Champions Creed

Chapter 72 071: Michael, you have changed! (Please give me a monthly ticket!)

Michael Jordan felt that he was ready for everything. The only awkward thing was that he had to wear No. 45 next season.

After all, No. 23 has been retired. Normally, even if Jordan himself returns, he cannot take off that jersey.

Although No. 45 also means a lot to Jordan, he is more accustomed to No. 23 in the Chicago Bulls.

But it doesn't matter. Jordan feels that the jersey number will not be an obstacle for him.

No matter what size he wore, he swore that he would tear those two rude bastards Roger and O'Neill into pieces and throw them into the meat grinder!

One of them yelled that he wanted to go back to the baseball field, and the other yelled that no one wanted to meet them.

So audacious!

Jordan walked into the training ground of the Beto Center under the gaze of reporters, his eyes full of murderous intent.

When they saw Jordan coming in, everyone on the Bulls team became nervous instantly. They all knew that from today on, the good days were over.

Phil Jackson did not schedule a practice game on the second day of training camp, but Jordan arranged one himself.

He needs competitiveness, he needs the whole team to be competitive.

Chris Webber performed very well in the training game. He could shoot and pass the ball.

Except that his defensive positioning is not that good, he basically meets Jordan's requirements.

This makes Jordan full of confidence for the new season. He told reporters: "I don't care what two young and energetic young people say. I only know that Chicago will be great again."

Weber was also happy. Did you see that? Michael really likes me!
Okay, enough of the verbal battle, fans now just want the new season to start as soon as possible.

Roger thought so too, but time had to pass day by day and the training camp had to continue.

In fact, Roger quite enjoyed this year's training camp. The training camp here is completely different from that of the Bulls.

First of all, Roger can learn new things in this training camp.

Although Ron Harper is no longer the star guard who averaged 20+ points per game, he has a deep understanding of defense. Most importantly, he is very happy to guide Roger on the defensive end.

This was an experience Roger had never had with the Bulls.

The only person in Chicago who was qualified to coach Roger on perimeter defense was Pippen, but that guy never mentioned it.

With Harper's guidance and Spoelstra's diligent editing and annotation, Roger's one-on-one defense has improved greatly.

Secondly, Roger discovered that everyone in this team had a common goal - to kill Jordan!
This makes the team's cohesion very good.

Last season in the Bulls, at the beginning of training camp, everyone had different goals. Veterans like Cartwright just wanted to hang out, Pippen wanted to be the boss, and Roger wanted to win as much as possible.

The different goals made the whole team loose and disorganized.

The Magic were a different story. Ron Harper and Jordan were friends in private, but he always wanted to defeat Jordan on the court.

The story he often tells everyone is: "If the coach had sent me to defend the last game between the Bulls and the Cavaliers in 89, there would be no The shot! Michael, he is not that strong at all!"

Horace Grant also often talked to Roger about Jordan, of course, nothing good was said about him.

"Yeah, I think Michael is a complete asshole too!"

"It's true. He really didn't allow me to eat. Fuck, do you think he's still a human being?"

"I swear I didn't leak anything about him, and he said I was a snitch, which is an absolute lie. If Michael has a grudge against me, let's deal with it like men. Let's talk, or we can solve it some other way. But he just accused me of it without any basis!
Yes, I have always been good friends with Sam Smith, the author of The Jordan Rule, but it is my freedom to make friends with whomever I want. You can't just accuse me of this."

"Scott is such a good little dog. In the past, Scott and I had the best relationship in the locker room. But gradually, he deliberately got closer and closer to Jordan and distanced himself from me, as if he no longer needed me as a friend after getting closer to the center of power."

"Roger, seriously, I really want to see that damn bastard lose for once!"

Roger could see that Grant was having a great time in Orlando.

In Chicago, he had to swallow his anger. Last season in Dallas, he had no one to talk to.

This year, he finally found Roger, a "confidant" who was also poisoned by Pippen and Jordan.

Regardless, this hatred made Horace Grant extremely serious in training.

He has only one demand, and that is to kill the fucking Chicago Bulls!
He wants to tell Jordan and Pippen that you two are not that great!

Derek McKay is also a typical victim of Jordan. Although he never met Jordan in the playoffs, he did play against Jordan many times in the regular season during his time with the Supersonics.

Naturally, Jordan also gave me friendly greetings.

"Hey, you're the most fucking crappy defender I've ever seen. Why would your mother give birth to a piece of crap like you?"

"Are you the only one in the SuperSonics? What a pathetic team!"

"Don't you understand, poor creature? The only one who can defend me is myself."

What’s even worse is that the Supersonics really can’t beat the Bulls, and they have always lost more than they won.

The last time McKay beat Jordan was in November 89!
This undoubtedly made Jordan more arrogant.

He doesn't like Jordan, never did.

His most common saying in the locker room is: "If there is anyone in the world who can punish Michael, it must be Roger and Shaq! So brothers, we have come to the right place!"

It seems that the world has suffered from Qiao Pi for a long time.

Everyone wanted to send Jordan to hell, which filled the team with energy throughout training camp.

Roger had never experienced this feeling with the Bulls, the feeling of everyone running towards the same goal.

There is no need to be suspicious of each other, no need to worry about teammates suddenly speaking differently during interviews, and no need to worry about a retired Magic star mocking you.

Everyone just needs to train peacefully and work towards a common goal.

This tight feeling makes everyone feel comfortable.

Such an atmosphere solved a problem that Pat Williams had always been worried about - the team got along very quickly after the major changes!

So in the preseason, the Magic won all the games to their delight.

Roger and O'Neal only played 20 minutes per game, but it still couldn't stop the Magic from crushing their opponents one by one.

What about the Chicago Bulls?

Problems started to arise.

In the third preseason game against the Suns, the Bulls were trailing by one point with three seconds left, and Chris Webber got two free throws.

Then, as expected, the overly nervous Webber missed both free throws at this critical moment.

Fun fact: Webber's free throw percentage never exceeded 60% before joining the Kings.

In his first season with the Kings, Webber's free throw percentage was only 45.4%, which is equivalent to Ben Wallace's level.

In the end, the Bulls lost to the Suns because of the two missed free throws. Charles Barkley laughed wildly on the court and teased his old friend Jordan: "Although it's only the preseason, why do I feel that the Bulls are not as strong as last season? In the opening game of last season, the Bulls beat us. Michael, if you really can't do it, go back to playing baseball."

Michael Jordan was sitting on the sidelines, watching everything silently.

Someone is going to be in trouble.

After the game, the Bulls players changed clothes in the locker room. The atmosphere was not serious, after all, it was just a preseason game.

Webber was upset about missing two free throws in the final moments, but fortunately he had a good overall performance, with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks.

He's become more integrated into the triangle offense, and he loves playing in this system.

Michael Jordan walked back to the locker room, he didn't look happy. He walked up to Webber and slapped the water bottle in Webber's hand, "You idiot, you don't deserve to drink water! If I were you, I would practice 100 free throws right now! We all lost this damn game because of your incompetence! Get out, get out of here, you can only drink water after practice!"

Weber was stunned.

Before, Jordan had always been polite to him and said nice things about him in front of the media, so he thought he and Jordan would get along very well.

But. Why is he more aggressive than Shaq now?
Are all men so realistic? They don’t know how to cherish what they get!
You should be gentle with her before you get her, but after you get her, you should stand up and ride her, right? ?

Michael, you have changed!
"Michael, I"

"Shut up, I don't want to hear your excuses! You incompetent bastard, now you know why you had to sacrifice so much chips to be traded? Because you are too incompetent, so incompetent that you can't even do the simplest thing like free throws! Before the regular season, you'd better improve your damn free throw percentage, you'd better do it!"

It’s a pity that Webber is not Roger, otherwise Jordan would have a pair of titanium dog eyes now.

Jordan thought his coaching could make his teammates better, but he may not have taken into account Webber's already fragile heart.

Last season, Webber's free throw shooting percentage was 53%, and psychological factors played a big role. With no one guarding him and everyone watching him shoot, Webber was extremely nervous.

This season, under Jordan's excellent coaching, the already nervous Webber's free throw percentage will definitely change dramatically.

On the one hand, there is rapid integration with the same goal.

On one hand, there is a depressing atmosphere under high pressure.

From the very beginning, the gap between the Magic and the Bulls was already apparent.

I said that trading Roger was the dumbest decision in the world. Look, we lost three preseason games. What's even sadder is that Orlando won all of those preseason games! - Chicago Tribune

Michael is still Michael, except for the change from No. 23 to No. 45, nothing else is different. But the Bulls are no longer the same Bulls. Michael looked back and saw that the only person who fought with him during the three consecutive championships was Scott Pippen. In this situation, can Michael still succeed? - Sports Illustrated.

Michael said that if he was replaced by Roger, the team would win the championship. But as it stands now, the team's goal should be the Eastern Conference Finals. - The New York Times

ESPN Magazine also released a power ranking for the new season.

The defending champion Rockets ranked first, followed by the Orlando Magic.

The Bulls are not in third place, they can only rank fourth below the New York Knicks.

All this is because the Bulls' defense has declined. The presence of Chris Webber has not solved the Bulls' most pressing defensive problem at the power forward position.

Jordan thought that as long as he returned, he could control the world again.

But after his return, the media are still talking about Roger, as if nothing has changed!

Jordan's biggest wish at this time was to defeat the damn Orlando Magic.

The Magic's biggest wish is to defeat the Chicago Bulls.

It can be said that it was a two-way journey.

But neither side can get what they want, because in the opening game, the Magic's opponent is the Houston Rockets and the Bulls' opponent is the New York Knicks.

Stern believes that such cross-pairing will further whet the appetite of football fans.

Well, Roger is also excited about Olajuwon as his opponent.

The pain of last season's finals was still vivid in his mind. He tried his best, but in the end, he could only leave a scar on Dream.

Roger worked hard last summer, not only for Jordan, but also to make Dream feel more pain.

This game will be played in Houston, and Dream still has a high opinion of Roger:

"I believe he has improved a lot. He is the worst opponent for the opening game. We have to play this game as if it were the finals."

Olajuwon was friendly, but Roger was not going to take it lightly.

Because he knew what the result of the 95 Finals was. The Magic couldn't win a single game against Olajuwon.

Moreover, O'Neal was actually restricted very uncomfortably. At first glance, his data is not bad, but 5.3 turnovers is very heartbreaking.

If Roger wants to win the game, he has to show stronger takeover ability than 95 Hardaway when the Sharks are in trouble.

What were Hardaway's stats in the 95 Finals? 50% shooting and 25 points per game, not bad.

And Roger has to do better on this basis!
O'Neal was very happy when he arrived in Houston.

He felt he could do something big.

To this end, he deliberately spun Thomas on the ground five minutes before the game started, stealing the limelight from the championship ring awarding ceremony.

But five minutes into the game, O'Neal started complaining.

"Damn it, I didn't even have a chance to start! Hakim, that coward, if he had the guts to fight me one on one, what's the use of constantly flanking me? He doesn't even dare to fight me one on one!"

That's Shark, he can be laughing one second and furious the next.

Although he is a big guy, he has the temper of a child.

Brian Hill originally wanted O'Neal to open up the situation in the interior first, draw in the Rockets' defense, and then let Roger comfortably kill the game one-on-one.

But the Sharks had a hard time playing in the paint. After five minutes, the Magic were already 5 points behind.
It seems that the strategy needs to be reversed.

"Roger, you take over the offense next. If Hakeem doesn't come out to help, you beat them hard. If Olajuwon comes out, you pass it to Shaq, okay?"

"No problem." Roger nodded.

At that moment, the Shark who was just angry smiled again: "Hit them hard, Roger. You can shoot as much as you want and I will grab the rebound for you. Hit them hard and let the defending champions have a taste of our power!"

Of course O'Neal was excited. In the past two seasons, when he was in trouble, the only ones he could count on were wimps like Nick Anderson and Chris Webber.

But now, he had Roger.

His dream teammate.

The timeout ends and the game resumes.

Chris Webber's good days have just begun, but the defending champion's good days are over.

The performance of the historic duo has officially begun!

(End of this chapter)