Champions Creed

Chapter 300: 299: He will never be satisfied until he completely destroys his opponent (ask for a monthly ticket!)

Artest is accustomed to dominating the game at the beginning. Facing the Pistons' terrifying defense, many teams need a few minutes to adapt.

So when the Hawks broke the Pistons' dominance of the game so quickly and Roger put on that contemptuous look again, Artest's already uncontrollable emotions exploded.

Big Ben kept staring at Artest. Was he worried about Roger? No, he didn't want Artest to get hurt.

Big Ben was in Atlanta for four years and he knows that team.

If anyone dares to act rashly, the whole team will get involved.

So far no one has been able to get any advantage over the Eagles.

Although Artest's fighting strength is far higher than the league average, he even had a famous scene when he tackled O'Neal and beat up the shark during his time with the Bulls.

But if he gets into trouble in Atlanta, he won't be able to get away with it.

Roger has issued an ultimatum. Given Roger's character, he would never just talk about such a thing casually.

Big Ben pressed Artest's shoulders and used a loud scolding to calm him down: "That's enough, Ron! Do you want to be ejected in the first quarter? Do you want to win, or do you want to sit alone in the locker room like a fool?"

Artest broke free from everyone, but did not continue to rush forward. Big Ben's scolding seemed to have worked.

But the atmosphere on the scene has heated up, and both sides will play in this hot atmosphere throughout the night.

Minor frictions and conflicts are almost inevitable.

Daben now understands the essence of competitive sports.

Even though he and Roger have a good personal relationship, when there is competition between their teams, they cannot suppress the spread of this strong sense of competition.

Daben can only try his best to control the level of conflict within a safe range. If a violent conflict really breaks out, it will not benefit either side.

The game continued, and Chucky Atkinson passed the ball to Rasheed Wallace in the low post.

Marion raised his arms as high as possible, but Roaring God's straight-arm jump shot was beyond Marion's reach. A 230-centimeter wingspan was enough to make Rasheed Wallace's jump shot almost uninterrupted.

4 to 2, the Detroit Pistons maintain the lead.

It turns out that the addition of Rasheed Wallace has made this team more difficult to deal with.

The involvement of Hamilton and Artest made it difficult for Rasheed Wallace to be double-teamed.

Rasheed Wallace can operate in the mid-range without having to worry about Ben taking up space.

So, he easily got the opportunity to turn around and make a straight-arm jump shot, without any effort.

If there really is a group of people in this world who are born to play together, they must be these civilian Pistons players.

It is really hard to find such a group of players who play as a team, have complementary abilities, and have a very unified temperament.

But not long after Rasheed Wallace scored, the Hawks immediately returned the favor.

In this round, the Hawks played a V-shaped pick-and-roll. Roger broke through to Rasheed Wallace's side and got a little space to shoot.

If we have to pick a flaw in Artest's defense, it must be defending the pick-and-roll.

Due to his large size, Artest often finds it difficult to flexibly bypass screens.

No matter how strong you are, it is definitely not easy for a thick object to get in and out of a narrow place.

In fact, most of the masters of defending the pick-and-roll are small guards, such as players like Jrue Holiday.

Of course, Artest's poor pick-and-roll defense is only relative to his other defenses. Overall, his pick-and-roll defense ability is still above the league average.

But against Roger, unless your ability is at the top of the league, it will be of no use.

After bypassing the screen, Artest and Rasheed Wallace tried to block Roger as quickly as possible, and the space Roger got was actually very small.

But No. 14 still made the shot steadily. That little space was enough for Roger, the mid-range fanatic.

4 to 4, Roger continued to score goals under the Pistons' tight defense, preventing the Pistons from gaining an advantage in the Philips Arena.

These two rounds set the tone for the game, and neither side would give in. This was just a regular season game, but its significance far exceeded that of the regular season.

The Detroit Pistons want to prove that they have begun to dominate the league.

The former king wants to use practical actions to tell the upstarts that you still have to wait!

This tension continued in the first quarter. The Pistons defended the Hawks, and the Hawks also defended the Pistons. If the Pistons scored successfully, the Hawks would definitely find a way to fight back.

The excitement of the game did not disappoint the fans. Of course, there were also various small conflicts during the game.

Rasheed Wallace was also a guy who had trouble controlling his emotions, and the intense confrontation made him even more irritable. After every goal, he would yell some civilized language at the Eagles bench, adding fuel to the already heated atmosphere.

The entanglement between Roger and Artest has never stopped. Artest's defensive actions have become more and more aggressive. On two occasions, he even grabbed Roger from behind after Roger successfully broke through, which caused countless quarrels.

The Hawks were certainly not polite either. No championship team is a civilized lamb.

Paul Pierce almost made Hamilton autistic, and Kurt Thomas would fiercely confront every Pistons player who entered the restricted area. He would rather foul you and knock you down than let you easily attack the basket.

The collision between the new order and the old order was bound to be bloody, and the scene of the game continued to heat up with repeated fouls, curses and shoves.

Both sides proved themselves. The Pistons proved that they are indeed capable of creating a new era because they were able to fight back and forth with the Hawks. The Hawks proved their foundation as the defending champions because the Pistons could not easily destroy them.

Watching this game, live commentator Steve Jones could understand why Roger, the tyrant, always wins everything.

It turns out that Mr. Nice Guy is indeed not suitable to lead the team.

Grant Hill was more talented than every Pistons player on the court, but when he led the Pistons, the Pistons were no match for the Hawks.

But look at the Pistons now. They use defense, tenacity, ruthlessness and badass style to put the Hawks in a tough fight.

The game continued in a tense atmosphere until the end of the first half, with the Hawks leading by 53 points, 49 to 4.

Roger had 18 points and 6 assists in the first half. Because there were not many opportunities to play the seven-second offense, Roger's shooting percentage was suppressed to 41%. However, under the Pistons' league-leading defense, this is still an outstanding performance.

In general, Artest's defense against Roger in the first half was not very successful. In fact, he was one of the few players who could make Roger uncomfortable with just one-on-one defense, but he had a hard time defending the pick-and-roll.

The Hawks would naturally seize this opportunity and attack hard, so during the halftime break, Lenny Wilkens issued an order to increase the frequency of V-shaped pick-and-rolls in the second half.

So on the first attack of the second half, the Hawks set up a V-shaped pick-and-roll, with Pierce and Reed, two high-threat long-range shooters, moving to the two bottom corners, which was equivalent to cutting off the Pistons' wing help defense.

As long as Roger can use the pick-and-roll to deal with Artest and the two Wallaces, he can easily attack the basket.

This time, Roger pretended to break through to the right side where Ben was in charge, but he actually changed direction to the left, went over the screen and attacked the basket.

Artest tried his best to get around it, but he was still half a step too slow and could only stick to Roger's side and rear.

Artest knew he was out of position, so he grabbed Roger's jersey with one hand to slow him down, and cut hard with the other hand to disrupt Roger's dribble. But Roger suddenly collected the ball, raised it directly over his head, and avoided Artest's steal. Then, he rushed up and dunked against Rasheed Wallace who was chasing him into the penalty area from the other side!
Rasheed Wallace and Roger both fell to the ground, but the ball was dunked in after all. Roger used a powerful finish to break a gap in the Pistons' iron wall defense!
Roger stood up, without even looking at the Roaring Lord who was still lying on the ground, and went straight to A Tai: "Look, I get to admire your helpless expression again."

Artest was upset: "Damn, that idiot only knows how to play pick-and-roll, he doesn't even have the courage to challenge me one-on-one!"

This is an illogical statement because basketball games are not meant to be one-on-one.

In the next round, facing the Hawks' V-shaped pick-and-roll again, Big Ben decided to stay under the basket to protect the rim.

But after Roger broke through, he passed the ball to Kurt Thomas who was completely unattended, and the latter made another steady mid-range shot.

The Pistons really had no solution. Even Ben Wallace, the best defensive player, had a headache with the V-pick and roll.

Without squatting under the basket, Roger can attack the basket easily.

Crouching under the basket, Kurt Thomas' open half-court shot is also very threatening.

The only weakness of the V-shaped pick-and-roll is probably that the quality of the pick-and-roll on Marion's side is relatively average, but no matter how average it is, it can still give Roger a little space to break through and shoot.

Steve Jones said bluntly: "Once the pick-and-roll is set, the Pistons can only hope that Roger will miss the shot. No one can do anything else."

On the defensive end, Roger increased the range of his roaming and assisting defense.

Therefore, the offense of Hamilton, Roaring God and Artest were all affected by Roger.

Of course, Roger's roaming will lead to Chucky Atkins being left open. He is an efficient guard who can shoot 41% of three-pointers and 46% of field goals this season. But after all, he can only shoot some pure open shots. As long as Roger turns back quickly enough and gives him some interference, his output will not increase.

The Pistons replaced Roger with Steve Kerr, who was traded with Roaring God, but this still could not change Roger's defensive strategy.

He would rather let Cole and Atkins score than limit the three Pistons' greatest offensive threats.

In the eighth minute of the third quarter, Roger sandwiched Rasheed Wallace when he had the ball, and successfully cut the ball before Tianzun was about to pass the ball to Kerr!

Roger quickly turned around and made a fast break. Artest was ready to force Roger to slow down near the midfield line, but Roger used a long-distance ground shot to find Marion who came in from the right. After receiving the basketball, the latter went straight into the restricted area and dunked to score. The Hawks made a wonderful seven-second attack!

Once the Pistons made a mistake, the seven-second offense could not be stopped.

At this point, the Pistons were trailing by 9 points!
This 9-point advantage was not easy to come by. There were several times when the score was widening, but Atkins and Cole would resolve the crisis with a goal.

But this time, Roger intercepted the ball before Rasheed Wallace passed the ball, which made the Pistons lose the opportunity to continue to maintain the score difference.

The Hawks were only one point away from extending their lead to double digits, and everyone believed that would be the turning point of the game.

The Pistons paused the game, Artest cursed loudly, and stamped his feet unwillingly. When he looked up, he saw Roger staring at him with a smile, as if he was watching a joke.

Artest's mind is now filled with Roger's words: "I will beat you like this countless times. I will look back at you countless times and admire the embarrassing appearance of you, a piece of trash."

Now, Roger is doing just that.

A fire burned in Artest's heart, and he walked towards Roger uncontrollably with his fists clenched.

Damn it, this bastard actually dared to laugh at me!

I'm going to kill him! Of course, of course I'm going to do that!
Fuck the competition, fuck it!
At this moment, a big hand pressed Artest's shoulder: "Ron, where are you going? Our bench is on the other side!"

Big Ben appeared in time and brought Artest back to reality.

He almost lost control, he was sweating profusely, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

So what if I beat Roger up? Would it help?
After regaining his senses, Artest said nothing and just walked towards his own bench.

Pistons coach Rick Carlisle took his time. He told Ben: "Stay under the basket next."

"Kurt felt good today." Big Ben expressed his doubts.

As a teammate of Kurt Thomas for four years, Big Ben knows him very well.

Most of the time he poses no offensive threat. His mid-range shots will lose their accuracy if they are disturbed a little bit. When his touch is not good, he can't even be stable in open space.

But the problem is that Roger's offensive threat today is too strong, and Ben can only retreat to a very deep position to help defend Roger, and he can't go back to interfere with Kurt Thomas. When Roger breaks through and passes the ball, the Pistons can only bet on Kurt Thomas' open touch.

Unfortunately, Kurt was hot tonight.

But Carlisle didn't care about Ben's doubts: "Without Kurt, he is exhausted. If nothing unexpected happens, the Hawks will use Andre Patterson to play the five position."

Carlisle didn't say anything more, Big Ben already knew what to do.

Andre Patterson does not have any offensive ability, so when facing the V-picked pick-and-roll, Ben can safely shrink to protect the basket. Even if Roger passes the ball to Andre Patterson, he won't be able to make the shot.

Andre Patterson's influence on the offensive end is similar to that of Big Ben. No, even less than that of Big Ben. At least Big Ben still has value in fighting for offensive rebounds.

Basketball is not a one-person sport, but it has never been a five-person sport.

Dream's knee injury has caused the Hawks' inside rotation to become weak, which may cost them their lives!
The game continued, and Rick Carlisle was not wrong in his prediction.

Exhausted Kurt Thomas was drinking water on the sidelines, and Andre Patterson became the fifth player on the Hawks' court.

The energetic Andre Patterson blocked the Pistons' first attack after the timeout. Facing Hamilton who cut into the basket, Patterson jumped vertically to block him in the air, and used his strong body to deform Hamilton's movements, so that his layup missed.

On the defensive end, Andre Patterson can contribute some strength and has certain rim protection value.

But on offense, Carlisle is looking forward to his performance.

Big Ben is also ready to squat and guard the basket. Although the NBA's unique three-second defensive rule limits the power of squatting defense, as long as Big Ben keeps going in and out of the edge of the restricted area, he can still achieve 80% of the effect of squatting defense.

Artest is also ready to fight. This time, he must make that bastard Roger taste the taste of failure!
But something happened that the Pistons were caught off guard. In this round, the Hawks did not set up a V-shaped pick-and-roll, but simply and roughly let Roger go for a one-on-one game!

Lenny Wilkens certainly knew that after Kurt Thomas left the court, the team would not be able to play a V-shaped pick-and-roll. The most special thing about the V-shaped pick-and-roll is that the two inside players who are responsible for the screen can both shoot, so that the opposing center dare not squat to protect the rim. In addition, the two wingers' three-point threats can open up space for the pick-and-roll initiator.

The V-PnR is meaningless if the screener can't provide spacing.

Let Roger play without the ball? Unsafe, because Artest is likely to disrupt the pass and cause the Hawks to turn the ball over.

Therefore, in the current offensive environment, the safest approach is to let Roger play one-on-one against Artest.

Tyronn Lue, who came on as a substitute, initiated a tactic - giving the ball to Roger.

As a player who plans to become a coach after retirement, Tyronn Lue has been learning various tactical deployment strategies.

At present, this trick is the most practical one he has ever learned.

It is easy to execute and indeed efficient, so how can it not be a practical tactic?

When Artest saw Roger was going to play one-on-one, he immediately became full of energy: "Without the pick-and-roll, you are nothing!"

"Ron, I will still appreciate your look of despair, I promise."

After saying that, Roger dribbled the ball closer to Artest and went straight to Artest's left without any fake moves.

It's not that Roger underestimated Artest, but you must never make any large-scale change of direction dribbling or overly complicated dribbling movements in front of Artest to shift his center of gravity. This is an absolute taboo, unless you want to see him perform an ugly layup with a sheep-like feel after a steal.

So if you want to play one-on-one against Artest, keep your movements as simple as possible and don't give him any chance to steal the ball.

Of course, you can't dribble with a large change of direction or center of gravity, which itself will increase the difficulty of attacking. In addition, Artest's confrontation is very strong, you can't force him, which is why he can become a one-on-one lock, and why he can even teach the fledgling Kevin Durant how to behave when he is old.

He is really hard to beat.

As expected, Roger's breakthrough was directly blocked by Artest. Even though Roger's confrontation was not bad, he still couldn't crush Artest to get inside.

But at the moment of confrontation, Roger turned around, pushed Artest with his hand, and then made a fadeaway jump shot with only a tiny bit of space!

Artest jumped up to block the shot immediately, which looked like a perfect defense.

But perfection is not determined by the amount of interference, but by the final result.

Roger successfully made a shot by pushing Artest away and leaning back to create a little space, widening the gap to 11 points!
Artest had a look of disbelief on his face. He thought the Hawks couldn't play a V-shaped pick-and-roll and he could eat Roger alive. He thought this was the beginning of the Detroit Pistons' reversal of the game.

As a result, Roger was still able to score a goal even in the worst offensive environment!
In fact, the V-shaped pick-and-roll is just because it is easier to play this way, which does not mean that Roger has no ability to compete one-on-one with Artest.

True superstars use the system but don't rely on it.

The Philips Arena completely exploded. This 11-point lead represented one thing - the Detroit Pistons were not qualified enough to dominate the Hawks!

Steve Jones has the same view: "Stop talking about domination. It's hard for the Detroit Pistons to even win two games in a row against the Hawks in the regular season!"

A complete one-on-one defeat filled Artest's mind with a huge sense of frustration. When Artest turned around, he saw Roger's contemptuous smile again.

"Ron, I fucking love your desperate expression. The Dark Ages of Defense? Huh? Let me say, this is the Dark Ages of Offense! No matter how strong a defensive team is, they can't stop me!"

Watching Roger humiliate Artest again and again, Ben sighed. He couldn't help Artest, and this was what he had to endure when facing Roger.

Roger will never be satisfied with the status quo until he has completely destroyed his opponent.

He will tirelessly beat you and humiliate you, over and over again, until you break down and want to run away from the court.

Artest clenched his fists, shame and anger beginning to invade his mind.

Now, there was a strong voice in his head that kept appearing uncontrollably.

"Don't worry about it, Ron. You have to teach him a lesson, no matter what method you use! You can't let him keep teaching you a lesson, you have to teach him a lesson too!"

Artest's breathing became rapid.

Yes, yes, I have to teach Roger a lesson!
I have to change this passive situation!
There's no way he could have won me over in that regard!

(End of this chapter)