Champions Creed

Chapter 39: For a team like this, MJ actually needs to average 039 points per game to win?

In this way, Toni Kukoc, who was 211 cm tall when he put on shoes, appeared at the third position.

Ceballos couldn't wait any longer, he knew that European idiot couldn't defend him.

Tearing his defense apart wouldn't be much harder than tearing apart a pair of stockings.

Ceballos is not blindly confident. Kukoc may be relatively agile at the four position, but he is a little too slow at the three position.

Teammate Steve Kerr once gave a fair evaluation of Kukoc in an interview with Sports Illustrated: "Some people say he can play four positions, which is exaggerated. In the NBA, he can't play point guard or shooting guard. At most, he is a small forward who can dribble, but his best position is still the power forward."

During the preseason, the Zen Master let him play the three position for a period of time. The end result was that whoever got the ball on the opposite side wanted to attack him.

That's why old Winter is so worried.

The team will definitely be in a very passive position on the defensive end. If Phil fails to achieve his goal, this rotation will backfire on the team.

After this substitution, the Bulls' lineup became Meyers, Roger, Kukoc, AC Green and Wennington.

The Suns players are ready to go. Although Meyers and Roger are both very active, their defensive skills and confrontation abilities are average.

As for Kukoc, he is simply a puppet.

The coach is right, this is the beginning of changing the situation!
The game continued, Roger was holding the ball and advancing. Bill Walton reminded the Chicago fans: "In the last game, at this time, the Bulls' offense got stuck in a vicious circle, and Roger could only take the ball and play one-on-one. Will it be the same today?"

Kukoc stood at the top of the arc as a small forward, forming a strong side triangle with Roger who held the ball on the right and AC Green who turned his back in the low post.

Kevin Johnson thought Roger was going to challenge him, so he opened his arms and lowered his center of gravity. Is it hard to defend against such a kid? Thunder Dan is really old.

"Rookie, showtime is over. Don't think I'm the same old slow Dan. I don't even have to break a sweat defending you."

"Go away. I'm going to play against someone who has been in the defense. If I beat Marley, people will say I beat a high-level defense. But what can I get by beating you? People will say I only bully short guys."

"Fuck you!" Kevin Johnson originally wanted to mess with Roger's mentality. This kind of kid would panic if scared.

But I didn’t expect that young people nowadays speak so nicely!
At first, people couldn't understand why Pippen would fight with a rookie.

But anyone who has played against Roger, not to mention understanding Pippen, may even want to become Pippen!
Roger was talking trash but didn't play one-on-one. Instead, he passed the ball to Kukoc at the top of the arc, and then immediately took a step forward to cut in.

Kevin Johnson quickly turned around and retreated. His advantage was speed, which could catch up with most offensive players. Kevin Johnson was very confident. Maybe Roger could use this sudden cut to make that idiot Mali helpless in the first quarter, but under my defense, this simple ball would end here!
But when Johnson turned around and chased after him, he found that Roger did not cut in at all. He took a step forward to create the illusion of an open cut, but immediately retracted his step and retreated back to the three-point line.

This is just a fake cut!

Roger's move was very deceptive, but it did not confuse Kukoc. The Europa Magician tacitly let Roger receive the ball the moment he retreated to the three-point line, helping Roger seize this fleeting opportunity.

Kevin Johnson was shaken by this fake cut, and Roger shot calmly from outside the three-point line. Although he tried his best to block it, he was too far away from Roger and was not tall enough, so he could not effectively interfere.

"brush!"

"If you're guarding me, the show is just beginning, KJ." Roger shrugged at Kevin Johnson, then high-fived Kukoc.

Bill Walton used all his praises on Kukoc: "Tony's pass was just at the right time. Although Roger still shot, the efficiency is much higher than directly holding the ball and playing one-on-one! It seems that Phil has found a way to solve the problem of power outage in offense!"

The Bulls led by 7 points, but then Ceballos broke through Kukoc and dunked to narrow the gap.

Ceballos has extremely strong athletic ability, so it is very easy for him to deal with Kukoc.

But the Bulls didn't seem to care about losing the ball, and the Zen Master was too lazy to even stand up.

After being scored, Kukoc was not upset, he immediately sent the ball from the baseline and continued to attack. The task given to him by the Zen Master was not to defend, but to find a way to help Roger score!

This time, Kukoc controlled the ball at the 45° position on the right side.

He, Meyers and AC Green formed a strong-side triangle.

Where is Roger?
Everyone was very confused because Roger, who posed the greatest offensive threat, actually ran to the low post on the weak side where it was most difficult to receive the ball.

Is he not going to catch the ball? Or is he running in the wrong position?
Just when everyone was confused, Kukoc suddenly and casually threw the ball into the penalty area with one hand.

Kevin Johnson was shocked when he saw the basketball flying into the penalty area.

Is he trying to pass the ball directly to Roger for an alley-oop?

Sure enough, Roger, who was near the free throw line on the weak side, suddenly turned around and ran towards the basket. Kevin Johnson immediately followed him. He was really fast, and even though Roger's start was very sudden, he still couldn't get rid of him. But when Roger jumped into the air, Kevin Johnson's height was not enough for him to catch the ball before Roger.

Kevin Johnson is a spring man, but Roger's jumping ability is not bad either. When everyone can jump very high, Roger, who has the advantage of height and wingspan, easily grabs the ball that Kukoc passed just right over Johnson's head, and then hangs on Johnson and smashes it into the basket with one hand!
The United Center was completely set off by this alley-oop slam dunk. Bulls fans had never seen the triangle offense played so brilliantly before!
In fact, in the original history, Kukoc often cooperated with Pippen and Jordan. His talented passing allowed him to connect directly with his teammates on the weak side.

Roger scored 5 points in a row, and Kukoc successfully passed the ball to Roger for two consecutive rounds.

In the last game, the reason why the Bulls fell into one-on-one play in the middle of the second and third quarters was that Kukoc and Pippen were not there, and the offense had no lubricant.

The Zen Master went back and thought about it. Among Pippen, Kukoc and Roger, two of them must be on the court at the same time to ensure the team's offensive efficiency.

So in the first quarter, when Pippen and Roger were on the court, Kukoc would not play a minute. And when Pippen rested, Kukoc immediately replaced the third position.

The reason why Kukoc plays the three position is mainly due to defensive considerations.

If Kukoc plays the power forward position in place of AC Green, then the lineup of Kerr, Roger, Meyers, Kukoc and Wennington is simply a cash machine.

By letting Kukoc play the three position, AC Green can be retained to provide effective defensive support.

This time, when Ceballos broke through Kukoc again and was about to attack the basket, AC Green, the former defensive forward, immediately came to the basket to interfere.

Although he failed to block the shot, Ceballos still missed the shot.

Of course, AC Green is past his prime, and it is impossible for him to successfully clean up Kukoc's mess in every round.

But the Zen Master’s consideration is: Even if Green does not succeed in making up for the defense every time, Roger’s offensive success rate is definitely better than Ceballos!
This turned out to be true.

Wennington grabbed the rebound and the Bulls had a chance to expand their lead.

This time, Kukoc held the ball in the low post on the strong side. He changed his position with the ball again, but this European magician can play a role no matter where he stands in the triangle offense.

He held the ball with his back to the basket and after his teammates moved to create space, he passed the ball to Roger at the top of the arc.

At this time, Roger got a lot of space for a one-on-one duel. He took a step forward, gave Kevin Johnson a confrontation, then stopped suddenly and pulled up directly!

Although Kevin Johnson kept close to Roger's pace, the 185-centimeter-tall man was far behind Roger's jump shot with a very high shooting point.

At that moment, Paul Westphal felt like he was back in the summer half a year ago.

Malibu was too slow, Kevin Johnson was too short, and the No. 23 player was impossible to limit.

Now that No. 23 is gone, we have No. 14, who cannot be restricted!
The jump shot went as planned, and Kevin Johnson watched in despair as the basketball flew over his palm and into the net.

Kukoc did it all perfectly: observing, thinking, directing, planning, and accurately passing the ball to teammates who had the opportunity.

The complicated and tedious organizational work is done by Pippen or Kukoc, but what about Roger?

Asking him to organize or be the axis is tantamount to asking a poet to fasten screws, which is a waste of talent.

Give him space, give him a support point, let him turn into a sword, and charge into the enemy formation with one man against a thousand. This is the right way!
And the presence of Kukoc maximizes Roger's role!
It doesn’t matter if this rotation defense is not so good, Roger will fight back for you!

Kukoc's rotation choice of playing the three position makes the Bulls' transition lineup's offensive efficiency almost as high as that of the starting lineup!

The Bulls' lead was extended to 9 points in one go, and the Phoenix Suns had to suspend the game.

Following Mali, Kevin Johnson's defense against Roger also ended in failure.

Roger put his arm around Kukoc's shoulders and deliberately looked at him and yelled, "Tony, for a team like this, MJ needs to average 40 points per game to win?"

Barkley was shaking with anger, but couldn't utter a word in rebuttal.

The Zen Master looked at Roger, who had pissed off Flying Pig, and took the tactical board from Old Winter, curling his lips and saying, "I told you before, my adjustments can't fail!"

He trusted Roger, and he was rewarded.

And once the Bulls' biggest problem is solved, the sun will set sooner or later.

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Thank you for the reward from Paji's father. Thank you very much! I will continue to beg for monthly tickets, follow-up reading, and rewards during the new book period. Thank you all!
(End of this chapter)