Champions Creed

Chapter 412 Chapter 411: The meaning of new words (ask for monthly votes!)

The Dallas Mavericks are considered a classic Western Conference bubble.

They play gorgeous, exciting, and brilliant offensive basketball, but they can never win in the crucial games.

It's just like a player who has stats but can't win a championship, which doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

After this game, Shaquille O'Neal understood what Gary Payton said very well. In fact, the glove theory is extremely appropriate for sharks.

Wasn't his biggest mistake thinking he could be Roger's enemy?
If he had stayed in Orlando with Roger, he wouldn't be in such a state.

Yes, maybe he will become a foil to Magic Johnson like the Skyhook did in the 80s.

But it's better than becoming Patrick Ewing.

Shaquille O'Neal is a guy who was sitting in the passenger seat of a Ferrari but insisted on getting out and driving his own Buick.

It's just that when he was in the passenger seat of a Ferrari, he thought he was the one behind the wheel.

After getting out of the car, I found that without my terrifying weight, the Ferrari ran even faster.

Since the beginning of last season, Shaquille O'Neal seemed to have accepted his fate.

He no longer saw "beating Roger" as a goal that had to be accomplished.

Shark, who is about to turn 34 and has injured his legs and feet, has begun to accept his fate.

But no matter when, there are always people running on the road to challenge fate.

Roger drove his Ferrari slowly along the street. He opened the car window and looked at the guy running on the sidewalk outside.

"Good morning, Monta."

When Monta Ellis found out it was Roger, he smiled and nodded: "Good morning, Boss."

"This is the second day in a row that I've seen you. Why are you running outside the training ground? I mean, if you want to run in the morning, there are many better parks in San Francisco."

"Because after I run I have to go back to the practice field and practice my jump shots."

"Which bastard told you to practice like this?"

"Old Joe, he said this can help me improve my shooting stability when I'm tired."

"Oh, that's okay. He is indeed a bastard. He tortured me like this back then. Well, keep working hard Monta. You've been playing well in the Development League recently. I look forward to your performance in the NBA."

"Boss, you know, the NBA's historical ranking in the future will be: Roger first, me second, Michael third."

"Where's LeBron?"

"LeBron? Why is he in this discussion? Because he won the 'biggest braggart of all time' award?"

Roger laughed. He still remembered that he was also evaluated like this during his rookie season, and he was angry about this title at that time.

And now, when this title came back, Roger felt for the first time that this title was not so harsh.

Because this title really suits LBJ.

Top talent + the largest rookie shoe contract in history + threatening to surpass Roger + never played a playoff game so far, these things seem incompatible, but LBJ magically put them together.

"Very good Monta, I like smart people like you."

After saying that, Roger stepped on the accelerator deeply. The huge roar of the engine made Roger happy like a woman's wild scream.

Roger was always looking forward to seeing Monta Ellis gradually getting smaller in the rearview mirror.

The kid might be a little crazy. He still remembers that during the pre-draft interview, the team asked Monta Ellis why he was confident in participating in the draft as a high school student. His answer was: "In last year's draft, Shaun Livingston and Sebastian Telfair, who were also from high school, were both selected in the first round, and I am better than both of them."

He was really crazy, but Roger didn't mind his arrogance. After all, he still knew to put Roger first. Well, the real reason was that he was the kind of person who would put his arrogance into practice.

Monta Ellis may look like a lazy guy, but he actually takes his training very seriously.

This season, in Roger's plan, there is actually no place for Monta Ellis on the Warriors.

Roger believes he needs to be trained for at least a year before he can take over the job of old Cat Mobley next season.

But Monta Ellis's drive made Roger more optimistic about his growth rate.

In addition to working harder to build his body and physical fitness, Monta Ellis also competes one-on-one with Gary Payton every day.

And the glove never refused - of course, he would curse and tell Monta Ellis to get out, but there was never a time when he refused to interact with Monta Ellis.

reason?

Gary Payton himself couldn't explain it, he just felt like he had met another Jason Kidd.

He had a good relationship with Kidd when they were students because he beat a black kid from a middle-class family who looked like a white person and made him cry during a game.

As a result, Kidd did not hold a grudge, but took the initiative to ask Payton, the king of the Bay Area, for advice.

Payton, being a generous man, accepted this "little brother" without thinking much at the time.

From now on, the street courts in the Bay Area were completely dominated by these two guys, and Payton had a great influence on Kidd.

Today, as the best defensive point guard in the league, Kidd once admitted: "I learned all my defense from Gary."

Looking back now, Gary Payton was willing to teach Kidd probably because Kidd said, "I want to do my best to give my parents a good life."

This touched something in Gary Payton, and he admired this kind of personality and spirit.

In the Warriors, Gary Payton also asked Monta Ellis: "Rookie, as a second-round pick, why do you have to work so hard? This is a championship team, there is no place for trash like you."

Monta Ellis told Payton: "No matter what, even if it takes 23 hours of training, I will do my best, because only in this way can I maximize the price of my next contract. The cost of Jason's apology letter is enough for me to play basketball for three months. I didn't play in the NBA to get such a low contract. One more thing... In short, I need to become a top star!"

Gary Payton didn't know why he was touched by a similar player again. He wanted to help Monta Ellis. He felt that the kid was as brave as Kidd.

But he didn't want to appear to be like, "Hey, I'm a good, useless guy who's easy to bully," so the glove acted aggressively while remaining patient with Monta Ellis.

He would duel with Monta Ellis every day and then exchange a few insults.

"You have quick hands, but gambling on steals is the dumbest thing in the world, dumber than Shaq leaving Roger."

"Have you never had sex with a woman? Not having little tricks on your defense is like having sex without a gun."

"Eat more, exercise more, you're so skinny, you're only fit for the WNBA. No, you can't even handle those slightly stronger fat ladies."

These two people really have a wonderful chemical reaction, with Roger's

As the local dialect says, it takes two to fight.

In addition to Payton, Monta Ellis also began to harass others.

He'd ask Jeff Hornacek to tweak his jump shot.

He would ask Roger for details on the technique.

He would take the initiative to carry the bags for Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson, with the goal of getting them to pass the ball to him more often during training games.

He was like a sponge soaked in water, absorbing nutrients from the Golden State Gang tirelessly.

The Warriors players also treated this young man as a little brother, teasing him while patiently helping him grow.

In the last game of November against the Raptors, Monta Ellis got a chance to play in garbage time.

In the final moments of the game, facing the defense of Jalen Rose, Monta Ellis broke through the defense line at lightning speed. Facing the backup defense of Chris Bosh, Ellis turned in the air and completed a highly spectacular 360° turn layup!

"Look, the Mississippi Bullet shot through Jaylen!" The live commentator used a metaphor as wonderful as the layup.

At that moment, the main players of the Warriors on the bench stood up and cheered for the rookie.

Gary Payton is of course included.

"Hahaha! Get rid of him, get rid of that trash! I said, you should be tougher and go to the basket. You have the talent to know how to finish without looking at the basket!!"

While shouting, Gary Payton realized that everyone was staring at him. He then realized that he had lost his composure and his cool personality had somewhat collapsed.

So Gary Payton coughed a few times, then continued to put on his sour face, sat back on the bench, and cursed: "Boring, boring trick, an ordinary layup will do, why do you have to turn in the air!"

Eric Spoelstra smiled and shook his head. At least Gary Payton no longer hated this place.

The scene became a topic of discussion on TNT's show that night.

Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Kevin Harlan were not discussing the garbage time layup, but the fact that the Warriors cheered for a rookie who played in garbage time.

"Which team in the league would be so excited when a rookie scores a goal? I can't believe how united the Warriors are. Their chemistry and atmosphere are unparalleled.

You see, although Amare was ruled out for the season, he barely missed any of the team’s home games.

Gary doesn't seem to be convinced by anyone, but he always praises and supports his teammates in public.

They will also cheer for a rookie's goal.
As for others, we never heard any discordant voices.

This doesn't look like a team that is going for three consecutive championships. Their desire for victory is like a bottomless abyss that can never be satisfied, and their passion is like a flame that can't be extinguished.
Look at the 93 Chicago Bulls, the 97 Orlando Magic, and the 02 Atlanta Hawks. Every team that aimed for three consecutive championships ended up in a mess that season.

But as for the Golden State Warriors, reporters tried their best but could not find any internal conflicts among them.

It must be admitted that after losing Amare, the Golden State Warriors' talent is not the best in the league.

But Roger was like a top chef, using not-so-top ingredients to create a top-notch feast.

They used tacit overall defense and mutually sacrificial offense to turn every game into a humiliation.

They are like Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th, who can never be killed.

I have to remind everyone that the Golden State Warriors haven't lost since losing to the Nuggets.

This team is dangerous, and they’re even more dangerous when they’re good from three.”

Charles Barkley gave the Warriors a very high evaluation, which is indeed the most distinctive feature of the Warriors this season.

This atmosphere even made Monta Ellis a peculiar existence. Although he did not have much playing time and even played in the Development League most of the time, he gained extremely high popularity and a strong presence because of the praise and encouragement of his teammates.

Another Warriors rookie, Brandon Bass, is much more low-key.

He doesn't have as distinct a personality as Monta Ellis, but he is always prepared in training, silently waiting for his chance.

As a player from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Brandon Bass is undoubtedly another fan of Roger.

Although Roger never called himself a Louisiana native, people there have always treated Roger as a hometown hero.

After all, he grew up there and became famous there.

You can say that this is a one-sided rush, but it does not affect the fact that countless boys in the slums have Roger's posters in their rooms, and they dream of one day being able to tear down the invisible but solid walls of the slums with their own hands like Roger.

Brandon Bass is one of them.

Brandon Bass has almost no exposure, and even in the Development League, the spotlight is taken away by Monta Ellis alone. But under the good atmosphere of the Warriors and the encouragement of his idol, he still takes every training seriously without any negative emotions.

He is not as famous as Monta, but he is also growing rapidly.

Roger has a feeling that the Warriors will have a lot of people who can play this season.

He lost his second-in-command, Amare Stoudemire, but he still had more than a dozen people standing behind him who could support him.

He doesn't have a second-in-command, but he has an extremely strong rotation.

Although Monta Ellis and Brandon Bass are still not very capable now, Jay believes that they will quickly grow into players who can step up immediately when the team needs them.

In the playoffs, you can play more cards than others, which is crucial.

Before the playoffs, Roger has other things to do. Now that the team is on the right track, it is time for Roger to let those who shouted at the beginning of the season to kill him face reality again.

If anyone can kill Roger, it will be the biggest mistake in the NBA in the 21st century.

In the following December, with Roger's strong performance, the Warriors played a series of games full of the pleasure of revenge.

The highlight comes in early December, when the Warriors face the San Antonio Spurs for the second time this season.

This time, the two sides played a suffocating defensive battle comparable to the dark defensive era, with the Spurs relying on Bruce Bowen and Raja Bell to limit Roger.

But the Warriors also relied on their front line to encircle Duncan, making it quite difficult for him to play.

And don't forget, almost every time Marcus Camby and Tim Duncan meet, the former will have a big outburst.

That was the case today, Marcus Camby blocked Duncan three times, and he seemed to have endless energy and strength on the defensive end.

Do you think that's the end? Dikembe Mutombo, who came off the bench, also blocked Duncan twice.

Whenever Duncan raised his hand, there were several arms hanging above his head.

In terms of the number of blocks, Tim Duncan is definitely at the GOAT level, even LeBron, who dominated various statistics charts 20 years later, could not catch up with him.

The two sides were evenly matched, and Manu Ginobili became the ice-breaking point.

Manu, who was used as the sixth man this season, fully demonstrated his strength. He was able to maintain his efficiency in limited playing time and had the physical strength needed to explode in desperate moments.

This was the case in this game. In the last two minutes, Manu Ginobili scored 7 points in a row. He even made an incredible jump shot 6 seconds before the end of the game, with his center of gravity almost parallel to the ground in the air, giving the Spurs a crucial 2-point lead.

Just when the Spurs fans had begun to celebrate the victory, Roger came back from the timeout and made a three-pointer after catching the ball to complete the buzzer-beater.

After the game, Popovich yelled in frustration: "We shouldn't have distracted our attention to those role players!"

In the last defense, Popovich was afraid of the Warriors' shooters and did not pressure or double-team Roger, which resulted in an easy shot to kill the game.

Now he felt that he should keep a close eye on Roger at the last moment, but unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to do so again tonight.

The Spurs were just the beginning of a series of hearty revenges in December. Two days later, the Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers. The team's excellent three-point shooting allowed the Warriors to lead by 12 points in the third quarter, but the sudden failure of the three-point line in the fourth quarter gave the Lakers an opportunity. Kobe went completely crazy, hitting high-difficulty jump shots one after another, eroding the point difference.

But in the last minute, it was Roger again who stepped up and scored a layup and a pull-up shot under three-man siege to secure the victory for the Warriors.

In the Christmas game at the end of the month, the Warriors defeated their most important and threatening opponent, the New York Knicks.

It was still a similar plot. The Knicks led by 1 point in the final moments, and Roger repeated what he did to Karl Malone in the finals: he suddenly double-teamed KG from behind, cut the ball, advanced quickly, dribbled past Dwyane Wade, and made a buzzer-beater with a mid-range jump shot.

At this point, the three championship favorites, the Spurs, Lakers and Knicks, have all been trampled under the Warriors' feet again.

At the beginning of the season, the Warriors lost to these major championship rivals one after another.

And now, the Warriors have fought back without missing a single one.

They left the ranks of victory with tremors and fears broken, watching the former master of the alliance rise again from the endless abyss.

Charles Barkley's metaphor is correct, the Warriors are indeed like Jason wearing a mask.

At the beginning of the season, when they learned that Amar'e Stoudemire was out for the season, they adopted an attitude of "anyone can kill Lu Bu."

But now, without exception, they all fell under Roger's knife again.

Charles Barkley's metaphor is correct, the Warriors are indeed like Jason wearing a mask.

Roger's performances in December that turned the tide at critical moments drove the fans crazy, but Roger still gave the credit to the whole team: "The secret to victory? We believe!"

We believe, not I.

During this period, while Roger was performing his crazy show, a new popular word began to spread rapidly on the English Internet: luojie.

This is equivalent to the phrase "Brother NB" often used on the Chinese Internet.

When you play games or communicate with people on the Internet, you often use "luojie" to praise someone's excellence.

Roger and Excellence are even highly bound together.

Of course, the biggest game of December has yet to come.

After the Christmas game, the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers met for the second time.

This is LeBron James' last chance to prove himself this season.

Yes, his promise that he wouldn't lose to Roger even once this season was bullshit, but a win is better than no win at all.

Tonight, LBJ was in great form from beyond the three-point line, scoring 45 points at one point.

With 8 seconds left, the Cavaliers were still trailing by 1 point. The whole world held its breath, waiting for the decisive shot.

Mike Breen yelled with sweaty palms: "Can LeBron shoot!?"

That’s right, the biggest suspense is not whether he can make it, but whether he can shoot.

In his third season, LBJ showed a trait that Cleveland fans hated - he was too team-oriented.

The Cavaliers have already delivered two very uncomfortable clutch performances this month.

The first time was at the beginning of the month, when the Cavaliers played against the Magic. In the final moments, the Cavaliers were trailing by 1 point, and Cleveland fans were expecting LeBron James to save the team like Roger and Kobe did.

As the countdown was about to end, the ball fell into the hands of Larry Hughes. It is true that Larry Hughes' three-point shooting percentage this season is as high as 36%. But anyone who has watched the game knows what happened. Larry Hughes has made less than 20 three-pointers this season. Because the sample size is too small, his shooting percentage has no reference value at all.

Such a person who is not reliable in three-point shooting, in the final moments, under the watchful eyes of everyone, actually received a pass from James and missed the three-pointer.

Cleveland fans felt like Shaq being force-fed shit by Paul Pierce in the Finals.

After this game, the media criticized LeBron James heavily, saying he was too team-oriented and lacked killer instinct.

But Cleveland fans never imagined that they were actually worse off than Shaq.

Because LBJ force-fed them for the second time in a month.

In the game against the Detroit Pistons, with the team trailing 81 to 83 in the final moments, LBJ once again made a breakthrough pass to AK47, who missed the buzzer-beater.

When faced with questions from reporters after the game, he simply replied: "I think that's right!"

Cleveland fans are miserable after being fed shit twice in one month.

What they don't know is that LeBron will continue to tirelessly feed shit to fans at moments like this for more than a decade. In this regard, he is countless times more diligent than Paul Pierce.

So today, at this moment, the whole world is speculating what choice LeBron James will make, and whether he makes it or not is secondary.

James found his rhythm by dribbling the ball at the top of the arc. Amid the ocean of countless "We believe" signs held by Bay Area fans, the Chosen One finally drew out the knife in his hand.

He jumped up and pulled the trigger. The smoke cleared, LeBron James blew a puff of smoke from the muzzle of the gun, and Mike Brin behind the commentary desk was boiling with excitement.

"The ball goes in! The ball goes in! This is the first buzzer beater in LeBron James' career! Oh my God, this is the LeBron that people have been waiting for. Is he finally going to beat Roger? "

James looked at Roger, his mortal enemy who didn't even need to be hypocritical, and beat his chest and roared: "I defeated you this time!"

James' buzzer-beater brought the game to a climax, but unlike movies which usually end with a climax, this game did not end after the climax, but instead ushered in another climax.

Behind the suspense of "Does LeBron James dare to take action?", there is another bigger suspense: Will Roger make a buzzer-beater for the fourth consecutive time this month!

The ghosts of the Spurs, Knicks and Lakers are reminding Cleveland fans with their miserable wails that everything is not over yet.

With 5 seconds left, the Warriors kicked off. Because the Warriors were well-known for their three-point threat this season, the Cavaliers did not dare to double-team Roger at the first opportunity.

This scene made Craig Popovich, who studied the game, smell the breath of death. His Spurs died because of their strategy of not daring to double-team.

Will the Cleveland Cavaliers have the same ending?
Roger dribbled to the top of the arc, and James stepped on the three-point line to defend. As a result, Roger suddenly shot from one step away from the three-point line.

James blocked the ball desperately, but Roger's shooting space told him that his interference was useless.

"brush!"

"Bang!!!"

Roger took off his jersey, revealing a white vest underneath with two big words written on the front: We believe.

On the back of the vest are the signatures of all Warriors players.

This is what the entire Warriors team specially prepared today. The team's predicament will end with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they will also move towards glory.

Then Roger turned around, looked at LBJ, and made an insulting gesture to South Korea: "You're still a little bit away (from defeating me)."

For the third consecutive season, LeBron James failed to win a game against Roger.

The curse is still in effect.

The declaration of "surpassing Roger" has become a complete joke. Until "not1not2not3" appears, this will probably be the biggest joke in the basketball world.

A crazy December ended with Roger's fourth buzzer-beater in a single month.

This winter, the Bay Area is hotter than Dubai, where the average temperature is 40°C.

And this brilliant December is enough to keep the Warriors' passion going until the end of the season.

Although after the game, Craig Popovich expressed his opinion in a very disappointing manner: "Four buzzer beaters in a single month just shows that the Warriors are overly dependent on Roger this season. The Warriors lack talent, have no second player, and cannot dominate a championship team. Those buzzer beaters are just covering up these problems with victory. In the playoffs, these problems will collectively explode."

But his evaluation does not affect people's appreciation of Roger December's greatness.

At the end of December, every year at this time, Oxford Dictionaries will announce the new words included in this year.

Many Chinese English will also be included. The most famous Chinese English included is undoubtedly the word "kale" a few years later.

And now, a Chinese-English version that made NBA break out of the circle many years earlier than Kale has been included.

luojie: A top representative in a field.

(7000 words are here. Today’s word count has been slightly reduced. I arranged for my father to be transferred to another hospital this afternoon. He will go to a hospital that focuses on rehabilitation. November was very busy and I took a lot of leave. I am really sorry. December will be much more stable and I will not be absent for a long time.)

(End of this chapter)