Champions Creed

Chapter 243 242: Why is it different from the time with KG! ? (Seeking monthly votes!)

For many haters who were expecting something new from Roger, the outcome of the Pierce incident was disappointing.

They thought this would be another death broadcast that would break up the team.

But Pierce told them that he didn't think he was worse in the Hawks than anywhere else, he didn't care who was Atlanta's top star, and he was willing to be the apostle Paul beside Roger rather than the master Paul.

Sprewell was among those disappointed.

He was not only disappointed, but also angry.

Because Pierce openly criticized the Shark and the Madman in a nationally televised show.

Among them, the insults against the madman were directly named.

When mocking the shark, Pierce's remark was still "I'm not like some people."

But when talking about the madman, Pierce directly said, "Latrell, Roger doesn't even need to dirty his hands to deal with a garbage player like you."

The name Latrell Sprewell was insulted mercilessly by Paul Pierce.

This is where the madman's anger comes from.

He had only wanted to watch the excitement of the Eagles, to see Roger once again mess up the relationship between himself and his deputy.

As a result, instead of enjoying the fun, he was even attacked by a second-year rookie.

Sprewell considers himself a big shot, but what has he experienced this year?
During the offseason, he was thrown out of the court by Roger in front of the national broadcast.

Last night, he was insulted by Pierce in front of the national broadcast.

He lacks respect.

Although on the radio show, he described his offseason conflict with Roger as nothing serious.

But no matter how much he comforts himself, he cannot change the fact that he lacks respect and no one respects him.

Sprewell swore that after today, Roger and his dog would shut up.

The sideline reporter interviewed Sprewell and asked him what he thought of Pierce's remarks last night.

Sprewell was disdainful: "They always talk too much. Kevin Garnett's yesterday is their today!"

The previous conflict with KG gave Sprewell great confidence. If even a ruthless person like KG is afraid of me, then who else in this league is not afraid of me?

I almost strangled my head coach, and I once brought a gun to the training ground to threaten my teammates - thanks to the relatively closed media information in the 90s, he was much luckier than Gilbert Arenas.

It's natural that everyone would be afraid of a ruthless person like me.

Including Roger!

Unlike Sprewell who was full of murderous intent, when he met his old rival Roger again, the fortune teller Pat Riley's eyes were less sharp and more worried.

He was not worried about Roger, but about the future of the ball.

After joining the Heat, Riley gradually transformed the Heat from a team with no presence in the Eastern Conference to the Eastern Conference champions last season.

There is no doubt about his ability.

Riley successfully built a very competitive lineup, but this lineup had two major flaws.

First, lack of talent.

Sprewell and Alan Houston both have outstanding individual abilities, but neither of them has top talent.

Sprewell may have had such talent once, but lying flat in the past few years has made him waste the golden period of his development.

As for the core of the Heat, Alonzo Mourning, his greatest talent is his unyielding spirit.

But due to his height limitation, Mourning can never become a killer under the basket like Shaq, nor can he become an axis like Hakeem O'Ham.

The Heat lack top-level talent, which was a big reason why they lost to the Spurs last season.

When both teams played tight defense, the Spurs had Duncan and the Heat could only stare blankly.

The second flaw is salary explosion.

Alan Houston's contract expires at the end of next season, and Sprewell's contract expires at the end of this season.

By then they will definitely seek maximum salary contract extensions.

Although players like Sprewell and Alan Houston are not superstars, because of their performance last season, they can definitely seek maximum salary contract extensions in the market.

Yacht tycoon Micky Arison is willing to spend money, but Pat Riley does not want two guards who do not have top talent and are about to turn 30 to lock up the salary space.

You know, as they get older, the trading value of Sprewell and Alan Houston will become lower and lower.

If you think in terms of commodities, these two guys are like old luxury cars that start to depreciate from the moment the contract is signed.

It will be inconvenient to trade if you have too much money in your hands in the future.

Riley, the calculating master, who was unwilling to give Dwyane Wade a maximum salary in the future, now does not want to give Sprewell and Alan Houston a maximum salary.

Now Riley is facing a very distressing problem in the NBA - in the face of increasingly high usage costs and increasingly aging core players, should this very competitive lineup continue?
The Bulls have faced this problem, and the Magic have also faced this problem. The answer is obvious.

Riley's answer to himself was to try again for another year.

If the Heat fail to win the championship this season, Riley will choose to break up the roster and rebuild.

This is the last dance for the Miami Heat.

Riley will do everything he can to help the team win this season and strive to put a perfect end to the first peak in the history of the Miami Heat.

Sprewell also knows that whether he stays with the Heat or not, he must show results this season if he wants to sign a maximum salary contract next time.

And nothing can enhance your value better than winning a championship.

Look at Alan Henderson of the Hawks. He went directly to the free agent market and signed a 7-year, $5000 million contract.

Alan Henderson is good, but is he really that good? This season he only scored 13+7 in the Vancouver Grizzlies.

This is the premium that championship status brings you.

So Sprewell wasn't just angry today, he also had to fight for his next contract.

He has no reason to lose.

He wants to win the big contract and let Roger and Pierce recreate Kevin Garnett's classic scene!

On the other side, in the Hawks' half, Paul Pierce was the focus of attention tonight, and the live camera would give him a close-up from time to time.

The series of bold remarks he made during the live broadcast last night earned him great popularity.

Pierce himself was also very excited because Lenny Wilkens had just agreed to let him face off against Sprewell.

He wanted to vent all his anger for losing to Vince Carter on Sprewell!

Pierce doesn't like Sprewell, not only because he is always sarcastic, but also because of the way Sprewell abused him at critical moments in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

The two sides gathered and the cheers of the Heat fans never stopped.

Pierce and Sprewell were separated by just the midfield line, so a friendly exchange was inevitable.

"Paul, I didn't expect you to like being a dog so much. You are the first person I have ever seen who announced on a nationally televised show that he would be a dog for others. I will give you a lesson in etiquette later so that you know how to talk to veterans."

"And you, my friend, are not even qualified to appear on a national live show. You can only stay on a local radio station in Miami and talk nonsense." Pierce responded with a smile.

The madman ignored Pierce and turned his gun to aim at Roger: "Hey, you always hide behind your minions and bodyguards, right?"

Roger looked at Sprewell coldly and condescendingly without answering.

Sprewell's blood pressure was already skyrocketing. This feeling was so familiar!
That was the look of superiority Roger had when he smoked a cigar and watched him get thrown out this summer!

Sprewell hated Roger's condescending look.

Damn defeated general!
"Tonight, you will lower your proud head and look me in the eyes!" Sprewell cursed.

"No," Roger said calmly, "You are never worthy of looking me in the eye."

The madman laughed and said, KG was as tough as you guys before he was beaten.

You better not force me to do it!

The game starts and the Heat has the ball.

The Heat's offense has improved significantly this season, partly because they are working together better. You know, last season Sprewell didn't go from sixth man to starter until a week before the playoffs, and they didn't have such a good tacit understanding on the offensive end last season.

The second reason is that Jamal Mashburn's offensive performance has improved this season.

After suffering a serious injury, Mashburn has actually been exploring a new path, looking for a playing style that suits him and transforming himself.

Now he no longer relies on the explosive power of the "Monster Marsh" period, but has become a technical small forward.

His elbow one-on-one challenge is one of the Heat's fixed tactics this season. In addition, Jamal Mashburn has maintained a 40% three-point shooting percentage while averaging nearly four three-pointers per game.

Even from the perspective of the small ball era, this is top-notch long-range shooting performance that a wing can deliver.

If Jamal Mashburn was more of a defensive three-man in previous seasons, this year, he has undoubtedly achieved both offense and defense at the role player level.

So this season when Jamal Mashburn has the ball, Roger must concentrate on defending him and not be distracted to help defend others.

Soon, Jamal Mashburn easily passed the ball to Alan Houston, who got rid of Pippen. Because no one could spare the time to assist in defense, Alan Houston took a long shot from one step behind the free throw line. The long-range two-point shot is his favorite offensive area, and 33% of the goals in a game come from here.

Pippen caused some interference to Alan Houston, but the basketball still went in steadily.

Alan Houston had a great touch tonight. A hot-handed Alan Houston can rival top talented players on certain nights.

This is the Heat's offense this season. Sprewell and Jamal Mashburn can both hold the ball to attract defense, Alan Houston penetrates without the ball, and Mourning handles the restricted area.

Since leaving the Lakers, Riley has probably never coached a team with such luxurious offensive firepower again.

The improvement in offense and the solidity in defense are the reasons why the outside world believes that the Heat have the strength to compete for the championship.

The Heat took the lead on Christmas Eve, but Miami fans didn't have long to be happy because their proud defense was broken.

Jamal Mashburn was quite confident at the beginning of the defense.

Last season's playoffs earned him the reputation as the "Roger Killer".

Because in that series he made Roger's shooting percentage less than 40% twice.

The media also likes to promote Jamal Mashburn in this way, just like Jordan killer, Kobe killer.
As long as you are the league's top offensive player, the media will be keen to find a nemesis for you.

Of course, only truly top offensive players deserve this kind of treatment.

If a small guard who is less than 190 cm tall can defend your post-up play, then no media will go to great lengths to find a nemesis for you.

Such praise is the source of Jamal Mashburn's self-confidence.

He looked at Roger who was dribbling outside the three-point line and smiled brightly: "Sing a Christmas song for me. If you sing well, I will make you look decent today."

"Jamal," Roger didn't mind fighting on two fronts between Madman and Mashburn, "Why don't you show me a trick of helping Santa Claus fish, and I'll consider only taking 20 points tonight to leave you a little dignity."

"Oh, 30 points with a 20% hit rate?"

"At least 50% hit rate."

After saying that, Roger started with the ball.

Jamal Mashburn moved sideways at the first opportunity, but Roger used a clever under-the-hip change to get through the defense.

But as soon as he broke through Mashburn, P.J. Brown immediately came up to defend.

This is the secret of how Jamal Mashburn was able to defend Roger last season. Countless examples have proven that there is no player in this league who can suppress Roger's shooting percentage to below 40% by single defense.

The Heat were able to limit Roger last season because when Big Ben and Kurt Thomas were on the court at the same time, the Heat's power forward could unscrupulously engage in assisting Roger's defense.

Originally, the Heat's starting power forward PJ Brown was an excellent defensive player. His defense combined with Ben's offense earned Jamal Mashburn the title of "Roger Killer".

Yes, Big Ben's offense is an essential part of the Heat's ability to limit Roger.

His offense can no longer be described as simply bad, because everyone knows that his offensive data is ugly. What is even more commendable is that, with almost no difficult shots, Big Ben's career true shooting percentage is only 47%.

He is not very sensitive when cutting into the air, and has no ability to connect with the ball. The basketball in his hands is not as smooth as a barber's clipper.

He has no ability to handle the ball, and even if he holds the ball for a short time, his turnover rate is alarmingly high.

Apart from dunking, you can't imagine what offensive means Big Ben has. Coupled with his free throw shooting percentage that makes O'Neal ashamed, he is fully capable of competing for the position of the worst offensive player in NBA history.

If we have to say what he does on offense, it's that he's very good at grabbing offensive rebounds. His offensive rebounding rate last season was better than any season in Duncan's career.

So this season, using Marion to play the power forward position and pushing Ben Wallace, the offensive black hole, to the power forward position is like upgrading the Hawks' offense from a machete to a Dongfeng Express.

When PJ Brown double-teamed Roger as recklessly as he did last year, Roger simply threw the ball into the air.

Marion, who has an excellent off-ball sense, had already started cutting to the basket. He used his explosive athletic ability to easily catch the basketball, dunked it before Mourning could react, and completed an alley-oop with Roger!

Roger believed that the smart PJ Brown would no longer double-team him so recklessly on the defensive end.

And that would be the beginning of the death of Jamal Mashburn.

"Jamal, you are almost 30 years old, right? Why do you still need others to clean up your mess?" Roger humiliated Jamal Mashburn mercilessly. Today he was going to tear off the fig leaf of the so-called "Roger Killer".

"You weren't the one who scored!"

"Oh."

The Heat fought back, and Sprewell wanted to challenge Pierce one-on-one and let this ignorant rookie die.

But his quick stop jump shot after a strong breakthrough missed due to Pierce's tight interference.

Since Pierce changed his bad habit of wanton steals and blocks, he has always emphasized staying in position during the one-on-one defense phase to lower the opponent's shooting quality.

In fact, apart from the quarrel in the last game, Paul Pierce has done everything people expected this season.

On the defensive end, he pushed himself to an unprecedented height, as if he was covered with scales that could burn his opponents. On the offensive end, he found his position, able to switch freely between without the ball and with the ball, and take over when it is time to take over.

This performance is even more incredible considering that he was stabbed 13 times just a month before the start of the season.

That's why Pippen said Pierce didn't deserve it.

He's been playing well all season and just messed up in the last game.

As young people, we can try to be tolerant of their occasional stupidity.

Pierce defended Sprewell perfectly, which was in stark contrast to last season when he was repeatedly fooled by madmen because of his rash actions.

"Is a stinky wild dog worthy of being dealt with by the king himself?" Pierce shook his head and talked trash.

"Shut up, I won't allow you to make such an impolite comment on Latrell," Roger interrupted, "I've never seen such a weak wild dog."

Few people noticed a detail - this season Roger and Pierce also achieved a 1+1>2 effect in trash talk.

Last season, Roger and Pierce basically criticized each other.

But this season, they have been very clever in joining in each other's trash talk from time to time, giving their opponents a more comfortable experience.

The madman clenched his fists, thinking about making Roger and Pierce as embarrassed as KG.

The game continued, Roger took the ball and launched an attack. Pierce will focus on limiting Sprewell today, so Roger has to take more shots.

This time when Roger broke through Mashburn again, he just glanced at Marion in the crowd, which made PJ Brown's double-team hesitant.

Taking advantage of the moment PJ Brown hesitated, Roger performed his signature turnaround jump shot.

Jamal Mashburn had long lost his explosiveness, so he couldn't block Roger's ball. The monster with explosive physical fitness, Marsh, died in 1995, and now only Jamal Mashburn is left fighting on the court.

4 to 2, the Heat's defense completely lost the magical effect it had last season, and Roger did whatever he wanted.

"Jamal, have you figured out how to lick Santa's hook?"

"I lick your mom!"

"You know what? Just now, I decided to score 40 points tonight as a punishment for you."

"wishful thinking!"

Jamal Mashburn screamed hysterically, but it couldn't change the situation of today's game.

In the first quarter of the game, Atlanta's savior completely tore the title of "Roger Killer" apart.

Without the help of PJ Brown, Jamal Mashburn's one-on-one defense couldn't cause any trouble to Roger at all.

Roger scored 11 points in the first quarter, and unlike last season's playoffs when he relied on three-point shooting, Roger actually scored 11 points by hard work against Mashburn.

In the second quarter, Pat Riley decided to let Mourning expand his defensive range and let him replace PJ Brown to assist in defending Roger.

The result was that Pippen stole the Heat's back door.

Now that Pippen has suffered a serious injury, he has basically lost his ability to attack independently, but he is still very cunning without the ball.

And he loved to use the back door, and both Larsa and Roger knew this.

Mourning was on guard against Roger and had no time to protect the rim immediately.

And Mourning's promotion also led to Big Ben grabbing several offensive rebounds.

Such an outcome was not expected by Heat fans. In last season's playoffs, they dominated the rebounding of the Hawks!

Riley finally had to let Mourning retreat to the restricted area, but in this way, poor Jamal Mashburn was exposed to Roger's firepower again.

Time and again, the "Roger Killer" was killed by Roger.

"Hey Jamal, I didn't realize you were so interested in Santa's fishing."

"Try your best. You don't want to lose face in the Christmas War, do you?"

"Complain? Complaining counts as time! You don't have much time left Jamal. I've already completed more than half of my goal!"

While Roger was torturing Jamal Mashburn, Pierce did not forget to torture Sprewell.

He kept close to Sprewell on the defensive end, and the half was almost over, and Sprewell had only scored 6 points!
The Heat's offense today was entirely supported by Mourning and Alan Houston, who was in hot form. The madman completely became a black hole on the offensive end with Pierce's full commitment to defense.

Pierce's biggest problem on the defensive end is his slow lateral movement. Unfortunately, the madman during this period was not a speed-type player.

At the end of the first half, the Eagles led by 6 points entering the third quarter.

Roger scored 23 points in the first half with a shooting percentage of 52%.

His prediction of "50 points with 40% shooting rate" is about to come true.

After the first half, watching the Heat, who suppressed the Hawks in the playoffs last season, being suppressed by the Hawks, Magic had a strong feeling: "Roger's dominance has never been interrupted. His personal ability and the pressure he brings to the game are the strongest I have ever seen. Pat, I'm really sorry, you are going to have another bad Christmas Eve."

The situation did not improve in the third quarter.

Sprewell continued to miss shots, and Jamal Mashburn allowed Roger to score consecutively.

If it weren't for Alonzo Mourning and Alan Houston, the score gap would have been widened long ago.

The Heat could still barely keep up the score, but Madman and Mashburn were already in a pretty bad state.

"This kind of guy doesn't deserve to be mentioned the word fear in front of Roger. Paul is right. Roger doesn't even need to do anything to deal with him, just like in the summer league." Magic commented.

Once again, when Sprewell missed a shot due to interference from Pierce, he began to complain to the referee: "No one can score with such defense, it's all fouls!"

Pierce was amused at the time: "Roger, do you feel the fear that Ratriel brings?"

"Of course, I'm afraid I'll make him cry. What can we do then? Go to the store and buy him a lollipop?"

Sprewell was furious, and one possession later, he finally used a crossover step to shake off Pierce and attack the basket.

But just as he jumped up to make a layup, he felt someone pulling him hard from behind.

Pierce roughly pulled the madman down, and the referee gave Pierce a foul, but Pierce didn't care at all.

"Stay still on the ground, stray dog. Stop imitating others by saying the word fear all the time. You want to commit a foul? This is a foul!"

It was already frustrating enough to be defended by Pierce today.

Now he is being viciously assaulted, the madman can no longer tolerate it.

He stood up, picked up the ball and hit Pierce on the back.

This scene was simply a replica of the conflict between Madman and KG.

After smashing the things, the madman looked at Roger with a smile: "Why do all the dogs you raise only bark but never bite? Are they all like their owners?"

Sprewell was so confident that no one dared to mess with him. Pierce would just be like the useless Garnett, retreating in impotent rage.

结果
"Snapped"

Before the madman could react, his head suddenly twisted, and his head was buzzing. He staggered back a few steps with a dizzy head and sat directly on the ground.

Pierce did not "become more courageous as the fight went on" like Garnett. After being hit, he slapped the madman directly in the face!
The madman sat on the ground, covering his face. Isn't this different from the time with KG?!

After he fell, he looked up in panic and saw Roger still looking down at him.

The look in his eyes was extremely cold, like a rich man looking at a poor beggar. It seemed that there was a gap between them that could never be crossed.

Roger remained silent, as if Sprewell was not worthy of Roger speaking.

The strong feeling of humiliation made Sprewell recall again the scene when Roger blew smoke rings at him.

Roger never had to take action, but he had humiliated the madman twice.

At this time, Pierce walked up to Roger and stared at Sprewell on the ground: "Hiss~ He looks like a dog!"

Sprewell's self-esteem was strongly stimulated at this moment. He suddenly wanted to escalate the conflict, but was stopped in time by his teammates.

Roger and Pierce ignored the yelling Sprewell and walked away as if nothing had happened, which made him look like he was incompetent and furious.

Pierce walked beside Roger and looked at his palm with a smile: "Hey, I slapped you back, who do you want to slap next time?"

Roger really didn't expect that Pierce would use the two slaps he owed him in this way.

"Leave it to the next person who doesn't know how to put himself in the right place." Roger answered casually.

"You mean Shaq? Don't worry, I'll save the more exciting stuff for him. This season, I'll make the Lakers question their lives even if I have to hold back my shit!"

This made Roger stunned.

Never mind, Pierce was just talking casually. And his sphincter should have recovered almost completely, right?
Seeing that Sprewell was still yelling, Pierce curled his lips and said, "This damn wild dog is really troublesome. How can I make him quiet down completely?"

Roger looked at the score and saw that the Heat were only 6 points behind, which was why the madman was still yelling.

"It doesn't matter, he'll shut up when the game is over."

The referee gave Pierce and Madman a technical foul each, and the game continued.

Roger will use an unforgettable defeat to completely extinguish the Miami Heat.

(End of this chapter)