Sports Medicine Master System
Chapter 811: Chapter 729: The Referee is on a Rampage
May 22nd.
The Five Major Leagues had successively concluded. The faster ones, like Ronaldo, didn’t even report to the National Team. Instead, they flew directly to the United States. Since the Brazil National Team would be coming to the United States anyway, they decided to just meet up there.
At this time, Chen Yu had a lot of things on his plate and was extremely busy. However, he still traveled with the team to Los Angeles. Furthermore, this time, Chen Yu had even put on the team doctor uniform of the Suns. Returning to his roots, he would always be the team doctor for the Suns.
When Chen Yu walked into the locker room wearing the uniform, the noisy room instantly fell silent. Everyone looked at him in surprise. They knew he had traveled with them, but they subconsciously assumed he would watch the entire game from the sidelines as he usually did—in the capacity of a management executive and team owner.
The next moment, Nowitzki started clapping. Then Hardaway. Finally, everyone joined in. The entire room erupted into applause.
"Chen, welcome back!" Skiles stepped forward and hugged him, visibly moved. Together, they had worked hard through the glorious three-peat. He would never forget every little detail of those days.
"Everyone!" Chen Yu stepped forward with a smile. "Unfortunately, we’re heading into a Game Seven. But I haven’t given up, and neither should any of you!"
He tugged at his team doctor uniform.
Nowitzki suddenly stood up, extended his right hand, and looked around at the rest of the players. Hardaway was the first to put his hand on top, followed by Marion.
Players had come and gone over the years; the only veterans left from the first championship era were Hardaway and Marion. Therefore, they knew better than anyone else on the roster what Chen Yu had done for the franchise during those years, and how he had accompanied them in their relentless push for the title.
Other teams had fifteen players, but the Suns had sixteen. That was why the Suns had retired Chen Yu’s medical uniform, hanging it in the most prominent spot inside the US Airways Center.
One by one, hands stacked on top of each other. Finally, everyone turned their heads to look at Chen Yu and Skiles. With a calm smile, Chen Yu added his hand to the pile.
"Victory!" Hardaway glanced left and right, roaring in a deep voice.
"Victory!" The shout echoed throughout the entire locker room.
"Alright, let’s get to work." Chen Yu clapped his hands and led the medical team to begin their duties.
Matters on the court would be left to the players to resolve. The work off the court would be handled by him. With him present, every player stepping onto the court had to be perfectly healthy and thoroughly prepared to play. That was the job of a team doctor.
The Staples Center was boiling with noise tonight. Lakers fans cheered and shouted from the stands, acting as if they had already won the game. That was until some of them noticed Chen Yu standing on the sidelines in his team doctor uniform, arms crossed, intently watching the players warm up.
"Fack!" On the opposite side, Jackson was somewhat stunned. Beside him, Lambis and the others also cursed under their breath. They could never forget how, during those years, Chen Yu had worked just like this on the sidelines, helping the Suns sweep across the entire league.
Inside the TNT Studio.
The cameras cut in early, locking onto Chen Yu by the court.
"Good God, what is Chen doing?" Barkley exclaimed.
At that moment, seeing Chen Yu in his familiar attire standing in his familiar spot, Barkley felt every hair on his body stand on end. It gave off the feeling of Jordan, having been away from the court for years, suddenly putting his number 23 jersey back on and stepping onto the floor because he simply couldn’t stand watching anymore. It was the absolute shock of a king’s return.
Opposite him, Miller excitedly clenched his fists, unable to utter a single word. During the Five-star Phoenix Suns era, Chen Yu had stood on the sidelines just like this, helping the team secure victory after victory. In every practice and every game, whenever you saw that man sitting on the sidelines, you would feel an unparalleled sense of security.
"Charles, do you see this? We haven’t lost, and we aren’t going to lose!" Miller shouted, pointing at the camera.
When Game Six turned out the way it did, he hadn’t said anything. No one had said anything, but everyone knew exactly what had happened. They even knew that the Suns were doomed to lose. This game was supposed to be nothing more than a formality! But Chen Yu’s appearance on the sidelines announced to everyone that the Suns had not given up.
The head referee for this game was still Ken Moore. When he saw Chen Yu appear on the sidelines, he was dumbfounded. Soon after, he received a phone call from Stu Jackson.
"What did he say?" the assistant referee, Tony Blazes, leaned over and asked.
Moore shook his head and replied in a low voice, "Business as usual." Pausing for a moment, he added awkwardly, "Tony, why don’t you go have a chat with Chen? Just ask him if he could avoid going to the locker room during halftime."
Stu Jackson had called because he already knew that Chen Yu had donned the medical uniform again. He wanted Moore to talk to him; wearing the uniform was one thing, but he shouldn’t return to the locker room at halftime to help the team recover their stamina.
Blazes jumped in fright. "Why don’t you go?"
Even if David Stern himself were here, he would probably only be able to coax Chen Yu with polite words; there was nothing he could actually do to him. Nobody could control what Chen Yu wanted to do. Therefore, he had absolutely no desire to take on such an offending task.
Ken Moore looked entirely speechless. "If you don’t want to do it, what makes you think I do?" he thought. After hesitating, Moore said, "Then let’s just pretend we didn’t see him."
Blazes nodded immediately. They didn’t see him, they forgot—either way, there was no chance they were going over there.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the game officially tipped off.
From the very beginning, Nowitzki displayed an extremely high desire to attack, coming out with a hot shooting touch right out of the gate. The Suns had abandoned double-teaming Kobe, but the Lakers didn’t dare stop double-teaming Nowitzki. Yet, even under such circumstances, Nowitzki continued to hit his shots. He played the entire first quarter, driving and shooting to rack up 11 points, helping the Suns secure a 28-23 lead.
"How do you feel?" Chen Yu approached Nowitzki during a timeout and asked.
"Great. Full of energy," Nowitzki grinned.
Chen Yu didn’t say a word, but his Eye of All-Seeing had already scanned his entire body. "Sit down. Let me adjust your taping!"
Athletic taping played a significant role; it could adjust muscle group tension and promote muscular coordination. The latter was especially crucial for a player like Nowitzki, who relied heavily on shooting touch. It allowed for smoother, more natural, and coordinated force generation.
As Nowitzki let Chen Yu work on him, he listened to Skiles’ tactical arrangements.
"Tyson, watch your fouls," Skiles said, looking at Chandler.
The referees had started exerting their influence early in the first quarter, and Chandler was already carrying two fouls. It was only the first quarter; he needed to control his foul count. Chandler nodded, though his expression showed a hint of distress. Yao Ming was truly difficult to defend.
Working nearby, Chen Yu overheard the conversation. Chandler did need to watch his fouls. He was not only the Suns’ defensive core and primary rebounder, but more importantly, his pick-and-roll screening ability was something the team desperately needed. Nowitzki’s ability to get open looks despite being double-teamed relied heavily on his screens. He also frequently ran pick-and-rolls with Hardaway, contributing by rolling hard to the rim.
In the past, the Suns had McDyess to provide screens for the perimeter. Now, Nowitzki couldn’t fulfill that role, leaving the job entirely to Chandler. Meanwhile, the backup, Brown, simply lacked Chandler’s excellent screening awareness. Therefore, if Chandler fouled out early, the Suns’ engine would stall by at least half.
But what they feared most came to pass.
Chen Yu even suspected that these referees had been studying the team’s tactics. Today, they had clearly placed their "focus of work" on Chandler. By the end of the first half, Chandler had already racked up five fouls.
Yao Ming was on a tear, and the referees were completely unhinged.

Comments

Loading...