Champions Creed

Chapter 52: If you can fight, then fight. If you can’t, let me lead you to victory!
Chicago fans were severely disappointed as the Bulls beat the Suns, their opponent in last season's finals, but were unable to beat the New York Knicks, their opponent in the Eastern Conference finals.

Scott Pippen got the spotlight he wanted, but all everyone was talking about was his lousy singles.

In the words of The New York Times: "There's nothing wrong with Scott. He's just not strong enough."

Chicago fans don't want to blame Pippen. Although Pippen made a lot of random shots, at least he didn't make any iron-blooded layups in garbage time. He lost with dignity.

It is even less likely that Chicago fans will blame Roger for only scoring 15 points. Considering that Roger did not take many shots today, they could not ask Roger to score more points.

Who can they blame? They can only blame the damn fate that caused James Jordan to die tragically in the car.

Otherwise, Pat Riley wouldn't dare to speak to the Bulls in this tone now.

Remember the decisive battle in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, when Jordan sent the Knicks into hell with a triple-double of 29 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.

At the end of the game, Pat Riley, the godfather of basketball who created the Showtime era, was at a loss for the first time in front of the media, with a blank look in his eyes: "Feeling? I don't know, I don't know. At the end of the game, I just felt that the whole Madison Square Garden seemed to be sinking."

How terrified he was at that time.

Now? He's even more arrogant.

Seeing their former defeated team now so arrogant, Chicago fans truly realized that this team is different.

After this game, Chicago fans and media began to really miss that man.

I miss the man who beat the Knicks to a pulp.

In this atmosphere, the topic of "Will Michael come back" has become hot again.

Although his eye surgery went well, the chances of Michael returning are slim. In any case, we have to get used to Michael's absence. Look ahead, at least we still have Roger. - Chicago Post

The championship is not hopeless, but it is not as stable as when Michael was there. We can't always live in the glory of the past. - Chicago Tribune

Although Roger and Jordan didn't get along, he didn't mind that Chicagoans missed that bastard.

However, one of the reports in these news about missing Jordan made Roger very angry.

Roger may be a gift from God, a compensation left for us after Michael left. But if the Bulls traded Roger for Michael from the White Sox, we would immediately become a true championship team. I mean, Michael Jordan is irreplaceable. Okay, maybe Roger is not a gift. Maybe Michael wanted to come back, but Roger's elbow that broke Michael's orbital bone made all the possibilities come to naught. - Chicago Sun-Times

Roger had a good first impression of the Chicago Sun-Times because their sports columnist Lacey Banks was the first local reporter to interview Roger.

But later, the Chicago Sun-Times seemed to have discovered the traffic password and repeatedly used Roger to create topics.

When Roger and Pippen had a conflict, this newspaper was the first to jump out and hype the matter: "If the Bulls had acquired Anfernee, the team would not have these troubles at all."

Now, they have to flatter Jordan by stepping on themselves, and try to portray themselves as the culprit who caused Michael to never return.

Roger only knew before that some people couldn't write books without James, but this was the first time he knew that there were people who couldn't write news without him.

He understood Chicago people's feelings towards Jordan, even though in Roger's eyes he was no different from those rubbish leaders who liked to engage in workplace bullying.

But he didn't want to be portrayed as the stone under Jordan's feet when the media expressed their feelings for Jordan.

Roger was upset by the Sun's comments, but this did not affect his extra training.

After the afternoon training, Roger did not go home as usual.

He stayed on the training ground and continued to practice off-ball offense with the help of Abunassar.

Now the whole world knows that Roger is the most dangerous 1-on-1 player in the league, so it will definitely become more and more difficult for him to play comfortably in singles.

What Abunassar needs to do now is to further strengthen Roger's off-ball offense so that he can switch the rhythm at will with and without the ball in the future.

So, Roger was forced to watch the game videos of Bird and Miller every day, and Abunassar was almost using a device similar to the one in "A Clockwork Orange" to force Roger's eyelids open.

It has reached the point where Roger wants to vomit when he sees Bird's face, even though he has never met Bird. If the time is turned back to 1984, Roger would be very willing to help Dr. J throw those old punches on Bird's face.

Roger's reaction was not surprising. After watching too many movies with the same female teacher, one would want to change his taste. What's more, Roger watched videos of two male teachers every day.

After watching the video, it’s time to do some sweaty exercises.

Long-distance running around the pole, changing speed to get rid of it, catching the ball and shooting under extreme fatigue.
Off-ball offense cannot be mastered overnight, but with Roger's talent, well, with the Iceman's talent, Roger's progress is still very fast.

After a set of high-intensity off-ball offensive training, Roger was exhausted. When he was about to leave the Beto Center after the training, he met a reporter: "Roger, I'm from the Chicago Sun-Times."

As soon as Roger heard the name of the newspaper, he didn't want to pay any attention to the reporter.

Finding Roger ignoring him, the reporter chased him and shouted, "Do you think Michael has a chance to come back after your elbow to the eye?"

"None of my business."

"You're training so late, are you trying to replace Michael? The last time you broke his orbital bone, were you trying to send that message? But you know you can't do it. You can't even beat the Knicks like him."

Hearing this, Roger, who was about to get in the car, stopped and turned to walk towards the reporter.

Abunasa knew Roger's temper, so he quickly chased after him: "Young man, don't be so impulsive!"

Abunassar was afraid that Roger would hit the reporter, but Roger's IQ was obviously higher than Artest's. At least he knew that in the NBA, players could hit anyone, but it was best not to touch other people.

"The only thing I can tell you about Michael is, don't always associate Michael Jordan's affairs with me! Also, without him, we still have a chance to beat the Knicks in the playoffs. I don't need him to provide me with shelter! Michael is a great player, but he is not a god!"

After that, Roger got into the back seat of his Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and Abunassar acted as a driver to take Roger away from the Beto Center.

The next day, as expected, Roger's rebellious speech spread across the United States.

Michael Jordan still disliked Roger, and he gritted his teeth as he read the disrespectful words about him in the newspaper.

Pat Riley didn't take Roger seriously. He didn't think a rookie could shake his iron wall of defense.

There is another coach who has the same mentality. He even despises rookies more than Pat Riley:

"Roger is still too immature, both mentally and technically. If he plays college basketball for two years, everything will be different. That kid said he can beat the Knicks without Michael? Hahahaha, the Eastern Conference is not as simple as he thinks. Let me be frank, the Eastern Conference is no longer Chicago's backyard. You will see in the next game."

Larry Brown adjusted his glasses during an interview before the game. He was full of confidence about the next game against the Bulls.

He really enjoyed teaching such arrogant newcomers a lesson.

The Zen Master only responded with one sentence before the game: "In the next game, I will unleash Roger's offensive power."

As for how to liberate, only Pippen knows.

Because just ten minutes ago, a series of friendly conversations took place in the Bulls locker room.

At that time, the Zen Master found Pippen, who had increased his number of shots and singles after his comeback, and directly confronted him:

"Put away those meaningless singles that have inexplicably increased, Scott. You've already done enough attacking since your comeback. And don't you see it? If we want to win, we have to find Roger on the offensive end! The previous offense was too chaotic. Now, we have to prioritize scoring on the offensive end."

Pippen knew he would not be the main attacker for the Zen Master, so he retorted dissatisfiedly: "A lot? I still think my number of shots is too few."

Then, Roger yelled:
"Scott, if you can fight, then fight. If you can't, then let me lead you to victory! Maybe you like Pat Riley and Larry Brown teasing us like they tease strippers, but I don't like it!
Just because we don't have MJ, should our entire team be treated like a bunch of garbage? I've had enough!

Pat Riley, Larry Brown, and a lot of the coaches in the East, they all thought they could do whatever they wanted to us without MJ, but I say, screw you!
We have come to where we are today, in the top three in the Eastern Conference, not because of Michael who specializes in signing autographs on the baseball field!

We can take care of those damn assholes ourselves and show them that other players on the Bulls besides Michael are worthy of respect!

We must win the next game!

Scott, what else do you want to say?"

Pippen had no objection at the time because the emotions of the whole team were aroused by Roger. They swore and shouted to win back respect.

Most importantly, Pippen saw Roger clench his fists again.

Whether Pippen admits it or not, the fact is that Roger is leading the locker room!
This time, Roger personally promoted Scott Pippen to the position, ushering in an epic consolidation.

We are full of confidence, not only the Pacers, but also the Knicks, we are all confident of winning! ——Tony Kukoc was extremely excited in the interview.

Roger is an outstanding young leader. I can’t say that he has replaced MJ, but he will never let a 20-point loss in a single game happen again. — Cartwright commented on Roger.

Coach Larry Brown suggested that I play college basketball for two years? That's a good suggestion, don't suggest it again next time. We will take down the Pacers. Larry Brown tried to use Michael Jordan as an excuse to cover up his previous failure. And I will tear off his fig leaf and tell the world that his failure has nothing to do with Michael. Because even an 18-year-old rookie like me can make him fail! He is just a simple vegetable. - Roger answered the last question in front of reporters before leaving for Indianapolis.

(End of this chapter)