Champions Creed

Chapter 382 Chapter 381: Until Roger kills you completely (ask for a monthly ticket!)
No one knows how many players the Warriors still have available.

Matt Barnes and Boris Diaw, who they signed this summer, have both performed extremely well.

The most important thing is that these two were not famous before joining the Warriors.

Matt Barnes was almost unknown before joining the Warriors. He played less than 40 games for the Clippers and lost his contract due to a conflict with the head coach. People thought that he would not be able to stay in the NBA for more than three years and would have to try his luck in overseas leagues.

Before joining the Warriors, Boris Diaw received even worse reviews: a point guard who can't dribble, a shooting guard who can't shoot, a small forward with no speed, a power forward with no strength, and a center with no height.

But it turns out that the outside world's stereotypes about these two people are wrong.

Even Bob Bass found it incredible, because these two people were authorized by Roger, and this was not the first time that Roger signed unexpectedly outstanding role players.

His suggestion to use the third overall pick to sign Amar'e Stoudemire, who had only played one good year in high school, was controversial, but now the Little Overlord is one of the strongest face-up power forwards in the league.

His advocacy of trading Gilbert Arenas, a player with obvious talent, was also controversial. As a result, the general is now a rat crossing the street that everyone wants to kill.

Now, Matt Barnes and Boris Diaw are also shining in the Bay Area.

Sometimes Bob Buss even doubted whether Roger was a real god, because he seemed to be able to predict the future. He was simply a player version of Jerry West. Bob Buss even thought that Roger's vision was more ruthless than Logo's.

Lenny Wilkens also marveled at Boris Diaw's amazing talent. The Frenchman's unique casualness and freedom became his distinctive feature on the court.

Honestly, it's hard to imagine that a 203cm Frenchman can play like Magic. No, look at his height comparison with Stephen Jackson. Stephen Jackson is also said to be 203cm tall, and Boris Diaw is half a head taller than him. Considering that the Frenchman's real height is probably around 206cm, his ability is even more terrifying.

He is simply a French version of Lamar Odom!
I have to say that Lenny Wilkens underestimated Odom.

In the original timeline, Lamar Odom was the third best small forward in history after Scott Pippen, and Kobe won two consecutive championships with the help of him, Gasol and DJ Mbenga. If LeBron had teammates of this level, he would not leave Miami.

Of course, NBA scouts and coaches are not idiots. To be realistic, players like Boris Diaw need to play in the right system to maximize their effectiveness.

But he himself is not a superstar, and few teams change their tactics because of him or design a system for him.

If you throw him to the Detroit Pistons, he won't be a qualified starter, and Ron Artest is obviously more suitable for the Bad Boys.

If you throw him to the Los Angeles Lakers during the OK era, his role will not be greater than Robert Horry's. Because the triangle offense does not require passers and ball handlers, there is no room for his talent to be fully utilized.

What if you throw him to the Philadelphia 76ers? It's useless because the 76ers only rely on Allen Iverson. The others are too lazy to run on the offensive end. Who should Dio pass the ball to?

This is why players like Boris Diaw are talented but cannot become superstars. They are too dependent on the system. In the right system, they can have amazing performances, but in the wrong system, they are just ordinary role players.

The Warriors' system is very suitable for Dio.

Here, his teammates have high basketball IQ, smart and aggressive positioning, and the core of the team is willing to hand over the ball. In such a team, Boris Diaw is like P. Diddy meets Justin Bieber, like a bee roaming freely among the flowers.

The Warriors found a way to break the Knicks' absolute domination of the game with a very special second possession.

That's right, Boris Diaw is not the kind of superstar who can score 30 points and 10 assists by himself, nor can he play so brilliantly in every round.

But just like in last season's finals against the Pistons, he only needed to ensure that the Warriors could score two or three more goals and give Roger a few more open shots, which would be enough to change the outcome of the game.

In the third quarter, Boris Dio became the one who broke the deadlock.

He tore a hole in the New York defense that was built with muscle and toughness in an elegant way.

When Wade defends him alone, he can solve the problem with low-post singles like a power forward.

Once there is a double team, he can always get the ball to the teammate with the best chance in a way you wouldn't expect.

Roger's offensive pressure was greatly reduced, and most of the time he only needed to integrate into the system and attack. Only when the smooth passing could not solve the problem, Roger would stand up and solve the defense.

Of course, Dior also has shortcomings.

On the defensive end, he was too slow to play against either Wade or Jamal Crawford. You can't expect a 206-centimeter guy to be as agile as a guard.

Boris Diaw has very strong athletic ability. He is one of the fastest shuttle runners in the team, and his reach is comparable to that of Stoudemire.

But Wade and Jamal Crawford are guards after all, and it is quite difficult for Dio to bite them.

But this shortcoming is not unbearable compared with his contribution.

The Warriors gradually took the lead, and at the end of the third quarter, the Warriors were leading by 6 points.

Boris Diaw played for 8 minutes in a single quarter, scoring 6 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. He really revitalized the Warriors' offense.

Mike Breen called it "a lump of butter that is extremely rich but makes the surrounding area extremely smooth!"

Watching Boris Diaw walk off the court with such all-around statistics, Jeff Hornacek shook his head: "What else can I say? I will not interfere with my daughter's boyfriend in the future. Facts have proved that I don't have a good eye for men. It's hard for me to say whether it was the glass of red wine that gave Boris so many fantastic passing options. If so, I allow him to have a small glass every afternoon on game days."

Previously, Jeff Hornacek didn't think Matt Barnes could enter the regular rotation, but he was wrong.

Just now, he thought that Boris Dio would not be the key for the Warriors to defeat the Knicks, but it turned out that he was wrong again.

He began to doubt his own judgment of people.

Eric Spoelstra shrugged and said, "Don't say anything too soon. What if your daughter finds a man who is 10 years older than her?"

"As long as she likes it."

"Twenty years older?"

"Shut up Eric, why didn't you say she would take Roger home? Stop talking and get to work."

Dio sat back on the bench, his teammates were praising his performance, he nodded slightly, seemingly not caring.

He was just doing his job and having fun.

Finally, he turned to Roger and asked a question that caught everyone off guard: "Roger, did Eva Green really say "well done" to you in French? What other languages ​​do you speak?"

This is the French players, you never know what they are thinking, you can never make them value winning as much as they value their lives.

Roger was not angry. The difference between him and Alan Houston was that Boris Dio at least did not mess around during the game.

After all these years, Roger has come to understand one thing: not everyone is as obsessed with winning as he is.

Sometimes, it is difficult to hold others to the same standards that you hold yourself.

But as long as you don't mess up your body off the court and give it your all during the game, you'll be a great player.

So, Roger responded to Dio's ridiculous question: "You should ask, what other languages ​​do I not know?"

On the other side, the atmosphere on the Knicks bench was completely different. Kevin Garnett couldn't believe that the Knicks' suppression of the Warriors would be broken by an unknown Frenchman.

Of course, the real reason why the Knicks were passive was Roger's unparalleled ability to cover the bottom.

After all, it is impossible for a tactic to be successful in every round, but Roger ensured that the Warriors could still score in those rounds where the tactics were defeated.

At present, the only solution for the Knicks is to reduce the Warriors' success rate in playing system basketball and force the game back to the rhythm where only Roger and Stoudemire can solve the problems of the Warriors.

But this strategy cannot be executed immediately in the fourth quarter because Yao Ming needs to rest.

When Yao Ming is not on the court, the Knicks' defense will lose a very important link and will not be able to completely lock down the Warriors' silky offense.

Lenny Wilkens has always been very restrained in his use of Yao Ming, as he is well aware of the injury risks posed to big players.

Even a beast like Shaq is often plagued by injuries. During his time in Los Angeles, Shaq was already very unhealthy.

Yao Ming, whose body is obviously not that strong, needs to be used with more caution.

After all, I was the one who chose the top scholar, so I would not want to stand up and kick him.

So in the first half of the fourth quarter, the Knicks were still struggling and were suppressed by the Warriors.

New York fans were under great pressure again. They didn't want the Knicks' dominance over the league to be interrupted by Roger.

Finally, in the sixth minute of the fourth quarter, the New York Knicks finally sent out the finishing lineup.

When he was on the court, Kevin Garnett was motivating his teammates as always.

It's hard to stay passionate for 48 minutes, but Kevin Garnett has to do it.

Once he shows any sign of depression, the mood of the entire team will be affected.

This Knicks team is too young. Apart from KG, the other two stars on the team are one junior and one sophomore.

They all need someone to make them believe they can win!

Roger watched all this coldly, walked to his little brother, and told him without any emotion: "This is the last time you can fantasize about victory tonight."

Roger's tone was as if he was stating some well-known fact.

"Forget it. Do you think you can still teach me a lesson like you did back then?" Garnett retorted.

"This is not a lesson. It's a lesson given by an older brother to a younger brother. Tonight, this is called a killing."

"Then I'll stick the knife into your heart first!"

This is the temptation of victory and honor to people. This temptation can cause Shark and Roger to break up, and it can also make KG and Roger confront each other on the court.

Isaiah Thomas and Magic Johnson proved as early as the 80s that friendship is worthless when it comes to winning the game.

As the decisive moment began, Boris Dio found it increasingly difficult to make a difference on the offensive end.

Dwyane Wade began to put pressure on Dio, not allowing him to handle the ball easily.

This time, when he broke through with the ball under the screen, Wade immediately got on his body and made a steal. Dio saw through Wade's intention and raised the ball above his head with both hands.

But the moment he stopped the ball, Garnett double-teamed him again.

Under the close double team of Wade and Garnett, Dio passed the ball to Stoudemire.

But KG's fingertips still touched the basketball, changing its flight trajectory.

Yao Ming took the initiative to step forward, squeezed out Stoudemire, and intercepted the ball!

What followed was the classic scene where Yao Ming made a long pass to assist Wade in a fast break dunk.

The Knicks have piled far more defensive resources on Dio than before, and their strategy remains unchanged, which is to strangle the ball handler.

In the second round of attack, Boris Dio passed the ball to Roger early. Roger broke through Gary Payton with a strong step, and then made a quick stop jump shot!

When the Knicks tilted their defensive resources toward Dio, the Knicks' pressure on Roger was far from enough.

Gary Payton once again became the poor guy who was tortured and killed by Roger.

"You know what, Gary," Roger said, looking at the old gloves, "the only way you could wear the ring in my time was to surrender to me."

Seriously, what's so shameful about this?
When Mark Zuckerberg sees Elon Musk’s MVP result screen 20 years later, he will definitely want to say, “I can also negotiate, I can also do maga, and I can also sing a song “Young Man” for Trump.”

There is nothing shameful about this. Only those who can see the situation clearly are smart people, and LeBron did it.

Gary Payton did not answer. His attitude was no longer as firm as it was last season.

Perhaps, he is really thinking seriously about the feasibility of this issue.

The Knicks changed their defensive strategy again, letting Wade go back to defend Roger.

As a result, Boris Dio's back-to-the-basket play became a lot easier. When Kevin Garnett had to help defend Dio, the Frenchman made a beautiful pass behind his head to assist Stoudemire in making a mid-range shot.

Gary Payton despairingly discovered that he had become a drag.

Roger and Dio are the two ball handlers. Whoever he defends can become the offensive spearhead.

The former best defensive player has now become a gap on the defensive end.

In fact, this is not Payton's fault, but the Warriors' full forward lineup is too bullying.

If Gary Payton faced a team with a normal point guard, he would never suffer such a disadvantage.

But with all the Warriors forwards, Payton has to defend against mismatches no matter who he faces, which is really difficult for him who is already old.

So, when the Knicks thought they could take the initiative by sending out their full starting lineup, they were still behind in the last 2 minutes and 33 seconds of the game.

Boris Diaw also couldn't defend Wade and Crawford, which is why the Knicks were able to keep the score close.

Right now, Gary Payton has completely become a burden, and he has become dispensable on both offense and defense.

So in the last two minutes, the Knicks simply changed their gloves and used substitute forward Michael Sweetney to play.

The effect of this substitution was immediate. Boris Dio's offensive threat was greatly reduced when facing the equally strong and agile Michael Sweetney.

The Knicks no longer need to use Garnett to help defend him, and without double-teaming, it will be difficult for Dio to find opportunities to directly assist his teammates.

Finally, after much difficulty, the Knicks found a way to drag the game back to the rhythm of "the Warriors can only rely on Roger and Stoudemire".

As Roger's breakthrough layup missed due to the triple interference of Wade, Garnett and Yao Ming, the Knicks got the opportunity to continue to close the score in the last 2 minutes.

They are now only 5 points behind, and victory has not yet said goodbye to them.

The Knicks attacked, and Wade faced Boris Dio and easily passed him with a quick change of direction.

Dio didn't dare to take action. The new rules were very unfriendly to defenders like him who had height and wingspan but lacked lateral mobility.

Wade pushed through the French like the Germans breached the Maginot Line.

He made another quick stop jump shot. Wade has scored 33 points today, most of which came from the general manager, and Dio had no way to deal with it.

But this time, when Wade bypassed the Maginot Line, there was another line of defense waiting for him.

Roger appeared in time and interfered with Wade's jump shot.

If the Warriors' substitution of Dio for Jason Richardson was a trade of defense for offense, then the Knicks' substitution of Michael Sweetney for Payton was a trade of offense for defense.

Gary Payton at least has some threat from open jump shots. When he partners with Wade and Crawford, the Knicks can create a lot of offensive space.

But Michael Sweetney is a typical blue-collar wing. He is active in defense, strong, and has excellent rebounding ability, but his jump shot is even worse than Matt Barnes.

He has attempted just two 75-pointers in his career, missing both, and is shooting less than percent from the free throw line this season.

So, Roger was freed.

Just like last season, he became a ghost sweeping across half the court.

"Snapped!"

Wade's jump shot was blocked, and Boris Dio immediately picked up the basketball and moved forward, demonstrating his excellent sprinting speed to the fullest.

Wade had to chase with all his strength, and finally Dio assisted Roger with a dunk with a moving behind-the-back pass.

"The Chinese and French are putting on a spectacular show in the NBA!" Mike Breen yelled.

One round later, Yao Ming received the ball in the low post, and Stoudemire and Camby immediately double-teamed him, so Yao Ming chose to turn around and plan to make a fadeaway jump shot.

With his height and touch, he is confident that he can make this a 1V2 fight.

But at the moment of the shot, Yao Ming realized that he was not facing 1V2, but 1V3.

The big brother who led the team to the top of the world in Athens suddenly appeared and cut the ball off the moment Yao Ming raised the basketball.

The Knicks' offense failed again!

Although the Warriors failed to score in the next attack, as the game time decreased, the Warriors' 7-point advantage became more and more lethal.

After Wade and Yao Ming both missed their key attacks, the basketball fell into Kevin Garnett's hands.

Facing Amar'e Stoudemire, Garnett finally chose to break through instead of jumping shot.

Yao Ming had already blocked Marcus Camby, so Garnett had a chance to close the gap as long as he forced his way to the basket.

But as expected, Roger showed up.

Lenny Wilkens thought Roger with the Hawks had reached his peak, but Roger with the Warriors performed better on the defensive end than he did in Atlanta.

His assisting defense IQ and his judgment of the situation have reached the level of perfection.

Garnett did not attack the basket himself. He had been bleeding once by Roger in this game, and he knew Roger had the ability to do so.

So he passed the ball to Michael Sweetney who was cutting in.

But Michael Sweetney obviously didn't expect Garnett to pass the ball to him. He was not fully prepared to receive the ball, so his reaction was a beat slow.

The basketball flew past his fingertips and out of the sideline.

In the crucial round, Kevin Garnett made a pass error under the threat of Roger's assist defense!

For three consecutive rounds, Roger, who was given the right to move freely, defended the attacks of Wade, Yao Ming and KG at the same time. The Knicks, who are good at desperate defense, were made extremely desperate by Roger's defense at the last moment.

There was a sigh in Madison Square Garden, and Kevin Garnett covered his head with his hands. This was the second time today that he was beaten by Roger and was dejected.

He remembered Roger's words: "This is your last chance to win tonight."

Yes, now, the fantasy is shattered.

In the next attack, Roger made a three-pointer after a pick-and-roll, and the score difference was widened to 10 points, and the game was decided.

Roger pointed to his chest and yelled to Kevin Garnett: "Hey KG, when did you stab me with that knife?"

Kevin Garnett was silent, his passion had been completely extinguished.

Becoming Roger's enemy is indeed the worst thing in the world.

In the end, the Golden State Warriors won the Christmas game at the New York Knicks' home court with a score of 104 to 96, demonstrating the defending champions' dominance over the league.

No matter how good your record is, no matter how brilliant your lineup is, Roger will always be the one closer to the championship.

At the end of the game, Kevin Garnett, who had not greeted Roger before the game, wanted to go to the center circle to congratulate Roger.

But Roger had already been surrounded by Warriors players, and KG couldn't get close at all.

At that moment KG realized that the moment he declared himself an enemy of Roger, this state of estrangement would continue.

Until Roger kills himself completely!
Kevin Garnett turned around and left silently. This place no longer belonged to him.

The victor conquered New York again.

(End of this chapter)