Champions Creed

Chapter 245 244: No, there is a war tonight! (Seeking monthly tickets!)

Pat Riley looked at today's stats at the press conference after the game and found them boring.

45分6次助攻5个篮板3次抢断2个盖帽，这毫无疑问是一个值得大吹特吹的全能数据，值得所有参与这场比赛的教练和球员歌颂。

But Riley was not excited at all, because the owner of the data was called Roger.

Just as the sexual objects in Indian news can be any species, Pat Riley would not be surprised if Roger's name was followed by any data.

A fact: To this day, there are still very few media that praise Roger's versatility.

He has changed from a pure scorer in the early stage of his career to a real all-around warrior, affecting all aspects of the game. But the media does not praise Roger's versatility because his scoring attribute is too dazzling and his personality charm is too outstanding. For most players like this, the media does not need to praise their versatility because they have too many things worth praising.

Isn't Michael Jordan all-powerful? Isn't Tim Duncan all-powerful?

Jordan had 6 seasons in his career where he averaged 30+5+5. Have you ever seen the media praising his versatility every day?
Only those players who have no real characteristics, who can do everything but stand out in nothing, will be compensated by the media using the word "all-round".

Who was the most praised player in the 90s for his versatility? Scott Pippen.

Who is the most praised player in the 21st century for his versatility? Another player with even greater talent, Scott Pippen.

Riley knew that Roger was already very versatile, so this kind of all-round data on Roger was not worth mentioning at all.

Looking at Roger's data, Riley felt that the summer of 1999 was like a dream.

Or maybe it was God playing a joke on Pat Riley, making him think he had caught the hope of winning the championship again.

Now, God's joke is over.

Pat Riley is not a surrenderist, but as he told Spoelstra, he feels it's hard for anyone to take the championship away from this Hawks team.

When interviewed by reporters, Riley also said bluntly: "They (Atlanta Hawks) are the best team in the league."

"Roger's competitiveness, tough attitude and leadership reminded me of Bird, Magic, MJ and the Rockets in their championship seasons. No matter what, you knew a team led by Roger would never be defeated.

But that's not all. The Hawks have an incredibly deep roster. Their starting lineup is strong, but the transition period is also not bad. Considering that their salary space has long been locked, it is really not easy to build such a team.

So, literally, I think they are the best team in the league. Yeah, better than the Los Angeles Lakers, better than the San Antonio Spurs, better than the…”

Riley was going to say better than the Miami Heat, but ultimately held back, even if he really thought so.

Riley has imagined countless times what the Heat's last dance would be like. Perhaps it would be a tragic success like the Magic's last dance? Or perhaps it would be like the 97 Bulls, accepting the end of their fate in the cruelest way possible?

Now Pat Riley understands that the Heat's last dance will be something completely different - ending the dance early.

Although Riley doesn't want to admit it, he really doesn't see much chance of winning the competition this season.

Unless the Heat can make a deal in the middle of the season that is enough to change the team's blood, it will be too difficult.

Pat Riley highly praised the current Hawks at the press conference, and everyone knows that he is not the kind of nice guy who likes to flatter his opponents.

So the headline "Eagles are the best team" became popular in all newspapers across the United States the next day.

Some people think Pat Riley is exaggerating, and the Sharks think so.

"Only the champion of the season deserves the title of the strongest team. The regular season has only been played for two months. I don't know why the Hawks can be called the strongest team. Pat just wants to make excuses for his defeat, because saying that the Hawks are the best team in the league can make his defeat seem justified, just like those men who always yell that women in their thirties and forties are difficult to deal with, they are just making excuses!"

No one is better qualified to question Pat Riley than Shaquille O'Neal.

Because his Los Angeles Lakers currently have the best record in the league, and after winning the Christmas game against the Spurs, they have an amazing record of 23 wins and 3 losses!
Although the previous 16-game winning streak was interrupted by the Hawks, this did not affect the Lakers' continued kicking of other teams' butts.

In contrast, the Eagles are currently 21 wins and 5 losses.

They don't have as many wins as the Lakers, nor do they have such an exaggerated winning streak as the Lakers.

So O'Neal feels that if there really is such a thing as the "strongest team at the halfway point", that team should be the Los Angeles Lakers.

The shark felt indignant. He had done better than Roger this time, but there were still people licking that bastard's stinky feet.

"I live in an unfair world, but I will win a championship and an MVP to shut everyone up!" O'Neal added.

For everyone who has been following the feud between Roger and the Shark closely, this kind of verbal abuse is commonplace.

However, this also brings up a very interesting suspense - who can achieve a better regular season record between Roger and Shark?

As of now, both teams' regular season records are terribly strong.

21胜5负很出色，23胜3负更是已经被洛杉矶媒体宣传得全美皆知，因为当年的72胜公牛在圣诞节期间的战绩就是23胜3负！
The final results of the two teams will definitely directly affect the outcome of the MVP.

Although Roger and the Sharks only met twice during the regular season, their rivalry was multifaceted.

Roger was right, his all-out war with the sharks has begun!

After the Christmas game, the Eagles continued to win.

On the 27th, the Hawks defeated the Charlotte Hornets.

Derrick Coleman of the Portland team scored 35 points for the Hornets today. He took advantage of Ben's lack of size and frequently scored in singles in the paint, delivering his best performance of the season.

Many sports columnists who wanted to mythologize Ben Wallace's defense would certainly be disappointed. How could a mediocre guy like Derrick Coleman actually beat Ben Wallace?

This is normal because Ben is not a perfect defender.

No matter how abnormal his wingspan and jumping speed are, it cannot change the fact that he is only a little over 2 meters tall, so Big Ben has never been a strong low-post defender.

When he defended O'Neal and Duncan alone, he mainly restricted them from receiving the ball. Once Duncan or Shaq really got the ball comfortably in the low post, even Ben needed the help of his teammates to complete the defense.

But Derrick Coleman is an outlier. He can initiate an offense by receiving the ball with his back to the basket in a not-so-deep position, and he can immediately turn around and shoot a jump shot or a hook shot after receiving the ball, which makes it very difficult for Big Ben to defend.

In fact, the worst abuse the Big Benyuan suffered in history was in 2001 when Shareef Abdul-Rahim scored 50 points in a single game.

This kind of player with skills, who is difficult to limit when receiving the ball and can play both mid-range and low-post back-to-the-basket, is Big Ben's nemesis.

However, Derrick Coleman's best performance of the season failed to help the Hornets win.

Roger's 36 points and Pierce's 23 points, as well as Pippen's blockade of Eddie Jones, helped the Hawks win the game 108-101.

At the end of the game, all the members of the Eagles team hugged each other excitedly.

If you didn't know, you would have thought they won a conference final.

However, this is precisely a major feature of the Eagles this season, they always maintain their passion.

This is really hard to explain because most of the key players on the Hawks team won the championship with the team in 1998.

Based on the vast majority of examples, this Hawks team will find the regular season boring, struggle with over-competition, and work hard to rediscover the passion they had when they won the championship.

After all, if you do too many things with the same people, your passion will be consumed.

But the situation with the Hawks is just the opposite. They have won championships, but they still put a lot of passion into every regular season game.

Roger would scream to the sky after Ben Wallace made a great block.

Pierce would cheer with his arms raised after Roger played a trick on his opponent.

The entire Hawks team would laugh collectively after Pippen missed a shot: "Scott, you're always a little shorter than Roger!"

When Pippen heard this, he would always look down at his crotch and remember the afternoon when he and Roger peed together.

No one can explain how this phenomenon came about. You can understand why Roger is always passionate. After all, he is a superstar and he will never have too many championships and victories.

But how do you explain the passion of role players like Eric Snow and Clifford Robinson who have already won championships?
After the Hornets, the old rival Pacers failed to stop the Hawks, and Grant Hill's Detroit Pistons also habitually lost the game.

After the game, Grant Hill was very disappointed. His best helper took 25 shots but only made 6 of them.

Now he could understand why Jerry Stackhouse was beaten by high school player Kobe Bryant.

Grant Hill's education did not allow him to say that, otherwise he would definitely curse in front of the camera: "That bastard Jerry is a complete waste!"

The entire Pistons team was dead silent, while the atmosphere on the Hawks team made Grant Hill very envious. Everyone played with all their strength, and everyone was talking and laughing.

Grant Hill also wants to play in such an environment.

Auburn Hills was not his palace.

He is not the Detroit Pistons' hope for revival.

At this point, the Eagles bid farewell to the 24s with a record of 5 wins and 90 losses.

The millennium is approaching, and a brand new era is unfolding before everyone.

The war between Roger and the Sharks was the theme at the beginning of this era. In 2000, the competition continued, and the Hawks and Lakers were still reaping victories.

In the first game of 2000, against the Milwaukee Bucks, their first-round opponent of the previous season, Robinson and Pierce had a scoring battle.

Robinson scored 36 points, but Pierce just scored 37 points to overwhelm the Big Dog.

During the post-game interview, Pierce was sweating profusely.

"Tonight I took the initiative to apply to play against Glenn Robinson. If I don't win, Roger will make the 14th hole in me. I'm not kidding, that's how he threatened me. So, I'm not eager to win, I just have no choice under Roger's bullying. God, I really can't stand Roger, trade me, trade me. I want to be on the same team with Shaquille O'Neal, who is obviously a better second-in-command than Roger. At least he knows that he can't make holes in his teammates casually."

Roger just walked past Pierce and pointed at the camera: "I'm going to ask Pete to trade you right now. You scored more points than me? Damn it, I can't stand this! If you dare to score more than me today, you will dare to steal my FMVP tomorrow! You will get out, and you will get out tomorrow morning! Hey, you can spread this news, the Atlanta Hawks are selling Paul Pierce!"

This was an argument that made the reporters burst into laughter. Every word they said was outrageous, but it made people feel the harmony in the Eagles' locker room.

At the same time, people began to understand why Pat Riley believed on Christmas that the Hawks, whose record was slightly worse than the Lakers, were the best team in the league.

The Hawks' lineup depth and strength, the quality of their stars, the cohesion of the locker room, and the passion whose source is still a mystery. Every aspect is perfect!

The Los Angeles Lakers have a very good record, but they don't have that good lineup depth, and the relationship between the OK combination is not as close as that between Roger and Pierce.

Even the Lakers recently broke out a ridiculous news. John Celestand, a second-round pick who had been cut by the Lakers, told reporters.

"Not long after I joined the Lakers, Shaq offered me $10,000 in the locker room to beat up Kobe Bryant during practice. To be honest, I thought these guys were crazy. Considering that I would lose my job if I did so, I didn't do it. If I had known I would be cut, I might as well have earned the $10,000, hahahaha."

Although this is just John Celestand's one-sided statement and no one knows whether it is true or not, all these news are still reminding everyone that the OK combination is a time bomb.

They are not nearly as stable as God and the apostles.

It is only a matter of time before the Hawks surpass the Lakers in record!

With such an atmosphere and passion, Roger and the Hawks won all the way to January 1, achieving a 15-game winning streak.

On the 15th, after defeating the Dallas Mavericks, Mavericks forward Cedric Ceballos spread his hands helplessly at the press conference:
"We had no chance against these guys. Their starting lineup was flawless and their rotation was perfect. If all else failed, they still had Roger. From the moment the game started, I felt we had no chance."

After the battle in Dallas, the Hawks' current record of 30 wins and 5 losses is tied with the Lakers.

Pat Riley's prediction is gradually becoming a reality.

There are too many abnormalities in this Hawks team, some things that even the Hawks players themselves cannot explain clearly.

For example, Roger was also confused about the so-called continued passion: "I can't say for sure, we just want to win, and this passion comes naturally to us. Yes, we won the championship in 1998, but the whole team has a kind of, how should I describe it? A sense of hunger. Everyone is hungry for victory, as if we have never won the championship."

Lenny Wilkens also couldn't explain it clearly: "Why bother? We just need to keep winning! The most important thing is that we can beat Phil Jackson's Lakers!"

That’s right, the rivalry isn’t just between Roger and the Sharks.

Also belongs to Pierce and Kobe.

Belongs to Lenny Wilkens and Phil Jackson - Like most old-school coaches, Lenny Wilkens looked down on the Zen Master.

Finally, it was Bill Simmons of Yahoo Sports who explained the secret behind the Hawks' passion in an article.

"The Eagles have turned on 'Kill You' mode this season, and the conditions for turning on that mode are very demanding.

You have to have a superstar in his prime and give him a competitive roster. Also, the team has to have won a championship but just experienced a disappointing loss last season. After the loss, the superstar did not run away and most of the roster was retained.

This will turn on the 'Kill You' mode.

A team that has been dethroned will save all their anger for this season, and they know how to win, how to strangle their opponents, and how to climb to the top.

The successful experience of the champions plus the hunger of the losers are enough to make that team invincible!
Is there a similar team in history? Of course, the legendary 86 Celtics is such a team.

They won the championship in 1984, but lost to the most hated purple and gold in 1985.

Then in 1986, the Boston Celtics began to liquidate the entire league.

In the TD Garden, they had a record of 50 wins and 1 loss in the regular season and playoffs combined. Even Michael Jordan, who scored 63 points, could not win in the TD Garden.

They are just like the Atlanta Hawks this season, full of passion in every game, never bored with any game. Every time they go on the court, they smell the blood and tear open the opponent's wounds.

So Pat was right, the Atlanta Hawks in the 99-00 season were the strongest team in the league.

In fact, I can give you an even bolder prediction: they have the chance to become one of the strongest teams in history!

I know that shit Shaq will read this and say this and that.

And my answer is: Shaq, we'll see.

Roger will win this competition, I'll vouch for it on my writing career."

Bill Simmons, a new-style basketball columnist who has only just begun to emerge in the Internet age, has become increasingly popular.

His writing style is humorous, but he has a deep understanding of basketball and does not shy away from making fun of any basketball star.

His articles are quite influential in the NBA circle.

He knew the Sharks would definitely see his article, but he was not afraid of offending the super center.

After all, what he said was true.

As Bill Simmons expected, when the Sharks were asked questions about Bill Simmons in an interview at the end of training the next day, they started to criticize him without mercy.

"These authors are stupid. They have never played professional basketball and may not even know how to play basketball, but they always pretend to be basketball experts. The 86 Celtics were great because they won the championship, which the 00 Hawks have not done. They can't do it either because the champion in 2000 was the Los Angeles Lakers.

I will win all the competitions, MVP and championship, even AMVP! I will make Roger lose everything and make these authors get out of this circle completely! "

Bill Simmons's advance answer was indeed very wise: let's wait and see.

Unfortunately, just as O'Neal made his declaration, the Hawks lost back-to-back games to the Sacramento Kings led by Webber.

Webber ushered in a new life in Sacramento. Adelman's Princeton system made Webber feel at home and put the Kings on the right track. Last season, the Kings had their best winning percentage since 83 years.

The Kings played as one man in this game, with 6 players scoring in double digits and shooting 41.7% from three-point range.

However, the loss did not affect the overall rhythm of the Hawks. In the remaining six games in January, the Hawks won six consecutive games.

Finally, the team finished the January schedule with a record of 36 wins and 6 losses.

The Lakers also have 36 wins and 6 losses.

打到现在，奥尼尔场均可以拿下28.8分13.8个篮板3.8次助攻0.5次抢断和3.2个盖帽的数据。

罗杰场均35.6分5.3个篮板6.1次助攻2.1次抢断1.8次封盖。

Both of them have great statistics, and their records are beyond the reach of other teams.

So far, the competition between them is extremely fierce. But more and more people believe that the brilliance of the shark will only become a gorgeous background for Roger.

In February, the intensity of the fierce competition dissipated a little, because the All-Star Weekend was the theme of February.

Last season's shortened season caused the All-Star Weekend to be canceled for a year, so this year's All-Star Game has attracted much attention.

Many fans used to complain that "the All-Star show is not as good as the cheerleaders playing basketball in bikinis", but one year after the All-Star Game, they are now looking forward to this event that they once complained about every day.

The league also attaches great importance to this year's All-Star Weekend. They hope to attract fans' attention with a wonderful All-Star Game.

This makes the atmosphere of this year's All-Star completely different from previous years, and everyone wants to show their talents under the spotlight.

Roger has never liked to exert his strength in the All-Star Game. Except for the two times when he resisted Jordan's freeze and said, "It's disgusting that you hold the AMVP trophy, but it's even more disgusting that Kobe holds the AMVP trophy," Roger would stage an NBA version of "All Quiet Tonight" every All-Star Game.

But the shark's previous statement that he would make Roger win nothing this season gave Roger inspiration.

Yeah, that's a great idea, why not?
After the last game against the Trail Blazers in January, a reporter asked Roger: "Shaq said early on that he would win the AMVP. For you, will there be no battle on the All-Town Weekend this year?"

"No," Roger shook his head, "There's a war tonight!"
-
Time Warner and AOL completed a historic merger, and Ted Turner, owner of the Atlanta Hawks, continued to expand his assets, becoming one of the richest franchises in the NBA. But I must say that there is no such thing as a guaranteed profit in business. Mergers increase opportunities as well as risks. -- Atlanta Economic Times

Steve Kaplan, the owner of the Gold Club who was investigated for the scandal of selling golf balls, cooperated with the investigation and provided a list of prostitutes. The names on it include Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, Ted Turner, the owner of the Hawks, and even King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. NBA players? It's simply impossible to count them. Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Reggie Miller, Dikembe Mutombo But surprisingly, Roger is not on the list. I think Gisele Bundchen may be the happiest person at the moment. - Atlanta Police-Press.

Hey, don't make it sound like Roger has such noble character. If you are a successful person who can win the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, you don't need to go to the Gold Club to have fun! - Los Angeles Times

The NBA All-Star starting lineup is out. The Western Conference starters are Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Shaq, while the Eastern Conference starters are Allen Iverson, Roger, Vince Carter, Grant Hill and Alonzo Mourning. Looking at this list, young people occupy most of the seats. This year's All-Star Weekend may be the twilight of the gods, or it may be the return of the gods. -- "NBA Time and Space".

Considering that this year's All-Star Game is full of young people eager to prove themselves and the competition between Shaq and Roger, we can expect the big stars to show the fans something real. Hey, who doesn't want the All-Star Game to be played as a playoff game? - Sports Illustrated

There is only one 70-win team in NBA history, but they lost the playoffs. There are only two people in NBA history who have averaged 35+5+5 in a single season, but these two people neither won 70 games nor won the championship that year. What if I tell you that there is such a person who is very likely to win 70 wins, average 35+5+5 and the championship this season? Do you think I am dreaming? No, this person is Roger! I must add that the 00 Hawks are the strongest team in my mind this season, and 00 Roger can compete for the top five superstars in history! AMVP will be his first season honor! There will always be someone who will get nothing in this competition, but this person is not Roger!
——Bill Simmons column for Yahoo Sports.

(End of this chapter)