Champions Creed

Chapter 342 341: I thought I was here to assist him (ask for monthly tickets!)
Four days before the end of the 03-04 regular season.

After the Hawks' training, Michael Jordan accepted interviews from reporters in the locker room as usual.

One of the reporters' questions silenced the entire Eagles locker room.

"Michael, do you think Roger will deliberately let LeBron James win, because then your playoff hopes will be completely ruined. As Roger's mortal enemy, do you think Roger will do this to you?"

After the reporter finished asking, Michael Jordan raised his eyes and looked at him with disgust.

At the same time, all the players in the locker room were staring at the reporter.

The sports reporter was stared at and felt uneasy. He didn't know what he had done wrong. The burning eyes of the players around him made him feel that he was not in the team locker room, but in the bathroom of a prison, and he was in danger of being beaten at any time. Even if $100 fell on the ground, he would never bend down to pick it up.

After a few seconds, the anger in Michael Jordan's eyes gradually dissipated and he just shook his head.

"Which media are you from? What stupid shit are you talking about? Losing on purpose? If Roger treats me this way, he doesn't deserve the title of the league's number one.

Roger will try to stop me from the playoffs in 10,000 ways. In fact, he's already stopped me twice this season, and I still couldn't beat him in my last season. But the way you just mentioned? By deliberately losing to someone else? That's not Roger."

Michael Jordan always thought Roger was a bastard. Many things he did on the court made most NBA players angry, and the supermodels he did off the court made every NBA player jealous. He was simply a piece of shit!

But losing on purpose? Don't worry, Roger is no longer a human being, and his sense of honor as a professional player will not let him do that.

That was a guy who, at the age of 19, would dare to challenge the best player in the world at the time for victory.

A guy like that, in his prime, would intentionally lose to another 19-year-old? What was he thinking!

When Michael Jordan was talking to reporters about Roger, Roger was at home and saw Reebok's national team advertisement on TV.

Roger had no idea that he, who had been talking about the possibility of the 2008 Olympics a few months ago, would now be confirmed to appear in the 2004 Olympics.

There are always many things in this world that will take turns when you least expect it.

But tomorrow night, Roger will never let any twists in LeBron James' game happen.

Yes, as long as Roger deliberately lets James win a game, Michael Jordan's season will be ruined.

Does Roger like Jordan? No. But intentionally losing to LeBron James? That's even more disgusting.

Besides, who doesn’t want to see the Hawks and Cavaliers hurt each other for a playoff spot?

Roger must keep the suspense of the battle for the Eastern Conference playoff spot until the end.

Of course, LeBron James doesn't think so. He came to the Bay Area with full confidence.

He felt that his fate was not yet determined.

LeBron James' confidence is not groundless. Since Michael Redd joined the team, the Cavaliers' strength has indeed been greatly improved.

James was free from Jordan's constant pressure and played more freely on the court.

Michael Reed's style of play, which loves to shoot three-pointers, is indeed more suitable for the Chosen One.

Jordan had no interest in three-pointers throughout his life. When he returned to the Cavaliers, he averaged less than one three-pointer per game. As a guard and a scorer, such a number of three-pointers is unthinkable in the 1st century, and even more unthinkable next to LeBron James.

This is caused by the difference in basketball philosophy. In the era when Michael Jordan lived, he did not think he needed three-pointers. He preferred to cut in, attack the basket, and kill. In his opinion, if he relied too much on three-pointers, the game would become standing outside the three-point line and waiting for teammates to pass the ball and then try his hand, which would kill his enthusiasm.

So, Michael Jordan sometimes deliberately doesn't shoot three-pointers. He doesn't like the kind of game where he has to stand and wait for a shot.

But this is extremely fatal to James. What he needs is exactly the kind of teammate who can stand outside the three-point line and wait for the shot, allowing him to dribble and pass the ball as he pleases for 20 seconds.

You can imagine how bad James' offensive space would be if Jordan, who hardly ever shoots three-pointers, and Eric Snow, who has no shooting ability, squeezed together.

And Reed's appearance perfectly solved this problem.

So the Cavaliers are not weak, and they do have a chance of winning tonight.

In the last game, Carmelo Anthony took the victory away from the Oakland Arena.

The key to winning against the Warriors is to keep the score stable in the first half.

According to the Warriors' rotation strategy in the last two games, the main players' playing time will not exceed 30 minutes.

He played for about 20 minutes in the first half, and more playing time in the second half went to rotation players.

There is nothing wrong with Hubie Brown doing this. Before the playoffs, he must of course be prepared to control the risk of injuries and let the rotation players find their best competitive form through games.

It is better to rest Hubie Brown than forcing Tim Duncan and others to get injured by Popovich.

So for the Cavaliers, as long as they can keep the score close in the first half, when the playing time of the Warriors' main players is suddenly reduced in the second half, the Warriors' combat effectiveness will inevitably decline, and that will be the Cavaliers' chance to win the game.

LeBron James is not worried about his playoff qualification at all. After all, he only needs to win one of the three games to secure the eighth place in the Eastern Conference. But he doesn't want people to say that he got into the playoffs by bullying the old man Michael Jordan. If he wants to win, he has to win against the Warriors or the Pistons!
No matter which team the Warriors and the Pistons win, it will increase the value of the Cavaliers' playoff spot.

LeBron James admitted that he was too nervous and completely lost on the court the last time he faced Roger.

But this time, he will never be so weak again.

He wants to be the pride of Cleveland!
The next day, the third to last game day of the regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers faced the Golden State Warriors again. This time, the battlefield moved to the Bay Area.

When players from both teams came on the court, Michael Reid and Roger hugged each other and chatted for a while.

"Roger, you're still only playing for more than twenty minutes tonight?"

"That's right, don't worry Michael, I won't treat you differently, my playing time today will not exceed half an hour."

"Then you may not necessarily win tonight."

"Michael, when did you become so humorous? Do you think half an hour is not enough to deal with you?"

"I'm serious Roger, you know we have to make the playoffs. And once such an opportunity comes, we can never wait until the next game to fight for it!"

"Well said," Roger nodded, "You should be the leader of the Cavaliers."

"Forget it. I just want to win for my hometown and get a maximum salary, that's all. If the Cavaliers need me to assist LeBron, I don't care."

"Your dreams will come true, winning for your hometown, getting a maximum salary. But one thing that won't come true is qualifying for the playoffs here tonight."

After a brief chat, the starting players of both sides took their positions and the game was about to begin.

Scott Pippen was at Michael Jordan's mansion in Atlanta at the time, watching the live broadcast of the game with him.

Pippen and Jordan were both half-lying on the sofa, relaxed, as if they were about to enjoy a popcorn movie.

Their condition made Marcus Jordan quite puzzled.

Would you be so relaxed when you secretly browse websites at home? No, because if you are caught, you are finished, and you will spend that time in a mixture of excitement and tension.

The same goes for today's game. If the Cavaliers win, all the efforts of his father and that damn Scott Pippen who monopolizes Aunt Larsa every day for the entire season will be in vain, and everything will be over.

It turned out that they were so relaxed and didn't feel nervous at all.

On TV, the game has begun.

Marcus Camby, who started today, overcame his height disadvantage with his extreme speed, jumping over Big Z's head to the basketball and winning the ball for the Warriors.

This season, Camby and Mutombo's starting positions are not fixed and depend on the opponent.

If the opponent has a strong low-post threat, Mutombo will start and get more playing time.

If the opponent does not have a strong low-post threat, Marcus Camby will start and play more time.

The Warriors' lineup today is enough to show that Hubie Brown does not regard Big Z as a strong low-post threat.

No matter how well Yao Ming performs this season, no matter how highly Tim Duncan is praised, no matter how many dunks the Shark has in Dallas, all of these cannot change one fact: the glory of the inside behemoth will always remain in the 90s.

Olajuwon in 1994, Shark during the Magic dynasty, and Duncan in 99. The success of these three players in the 90s still allowed the inside giants to occupy a place on the main stage.

But what about after the millennium? The starting centers of the four championship teams since 2000 were Kurt Thomas, Big Ben, Kurt Thomas, and Big Ben.

And these two people happen to be the most rebellious short centers.

Their success is enough to prove that today's championship teams do not need inside behemoths at all.

Even a 220cm tall and skilled player like Big Z could not play a dominant role in the zone defense era, which allowed the Warriors to start Camby and use his mobility to enhance the team's defensive support.

The Warriors took the lead in attacking, with Eric Snow responsible for defending Roger.

Roger did not attack himself, but passed the ball to Tayshaun Prince who was outside the three-point line with the help of the off-ball screen. James was stopped by Camby's off-ball screen, so the latter hit a steady three-pointer to give the Warriors a good start.

Although it was just an assist, Roger was still talking: "See, Michael? This is LeBron James, the guy you wanted to assist, but he missed the ball in the first round of the game. Damn it, I think he should assist you!"

James is fed up with Roger, he is exactly the same kind of guy as Michael Jordan.

But no one on the Cavaliers fought back, because everyone knew that would only lead to more terrible personal insults.

James didn't say anything back, he just wanted to speak with victory today.

It was the Cavaliers' turn to attack, and Michael Reed began to run around, but the person responsible for chasing and defending him was not Roger, but the little prince who liked armored vehicles.

Where is Roger?
Roger opened his arms and stood in front of LeBron James!
Attack is a long process, so if you want to deal with an opponent within 25 minutes, defense is the sharpest weapon.

Roger's plan today is very clear. He will spare no effort to increase the defensive intensity to the maximum at the beginning of the game to curb his offense.

When defending Michael Jordan, you need to pay attention to his cuts, his post-ups, and his shoulder fakes.

When defending Kobe Bryant, you need to pay attention to his sudden pull-up shots and his various turnaround jump shots.

When defending Allen Iverson, you must pay attention to his dribbling and never try to steal the ball just for the sake of stats.

Even defending Reggie Miller was troublesome, because the old bastard's off-ball movement was as smooth as lubricated, and as cunning as an antelope escaping from a lion in the forest.

Defending all of these named guys is basically a complex set of considerations that require you to never let your guard down on defense.

But to defend LeBron James, you only need to do one thing: take a step back.

Roger has played in this league for 11 seasons and has never seen a player who is so popular but so easy to defend.

James was already used to the defenders treating him like this. He wanted to try his touch in the space Roger got after taking a step back, but he was a little hesitant. After all, this game could not be lost.

Finally, after taking a look at the basket, LeBron James shot the ball.

What LeBron James didn't expect was that Roger approached without delay and jumped to block the shot at the moment he shot. Generally, people don't jump very firmly to block shots from the outside because they are afraid of being passed. But Roger jumped forward with all his strength, seemingly not considering that James might break through. However, Roger's choice was correct. Because he jumped fully, Roger not only blocked LeBron James, but also slapped the ball off with one hand!
Michael Jordan straightened up on the sofa, Scott Pippen covered his head with his hands, and Marcus Jordan also straightened up when he saw Aunt Larsa leaning over and raising her butt to get a drink from the refrigerator.

"What the hell!? Is this a baseball field? How could Roger catch LeBron's shot directly? " Defensive master Scott Pippen exclaimed.

Michael Jordan opened his eyes wide, as if he had seen a miracle.

Yes, in NBA games, it is difficult to catch a shot directly.

But when James looked at the basket just now, Roger judged his intention and jumped up with all his strength to block it.

Roger thought very clearly that it didn't matter even if James passed him, because there were two defensive monsters, Stoudemire and Camby, protecting the rim at any time. Even if LeBron James successfully broke through, he might not be able to score smoothly.

Amid the cheers of the fans, Roger, who had caught the ball, quickly launched a counterattack, and James chased him relentlessly from the side and behind.

After Roger ran into the penalty area, James jumped up and tried to block the shot, but Roger resolved the crisis with a change of hands and hit the counterattack steadily!
"LeBron" Roger talked to James as he ran back, "What is the worst offensive game you have ever played? Anyway, forget about that game, because a new 'worst game' will be born tonight."

Young LeBron James was not discouraged. This round he passed the ball to Big Z and then quickly cut in.

Big Z hit the ball to No. 23, who then gathered the ball and prepared to layup. But Roger poked the ball from the side and back, sending it flying out of the baseline!

The ball still belongs to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but James' offense failed again.

This season, Roger, as an outside player, has been among the top three in the DPOY rankings.

When he focuses more on defense, his impact on that end is obvious.

And tonight, when Roger pulled the defensive intensity to the maximum from the start, the effect was even more obvious.

"Damn it, could you at least hold the ball steady? What did that idiot Michael teach you some time ago?"

Faced with Roger's trash talk, James continued to remain silent.

In front of the TV, Michael Jordan smiled and said, "Look at him. If it was Roger, he would have sprayed him back a long time ago!"

The Cavaliers continued to attack and the baseline ball was passed to Eric Snow, who quickly passed the ball to No. 23.

James continued to face Roger with the ball at the top of the arc. Because the Warriors' defensive strategy was for Roger to defend No. 23 alone, James could not find any opportunity to pass the ball.

He also tried to break through several times, but was easily blocked by Roger.

This predicament of dribbling on the outside for 20 seconds but not being able to make a single move made LeBron James look extremely embarrassed.

In the final moments, James passed the ball to Michael Reed who was outside the three-point line. The latter shot the ball through the heart with his highly recognizable posture, helping the Cavaliers break the scoring drought.

3 to 5, the Cavaliers were not suppressed, and LeBron James also got an assist.

But how did he perform this round? Those who know will know.

"LeBron, great, you beat our defense." Roger clapped sarcastically.

James remained silent. He kept telling himself: "Just hold on in the first half, just hold on in the first half!"

As long as we can hold on in the first half, we won’t have to see Roger’s face or listen to his nonsense in the second half!

In the end, as long as he can leave the Bay Area as a winner and get a playoff spot, all the humiliation he suffers now is not worth mentioning.

One possession later, James tried to take a shot himself.

He forced his way past Roger, but instead of going deep into the basket, he made a quick stop and jump shot from mid-range.

Stupid choice.

It is best for a player not to do something he is not good at on the court, because that is exactly what your opponent wants to see most.

As expected, the basketball missed the target.

The game continued, and as time went on, James became more and more embarrassed.

If we say that LeBron James' poor performance in the last match was due to his loss, his helplessness, and his fear.

Well tonight, LeBron James undoubtedly proved one thing: even if he was not lost, he had no way to deal with Roger.

It can be seen that Cleveland's No. 23 played very hard tonight. He tried his best to score for the team, but all his efforts became worthless under Roger's defense.

I don’t know how many rounds it was, but LeBron James was sweating profusely as he faced Roger.

The No. 14 player in front of him opened his arms expressionlessly. He was like this for the entire quarter, like a ruthless machine.

James started, accelerated to the left, and then tried to change direction immediately to pass Roger.

But after changing hands under his crotch, he failed to control the ball, causing the basketball to fly directly out of bounds!

"Another mistake. Roger's defense today humiliated LeBron. After eight minutes of the first quarter, LeBron James still scored 0 points. He had chances, but missed both free throws. This game could allow the Cavaliers to get a ticket to the playoffs, but the leader of the Cavaliers had problems at this critical moment." Mike Brin was not excited.

Somehow, he wasn't surprised by LeBron James' performance.

After two minutes, James still didn't score until Roger was replaced in the tenth minute of the first quarter. LeBron James broke through Jason Richardson who replaced Roger and scored the first goal of the game.

But the goal came too late. Unless you are Ben Wallace, no qualified star player would score in the tenth minute of the game.

At the end of the first quarter, the Cavaliers were still trailing by 11 points.

During the intermission, Michael Redd began to encourage the team's real spearhead: "LeBron, don't be discouraged, we still have a lot of time, and we still have a chance to end the fight for the playoff spot today!"

Michael Redd was the one who carried the Cavaliers throughout the first quarter, but his firepower alone was clearly not enough to defeat the Warriors.

So he needs No. 23, whom he assists, to stand up again.

James nodded and clenched his fists.

But in the second quarter, when Roger came back, reality slapped him in the face again.

In the first offensive round of the second quarter, James broke through Roger who was over-pressuring him, but when he jumped to attack the basket, Marcus Camby directly fanned the basketball away!

This is why Roger is not afraid of James' breakthrough at all. If your team's rim protection ability is strong enough, then feel free to pressure LeBron.

It doesn’t matter if you get broken through, the big guy behind you will take care of everything.

"This was a hell of a game for LeBron. This could have been his great moment. Just think about it. A freshman, he put in an outstanding performance in the playoffs and got a precious playoff ticket for his hometown team that had been declining for a long time. If LeBron James did this, all the doubts about him would be broken. But now...
The key point is that this is not the first time LeBron has disappointed in a crucial game!
He had so many chances to be great, but he missed them all, and it wasn't because of the poor performance of his teammates. He only had himself to blame for missing those chances.

There is no doubt that LeBron is a good kid. He doesn't take drugs, never offends others, has no criminal record, and is not arrested for speeding every other day. But his performance makes him still look like a disappointing kid, very disappointing! "

Mike Breen expressed his true feelings. The NBA needs good kids. It's true. Look at how unequal the publicity Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James get. Just because Carmelo has a gangster background, the league doesn't dare to promote him.

But fans don’t just want good kids, they also want good kids who can win.

Mike Brin feels that James is like Dr. J. Dr. J is great. When he breaks through, your blood will boil. When he knocks away the opponent's center and presses the ball over the opponent's head, you will cheer for him.

But he never had the killer gene, never able to make his opponents pay when they let him go. He lost too many key games in the playoffs, and his career was not saved until he met Moses Malone.

You can't question Dr. J's historical status. He is one of the greatest players in history and has put up brilliant personal statistics.

But so what? He was never what people considered a "winner"; he always lacked "that thing".

LeBron James is the Cleveland version of Dr. J.

But what did people expect from LeBron James in the beginning? It was Michael Jordan or Roger, and LeBron James' team accepted this expectation with peace of mind, allowing No. 23 to take up all the traffic. You can even say that it was this expectation that made LeBron James win the sky-high sneaker contract.

What happened now? He got the gift he expected, but failed to meet that expectation.

The gap between them is simply too huge.

LeBron James continued to work hard. He finally broke through Roger in the third minute of the second quarter and scored a layup in the confrontation.

But that was his only goal in the second quarter.

Michael Redd couldn't carry the team alone, and the Cleveland Cavaliers were trailing by 18 points at halftime.

After all, they failed to keep up the score in the first half.

In the second half, something happened that made Cleveland heartbroken - Michael Redd lost his touch.

In the first half of the game, Tayshaun Prince did a good job defending Reid, but the former championship shooter scored too many unreasonable goals.

But in the second half, this magical touch disappeared.

This is understandable, Michael Redd is just LeBron James's assistant. If the assistant does all the work, what is the main player for?
Where is Cleveland's main player? He is being tortured by Roger's defense.

When James was stuck in the mud, Alan Houston, who found his touch, made three consecutive three-pointers, and five minutes into the third quarter, he widened the gap to 32 points.

At the pace of play in this era, the game is almost decided.

After the score difference widened, Hubie Brown temporarily replaced all the main players. Roger looked at the dejected LeBron James and commented mercilessly: "LeBron, thank you for standing me up in the summer. Thank you for not letting Reebok sign a rubbish player."

After saying that, Roger glanced at his playing time on the big screen, sat back on the bench, and patted Spoelstra on the shoulder with a smile.

"Look, it's exactly 25 minutes."

In the end, the Cavaliers narrowed the gap to just 8 points against the Warriors' rotation lineup, but still failed to reverse the game within the playing time.

97 to 89, the Golden State Warriors, who continued to implement the rotation strategy, still won in the Bay Area, while the Cleveland Cavaliers, who went all out, missed the playoff ticket.

At the post-game press conference, Michael Redd, who scored 33 points, looked at LeBron James, who only scored 30 points with a shooting percentage of only 18%, and made a joke to the reporters that may not have been malicious but was extremely ironic.

"I thought I was here to assist him."

The entire press conference was filled with laughter, except for LeBron James next to Reed.

He didn't care whether the reporters were laughing at him or not, because after the game, he was completely overwhelmed by one emotion.

He was now filled with hatred.

He hated Roger.

His hatred for Roger even surpassed that for Michael Jordan.

(End of this chapter)