Champions Creed

Chapter 207 Chapter 206: He doesn't even look like a professional player (ask for monthly tickets!)

Gary Payton's historical status in this timeline is very worrying because he was blown up so badly in the 96 Finals.

In the original history, when people mention Payton, they will remember that he turned his amazing defense into Kobe's highlight moment in 96.

Although a closer look at the game shows that it was not Payton's credit alone, that round of the finals did win Payton fame.

What about now? When people mention Payton, they will remember that he was beaten by Roger in 96 as DPOY and got dermatitis.

The 96 Finals brought no honor to Payton, only shame.

Even the Admiral was saved by him, because Dream's explosion of the Admiral was not as thorough as Roger's explosion of Payton.

Payton dreamed of washing away such a shame, but the number of times he and Roger met was too few.

And last season, the SuperSonics lost both games against the Magic because of problems within the team.

This time, Payton finally saw hope of saving face.

As a result, the Hawks broke the game with an incredibly accurate three-pointer, forcing him to face Roger again.

Before the old shame could be washed away, a new shame was already knocking on the door.

When Roger asked Payton how he wanted to be humiliated, Payton didn't even dare to bend his mouth.

He opened his arms and looked intently.

Steal?

Payton didn't dare to do it at all!

Just now he just slightly exposed his front foot in front of Roger, and was passed by Roger in one step.

If the steal was unsuccessful, Roger would definitely score.

"You're worthy of being SPOY. I'm just asking you to defend alone, why are you so nervous?" Roger used trash talk to disturb Payton while looking for opportunities.

"I'm not nervous at all. I have a hundred ways to defend against you!"

"Don't ever speak so loudly to the Savior."

Roger found the flaw and dribbled to Payton's left. Payton moved sideways to block him, but Roger immediately pulled the ball, turned around, and passed Payton.

Because the other Supersonic players were pinned outside the three-point line, Roger's eyes suddenly became clear.

A quick stop, a mid-range shot, and a goal scored amidst the opponent's desperate interference.

It was so easy for Roger to destroy Payton.

"Damn it!" George Karl hammered the tactical board helplessly. Although Payton was just passed by, he returned to his position quickly enough.

But for Roger, that little distraction didn't seem to be enough.

"The thing about Michael and Roger is that they can just go, 'I'm going to score 30 or 35 points tonight and you're not going to stop me,'" Steve Jones said of the Iceman.

Of course, the gap between Roger and Iceman is already huge.

He has the ability to fight, defend, and win.

All of these have made him far beyond his previous templates.

The second quarter had just begun, and the Seattle fans at the scene felt powerless.

Payton, the best defensive point guard in the 90s, was like a membrane in front of Roger, and could not provide any protection for the basket behind him.

As the game continued, Payton made a ground pass to assist Vin Baker who cut in and scored a dunk, temporarily stabilizing the score difference.

But as long as Payton can't deal with Roger, the Supersonics will not be able to close the score.

This time, Payton changed his one-on-one defense strategy and directly pressed Roger, not giving Roger the space to easily pass the ball and shoot.

But Roger used his stronger confrontation ability to hold off Payton with his back, and then found an opportunity to break through.

This time, Payton stayed close to Roger from beginning to end and did not lose his position.

But Roger carried Payton into the restricted area despite his close defense, then took off and scored with one hand slam dunk over Payton beside him!
"This is you, SPOY!" Roger yelled after landing.

"God, Gary is as helpless as a little kid!" Steve Jones felt a little bit sorry.

You can let Roger make the shot, but to let Roger finish with such an explosive finish is just a disgrace.

The patient and scientific weight gain in the past few years has made Roger no longer at a disadvantage in confrontations. He can make many similar violent finishers, and he can switch roles between berserker and assassin freely.

What's more, his opponent is a number one player.

No matter how big of an advantage Payton has at the point guard position, he is still the point guard.

He is indeed tough enough, but if you meet someone who is equally tough and stronger than you, you will be in trouble.

Roger dunked directly over Payton's head, which was much more visually shocking than a shot.

Payton's self-confidence also suffered a devastating blow.

SPOY, a word created by Roger, became his nightmare.

Payton was beaten to a pulp, and Roger had already scored 14 points seven minutes into the second period.

Moreover, there were several humiliating full-scale blows in this match.

Fortunately, Payton was saved.

The Supersonics began to try to relax the blockade of the outside line and re-encircle Roger.

Although Roger was enjoying his attack, he remained calm and continued passing the ball to his teammates after being double-teamed.

This is a very rare quality.

That's right, just pass the ball to an open teammate. This is a basic principle that everyone who plays basketball knows.

But for a superstar, this is indeed a rare quality.

Every superstar has a desire to show off, especially when they are having a good time. Even those players who are known for their "excellent overall vision" will not pass the ball to their teammates in the open position in time because they want to show off their skills. In fact, he only passes the ball when it is necessary.

But Roger didn't get carried away. He admitted that he had a great time fucking Payton. But when the team needed it, he still calmly handed the ball over.

But the long cool-down period did cause the Hawks' three-point shooting touch to slip.

In the next few rounds, the Hawks missed many three-pointers.

Finally, the Seattle SuperSonics stopped the bleeding.

Finally, Gary Payton was saved.

But after halftime, the Supersonics were still 15 points behind.

Moreover, Roger scored 22 points and 7 assists in the first half!

Today, Roger played as a core player with the ball, so his statistics were very impressive.

Seeing the SuperSonics, the team with the second-best record in the Western Conference after the Jazz, being beaten by the Hawks, and Roger's stats were so explosive, the fans in Atlanta clenched their fists in excitement. Tonight, the savior will appear!

The Supersonics thought their nightmare was over. Although they were 15 points behind at halftime, the gap would be made up sooner or later as long as the double-team strategy continued.

Unfortunately, the Eagles regained their touch from the outside in the third quarter.

In the third quarter, Bowen replaced Pippen as the starter, while Steve Smith and Clifford Robinson remained in place.

So the Eagles started raining three-pointers again!
Fortunately, the Supersonics also responded on the offensive end, which prevented the score gap from widening further.

But the Supersonics had to switch back to man-to-man defense, and Payton's nightmare began again.

When Roger controlled the ball outside the three-point line and found that no one from the Supersonics was double-teaming him, he hooked his finger at Payton and said, "SPOY, come out and get beaten!"

Gary Payton even thought about retiring at that time.

This game was far different from what he had expected.

Payton's confidence comes from the fact that the Supersonics had defeated the Lakers three times before. After being left alone, the Shark became a little goldfish that could be played with by others.

So, he thought Roger would have the same fate.

But it turns out that Roger can beat Payton with or without a shark.

In the next attack, Payton was beaten immediately.

Roger used a half turn to deceive Payton's center of gravity, and then took a mid-range jump shot.

The most terrifying thing about Roger's offense is its stability.

As long as you are not in place to defend, don't expect him to miss shots continuously.

The Iceman himself is a very stable player. As a guard, during his years playing in the NBA, there was no season with a shooting percentage lower than 47%.

This was achieved even though the Iceman had almost no training and had no idea what it meant to "stay in shape."

And Roger, who is actively training, is more terrifying than Iceman in this regard.

His touch is always hot, and if your defense makes a mistake, there will be no room for recovery.

This goal further widened the score gap, and Roger had already scored a near double-double with 26 points and 9 assists.

The second-placed Supersonics in the Western Conference had no power to fight back!
"I've said it before, comparing the Hawks to the Warriors and the Falcons is completely illogical. Look, who's wreaking havoc on whom now! Even when facing Western Conference teams, the Hawks can dominate!" Steve Jones' words gave Atlanta fans a shot in the arm.

Even without Shark, Roger can still handle the strong teams in the Western Conference.

The savior is not afraid of the strong teams in the Western Conference!
In the next few rounds, George Karl still let Payton defend Roger alone.

He needed time to cool down the Hawks' other three-point shooting, as he did in the second quarter.

As long as the score difference does not widen to 20 points, there is still a chance.

As long as Payton can defend Roger and the others, there is still a chance.

But what happened next was a repeat of the shame of 1996.

Gary Payton, a player known for his defense in the league, was scored against continuously by Roger.

It's a continuous score.

Starting from that ball, Roger scored against Payton in the next three rounds.

The Supersonics certainly responded on the offensive end, but they couldn't respond successfully in every round.

As long as they fail to score in one round, the score gap will be widened a little.

When Roger dealt with Payton for the fourth consecutive round, the Eagles' lead had reached 20 points!
George Karl was extremely desperate. Payton couldn't defend Roger for even one round, not even one round!
His fantasy that "Jordan retires, Roger breaks up with Shaq, and the world belongs to him" was ruthlessly torn apart by Roger.

Because this was George Karl's first time playing against the Hawks this season, they still had room for fantasy.

But after today, George Karl saw the reality.

Roger is different from Shark, that useless guy who only cares about pleasure all day long.

If Roger doesn't give it, this era won't belong to anyone.

He got everything he has now by defeating Michael Jordan, and he will never give it up easily!

In the third quarter, Roger challenged Payton for the fifth time in a row, and Payton's defense was still serious.

This is what makes Payton better than other players. If it were anyone else, they would have collapsed long ago and would have spread their legs and let Roger do whatever he wanted.

But Payton won't, he still wants to save it all.

That's exactly what Roger liked about Payton.

A high-quality background board can better highlight your strength.

Roger continued to challenge Payton outside the three-point line. He dribbled slowly closer and then made a front-body change of direction.

But this time Payton was not thrown away. He stayed in front of Roger, pushing with one hand and keeping the other hand raised in the air at all times.

Roger stopped suddenly on the left side of the free throw line and made a direct jump shot.

But Payton braked very timely without losing his position, jumped up to interfere, and completely covered the ball with his palm.

This was the best and tightest round in which Payton defended Roger today!
Roger's rhythm was disrupted. He paused in the air and adjusted the angle before making his move.

Payton was ecstatic, he finally stood up for himself!
But when I turned around, I saw the basketball falling into the net!

George Karl may have effectively curbed the Hawks' three-point shooting touch, but Roger's touch has been completely taken away by him!
"Never, ever compare me with that fat guy. I'm not standing on the shoulders of giants, but the giants are standing on my shoulders. He can't handle you when he's alone, but I'm different. Without a super center, I can still beat you. Remember? SPOY!"

Payton got a good lesson in not making loud noises before the game.

With that, Roger turned around and raised his arms.

When the camera was turned to him, there happened to be a light source shining behind Roger, forming a halo around his body.

Atlanta fans were stunned in front of the TV. To them, this was simply the holy light emanating from the savior!
At that moment they truly believed that the fate of the city was in Roger's hands.

God said, let there be light.

Thus, the light dispelled the gloom in Georgia!
So how do we express our sincere faith in God?

buy!
Buy Roger's T-shirts, buy Roger's sneakers, buy Roger's wine, buy Roger's documentary DVD, buy Roger's original flavor!
Buy and buy!
At this time, the camera moved away from Roger, who was emitting holy light, and turned to the Eagles bench.

Ben Wallace, who had an Afro haircut and grew 10 centimeters taller overnight, complained to Bowen next to him: "God, Payton's defense even makes me feel like he's not a professional player."

"Yeah, in front of Roger, I think Payton should play in the CBA." Bowen said with a smile.

Although the fans in front of the TV couldn't hear what Ben and Bowen said, it was easy to guess based on their lip movements.

Fortunately, Ben and Bowen were talking about Payton. If they had talked about anyone else, they would have been hung on the street light.

(End of this chapter)