Champions Creed

Chapter 90: Secrets Beyond Basketball (asking for monthly tickets!)
In the third year of his professional career, Shaquille O'Neal experienced the taste of winning a playoff series for the first time.

After this series, he gave himself a new nickname: Big Aristotle.

"Because Aristotle once said that excellence is not an act but a habit, I will make winning series a habit," O'Neal said with a smile at the press conference.

Of course, Shark's confidence does not only come from himself. He patted Roger on the shoulder:

"See the man next to me? When you have a teammate who can score 40 points in the first half, you understand what excellence is a habit. I call him the Great Plato, because without Plato there would be no Aristotle."

Shark was very excited, in contrast to Roger, who showed no obvious emotional change after defeating the Celtics.

But his words, "We are three games closer to the championship," have already made his attitude clear.

He must have the last laugh this year!
Roger and O'Neill were both very successful, but the human essence of the film who was defeated by them was a bit miserable.

Dominique Wilkins burst into tears at a press conference: "I'm afraid my NBA career is over."

The 35-year-old Wilkins was surprised because no NBA team has been interested in signing him so far.

Wilkins feels that he has already put his attitude very low. After all, he is 35 years old, he has experienced a ruptured Achilles tendon injury, and his average points and shooting percentage this season have both created career lows.

But in the context of a sharp increase in the salary cap in the summer of 95, it was reasonable for me to ask for $400 million a year, right?
However, the most frustrating thing in this world is that you have lowered your expectations, but the reality is even lower than you expected.

Even at 400 million a year, no NBA team was willing to sign Wilkins.

The Celtics stated early on that they would not renew his contract at a price of 400 million.

He originally wanted to prove himself with his outstanding performance in the playoffs, but who knew that young people nowadays would be so reckless.

In the first game, we lost by 40 points.

Are you still human?
He has fought with Jordan and Bird in his life, but he didn't expect that the ones who would eventually eliminate him would be two young men he had never heard of for most of his career.

He once fought with Bird's Celtics to a seventh game in 88, but was eliminated by this era in a very cruel way.

The next day, Jordan looked at the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated and was furious.

The cover of this issue is a photo of Roger and O'Neal, and the headlines on the cover are:
"The New York Knicks advance to the second round with ease."

"For the eighth time in his career, John Stockton has become the man with the most assists titles in NBA history."

"1995 NBA Draft Predictions."

"Dominique Wilkins may be a tragic foreshadowing for some people."

Jordan opened the last article and saw that it was indeed written by the damn Andrew Sharp.

Ever since he tasted the sweetness of revealing Jordan's All-Star freeze incident, Andrew Sharp always likes to make sarcastic remarks about Jordan in his articles.

Basically, I have achieved the goal of not mentioning it in every sentence, but not leaving it out in every sentence.

How could there be such an author? Such a hateful person should be exiled to Detroit!

Look, in today's article, Andrew Sharp is once again using the best of the movies that were eliminated to make indirect accusations.

"Dominic used to be the best scorer in the league. In fact, last season, his average points per game ranked in the top five in the league. But for veterans like them, collapse sometimes happens in an instant. Those former scoring champions, no matter how many times they have won, can't help you win the series. Roger and Shark are destroyers of the old order."

Jordan threw the Sports Illustrated in his hand into the trash can: "Damn it, don't bring this kind of garbage magazine into the locker room in the future! Who buys it? Throw it all away!"

Nick Anderson opened the cabinet helplessly and took out a stack of Sports Illustrated magazines.

The whole locker room knew that this was an extremely stupid decision. Throwing away Sports Illustrated would not make the Bulls better. Anderson was also very reluctant: "Well said Michael! We should burn all these damn magazines. They are full of lies!"

Nick Anderson is a man who follows his heart.

Jordan glanced at Nick Anderson's pile of Sports Illustrated issues and added, "Wait, except for the swimsuit issue!"

In fact, throwing away Sports Illustrated is really useless, because not only Sports Illustrated, but many mainstream media believed that Roger and Shark would reshuffle the Eastern Conference after seeing the Magic's crushing victory in the first round of the playoffs.

But Jordan was not panicked at all, after all, the Magic's next opponent would not be him.

Beat me? Those two youngsters have to beat the Knicks first.

No rush, fight a proxy war with him first.

Chicago itself is safe for now.
-
In the 94-95 season, the Knicks ranked second in the Eastern Conference. But now, they can only rank fourth.

The Magic beat the Knicks three times in the regular season this season, and the Bulls with Jordan also beat the Knicks three times in the regular season.

This means the Knicks have 5 fewer regular season wins than their original record, to just 50.

But for the Knicks, the regular season ranking is not important.

No matter where they rank, they have to beat both the Bulls and Magic to get out of the East, there is no way around it.

What the ranking can determine is nothing more than the order in which the teams meet the Bulls and Magic.

The feud between Roger and Riley is well known to everyone. Last season, the legendary coach was beaten by Roger and his hair was messy and he went crazy on the sidelines. This scene is still talked about by fans.

People teased Riley, saying that he had finally survived the nightmare of Jordan, but fell into the nightmare of Roger.

The Chicago Bulls will be a shadow hanging over his head that can never be driven away.

This year, things got even more brutal for Riley.

Because his other nightmare, Michael Jordan, is back.

He had to face both Roger and Jordan in the playoffs.

But for Riley right now, his troubles are not just about those two bastards.

At this time, he was in the office of James Dolan, the new owner of the Knicks.

In 1994, Paramount Communications, which owned the Knicks, was acquired by Viacom.

Viacom sold the Knicks business to American Cable.

As the CEO of an American cable television company and responsible for the company's sports assets, James Dolan began his "glorious" career as an NBA team owner.

Pat Riley felt that this was an opportunity. This man who was always well-dressed had ambitions that were never as simple as being a coach leading troops into battle.

What he desires is absolute control.

He wanted to be someone like Michael Corleone who was in control of the situation, not a reckless thug like Sonny Corleone.

So Riley made a big request to the new boss who had just arrived.

"My conditions remain the same. I hope the Knicks can give me a five-year, $5 million contract. And, give me 5000% of the shares to buy. Finally, I also hope to gain personnel control of the Knicks. You know, Mr. Dolan, all of this is to make the Knicks great."

Riley wants to build the New York Knicks into his own basketball empire, and he is the top leader of this empire.

This team is not Patrick Ewing's Knicks, not James Dolan's Knicks, but Pat Riley's Knicks.

He has always had such ambitions. When he was on the Lakers, the players united to drive him away, which was just one of the triggers for his departure.

The more important reason is that Riley wants to extend his reach to the Lakers' equity.

For this, he was fired by Jerry Buss.

But last year, when Magic Johnson acquired a 4.5% stake from the Lakers, Riley smelled an opportunity.

Before this, team equity was the bottom line that every team owner adhered to and the core of his rights. But Magic's successful acquisition of the Lakers' equity made Riley feel that as long as he contributed enough, equity was no longer exclusive to the team owner.

Moreover, unlike the Buss family who completely depended on the Lakers, the New York Knicks was just one of the many assets of the Dolan family. So Riley thought that they might let go in order to keep him.

James Dolan has just entered the professional sports industry. In fact, two years ago, he was still suffering from alcohol and drug abuse. After being sent to a drug rehabilitation center in 93, his life got back on track.

Fortunately, his brain had not been damaged by alcohol and drugs.

Facing Pat Riley who kept making demands, James Dolan smiled with a hint of disdain. Although Riley wore an Armani suit and an expensive watch, in Dolan's eyes, he had no connection with the upper class at all.

No matter how fancy a chicken is dressed, no one will take it as a real partner.

"Mr. GQ (the nickname Riley got after appearing on the cover of GQ magazine), we all know how important you are to the New York Knicks, but I'm afraid we can't meet your needs." James Dolan replied in a friendly tone.

"So, you went back and studied it for a whole week, and called me here today just to tell me this?" Riley was a little angry.

"Look, I personally respect you very much, but the board of directors thinks that your request is too rude, and it's hard for me to convince those old men. The key to rejecting you is that they think forget it, you don't need to know that."

"What do they think?" Riley demanded.

Dolan raised his lips slyly: "They believe that a coach who has never led the New York Knicks to win a championship is not qualified to negotiate terms. Those rings with the Lakers only represent the past, not the present."

There is no such thing as an old man on the board of directors. This is what James Dolan really thinks. Are you qualified to negotiate with me?

But sometimes you have to be more tactful when you curse someone in front of them.

Riley clenched his fists; these words hit a sore spot.

In fact, in the three years after Riley came to New York, the New York Knicks were very close to success.

He led his team to defeat almost all opponents and even won 93 games in 60.

But he just couldn't beat those two guys - Roger and Jordan.

Riley's Knicks have only lost to these two guys in the playoffs.

The names of these two people drove Riley crazy.

He looked James Dolan straight in the eye and said, "What if we win the championship?"

"Then maybe I'll be more confident when I negotiate with the board. You know Pat, I've always been on your side. But even Phil Jackson, who got three rings in Chicago, didn't ask for so much from the Bulls. You have to at least let the Knicks get one ring, then I'll have the capital to speak for you."

Riley didn't say much, just got up and left Dolan's office.

It is such a shame that I am being compared with a speculator like Phil Jackson!
That afternoon, the Knicks players began to suffer.

The only difference between Pat Riley and the slave owners of the 19th century was that he didn't have a whip or a shotgun.

The fact that there are coaches like Pat Riley in this world proves that God is unfair. We have already become a civilized world, but serfdom has not been completely ended.

But God still has some conscience. At least he has never allowed these two nightmares, Pat Riley and Tom Thibodeau, to appear in the same team at the same time.

Under Riley's urging, the New York Knicks players appeared in the Orlando Arena with the same bloodthirsty spirit as last year.

In the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Magic continued their winning streak in the playoffs.

O'Neal scored 27 points and 11 rebounds in the game, and played very easily. Because the Knicks's slash-shark tactics tonight resulted in O'Neal making 9 of 9 free throws.

With Roger's 24 points, the Magic defeated the Knicks 94-81.

After the game, O'Neal happily boasted: "I am the center version of Pete Maravich. Fouling me is like pulling the trigger of a gun to your head!" But in Game 2, the Knicks immediately shut O'Neal up. The Knicks double-teamed O'Neal and fouled him early, forcing the Shark to take 17 free throws in a game, but he only made 5 of them.

Pat Riley, who was leading by six points at halftime, told reporters: "Shaq may not know that Pete's free throw shooting in the playoffs has been inconsistent."

But in the second half, another trouble came.

Roger's off-ball offense reminded Derek Harper, Anthony Mason and Starks of the despair of last year's Eastern Conference Finals.

Roger hit catch-and-shoot jumpers from all angles, scoring two points one after another at the fingertips of the Knicks' perimeter players.

NBC commentator Ian Iger reminded everyone: "New York is facing a team with two players who can score 26 points per game!"

In the regular season this season, Roger averaged 28.4 points per game and O'Neal averaged 26.1 points per game.

There is no other duo in the entire league with such explosive scoring ability.

With Roger's performance, the Magic gradually narrowed the score.

With 36 seconds left, the Knicks trailed by 2 points.

Pat Riley was sweating profusely. Including this year's regular season, Roger had killed the Knicks three times in critical moments.

It's not hard to imagine how nervous the Knicks are right now.

The New Yorkers focused all their attention on Roger and the Shark, but in the end, Ron Harper unexpectedly scored the crucial goal with a mid-range shot after a pick-and-roll with Horace Grant.

The 4-point difference remained until the end, and the Magic led the Knicks 2-0!
Pat Riley never expected that the Magic would give this attack to Harper, and Brian Hill successfully played a counter-tactic.

Harper was very happy: "You know, even though I averaged less than 10 points per game this season, this is the role that veterans play in the playoffs!"

Roger also did not forget to mock his old acquaintance Pippen: "Fortunately I did not refuse to play at the last moment, otherwise I would be embarrassed to celebrate with Ron."

So far, the Magic have won five consecutive games since entering the playoffs and are unstoppable.
Everyone believed that Roger and the Sharks would easily advance to the Eastern Conference Finals and even the Finals.

ESPN writer Howard Cooper even commented: "They may not lose a single game in the East."

Of course, there are also people who disagree.

USA Today columnist Sam Amick believes: "The Magic are not invincible. Roger and Shaq are just two strong individuals playing together. I don't think they are a real whole."

The comments of the reporters sparked discussions among the fans, but no one paid attention to what Pat Riley said at the press conference: "This is a seven-game series!"

The New York Knicks are, after all, the toughest team in the Eastern Conference.

Pat Riley, who was eager for power, would never allow his team to fall like this.

In G3 back at home, the Knicks indeed pulled one back.

In this game, Starks' touch improved and he scored 31 points. Together with Ewing's 28 points, the Knicks successfully got their revenge.

In G4, people found that the Knicks' defense was even more extreme.

When O'Neal received the ball, three people immediately surrounded him. When Roger received the ball, two people immediately surrounded him.

All other players on the Magic team could be released directly, even Harper, who contributed a near-game-winning shot in G2, would be released without hesitation.

This extreme defense unlocks the secret of the magical trick.

It is true that Roger and O'Neal are the most explosive scoring duo in the league, but besides them, the only player on the Magic team who averaged double digits was Horace Grant, who scored 12.9 points per game. There were only three players on the team who could score in double digits.

Among them, Horace Grant only averaged 12.9 points per game by taking advantage of the double-teaming of O'Neal and Roger, and his independent offensive ability was not strong either.

In order to protect Roger and the Shark last season, Pat Williams sent away almost all of the team's scorers, forming this defensive, tough and solid lineup, putting all the pressure on Roger and O'Neal for offense.

In the highly targeted playoffs, the flaws of this lineup were also revealed. From the second round to now, Roger and O'Neal have averaged more than 45 minutes per game.

Because under the tight defense of the Knicks, it is difficult for either of them to lead the transition lineup. If either of them leaves the court, it means that the Magic will only have one threatening offensive point on the court.

So, the Knicks had a crazy physical confrontation with Roger and the Shark.

Under the tight defense and physical test, Roger and O'Neal were unable to handle a large number of shots in the fourth quarter.

The muscle confrontation eroded Roger's touch, and O'Neal also had a hard time under the Knicks' fierce multi-man defense.

They were forced to give the shooting rights to the role players who were left open.

The result was that the Magic were defended to only 15 points throughout the fourth quarter, and the Knicks won the melee 94-88.

2-2, the New Yorkers tied the series at home, Pat Riley turned decay into magic,

The team's equity, the big contract, the supreme power, Riley feels that all of these are beckoning to him!

He was about to kill one of his mortal enemies!

In the post-match interview, Riley was very proud:
"You see, many media outlets were not optimistic about us before the game, but what about now?" Riley paused deliberately. He might even be waiting for applause. "I said it before, this is a seven-game series. We will never fall down easily after losing two games! What's important is not who gets out of the starting point first, but who gets through the finish line first!"

O'Neal and Roger are in a rather awkward situation now. This young duo is literally being roasted on the stove.

Before the series started, they were the favorites to win the championship in the eyes of all media. But now they have lost two games in a row. If they lose the third game, I am afraid the morale of the whole team will fall to the bottom. If they play a seventh game, they will most likely be slaughtered by the Knicks.

O'Neal couldn't imagine how long he would be ridiculed by the media if he lost this series. The most embarrassing thing in competitive sports is to die in a hot match.

Roger couldn't imagine how long he would be ridiculed by Jordan if he left the Bulls and couldn't beat the Knicks, maybe for the rest of his life.

In the decisive battle, with great pressure, the two young championship contenders are determined to defend the Oakland Arena.

But things didn't go well.

Roger had a very bad touch tonight. Five consecutive games of high-intensity muscle confrontation and more than 45 minutes of playing time in each game made it difficult for him to maintain his high shooting percentage.

What's worse is that Roger was a little too excited today. He was unwilling to be defended like this, as he scored easily most of the time, so his shots were a little out of control.

O'Neal let the gorilla Ewing easily score 25 points in three quarters. Ewing did not fight with the shark under the basket today, but played pick-and-roll with several guards. O'Neal, as always, retreated to the basket to gamble on the gorilla's touch.

He lost the bet.

Ewing had a great touch tonight and shot a David Robinson-level mid-range shot.

After three quarters, the score on the big screen made Orlando fans despair.

It also made the team's general manager Pat Williams and team owner Rich DeVos in the room extremely uncomfortable.

"They are still too young. Many people may have forgotten that Roger is only 19 and Shaq is only 23." Pat Williams spoke up to break the awkward silence in the room.

As the owner of the team, DeVos deliberately brought his family to watch the game today, hoping to have a good night and watch the team that he spent so much money to fill the salary space win. As a result, his team was killed in the third quarter.

This made him feel like all his money was wasted.

"What happened?" DeVos didn't understand basketball. He just knew that something must have gone wrong as they were trailing by 17 points after three quarters.

"Uh, Roger's shooting wasn't very good tonight, and Shaq's defense was also..." Pat Williams actually wanted to know what the hell was going on!
"I think we need to think carefully about their contract extension, Pat. You're right, they're too young." DeVos said, smiling again, facing his family, "Hey, who wants to play Ludo?"

The game no longer appealed to him.

The atmosphere on the Magic bench was even more dead.

Roger and O'Neal were gasping for breath on the bench. They were once expected to make it to the finals with ease, but now they are in danger of losing all their face.

They all know very well what the consequences will be if they lose this round of the series. They will become the laughing stock of the whole world, just like George Karl who was eliminated in the first round last year.

Brian Hill was furious: "Damn it, is this our fate? No! Gentlemen, raise your heads!"

Obviously, that's not how chicken soup is fed, and his speech had no effect.

Finally, Roger said what everyone wanted to say but no one dared to say: "Shaquille, what the hell are you defending? Seriously? Patrick Ewing is averaging only 23 points per game this season, and he scored 25 points on your head in three quarters!"

O'Neal looked at Roger, threw away the towel in his hand, and said something that everyone wanted to say but no one dared to say: "How many shots did you miss today? Shut up!"

Ron Harper had only one feeling at the time: this team was finished.

Orlando's championship dream ended here.

Not just this game, not just this season.

This whole team is finished.

It was not only Harper who thought so at this time. Even coach Brian Hill was stunned and didn't know how to calm the anger of the two core players.

But then, the plot developed in an unexpected direction.

Roger looked at the shark seriously, and his tone softened: "OK, I did take too many shots today. Next, I will use the breakthrough to pass the ball to you, but you should also move a few steps away when defending the pick-and-roll, okay? We have to win, Shaq. Don't you want Grandma Odessa to be proud of you? We have to win!"

Hearing Grandma Odessa, the anger in O'Neal's eyes disappeared instantly: "I know, man, I will watch that bastard to death, and Patrick Ewing will not be a problem. You are right, we have to win."

After that, Roger and O'Neill fist-bumped each other.

The secret of basketball lies outside of basketball. If a team can overcome all obstacles and eventually win the championship, in addition to its advantage in strength, they must have done something else right.

Because there are too many teams that have strength advantages but exploded on the spot. You can say that the secret of the Heat's loss in 11 is also outside of basketball.

When a team has problems, it is easy to point out the mistakes of the core players, but it is difficult to make the other side willing to admit mistakes and change.

But Roger admitted his mistake. He was indeed too impatient today and his moves were too forced and casual.

He made a good start and calmed O'Neal's mood.

And Roger understands the Sharks better than the No. 8 in the original history. He knows when to play the "Grandma Odessa" card to appease the Sharks, instead of saying something like "Shaq did it too" to intensify the conflict.

These have nothing to do with tactics, they are things outside of basketball.

But Roger got it right.

After the timeout, Brian Hill told everyone to start with defense, and Roger and O'Neal both nodded.

After entering the court, looking at the 17-point difference, O'Neal patted Roger on the shoulder and said, "Do you know what Grandma Odessa often said to me?"

Roger shook his head.

"When I was little, I used to cry because of the hard life. She would always secretly give me a cookie, touch my head and tell me: It's okay, baby, everything will be fine."

Then, Shark's eyes turned red: "She has cancer, she is not in good health, and she doesn't have much time left. Before anything bad happens, I want her to be proud of me, Roger."

"Let's beat up those New York bastards together, Shaq."

Death from a severe heat stroke?

No, never!

(End of this chapter)