Chapter 518: Who Is the Foolish One

The battle on the court continues.

In the first quarter, at the five‑minute mark, the Knicks called a timeout; they were leading 16–13.

The Nets' average tactics were excellent, but the Knicks roamed freely in the paint, easily penetrating it; the Nets' relied‑upon Tyson Chandler did not give the protection they imagined. ъìＱυＧΕtＶ. net

That disappointed Jason Kidd; he thought Tyson Chandler could do it, but Chandler didn't. So he simply put Brach in.

Brach is a short center; after Arenas left Washington, he briefly took over the Wizards' tactical core. He is a player of stark strengths and weaknesses, possessing great offensive firepower—averaging over 20 points per game—but his defense is unfocused and rather clumsy.

That's a common flaw among high‑school players; not every high‑schooler can refine defensive skills like Kobe or Garnett. Team defense usually only appears in college basketball manuals.

This player, who entered the league in '05 as a high‑schooler, hasn't even had time for a defensive lesson.

While Jason Kidd made a substitution, the Knicks also altered their lineup, giving Raymond Felton a chance; he wanted the bulky guy to go head‑to‑head with Deron Williams… As the three most famous point guards from the '05 draft, a saying circulated for a while: Paul dominates the league, Deron dominates Paul, Felton beats Deron up.

That phrase described their relationship. Of course, the latter part never caught on; after the rookie season, no one wanted to compare Felton with Deron or Paul.

Besides Felton getting minutes, Kevin Garnett and Prince also saw playing time.

The starting lineup was left with Fan Xi and Stade Mayer.

When Fan Xi took the floor, he told Felton, "On offense you can do whatever you want, play at your own pace. But on defense, you must make sure Deron can't shoot comfortably."

Felton smiled, endearingly saying, "That's my specialty, sir. I have nine ways to make Deron anxious—nine!!"

Fan Xi isn't a leader who doubts a teammate's ambition; he patted Felton's shoulder and said, "Then let me broaden your horizons, Raymond. Everyone loves Raymond."

Drip!

The whistle blows; the game starts.

Fan Xi received the ball from Prince, moved at a steady pace to the top of the three‑point arc, still defended by JR Smith.

Smith stared at Fan Xi, highly alert; he's a reckless type who once didn't take Fan Xi seriously, but now facing him, a faint fear flickers in his eyes. That fear isn't unique—many players matched up with Fan Xi feel it, and the tension can develop two days before the game.

Fan Xi is brutal; he always puts offending opponents on the shame pole, and the footage of his beatings circulates repeatedly online.

That kind of fear is something other superstars can't inflict, not even Le Bu Lang Zhang Si. When playing against Le Bu Lang Zhang Si, it's usually the interior players who fear being knocked over; no one wants a real collision with a humanoid tank.

Under JR Smith's defense, Fan Xi made gentle cuts, seemingly casually shifting his dribbling rhythm; JR Smith's mind was taut, unable to anticipate Fan Xi's next move.

Sss!

Fan Xi suddenly thrust a step, like dropping a boulder into a calm lake; his upper body became a charging tiger, sprinting fiercely in one direction.

JR Smith quickly fell back, his mind a trembling bird; he retreated one step, then two, fearing Fan Xi would simply blow past him.

But as he stepped back, the sprinting Fan Xi abruptly halted, performed a sudden stop, stepped back to beyond the three‑point line, jumped and released… a smooth shot.

JR Smith's desperate block was already too late.

The ball flew over his head, tracing a perfect arc—whoosh!

It dropped through the net.

From the footage it even looks like a high‑intensity offense‑defense exchange… JR Smith tried hard, gave his all, but Fan Xi was a step above.

In reality, JR Smith was completely manipulated by Fan Xi, like a marionette; he couldn't accurately predict any of Fan Xi's actions, merely trying to appear less 'passive.'

"I heard you're a super scorer?" Fan Xi asked JR Smith as he returned to half‑court.

His tone was gentle.

It even gave JR Smith a sense of 'favor,' because subconsciously he already regarded Fan Xi as a lofty figure.

"What did you think of my shooting form just now?" Fan Xi asked JR Smith. "If it were you, how would you have handled it?"

"I'd just shoot," JR Smith replied. "Your form's fine—like Kobe, even more like Jordan."

Fan Xi smiled and said something that left JR Smith baffled: "We could have been teammates, what a pity."

JR Smith didn't quite get what Fan Xi meant.

He's always been with Gua‑ge.

While he was pondering this, Raymond Felton was already full‑court pressuring Deron; the two heavyweights were testing each other, and Deron dislikes Raymond—every encounter makes him uneasy.

Before, he could use speed and explosiveness to shake off Felton, but now his burst and speed have waned, while Raymond Felton remains at his original level—a middle‑of‑the‑road stance.

Fan Xi isn't sure whether Raymond truly has nine postures, but his starting stance already forced Deron into a struggle.

Deron tried two pendulum dribbles, both failing. In the end, he could only pass the ball to Cameron.

Cameron one‑on‑one'd Stade Mayer, spun his back a few times, passed to Brach, who faked, then faced Garnett with a fade‑away jumper… whoosh!

It went in.

Brach gave the Nets interior scoring power; although he and Cameron Anthony lack interior defense, their offensive level is high.

"Look, if Brook teamed up with Brach inside, you get height, strength, post‑up ability and face‑up ability, combined with Cameron and Pierce on the wings—no team in the league could withstand that firepower! Any defense would be shattered."

In Prokhorov's office, Lopez's agent spoke to the boss with utmost sincerity.

The boss was being fully persuaded.

Deep down he had already agreed to bring Brook Lopez back; his current hesitation was only about how to get the Knicks to accept this inevitably 'robbery' deal. After all, Zhan Mu Si Duo Lan may be arrogant and foolish, but Phil Jackson and Jieke Fan aren't easy to fool; they seem shrewd, at least sixty‑seven percent smart.

"If you want Brook back, you need to act. You should further lower Brook's trade value, and also let the Knicks know Lopez can't be traded even for a day. Ideally, those foolish Knicks should directly buy out Brook Lopez," the Russian said.

That made Lopez's agent hesitant; he said, "If the Knicks don't buy out, they'll just leave Lopez on the bench for four years, essentially ruining him. They have that tradition and aren't short of money."

Prokhorov thought for a moment and said, "Anyway, the Knicks must understand they can't get Brook Lopez. They can only trade. That way, I can acquire Stephen Nash, or Raymond Felton, or Cole Aldridge from them… I'll dismantle the Knicks' current system."

He clenched his teeth, his ambitions lofty.

Lopez's agent looked at the Russian and felt the guy was indeed intimidating.

He also felt sorry for the Knicks: why did the aimless, clueless Zhan Mu Si Duo Lan provoke that scheming Russian? A year later, Jieke Fan returns to his own team—what's left of yours? A bunch of veteran injuries. The so‑called championship dream is nothing but empty.

The game on the court kept going, but the Russian had lost interest in watching; he didn't care about the outcome. Though he knew Cameron Anthony and Deron Williams had made harsh pre‑game statements, feeding ESPN's 'five‑loss streak' narrative.

Whoosh!

Fan Xi hit another Stop‑and‑Go Jump Shot; JR Smith's defense matched his two‑phase stop‑and‑go perfectly.

He didn't drive the ball into the paint, even though Stade Mayer and Kevin Garnett together could easily crush the Nets' existing interior defense.

But Fan Xi had no thoughts on that; he seemed happy to help the Nets build interior confidence.

In response, Si Ta De Mai Er and Kaiwen Jianeite did not develop any discontent. Although this harmed their interests, Fan Xi's leadership authority had already been established, and having been famous for a long time, they could not help but obey Fan Xi's tactical will.

The game continues.

The Nets' average tactics are playing quite well, and they are delivering efficient output.

But the Knicks firmly control the pace; tonight Fan Xi is playing smoothly, and his output on JR Smith makes him very pleased.

He is so pleased that even when he fakes out JR Smith, he still does not step over him, but stops to pass the ball to Prince, receives Prince's pass, and completes a shot under JR Smith's defense.

This fills JR Smith's heart with emotion; he is grateful that Fan Xi did not put him on tonight's top five plays, and he appreciates that Fan Xi spared him from becoming an internet joke.

He even feels that Fan Xi's special treatment of him is because Fan Xi admires him.

Because he keeps asking himself during the game: What is your offensive style? Why are you sometimes godlike and sometimes wildly inaccurate.

His attitude is sincere, as if studying a science.

This earns JR Smith's respect, because the media always mockingly tease him when discussing the issue; no one likes being teased. He even begins to lament that, had New York not traded him, he and Jieke Fan had become teammates, it would have been an extremely, extremely, extremely interesting experience.

The first quarter ends quickly.

The Knicks lead by 5 points, 37–32.

Both sides played exceptionally well in the first quarter, with high efficiency. Fan Xi scored 19 points in a single quarter; his style tonight inevitably recalls his godlike performance in the final game of last season's finals. The difference is that in that game Fan Xi used more One-stage jump shot, proclaiming himself at the peak of scorers; tonight he deployed the previously criticized Two-stage jump shot from last season, his motion perfectly standard, inevitably evoking Jordan.

The MVP chants in Mai Di Xun Hua Yuan Qiu Guan never stopped, continuously filling the whole space as Fan Xi's scoring increased.

This is something ESPN commentators cannot avoid; they can only say: "Jieke Fan is adept at flaunting his own skills to charm the local fans, which is why he has received unprecedented popularity on three teams. It's just like he can always start rumors with different Hao lai wu actresses."

"After he arrived in New York, it seems he hasn't started any new relationships? Those New York actresses should thank their lucky stars; they escaped the demon's lure."

ESPN discusses some boring topics during the halftime break.

Because they cannot return to formal game analysis, if they do analyze the match, they inevitably have to praise Fan Xi's 19‑point feat in the first quarter and his dominant performance in the game.

Jieke Fan always prevents them from feeling at ease, always plunging them into self‑contradiction.

…

Fan Xi, on the bench, analyzed new tactics with La Li Bulang, who said that if the Nets continue the current style, the players should boldly charge into the paint, crush their average tactics, and embarrass them.

But Fan Xi opposes La Li Bulang's suggestion.

He says: "Tonight's game will be organized uniformly by me; this is not a tactical matter, it involves strategic altitude."

Then, people saw the usually stubborn La Li Bulang change his mind, adopting an unprecedentedly open and smooth stance: "ok, of course, Jieke's guidance is always correct; we should align with him on this matter."

Kaiwen Jianeite finds this somewhat unsurprising.

But Ben Hualaisi and those former Pistons‑system players were quite shocked; when Bilupusi won the Finals MVP back then, he was scolded by him to the point of bloodshed. At that time La Li Bulang's demand on them was like a screw, not allowing personal will or expression; even a single fake move on the court would be reprimanded by him.

But now, he actually regresses on tactical issues. This is something A Lun Aifeisen never did.

It is hard to believe La Li Bulang would willingly become Jieke Fan's puppet.

This is Prince's genuine thought.

Then, he realizes the huge gap between his players and Fan Xi. Previously, La Li Bulang always emphasized basketball as a team game and dismissed the superstar policy. Now, he consciously upholds Jieke Fan's authority. What does this indicate? Jieke Fan is far from an ordinary super star; perhaps he truly is Heaven's Chosen Son.

Drip!

The whistle blows, and the game resumes.

Jia Sen Ji De continues the previous player rotation, placing Tai Sen Qian De Le on the bench; this may be a directive from higher‑ups, and in fact confirms that Tai Sen Qian De Le's style now runs counter to the Nets' core tactics.

The Knicks also maintain the lineup from the final moments of the first quarter.

Fan Xi even handed the ball control to Raymond Felton, showing his command and relaxation over the game.

Raymond Felton is not incompetent in the NBA; he just isn't outstanding.

On many teams, he could even earn a starting spot. For a period, he once served as the Mountain Cat leader.

He carried the ball past half court and then confronted Deron Williams.

They tangled at the top of the arc, wrestling with strong arms, while Fan Xi stood aside, calmly watching their futile challenge, like a father watching kindergarten kids play a boring game.

Raymond held for a moment, then passed the ball to Fan Xi.

Fan Xi caught the ball, feigned once, JR Smith was fooled into jumping, then Fan Xi easily released… whoosh!

Swish.

JR Smith became the best catalyst, helping Fan Xi build absolute confidence in the Two-stage jump shot.

Fan Xi is also friendly to him.

After all, such an opponent is hard to chase. His defense is poor, but he is very aggressive, giving a sense of intense confrontation.

Mai Di Xun Hua Yuan Qiu Guan erupts with MVP cheers.

The game, in a sense, becomes a one‑person showdown of Fan Xi against the entire Nets.

The scene is familiar; Fan Xi's final game of last season's finals was exactly this stance, wiping out the Miami Heat.

The Nets have been striving to match the Heat, attempting to cultivate a giant‑culture.

Fan Xi's action is akin to gilding their faces.

However, La Li Bulang knows clearly that Fan Xi does this not to showcase his personal ability; there is no need. Fan Xi is already basketball's number one; he doesn't need another crazy high‑scoring game to prove himself.

So what is his reason for doing this?

La Li Bulang cannot figure it out.

Tai Sen Qian De Le sits on the bench, also puzzled: Why would someone as clever as Jieke Fan not drive into the paint for points? Everyone knows that Bu La Qie and An Dong Ni, two clumsy guys, cannot stop him.

Qian De Le has some grudges with Fan Xi.

He has been reprimanded by Fan Xi in many scenarios, including the crucial London Olympics.

Therefore, he never underestimates Fan Xi; he fully knows Fan Xi's intelligence. Whatever Fan Xi does has a clear ultimate goal; at the London Olympics he won the gold by killing the Dream Team's interior, such an obvious principle—how could he not understand it?

Then why does he do this?

By doing so, who gains the most? Whose interests are harmed?

Tai Sen Qian De Le thinks outside the box.

He quickly obtained a shocking result.

…