"That tall? That fast? And that accurate?!"
"Is this guy a monster?!"
Jennings was stunned.
On that last possession, he tried to contest the shot, but the overwhelming height difference made it feel like he was looking up at a god. In that instant, any desire to defend Blake Su vanished.
Of course, it wasn't so much that he lost the will.
It was simply that Jennings, a 185 cm (6'1") guard with no real speed advantage, had no way to guard a center like Blake Su.
Switch!
One block, one three-pointer.
Jennings stopped going at Blake Su. Outshining someone didn't require crushing them head-on. As long as he could lead his team to a win, that was all that mattered.
Bucks (4): (8) Suns.
Blake Su had scored all 8 of the Suns' points.
Bucks ball.
Jennings brought it up, took a moment to settle, then swung it to Salmons to initiate the offense, before feeding it inside to Bogut, who was matched up against Frye.
"Bang!"
The stronger Bogut backed him down hard. Frye couldn't hold his ground and was forced back step by step, but thanks to his relatively quick feet, he managed to recover after giving ground.
"Hmph!"
Seeing Frye recover, Bogut snorted, spun again, and slipped in a subtle elbow, adding extra force to the collision.
It was slight, but the pain was sharp.
"Ah!"
Frye cried out and staggered back. This time, he couldn't recover in time.
"Boom!"
Bogut seized the opening, powered up, and banked it in.
"Ref, Andrew threw an elbow, that's a foul!!!"
Frye clutched his stomach, face twisted in pain, protesting to the referee. But the official ignored him, instead casting a disgusted glance at Bogut as he calmly ran back.
"What a dirty player!"
Suns ball.
Steve Nash brought it up. Spotting Frye with inside position, he lofted a high pass. Frye caught it, spun past Bogut, and drove toward the rim.
But Bogut suddenly stuck his leg out from the side.
As Frye surged forward, his thigh slammed straight into Bogut's knee.
"Ah!"
"Thud!"
With a scream, Frye crashed to the floor, the play dead.
"Bastard!"
Having been undercut again, Frye finally snapped. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he got up and charged at Bogut, ready to throw hands. Bogut didn't back down either.
In fact, he seemed to enjoy it.
The two instantly tangled, on the verge of a fight. Luckily, Jennings and Steve Nash rushed in immediately, with Curry and the others right behind.
With the referees stepping in to separate them, a full-blown fight was narrowly avoided.
"Beep! Beep!"
Each of them was hit with a technical foul.
At the same time,
The big screen replayed the previous possession in slow motion, clearly showing Bogut deliberately sticking his leg out to trip Frye. A wave of boos erupted throughout the arena.
"That's dirty!"
"He can't keep up, so he trips him?!"
"No wonder he's one of the dirtiest players in the league. A No. 1 pick with no real skill, all he can do is use cheap tricks. Disgusting."
"This kind of play right at the start?!"
"Damn, that's sickening!"
Bogut's actions had Suns fans seething, some wishing they could rush the court and beat him up themselves.
"Beep!"
The referees added a defensive foul on Bogut. Possession stayed with the Suns.
Frye rubbed his leg, taking a moment to recover. It still hurt, but he could keep playing.
Game on.
"Pop!"
Blake Su caught the ball at the top of the arc. His eyes swept toward Bogut, who stood in the paint as if nothing had happened. A cold glint flashed across his gaze.
A signal. A screen.
Blake Su shook off Ilyasova and drove straight to the rim. Bogut stepped up from the paint to meet him.
Should he keep attacking?
No.
"Thud, thud, thud!"
Blake Su pulled back with a series of crossovers. With Ilyasova already rotating to cover Frye inside, Bogut had no choice but to follow him out, denying the open shot.
"Step!"
Blake Su retreated to the left wing, locking eyes with Bogut.
Then,
"Whoosh!"
No hesitation, no extra moves.
Right in front of him.
Right over him.
Blake Su rose up and fired a three.
"Ha!"
Bogut roared and leaped to contest, but against such overwhelming physical gifts, his effort meant nothing.
Swish.
"Snap!"
Clean. Nothing but net.
"Great shot!"
Frye was the first to shout, pumping his fist as he watched Bogut get drilled right in the face by the shot. The satisfaction was instant.
"Beautiful!"
"Dragging Bogut out and drilling it over him, Blake Su nailed that!"
"Human prop, Bogut!"
"That's it! Keep humiliating that dirty bum!"
"..."
Not just Frye, the entire Suns crowd was fired up.
Boos rained down on Bogut. Thankfully this was a home game. On the road, that kind of crowd reaction alone could have shattered his composure.
"Tch."
Bogut clicked his tongue, unfazed. But he stopped stepping out to guard Blake Su, camping in the paint instead, right where he could keep playing dirty.
"Not coming out?"
Blake Su stared at him, his eyes turning cold again.
"Then I'll come in."
"Swish!"
The tension on the court was thick.
Just as Blake Su had seized momentum by drilling that shot over Bogut, Jennings stepped up and knocked down a three.
Stopping the bleeding.
Curry brought the ball up, isolating against Jennings. A series of crossovers set the rhythm, then he suddenly burst forward, blowing past him and driving to the rim.
"Step!"
Bogut rushed out again to contest.
Seeing the angle wasn't there, Curry adjusted midair and kicked the ball out, landing safely as Bogut came down from the stop.
But at that exact moment,
Blake Su cut in from the right wing, caught Curry's pass, planted one foot in the paint, and exploded upward with the ball in one hand.
"Ha!"
Bogut roared and jumped again to block.
It was too late.
Blake Su was already above him.
His left hand pinned down Bogut's arm, and his right hand cocked high.
Then he hammered the ball straight through the rim over him.
"BOOM!"
The rim shook violently, groaning under the force of the dunk.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
The midair collision sent shock through Bogut's upper body. He lost his balance on landing, stumbling backward and nearly falling over.
Blake Su, still holding the rim, steadied himself.
"WOW! Blake Su just dunked all over Bogut!"
"Let's go!"
"That was insane!"
"Absolutely filthy!"
"Blake Su, beautiful! Not knocking that dirty bastard Bogut over is already mercy!"
"Yeah, humiliate him!"
A three right in his face.
A poster dunk over him.
Blake Su's back-to-back plays left Suns fans exhilarated, sending the arena into an even louder frenzy of cheers!