Champions Creed

Chapter 40: When it came to letting Roger start, I, Pippen, fully supported it!
In the three years from 89 to 91, Kukoc won two European Championships and one World Championship.

At the age of less than 25, he led the team to win three Champions League titles and won the historic three consecutive MVP awards.

Outside of the NBA, he has won every basketball-related honor.

But when Kukoc was selected by the Bulls, people asked Jordan how he felt about becoming teammates with Kukoc. The basketball villain just smiled contemptuously: "I have no interest in it at all, because I don't want to speak Yugoslavia."

Kukoc never gained the respect of the NBA, nor the respect of Jordan and Pippen.

Because of the attitudes of these two people, fans looked down on him and thought he was just a soft, slow and stupid big guy.

This led to the media looking down on him, and it was generally believed that he would not survive in the NBA for more than three years.

But tonight, Kukoc fully displayed his talent on the NBA court!
Tonight, he showed people the talents of a basketball player, which is more than just speed and jumping ability!
Three consecutive beautiful passes won Kukoc the cheers and applause of Chicago fans.

The cooperation between him and Roger directly stopped the Suns, the Western Conference champions last season. However, at the moment of the timeout, Kukoc did not cheer excitedly, but hugged Roger.

Without this sword, his passes would be meaningless.

Kukoc showed his talent, but he still couldn't overshadow Roger.

He mocked Marley's slowness with a beautiful change of direction and a swift counter-run.

He also used his superb jump shot skills and decisive shots to disdain Johnson's short stature.

Although this is only Roger's third game in the NBA, the Zen Master and all the fans have already realized one thing: Roger's offensive ability is at least in the top five among guards in the league!

Previously, the Zen Master had been very worried about the team's offense in the new season because Scott Pippen was not the kind of person who would "you all move out and he will kill the game."

The Zen Master's worries are not unreasonable. In the original history, the Bulls' defense did not decline much after losing Jordan, but their offense fell directly to the middle level of the league.

Pippen's 49 points with an average shooting percentage of 22% looks pretty good, but how many of his 22 points were goals like Jordan's, "It doesn't matter if the tactics are locked, I'm going to force my way through your defense"?
Now, the Zen Master doesn't have to worry about the team's offense.

The triangle offense can create a comfortable 1-on-1 space for attackers, and Roger is best at 1-on-1.

This sword is powerful enough to stab most opponents.

Pippen felt a pang in his heart when he saw the loving look in the Zen Master's eyes when he looked at Roger.

Damn it, the new guy is better than the old one, right?
After playing for a few minutes in the second quarter, Roger was substituted for rest and was replaced by Pippen.

The lineup on the court became Meyers, Pippen, Kukoc, Scott Williams and Cartwright.

When Pippen was on the court, AC Green could also go down to take a breath and Pippen would take over the defense.

In short, one of AC Green and Pippen must be on the court for the Bulls' defense to not collapse, and two of Pippen, Roger and Kukoc must be on the court for the Bulls' offense to not stagnate.

The Zen master is currently arranging his rotation combinations according to this rule.

To be fair, Pippen is indeed the core of the tactics. Whether it is offense or defense, the Bulls cannot do without him.

But when it comes to the field, Roger is more likely to shine.

Just look at this, at the beginning of the third quarter, when Pippen missed consecutive singles and Roger came back and broke the scoring drought with a long-distance layup, all the fans in the United Center cheered for No. 14.

Roger, who had rested for six minutes in the second quarter, was full of energy and could now handle anyone's defense.

Seeing Kevin Johnson let Roger score easily right at the start, Barkley couldn't hold back anymore.

What a joke! We can't beat the Bulls without Jordan? People will think I'm on the same level as Pippen!

He's just a high school student. What's so hard to defend against?
So in the second round after Roger came back, when he held the ball outside the three-point line again, he found that the person defending him had changed again.

Following Maalley, who was unable to keep up with him due to his declining physical function, and Kevin Johnson, who was very motivated but too short, Charles Barkley stood in front of Roger himself!

"Go away Kevin, I've had enough of your clownish behavior!" Barkley pushed Kevin Johnson away and opened his arms.

With Barkley's self-esteem, he could accept losing to Michael Jordan. But losing to Pippen and a team led by high school students? Barkley would not be able to sleep well!

The moment Barkley stood in front of Roger, Roger could be sure of one thing first - the real height of this fat pig was definitely not 2 meters.

Roger was just about to test the depth of this fat pig, but Pippen pointed at AC Green and said, "Play him in a mismatch!"

"Yeah, pass the ball, rookie. I know you're scared. You want to be Jordan, right? I'm going to wake you up!"

Barkley was pretty lazy on defense, for the most part.

But when he is irritated, he will throw himself into it.

Roger ignored Pippen and started dribbling the ball between his legs to find the rhythm.

Seeing that Roger was still preparing for a one-on-one duel, Pippen yelled angrily, "Give it to Green, or give it to me, asshole!"

Roger still ignored him, and Pippen was so angry that he just put his hands on his hips at the top of the arc.

Considering that he once refused to play in the final moments because the coach's tactical arrangement did not suit his wishes, it is not surprising that he put his hands on his hips when his teammates do not play the way he wants. These top all-around small forwards are very temperamental, either with their hands on their hips on the offensive end or on the defensive end.

Old Winter was very worried about the team's internal problems: "Roger is a little too arrogant. If he can't score this goal, you should replace him and calm him down."

The Zen Master didn't say anything, just stared at the court.

Roger didn't pass the ball, neither to Pippen nor to AC Green.

But he is not playing alone just for the sake of playing alone, but he thinks playing alone is the safest choice.

Barkley came to defend Roger, so Green now did get a chance to play against Marley in a mismatch.

But Green is a 4-position player who only likes to eat the ball, and his independent offensive ability is average. What about Mali? He has become slower, but still solid and can handle people. Green may not necessarily have the advantage when playing against him alone.

And once Green receives the ball, Suns center Mark West will definitely double-team him immediately, and Green has a high error rate when throwing the ball when double-teamed.

So Roger felt that it would be safer to play against Barkley himself than to give him the ball!

As for Pippen, well, since that idiot has his hands on his hips, let him take a rest.

Barkley saw Roger preparing to attack himself and started to talk trash: "Come on, bastard, I'm here to wake you up from your Jordan dream. The media says you are Jordan's successor, you don't fucking take it seriously, do you? You are just a brat!"

Roger leaned his upper body to the left and stepped forward with his left foot. Barkley immediately moved his steps to block Roger.

Yes, when Feizhu wants to defend, he will be very active. But in NBA level games, defense is not just about being active.

Roger's defense was also very active, but he himself admitted that his defense was not very good.

Although Barkley has abnormal physical fitness, his positional sense is not solid and he is easily shaken. Roger's series of actions just now were to adjust Barkley's center of gravity. The next second he suddenly changed direction in a large arc and rushed in the opposite direction of Barkley's movement!

After a beautiful dribble to break through Barkley, Roger went straight into the paint and jumped up to attack the basket. Dan Mali immediately helped defend, and Feizhu also caught up and used his historical speed to jump into the air, trying to catch up.

Faced with such a siege, Roger retrieved the basketball in the air, then turned sideways to pass the ball through Mali's armpit, and with a low flick of his hand, he easily scored the ball!

Bill Walton shook his head: "The Western Conference champions have replaced three people to defend Roger today, but to no avail. The Bulls are indeed missing MJ, but they now have Roger, the new nightmare of Phoenix!"

After Roger scored the goal, he did not criticize Barkley, but took the initiative to walk up and high-five Pippen: "Thank you for trusting me, Scott!"

He was mocking Pippen's clownish behavior of putting his hands on his hips on the offensive end.

There are two Batmans in China, one is Roger and the other is Xue Zhiqian, who specialize in fighting the Joker!
On the sidelines, the Zen Master looked at Old Winter and shrugged: "It seems I don't need to replace him."

As a coach who does not pursue 1V0 in tactical philosophy but does not reject 1V1, the Zen Master would not criticize Roger's behavior at all.

On the contrary, what he needs is a player who can effectively use 1-on-1 opportunities. Without efficient 1-on-1, the triangle offense will be worthless.

Ultimately, the Suns couldn't handle this MJ-less version of the triangle offense.

Roger led his team to a 27-2 win over the Suns with a career-high 103 points and a career-high .97 assists.

Chicago fans were finally delighted to win their first home victory, and after the game, everyone on the Bulls team was also very happy.

"Now, I don't think anyone will question that it was a mistake to let Roger start? I adjusted the rotation, and now we are back to the ranks of winners, and Roger's offensive power keeps us in the championship race." - Phil Jackson talks about Roger's starting controversy.

"I received two assists from Roger today. I don't think he is a very independent player. It's just that when the opportunities are equal, he trusts his one-on-one more." - Steve Kerr talked about Roger's career-high 2 assists tonight.

"I'm very happy to get more playing time and I'm also happy to have a partner like Roger. I like being on the court with him at the same time, we get along very well, and he helps me gain respect!" - Toni Kukoc, who scored 12 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds, smiled.

On the Suns side, Kevin Johnson sighed during an interview.

"Yes, I did say that. I said that even if Roger had two thousand offensive moves, I would be able to deal with him. But I was wrong, he has at least three thousand moves!"

Kevin Johnson was indeed helpless, but at this moment, there was someone even more helpless than Kevin Johnson.

Pippen felt that his position was becoming more and more solid step by step.

First agree to reconcile with Roger, and then agree to the Zen Master's request for two people to be in charge.

Now, Roger dared to ignore his orders on the court.

When facing the interview from the reporters, Pippen wanted to say a few more words to express his dissatisfaction.

But then I thought, everyone in Chicago loves Roger, except me.

And every time he used Yin Yang Roger, it would always have the opposite effect.

In the end, Pippen could only force a smile through his tears:
"I fully supported Phil's decision to let Roger start. You see, he did a good job. Why am I in tears? Because I love this team."

The awareness of a top second-in-command is indeed something that others do not possess.

(End of this chapter)