Champions Creed

Chapter 115 114: Trust me again! (Please give me a monthly ticket!)
Since entering the NBA, I have worked with many teammates. Most of them are bastards, beasts, brutes, and parasites, but Grant Hill is not a bastard, not a beast, not a brute, and not a parasite. He personally led me and helped me regain my confidence and form. He is my hero. I am actually quite happy that those bastards of the Bulls got beaten up. -- Chris Webber, whose performance finally improved after moving to the Pistons this season, talked about Hill in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

Shaquille O'Neal appeared in a nightclub in Los Angeles, singing his latest rap single with a group of hot dancers. So who can tell me, is Shaq recovering from an injury or on vacation? - Orlando Sentinel

In last night's game, the Orlando Magic lost to the Indiana Pacers 76-88. Since the Bulls, we have lost three games in a row. But the good news is that Roger will soon return to the court after the suspension period ends. Victory is within reach. - Orlando Satellite News.

In the two games that Roger was suspended, the Magic unsurprisingly suffered two consecutive losses.

Both the Heat and the Pacers took the opportunity to steal the victory from the defending champions. Including the loss to the Bulls, the Magic have experienced three consecutive losses and are currently ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference with 5 wins and 3 losses.

The Bulls, Knicks and Pacers are all hanging over the defending champions' heads.

There is no way, you can't expect a team that has lost two core players to maintain its combat effectiveness.

If Roger and Shark Magic could still kill people without them, then they wouldn't have to do it.

And that's why Brian Hill was so angry.

The team could have won more but lost because of stupid behavior.

But Brian Hill is not a real complainer like Scott Pippen. He only complained a few words during the two days when Roger and others were suspended, and never mentioned it again after that.

But now, if the team loses again, it won't just be Brian Hill who will complain.

If Roger returns and still loses, it will be the team's fourth consecutive defeat. I guess many media will say things that Roger doesn't want to hear.

O'Neal still talked in front of the media: "Does it matter? Even if we lose 20 games in a row, I can still turn the record around when I return. What's more, this kind of thing will never happen. Big Plato will handle everything."

Roger was also convinced that Big Plato was not a nanny, Shaq.

It's easy to pretend by touching your upper lip to your lower lip. Everyone can do things with their mouth.

But I'm the one who's going to win.

People had high hopes for Roger's return. Horace Grant declared: "What does Roger's return mean? Let me put it this way. It's like Orlando has stepped out of the Stone Age and into civilization!"

All major media also believe that Roger will immediately lead the team back to the winning track.

John Anderson of SportsCenter even felt that Rogers could celebrate his return with a 40-point performance.

Roger was very happy to see such a scene. He felt trusted by people, which proved his strength from another perspective.

So Roger himself is also very excited about the return battle.

In the early morning of November 11, the atmosphere of war had not yet enveloped Orlando.

It was still a sunny day today. Roger got up early, had a delicious and nutritious breakfast prepared by the chef, and then drove to the Advant Health Center.

On the morning of the game day, the players usually gather at the training base, and only in the afternoon will they take the bus to the game stadium.

"Good morning, Roger." Marciulionis arrived at the parking lot at the same time as Roger again. He still greeted Roger loudly with his signature polite smile.

After the previous private conversation, Marciulionis did not show any abnormality, and his relationship with Roger did not become cold.

This shows that he was not angry with Roger, but whether he listened to him or not, only he knew.

"Good morning, Saru, how are you feeling today?" Roger nodded to Marciulionis.

"Very good. I have a feeling that I will be able to play in the game tonight."

In the first two games, Marciulionis was still on the DNP list and did not get even a minute of playing time.

This is not Brian Hill's fault. If Marciulionis was a young man, the coach would definitely let him go up and practice regardless of how well he played.

But as a player who can play immediately, Marciulionis did not seize the previous opportunities, so naturally he did not get playing time.

He can only slowly win back the coach's trust through training.

Fortunately, in recent days, Marciulionis' performance on the training ground has been getting better and better.

In yesterday's intra-team competition, he made 6 three-pointers in a row.

So, he thought his performance should be able to impress Brian Hill.

"I also think that you can play tonight. If everything goes well, this will be a game for you to get back on track."

After that, Roger and Marciolionis both walked into the locker room at the same time.

After everyone arrived, Brian Hill took everyone into the film room to learn about their opponents tonight.

The team's assistant coach Eric Spoelstra appeared in the screening room with his video clips - through Roger's recommendation, this Filipino boy who dreamed of working in the NBA successfully got a job on the Magic coaching staff.

Of course, although his position is assistant coach, Spoelstra currently has no decision-making power over tactics. He is still doing the work of video editing and analysis.

Through this tactical meeting, the Magic players probably got three pieces of information:

First, the next opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers, is not as weak as imagined. They are currently ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference, second only to the Magic themselves.

Second, the Cleveland Cavaliers are the best team in the league in limiting the opponent's scoring. They are the only team in the league that can limit the opponent's scoring to less than 90 points per game. In other words, their defense is at the top level in the league.

Third, this team's offense is second to last in the league, which forms a stark contrast with its defense.

After listening to it, Roger felt that this group of knights was very familiar.

Is this top-heavy team any different from the Cavaliers team led by James 1.0?
The Cavaliers' defense is so good that they will definitely not be easy to deal with.

Roger's comeback game tonight has attracted much attention. If he fails, fans and media will not care whether the Cavaliers are a strong defensive team or how many points they limit their opponents to per game.

Fans and the media don't care about these data, they only care about one thing: Roger can't even beat a garbage team like the Cavaliers.

Roger certainly can't let this happen, so he has to overcome all difficulties.

The Orlando Arena was very lively that night. When Roger entered the arena, all the fans stood up and cheers broke out in the arena.

Even though Roger was only away for two games, it felt like two years to the fans.

The shark who was watching TV was a little excited. Roger's return after two days away was like this. When I come back, won't there be an earthquake in Orlando?

Roger waved to the fans in the stands around him and began to warm up.

Roger's shooting percentage was not very good during the warm-up shots.

But it doesn’t matter. The feel is unpredictable. Maybe it will come soon?
The game is about to begin. Before the game starts today, the Magic team has a special ceremony.

Roger placed a photo frame of O'Neal on the team bench and led the entire team to bow in front of the frame.

Roger then took the lead in shouting, "Shaq is with us!"

Director Zhang from CCTV: ???
What is this doing! ?

It was O'Neal who asked Roger to do this: "Brother, you know, although I can't play in the game, my heart is always with you. But those reporters don't understand anything and keep saying that I don't care about the team. Brother, think of a way to make me more present in the game!"

Well, this should be enough to make its presence felt.

I am such a brother.

The ceremony is completed and the first team comes on stage.

The Cavaliers' starting five were Terrell Brandon, Bobby Phils, Chris Mills, Tyron Hill and Danny Ferry.

Also sitting on the bench is runner-up guard Dan Maly, who transferred in this season, as the sixth man.

The Cavaliers' starting lineup is quite unfamiliar to most Magic fans. The only two names they have heard of are probably Tyron Hill and Danny Ferry.

But the reason they became famous was not because of anything glorious.

Tyron Hill is famous because he was selected as an All-Star reserve last season with 13.8 points and 10.9 rebounds. He is considered the worst All-Star in history who was forced into the bench to take care of small teams.

Danny Ferry is famous because he was a famous bust second pick. In college, Ferry was a Duke legend. During the four years from 1985 to 1989, he was the absolute leader of the Duke Blue Devils. Before the draft, he was hailed as the next Larry Bird.

Well, from the perspective of Roger, a 21st century football fan, he already knew what was going to happen next when he heard this.

That's right, he was a slugger. As the second pick in 89, Danny Ferry didn't average double-digit points for the first time until last season.

In fact, Danny Ferry was selected with the second pick thanks to his father, who was the general manager of the Bullets.

Relying on his connections, his father hyped Danny very hard at the time, which successfully fooled the great, sharp-eyed and wise Elgin Baylor.

But Danny Ferry unexpectedly did not enter the NBA directly after the draft. Maybe he felt guilty, so he decided to go to Italy to fight lantern monsters for a year to level up.

This attitude of refusing to report and going to Europe to play angered Baylor, so he traded his signing rights to the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers thought they had found a treasure and signed him to a ten-year contract.

And then nothing happened. If the Cavaliers learned any lesson from this trade, it is that they must not keep the person selected by Elgin Baylor!

The two most famous people on the Cavaliers became famous in a rather unglamorous way. So their starting lineup, to use a line from the movie Kung Fu, is: "Hey, none of them look human!"

However, this mediocre team has been transformed under the leadership of "Shorty" Mike Fratello, the best coach of 85 who was still commentating on NBC last season.

Fratello brought a slow, team-oriented, disciplined, defense-first tactical style to this team with mediocre talent. Although this made the Cavaliers' games extremely boring, it paid off.

They are currently 5-4 this season and have defeated Eastern Conference powerhouses such as the Pacers.

Today, they want to dethrone the defending champion!
Just like that, Roger's comeback battle officially began.

All of Orlando was looking forward to Roger's performance, but Roger missed the target right from the start.

In order to avoid being double-teamed, Roger planned to look for opportunities by running without the ball after the opening.

The opportunity did come, but Roger missed the mid-range shot.

The Cavaliers protected the rebound, and Terrell Brandon, who was only 180 cm tall, controlled the ball across half court.

He set a pick-and-roll with Danny Ferry, then used his speed advantage to easily break through Harper.

A player who is less than 190 cm tall but can survive in the NBA for many years, you can rest assured that he must be very fast.

The extremely fast breakthrough speed made it difficult for Harper to chase, which forced Horace Grant to make up the defense.

Seeing this, Brandon quickly passed the ball to Danny Ferry who was shooting from the outside after the pick-and-roll. As a player modeled after Bird, his shooting was at least acceptable. As an inside player in this era, he could shoot 40% of his three-pointers.

But Danny Ferry just threw the ball and Roger, who had rotated to the right position in time, successfully blocked it! The Orlando Arena welcomed another round of cheers. Roger's current defensive rotation and sweeping ability is indeed very strong!
Roger immediately jumped up again to grab the ball that he had blocked and prepared to counterattack.

But when he looked up, he found that except for Danny Ferry who had just shot, almost all the Cavaliers players had retreated beyond half court!

This is the style of the Cavaliers. They hardly fight for offensive rebounds and treat offense as a one-time deal.

As soon as teammates take action, everyone retreats immediately, slowing down the pace as much as possible, not giving the opponent a chance to counterattack, and reducing the number of rounds.

They succeeded. The knights' highly disciplined and quick retreat made it difficult for Roger to find a chance to launch a counterattack.

If it was Jason Kidd, he might be able to find one or two passing routes, but Roger didn't.

Helplessly, the Magic were forced to fight with the Cavaliers.

Cutting outside, receiving the ball, facing Bobby Phils who was actively switching defense, Roger shot again.

"boom."

"Roger is still finding his touch, but first of all, we have to admit that the Cavaliers' defense is doing very well, better than many people think.

Just now, after Chris Mills was blocked by an off-ball screen, Bobby Fields immediately switched defense and immediately targeted Roger. But Roger should be used to this kind of defensive intensity. He has scored in defenses that are twice as difficult as this. I can only say that Roger is still finding his touch and he will score soon. "

Then, three minutes later, the score was an outrageously low 3 to 1.

During this period, Roger only scored 2 points with a 1+3 after a strong breakthrough. As for the Cavaliers, they had not scored any goals in running games since the start of the game, and they only broke the scoring drought with one of two free throws from Terrell Brandon.

Neither team launched a counterattack, and almost every round was positional offense and defense, which made it very difficult to score goals.

Roger wasn't feeling good, so he tried to break through with the ball, but the Cavaliers did a good job of double-teaming, so it was difficult for the Magic to score.

As for the Cavaliers, it was difficult for them to score because of the limited individual abilities of their players and the fact that the Magic's defense was pretty good.

However, the characteristic of the Cavaliers is that they can go half a day without scoring, but still limit their opponents' scoring.

The comeback battle that was originally planned with great momentum has now been made a bit dull by the Cavaliers.

Orlando fans cursed the Cavaliers' style of play, saying that this kind of dull, stupid, and unwatchable basketball should completely disappear from the planet!

Roger also knew why the Cavaliers played well in the regular season this season. With a team like this, even if you are ahead, you will feel very unhappy and always feel that it is not smooth enough. Over time, you may become impatient and then lose your composure.

The entire first quarter of the game was played in this depressing atmosphere until the end.

15 to 17, the Magic only led by 2 points in the first quarter, and the score was very low.

Roger only scored 7 points, which is actually not a small number in a single quarter, but it was quite different from people's expectations.

In the second quarter, the situation began to change.

The Cavaliers' runner-up guard "Thunder Dan" Maalley became the man who changed the situation. He hit consecutive three-pointers and mid-range shots at the end of the second quarter, helping the Cavaliers reverse the Magic and lead by 7 points.

After halftime, the Orlando fans at the scene smelled danger.

Even if Roger comes back, we won’t be able to beat the Cavaliers, right?

The team can’t really lose four games in a row, right?
Roger didn't want to disappoint the fans, nor did he want to disappoint himself.

But his shooting percentage today was indeed not good enough, and he failed to regain his touch in the second quarter.

In addition, he rested more in the second quarter, so Roger only scored 6 points in the second quarter and 13 points in the half.

If Roger wants to score efficiently now, he must rely on breakthroughs and attack the inside, which is the weak spot of the Cavaliers' defense. There is no big man over 210 cm tall in their main rotation.

But the Cavaliers will prevent Roger from breaking into the inside through quick double-teaming and teamwork.

Unless the team can help Roger create space.

The Cavaliers' defense relies on the team, but their individual defensive capabilities are not strong.

In a one-on-one match, Roger is confident that he can beat all the players on the Cavaliers.

But the problem was that the response from Harper, McKay and Grant was not strong enough for the Knights to withdraw their double-team attack on Roger.

Once Roger breaks through with the ball, there will be at least three people to stop him.

In the locker room, Brian Hill also had a headache.

Against a team like the Cavaliers that doesn't rely on offense to win, no matter how good your defense is, it will be useless.

Suddenly, the defensive role players he had were no longer useful.

Before halftime, Marciulionis was the first to take the ball to warm up. He didn't know if he would play today, but he needed to be ready at any time.

It's not that he didn't have opportunities, but he missed them.

If the opportunity comes again, he can't let it slip away easily.

In the third quarter, Roger's touch showed signs of recovery, but it still did not reach the level of the opening game against the Supersonics, when he scored the ball again and again under Schrempf's fingertips.

He was forced to hit those difficult shots, but his efficiency wasn't enough to kill the game.

Derek McKay also began to find his touch and started hitting mid-range shots.

But only one McKay is not enough. Even if the Cavaliers assign one person to mark McKay, they still have enough manpower to limit Roger's breakthrough.

Halfway through the third quarter, the Magic were still 5 points behind and the situation was very passive.

On the bench, Brian Hill was discussing player selection with chief assistant coach Richie Adubato.

"Why don't we let Saroo have a try?" Adubatu suggested. "He's been in great form lately. He made six three-pointers in a row in yesterday's practice match, didn't he?"

"Absolutely not! That idiot will ruin the game!" Brian Hill got angry when he mentioned Saroo.

The anger comes from expectations. Hill also had high hopes for Saru, but what was the result?
Now, Hill just feels that George Karl was right and that Sarrou is just a big European softie.

At this time, Spoelstra, who was at the end of the bench, also ran to Brian Hill with his back bent and said, "Boss, I have an immature opinion."

"Then don't say it!"

Of course, Spoelstra still said: "I think we can let Sarroud give it a try. Right now, we don't have a better way. You don't want to watch the team lose four games in a row, do you? As long as Sarroud can hit a few balls and attract the Cavaliers' attention, Roger will be able to kill everyone! The Cavaliers are weaker than us, and we shouldn't lose this game just because of a bad touch!"

"Go back to your position, Eric, you're just a video editor! Do you think you can be a head coach in this life? Otherwise I'll let you take charge?" The title of championship coach made Brian Hill arrogant.

At this moment, there was a commotion at the scene.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, who were as slow as a tractor, just launched a counterattack, with Chris Mills scoring a dunk.

The Cavaliers players laughed and celebrated, pumping their fists. They must have thought they had defeated the defending champions tonight. They might even have thought about what they were going to say in the interview later to make a big statement.

Their morale is already visibly high.

Previously, the media hyped up Roger's comeback game, speculating on how many points Roger would score and how he would win, completely treating the Cavaliers as a background.

This angered them.

Therefore, their defense today was actually more stable and better than usual.

Every player on the Cavaliers is giving 120% today, determined to defeat Roger!
The score difference returned to 7 points and Brian Hill suspended the game.

After the players left the court, Brian Hill, who said no, finally looked at the guy who was dribbling the ball while sitting at the end of the bench.

Noticing that the coach was looking at him, Salu stood up and walked over to Brian Hill.

Brian Hill held the marker tightly, still hesitating.

But at this time, Salu took the initiative to speak. He didn't want to wait passively anymore. He had to seize his opportunity.

He has already wasted too much time, and now he can't waste even a second!

Saroo leaned down, holding the basketball in both hands, with a sincere look in his eyes: "Coach, I really want to play the game! Trust me again!"

"You only have two chances to shoot. If you can't make either shot, then roll down! If you make two mistakes, then roll down!"

"Thank you, coach."

Then, Saru looked at Roger and smiled, "Go ahead, champion."

It seemed that Saroo had listened to what Roger said.

Roger never thought he could restore a person's confidence.

It seems that the changes he brought to this historical line are far more than he expected.

After the timeout, the Cavaliers players walked onto the court, all of them in high spirits.

They are controlling the defending champions and they are letting the whole world see their strength.

Chris Mills, who was responsible for defending Roger today, was so excited that he couldn't help but tease last season's FMVP: "Everyone is talking about how your comeback game will be. Haha, you can't get 40 points tonight, right?"

Mills felt like he was in great form tonight.

Roger didn't smile with him. "Don't jump to conclusions about anything until the game is over. This is the first lesson I want to teach you."

Then, the Cavaliers discovered that the Magic had made a substitution.

They replaced Harper with Sarunas Marciulionis.

The NBC commentator shook his head, thinking this was a reflection of the Magic's dying struggle.

How desperate must Brian Hill be to replace that guy who has become a disabled person?

The Cavaliers did not take the substitution too seriously. They believed that as long as they continued to maintain their defensive intensity, they would definitely have the last laugh.

The ball was kicked out from the baseline and Salu ran to the opposite half with the ball.

At this time, no one noticed that the Cleveland Cavaliers, wearing heavy armor, had been surrounded.

The counterattack from the defending champion began quietly.

(End of this chapter)