Champions Creed

Chapter 298 Chapter 297: Dark Defense Era (asking for monthly tickets!)

A strong small forward who serves as the main attacker with the ball is doomed to suffer a lot if his mid-range shooting level is not ideal and he cannot attack with his back to the basket.

If you have an excellent frame-protecting center, then to deal with this kind of forward, you even only need a small guard who is less than 180 cm tall to surround him.

This is not alarmist, and this statement does not only apply to Ron Artest.

Therefore, improving the quality of ball-handling attackers is an issue that the Pistons urgently need to address.

Joe Dumars solved everything almost the moment people asked the question.

The joining of Rasheed Wallace has infinitely raised the ceiling of this blue team.

Before Kobe and AI, Rasheed Wallace was the highly-anticipated son of Philadelphia, and local media even believed he would be the next Wilt Chamberlain.

When he decided to join forces with Jerry Stackhouse to join North Carolina, people's expectations for him reached a peak.

But after entering the NBA, Rasheed Wallace's development was not as expected.

This is not because people underestimated his talent. To this day, no one thinks Rasheed Wallace is incapable.

The biggest problem is that Rasheed Wallace never intended to be great.

You can think of him as a power forward version of Andre Iguodala.

He refused to be a leader, refused to be the focus of the spotlight, and refused to take on excessive responsibility.

Most of the tough guys are obsessed with statistics, but Rasheed Wallace is the opposite. He is a complete tough guy, but he has no interest in statistics.

Believe it or not, but troublemaker Rasheed Wallace is actually a very team player.

Fans mistakenly believed that Rasheed Wallace threw the towel in Sabonis' face in front of everyone in order to fight for power, to get more shots, and to be dissatisfied with Sabonis' low-post singles tactics.

But in fact, Rasheed Wallace simply felt that Sabonis played too badly and could not hide his anger on the court.

He is just that kind of person, he won't cooperate with you in acting.

Ironically, Iguodala, who never wanted to be the boss, eventually became the FMVP, while Rasheed Wallace, who never wanted to be the boss, was also forced to become a leader.

Both of these facts prove that as long as you have the ability, others will give you the status you deserve even if you don't brag about it.

If you don't have enough strength, no matter how much you brag, people won't really think you are great.

Look at that strong small forward, Ron Artest brags every day that he is the king of Detroit, but it cannot change the fact that the core of the Pistons is Big Ben.

In this timeline, because of Roger's existence, the Portland Trail Blazers did not have Pippen or Steve Smith. So they expected Rasheed Wallace to grow into a leader earlier and expected him to lead the team out of the trough of the post-Drexler era.

But Rasheed Wallace had no intention of being the team's top player, and the Portland Trail Blazers were heading towards the abyss amid the constant troubles from the prisoners.

So, they decided to rebuild earlier than the original timeline.

The Portland Trail Blazers have been trying to trade Rasheed Wallace since the summer.

However, they overestimated Rasheed Wallace's trading value in the market.

场均19.2分7.8个篮板2.8次助攻1.2个抢断1.8次封盖的数据不可谓不华丽，拉希德.华莱士绝对算得上是联盟最强的前场球员之一。

But a strong team will not give up its star player for someone who is unwilling to take responsibility.

For weak teams, Rasheed Wallace is not the cornerstone of the team, so they will not be willing to give up their draft picks.

The deal came to a standstill, and finally, when the Trail Blazers could no longer raise the price, they agreed to the Detroit Pistons' trade proposal.

The Pistons sent Clifford Robinson, Selke Rebria, Collis Williamson and the 05 first-round draft pick to get 27-year-old Rasheed Wallace and veteran shooter Steve Kerr.

Among them, Clifford Robinson is purely a bargaining chip for capital balancing. He is quite capable, but he is a veteran after all, and can't play any role in rebuilding the team.

The real bargaining chips are the two players behind and the first-round draft pick.

Serge Rebria was drafted by the NBA in 94, but has never played in North America. In the past few years in Europe, he has played phenomenal performances, winning the Greek League Championship, the Champions League Championship, and the Champions League MVP last season. It is generally believed that even if he plays in the NBA, he will have an All-Star level, a lottery ticket that cannot win the jackpot, but has a guaranteed winning amount.

Collis Williamson ranked first in the first round of the best sixth man rankings this year and is a good player with immediate combat effectiveness.

The draft pick is another lottery ticket that has no guaranteed amount but has the potential to win a jackpot.

To be honest, the chips the Pistons paid always give people a feeling that "the Pistons are really fucking lucky."

Although this deal was not as exaggerated as the Lakers' robbery of Gasol later, it was indeed a deal in which one party clearly made a lot of money.

In fact, this is also the reason why the Trail Blazers have not made a decision yet. They feel that the chips offered by the Pistons are not worth it.

But as Rasheed Wallace still did not look like a star at all in the new season, and as more and more teams that had completed reinforcements withdrew their offers, the Portland Trail Blazers finally compromised.

So Joe Dumars added another strong player to his team after Hamilton, Big Ben and Artest.

This is the fourth new player he has brought to the Pistons this year.

If the Pistons are successful this season, Joe Dumars will undoubtedly be the General Manager of the Year.

At the press conference on the first day of joining the Pistons, Rasheed Wallace looked calm: "I will do my best to help the team succeed. This team has Ben Wallace and Ron Artest, both of whom are very good players. If I can help, I think we can achieve better results."

There were no ambitious speeches, nor any provocations like "I'm here to be the boss."

Rasheed Wallace calmly put on the blue jersey of the Detroit Legion.

But people didn't know yet that this calm press conference would kick off a turbulent revolution.

Since Rasheed Wallace joined the team, the Pistons have been on a winning streak.

Just think about it, Rasheed Wallace is a perfect reinforcement for the Pistons.

First of all, with a height of 211 cm and a wingspan of 230 cm, he can help Big Ben with the task of low-post defense.

This can further unleash Ben's abnormal defensive ability.

Secondly, on the offensive end, as Bill Simmons said, Rasheed Wallace can provide a ball-holding offensive threat besides Artest.

As a genius, Rasheed Wallace's low-post skills have long been mature. Now, he can even shoot 4% from long distance while averaging 36 three-pointers per game.

He can provide spacing and is also a reliable finisher.

As a result, the Detroit Pistons began to make countless teams in the league suffer.

Against the Timberwolves, Kevin Garnett was afraid to take the ball when facing the defense of the two Wallaces. In the fourth quarter, he was defended 7 out of 0 and the Timberwolves lost the game.

Against the Spurs, Tim Duncan, the strongest power forward player in active service, was limited to only 17 points.

The most legendary one was the match against the Los Angeles Lakers. The two Wallaces restricted the omnipotent O'Neal, and Ron Artest reduced Kobe's shooting percentage to only 40%.

Grant Hill was unable to handle the team alone and was helpless against his old club.

This was the first time that Lakers fans felt that the big 3 was not enough.

In the end, the Detroit Pistons pulled off a crazy win in Los Angeles.

The Detroit Pistons, a team without top talent and true superstars, actually defeated the Lakers with a 6-point advantage!

Of course, in the post-match press conference, except for Grant Hill, the other two members of bigi3 did not praise the Pistons' strength, but complained to each other.

Shark said sarcastically: "I don't know what happened. All of a sudden, my partner lost his patience and started to shoot crazily and unreasonably. This always happens in the midst of the most perfect plans."

Kobe certainly wouldn't let the Shark go: "If a guy who is known as the most dominant player keeps missing shots in the restricted area, there must be something wrong with the rules, the basket, the floor, or even the ball. In short, that guy is always right, and he always thinks there is nothing wrong with him."

Consecutive years of losses have caused the relationship between O'Neal and Kobe to cool rapidly. This year, their relationship has reached the point where it is irreconcilable, and even Grant Hill finds it difficult to mediate.

Just like Shaq and Roger's last year in Orlando, the locker room was even divided over Kobe and O'Neal.

You are either a Kobe person or a Shaq person.

If you're a Kobe guy, the Sharks won't talk to you anymore.

If you were a Shaq, Kobe would ignore you in the locker room.

Just like last season, Phil Jackson turned a blind eye to the situation and allowed Kobe and Shark to compete.

His ability to control people's hearts has completely failed in the face of consecutive defeats.

The Los Angeles Lakers are now in a difficult situation, and it is hard to imagine how the OK combination can continue to coexist.

And if they have to make a choice, will the Los Angeles Lakers choose Kobe or Shaq?

The Los Angeles Lakers' mutual complaints further confirmed one thing - the Detroit Pistons are the biggest threat to the Hawks.

The Lakers are a team that could very well be torn apart, but the Detroit Pistons are as tough as a guy spending the first night with his new wife!
An article in the Greater Detroit Times made a phrase popular in the league: "The Detroit Pistons use the most correct players and the most appropriate rules to bring the league into the Dark Ages of Defense!"

The Dark Ages of Defense became a completely new concept in basketball.

The article believes that the Detroit Pistons have very smartly chosen the players who are most suitable for the current version of the rules, which makes their defense indestructible.

"As long as the league doesn't change the rules, the dark era of defense will continue to loom, and the Atlanta Hawks will not be able to find the direction to fly." The last sentence of the article reads like this. Before, people always said that the opening of the zone defense would change the game.

But the Eagles didn't seem to be affected by this.

Now everyone understands that it’s not that there was no impact, but that there had not been a strong enough zone defense team before.

The Detroit Pistons firmly grasped the dividends of the era, and the dark defensive era did indeed swallow up most teams.

The Pistons' early rise caught Roger off guard. Who would have thought that Joe Dumars had gathered three of the Pistons' five best players in such a short period of time.

Plus Ron Artest.

Artest's presence is the key to the Pistons' excellent record despite the absence of Billups.

As we all know, Tayshaun Prince is a defensive stalwart at the No. 3 position for the Pistons. He has been selected to the All-Defensive Second Team four times in his career and has played against the wildest tennis players.

But Ron Artest is a DPOY-level outside player. His defensive effectiveness is not worse than Prince's, and he also has offensive abilities that Tayshaun Prince does not have.

A Pistons team with better wings than the original timeline champions? That's a challenge.

After playing the November schedule, the Eagles are 11 wins and 13 losses.

They lost to the Pistons, Spurs, Magic and Mavericks respectively.

Among them, the loss against the Pistons was the most discussed. If the Hawks couldn't beat the previous Pistons, what about the current Pistons after adding Rasheed Wallace?
Will this Detroit Pistons team become the 1999 Miami Heat, the only team Roger couldn't get out of his conference?

The Detroit Pistons seem to have that ability, too.

Everyone wants to know the final answer.

The troubles the Hawks encountered did not end there. Just as the December game began, Olajuwon had some problems with his knee and was expected to be absent for three weeks.

This seriously affected the Hawks' rotation strategy.

Andre Patterson has had many opportunities to play during this period and has contributed all his strength. But this hitter who has been DNPed for many years is just an ordinary blue-collar worker. You can't expect him to have the ability to replace the Dream overnight.

After losing Hakeem O'Neal, the Eagles lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, and their record became 15 wins and 5 losses.

At this critical juncture, the Hawks faced the Pistons for the second time this season.

If David Stern had known that the Pistons would be so strong, he would have definitely put this matchup on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, the schedule cannot be changed.

This highly anticipated showdown can only be staged in early December.

Since Rasheed Wallace joined the Pistons, the Pistons have only lost two games.

The fear emanating from the "Dark Age of Defense" is still spreading.

The last game the Hawks lost was at the Palace of Auburn Hills. In this game, will the Hawks protect their home court?

The day before the game, Roger gave an exclusive interview to ESPN.

Ever since ESPN fired Jim Gray, who induced O'Neal to completely upset the Magic locker room and bluntly said "I want to see Roger, that complacent guy, fail", Roger has always had a good relationship with this media.

For today's interview, ESPN also discussed the scale of questions with Roger in advance.

And Roger told them, "You're welcome."

So at the beginning of the show, the host Keith Olbermann directly asked an explosive question.

"Now, the Detroit Pistons led by Ben Wallace have become the biggest rival of the Hawks. Have you ever thought that if Big Ben was still by your side, the Hawks would not have so many troubles on their road to defending the title. Do you think that it was the management who caused all this?"

The disagreement between Roger and the Eagles' ownership group was well known, and this issue was enough to increase the ratings of the show exponentially.

"As an athlete, it's exciting to have a strong rival. Ben's success in Detroit proves that he has the ability to get a maximum salary. I'm happy that he has a strong rival like the Detroit Pistons. Finally, people don't have to count on Shaq, that idiot, to beat me.

But one thing is for another, I am not afraid of competition, I am not afraid of strong opponents. But this does not mean that the decision of the shareholder team is correct. I have never seen any championship team weaken itself. "

“There are rumors that you will opt out of your contract next season. Is this true?”

"I answered this question last time, but I don't mind answering it again: whether to opt out of the contract depends on the attitude of the shareholder team."

"According to what I heard, they are already discussing a contract extension with Paul. Is this the attitude you want?"

"That's right, but it's been a month and there has been no progress in the negotiations. So we'll see what happens."

The indifference shown by Roger made Atlanta fans worried that the savior had never been so far away from Atlanta.

The harmony of the Ted Turner era made people forget that Roger was not a player who had a harmonious relationship with the team management during his time with the Bulls and the Magic.

He would never give in to management or back down on matters of principle.

So, this is Roger's normal state.

If Atlanta fans are panicking about this, they'll have to get used to it.

Of course, this show can’t just be about the future.

We still have to talk about the present.

"Are you sure you can win tomorrow's game against the Detroit Pistons? Will the dark era of defense they created also shroud Atlanta in darkness?"

"The Detroit Pistons are a formidable opponent, especially after the introduction of Rasheed Wallace, their strength has become even more formidable. But I don't think this is a dark age. I will clear the clouds over Atlanta."

Before the game started the next day, the Detroit Pistons bus was surrounded by reporters.

Today's game was temporarily upgraded to a national live broadcast. This is also the third temporary national live broadcast game that the Pistons have won this season.

Ron Artest got out of the car wearing sunglasses, dyed his hair green, and shaved a line of words on his hair: "Hunting Eagles."

Artest is probably the most interesting performance artist after Dennis Rodman. Although what he did was not as outrageous as Rodman, it was also very unique.

As expected, Artest's hairstyle made him the focus of attention as soon as he got off the car, becoming the most attractive player of the Pistons.

Walking into the player tunnel, Artest met Roger and Andre Patterson who were walking towards the locker room.

Roger just helped Andre Patterson practice the hook shot under the basket to help him find his touch under the basket.

Even though Andre Patterson is just a blue-collar player, he can't even guarantee his shooting accuracy at the basket.

Roger soon saw the stylish Artest, but Artest didn't seem to want to say hello to Roger, so Roger ignored him and prepared to move on.

But Artest seemed not to see Roger, and deliberately moved to the middle, bumping into Roger heavily when passing by him.

Artest's eyes were like a vicious dog ready to pounce. This guy is never afraid of anyone. Well, except Big Ben.

Andre Patterson tried to reach out and push Artest away, but Artest slapped Patterson's arm roughly: "Don't touch me, you have no right, parasite."

"What did you say?"

"Parasite, if you weren't Roger's high school classmate, you would have faded out of this alliance long ago. Get lost, people like you are not qualified to touch me."

"Say it again!" Andre Patterson pressed Artest against the wall. At this time, other players from the Pistons also came over. Seeing the suspected conflict between the two sides, Ben Wallace rushed over immediately. He knew his teammate's temper too well.

"Ron, what are you doing?"

"You should ask this parasite what it wants?"

"Let go Andre."

"No, not until this colorful-headed guy learns to shut up!"

"Hey, don't be shameless." Roaring Tianzun, who had difficulty controlling his emotions like Artest, pushed Patterson away roughly.

Big Ben quickly demonstrated his excellent ability to block Artest and Rasheed Wallace behind him: "Let's go, Roger, I will calm these two bastards down."

Roger gave Big Ben a favor and waved his hand to signal Andre Patterson to follow, ending the tense locker room conflict.

Ron Artest smugly said, "This is something you don't have to get involved in, leader."

Artest has always called Big Ben the leader, of course, this is more of a mockery.

Big Ben waved his hand: "Don't think you can win again just because you won last time. We are facing Roger! Don't cause me any more trouble and play seriously!"

"Oh, of course, of course, my leader."

Artest didn't take Ben's warning seriously. Why should we be afraid of him?

These are the dark ages of defense.

Now, we have the final say.

A man who would have broken Michael Jordan's ribs in the original timeline would never succumb to the prestige of an emperor.

(End of this chapter)