Champions Creed

Chapter 407 406: Like a father teaching his son (asking for a monthly ticket!)
LeBron James knew that he had left behind another image that would never be forgotten.

Twenty years from now, fans will always remember several moments: Stephen Curry's dunk over the mascot in the dunk contest, Paul Pierce's birth in Shaquille O'Neal's mouth, and Roger Rogers' leap over LeBron James.

Of course, James would rather not have this famous scene.

Before the first quarter was even over, LeBron James's manifesto was in danger of falling apart.

I thought the Warriors' combat effectiveness would decline after entering the transition stage early, but the Warriors' level did not change at all, either in offense or defense.

Larry Hughes reached out and pulled up James who was lying on the ground: "If you are double-teamed, come to me, I will support you!"

James did not answer, because Larry Hughes's words were as ridiculous as American politicians saying they love peace.

It seems that Larry Hughes is the only one in the world who doesn't know that he sucks at shooting.

James still had to take the shot himself, so he patted Larry Hughes on the shoulder: "You control the ball!"

In this round, James suddenly cut in along the baseline when he was close to the three-point line, and Larry Hughes passed the ball to No. 23 before he could double-team him.

But James' shot failed to hit the rim despite Mutombo's protection.

Although Dikembe Mutombo is not as mobile as Camby, he is still good enough in terms of rim protection.

In the first three years of his career, LBJ's finishing rate at the basket was not as abnormal as it was later. Of course, James' finishing rate in his third year was better than 90% of the league, but it was still not as high as his peak period.

Facing a tall and tough center like Mutombo, James' finishing rate will drop further.

The Cavaliers' offense came to a complete standstill, and Mike Brown just stood anxiously on the sidelines, unable to make any adjustments.

As an extremely biased coach, Mike Brown can design one of the top three defensive systems in the league, but there is only one sentence in the offensive manual: give the ball to LeBron James.

As the game continued, Cleveland fans became extremely nervous.

Because if this goal was scored again, the Cavaliers would be behind by double digits in the first quarter.

Considering the three-point threat of Matt Barnes, AK47 did not indiscriminately double-team Roger this time.

So, Roger made a quick stop and shot before James could complete the double-team after taking a strong step forward.

The score difference is 11 points!
Al Michaels sighed, "LeBron's double team attack was still a little slow, but he is only a third-year player after all, and we shouldn't be so harsh on him. You know, even Roger, who is a third-year player, is just struggling to defend his title. Roger, a third-year player, has made no progress, but LeBron, a third-year player, is still full of energy!"

Al Michaels swore that he didn't mean to say these words to mock LBJ. He really felt that Roger was already so strong in his third year that he hadn't made any significant progress.

Mike Brown was a little desperate. From the beginning of the game until now, it seemed that he had to use a three-man team to force Roger to pass the ball.

Whenever AK47 wasn't around, Roger would find a way to score on his own.

"Do you feel MJ's pain? He was as helpless as you back then." Roger completely ignored Larry Hughes and continued to fire at No. 23.

It's a pity that if James had met the Warriors in the first ten games, he might have really beaten Roger once.

But tonight, he happened to meet a warrior who found the right path.

And Roger will never let anyone who talks nonsense leave the stadium easily.

It's easy to let the beast out of its cage.

But it’s not easy to close it again.

The Warriors' transition lineup continued to control the game until Roger left the court.

The person who replaced Roger was Gary Payton. Eric Spoelstra's idea was simple. Even if the offense could not be maintained, the defensive intensity must be maximized for 48 minutes.

So Gary Payton was reused and Eric Spoelstra planned to increase his playing time.

However, Gloves didn't figure out the situation.

When Roger left the court and the Warriors were leaderless, the already aging Gary Payton was still thinking about defeating his opponents with dribbling and low-post singles, and still thinking about fighting with his opponents like a star.

Gary Payton, who served as a substitute for the first time in his career, regarded himself as a sixth man like Mobley. In the transition lineup, Mobley's right to control the ball and offense was supreme.

And his excessive performance on the offensive end consumed his energy on the defensive end.

After a few rounds, when Gary Payton began to gasp for air, he realized why Roger had to train his physical fitness so hard.

His physical condition was declining faster than he had imagined.

If a 37-year-old woman is most likely to feel sexually dissatisfied, then a 37-year-old man will definitely often feel powerless.

Except for LeBron James, who still has amazing speed even at the age of 40.

But LBJ has historical physical fitness after all, which is something Gary Payton does not have.

It is hard to imagine what Gary Payton's physical condition would be like now if he had not trained hard in the training camp.

In the last two minutes of the first quarter, Gary Payton made 3 of 0 shots, allowing the Cavaliers' backup guard Damon Jones, who always calls himself "the best shooter in the universe" and "the most handsome guy in the universe," to score only 6 points.

Gary Payton was furious after leaving the court: "Fuck it, all the defense the Cavaliers played against me was a foul!"

An embarrassingly poor excuse.

Roger just glanced at him but said nothing.

But Roger's eyes were enough to tell it all, that look of disappointment could not be concealed.

Roger didn't know why he had hope in Gary Payton. In the playoffs of the past two seasons, Roger had played against Gary Payton. To be honest, his strength was not even 50% of what it used to be.

Is there anything else worth appreciating about Gary Payton?

Perhaps, his unwillingness to give up is the only thing worthy of praise about him.

Why did Roger agree to sign the glove? Probably because the Warriors needed his kind of heart.

He may not have strong personal abilities, but he can bring strength to the team like Udonis Haslem. A team needs such a veteran.

But now? He doesn't even have that heart anymore, he can't give strength to anyone.

He would be the first to quit Roger's private training camp because of so-called "pride".

He would blame his poor performance on the referee.

As far as Roger was concerned, this guy was pretty much done for.

He gave up on himself and stopped trying.

If it really doesn't work out, just fire him. This is how Roger views Gary Payton now.

Eric Spoelstra thought so too, because the first thing he said during the intermission was: "Monta, get ready, I might let you play today."

Gary Payton was stunned for a moment, but said nothing.

What else could he say? He was the one who took the initiative to join the Warriors, he took the initiative to call Roger, and he took the initiative to walk into hell.

As a result, people here don't take him seriously.

He had brought all this upon himself.

He can accept winning a championship as a substitute, but what if he wins the championship without getting any playing time?
Gary Payton would rather not.

He has already decided that he will take the initiative to ask the team to cut him.

His career is over, and his ending will be no different from those of tragic names like Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, etc.

If she is a female athlete, she can still return to people's attention and gain people's love again after retirement by doing some marginal work.

But as a male athlete, Gary Payton knew that he would be a loser all his life.

No one cared about Gary Payton, and all the Warriors players were preparing for the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Jason Richardson and Tayshaun Prince, who had rested enough, continued to work hard and tortured LBJ on the defensive end.

James has only scored 5 points so far, but has made 4 turnovers.

The Warriors' defensive strategy is so effective because of the Cavaliers' configuration.

This is a team with great defense but average offense. Slightly better than the 76ers under AI, but only slightly better.

AK47, Larry Hughes and Big Z do not have the efficiency and output to support the team. Once James is locked down, the Cavaliers' offense will be difficult.

James continued to lose his way, but the Warriors' three-point shooting became smoother in the second quarter. Not only Matt Barnes, but Boris Diaw also showed the results of his daily training.

The Frenchman's talent is enviable. After all, his mother is one of the greatest female basketball players in French history, and his father is a high jump champion. His mother's basketball IQ and his father's physique gave him an extremely high starting point. He is so talented but so lazy.

And when he put a little effort into polishing his shot, the results were immediate.

The Cavaliers' poor offense and the Warriors' string of three-pointers widened the gap.

In the end, Mike Brown had no choice but to stop the double teaming.

He let Andrei Kirilenko defend Roger alone.

Al Michaels, who was familiar with Roger's game, shook his head: "Single-defense against Roger is often the beginning of destruction."

This is true. Even though AK47 has a terrifying height and wingspan and excellent defensive awareness, there is no one on this planet who can defend Roger alone.

AK47 actually has a hard time defending a power forward who is strong in breakthroughs and shooting, because he is too tall and has difficulty keeping up with the pace of such a guard.

Kobe Bryant and Manu Ginobili are the victims of AK47.

Roger even more so.

He only needs to keep accelerating, decelerating and changing the rhythm, seize the opportunity to jump shot or break through, and he can easily score over AK47's head.

Mike Brown watched the Russians being slaughtered by Roger again and again but was powerless to do anything.

If James is used to defend Roger, the Cavaliers' offense will be completely ruined.

Larry Hughes? That would be like a little white girl versus a black monster in the NBA.

Larry Hughes is only suitable for pressuring Roger with help defense. If it is a complete one-on-one defense, he is worthless in front of Roger.

Roger continued to score, and Eric Spoelstra found that since the Cavaliers used one-on-one defense against Roger, Roger almost stopped passing the ball. He played with a kind of Kobe Bryant-like beauty.

Phil Jackson once said that Kobe Bryant is a werewolf. When he is normal, everything is fine, but when he transforms into a werewolf, things will start to get out of control. He will completely lose his mind and may kill his opponent or himself in this state.

The biggest difference between Roger and Kobe is that Roger can switch between the states of wolf and human at will instead of being controlled by them.

Now Roger has transformed from a selfless leader into a wolf. He scores points crazily and really turns into a beast.

Moreover, after every goal, he would communicate closely with LBJ.

Larry Hughes didn't know how Roger could come up with so much trash talk while playing basketball.

LeBron James is bearing the wrath of the savior while bearing the pressure from Cleveland.

He repeatedly stressed that he would not lose to Roger this season.

But in the first game of this season, he seemed like a clown in a circus.

At the end of the first half, Roger had scored 25 points.

James scored 9 points and made 4 turnovers in the first half, which can hardly be called excellent.

In the second half of the game, the Cavaliers double-teamed Roger again, and the Warriors' decline in three-point shooting allowed the Cavaliers to recover some points.

After three quarters, the Cavaliers were only 8 points behind.

"It's unfortunate," Jeff Hornacek muttered after the third quarter.

Spoelstra shrugged: "There's nothing unfortunate about it. That's how my shooting feels. Every quarter, every minute, there are ups and downs."

"No," the Death Ray waved his hand. "I mean, the people of Cleveland are really unfortunate."

"They were lucky, otherwise the game would have gone into garbage time."

"Garbage time is a relief for them. Now we are only leading by 8 points. How do you think Roger will deal with the Cavaliers?"

Spoelstra was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "You are right, the people of Cleveland are so unfortunate."

They were indeed unlucky, as Roger was in full swing in the fourth quarter and the score continued to rise.

In the second half of the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers could only use James to defend Roger.

Roger admitted that James was the player who gave him the most pressure among all the three people who defended him today.

As a third-year player, James is already very mature in one-on-one defense. Thanks to his excellent physical condition, his sense of pressure far exceeds that of Kirilenko and Larry Hughes.

Roger's offensive efficiency has declined, but James' offensive efficiency has declined even more severely.

For several consecutive rounds, the Cavaliers successfully defended Roger on the defensive end, but when they counterattacked, James missed the layup in the confrontation.

The physical energy consumed by defending Roger seriously affected LBJ's finishing rate.

With 1 minute and 03 seconds left in the game, Roger held the ball and challenged No. 23.

Before attacking, he pointed to the stands of the Quicken Loans Center and said, "The fans here really love you. They left so many empty seats for you to rest later."

James looked up and realized that many fans in the Quicken Loans Arena had already left.

Because at this time, the Cavaliers were still trailing by 11 points. In the eyes of most people, the game was over.

Not only that, there were also some discordant voices in the stands.

"LeBron, liar!"

"You are such a disappointment!"

"Roger had 47 points and 10 assists, and you only had 19 points and 6 turnovers. Seriously, LBJ?"

Overnight, LeBron James went from being a hero in Cleveland to being a jerk.

You can be as cool as you can be when you promise something, but any commitment comes at a price.

AK47 immediately attacked, but he had not given up the game and was hoping for a miracle.

Roger passed the ball to Dio who was left open. Instead of shooting, Dio broke through with the ball.

After attracting Kirilenko back, Boris Diao used a beautiful back pass to return the ball to Roger who cut in.

James, who was already in a trance, was unable to keep up, and Roger easily caught the basketball and suddenly dunked it.

But just as Roger was about to complete the dunk, he felt someone pushing his waist hard.

Roger lost his balance in the air and fell to the ground after barely completing the dunk.

It was LeBron James. He deliberately pushed Roger when it was impossible for him to complete the defense. This incredible and dirty move seemed to be engraved in his genes and ran through LBJ's entire career.

The moment Roger fell to the ground, the referee blew the whistle and James spread his hands.

Matt Barnes immediately ran to James and grabbed his neck with both hands. A strong feeling of suffocation came over him. Matt Barnes was not trying to scare people. He grabbed James very hard with both hands, as if he wanted to kill him.

The next one was Stephen Jackson. James thought he was there to stop the fight, but he ended up punching James in the chest - you can't judge LBJ's luck, because he had to do it when Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes were both present.

The Cavaliers players finally arrived, and the two sides pushed each other, creating chaos at the scene.

At this moment, Roger walked out of the crowd, came to No. 23, and without saying a word, he slapped him hard in the face like a father teaching his son a lesson.

No. 23's headband was blown away, Roger pointed at his nose, and other "gang members" helped stop the Cavaliers players from getting close.

"You're such a loser, you disappoint me so much. You disappoint me in basketball and you disappoint me in tricks. If you want to solve the problem this way, you should use more force. When I went home, my woman tackled me much harder than that just now."

Under the extremely oppressive aura of Roger and the gang members, LeBron James just covered his face and lowered his head, not daring to say a word.

"It's like an adult disciplining a child," said Al Michaels with a double meaning.

The implication is: LeBron James is not even a competitor of Roger.
-
Look, I said I would protect my family with my life, and I wasn't kidding. If anyone dares to touch Roger, I will not let it go. I will fight you, I will make you suffer, I will definitely do that! - Matt Barnes, who was suspended for 2 games for choking his opponent, talked about today's conflict.

Doesn't LeBron fart enough? Who would be surprised by this result? - Stephen Jackson on James breaking his promise again.

Roger scored 49 points and 10 assists, LeBron scored 19 points and 6 turnovers, and you asked me if the Cavaliers will be a problem this season. Are you serious? -- Eric Spoelstra talked about the Cavaliers' competitiveness this season.

Listen, the Cavaliers have a lineup problem. LBJ needs space and shooters to open up the field for him. What about Larry Hughes? His shooting choices are even dumber than No. 15 in Los Angeles. He is the culprit of the Cavaliers' loss! The Cavaliers should trade him for a shooter, such as Michael Redd. Wait, wasn't Michael Redd called the culprit for the Cavaliers' failure to make the playoffs last season? God, why are there so many culprits around LeBron? - Charles Barkley "speaks up" for LBJ on the show.

(End of this chapter)