Chapter 713: Chapter 491: A Bigger Failure is Imminent (United)_3 Chapter 713: Chapter 491: A Bigger Failure is Imminent (United)_3 By that time, although coaches could also sign eight-figure contracts, their commercial value was nowhere near those players with nine-figure contracts. Therefore, even frequent appearances on screen brought them no substantial benefits and could lead them into unexpected trouble due to excessive talking.

Similarly, TV reporters also loathed halftime interviews, as coaches were extremely cautious around them. If they were unlucky enough to encounter a low-quality coach like Gregg Popovich, who took pleasure in picking on reporters, they might even become a public laughingstock.

Lastly, the audience didn’t like it. Coach interview time was essentially “bathroom break time” and those who stayed in front of the TV to listen to the coach’s blabbering were anything but ordinary people.

But even though it was a policy that satisfied no one, George Karl still had to step forward, acting as though he had long looked forward to this interview.

“Coach, how would you evaluate the first half of the game?”

“We performed well. I liked our energy, and I am very pleased with the brilliant performance Chris Bosh delivered on this grand stage!”

“The last time you faced the Lakers, Frye scored 64 points, but you lost. Does this imply that the more Frye scores, the more dire the situation becomes for the Supersonics?”

Karl smiled; he wanted to tear the reporter’s mouth, but he couldn’t.

So he sarcastically remarked, “Of course, it’s like a strong man who’s hungry. The hungrier he gets, the more he eats.”

At last, the reporter’s question finally had some quality, “Kevin Durant had an excellent performance against the Lakers during last year’s Christmas battle but seemed to struggle when he faced them again. What caused this situation?”

Karl’s answer was simple.

“Because the opponents no longer treated him like a kid,” Karl said, “sometimes, we have to learn to grow up.”

In the locker room, Karl inspired everyone.

Soon, he noticed Durant was distracted.

So, he said to Durant, “Kevin, you are the only one not at your best right now. We can’t beat the Lakers Team without your performance.”

This was a polite remark since even if Durant hadn’t performed much in the first half, the Supersonics were still leading the Lakers by 13 points.

Durant replied, “I will adjust soon.”

Karl nodded, then turned his attention to Yu Fei.

Given Durant’s physical maturity, it was normal for him to be submerged in intense physical confrontations, so he needed someone to lead him.

Having Chris Bosh dominate the inside was not enough.

If Yu Fei caught fire from the outside, then the Lakers would indeed be in a real bind, unable to manage both inside and outside.

Before the second half began, Yu Fei said to Durant, “I will make the Lakers shift their focus to me, and once they ease up on your defense…”

Durant responded, “I’ll make them pay!”

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Yu Fei laughed.

For a moment, Durant genuinely felt like a servant.

Since he couldn’t beat LeBron James on his own strength, if he didn’t hide under the proverbial tree that was Yu Fei, he might get completely lost tonight.

In the second half, the link-up between Yu Fei and Bosh was overwhelming.

When Yu Fei called for a 1-4 screen-off play with Bosh, the Lakers, dreading Bosh’s power, made the stupidest decision in a helpless situation; they did not opt for the most mainstream way to deal with screen-off offenses nowadays–switching defense.

The Lakers thought, since Bosh’s offense was unstoppable tonight, after he was so fierce in the first half, they couldn’t let him off in the second half, while Yu Fei hadn’t posed such a big offensive threat in the first half, maybe he didn’t feel it tonight?

The Lakers’ defensive option was to trust Kobe, who was matching Yu Fei, to exhaustingly squeeze through Bosh’s screening, thus managing the screen defense without switching through personal struggle.

Squeezing through the screen is an old-fashioned defensive technique, but usually, it’s used against those with low-quality screening, or who, after getting a brief open space from the screening, lack the capability to exploit that opportunity and punish the opponent like a pure playmaker.

On the Supersonics, however, this was a mismatch.

Bosh, as a power forward, provided high-quality screens, and Yu Fei was among the most terrifying ball handlers in pick-and-roll offenses active in the league.

Therefore, Kobe’s attempt to squeeze through the screen was immediately met with Yu Fei’s jump shot response.

“Swish!”

Silky and crisp.

Yu Fei sarcastically said, “Defending like this? Seems like you don’t want to be in the All-Defensive Team anymore.”

What annoyed Kobe was the next remark, “But you shouldn’t be there anyway; your defense these past few years has been just for show.”

Yu Fei was actually using the same rhetoric that others used to say he didn’t deserve to be in the defensive lineup to speak about Kobe.

It was a learning moment, but for Kobe, it was a direct hit to the heart because, starting from last year, Kobe’s advanced defensive stats really didn’t look like those of the league’s best perimeter defender.

“Who are you calling just for show?!”

Kobe got angry, and the game’s intensity surged drastically.

In such a situation, James could only go along with Kobe.

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But Kobe didn’t find his touch in the subsequent offenses; instead, he let Yu Fei freely exploit the Lakers’ defensive counterattacks.

For a while, Kobe was suppressed, and the Lakers fell behind from 13 points to 19 points in just two minutes.

Seeing this trend, James knew he couldn’t stay by the sidelines any longer, took the initiative to handle the ball offensively, and scored a 2+1 to stabilize the situation.

But this was only a drop in the bucket.

The screening cooperation between Yu Fei and Bosh was like a swiftly falling knife suspended over the Lakers’ neck.