Champions Creed

Chapter 304 Chapter 303: More qualified than the other guy who likes to call himself a king (ask for a monthly ticket!)

Roger still didn't know how much of an impact his simple words "raise your head" would have on Amar'e Stoudemire.

However, his reminder was indeed well-intentioned, as defense is what limits Stoudemire's career from going further.

For a player with a height of 208 cm, a wingspan of 218 cm and athletic ability comparable to that of Rain Man, it is really incredible that Stoudemire can make his defense so worthless.

The main reason for all this is that Stoudemire started playing too late, and maybe because the high school game was too simple, he didn't pay much attention to defense, so his defensive habits were very amateur. Then when he entered the NBA, Stoudemire happened to meet a coach who didn't practice defense at all.

This has resulted in his defense being below the league average, and his one-on-one defense level is almost negligible.

Kevin Garnett, a player who is generally recognized for his poor scoring explosiveness, scored his career-high 47 points against Amar'e Stoudemire. This shows that Amar'e Stoudemire's defense is probably the same as Garnett's fighting level, which is invisible and intangible.

What impressed Roger the most was the shot he blocked against Wizards center Andre Blatche. At that time, Stoudemire was under the basket, and he didn't stick close to him or raise his hands, but just relied on his speed to block the opponent. Although he successfully blocked the ball in the end, it was definitely the most amateur and most street-like defense Roger had ever seen in the NBA.

He might as well just put his hands on his hips, at least he could save some energy for fast breaks and add 5000 points to his career total.

If Stoudemire goes to college to gain some experience, he should be able to become a good defensive player.

No, with his physical talent, even if he didn't go to college, as long as he paid more attention in high school, his defense wouldn't be that bad.

If his defense was even three-quarters of Anthony Davis', he'd be a much bigger name.

Because his offense is so good.

Many people may not believe it, but in his peak season of 04-05 before his serious injury, Stoudemire's mid-range shooting percentage was even higher than Nowitzki's, and his finishing percentage at the basket was better than any season in Anthony Davis' career.

In terms of explosiveness, Stoudemire may be slightly inferior to Rain Man.

But in terms of overall offensive efficiency and output, Stoudemire was far better than Rain Man that year.

His offense is already impeccable, and the only two reasons why he has a low historical status are: defense and injuries.

So, Roger gave him some life-changing advice.

As for how much he can listen, it all depends on him.

Roger didn't care too much about Stoudemire's affairs. He was still communicating with his new girlfriend and waiting for the suspension period to end.

An eight-game ban might not sound like a lot, but it was a longer period than Roger had imagined.

Even in this year's Christmas game, Roger could only watch the Lakers slaughter the Hawks on the bench.

When David Stern made the decision to suspend Roger, he also considered whether to let Roger catch up with the Christmas game.

This not only punishes the fighters, but also guarantees the box office of "The Christmas War", which is a win-win situation.

But after careful consideration, David Stern himself rejected this plan.

Because doing so will make those star players feel fearless and will make Roger feel like "Look, David doesn't dare to really punish me."

In order to prevent similar big fights from happening again, David Stern decided to be completely tough and would rather give up this year's Christmas game and suspend as many games as possible to show his determination.

So the Los Angeles Lakers finally won the Christmas game this year, but the relationship between the OK combination did not ease because they both knew that the victory was worthless.

Even though Paul Pierce returned after six games, the field was still filled with too many players whose names O'Neal and Kobe couldn't even remember.

This isn't the real Atlanta Hawks, and no one should be proud of defeating this group of free agents who were just filling in the gaps.

After the game, Steve Jones watched Kobe and O'Neal turn around and leave without saying a word. He had a strong premonition that the league was going to be reshuffled again.

The next era may not come because Roger won't allow it.

But even if this era still belongs to Roger, the league will undergo a major reshuffle.

Will the OK combination still exist? Will Roger stay in Atlanta?
It's time to start the next game.

This Christmas battle caused the Hawks to lose their fifth game in eight games, and the three teams that can lose to the current Hawks are the Knicks, Grizzlies and Cavaliers.

In order to show their worst performance, they are willing to lose any game.

This year's Christmas War suffered a box office failure due to Roger's absence.

The Hawks were still offering a big ticket discount promotion 48 hours before the game, which was enough to fill the Philips Arena.

This is the impact of Roger's absence, and this is just because Roger is not playing. What if Roger is not in the Eagles lineup? The consequences are simply unimaginable.

Because this was the last game that Roger was suspended for, he attended the press conference after the game and became the focus of reporters for a while.

"Roger, the first game after your return will be against the Dallas Mavericks, who are ranked first in scoring this season. Does this bring you pressure?"

"No, they are a very good opponent and I am looking forward to the next game."

"Do you want to talk about the rumors with the Eagles ownership group?"

"I have nothing to say to them." Roger simply refused to discuss the topic, which was worse than him openly confronting management.

Being willing to argue at least means that both parties are still communicating.

But now, Roger doesn't even have the desire to communicate with the Eagles management.

However, the Eagles management is now in trouble not just Roger.

Soon, the reporter turned the gun and asked Pierce: "Paul, I heard that you rejected the Hawks' maximum salary contract extension. Is this true?"

This news came out yesterday. All along, Pierce was the one who took the initiative in signing the Hawks and Paul Pierce.

But when the Eagles finally agreed to his offer, he rejected it out of character.

The reason is simple: the Eagles are too insincere.

If Roger had not fallen out with management, there was no way that group of shareholders would have compromised with Pierce and given him the full six-year maximum salary.

If Roger doesn't renew his contract next season, Pierce won't bother to play with the Hawks.

Pierce now has no good feelings towards the Hawks management. God knows what kind of outrageous things they will do if Roger leaves.

Therefore, Paul Pierce did not renew his contract in advance, but wanted to wait until the summer to make a decision.

It was a success: if Roger left, then I would leave too.

Anyway, with Pierce's current performance, he will not lack a maximum salary contract, and a large number of teams with salary space will try to make an offer to Pierce.

When asked by reporters, Paul Pierce answered directly: 'Yes, I rejected the contract extension. I just want to focus on the game now and put everything else aside.'

The Atlanta shareholder team is really sleepless now. They originally wanted to please Roger by signing Pierce, but this safest path turned out to be a problem.

Given the relationship between Pierce and Roger, Roger must have known in advance that Pierce refused to renew his contract, but still let Pierce make it public.

This means that Roger doesn't mind Pierce doing this.

He doesn't need this flattery, and he refuses to continue the cooperation. Atlanta Hawks shareholders are being "fired" by their own star!
However, for the fans, this is definitely a day worth being happy about. Even losing the Christmas game did not affect the fans' mood.

Finally, their king is back!

In the penultimate game of December, the Hawks welcomed the Dallas Mavericks.

This team beat the Hawks last month, and their offense is just as good as the Kings'.

It is indeed not lucky to encounter such an opponent in the first battle after returning.

Before the game started, big-mouthed owner Mark Cuban commented on the conflict between Roger and the Hawks' shareholder team in an interview.

As a member of the capital side, he certainly stands on the side of capital.

"If what the media exposed is true, Roger should be suspended for one year. I can't imagine how he can use those words to evaluate the people who pay him. He has no respect for the franchise. Even if such a player enters the free market, I will not have much contact with him. He should apologize, but so far, he has done nothing."

As a new Jewish billionaire who came from an ordinary family, Mark Cuban dares to speak more boldly than those old Jews who are used to pretending to be decent.

Others don't dare to criticize Roger, but he does.

He personally went to the American Airlines Center to watch the game today. The last time the Mavericks defeated the Hawks was on the road. This time, it is a rare opportunity to beat the Hawks at home, and Cuban naturally will not miss it.

He wanted to watch that bastard who didn't know how to respect the team owner die on the spot!
Then, Mark Cuban had a long night.

Dirk Nowitzki scored a very beautiful goal at the beginning of the game today. He used a triple threat outside the three-point line to shake Marion's center of gravity, broke through, dribbled behind his back, passed through Marion, and scored a layup against Kurt Thomas's rim protection. Don't be surprised, during this period, Dirk Nowitzki was always used by Nelson as a giant No. 2.

He allowed Nowitzki to hold the ball and play one-on-one on the perimeter, like a true shooting guard.

Mark Cuban was so excited that he danced with joy. In his opinion, Dirk Nowitzki was the most perfect athlete in the world.

Blond, white, humble, and talented. That's why he never needed an agent to negotiate with Nowitzki, because Mark Cuban would meet all of Nowitzki's requirements and there was no need for an agent to bargain.

Based on Nowitzki's start, Mark Cuban believes the team can win.

But then, facing the defense of Mexican forward Eduardo Najera, Roger passed the opponent in one step, dived into the Mavericks' inside line, and scored a layup under the obstruction of Nowitzki, Najera and Juwan Howard.

After scoring the goal, Roger pressed his hands to the ground while running back, then deliberately turned his head and stared at Mark Cuban on the sidelines: "Too small!"

Mark Cuban was so angry that his head was dizzy. Look at this bastard, he will never know what politeness is!

But it doesn’t matter, the Dallas Mavericks’ offense is not afraid of anyone!

But in the second round, Nowitzki was defended by Marion, and his quick stop jump to the mid-range was disrupted by Marion, who had an amazing wingspan.

For Nowitzki, who has no weight and cannot attack with his back to the basket, what he fears most is a forward who is tall, has long arms and athletic ability.

At the power forward position for the Hawks, not only Marion, but Stephen Jackson is also very good at countering the German tank.

The Mavericks missed all shots, and the Hawks' long-awaited seven-second offense finally started to work.

The Mavericks certainly have a response strategy. Needless to say, quick retreat is a must, and Nelson also emphasizes cutting and passing routes.

Eduardo Najera tried his best to stick to Roger, while the others followed their opponents and did not give Roger the chance to pass the ball.

The final result was that Roger made a three-pointer from the top of the arc and the basketball went in steadily!

5 is better than 2!

Because Michael Finley was injured, the Mavericks lost their only defensive player on the perimeter. This Mexican couldn't have any impact on Roger on the defensive end.

Roger doesn't need to pass the ball when pushing the seven-second attack, he can finish it by himself!

After scoring the goal, Roger continued to turn his head and look at Mark Cuban, putting a finger on his lips - you'd better shut up!
In the subsequent games, Roger came and went freely in the Mavericks lineup.

The Mavericks have poor perimeter defense and poor interior defense.

Although Eric Dampier, who calls himself the "second center in the Western Conference", has always been a joke, you have to admit that he did provide certain rim protection value to the Mavericks after joining them.

But now the Mavericks can't even find a qualified inside defender.

Watching Roger hit the ball at will from the outside and get whatever he wants from the inside, Stephen Jackson laughed and said, "Damn, Roger is like fucking a 40-year-old woman!"

Jeff Hornacek is ashamed. If the defense is loose, just say it is loose. What kind of messed up metaphors are these!

However, Nowitzki and Nash performed very well today and their touch was really good.

There were many shots where Marion and Stephen Jackson blocked Nowitzki's face, but he still made the shot.

The same is true for Nash, whose mid-range jump shot is so stable that he seems to never miss.

But as the game went on, Mark Cuban actually felt like, "It's better to lose sooner rather than later."

Because the closer Nowitzki and Nash are to the score, the higher Roger's personal score will be!
He used his terrifying personal firepower to suppress the Mavericks from the beginning of the game, and no matter how hard Nowitzki and Nash tried, they could not overtake the score.

Although Dirk and Nash performed well, the Mavericks saw no hope of winning from beginning to end.

In the last two minutes of the game, Roger took the ball and attacked, and the Hawks were already leading by 13 points.

One more goal and the game would enter garbage time.

Roger didn't need to wave his hand for everyone to move away consciously, because Roger alone was enough to deal with the Mavericks' defense.

He dribbled the ball, changed hands between his legs, passed Najera like he was crossing the road, then stopped suddenly on the left side of the free throw line and raised the basketball.

The Mexican jumped up to block the shot, but he didn't expect Roger to just fake a shot. After pointing at Najera, Roger took a step forward and then jumped up to shoot.

For some reason, Roger's shooting posture was very strange, and the basketball did not go in. It bounced back immediately after hitting the backboard.

But after the basketball bounced back, it fell into the hands of Roger who was rushing towards the basket and jumping up. He grabbed the rebound from between four Mavericks players and put the ball in, performing an All-Star performance like a self-throwing shot!

Roger did this on purpose, he just wanted to use a similar attack to complete the final blow!
Mark Cuban's head was buzzing and he glanced at the data on the big screen.

Roger 64 points!
These bloody numbers almost suffocated Cuban and made him feel a sense of shame he had never felt before.

Soon, Cuban heard Roger yelling: "Mark, I'm rude to you and you can't do anything about it. But if you dare to be rude to me, this is the result. This is the difference between the king and the untouchables. That's right, the franchise is no different from the untouchables in the eyes of the king. 64 points for you, I hope you like it. Oh, and don't fucking expect me to apologize to you!"

Watching Mark Cuban get up and leave in a rage, Roger finally felt better.

Roger is now full of resentment towards these self-important bosses, so if you are sensible, don't get involved with them and don't learn from Cuban.

The game was suspended, and Roger, who had scored 64 points, walked off the court. Stephen Jackson stood up and made a crown-wearing gesture to Roger.

Roger suddenly realized that something was wrong. He began to call himself the king more and more, and his teammates also began to give themselves crowns.

this.
Whatever, I'm more qualified than that other guy who likes to think he's a king.

(End of this chapter)