realized that playing basketball is a huge subject, and he had no idea before. To play well, you need to put in a lot of thought, the gap between professional players and non-professional players is too big. One is in heaven, one is underground.

  Xiao said so much, let him carefully observe Kobe's defense. Ye Feng knew that by 2007, Kobe had been selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team five times, and by 2012, he had been selected nine times.

  The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The votes are selected by a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. Each player in the league receives two points for each First Team vote and one point for each Second Team vote. The top five players with the most points at each position (two guards, two forwards, and one center) make up the first team, while the next five players at each position make up the second team. In case of a tie in votes, the player with more First Team selections is given priority.

  Kobe's 9 consecutive three-pointers are definitely not a gift for the coaches, and the coaches are not blind to his absolute strength.

  Yue Feng sat in the stands, observing Kobe. Usually, stars don't defend very seriously, but Kobe was defending with great effort even during training. After O'Neal left, he had never led the team to the first round of the playoffs alone, and he was eager to prove himself.

  Kobe's strong defense is not about the number of blocks and steals, but his experience and anticipation. Until Kobe left the court, Ye Feng was still savoring the scene he had just witnessed. Divac patted him on the shoulder and said, "Ye, don't be distracted, get ready to go on court. You've been watching for so long, go try it out. When the opponent is covering you, pay attention to switching defenses."

  "I understand."

  Kobe was replaced by Vuja?i?. Yefeng returned to the court as a 4th position, and his opponent was Turiaf.

  The yellow team attacks. Turiavera goes to the three-point line for Gavalis. Crittenton provides cover. Crittenton is this year's first-round rookie and a player the Lakers want to cultivate well.

  Ye Feng circled around Turiyev, blocking Krittanon's breakthrough route. One step away, his attention was mainly focused on the opponent's shoulders, and the pace of his feet also changed. He no longer moved at full speed with large strides, but instead used sliding steps.

  Kreitton wanted to break through, but after being blocked by Ye Feng, he immediately changed to a back-to-back dribble, trying to find a running teammate. Ye Feng recalled Kobe's defensive method and took a small step back with his right leg, leaving space for Kreitton to dribble.

  Just like when a defender suddenly withdraws while back-to-back, the attacker will instinctively lean back and may fall. Yefeng retreated this step, setting up a trap for Crittenton, who also took a step forward with his back to him. Yefeng anticipated his direction of movement with the ball, using his left leg to block him, preventing him from accelerating past, while his right hand struck out, accurately slapping the basketball away, and then taking a big step forward, squeezing Crittenton to gain possession of the ball.

  Snatched! Others thought it was just a lucky break and didn't think much of it. Only Brian Shaw's mouth was agape in an O shape, wasn't this what I just told him?! Isn't this the method Kobe often uses to defend against outside shots?! He listened once, watched for a bit, and then came up with it himself?!

  After several rounds, Kritanaton broke through again with a block and tackle, but was intercepted once more. This time, Ye Feng did it even more neatly, just after blocking the tackle, Ye Feng rushed forward to defend closely, reducing Kritanaton's space to dribble, forcing him to pass the ball out.

  Brian Shaw now can confirm that Ye Feng has made progress in defending the outside line, and Kobe is not on the court, he did a good job of completing the defensive task.

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