Champions Creed

Chapter 154 Chapter 153: It is undeniable that he is a great player (asking for monthly tickets!)
The shark roared like a beast, as if it could swallow a 14-inch pizza in one bite.

Roger patted the shark's butt, as calmly as the greatest animal trainer in the world.

Sharp breakthroughs, elegant passes, and hammer-like finishes, the combination of Roger and the Shark is still invincible.

This historical duo can still easily destroy the defenses of all teams.

"Roger and Shaq are definitely the most terrifying inside and outside offensive combination in history, no doubt about it! No disrespect to Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, but their offensive power in the 71-72 season was far inferior to that of Shaq and Roger!" Steve Jones brought up historical legends to illustrate the greatness of Roger and Shaq.

In fact, he doesn't need to say much, because the dominance of this combination was already quite terrifying last season.

Even though the Shaq played only 50 games, the team still won 68 games and swept three of the four playoff rounds. Only Michael Jordan could compete with Aristotle and Plato.

It was precisely because of their dominance that each team had the motivation to make crazy reinforcements in the summer of 96.

The talents of the Rockets' Big Three are already terrifying enough, but this start is enough to show that their talents are still insufficient when facing the Magic.

However, what was really surprising at the beginning of this game was not the talent that Shark and Roger had already shown. What was really surprising was that this team, which had been in chaos during the offseason and played in a mess in the preseason, did not fall apart.

According to the Sharks and Movie Highlights, they all had “the talk” with Roger before the season.

Now people are very curious about what kind of conversation Roger had with Wilkins and the shark.

Why did Wilkins, who was grabbed by the collar of his jersey and scolded by Roger on the training ground, suddenly become a team player and suddenly care so much about defense? Before this, he had never cared about defense in his life!
Why is Shaquille O'Neal so different from the preseason? So focused?

Bob Costa also talked about this: "This may belong to the 'Guayaquil Talks' in basketball history. We can make all kinds of guesses, and we may never know what they talked about. But we can see the final result. The players of the Orlando Magic are now only focused on defeating the opponent in front of them."

Even the NBA entertainment staff responsible for filming the Magic wanted to know the answer, because the conversation between the three did not take place in the locker room or on the training ground.

If the Magic do manage to win a three-peat, that conversation will be the key to everything.

From a documentary perspective, this is a story moment that can create suspense.

As the game continued, the Houston Rockets certainly could not be intimidated by the talents of Roger and Shark. What this team lacked the least was the courage to overcome the strong.

This time the Rockets did not look for Barkley again, but instead passed the ball to the low post and gave it to Olajuwon who was most confident.

Dream relied on O'Neal to push inside, but he was no longer strong enough. Pushing a land tank like Shark is not the same as pushing Gary's 18-year-old wife.

Compared with the 95 Finals, the Shark has gained a lot of weight, and it is difficult for Dream to show dominance in the low post.

So Dream chose to turn around and jump shot, but unfortunately because it was too far away from the basket and this move required too much touch, the basketball finally hit the front of the basket.

Dream's first shot also missed. Both Feizhu and Dream showed their age in the first attack of the new season.

Feizhu's explosiveness is no longer as invincible, his first step and jumping speed have declined a lot.

Although Dream's physical condition has not declined significantly, a huge gap can be seen when compared with O'Neal.

Their ability to break through defense is no longer as strong as it used to be.

As for the Magic, if you look at the average age, they are actually not young, but the two core players are young enough.

This means that the Magic will always be more efficient than the Rockets in terms of hard ball handling.

And this advantage lasted almost throughout the entire game.

In the sixth minute of the first quarter, the Rockets narrowed the gap to just 2 points with two three-pointers from Mario Elie and Matt Maloney.

As long as they can defend one more ball, the Rockets will have a chance to tie or overtake.

At this time, Roger held the ball and faced Drexler. He pushed the opponent away with a strong breakthrough and then made a quick stop jump shot, and easily scored the ball.

Roger, who has gained weight to 98 kilograms, not only does not suffer a loss in confrontation, but also has an advantage over many defenders.

After three seasons, in the fourth season of his career, Roger finally reached his ideal weight. And now, the weight gain has given Roger a real advantage in the game.

98 kg is enough, and he does not want to gain weight over 100 kg, as that would affect the smoothness and agility of his movements.

Drexler can't defend Roger at all. In 1995, the Rockets' outside line was almost blown away by Roger, and now there is no way to deal with Roger.

Roger's tough single shot gave the Magic a 4-point lead and interrupted the Rockets' counterattack momentum.

In the eighth minute of the second quarter, a similar situation occurred again.

Barkley's magical chase-down three-pointer and Drexler's spot shot helped the Rockets narrow the gap to 3 points.

Although they have introduced Feizhu, the Rockets still follow the one-star-four-shooting style and are still the team that loves to shoot three-pointers the most in the league. Even Barkley averaged 4.5 three-pointers per game in the Rockets' preseason, the highest in his career.

Of course, the hit rate is only an embarrassing 28%.

However, it can be seen that Tomjanovich is very supportive of Feizhu shooting three-pointers.

A team like the Rockets has an advantage, which is that they can instantly turn the tide by making a few three-pointers.

Look, the Rockets, who were trailing by 9 points and about to fall behind by double digits, managed to survive by making two three-pointers.

But immediately afterwards, O'Neal made a hard shot in the interior, causing Olajuwon to foul and score two points, getting a 2+1 opportunity.

In addition, the Sharks made the free throw, directly widening the score difference to 6 points.

The Rockets were completely unable to withstand the strong attacks of Roger and O'Neal, and they were always able to widen the score gap at will.

The game was played at this pace, with Roger and O'Neal's scores constantly soaring, and the Rockets were just one step away from overtaking and tying each time.

Charles Barkley was sweating profusely. He had to defend Roger and then double-team the Shark. He ran around but could only watch Roger and the Shark score goals again and again.

The huge consumption on the defensive end also affected Feizhu's performance on the offensive end.

It was the first time that Barkley felt that being a role player was so difficult!
Drexler was a complete ATM for Roger on the defensive end. It's impossible to defend against someone who is stronger and faster than you.

Olajuwon was also in a very bad state on the defensive end, and O'Neal's destructive power in the low post was already despairing.

Moreover, the Rockets' transition period is worse than that of the Magic, which is a common problem among giant teams.

In order to get Barkley, the Rockets paid too many high-quality role players.

Although Tomjanovich always made sure that there were always two star players on the court at the same time, it was completely useless.

The Rockets can only cause some trouble to the Magic when the Big Three are all together.

If one person is missing, the situation will be out of control.

Roger and O'Neal are different. They can have enough influence even when leading the team alone.

Although all the players present were superstars, it must be admitted that Roger and O'Neal's personal abilities had a much greater impact on the game than the aging Drexler, Olajuwon and Barkley.

After three quarters, the Rockets were already trailing by 14 points.

In the fourth quarter, Tomjanovich could only increase the playing time of the Big Three and use more crazy double-teaming to deal with O'Neal and Roger.

This tactic worked at first because the Magic's role players didn't have a good touch today.

O'Neal and Roger passed the ball a lot, but no one could convert those passes into points.

Dominique Wilkins, who was highly expected, was not good either. His shooting was not stable. Although everyone knows that he has won the scoring title, many people don’t know that he was also the iron king in 85, 86, 88, 91 and 94, and he is in the top ten goalkeepers in the history of iron list.

Now that he is focusing more on the defensive end, Wilkins' shooting is even more unreliable.

Brian Hill had to replace him with Salu, who effectively absorbed some of the shots. But Salu's defense was too bad, and all the points he scored were scored by Mario Elie.

Now you know why 3D players are so valuable. A player who can efficiently process shots while taking into account defense and not occupying the ball is as precious as a giant panda.

In desperation, Brian Hill had to trade back for Wilkins.

After Wilkins came back, his shooting touch improved and he made several shots.

But the score was still not further widened.

Two minutes before the end of the game, Buckley made a brutal drive to the basket, causing O'Neal to foul five times, and he also scored the ball, earning a chance to make a three-pointer.

After making the free throw this time, the Rockets finally narrowed the gap to 8 points, a single digit.

Once again, the Rockets narrowed the gap to a point where they could change the situation. In the previous few times, they had not seized this opportunity because Roger and O'Neal were too good at breaking through the position and the Rockets could not hold them back.

What about this time?

This is the Rockets' last hope for a comeback.

Olajuwon asked everyone to defend seriously. They will continue to double-team Roger and Shark, leaving their fate to the role players of the Magic.

When Roger was double-teamed this time, he immediately passed the ball to Wilkins.

According to Brian Hill's tactics, Wilkins should hold the ball, wait for Mario Eli to return to him, and then pass the ball back to Roger after Roger escapes the double-team.

But Wilkins used his ugly shooting action to directly take this crucial three-pointer!

He felt he had a chance, after all, he had just made two shots.

Unlike his stylish and gorgeous dunks, Dominique Wilkins' jump shot can only be described as ugly.

After he jumps, his legs will bend unconsciously, and then he will push the ball out stiffly with one hand. The whole shooting action is extremely unnatural and the sense of disconnection is very serious.

To put it in more understandable terms, we can say that Dominique Wilkins' jump shot has the beauty of a crab jump shot.

Well, I told you before, playing like a goat is an insult.

Wilkins shot the ball with his ugly move, but because of his slow shooting speed, he was still a little disturbed by Mario Elie.

As expected, Wilkins' three-pointer bounced out of the rim.

After Olajuwon grabbed the rebound, he threw the ball directly to Barkley, who dribbled the ball and quickly counterattacked. After pushing past the midfield line, he used a beautiful long-distance back pass to find Drexler, who made a layup and scored. After a perfect counterattack, the Rockets were only 6 points behind!

Brian Hill immediately paused the game and yelled at Wilkins: "I don't know what made you make that decision!"

He was very angry that Wilkins ignored his tactical arrangements.

Wilkins spread his hands: "I scored two goals in a row before, and I was open just now."

"But my tactic is to let you hold the ball, it has nothing to do with whether it is open or not!" Brian Hill roared.

All we can say is that Dominic Wilkins still retains some habits of being a superstar.

In the NBA, not every player has to obey the coach's instructions 100%.

Roger can ignore tactics and play solo in certain rounds.

The Sharks can stop doing anything else during certain periods of time and just focus on getting in position in the paint and then asking for the ball to attack.

Michael Jordan could say no to Phil Jackson's triangle offense at any time.

Superstars like Stockton and Karl Malone who always follow the rules are rare.

Similarly, Dominique Wilkins had this privilege when he played for the Hawks.

As an iconic player of the Eagles, he can occasionally arbitrarily disrupt tactics and play some shots that he thinks are right.

But what is certain is that role players cannot have this right.

Most of the time, role players have to play according to the coach's arrangements and have relatively little freedom.

Dominique Wilkins has not yet gotten used to this. He has not yet fully gotten used to the fact that he is just an ordinary role player.

He subconsciously thought that he could ignore the coach's arrangements and decide on an attack.

He couldn't be more wrong.

After Roger sat on the bench, he criticized Wilkins bluntly: "Remember, I am the one who cuts the cake with a knife, Dom. We can eat the cake together, but you can't eat it however you want. You'd better remember this."

Roger's tone was very calm, and you couldn't sense any emotion from his words.

He was like a team boss, criticizing his men as a matter of course.

The fact is that the only relationship between Roger and Wilkins is that they played together.

If everyone has done their job well, OK, they can keep quiet and not interfere with each other, and Roger will not take the initiative to find fault.

But if Wilkins did something out of line, Roger would definitely point it out without hesitation. There was no need to worry about hurting feelings, because there was no feeling between them in the first place.

Wilkins said nothing, accepting reality.

The reality is that there will be no friendship between him and Roger. Their relationship is as simple as that between a pimp and a prostitute, without any unnecessary elements, just each taking what they need.

Wilkins needs a big player, and Roger needs a role player, each of them just meets their own needs.

Why didn't Roger treat Saru the same way last season? Because Saru only had problems on the court, but he was very easy to get along with in private.

Moreover, Saru's problem has never been that he couldn't figure out his position, he just lost his confidence at the beginning of the season.

Wilkins is different. Not only does he have a lot of bad habits as a superstar on the court, but he is also arrogant and keeps strangers away in private. Roger doesn't want to spend his time making friends with such a person.

Therefore, he and Wilkins are just teammates. In this case, of course they can talk about whatever they want.

But Wilkins didn't care. He knew that these were the prices he had to pay for the championship.

He can continue to be a superstar in Europe.

Or to win a championship in the NBA, you just need to do your job well.

Wilkins now just wants to win a championship as a starting player. He only wants this. The rest doesn't matter.

But Dominic Wilkins, who was taught a lesson by Roger, couldn't help but wonder, what if Roger couldn't do his job well?

Then do I also have the right to criticize?

You can't blame me for everything, can you?
"What if you don't divide the cake well?" Wilkins asked directly without holding back.

"Then you can also criticize me in public. You have this right, and everyone has it."

"it is good."

After Roger finished speaking, Brian Hill began to rearrange the tactics.

Just like before, in the final round of offense, Wilkins will serve as a transit point.

He has no right to shoot, all he has to do is use his offensive threat to help open up space and then pass the ball back to Roger or Shark.

At the start of the game, the three old men of the Houston Rockets burst out with all their strength to defend. They did not want to form a team with great ambitions, but ended up losing the first game of the season.

Roger continued to be sandwiched between Glider and Mario Elie, and as usual, he gave the ball to the highlight of the movie.

Although Wilkins had just missed the shot, Mario Elie still didn't dare to leave him alone. Moreover, the illegal defense rule didn't allow him to stay beside Roger who didn't have the ball.

Wilkins didn't act willfully this time. He passed the ball to Roger who was back outside the three-point line. Roger took the ball, faked a shot and then accelerated in. Drexler, who was originally rushing out, immediately adjusted his center of gravity to catch up, but Roger took a step forward and then stopped suddenly and pulled back outside the three-point line.

Drexler didn't give up, he wanted to keep biting Roger. But obviously, this adjustment was the limit of Drexler. He braked immediately, but his ankle couldn't bear such pressure, and he sat on the ground. After knocking Drexler down, Roger took a step inside and shot from mid-range.

But at this time, Mario Eli had already made up for it and Roger's shot was disturbed.

Wilkins stared at the basketball, and he swore that if he didn't make the shot, he would let the proud guy experience the feeling of losing face: "Hey, our core player, how come you didn't make the shot when you are so good?"

"brush!"

Wilkins had no such chance at all!
"The ball went in. Roger was simply toying with Clyde. Although Mario's defensive help was timely, Roger still beat the DPOY scorer! The score difference returned to 8 points. Roger's jump shot almost ruined the Rockets' hopes!"

The Rockets wanted to catch up, but unfortunately, Feizhu's three-point shot bounced out of the frame.

The Shark protected the rebound and passed it directly to Roger.

Roger counterattacked immediately after getting the ball, and he was about to hand the Rockets' Big Three their first defeat.

At this time, Barkley and Mario Elie had already retreated across half court. Feizhu Shen retreated into the restricted area, and Mario Elie was responsible for blocking the outside shots.

This one-on-two situation in the frontcourt is not that simple.

Roger rushed towards Eli with the ball, and when his toes touched the three-point line, he suddenly gathered the ball with both hands and took a step to the right.

Eli didn't know what Roger wanted to do by collecting the ball so early, but he subconsciously moved sideways in the direction where Roger was taking a step.

But Roger stepped to the left the next second, completely getting rid of Mario Elie. People then realized that Roger started from the three-point line and did a European step!

So the question is, Roger has just reached the free throw line, how is he going to attack the basket through Barkley?
Dominic Wilkins also wanted to know the answer, and he even expected Roger to make a mistake.

That guy, he always makes mistakes, right?

However, such a scenario was not difficult at all for Roger.

Roger glided in the air for a distance, then lightly flicked his finger when the flying pig jumped up to block.

He used the Eurostep, combined with his signature long-range layup.

Extremely soft, yet deadly!
"Leading by 10 points! I can almost say that the Orlando Magic won the game at home! This was undoubtedly a very difficult night for Houston fans. Their team introduced one of the most impactful forwards in NBA history and gathered three superstars last summer. However, they were still unable to resist the iron hoof of the defending champions conquering the league!"

Steve Jones' words sealed the deal for the Rockets' Big Three. This game was like the 24 Finals, where there was actually no suspense from the beginning. From beginning to end, the suspense only came from the fans' fantasies and who would be the Finals MVP.

Wilkins swallowed as he watched Roger kill the game with two such unconventional goals.

He was completely speechless.

Even if this guy is a bastard, he is a powerful bastard!
Roger looked at Wilkins, smiled at him and shrugged: "Want to criticize me, huh? Don't think about those messed up things, Dom, just enjoy your fucking victory and salute our first win of the new season!"

Now, Wilkins finally understood what his agent Steve Kaufman said: "We are with a lion after all. No matter what happens, you must not challenge Roger."

In Orlando, no one can challenge Roger because it will never work out!

You can only submit to him like a lowly pariah!
So shut up and play ball.

Yes, at least in Orlando you can still enjoy the damn victory.

That made it not so bad.

Roger's goal completely destroyed the Rockets' momentum, and the 10-point difference was maintained until the end.

105 to 95, the Orlando Magic defeated the Rockets' Big Three at home without any danger, taking the first step on the road to a dynasty.
-
I won't say Roger is a perfect person, a good teammate, or even a good person. But he is a great player. Me and Roger? We are fine, we believe we have found a balanced way to get along. - Dominique Wilkins talks about his relationship with Roger and the first victory they won together.

What do I want to do most now? Go home and find my wife. --Hakeem Olajuwon, who had been waiting for a week for this game, was eager to go home and was ready to prepare for a good game.

I scored 32 points, my good brother Roger scored 33 points, and we scored 65 points together. This is our team, and none of us can be missing. — O'Neal talked about the first victory, and kept emphasizing "us".

I believe that after the "talk", the team will not have any more troubles, and we are now only focused on winning. New York should be the most panicked now, because their lineup has changed the most, but they may still get nothing in the end. If Michael thought that he could escape sanctions by fleeing to New York, he was wrong, and he still has to pay for what he did. - Roger talked about the current situation of the team.

No warning, no bluffing, no room for maneuver, this is the Orlando Magic this season, as ruthless as the Italian Mafia. Unfortunately, we live in the same era as Roger. Believe me, this is not just my misfortune. Even for Michael, this is a misfortune. - Charles Barkley shrugged helplessly.

When he first arrived in Orlando, Barkley had a light in his eyes. But now? All he has is the fatigue of a middle-aged man.

Looking at Barkley's helpless look, the reporters all felt that what Steve Jones said was right.

Conquering the opponent is indeed the step that Roger is most familiar with.

(End of this chapter)