Champions Creed

Chapter 388 Chapter 387: The Sorrow of the Bosses (asking for monthly tickets!)
Shaquille O'Neal will never forget the atmosphere in the locker room at that moment. He felt like he was sitting in a cold storage warehouse and even the air became icy cold.

Vince Carter sat in the locker room without saying a word.

It's not just him, the entire Mavericks team is in a low mood.

The locker room seemed to have reached absolute zero.

This loss really hurts because the Mavericks were just 2.1 seconds away from victory, which was within their grasp.

Now they can understand what Avery Johnson said: "This may be the most important defense in your life."

This statement is true.

People often learn to cherish something only after they miss it.

If Shaq knew Roger would dunk, he would not eat so many hamburgers and drink so much Coke every day. If he was lighter, he might have jumped higher.

If Carter knew Roger was going to dunk the ball, he would rather risk breaking his jaw and jump out to grab the dunk without hesitation.

But it’s no use to cherish now, everything has been decided.

You can't change anything after the Sage Time comes.

Although this is only Game 1 and the Dallas Cowboys haven't lost everything, everyone knows how difficult it is to play against the Warriors.

You can't let any victory slip through your fingers.

The experience of the Detroit Pistons in the finals last season has told everyone that when playing against Roger's team, you are not safe even if you lead 2-0.

What's more, we are lagging behind.

The cold has spread from the visiting locker room of Oracle Arena to Texas, and the hearts of the people of Dallas are cold.

Mavericks fans are actually used to Roger getting high scores. After all, the Warriors' strategy against the Mavericks has always been to attack against attack. Whenever they play against the Mavericks, Roger's statistics will always be exaggerated.

In the season opener, when Roger scored a terrifying 72 points against the Mavericks, Dallas fans thought nothing could get worse than that.

But tonight's buzzer-beater was pretty bad.

The Mavericks, who had been invincible in the regular season, finally helped the Dallas people gain confidence, but this game made everyone realize that the Mavericks were not so invincible.

In fact, the three stars of the Mavericks all performed well tonight, with Carter scoring 33 points, Nowitzki scoring 24 points, and Shark scoring 20 points.

It seems that none of the three of them is suitable to be the scapegoat.

So ESPN writer Lawrence May pointed the finger at Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in his column, with a very eye-catching title - "The worst owner in the league, worse than James Dolan."

"Stupid Mark Cuban's way of building a team at this stage is to sit on the sofa with a cup of coffee, take out the league's scoring list or the 2K game rating list, tick the names of those with high scores or high game ability values ​​one by one, and then give the list to Donnie Nelson: I want these people.

I bet he did!
He can put together dazzling and expensive rosters, but he can't put together a roster that can win.

The Lakers and Knicks were able to succeed in their reinforcements because they addressed the weak links of the team. What amazes me is that even stupid James Dolan knows this, but Marku Cuban knows nothing about it.

The Mavericks are essentially no different after acquiring Carter than they were before the trade.

他们的进攻也许从90分变成了95分，但防守还是50分。球队综评不过是70分涨到了72.5分而已，提升并不大。

In the critical moment, the Dallas Mavericks can only rely on their touch.

At the critical moment, the Dallas Mavericks still had no defender who could stand up and turn the situation around.

This team is like the fake socialites in Los Angeles who spend $99 to rent sports cars and luxury goods for photo shoots.

Once the touch goes wrong at the critical moment, the expensive Mavericks will become a loft in the air without a foundation and collapse completely. "

Lawrence May's remarks made Cuban very angry. Shaquille O'Neal earns 2770 million this season, Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter earn 1258 million. These are the most expensive starters in the entire league, no doubt about it.

In contrast, the Lakers, Knicks, Warriors and Spurs each have only one maximum-paid player in their starting lineups.

The salaries of the Mavericks' three stars alone are more expensive than the salaries of half of the teams in the league combined.

The Mavericks Nation is an absolute money empire.

Mark Cuban has given so much, but in the end he was criticized as an idiot by a damn writer. It's strange that he is in a good mood.

But the harsh truth is that Lawrence May was right.

The Mavericks spent a lot of money, but the team building was not successful.

Before Carter's transfer, the Mavericks relied on Nowitzki and Terry's touch at critical moments - you can't count on Shark at critical moments, because he will definitely be fouled as soon as he gets the ball, and his free throws will always make the team fall into hell.

Now, the Mavericks just have one more person to rely on for their touch.

Yes, Vince Carter scored the long two-pointer that broke the curse today, but don't forget that he hadn't scored in almost half a quarter before that. If he could score a goal in half a quarter, the result would be very different.

Carter, who has a high center of gravity when dribbling, has always relied on the speed of his first step to break through, so his breakthrough ability has deteriorated most seriously after the serious injury, and even the implementation of the No HandCheck rule by the league cannot save it.

In addition, in the last half of tonight, his physical strength declined rapidly because he was defending Roger while attacking, and his speed became slower, so he could hardly break through anyone on the Warriors.

He can only gamble on his touch, there is no other way.

What else can the Mavericks rely on besides gambling on their touch? Their defense has never been able to determine the game.

Vince Carter's defense is often criticized as being extremely lazy, but in fact, Carter's defense is very good. In the first three years of his career, he averaged 1+ steals and 1+ blocks per game. In college, he was also considered an all-around defensive wing.

But like his distant relative Tracy McGrady, he needs to focus more on the offensive end, so his defensive influence is limited.

In the original timeline, Vince Carter's most effective defense was when he completely transformed into a role player after leaving the Magic. No longer playing an important offensive role, Carter was able to focus more on the defensive end, which also produced good results.

But in Dallas, it's almost impossible for him to get out of the offense.

As a result, the Mavericks' defense is still as bad as before, and Carter's arrival did not solve this problem.

The reasonable combination of the team's lineup has always been the key factor in winning the championship. In fact, Nowitzki's personal performance from 07 to 10 was very good. He did not practice post-up in 11. Before 11, Dirk's one-legged retreat was already perfect.

In fact, due to injuries, Nowitzki's offensive efficiency in the playoffs in 11 actually declined a lot compared with previous years.

The reason why he was able to win the championship in the years when his efficiency declined was that he had wings like Kidd and Marion who were excellent in defense, partners like Tyson Chandler to assist in defense and protect the rim, and even the 178-centimeter JJ Barea found an opponent he could defend in the low post.

A reasonable lineup, excellent team atmosphere and the strongest second-in-command in history made the Mavericks get what they wanted in 11.

This is where lineup matching comes in handy.

Building a team around Dirk Nowitzki doesn't actually require so many scorers, as scorers don't provide much help to Dirk.

You just need to find him a wing who can defend, a center who can defend, a shooter who can respond to open three-pointers, and then an ordinary secondary attacker.

Mark Cuban obviously hasn't realized this yet, and his investment is going in the wrong direction.

No amount of investment in the wrong direction will buy him a series win.

A day later, the series G2 continued in Mission Bay.

The castle in the air did not stand the test.

In this game, because Dirk's touch was blocked, the Mavericks lost directly and lost by 15 points.

When one of the Mavericks' offensive points was not feeling good, they didn't even have a chance to drag the game into the final moments.

而勇士队则打出了相当夸张的数据，罗杰40分13次助攻，小霸王25分16个篮板，杰森.理查德森23分6个篮板。

In the Dark Ages of Defense, it was hard to imagine a team with one player scoring 40 points while two others could score 20 points.

In the NO HandCheck era, especially against a team that is not very good at defense, anything is possible.

The league's data inflation is real, and this is an unshakable fact no matter how fans in the future deny it.

The Warriors lead 2-0, and the Mavericks have already got the fixed script of all losers.

In Roger's career, he has lost a total of three series.

One thing that all three series have in common is that Roger's opponent won at least one of the first two games in the series.

As for those opponents who fell behind 0-2 early on, without exception, they all ended up becoming stinking corpses under Roger's feet.

Charles Barkley interpreted it this way: "In the NBA, we all know that once a team falls behind 0-3 in a series, they are equivalent to being sentenced to death. Your death sentence may not be executed immediately, but you are definitely dead. For the Warriors, the death sentence number is 0-2."

After returning to Dallas, Carter encountered a difficult media question in the locker room after finishing training on the first day at home.

"Do you think you still have a chance of advancing?"

The question was actually quite simple, and the local Dallas reporter had no intention of making things difficult for the demigod.

But Vince Carter remained silent.

He felt that this was probably the most difficult question he had ever encountered in his career.

The definite answer is “maybe”?
Is it really possible?

In the first game, the Dallas trio all performed well, but Roger held on until the end and delivered the buzzer-beater.

In the second game, Nowitzki didn't have a good touch and the Mavericks suddenly lost their competitiveness.

This shows that if the Mavericks want to defeat Roger, they must ensure that all three of them are in great shape and pray that Roger doesn't score so many points.

It is not difficult to meet all these conditions in one game, but it is too demanding to meet all these conditions in four games. But if you answer "impossible" directly, won't you become a joke?
I had vowed to get past Roger in the second round.

You can't promise to fuck you tonight and then surrender.

So this question was too difficult to answer. Vince Carter looked at the reporter at a loss and finally chose to remain silent.

The curse has begun to cause him pain, embarrassment, and make his life unhappy.

Fortunately, Dallas pulled one back in G3.

In tonight's game, Nowitzki, Terry and Carter all found their hot hands from beyond the three-point line, and the powerful outside firepower gave the Sharks numerous one-on-one opportunities.

In the end, the Mavericks won the game 127-117.

But this was the last gasp of Dallas.

G4罗杰在小牛羸弱的防守面前28中20，打出了不可思议的71%命中率，狂砍52分5助攻，让达拉斯人扳平比分的幻想成为泡沫。

The 04-05 season of the Dallas Cowboys has come to an end, and the collapse of the money empire is imminent.

Ted Turner's success made everyone think that having money could win the championship, but the experiences of Paul Allen and Mark Cuban prevented the spread of this misconception.

Vince Carter rested on his hands and knees at the end of the game, feeling exhausted.

The second round was like a towering mountain that he couldn’t climb over in 2001, and he still found it difficult to climb over in 2005 even with a brilliant team.

All he could think about was Roger's words, "Not this year either," which seemed to have become a spell.

Mark Cuban, who was sitting in the front row of the stands, had a lonely look on his face. He didn't know what else he could do. He had put together such an expensive lineup, but couldn't even reach the finals.

At the same time, Cavaliers owner Daniel Gilbert felt the same as Mark Cuban. He didn't know what else he could do.

His commitment to the Cleveland Cavaliers is as much as Mark Cuban's commitment to the Dallas Mavericks.

In terms of team building, Daniel Gilbert spent a huge amount of money to introduce Andrei Kirilenko in order to cater to the desire of the chosen one to pursue greatness, and renewed the contract with All-Star center Big Z. And because of some disagreements, the Cavaliers decided to send Michael Reed and trade for Larry Hughes, who is good at both offense and defense.

He and the management are doing their best to build a strong Eastern Conference team with James as the core.

In addition to recruiting new players, the new owner of the Cavaliers also paid $1200 million of his own money to install a new scoreboard and seats for the team's home court, and completely renovated the team's locker room, installing a TV in each closet. LeBron James' closet even has two TVs installed, and is equipped with a PS2 game console and a stereo audio and video system.

Daniel Gilbert then invested $2000 million to build a new training center in the suburbs of Cleveland to allow players to train in a better environment.

His goal is to let the Chosen One play basketball with peace of mind and to make Cleveland's facilities no worse than those of teams in big cities.

After doing all this, he also took out a full-page advertisement in the two largest local newspapers in Cleveland, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal. In the advertisement, Daniel Gilbert thanked the fans for their support and expressed his hope for further progress next season. He also wrote in a special font: "Our most important task throughout the summer is to renew the contract with one of the most valuable players in the team. I believe everyone knows his name."

He did everything he could, and he saw no problem reaching a five-year early contract extension with LeBron James.

After all, in addition to the relationship between boss and employee, he thinks he and LeBron James are more like friends.

Half a year ago on December 12, the Chosen One had planned to celebrate his birthday at a bar. Unfortunately, the party conflicted with the training plan that the Knights had already made.

Upon learning of this, Daniel Gilberto personally ordered a change in the training time and went to the party to celebrate.

He just wanted to tell LeBron: To me, you are also a privileged player like Roger.

As a result, when Daniel Gilbert confidently discussed early contract extension with the Chosen One, the No. 23 player told him: "My team and I are willing to renew the contract, but we prefer to sign a 1+1 contract."

Daniel Gilbert was heartbroken.

After all they had done, he thought they were brothers.

A five-year contract is different from a 1+1 contract.

The five-year contract means that both parties can cooperate peacefully for a long time, while the 1+1 contract means that the initiative is entirely in the hands of the players.

Once there is something about the team that makes the players dissatisfied, the players can leave at any time, and they can leave as unrestricted free agents, and the team will not get any protection.

David Stern has made a lot of efforts to prevent stars from leaving small markets, and the promulgation of restricted free agent rules is one of his efforts.

This rule is quite rogue. No matter how much other teams offer the player, no matter whether the player agrees to renew the contract with other teams, the parent team can match the contract unconditionally.

But LeBron James' team used a bold way to solve this problem, which was to sign for only one year.

After one year, the Cavaliers' privilege to match contracts at will will expire.

Most players will not sign only one year after their rookie contract ends because it is too risky. Long-term contracts are a guarantee, and in the 80s and 90s, long-term contracts of more than 10 years were common.

But James' team did the opposite. They believed that the real guarantee was to have the initiative in their own hands.

They are following the lead of the best players in the world in extending their contracts.

Although the Cavaliers and James have two years left on their contract, Daniel Gilbert doesn't have to rush.

But LeBron James was the main reason why he bought the Cavaliers. If he couldn't hold James for a long time, what was the point of him spending the highest price in history to buy the Cavaliers?
Didn't LeBron repeatedly emphasize that he would never leave Cleveland? Then why was he only willing to sign a 1+1 contract?

With the contract renewal at a standstill, Daniel Gilbert's mood is not much better than Mark Cuban who is on the verge of elimination.

Meanwhile, LeBron James is vacationing in Las Vegas with his close friends.

After playing cards all night, LeBron James went to the terrace alone to get some fresh air and smoke a cigar.

Soon after, Rich Paul followed.

The two nodded and both leaned over the edge of the terrace.

Rich Paul looked at the bright lights of Las Vegas, but talked about the topic of vacation: "LeBron, Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals ended ten minutes ago in Mission Bay, 4 to 1."

"is it?"

"It's incredible, right? The Dallas Mavericks couldn't have had a better roster, and yet they only managed to snatch a win from the Warriors."

James wanted to say, "Poor Vince lost in the second round again," but when he remembered that he hadn't even made it to the first round, he shut his mouth.

Rich Paul seemed to know what James originally wanted to say and patted him on the back.

"That's why we unanimously agreed that you sign a 1+1 contract. I know it's hard to leave your hometown, but it's better than living under Roger's aura.

The current situation is that whoever can beat Roger to win the championship will be the next face of the league. We can't miss this opportunity, you can't miss this opportunity.

We'll see what Daniel Gilbert can do for you, and if he can't do it, we'll naturally find someone who can help you achieve your goals. Don't worry, we'll arrange everything.

Sooner or later, LeBron, you and Roger will face off in the playoffs and defeat him, and that will be a turning point in NBA history and the beginning of a power shift."

LeBron James no longer says "I'm not leaving Cleveland."

Although he promised countless times.

but.
No one probably remembers it, right?
At the same time, at Oracle Arena, Vince Carter shed two tears as he walked into the player tunnel.

He tried his best in today's game, but the Mavericks still lost the final battle by 5 points.

Before this, Vince Carter's revenge was always successful.

Only the king cannot be challenged.

The second round was no longer Carter's curse, but Roger's.

The shark didn't leave in a hurry, but greeted Roger in the center circle: "Congratulations, son of a bitch."

"Goodbye, fat pig."

"Promise me you won't let that beast Kobe win."

"Promise me that you will pay the money back this year."

"what money?"

"Ferrari wheels! Damn it, why else do you think I wrote you a Christmas card? Just to remind you of this!"

Shaquille O'Neal's expression suddenly became serious and he put his hand on Roger's shoulder.

"I remember. I remember everything."

As the Shark turned to leave, his mind flashed back to his years in Orlando.

Those memories have become invaluable.

Stoudemire walked up to Roger and asked, "Are you and Shaq okay?"

"I don't know, but it seems like Shaq is starting to live on good memories."

Roger doesn't need to rely on memories to get by.

Because he is still full of confidence and hope for the future.

Three days later, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 4-2 to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Roger still has a lot to do in the future.

(End of this chapter)