With a minute left in the first quarter, the Wizards Team substituted Kwame Brown for Yu Fei.
This introduction brought more fun to the game since Yu Fei had performed excellently as a substitute, scoring 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist, and showed the fiery temperament consistent with the rumors.
Kwame Brown? Given his draft position, he should have been better than Yu Fei, but was that really the case?
The answer was disappointing.
He seemed out of place in the game and, as a power forward, did not meet Collins's expectations because he could not act as a pivot at the high post.
What about the so-called Webber II? Wouldn't Webber II make plays?
Was this some kind of joke?
The fact was Brown's skills honed in low-level high school games gave the illusion he was the next Webber, something the Wizards had seen through during training camp, and now it was just being confirmed in a real game.
As a power forward, Brown was unable to help the team, and if moved to center, his current strength for confrontation seemed lacking, and moreover, Collins doubted whether he had enough threat as a rim protector.
Additionally, Brown's defensive habits were very poor.
In one minute, Brown committed two fouls.
The most fatal issue was his butterfingers characteristic had been exposed in that same minute.
After Chris Whitney called for a pick and roll with Brown, he delivered a quite imaginative crossover pass.
However, Brown didn't secure the ball, effectively spitting out the 2 points fed into his mouth.
Yu Fei had once narrowed the gap to 6 points, but within three minutes, Brown let the Wizards fall behind by 14 points.
With 10 minutes left in the second quarter, Jordan stood up with a grim face and said, "I've seen enough."
In front of those two big shots, Brown could only say "Yes," but when actually playing, he needed to integrate into the system; there would not always be someone there to remind him of what to do at every moment.
On the court, Dogte, who went 1 for 5 in the first quarter, finally started to feel the game again.
On the defensive end, he matched up against Sprewell; while he couldn't keep up with the speed, his experience allowed him to successfully predict the opponent's power release timing, stealing the ball and scoring a fast-break dunk.
Then he responded with a mid-range jumper after Sprewell scored on a drive.
The Knicks missed their shot, and Jordan scored quickly on the fast break, hitting three shots in a row.
At his peak, once he got into his scoring rhythm, he could score until he didn't want to anymore.
But now, the more he ran, the more he started to gasp for air; once he gasped, the rhythm changed, and his shots started to veer off.
Jordan's fourth shot didn't even have a straight arc.
"Back in his younger days, he would've never missed that shot!"
Tim Grover shook his head regretfully.
Yu Fei glanced at him; when Jordan dunked fast break earlier, Grover jumped up as if it was a holiday celebration.
He didn't want to comment, because Grover was one of Jordan's most loyal fans, but he was only concerned about when he could get back on the court.
After playing for six minutes straight, Jordan moved to the backcourt and started to catch his breath with his hands on his knees.
Collins asked, "Michael, do you want to take a break?"
Do you want to take a break? Yu Fei glared in disbelief, are you kidding me? You're the coach; don't you have that authority? Useless!
Collins proved with his actions that in front of Jordan, he was indeed just a fart.
Jordan shook his head, "We've got a good momentum, and I'm fine, I can keep going."