Champions Creed

Chapter 404 Chapter 403: We Believe (ask for monthly ticket!)
Gary Payton is probably the most depressed person in the league right now.

He seemed to be born with the physique to be an isolation champion.

Whether in San Antonio or New York, no matter how favored he was before the start of the season, he ultimately missed the championship.

And such a curse seems to have befallen the Golden State Warriors.

Amar'e Stoudemire became the key to overthrowing the dynasty, and the entire league saw this as an opportunity to snatch the crown from Roger's head.

Even Gary Payton himself thinks so.

After all, he once lost his own deputy and never recovered.

The Seattle SuperSonics once lost Rain Man Kemp because of a stupid decision, and since then, Gary Payton seemed to be dead.

He is still playing in Seattle, but the whole of Seattle has lost its competitiveness, as if it has disappeared from the league. Even Gary Payton seems to have evaporated from the world and has no exposure at all.

Gary Payton reappeared in people's vision during the season when he decided to join the Spurs at a low price. The whole world was surprised to find that this top three point guard in the 90s had turned into an old guy who had to rely on a strong team to keep his last chance to realize his dream.

In fact, Gary Payton's best personal statistics were achieved in the days without Rain Man.

But he is not proud of it. A real basketball player knows that statistics cannot represent whether you are great, victory can.

Just like most media wouldn't rank Wilt Chamberlain above Bill Russell, even though the former's statistics were so terrible that he no longer looked like a human being.

No matter how brilliant Glove's personal data is, it cannot cover up the devastating disaster that the loss of the team's second-in-command has brought to the Supersonics.

Gary Payton still remembers those days when he tried hard to change the status quo but ultimately could not change anything. That was the most painful period of his career.

Can Roger change the status quo?

Before this, Roger had never lacked an outstanding second-in-command around him.

During the Orlando period, there was Shaq. When the Hawks won their first championship, you could say that Scottie Pippen was past his prime. He even had to use electric shocks to keep his back straight in the finals, but he was still a good No. 2. During the Hawks' three consecutive championships, Roger had Paul Pierce as his deputy.

Over the past two seasons, the world has witnessed how great Amar'e Stoudemire is as a second star.

When the Warriors selected him with the third pick, most people thought it was a mistake. Even after his rookie season, many people still felt that the power forward with no defensive ability was doomed to fail. But all these voices disappeared with the two consecutive championships, and people recognized Amare's strength.

Now, who is with Roger?

Marcus Camby? Tayshaun Prince? Jason Richardson? They're hardly the second-best players on a championship-contending team.

You have to know that this is an era where even Michael Redd, who averaged 23+4 per game, was considered the "culprit for LeBron's inability to make the playoffs." In a few years, even players of Dwyane Wade's level were not worthy of being LBJ's second-in-command.

Gary Payton didn't know whether the Golden State Warriors could survive the crisis, or whether Roger could change the status quo, but he did see what made the Golden State Warriors different.

After another day of training, Gary Payton walked out of the locker room and saw Boris Diaw practicing his long-range shooting again - this was his seventh consecutive day of practice.

The most outrageous thing about this matter is that Boris Dior is a casual Frenchman.

Not long ago, when Boris Diaw stepped into the training hall, people thought it was Charles Barkley who came to the training camp for an interview on behalf of TNT. He was so fat that he seemed like a different person.

Boris Diaw wasn't even that fat at old Cat Cutbury's farewell party, God knows how he turned into a ball.

Boris Dior shares his vacation, travel, adventure, writing, photography, parties and of course, wine, food and coffee with everyone.

But there is no basketball.

He was also honest and told Eric Spoelstra, who was shocked by his weight change: "Coach, I didn't touch a basketball during the offseason."

This is the kind of person who only regards basketball as a small part of his life. After Amare Stoudemire was ruled out for the season, he would actively practice long-range shooting every day after regular training, sweating profusely.

His passion for practicing three-point jump shots is no less than his enthusiasm for coffee and red wine.

Gary Payton didn't care much about it in the first two days. It was normal for a player to practice for two or three days on a whim. Shawn Kemp never liked training, but he would occasionally choose to stay on the training ground instead of in a woman's bed.

But a week of continuous training is enough to prove that Boris Dio is not just doing it on a whim.

Even Boris Dio is like this, not to mention the other players on the Warriors.

Marcus Camby practices his free throws every day, Jason Richardson works hard to improve his mid-range and ball-handling offense, and Tayshaun Prince works hard to sculpt his body to gain stronger confrontation capabilities.

When the Seattle SuperSonics lost their number two player, everyone acted as if nothing had happened. Everyone encouraged each other and shouted slogans like returning to the finals and winning the championship.

But Gary Payton could sense that it was nothing but self-deception. People lost confidence because of Rainman's departure and gave up the competition in the next season, and those false confidences would be completely exposed in training and games.

Everyone says they will continue to work hard, but they slack off in training and don't give their best in the game.

Losing the number two player doesn’t mean the team will fall completely immediately, but it is definitely the beginning of its fall.

But in San Francisco, the players' confidence is reflected in their actions.

There was a feeling throughout the Warriors team - every one of them seemed like they were preparing for something big.

They believed from the bottom of their hearts that even though they unfortunately lost Amar'e Stoudemire, they could still build a dynasty under Roger's leadership.

Gary Payton couldn't understand where this confidence came from, but he was also infected by this atmosphere.

He still didn't communicate much with others and was always outside the core circle of the team. However, Gary Payton still completed his daily training tasks very well, even if the training content was the physical training that Roger forced him to do.

A good atmosphere can indeed change a person. Gary Payton has no intention of being lazy in a team where everyone works hard.

There was a moment when Gary Payton truly believed the Golden State Warriors could defend their title.

Unfortunately, the unsatisfactory performance in the preseason shattered all his fantasies.

Without Amar'e Stoudemire, the Warriors did face a very severe challenge at the power forward position.

Spoelstra tried three people as the starting power forward in the preseason, namely Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw and Dikembe Mutombo, and they each had their own problems.

Stephen Jackson's rebounding is too weak, Boris Diaw's shooting response ability is not strong enough, and the offense is too poor if Mutombo and Camby form a twin tower lineup.

The lack of the power forward position, coupled with the lack of firepower in the transition period without the presence of Cat, led to the Warriors not playing well in the preseason.

In the penultimate preseason game in China, the Golden State Warriors suffered a crushing defeat against their finals rival, the New York Knicks.

The Knicks' lineup has not changed much this summer, and there is really no room for improvement in the lineup of Wade + Battier + KG + Yao Ming. But with the lineup almost unchanged, the Knicks beat the Warriors by 16 points in the preseason.

This is the live derby that Chinese fans have been looking forward to all summer, and it is also the revenge that New Yorkers have been waiting for all summer.

New Yorkers are well aware that this is just a preseason game, but they are still excited about the victory.

KG and Yao Ming completely controlled the inside, allowing Wade to jump shot at will. Even if Wade missed the shot, it didn't matter because the Knicks were able to grab a lot of offensive rebounds.

KG can also focus more on assisting defense. After all, no matter who plays the power forward position, his influence on the offensive end cannot be compared with Stoudemire.

After the game, New Yorkers' ridicule of Gary Payton reached its peak.

Back in the United States, the glove was humiliated by Bill Pennington's article in the New York Times.

"Gary is like a hapless stray dog, no, even more pathetic than a stray dog. After the Knicks lost the 2005 Finals, he chose to defect to the enemy. This is the most shameless act of defecting to the enemy I have ever seen. I have never seen any player join the team that was the opponent of the finals last season during the offseason. This behavior is more outrageous than liking to drink a woman's bath water.

But his cowardly behavior was ultimately punished by God, and I can't wait to see what Gary Payton's face looks like when the New York Knicks win the trophy in 2006."

The article portrayed Gary Payton as a "traitor" and did not mention that the Knicks did not want to renew the contract with the Glove.

The New York media is like that. They will unscrupulously insult any player who has played for the Knicks.

Patrick Ewing's jersey retirement ceremony at Madison Square Garden was so warm that people forgot what he had experienced in New York.

You can imagine how angry Gary Payton was. He was abandoned by New York, but now he was said to have abandoned New York and defected to the enemy.

The key point is that when the glove first arrived in New York last summer, Bill Pennington was the first reporter to interview him. They had a pleasant chat and he thought they were friends.

But now, that damn guy actually wrote an article that was completely bullshit just to sell newspapers.

In the locker room interview the next day, Gary Payton was furious at the media: "I can pat my chest and say that I gave everything for New York! Don't forget, without my two three-pointers, the Knicks would have lost even more miserably in the finals! We failed and I was abandoned, but in the mouths of those bastards I became the culprit? Unbelievable! I thought only Cleveland reporters would do such a thing!"

Gary Payton didn't know what he was working for, he was completely lost.

On the Warriors, he didn't fit in.

Everyone was thinking about winning, being upbeat and positive, but Gary Payton was gloomy, depressed and had no fighting spirit.

With the arrival of the regular season, this situation has not changed.

In the opening game against the San Antonio Spurs, Gary Payton's defense against Manu Ginobili in the transition period was ineffective.

After introducing Raja Bell, Popovich can rest assured and let Ginobili serve as the sixth man.

Raja Bell and Bowen teamed up to put a lot of pressure on Roger, and their defensive layers against Roger were very distinct. Raja Bell was responsible for pressure, Bruce Bowen was responsible for assisting defense, and Tim Duncan was responsible for protecting the basket.

This solved the Spurs' long-standing problem of "lack of pressure points on the perimeter". Roger's score was reduced to only 26 points. Although he sent out 11 assists, Manu Ginobili's 22 points in the transition period still helped the Spurs win the final victory.

Of course, the Warriors' fighting power is amazing.

People thought that after losing Amar'e Stoudemire, the Warriors would be defeated like they did against the Knicks in the preseason, but in the end the Spurs only narrowly beat the Warriors by 6 points.

Every player on the Warriors was extremely positive and in excellent form.

Except for gloves.

Gary Payton complained about the referee in the post-match press conference: "It seems that I will be called for a foul as long as I touch the Argentine. I don't know how this happened. I feel like I am being targeted by the whole world."

After the opening game, the Warriors' record has been up and down.

They won three consecutive games in the following games, but then lost to the Lakers and Nuggets and experienced two consecutive losses.

This unstable record comes from the Warriors' playing style.

Eric Spoelstra finally decided to use Stephen Jackson or Boris Diaw as the starting power forward, instead of the traditional twin towers. He let the players control the ball a lot and played a one-star-three-shooter strategy.

Therefore, the Warriors' victory or defeat depends largely on the players' touch on that day.

Because all teams will definitely double-team Roger, and others will get a lot of three-point opportunities.

This season, the Warriors have also become the team with the most three-point shots.

If the Warriors had a good touch that night, they would have won easily.

If the Warriors don't have a good touch that night, it will be difficult for them to win the game.

In this era, the Warriors' style of play is unconventional, even more unconventional than the Dallas Mavericks.

As we all know, the Dallas Mavericks are the team with the weirdest tactical design and lineup in the league. Mark Cuban is obsessed with piling up stars, and head coach Avery Johnson is obsessed with letting the stars take turns playing one-on-one, and doesn't care much about the team's defense. But even so, his one-on-one tactics are mainly arranged to finish in the mid-range and at the basket, which is the most mainstream offensive method in the league at this stage.

Three-pointer? Although the tactical status of the three-pointer has been getting higher and higher over the past many years, and Larry Brown, an old-fashioned player who despises the three-pointer, is being eliminated by modern basketball, there is still no team that uses the three-pointer as the main offensive means.

The Warriors did just that, with their most attempts in a game being 35, while this season each team has attempted 16 three-pointers per game. The second-best three-pointer attempt was the Seattle SuperSonics, who had Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, who only attempted 19 three-pointers per game.

Eric Spoelstra increased his team's three-point attempts in every game until, after ten games in the regular season, the Warriors had a 5-5 record.

This is probably the worst start to Roger's career. Experiments have shown that no matter how much he increases his shots, his three-point shooting touch is uncontrollable.

If you want the team to win all the games consistently, you must grasp the controllable parts.

Therefore, Eric Spoelstra adopted a more aggressive double-teaming strategy while keeping the three-point strategy unchanged.

He asked every Warriors player to use mobility to pressure the ball handler, force them to pass the ball, and create turnovers.

This strategy is nothing new. Phil Jackson popularized it in Chicago in the 90s.

Therefore, the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy are obvious. The advantage is that it can create a large number of mistakes, but the disadvantage is that it is extremely energy-consuming.

Eric Spoelstra intends to solve this problem with frequent rotations, increasing the playing time of some substitute players and reducing the playing time of some starting players.

Cutting back on a player's minutes is never easy, especially on a team that has already won two titles. Players with rings on their fingers tend to want more, not less.

But this will not be a problem for the Warriors, because everyone on this team knows the importance of "selflessness". Everyone has sacrificed for others and has benefited from the sacrifices of their teammates.

In order to win and defend the title, the starting players are willing to reduce their playing time slightly.

In the Golden State Gang, everyone is the same.

The next 11th game of the regular season will be used by Eric Spoelstra to test whether this strategy can work.

This experimental subject made Roger excited because the Warriors' next destination was Cleveland.

The owner there declared that he would never lose to Roger again this season.

Cleveland, Quicken Loans Center.

The fans here finally have a reason to cheer for the little emperor.

Team owner Daniel Gilbert was in the stands clapping wildly like a seal performing in an aquarium.

It turned out that all his efforts were worth it.

On the court, LeBron James hugged Larry Hughes and Andrei Kirilenko. Just now, they used extreme defense to stifle the Seattle Supersonics and eventually won 112-85.

This is the Cleveland Cavaliers' ninth victory of the season and eighth consecutive victory.

Except for the second game of the season, when they lost to the Spurs, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been winning so far.

The starting lineup consisting of Larry Hughes, LBJ, AK47, Kurt Thomas and Big Z, coupled with coach Mike Brown's defensive training, made Cleveland the most difficult fortress to be conquered in the entire league.

After two embarrassing seasons of failure, the guy Nike had high hopes for seemed to really be on the rise.

After the game, LBJ, who led the team to a record of 9 wins and 1 loss, was interviewed by reporters.

People don't care about the Seattle SuperSonics, everyone's eyes are on the next game.

ESPN reporter couldn't wait to ask: "LeBron, does what you said still count?"

And the man answered decisively: "Of course, the next one is the first one."

Everyone knows what they are talking about. When Amar'e Stoudemire was injured, many players made bold statements, thinking they could defeat the Warriors.

The Knicks delivered on their promise, the Dallas Mavericks delivered on their promise, and the Los Angeles Lakers delivered on their promise.

Now, all that's left is for LBJ to fulfill his promise.

"I'm not going to lose even one game to Roger this season."

This was the victory declaration that all Cleveland remembered, and they all looked to LBJ to turn the declaration into reality.

On the other hand, within the Warriors, the players are not satisfied with their current record.

A 50% winning rate in the Western Conference would make it difficult to even make the playoffs.

Of course, Roger knows that this winning rate will not last because the Warriors are still in the experimental stage.

Missing two key players in one offseason will take some time for any team to adapt and change.

However, Roger still planned to say something to motivate the team before leaving for Cleveland. He knew that everyone was full of enthusiasm, but it was not easy to maintain such enthusiasm.

Until the team gets on the right track, Roger has to find a way to maintain this enthusiasm.

As a result, that morning, Roger saw an apology letter published in the name of the Warriors in all Bay Area newspapers.

"You have given us endless support at Oracle Arena, and now that the season has reached the end of November, we still have no way to repay you with results. But we will continue to work hard and achieve results that make you proud in the new season. You are the best fans."

At the end of the apology letter is Jason Richardson's personal signature.

Roger glanced at Jason Richardson and said without hiding anything: "I published the apology letter."

"Published simultaneously in almost all the mainstream newspapers in the Bay Area? How much did it cost?" Roger certainly knew that the Bay Area media would not help Jason Richardson do these things for free.

"$10 million."

After Jason Richardson answered, Monta Ellis on the side widened his eyes - his salary this season was only 45 US dollars even if all the incentive clauses were fully paid.

"That's not important," Jason Richardson replied. "What's important is that we believe in ourselves and the fans believe in us."

"We will win, right here in Cleveland." Roger stood up and left the locker room, starting the final training before leaving for Cleveland.

He didn't need to motivate the team because Jason Richardson had already done it for him.

That afternoon, the entire Warriors team took a bus to the airport, ready to head to the "indestructible fortress."

Along the bus's route, countless Warriors fans lined the streets and cheered.

And most of them have two things in their hands.

It’s the same apology letter.

In the other hand, he held up a sign with two simple words written on it.

We Believe.

(End of this chapter)