Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

In the 2001-2002 season, the Washington Wizards clinched a playoff berth in the last week of the regular season with three wins and one loss, ultimately placing eighth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 43 wins and 39 losses.

Their journey to the playoffs was perilous. When Jordan was sidelined for the season due to a torn meniscus, they had fallen from fourth in the East to ninth. Not long after, Richard Hamilton was also out indefinitely with a groin injury.

Yu Fei became the lone star for the Wizards.

He did not disappoint, leading the team to a win rate of 55% during the final stretch and posting averages of 19.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game. His shooting percentages were 47%, 83%, and 35% for three key categories.

This performance enveloped Grant Hill's 1994-95 season and chased Magic Johnson's 1979-80 season, making it the most comprehensive rookie performance in nearly 22 years.

How would Yu Fei rate his rookie season?

"80 points, but if we put aside the fact that we made it to the playoffs, I would give myself 60 points," Yu Fei stated.

"That high a standard?"

"Because I have higher pursuits."

Then, the question of whether Jordan would make a comeback for the playoffs resurfaced.

"I've already said all there is to say."

Yu Fei refused to answer and then the reporter asked him about his expectations for the playoffs.

Unfortunately, although the Wizards made the playoffs, being eighth in the East meant that they would have to face the first-place New Jersey Nets in the first round.

As the latest example of "trees can be moved, people can adjust," this year's Nets came as a considerable surprise in professional basketball.

They were undoubtedly the strongest team in the East.

The reporter anticipated another shocking statement from Yu Fei.

But this time, Yu Fei was pragmatic, "I want to make it to the second round, but for now, our goal is to win against the Nets."

Yu Fei was right; the Nets were tough.

In the first game of the playoffs, even with the Nets as the first seed playing against the eighth seed, there was no underestimating on their part.

They used a zone defense against the Wizards throughout the game.

The reason was nothing other than to limit Yu Fei.

Yu Fei's 35% from the three-point range may be above the league average, yet it was hardly accurate. Although he took a lot of mid-range shots, the hit rate was inconsistent and did not have the effect of The Shot during the playoffs; these issues required continuous training to strengthen.

At this stage, Yu Fei's most reliable skill was penetration.

When his shooting form was good, combined with specific play calls, he was nearly unstoppable.

Today, however, the Nets' zone defense was designed to pressure Yu Fei and force his teammates to step up and score.

Yu Fei's teammates couldn't find their shooting rhythm.

92 to 81

The Nets defeated the Wizards, securing a victory in the first game.

Having played only this game, Wizards Coach Doug Collins could feel that the two teams were not on the same level.

An 11-point differential might seem small, but with the Nets' pace of offense, an 11-point gap was significant.

The biggest difference between the two teams lay in defense. The Nets' zone defense was practically an art form, with very skilled rotations. Unless Yu Fei found the shooting touch he had the night he made The Shot against the Lakers, it would be difficult to overcome the Nets' defense with his teammates' shooting threat.

The second home game followed almost the exact same script.

The slight difference was that Yu Fei tried to use floaters outside the paint, which was somewhat effective and led him to a team-high 24 points.

But without the teammates contributing, his 24 points were not enough to win the game.

In terms of offensive performance, the Wizards that evening were even worse than in the first game.

In the previous game, they still managed to score 81 points under Yu Fei's scoring drought, whereas tonight, with Yu Fei's 24 points, the entire team only scored 75 points.

Of course, the Nets didn't score much either; they posted 86 points.

86 to 75

Again, an 11-point difference.

This tepid way of winning made the Nets' games almost entirely uninteresting.

This season marked the first in the NBA where zone defense was legalized, with the intent to curb traditional inside play. The league's executives hadn't foreseen that it would give the defense additional advantages instead.

Defensively strong teams could lower their opponents' scores significantly through defense, which greatly harmed the game's entertainment value.

However, entertainment value wasn't what Yu Fei was considering at the moment.

He just wanted to win.

The Nets' defense starkly revealed his biggest offensive weakness.

Under playoff-level defense, his three-point shots couldn't pose a positional threat.

Under the heavy pressure of the zone defense, the mid-range shots that worked during the regular season were not reliable.

But he couldn't be blamed; he had trained hard enough but was only given truly unlimited shooting permissions in the final third of the regular season.

While he played well, that was just the regular season.

The playoffs always kicked it up a notch.

The defeats in the first two games made it clear to Yu Fei that if he wanted to win against the Nets, he had to be firing on all cylinders. Relying on his teammates to ease his defensive pressure was impossible.

Because the Wizards were a lone-star team.
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There was only one star, Yu Fei.

When the lone star was not shining, those who followed him couldn't find their rhythm.

Now, with the Wizards trailing 0-2, there was no turning back.

In an era when the first round of the playoffs was still a best-of-five series, each subsequent game was a do-or-die situation.

On the afternoon of game three against the Nets, Yu Fei arrived at the MCI two hours early for shooting warm-ups.

Anthony Lawson thought Yu Fei was shooting very smoothly.

"Are the baskets easier to score on at home?" Lawson joked.

In that moment, Yu Fei inexplicably recalled the famous words of IG's support Baolan: "I have reasons I must go to Worlds."