Champions Creed

Chapter 381: Roger knows many languages ​​(thanks to Yiwanqingjiu v boss for the reward)
Kevin Garnett was brutally slaughtered by Roger. This was the first time this season that Garnett showed his dejected mood without any concealment.

The guy who was always full of passion, never bowed his head, and seemed to have energy that would never be exhausted, at this moment turned from a wolf into a stray dog.

New York fans must be very familiar with the state presented by Kevin Garnett, because in the past many years, the Knicks players and coaches would show similar embarrassing looks in front of Roger.

The proud and sophisticated Pat Riley turned into a dishevelled, embarrassed loser in front of Roger.

Patrick Ewing, who dared to go against the world, could only smash the ball to the floor in anger when he lost.

Even Michael Jordan, who almost ascended to the altar, had to leave the stage in disgrace amid the falling confetti.

This is the scar Roger left in Madison Square. The pain of this scar is like the pain that the Jews felt when they saw the action that made them physically uncomfortable, and it goes deep into their bones.

And now, the scars have been opened again.

Another leader of the New York Knicks seemed to be about to fall in front of Roger.

Before coming to New York, everyone imagines it as a paradise, with unparalleled exposure, commercial endorsements and women rushing into your arms like a tide, and team owners never mind signing big contracts.

But in the end, New York became their hell.

Spike Lee was sitting behind the Knicks' bench at this time. He watched Kevin Garnett walk to the bench with lifeless eyes and sit down, feeling extremely desperate.

This die-hard New York fan certainly knows that if the spiritual leader of a team falls, it will be a devastating blow to the team.

This Knicks team may be Yao Ming's team, or it may be Wade's team, but the soul of this Knicks team is undoubtedly Kevin Garnett.

A guy who has the highest score in the game but ranks last in plus/minus, even worse than his own son, cannot be called a leader. A guy whose statistics are not always dazzling but who influences the ball in every game is a real leader, and Kevin Garnett is undoubtedly the latter.

If even a soul like his is destroyed, his body will be nothing more than a walking corpse.

Lenny Wilkens began to arrange the tactics, but it was obvious that the players were not paying attention. They were more concerned about Garnett than the tactics board in the coach's hand. They were all observing the reaction of No. 21.

Wade swore that this was the first time the Knicks bench had been so quiet this season.

Without KG's roar, without KG's encouragement, without all the yelling, Wade actually felt very uneasy, as if he was riding a roller coaster without a safety belt.

Spike Lee clenched his fists. Would the ending be the same as in the past years?

Are the New York Knicks destined to be overwhelmed by Roger?
It has been 1993 and a half years since 11. Isn't Roger's reign over the Knicks long enough? Will it continue?

Why must God be so cruel to New York fans! ?
Just when the Knicks players and fans were feeling a little depressed, they heard a loud roar. This roar seemed to be like a drink of sweet nectar when everyone was thirsty.

"You don't read great teams or great players when they're winning, you only read them when they're struggling to stay at the top. Cheer up guys, we're on our way to greatness!"

Kevin Garnett raised his head again and refused to surrender early.

He is motivating both his teammates and himself.

A great team will never give up in difficult situations!
Lenny Wilkens stopped drawing the tactics, and even he was infected by these words.

Yes, as the head coach who created the Eagles dynasty, what were the most impressive moments in those years in Atlanta?
Those are the days that help us overcome difficulties.

How to deal with difficulties is the difference between great teams and mediocre teams.

Lenny Wilkens didn't know why Kevin Garnett, a guy who had never been to college, could improvise such a non-super high-level speech. In fact, this exhausted all the talents of Kevin Garnett in his life. From now on, he will only say really rubbish trash like "your wife tastes like donuts".

But no matter what, Kevin Garnett's most brilliant improvisation in his life did work.

The Knicks players were all excited again. Behind the bench, Knicks diehard Spike Lee couldn't help but cheer: "Kevin is the king of New York!"

The Knicks' spiritual leader is still standing strong, and as long as he persists, the Knicks will not be easily defeated.

Kevin Garnett has indeed suffered a great blow just now. Roger's performance and vicious trash talk will give you a feeling of frustration that "he can crush me like a ant."

Most people can't make it through this.

This feeling of failure will make you want to give up and surrender, and will make you wish the game was over so you can go back to the big bed in the hotel and have a good cry.

No matter how tough Kevin Garnett is, his heart needs blood supply, and he is also a flesh-and-blood person. So he is not immune to all difficulties, and Roger did make him feel frustrated just now.

But he knows one thing: he can't find a better team, he knows he can't find better teammates. If he wins a championship one day, it must be in New York!
If he can't succeed here, he won't have a chance to succeed in his entire career.

Yes, Roger showed how terrifying he was as an enemy. It is undeniable that Roger is a strong opponent, even the undisputed strongest opponent. In front of him, you can't show any disrespect.

But even if he has to move forward despite fear, he is willing to do so.

The timeout ended and the game resumed. The camera moved away from the Olsen sisters and fans no longer discussed gossip such as "Putting aside Elizabeth who is not yet an adult, if Roger lived with the two older and more similar sisters, would he have walked into the wrong door?"

Amar'e Stoudemire was very excited: "Okay, now let's do what we are most familiar with, destroy the opponent as much as we can!"

He thought that after Kevin Garnett's collapse, the game would be easily controlled by the Warriors.

But Roger reminded his deputy: "No Amar'e, it's not that simple."

"what?"

At this time, Kevin Garnett's New York Knicks stepped onto the court again. As a spiritual leader, KG clapped his hands and said, "Go guys, the game has just begun!"

Roger looked at Kevin Garnett who was still motivating his teammates and shrugged: "See, Amare, that bastard is a true leader."

Roger knew his little brother. He had too many shortcomings to count. The fact that he rushed backwards during a fight was enough to make him be laughed at for the rest of his life.

But in terms of desire and passion for winning, Kevin Garnett is definitely stronger than most people.

"Keep fighting, everyone." Roger also stood up with his team, "Victory won't just come to us on its own."

The game resumed and the two teams were still evenly matched, neither giving in.

The Knicks have now woken up from the joy of their winning streak. In the past, they only needed to exert their strength to strangle their opponents. But today, they have deeply realized that Roger is different from all the opponents they have conquered before.

To deal with this absolute ruler who has established dynasties in two different teams and won championships in three different teams, we must be more serious and work harder.

After that, Kevin Garnett, Wade and Yao Ming became more cautious in passing the ball, not giving Roger easy opportunities to steal the ball.

On the defensive end, they will also work harder to provide backup defense and try to reduce Roger's shooting space as much as possible.

The words Kevin Garnett said on the bench took root in the hearts of every Knicks player and enabled them to play their best performance to date.

In the sixth minute of the first quarter, the Knicks finally succeeded in overtaking the score and were suppressing the situation.

Although Roger played very strongly in the first few rounds before the first timeout, it was more based on his personal ability. In fact, KG made up for the defense in almost every round.

Roger can score goals against such a defense, but it is difficult for him to score particularly efficiently against such a defense.

The Warriors didn't make up some points until the Knicks switched to a transition lineup. Like most top-heavy teams, the Knicks' starting lineup was too brilliant, resulting in a huge gap in strength between the bench and the starting lineup.

As long as the salary cap rules are not lifted, this relative balance in the lineup will continue.

Therefore, in the transition period, as long as one more substitute player is brought on, the Knicks will have an additional weakness on the court.

This is precisely the advantage of the Warriors, whose lineup is obviously much more balanced. The starting lineup is certainly stronger than the transition lineup, but the transition lineup can still ensure the team's tactical integrity.

But in the second quarter, when the Knicks replaced their full starting lineup again, they quickly took control of the situation.

In the past few seasons, Roger has gradually transformed into a ball-holding core, not only achieving brilliant personal statistics, but also making the team's offense highly dependent on Roger.

Once Roger is strangled, his team's offense will be paralyzed.

Having too few ball-handling points was a problem the Warriors faced last season.

The New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons are the teams that have done the best job of "choking Roger" over the years.

There were three reasons why the Warriors were able to win four games in a row in last season's finals. The first reason was Roger's outstanding performance. The second reason was the limited offensive capabilities of the Detroit Pistons, especially Chauncey Billups, who struggled in the Warriors' defensive strategy of "allowing mid-range shots, defending three-pointers and breakthroughs."

The third reason is that Spoelstra boldly used a lineup of one big and four small players in the transition period, using space to help Roger break the iron bucket formation.

But facing the New York Knicks, things become more difficult.

Wade's mid-range shots and breakthroughs are more lethal than Chauncey Billups, so you can't expect to make a big splash with him.

Yao Ming's low-post threat is completely not on the same level as Ben Wallace. A one-big-four-small lineup may work well against the Pistons, but using it against the Knicks is undoubtedly self-destruction.

The Warriors must find other ways to deal with the Knicks. The biggest problem now is that the Warriors' offense is very difficult in every round. How can they create easier scoring opportunities for Roger?
Spoelstra and Jeff Hornacek have actually been thinking about this question for the past two months.

They have a strategy, but they are not sure whether the people who will execute it are reliable.

At the end of the first half, Roger scored 16 points with a shooting percentage of just over 40%.

Stoudemire scored 12 points with a shooting percentage of only 41%.

The New York Knicks' tight defense makes efficiency a luxury.

The Warriors are still trailing by 5 points.

New York fans were almost celebrating their victory at the end of the first half. Spike Lee shouted to the reporter's camera: "Which team in the world can suppress the Warriors for a whole half? Only us, only us! We will be the only winners!"

The Warriors returned to the locker room at halftime, and the atmosphere was serious. Amar'e Stoudemire felt that he was too naive. He actually thought that the next game would be easy during the first timeout.

Matt Barnes was panting. He had earned a rotation position in the Warriors with his never-surrendering tenacity. However, the Knicks' crazy team was full of wild dogs like him.

Marcus Camby was sweating profusely and suddenly yelled, "How the hell do we defend this!?"

Most centers who have faced off against Yao Ming would have this reaction.

As you know, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan are the two most dominant inside players of this era. But as long as you dare to send them to the free throw line, they will also look embarrassed.

But what about Yao Ming? He will tell you with a smile and two points at the free throw line: "Don't struggle, it's useless."

The first half of the game was completely supported by the strong scoring ability of Roger and Stoudemire. The Knicks' unmatched defensive ability made it difficult for the Warriors to create scoring opportunities through tactical means.

So far, the Warriors have been able to hold on to the score, but the whole team knows that relying on the singles of two stars alone is not enough to win the game against the Knicks' defense.

Just when everyone was getting anxious, a noise similar to that of an electric drill suddenly sounded in the locker room.

People looked at each other in confusion, wondering if the next door was being renovated.
Did the Knicks deliberately arrange this noise next to the locker room to disturb the Warriors? When did the New Yorkers become as mean as the Boston bastards?

Soon, everyone's eyes were fixed on Boris Dio in the corner.

That's not the sound of an electric drill, it's the noise made by the capsule coffee machine extracting coffee.

While everyone was anxious about the game, the French were actually making coffee.

Dio, who was holding a delicate little cup to his mouth, felt a little overwhelmed when he found that everyone was staring at him. He didn't know whether to drink the coffee or not.

After a few seconds of awkwardness, Dio forced a smile: "Does anyone want some coffee?"
-
The second half of the game was about to begin. When the players were warming up, Jeff Hornacek walked up to Spoelstra and looked at the harmless Frenchman.

"I can't believe we have to rely on these weirdos to win."

"He is indeed a freak. No coach in the NBA can use him well, because no one can even figure out what position he plays."

"Can you use understand?"

"I don't know. He hasn't played much in the past two months. Although he has shown some talent, the sample size is too small. But we have to try. It's better than trying again in the finals."

What Spoelstra meant was: We can only trust him once.

But Jeff Hornacek still frowned and did not trust the French very much.

Yes, he didn't trust Matt Barnes very much before, but he was slapped in the face in the end.

However, Barnes and Boris Diaw are completely different.

The King's hound is always eager for victory and always cruel to his opponents.

What about Dio? He is a typical Frenchman. You never see him worrying about winning or his position. He drinks coffee while everyone is discussing tactics, and wanders around the training center in slippers while others are doing extra training.

Just before going on the court, he even took the initiative to tell Spoelstra: "Coach, I drank a small glass of red wine at noon. Can I play? I promise it was just a small glass."

This is a guy who is unreliable no matter how you look at him, which is why he has not yet been reused by the Warriors.

The last guy who trusted the French was Winston Churchill, but the French surrendered before he even got here.

But as Spoelstra said, it is better to test now than to test desperately in the finals.

At the start of the game, Lenny Wilkens discovered that the Warriors had changed their lineup.

Boris Diaw replaced Jason Richardson and became the starting No. 2 in the second half of the game.

The average height of the Warriors on the field has become even more terrifying. The power forward is 203 cm tall, which is simply a replica of the Chinese team.

But Lenny Wilkens had no idea what role Boris Diaw could play. He knew very little about the Frenchman, only that he was an all-rounder.

But in the NBA, being all-around often means being nothing.

A player with the body of a forward is destined to not have top-notch ball sense.

In this case, how can he be truly omnipotent?
Lenny Wilkens predicted that the ultimate purpose of replacing Dio was to strengthen the defense. Why not just Barnes? Probably because Dio would not drag down the offense that much.

Wilkens guessed that Spoelstra wanted to use Dio for a few rounds to see if it would work.

Mike Breen also focused his commentary on Dio, who unexpectedly appeared on the court.

"The last time Roger was so close to the French was when he was in love with the French Rose Eva Green. At that time, everyone thought they would eventually get married, and everyone thought Eva Green would let Roger, a prodigal son, enter the palace of marriage. But in the end, the result was heartbreaking. This time, can Roger's cooperation with the French be as he wished?"

After saying this, Mike Brin shook his head.

Although there are many magicians and Zhang Dashuai, their range is basically limited to the United States.

What about Roger? His girlfriends could fill a small United Nations meeting.

On the court, Roger dribbled the ball across half court and unexpectedly passed it to Dio.

Everyone was stunned. Roger actually gave the ball to the drunk-looking Frenchman?

After getting the ball, Dio waved his hand and asked Amar'e Stoudemire to come out for screen and roll.

He wants to attack with the ball!

Kevin Garnett was confused by this unconventional strategy. He couldn't focus on the pick-and-roll defense because he was always watching Roger moving without the ball. Garnett didn't pay much attention to Dio.

A 203cm forward holding the ball and playing pick-and-roll?

Few forwards like to do this. After all, forwards have an inherent disadvantage compared to defenders in terms of man-ball integration.

Even Carmelo Anthony, who is a versatile player, won't hold the ball for long periods of time. Among all the forwards who like to hold the ball and play pick-and-roll, Garnett can only think of LeBron, who has an ugly dribble but prefers to do so. Of course, LeBron has no choice but to hold the ball and attack, because the Cavaliers have no other ball handlers, and because LeBron's off-ball play is uglier.

Dio broke through with the help of a screen, Garnett switched defense and blocked, but his attention was on Stoudemire and Roger.

He bet that the Frenchman would pass the ball. The scouting report before the game mentioned that this guy had some talent in passing the ball. As long as he was blocked a little, he would definitely pass the ball.

As a result, after Dio approached Garnett, he turned smoothly and quickly like a guard and passed by KG who was focusing on Stoudemire and Roger.

After breaking into the inside, facing Yao Ming's blockade, Boris Dio still did not pass the ball, but instead completed a pull-up layup smoothly and gracefully.

Everyone in the stadium dropped their jaws at Boris Dio. He had just made a breakthrough like a defender, and his ability to connect with the ball seemed not something that a forward should have!
After scoring the goal, Boris Diaw did not celebrate, but ran back immediately, without forgetting the Warriors' quick defense strategy.

Maybe this guy is free and easy off the court, but once he is on the court, he will definitely be worthy of his salary.

One round later, Wade broke through Tayshaun Prince and missed a mid-range jump shot, but Stoudemire grabbed the rebound.

After grabbing the rebound, he did not give the ball to Roger, but passed it to the Frenchman again.

Lenny Wilkens swallowed his saliva. Everyone thought he came here to play the No. 2 position and to improve the defense.

But the Warriors are basically using him as a point guard and letting him come up for offense!

"Eric, that lunatic!" Wilkens frowned. A point guard over 200 centimeters tall? Did he think the Frenchman was a magician?
However, Diaw really made a magic pass in this round.

After receiving the ball from Stoudemire, Dio advanced quickly, but Wade was lying near the midfield line, ready to force the Frenchman to slow down and also ready to use pressure defense to force the Frenchman to make a mistake.

Forwards are most likely to make dribbling errors when facing a pressing defense.

Dio was not panicked when facing the ferocious Wade. Instead, he dribbled the ball smoothly behind him and knocked it to the ground.

Bad luck?

No, Dio unexpectedly passed the ball from behind. The basketball changed its angle after it hit the floor and flew accurately to Roger who was outside the three-point line. Because the ball was so sudden, the Knicks didn't react in time. Roger got the first open three-pointer opportunity in the game except for the one that shook off Garnett!
Finally, the Warriors found a second point to hold the ball, which allowed Roger to switch between playing without the ball and holding the ball and get more opportunities!
"brush!"

The three-pointer was made and the score was tied again. This was destined to be a tense game.

Dio still didn't celebrate. While everyone was cheering for his wonderful pass, he just calmly retreated.

After all, these balls are just his daily routine.

After the goal, Roger pointed at Dio and said: "Bien fait!"

That's French for "well done."

Dio was a little surprised and turned to ask Stoudemire: "I never knew Roger could speak French."

Stoudemire laughed: "Roger knows many languages. I'm sure many women have said 'well done' to him in their native dialect."

Lenny Wilkens just felt annoyed.

The New York Knicks will not be beaten easily, and neither will Roger's team.

Tonight's game is destined to be decided in the bloodiest way.

(6300 words are here. I will take a day off this afternoon to continue working. I will resume writing words tomorrow.)
(End of this chapter)