Chapter 28: The Old Wolf Invites You to Dinner

  Garnett was not impressed on the surface, but in fact, Yifeng had already left a deep impression on him. He is the most formidable defender he has ever seen among Asians. He has been playing against Yao Ming for many years, and although Yao Ming's speed is slow, his defense is very poor, often making mistakes in position defense and unable to defend the three-second zone. This year's rookie Yi Jianlian has a good quality, but his defensive end gives people an impression of not knowing where to stand, and his athletic ability cannot be brought into play at all. Yifeng is much stronger than these two.

  What surprised Garnett the most was that Ye Feng used to play rugby and had only switched to basketball for a few months. Being able to make such defensive plays after just a few months of training, what about in a year? What about in three years? He has all the elements to become a good defensive player, and the height disadvantage in defending the interior line is also made up for by his arm span and bounce to some extent. If he accumulates experience, it's likely that he'll become a monster on the defensive end that will give everyone headaches.

  Ganett didn't have a singles match with Ye Feng, it was Ruiwen's arrangement. He specifically mentioned to let Ganett pull Ye Feng to the high position and be responsible for supporting the offense, not to collide head-on.

  Rivers is an old fox, he knows Ye's characteristics very well, pulling him out of the inside line is the most correct choice, Garnett is responsible for supporting and can also save physical strength to fight in the second half, Powell is not here today, Garnett has to play a long time.

  The Lakers attacked, and Ye Feng was pulled to the high position again to cover, seeking opportunities for a mismatched single. If he could forcefully make a few shots over Garnett's head, it would be impressive but also foolish. Garnett is a strong contender for Defensive Player of the Year this season, so avoiding him is the best plan. Just like Garnett pulled Ye Feng to the high position, making him unable to exert his strength while creating space for his teammates to break through. Unfortunately, Ye Feng is not good at playing in the high position, his passing awareness is insufficient, and his ball-handling skills are not good enough, he can't do as well as Garnett.

  Farnham's breakthrough was unsuccessful, and his passing route was cut off by Howard. Ye Feng had the advantage of running to the basket but couldn't receive the ball. Farnham passed the ball to Worton on the outside line. Worton, who signed a $30 million contract, looked like a rookie against Pierce, barely making a shot that fell short.

  Ye Feng rushed into the basket, snatching a frontcourt rebound from under the head of veteran Polard. After landing, he immediately jumped up again and slammed the ball with one hand!

  Paul was too slow, and before he even lifted his head, Ye Feng was already in the air. Just as he was about to score, Garnett rushed up from behind, pressed the ball with one hand, and slapped it out of bounds. Ye Feng and Garnett had physical contact in mid-air and flew towards the outside of the court. Fortunately, he had practiced yoga with Gabriela for a period of time, which increased his flexibility, allowing him to adjust his posture in mid-air and land stably on one foot.

  Despite physical contact, the referee called a good ball, Lakers' frontcourt out-of-bounds.

  Ganete clenched his fists, staring fiercely at Ye Feng, passionately roaring as if proclaiming victory. He often uses his passion and fierce playing style to infect the team, boost morale, and intimidate opponents.

  But there were also people who couldn't calm down, Ye Feng walked to Garnett's side and stared at him, shouting loudly: "Don't be too happy, I'll bury you in a while!"

  Everyone was stunned by Ye Feng's provocative words, his momentum didn't decrease at all, but instead became even more ferocious, and he even called out to Garnett. He didn't seem like he wanted to play basketball, but rather like he wanted to fight.

  To others, Ye Feng is a rebellious newcomer, but he doesn't think there's anything wrong with his approach. Can Garnett yell and he can only shut up? This is the arena, not a place to show respect for elders and care for the young.

  "Jorden, give me a high pass!" Ye Feng whispered to him as he passed by Famar.

  Fahmar nodded his head, and suddenly admired Ye Feng a lot. Ye Feng's skills were average, but his mentality was not ordinary strong.

  The baseline pass was sent, Vucevic passed to Fournier, and Ye Feng went high to cover. Fournier drove past House, and Garnett defended again. Ye Feng's role in the team's defensive system is similar to Garnett's, both of whom are responsible for switching defenses after blocking shots. This task is not easy, requiring the ability to defend the interior while also keeping up with the backcourt defense. Garnett stretched out his long arm and blocked Fournier's path again. This time, Ye Feng didn't go baseline, instead standing at the high post where he was most accurate in shooting.

  Famar stepped two steps to the left and turned around to pass the ball back to Ye Feng in high position. Haus took two steps forward to prevent breakthroughs in front of him, not intending to interfere with the shot.

  The Celtics had done their homework on the Lakers, but wouldn't spend time watching tapes of Yi Jianlian's games in the NBDL. Their knowledge of Yi stopped at his first two regular-season games.

  Haus firmly believed that Ye Feng couldn't shoot, and he paid the price for it. After receiving the ball, Ye Feng made a slight adjustment, bent his knees, jumped up, and shot the ball with a high release point. The ball had almost no arc, but it steadily went in! 25-34.

  The action is very standard and doesn't look like a bluff. Garnett ran to the Lakers' half court while thinking about how to limit Ye Feng's shooting. If Ye Feng could make mid-range shots, the 185cm-tall House would not be able to defend against him. Before 2003, Garnett used low-arc shooting, and later gradually changed to mid-arc shooting. This type of ball has a shorter flight path, making it easier to control power, suitable for people with high release points, and can be mastered quickly. However, due to the low and flat flight path, the exposed area under the basket is small, making it difficult to make shots.

  Garnett started to attack the defense of Ye Feng, his timing of blocking shots was just right, block and then run. Letting Malone shoot used to be a solution, but what if Kobe comes on the court? Can they still let Kobe shoot?

  Experts often talk about "ball commercial", which refers to a player's ability to adapt to different opponents during a game, a kind of spirituality. Some players have great physical qualities, and off the court they seem to understand everything, but once on the court, they start to get confused, their ball handling is poor, and whether with or without the ball, their positioning is all over the place. Ye Feng has many technical flaws, but he plays with a lot of spirituality, which makes him very formidable.

  Haus brought the ball up the court and passed it to Pierce. Garnett set a high screen, and Pierce popped out to face Ye.

  Pierce didn't put Ye Feng in his eyes, he dribbled with his left hand on the right side, making a fake shoulder shake to switch to his right hand. He took a big step forward with his left leg and another small step with his right leg. Ye Feng's center of gravity tilted to the left, trying to block Pierce's breakthrough, but Pierce quickly pulled the ball up with his right hand, using his right foot as an axis, making a large-scale turn towards the middle road.

  Don't look at Pierce's speed, but the continuity of each action is very strong. Ye Feng lost his position in one step and was immediately turned over. He quickly retreated, turned around, and caught up with Pierce, who had already taken three steps under the basket, jumping to cover him.

  Pierce predicted that Ye's speed could catch up, and after taking off, there was a small pause in the air. The ball was passed to his left hand, dodging Ye's block, and he made a layup shot. 25-36.

  Kwame Brown was just standing not far away, only two steps away from Pierce. If he had provided defensive support, it would have been difficult for Pierce to score, but he chose to watch the excitement instead. Ye Feng suddenly remembered a poem: Galloping horse, you have four legs... Brown, you are all water...

  Similarly, there is also Vucevic, the Lakers' field offense, Vucevic made a mistake in passing the ball and was intercepted by Posey, the Celtics launched a quick counterattack, Pierce and House scored two-on-one in the frontcourt, with only Ye Feng defending alone.

  Haus passed to Pierce, Ye Feng's position retreated very deep, already at the basket, Pierce can jump shot easily score. But he decided to use a more domineering way, he wanted to avenge Posey and Tony Allen, he wanted to let Ye Feng know what is "truth"!

  Pierce took two big steps, right hand holding the ball flying up, ready to take the ball on Ye Feng's head for a single-handed dunk! Pierce is one of the top five powerhouses at the small forward position, full of confidence in his body, unfortunately he underestimated Ye Feng.

  Ye Feng also jumped up, right under the basket. He had studied a bit about defensive dunks. Odom told him that the best position for blocking dunks was right under the basket, stretching his hands to the edge of the rim and waiting for the opponent to dunk! As long as he didn't stretch his hands out from under the rim, it wouldn't be considered interference with the ball.

  Pierce drove the ball towards the basket, and Ye Fung's hand was on the ball, his timing of jump was accurate. Pierce had a burst of speed, his body was in a forward leaning state, the two men clashed in mid-air, Pierce suddenly lost his balance, his body turned sideways in mid-air, and he fell heavily to the floor.

  The referee blew the whistle, Ye Feng made a foul! Garnett rushed up and pushed Ye Feng hard, even though Ye Feng's body was strong, he was pushed back two steps. This push brought out the gunpowder smell from both sides.

  Ye Feng didn't want to fight Garnett, but his body, filled with violent cells, automatically charged forward. The players from both teams rushed over and stood between the two men.

  The referee first judged Ye Feng to have committed a foul, and then blew a T on Garnett. Kobe couldn't provoke Garnett's anger, but Ye Feng made him lose control of himself. Not only Garnett, but the entire audience also let out waves of boos. Pierce was seriously injured this time, he is someone the Celtics can't afford to lose.

  Ye Feng felt a bit wronged, as he hadn't actually hit the ball with his hand, but the referee didn't like him so there was nothing to be done.

  Rookies are more likely to be called for fouls is the NBA's unwritten rule, newcomers' unstandardized dribbling, rough hand movements, and inexplicable screens will make referees "blow their whistles quickly". Like Ye Feng, a low-paid player, and an all-star superstar in intense confrontation, nine out of ten times they will be called for fouls.

  Pierce was knocked down, Ye Feng had no guilt at all, he just felt it was too cool. Whoever dared to come to the basket for a dunk, he had confidence in defending against it. No matter how many fake moves were made before, that last one always left a trace. The closer you got to the basket, the easier it was to cover.

  Pierce sat on the floor for a while before getting up and indicating he was okay to continue, then went to the free throw line and made both shots.

  The Lakers' Wu Qiaozhi also made a technical foul free throw, 26-38.

  Lakers are ready to change their main force!

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