Champions Creed

Chapter 45: Winning is right, this is the truth!
Chinese fans were all staring at the TV intently at this moment. Sun Zhengping's familiar voice added a bit of tension to the game:

"The game is restarted. Now it's the Warriors' guard, No. 1 Hardaway, who is in control of the ball. The Warriors are trailing by two points, 106 to 108. The game is at a critical moment. Let's see if China's 2-year-old Roger can defend against Hardaway's attack."

Today's game not only attracted much attention in the United States, but also became the highest-rated game in China since the NBA started broadcasting.

Since Roger entered the league, CCTV began to broadcast two NBA games every weekend, which quickly spread the NBA's popularity in the country.

This match between Penny and Roger pushed the popularity of NBA in China to its first climax.

Sometimes you have to admire Stern's marketing ability. The story of the competition for Jordan's successor made fans in China for the first time develop the habit of setting the alarm clock and getting up to watch the game on weekends.

For Chinese fans, this story is now very likely to have a perfect ending.

But for Warriors fans, it was not so wonderful tonight. Roger's outrageous goal made them fall behind by two points at the most critical moment.

Although Roger's goal was ridiculous and unreasonable, all Warriors fans hope that Penny can lead the team out of trouble with an exciting attack like Roger did.

Penny controlled the ball outside the three-point line, lowered his center of gravity, and was ready to break through. Just when the Warriors fans were excited and thought that Penny was finally going to attack, he pushed with one hand and made a very fast pass, giving the ball to the "God's Left Hand" who ran out of space.

There was nothing wrong with Penny's shot because Mullin did run into an open space.

just
So far today, Mullin has only made 11 of 2 shots. Although it is not a zero, it is still considered a half-living Buddha.

Chris Mullin shot the ball as soon as he caught it, and Meyers' interference was too slow. Whether this shot could go in or not was a test of Mullin's own touch.

"boom."

Unfortunately, Mullin still couldn't find the feeling and shot 12 out of 2!

All the Warriors fans in the stadium covered their heads with their hands. Penny was clearly playing the most reasonable and formal basketball in their eyes, but now they couldn't laugh at all.

Seeing Penny pass the ball to Mullin but miss the shot, NBC commentator Jones shook his head: "Well, from the perspective of rationality, Anfernee's choice just now is completely fine. But at this critical moment, can he attack on his own? Basketball games are not math problems. There is no so-called correct answer. Sometimes, you just have to be more aggressive!"

Soon, the radical ones came.

Kukoc grabbed the rebound and passed it directly to Roger.

Roger ran to the frontcourt, changed direction and tried to shake off the madman, then directly passed the ball and made a layup.

Sprewell was not shaken off this time. He stayed in front of Roger from beginning to end and gave Roger a very tough confrontation.

At the same time, Hardaway, who was guarding Cole in the corner, also moved up, wanting to work together with the madman to complete the double-team.

Roger immediately took a step toward Kerr and pushed the ball out with both hands. It seemed that Roger was finally forced to pass the ball.

But just as Hardaway raised his arm to steal the ball, Roger took his second step toward the basket, quickly retrieved the ball with both hands, and jumped to score. After fooling the two with a fake pass, Roger continued to score!
"Roger's tough performance has given the Bulls a 4-point lead! Anfernee must respond, he has no room to escape now!" The on-site commentator Jones was very excited, while on the sidelines, Old Neil was very angry.

"Stupid defense! You are like stupid pigs that can be slaughtered! Double-team harder and don't hesitate! Put pressure on him and he will make a mistake in passing!"

Next to old Nelson, Warriors assistant coach Gregg Popovich, who had his hair combed meticulously, sighed.

It's no use, that guy can't pass the ball. No matter how much pressure you put on him, he will shoot!

Before today, Popovich always thought that Nelson was the craziest lunatic in basketball history.

In the 1991 playoffs, the 44-win Warriors relied on an average of 101 possessions per game to defeat the 55-win Spurs. That was the first time Popovich saw Nelson's madness.

And today, in Popovich's view, someone crazier than old Nelson appeared.

He could tell that the 18-year-old would be a problem for the entire league. Yes, his defense was as bad as Penny's, and his passing vision was close to blindness in Popovich's eyes. But he could do the most essential thing in basketball, that is, putting the basketball into the basket, to the extreme.

After successfully scoring, Roger continued to defend Penny and turned to look at Nelson: "Hey Donny, will Penny be unhappy that I scored so many points?"

At this time, Warriors fans hoped that Penny would play a little bit unreasonably like Roger, and the commentator on the scene cheered for Roger's unreasonable shots.

The reputation has changed.

Roger not only has to win the game today, but also has to use his own hands to shut up those who criticize him for playing too independently!
Penny still failed to be aggressive. This time he rushed to the basket and jumped up, then passed the ball to Alexander in the air.

But the 206-centimeter center failed to finish the shot despite Green's tough confrontation.

The Warriors' offense failed again!
In his rookie season, Penny didn't know what responsibility was. In fact, many veterans who have played for more than ten years may not understand this.

Those who criticized Roger began to doubt their lives at this time. Penny played the most reasonable basketball, while Roger's shots at the last moment were simply nonsense. But now, the Warriors are getting further and further away from victory!
With less than a minute left in the game, Winter reminded the Zen Master that he should call a timeout: "We need to let Roger calm down. The Warriors will double-team him again! The next time he takes a shot, he may not be so lucky."

Winter was always nervous. In his opinion, Roger's unreasonable shots were scored with a lot of luck. But Phil Jackson was not the kind of coach who liked to interrupt the rhythm of the game with a timeout, not to mention that the Bulls were leading now. Calling a timeout at this time would give the Warriors a chance to breathe.

He just stood on the sidelines with his arms folded across his chest and let Roger figure it out on his own.

In this round, Roger relied on the madman to break through to a position one step inside the free throw line, but due to his limited confrontation ability, Roger was finally stopped by the madman who did not lose his position.

At the same time, Hardaway and Billy Owens both double-teamed Roger who had already stopped the ball.

The NBC commentator couldn't believe his eyes: "I actually saw an 18-year-old kid being triple-teamed more than once in the NBA!"

Even Roger had to pass on the message under the circumstances.

But when Roger looked up, he could see nothing but six long arms and the basket!
Sometimes, not passing the ball does not necessarily mean that you don’t want to pass the ball, but it may simply be that you can’t find your teammates.

Roger didn't want to make a mistake, he would rather miss the shot. After all, if he missed the shot now, his teammates would most likely get the offensive rebound.

Since you can only see the basket, then find the basket!

So Roger's next move made even the Zen Master, who was used to seeing incredible goals, open his eyes wide.

When Roger was forced to stop, he jumped up from the spot facing a triple-team, did a pull-up motion in the air, avoided six arms, and then lifted the ball towards the basket!
When the Zen master saw this scene, he couldn't help but recite a poem: "How can I bear to blame him for making a mistake? It was me who allowed him to be too free!"

It’s all my fault for indulging this child too much!
Although he could accept Roger's autocratic approach, this shot was too messy.

In Phil Jackson's memory, only the Iceman could guarantee the success rate of such cool operations as jumping on the spot and pulling the lever.

That’s right, Iceman.

Roger has not yet developed a young girl, but his development of the peak ice man has gradually matured.

Roger jumped up from the spot and kicked the ball with a pull-up lever while being double-teamed. The basketball flew towards the basket, and after spinning around the basket for a few times, it finally fell into the net!
"40 points! Roger broke Clifford Robinson's record of 19 years and 362 days, becoming the youngest 40-point scorer in NBA history! His self-willed attack completely pierced the Warriors! Although he missed three consecutive shots before, at the critical moment, Roger scored 6 points in a row! He is a real killer. Without Scott, he completely released himself!"

After the ball went in, Nelson used his last timeout.

Roger did not leave the court after the game was suspended. He stood in front of the stands and pointed at his feet in front of all the Warriors fans: "Winning is the right way to play, this is the truth!"

There were no more boos from the Oakland Arena; the venue had been completely conquered.

That night, watching Roger pointing at the floor and yelling at the fans, the Zen Master had a hunch that this kid was destined to be great.

Yes, he has a bad temper, he doesn't like to pass the ball, he has 40 points and 0 assists. Compared with the friendly and team-oriented Penny, he should have no chance of winning.

But not passing the ball, having a bad temper, these are irrelevant. Because these are just tools for others to use when you fail, not the key to judging whether a player is great. In the NBA, the most important thing is winning.

Roger is much stronger than Penny in achieving victory!

The Zen Master turned to look at Winter, who had just suggested that he use a timeout to calm Roger down, and shrugged.

Winter felt that Roger's random shots were successful because of luck.

But the Zen Master told him: "We don't need Lucky Tex, because we hold the truth of victory."

Well, if O'Neal patented this nickname, he could eat for the rest of his life without having to play basketball.

Meanwhile, Klaus completely climaxed in his boss chair.

But he felt that the climax had not yet arrived.

Roger had already won the game. As the youngest player to score 40 points, he defeated Jordan's chosen successor. So later, the reporters on the sidelines will definitely ask Roger questions related to this.

So, how would Roger respond to Jordan?
All Klaus knew was that Roger wasn't the type to respond in a submissive way.

Even if he was facing Michael Jordan.

He was already looking forward to Roger and Jordan's first remote interaction.

What Krause didn't know was that when Pippen and Roger confronted each other with guns drawn a few months ago, Jordan and Roger's first remote interaction was actually a loss.

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Thanks to Paji’s father, Yu Yian, and book friend 20191108171209875 for their rewards. Thank you very much!

(End of this chapter)