Champions Creed

Chapter 355 354: Not this time Craig, we can't do that to Roger (ask for a monthly ticket!)

Amar'e Stoudemire's performance made Craig Popovich's self-proclaimed perfect targeted strategy a joke.

It also made his pre-game taunt of "I haven't watched the Warriors game video yet" a joke.

In the NBA, there's often a fine line between being a show-off and being a clown.

Unfortunately, Popovich made a clown of himself.

He knows that Stoudemire has a good mid-range shot this season, and he also showed excellent mid-range shooting skills during the regular season.

But there is a huge gap between "good" and "lethal".

Normally, a player's play in the playoffs should be praised if he or she performs the same as in the regular season.

And when a player performs better in the playoffs than in the regular season, he must be a dangerous person!
Amar'e Stoudemire played better today than he has in any of his regular season games.

The Spurs' relatively traditional twin towers were helpless against Stoudemire's mid-range shots.

As a veteran, Craig Popovich's defensive choices are actually not to be blamed.

Normally, most power forwards who rely on jump shots to score will see their scoring threat plummet in the playoffs.

Chris Webber is like two different players in the regular season and the playoffs.

Kevin Garnett has been unable to play in the playoffs without Sam Cassar.

Jermaine O'Neal was less efficient in the playoffs than Paul Pierce, a perimeter player.

Even though Rasheed Wallace has the skill of a straight-arm jump shot, his efficiency in the playoffs is not as good as in the regular season.

The power forward players will face more confrontations and tougher defensive tasks in the playoffs, so their touch will definitely be affected.

Therefore, Popovich's choice to let Stoudemire shoot mid-range shots is understandable.

But who could have thought that Amare Stoudemire would be so accurate today.

In fact, if the Warriors' opponent in this round is the Minnesota Timberwolves, Stoudemire may not be able to play as well as he did today, and his mid-range shooting will definitely be greatly affected.

Kevin Garnett's sweeping ability is stronger than Duncan's, he can defend faster and will give Stoudemire more confrontation.

But on the Spurs side, whether it is Duncan after a serious injury or the aging general, their defensive style is actually more like a traditional center.

Both of them have a strong sense of helping defense and their defensive level is also very high.

But their speed and defensive style do not allow them to cover both the mid-range and restricted areas at the same time, which gives Stoudemire an opportunity.

Maybe many people would say that the Spurs deliberately let go of Stoudemire to contain Roger, in order to make up for Duncan and the Admiral's weak defense.

Isn't it a skill to seize these mid-range opportunities?
If Giannis Antetokounmpo could seize these shots like Stoudemire, the NBA would have ended long ago.

A year of waiting has made Stoudemire in great shape. Roger's transfer and failure last season left the league with the ruins and treasures of the previous dynasty. Everyone is vying for those treasures and trying to build a new dynasty in the ruins and take over the ruling power. But who stipulated that Roger couldn't lead his new army to continue his personal dynasty?
Stoudemire is willing to be a part of Roger's dynasty, and he will not let anyone take away the treasure left by Roger.

The treasure must belong to the person he admires most!

After Tony Parker dribbled across half court, Craig Popovich anxiously paused the game.

Mike Breen took the opportunity to remind everyone: "This season, Amare's mid-range shooting percentage is 2% higher than Dirk. Many people regard him as a beastly forward like Kenyon Martin. No, Amare is an elite mid-range master! If he can maintain this efficiency in this round of the series, the Spurs will have a headache."

Jeff Van Gundy also praised Stoudemire: "As far as I know, Amare, as a high school rookie, did not smoke, drink, or pick up girls after entering the NBA. He spent most of his time in training. Everything he has achieved today is the result of his persistence day and night."

If Roger heard this comment, he would definitely ask Van Gundy to delete the item "not picking up girls". When Zhu Fangyu commented on Yi Jianlian, he also said that he doesn't smoke, drink, or pick up girls. But facts have proved that for a professional player with strong testosterone, not picking up girls is not necessarily a good thing.

It's safer for the entire locker room when Stoudemire picks up girls.

As Mike Breen said, Popovich is now in a big headache. In the original plan, there were four options: "Roger shoots a mid-range shot", "Roger attacks the basket", "Stoudemire attacks the basket", and "Stoudemire shoots a mid-range shot". He chose the last one.

But 20 points in the first half proved that this was a completely wrong option.

Popovich must choose among these options again.

But this is simply a choice between "a pile of shit" and "a pile of even stinkier shit", and no matter which choice you make, it's disgusting.

Popovich finally decided that one of Duncan and David Robinson would keep a close eye on Stoudemire at all times and not give him any chances to shoot mid-range shots.

When facing Roger's pick-and-roll or breakthrough, the other inside player changes from strong delay to weak delay. Because one of them is no longer squatting under the basket, the other can no longer block the shot as aggressively as before, and must protect the restricted area while also trying to interfere with Roger's mid-range shots.

This is the only way.

As soon as Popovich made this decision, Gary Payton jumped up as if he was sitting on an electric chair: "No Craig, no! We can't defend like this, it's too stupid!"

Popovich frowned. In the Silver and Black, no one had ever spoken to him like that. No one had ever used the word "stupid" to describe him.

He also wouldn't allow someone who talks like that to exist in the Spurs locker room.

Gary Payton has been very honest throughout this season and has not suffered from any superstar syndrome.

So now Payton suddenly stood up and refuted as if he had a seizure, which made Popovich find it unbelievable.

"Gary?" Instead of losing his temper directly, Popovich decided to give him another chance to reorganize his words.

But Payton didn't get it and continued to yell, "I told you, we can't defend like this! We'd rather let Amare go than bet on Roger's attack!"

"Gary! Do you want to go off the court and calm down?" Popovich could no longer bear it and retorted in an unquestionable tone.

Of course, he knew Roger's difficult jump shot was also very accurate, but Amare Stoudemire had already scored 20 points. How could Popovich just sit there and watch? How could he just let him shoot?

He has to put pressure on Stoudemire, which is the only way to interrupt the Warriors' momentum.

"Craig, you have no idea how terrifying Roger is when he's firing on all cylinders!" Gary Payton refused to give in. In his opinion, even if Stoudemire scored 50 points, he could never relax on Roger.

"Yeah, I don't know because I've never lost to him in the playoffs, unlike you! Gary, if you can't handle Roger then shut the fuck up, but not everyone is as incompetent as you!"

This sentence made Payton so angry that he wanted to stand up and hit someone. For a season, he and Popovich maintained the most basic mutual respect.

But now, his dignity as a star has been completely trampled upon by Popovich.

Payton frowned and pursed his lips, as if to remind Popovich: "Don't do this to me, old man! I'm Gary Payton!"

But Payton's deterrence didn't work at all. Instead, it led to Popovich's even more angry curse: "Why the hell are you looking at me like that? Is the fact that it's dark?"

The glove was speechless, and Popovich finally adopted his own strategy and kept Gary Payton on the bench.

At that moment, Gary Payton realized that his time had passed.

He is already an average player.

Is it worth it to humble yourself to this extent for a ring?

Gary Payton was completely silent. He sat on the bench and watched his teammates go on the court silently.

Then, he couldn't help but mutter, "We're all doomed!"

Popovich ignored Payton. The game had already started on the court.

After Roger controlled the ball across half court, he faced Bowen and raised his left hand.

Every time they saw Roger do this gesture, every time he raised his hand, all the Spurs players would feel nervous, as if they saw Roger raising a gun.

Because he raised his hands, that meant he was calling for a screen.

Amar'e Stoudemire was like a soldier who loyally followed orders. Every time Roger gave an order, he would appear in time and set up cover for Roger.

Most star centers are like women, they need to be coaxed. You have to let them play a few singles in the low post comfortably before they will be willing to help you do the dirty work.

So was Shaquille O'Neal, and so was Dwight Howard later on.

But Amar'e Stoudemire has no similar problems at all. He obeys everything his idol Roger says.

Stoudemire is in position, Roger breaks through, and there is another damn pick-and-roll. Roger and Stoudemire never tire of directing the same tragedy for the Spurs fans.

Since the Spurs can't defend the pick-and-roll, I'll use this trick to beat you to death.

The mutual targeting of the two teams was fully reflected in this round.

After the pick-and-roll, Roger quickly discovered that the Spurs' strategy had changed.

Duncan did not retreat to the basket, but stared at Stoudemire who was being separated.

The Admiral, who was originally against Stoudemire, switched defense after the pick-and-roll was formed, but did not move forward to press. He just opened his arms and kept a certain distance from Roger, trying to protect the mid-range and restricted area at the same time.

Seeing that the Admiral did not lift up to the extreme to squeeze his jump shot space like he just did, Roger did not hesitate to stop after passing the screen and prepared to hold the ball with both hands.

The admiral took a big step forward to try to interfere, and Bruce Bowen raised his arms and rushed to Roger as fast as he could.

However, after both of them had their feet off the ground, they realized that Roger had only made a fake shot!

Roger gracefully passed between the two men, went straight to the basket, and scored with a one-handed slam dunk!

The Admiral and Bruce Bowen were like the stupid cats in the mouse company in Tom and Jerry, who were fooled and bumped into each other.

The first round of Popovich's strategy change still did not change anything, and the Warriors continued to widen the gap! If you want to defend Roger, you either have to kill the mid-range shot or resolutely retreat and not give him a chance to attack the basket.

The "I want both" type of defense has no effect on Roger.

Loosening his five fingers, Roger landed steadily and just happened to meet Tim Duncan's eyes.

This "man who has never been ruled by Roger" had a melancholy look on his face, while Roger said something creepy with a smile on his face.

"I'm going to start, Tim."

The score difference had been widened to double digits. Although Duncan then used a 45-degree turnaround to rebound to help the Spurs get a goal back, before the Spurs fans had time to cheer, Roger brought the score difference back to double digits again.

In this round, he didn't even need Amar'e Stoudemire's pick-and-roll, but instead directly broke through Bowen.

Stoudemire moved to the mid-range, and the Admiral had to defend him closely. Duncan decided to move up, but this left the basket completely empty.

Roger couldn't use a normal pass through Duncan, but he casually threw the ball into the air, and Camby under the basket jumped with his back to the basket, caught the basketball steadily with both hands, and completed a back dunk.

Roger got his 9th assist of the game, and the second quarter was not even over yet!
The Spurs' defense was in complete chaos. Stoudemire dismembered the Spurs' system, leaving the Spurs exposed to Roger's threat.

In the next few rounds, Duncan didn't dare to move forward again, so Roger severely punished the Spurs' defense with mid-range shots.

They finally managed to curb Stoudemire's mid-range shots, but were beaten black and blue by Roger's mid-range shots.

The great Tim Duncan was helpless in front of Roger. Mike Breen's words made all the San Antonio fans heartbroken: "Roger is dominating Tim!"

Yes, the man who claimed that he had never been ruled by Roger ultimately could not escape Roger's brutal charge.

Fortunately, Manu Ginobili, who replaced Payton, scored several magical goals in the second quarter, but this could not solve the Spurs' problems.

At the end of the first half, the Spurs were trailing by 16 points!
Roger had 18 points and 10 assists in the first half, and Stoudemire had 20 points and 7 rebounds.

Under Popovich's targeted strategy, the Spurs failed to defend either of the Warriors' two major offensive points!
At the end of the first half, Stoudemire and Roger walked into the player tunnel side by side and fist-bumped each other.

This picture looks very much like a popular picture on the Internet, the one where Sun Wukong and Vegeta bump fists, and then walk towards a group of American comic heroes.

Roger and Stoudemire were like two world-destroying warriors, leaving only carnage for the Spurs.

In the third quarter, Popovich still couldn't find a way to curb the Warriors' offense.

He asked Bowen to be more rough in confrontation, using confrontation to stifle Roger's touch.

He even emphasized: "It doesn't matter even if it's a malicious foul!"

This had a certain effect. With the increase in experience, Bruce Bowen's defensive ability was actually more mature than when he was with the Hawks, which made him more difficult to deal with.

A fact that is very easy to overlook - Bruce Bowen ranked fifth in the DPOY voting this season, and Bowen was able to maintain this ranking until 2008!
However, this containment could only reduce Roger's hit rate, but could not completely interrupt his attack.

In addition, the Spurs' offensive efficiency is worse, so the score gap is still widening.

In the third quarter of the Warriors, Roger forced a breakthrough against Bowen, but Bowen was still stuck in front of Roger with his quick movements.

Roger tried to stop suddenly, but this time he failed to shake Bowen off, and he was covered by Bowen for the second time in a row.

Roger then turned to the right, seemingly preparing for a turnaround jump shot, but in fact he suddenly used Bowen as the axis and turned again in the opposite direction, successfully passed the opponent, and then scored a layup against Duncan who was guarding the basket!
Roger has scored 32 points. Since the Spurs changed their defensive strategy, Roger has completely dominated the game.

He punched hard and looked up at the big screen.

The score difference has reached 25 points, and the San Antonio Spurs have almost entered garbage time!
Gary Payton complained on the court: "Damn it, I told you not to let him score, I fucking told you that!"

Popovich's face flushed: "If you keep talking nonsense, come back and sit down!"

The Spurs took a quick baseline shot, hoping to narrow the gap a little in the last 13 seconds of the third quarter.

Parker controlled the ball and tried to break through, but Camby and Stoudemire quickly filled the basket, leaving Parker no chance to attack the basket.

During this period, Tony Parker's offense was not so deadly because he didn't have a shot. You just needed to prevent him from attacking the basket to keep this performance sports car quiet.

Parker dived into the crowd and passed the ball to Duncan at 45 degrees on the left, but the moment Duncan received the ball, Amar'e Stoudemire had already arrived at the defensive position.

He raised one arm, blocking Duncan's view and affecting his shot.

Duncan took two steps forward, but ultimately chose to pull up and shoot.

This was a signature 45-degree bank shot, but because of the heavy consumption on the defensive end and the timely interference from Stoudemire, Duncan felt that the basketball was completely out of range the moment he shot.

In the end, the basketball did hit the backboard, but it hit the side edge of the backboard!

After the basketball bounced, the red light on the backboard also lit up.

At the scene, Warriors fans were already cheering.

Roger gave Duncan a thumbs up: "I told you before, you are the most interesting of all the losers."

On the sidelines, Popovich stared at the court blankly, at a loss.

When Tim Duncan made such an outrageous shot, it was enough to prove that the Spurs had begun to collapse.

Duncan has been defeated by Roger and Stoudemire.

Are we just going to accept our fate? Are we going to lose the first game so easily?
To be ruled by Roger like everyone else?

Do not!
Popovich is not going to give up just like that!

During the intermission, he looked at Bruce Bowen and said, "I told you, it doesn't matter if it's a flagrant foul! Damn it, we have to stop him! We have to destroy him!"

This sentence made the fans behind the bench feel creepy and they couldn't believe their ears.

They didn't expect Popovich to be so outspoken about this kind of thing.

Bowen understood what Popovich meant. Since joining the Spurs, Bowen has increasingly felt like a gangster killer, specializing in some shameful "assassinations."

He has killed Carter and Ray Allen. As long as Popovich gives the order, this man who ignores emotions will execute it without hesitation.

Bruce Bowen rarely did similar things when he was with the Hawks. But in the Spurs, Bowen's level of filthiness depends on Popovich's level of filthiness.

And now, Craig Popovich has decided to bring the dirtiness to the Western Conference Finals.

No other Spurs player said a word, seemingly agreeing with Popovich's strategy.

However, Popovich met the second player to refute him tonight after Payton.

"No Craig," Bruce Bowen shook his head, "I won't do that, never."

"What did you say!?"

"Not this time Craig, we can't do that to Roger."

"Damn it, you're a member of the San Antonio Spurs now, you can't just be with Roger"

"It's not because of that. It's not because I fought alongside Roger and I'm soft-hearted. The reason I can't do that is because if I try to kill Roger, they will definitely go after Tim. I know his style. He's not a lamb to be slaughtered. He will take revenge."

Bowen said, staring at Popovich seriously: "Believe me, we'd better not provoke that tyrant. At this point, he is more terrifying and ruthless than playing basketball."

After hearing this, Craig Popovich began to roar in frustration and rage.

"Damn it, are we just going to watch that bastard dominate the game!?"

No one on the bench spoke, even assistant coach Mike Budenholzer just lowered his head.

Because this seems to be the Spurs' only fate.

They can only accept this fate.

The fourth quarter didn't last long before the game entered garbage time.

罗杰最终全场轰下42分14个助攻6个篮板2次抢断1个盖帽的全能数据，把25分12个篮板的蒂姆.邓肯杀得片甲不留，率队狂胜33分。

He dealt with the Spurs cruelly, coldly and decisively.

At the end of the game, Roger was interviewed by reporters on the scene.

"It was a big, beautiful win, and we all saw what you did to the Spurs. Can this be interpreted as, your era is not over yet? Tim just beats you occasionally, but he can't be the one to end your era?"

"This is certainly still my era," Roger turned his head and looked at No. 21 who was walking dejectedly back to the player tunnel.

For many years, No. 21 has been considered Roger's terminator and an obstacle to Roger.

Like a goddamn grain of sand in Roger's eye because Roger never beat him in the playoffs.

But now, that narrative can end.

“This has to be my time.”

Roger emphasized again.

(End of this chapter)