Champions Creed

Chapter 434: He is already in another realm (asking for monthly tickets!)

"Mike, I don't know what Roger said to LBJ, but judging by his lip movements, he seemed to have mentioned Scott Pippen more than once."

Listening to Jeff Van Gundy's words on TV, Pippen, who was watching the live game, smiled and shook his head.

Yes, this is Roger.

He is such a bastard.

Scott Pippen would never have thought that he could still be Roger's weapon many years after his retirement.

LeBron James' emotions are now completely played by Roger, and it's all thanks to the name Scott Pippen.

Pippen knew very well that if Roger used his name to taunt James, the damage would be immeasurable.

As we all know, before his time in Atlanta, Scott Pippen always had a dream of becoming the big boss.

The 93-94 season was the best time for him to realize this dream. Michael Jordan retired and the Chicago Bulls were leaderless. He was about to gain the highest voice and tactical position.

As a result, he met his "true love".

In the 93-94 season, Scott Pippen lost to Roger in a series of competitions and became the second-in-command next to the rookie Roger.

In the summer of 1994, Roger left, but Michael Jordan returned and Scott Pippen could only continue to be his number two.

Finally, in the summer of 1997, Scott Pippen went to another leaderless team, the Atlanta Hawks.

He will always remember that hot afternoon when he and Steve Smith discussed the future of the Eagles and, most importantly, how to get rid of Roger.

At this time, Hawks General Manager Pete Babcock walked into the room with his hands and feet dancing. "Listen, gentlemen, I have some good news to share with you about the future of the team! We will complete the deal with the Magic in the next few days and bring in Roger! At this moment, the boss is talking to Roger's team! What do you think, guys? Cheer!"

Scott Pippen will never forget that moment of silence and the awkward expression on Pete Babcock's face as he cheered alone.

It seems that he will never be able to get rid of the shadow of Jordan and Roger in his life.

That was the end of his dream of becoming the boss. After going through so much, Scott Pippen had accepted the fact that he would always be the number two.

When he fully accepted his identity, he had fewer worries. He and Roger established the Atlanta dynasty, and he and Michael Jordan wrote a wonderful fairy tale of the old boys in Atlanta. Finally, he retired as the greatest second person in history.

Scott Pippen can certainly be regarded as one of the greatest players in history, but the most distinctive label on him is not "the greatest" but "the second best".

His name is almost synonymous with "the second man".

It's like when people mention the tallest mountain in the history of the Mavericks, they will only remember one name.

Pippen learned to accept this positioning, but what about James?

It's not hard to imagine that James must have felt insulted when he was equated with Pippen.

He hated being the "second man" and being seen as Kobe's helper.

"You play like Scott Pippen" is too dirty an insult to James.

What's worse is that this time Kobe didn't comfort him, at all.

Ever since James became a Laker, Kobe has always stood by him and supported him.

He would silence reporters who pressed James for tough questions.

He would defend James' dignity in front of others.

He would take the initiative to emphasize: LeBron and I are equal.

You've never seen Kobe defend someone like that in his career.

But this time, when Roger spoke rudely to James on the court, Kobe just chose to turn around and leave.

And when walking off the court, he bumped into James' shoulder intentionally or unintentionally.

Los Angeles fans saw this and it horrified them.

Although Kobe did not yell at James or do anything overly aggressive, it is entirely possible that he bumped into James' shoulder accidentally.

But this still makes people imagine a lot, just like LBJ hitting Spoelstra's shoulder in the original timeline.

This was only the first official game that Kobe and James played together, but the most worrying problems seemed to have arisen between them.

Mike Breen joked: "The Los Angeles Lakers really did not disappoint us. Fans can see everything they expect from this team."

James looked at Kobe's back and walked off the court dejectedly.

Of course, when he sat down on the bench, countless Bay Area fans were yelling and cursing behind him.

"Cowardly traitor!"

"Come on, you will become a better Scott Pippen."

"It's a good thing you didn't come to cling to Roger's thighs, otherwise Roger would have been dragged down by your incompetence!"

LeBron James felt like he was in purgatory, as if he was being punished by God for taking shortcuts.

It is foreseeable that similar voices will not only appear in the Oracle Arena, but may also appear in Madison Square Garden and the AT&T Center throughout the season. James will have to face similar pressure.

Faced with such pressure, James began to bite his nails.

Kobe clenched his fists, as if trying to suppress his anger.

Of course he was angry. James' performance in the last few rounds was not as good as Brandon Roy's, far worse.

He didn't play to his level at all.

It turned out that he was not angry about it, and he actually used the behavior of biting his nails to escape.

Kobe thought of Roger's words in his mind: "After Shaq met you, he found out that I was such a good teammate. There will be such a day for you. After you meet LeBron, this terrible helper, you will find that Shaq is not bad at all."

Shaquille O'Neal never falters under pressure.

Kobe really wanted to get angry, but he was no longer the locker room explosive who was angry at everything.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down, then uttered a sentence.

"LeBron, calm down. Roger's voice, the voice of the fans, are all fucking shit, just to disturb you. Because they hate you, hate your talent, hate your focus on the game, hate your breakthrough. But there are also many people who love you for the same reason as those who hate you. So don't be bothered by those voices anymore, man, play your own game, OK?"

Kobe finally spoke to James, but the tone of his words was very stiff, completely different from before.

James felt that this sentence sounded like a superior giving orders to his subordinates.

Soon, James himself denied this assumption.

Kobe is a person who is extremely eager for victory, and the score of 12 to 2 will certainly make him unhappy.

He wasn't targeting anyone, he was just giving a reminder, that's all.

Kobe is like this, he is just like this. When he first came to the Dream Team in 2006, no one understood him. You can't expect him to always smile like Dwight Howard.

James' mind was in a mess, and he was trying to guess what Kobe was thinking at the moment.

This guy always thinks about all sorts of random things during the game, and then gets lost in the game for no apparent reason.

Phil Jackson could smell something bad between Kobe and James, but as an experienced coach, he thought it was not the time to interfere in their relationship.

What's more, Kobe's words were already very good, and the Zen Master had nothing to add.

The top priority now is to get James, who is lost, and all the Lakers players to focus on the game again.

So he squatted down and started to arrange it directly.

"Listen guys, we have to be more aggressive on defense, the Warriors just got too many easy shots from beyond the arc. Force them to drive, force them to shoot close to the basket, and then strangle them with strong help defense. It takes discipline, pay attention to discipline.

On offense, Chauncey controls the ball, Kobe looks for one-on-one opportunities. LeBron, Dwight, bring out your cutting threats.

It's okay to be behind at the beginning, we are just a little confused. But guys, no one can beat you wearing the same jersey.

Come on, we will be the winners tonight.

The most important thing is not the outside voice, not the opponent's voice. Because when we win the game, all the voices will disappear. "

The Zen Master only talked about tactics and didn't say much about anything related to LBJ.

His arrangement made two things clear.

First, the team is now led by Billups, and Kobe is the main axis of the triangle offense. On the offensive end, you must not lose sight of a clear offensive point.

Second, the defense emphasizes discipline. James was played around by Roger on the defense in the previous rounds, which was completely his own fault. He was not calm enough and broke the tactics to run against Roger. In fact, in the Lakers' strategy, Chauncey Billups has always been responsible for defending Roger.

It turned out that Phil Jackson's choice to only arrange tactics was correct.

Kobe temporarily forgot about the unhappiness, and James also cheered up again. They all returned to the game itself, thinking about how to tie the score and how to win the game.

Seeing the players become focused again, Phil Jackson felt a lot more at ease.

To be honest, the Zen Master doesn't think the current score of 12 to 2 is a terrible one.

The Lakers had such a bad start because Roger was so good at playing with people’s minds.

He caused James to play poorly, and then seized the opportunity to score a climax.

But a basketball game is not something that can be decided in a few rounds, and James will not be out of form for the entire game.

Once James's insanity ends, the Lakers will be able to begin to leverage their advantage in pure strength.

After the timeout, the Lakers' adjustments were immediate.

Their attack was no longer chaotic, but methodical.

On the Lakers' first attack, Chauncey Billups passed the ball to Kobe who was playing as the pivot in the low post.

Roger double-teamed as usual, but James quickly cut in, and this did not escape Kobe's eyes.

Kobe can be both a finisher in the triangle offense and an axis, just like Michael Jordan.

That's probably why he and MJ always look so similar, because they're doing the same thing in the same system.

James successfully caught the ball, dribbled it, and then dunked it with both hands.

Facts have proved that as long as the rules are tightened, James can also make his steps normal. In this timeline, because the NBA is no longer a Nike league, the league will not condone James' walking behavior, so he rarely walks.

However, it has to be said that it is a loss for all fans in this timeline that they cannot appreciate the superb footwork performance.

In any case, the atmosphere on the Lakers is back to normal.

After the Lakers' offense began to take shape and James calmed down, it became easy for him to score.

Kobe pointed at James, and they celebrated the goal together.

Then on the defensive end, Chauncey Billups did his job perfectly. He forced Roger to break through instead of taking an easy shot from the outside.

Chauncey Billups is very, very good at defense. He may be the best defender at the point guard position after Jason Kidd.

He is not the kind of big defender who can lock down the opponent alone, but he is definitely an excellent leader.

He has enough pressure and knows how to make it difficult for Roger to start easily.

Roger had no chance to shoot, so he had to break through with the ball.

But when he got near the free throw line, Howard quickly came up to assist in defense, blocking all of Roger's chances.

Howard's strength is actually similar to that of his predecessors - he doesn't look like a center at all.

His movement speed is top-notch even among small forwards, and his jumping speed is as terrifying as that of a guard.

However, he has a size that small forwards and guards don't have.

This makes him invincible on the defensive end.

Roger knew he had no chance to attack, so he started looking for someone. But Brandon Roy was being entangled by Kobe, and LBJ, who had calmed down, stood in front of Prince and did not run around. Stephen Jackson was in the weak side corner, and the error rate of long-distance passes was too high.

Seeing this, Roger passed the ball to Stoudemire in the mid-range, who shot directly.

But what awaited him was not a goal, but a block by Dwight Howard after he quickly returned to his position. The Lakers' No. 12 became the one who stole the show. After entering the league, the media's evaluation of him has never been wrong: he is the player with the closest defensive influence to Ben Wallace in the 21st century, and may even surpass Ben Wallace in the future.

But in front of the TV, most Lakers fans applauded Chauncey Billups.

Last season, it was hard to imagine the Lakers being able to use the No. 1 position to pressure Roger.

As a super-leak on the defensive end, Steve Nash always needs the entire system to cover up his shortcomings.

But now, Chauncey Billups himself is an extremely good defensive point and can complete the defensive tasks assigned to him by the head coach.

After successfully defending, the Lakers immediately counterattacked.

A team with LBJ never has to worry about counterattacks. Chauncey Billups picked up the blocked basketball and just looked up, he saw James had already run across the midfield line.

Only God knows why he is so fast.

And he can maintain this fast speed even until he is 40 years old.

"boom!"

James made a tomahawk dunk with his head almost flat against the frame, and scored consecutively, changing the score to 6 to 12.

He had regained his confidence and was beating his chest, looking like an extremely dangerous ape.

Just when Phil Jackson thought the Lakers were about to gain momentum, the Warriors made timely adjustments without calling a timeout.

Roger's role as a commander on the field began to emerge.

He did not continue to control the ball, but handed it over to Brandon Roy to control the rhythm.

Roy and Stoudemire set a pick-and-roll, attracting the defense, but actually passing the ball to Roger who was in the mid-range, who received the ball and made a shot.

On the next defensive end, Roger did not double-team Kobe who received the ball with his back to the basket in the low post. This task was given to Stephen Jackson.

Kobe jumped up and passed the ball to the skiing man during the double team attack, but because the distance was too far and the target was too clear, Roger moved directly to the passing route and easily intercepted the ball.

Radmanovic is a pure shooter, that is, he has no other offensive threat except three-pointers.

His cuts weren't fast enough, and his attacks weren't tough enough, so most of the time, he just stood outside the three-point line waiting for the ball.

This makes it very easy to steal the pass to him.

The Lakers quickly retreated and did not give the Warriors any chance to fast break.

Roger drove straight into the basket, compressing the Lakers' defensive formation, attracting Howard to retreat and then passing the ball to Stoudemire from mid-range and long distance.

This time, no matter how fast Howard was, he couldn't rush back to block the shot.

Amar'e Stoudemire scored with a long jump shot, 14 to 6, and the Warriors did not give the Lakers a chance to gain momentum.

Phil Jackson found out he was wrong.

He thought that with the Lakers' talent, they could easily win as long as they didn't lose their composure.

But the chemistry, trust and execution of this Warriors team is already historic, and they have a leader who always makes the right call.

Therefore, if there is any mistake on the court, the Warriors can adjust immediately without even the head coach calling a timeout.

They will not give any team a chance to gain momentum. They are always the one taking the initiative and always controlling the game.

The Lakers have a lot of talent, but it's not enough to easily destroy the Warriors.

The Golden State Warriors are as bottomless as the women in the Miami swimsuit show whose hips shake when they walk. You hit it with all your might and think you're home, but in fact you've just touched the entrance to the community.

Talent is just the threshold to compete with the Warriors.

This tense situation lasted for a long time, but when the first quarter was halfway through and Phil Jackson began to replace the rotation lineup, the balance of victory tilted a little more towards the Warriors.

The Warriors have an advantage that has been overlooked, that is, the strength of the starting lineup and the bench is very balanced.

What about the Lakers?

Halfway through the first quarter, the Zen Master replaced Dwight Howard and Chauncey Billups, leaving Kobe and James.

This means that the Lakers’ invincible help defense is gone, and the pressure on Roger is gone.

Facing Sasha Vujacic, who came on as a substitute for Billups, Roger scored freely from mid-range.

Sasha Vujacic was unable to stop Roger from breaking through, and the aging Theo Ratliff was unable to help defend as quickly as Howard.

Roger scored consecutively over Vujacic and the pretty boy was helpless.

When Roger scored his 12th point of the period over Vujacic's head, he shrugged: "I may have rejected Maria (Sharapova), but I didn't expect she would be so heartbroken as to go after a piece of crap like you."

"Don't bring Maria into this you bastard!"

"I'm dragging this into this. You can only blame me for not being able to protect her and for not being able to shut me up, you piece of shit."

After Roger finished speaking, Sasha Vujacic rushed towards Roger like a mad bull that had lost its mind.

But the embarrassing thing was that the strong Roger only took a step back after the collision, while Sasha Vujacic was bounced back and fell directly to the ground.

Moreover, the referee gave him a technical foul.

Roger stood not far away and applauded Vujacic who was sitting on the ground.

Phil Jackson had a feeling that Roger was like the god of basketball, controlling everything in the game at will.

He can play with his opponent's mentality at will, respond to changes in the situation in a timely manner, and his strong personal abilities can solve most troubles.

He didn't have this feeling a few years ago when Phil Jackson led the OK Lakers to compete against Roger.

At that time, Roger was just strong, but now, in this season that is said to be Roger's last dance, Phil Jackson really feels that Roger has become a true master.

No matter how the world changes, no matter how strong the opponent is, Roger can control the game calmly.

CCTV commentator Yu Jia used Chinese to better explain Roger's state: No matter what kind of martial arts you have, I can break it with one blow. The ultimate freedom is just like this.

In the subsequent games, the Warriors always had the advantage, which means: except for the 2-0 at the beginning, the Lakers never led for even a second.

No one would have thought that the first regular season game of this super Lakers team would be so frustrating, but their talent did solve many problems.

In the last three minutes of the fourth quarter, when the Lakers big4 played together again, they launched a fierce pursuit.

Kobe made a three-pointer against Roy.

Howard blocked Stoudemire even though he was out of position.

Chauncey Billups made an unreasonable three-pointer and it went into the net.

LeBron James violently attacked the basket and scored 2+1.

The Lakers fought hard and finally narrowed the gap to 57 points in the last 5 seconds, and the Warriors suspended the game.

The Lakers still have a chance, and no one knows whether the Warriors can suppress the Lakers' momentum.

The next defense is extremely important for the Lakers. If they can force the Warriors to miss shots, they still have a chance to win.

On the bench, Phil Jackson was arranging this defense.

His core strategy remained unchanged, not giving Roger easy shots, pressuring him and forcing him into Howard's defensive range.

The Zen Master has studied a lot of Warriors game videos and can predict Eric Spoelstra's strategy.

So in this crucial round, he let LeBron James go after Roger first, instead of the calmer Chauncey Billups, who was sent to defend Stephen Jackson.

This is a very strange arrangement, but the Zen master has his reasons for doing so.

According to Spoelstra's habit of playing sideline balls, Roger will stand close to the basket, and then at the moment of the ball, with the help of the cover of his teammates near the free throw line (most likely Jackson), he will go outside the three-point line to receive the ball and shoot.

Therefore, let James guard Roger first, and let Billups guard the pick-and-roll man. All of this is to facilitate switching defense the moment Roger hangs over the screen.

Eventually, Billups will appear in front of Roger without being disturbed by the pick-and-roll.

The timeout ended and the game began. Roger walked to the basket. Stephen Jackson and Roger stood on one side, wandering around the free throw line.

Seeing this scene, the entire Lakers team was full of confidence.

Phil Jackson has predicted everything for the Warriors!
Roger found that James, who he had severely disciplined in the first quarter, actually defended him in this crucial round. He couldn't help but yelled to Phil Jackson: "Phil, do you really want to lose?"

"Shut up, we will win! It's over, your domination over me is over!" James yelled in Roger's ear while pulling Roger's jersey and arm.

"No, you only have 13 seconds left before you lose to me for the 57th time in your career. It's fucking ridiculous that a guy who lost to me 13 times in his career thinks he can be on par with Kobe."

James' heart was hurt again: "Fuck you"

Kobe couldn't help it: "LeBron, don't be affected by his trash talk, don't become the next Sasha!"

"Look at you, LeBron. In Kobe's mind, you are no different from a loser like Sasha Vujacic. You can't make him feel at ease."

"Shut up Roger!" Kobe didn't want to see LBJ's mentality collapse at the critical moment, but fortunately, Billups will switch defense with James next. If LBJ, whose mentality is affected again, defends Roger, I can't imagine what will happen.

When the entire Lakers team was extremely nervous, Roger smiled and looked at Stephen Jackson.

This smile made Phil Jackson feel like his heart was being squeezed by the devil's hands.

He swore that there was no verbal communication between Roger and Jackson, not even a nod, they just looked at each other.

But Phil Jackson always felt that they were communicating something.

Have they seen through their own strategy?

Did they respond in time?

No, not possible!
No matter how much of a basketball master Roger is, or how good the Warriors' chemistry is, it is impossible for Roger to adjust the strategy immediately with just a glance!

The referee blew the whistle and the game began.

As expected, Roger rushed to the outside line the moment the referee gave the ball to Boris Dio, and Stephen Jackson also moved closer to Roger, ready to provide cover.

But suddenly, Stephen Jackson broke away before Roger could run to him, ran to the other side of the court, and cancelled the screen!
Chauncey Billups was dumbfounded at the time. Considering Stephen Jackson's impressive three-point threat, Billups could only follow him.

This means he can't switch defense with LBJ!

Roger ran directly to the three-point line to receive the basketball, and he was facing not the calm Billups, but the impatient James!

Phil Jackson had goose bumps all over his body. Roger predicted his own prediction and adjusted his strategy within a few seconds. Moreover, he really communicated with Stephen Jackson with just a glance!
This is really not metaphysics. Stephen Jackson was Roger's subject during the Atlanta dynasty. After following Roger to the Bay Area, they won four championships together.

This guy who claims that he "doesn't know how to shoot at all" understands Roger better than anyone else.

The moment Roger caught the ball, he lifted it above his head. LBJ, who was so excited, jumped up.

"No, fuck it!" Kobe yelled and rushed towards Roger, even at the cost of leaving Brandon Roy open.

Sure enough, Roger was just faking the shot and James was fooled. His anger had clouded his judgment.

Roger touched No. 23, dribbled forward, and then took a jump shot.

Kobe tried hard to interfere, but he was still a step too slow.

When his fingertips sealed Roger, Roger had already completed his attack.

"Roger dribbled past LeBron and made another defensive mistake. Kobe made up for the deficit but Roger didn't seem to be affected. BANG!!! Roger scored his 43rd point of the game, extending the lead to 8 points! Once again, he suppressed the momentum of the Los Angeles Lakers! The Lakers had no chance. There was no way the Warriors would let them score 9 points in less than a minute. LeBron only had 13 seconds left before he lost to Roger for the 55th time in a row!"

Mike Breen was as excited as the Warriors fans at the scene. Their blood pressure was probably higher than the height of all the players on the court.

But after delivering this final blow, Roger just wiped the sweat from his forehead and winked at Kobe and James who were standing there in a daze.

The God of Basketball is simply controlling the court as he pleases.

That's it.

This was nothing to get excited about, he was already in another realm.

(End of this chapter)