637: 224: Get Roger all tidied up (Asking for monthly votes!)_4 637: 224: Get Roger all tidied up (Asking for monthly votes!)_4 As for Pippen’s position, as long as what Roger says still counts, then no one can touch Pippen for now.
When Pierce went to buy water, Pippen bent over, supporting his back.
Roger patted Pippen on the shoulder, “You’ve got to work harder at camp, Scott.
Your body is like a second-hand car that’s run over a hundred thousand kilometers.”
Did you get it re-checked?”
“No, I think it’s fine, just some soreness.
It’s probably just muscle tension again.”
“You should get it checked out.
I remember last year Chekh said it wasn’t just muscle tension, there might be something wrong with your spine.”
“Hmm, I’ll be careful.”
Soon, Pierce returned with the drinks.
Although he hadn’t played one-on-one with Roger, he was still proud, “How about that?
I’m different than before, right?
I’m qualified to be your sidekick now, aren’t I?”
“One-on-one and full-court basketball are two different games.
I think you should be clear about that.”
“I can play full-court too, you’ll see soon!”
“Paul, don’t underestimate this place.
You thought you would at least be the third pick, but what happened?
Your offense is great, but your defense is crap,” Roger said, taking the drink and walking off the court.
“You’ve never seen my defense, and besides, our offense can solve all problems!” Pierce remained arrogant.
“Try to work harder on defense, that’s what you need the most right now.”
He thought to himself, “Defense?
That’s easy, just need to be serious about it.”
“You’d better take it seriously.”
Pierce didn’t take Roger’s advice to heart at all.
With me here, is it that difficult to win a championship?
Boys stepping onto the battlefield for the first time all think they can be heroes.
Yet they are completely unaware of the brutality of war.
As the training camp progressed, trades between the teams became more frequent.
The Pistons, who had been in the limelight for their successive first-round playoff exits, decided it was time for a change.
Unable to bear it any longer, they sent Chris Webber to the Sacramento Kings, in exchange for Otis Thorpe and Mitch Richmond.
This trade didn’t surprise Roger, but the next trade by the Miami Heat, led by the old acquaintance Pat Riley, truly shocked him.
Using Tim Hardaway and Dan Majerle’s expiring contracts, the Heat traded for Latrell Sprewell from the Warriors, who had almost strangled his coach during practice last season and was carrying a heavy long-term contract.
The Warriors’ move was to clear out Spree’s lengthy deal and free up salary cap space for a rebuild.
Considering that the Heat had already made a historical move by acquiring Allan Houston, and now they added Sprewell, it meant the original duo who should have led the Knicks to an upset win, were teaming up with Alonzo Mourning in his prime and healthy.
What level was Mourning at for the past two seasons?
MVP runner-up in the ’98-’99 season, and third in the ’99-’00 season.
In the ’98-’99 season, he even achieved a grand slam of first-team all-NBA, block leader, and DPOY.
That’s right, he even pushed Shaq down to second-team all-NBA.
But the reason Mourning’s peak lacked presence was because of their poor playoff performance.
In the very years Mourning was at his best, the Heat didn’t even make it to the conference finals.
The only memory he left to the fans was hammering Grandmama during the playoffs with a barrage of punches that never actually hit, a futile display.
The reason the Heat couldn’t advance further in the playoffs and were consistently knocked out by the Knicks was simple – Mourning didn’t have a single decent outside helper.
In the ’98-’99 season, Mourning’s best perimeter partner, Jamal Mashburn, averaged just 10 points per game against the Knicks in the series.
In the ’99-’00 season, it was up to 15 points but with only a 36% shooting percentage.
Even Shaq had to have a Roger and a Kobe, it was no wonder Mourning couldn’t win.
But now, that problem was solved.
In the original history, Allan Houston and Sprewell had never teamed up with a prime Ewing.
Prime Mourning had never played with a top-tier perimeter player.
Now, both of these regrets had been addressed.
A world with only Ewing left in regret was born.
Suddenly, this shortened season was filled with suspense.
People were all discussing Roger, Shaq, and Riley.
Pierce was fantasizing about winning the championship easily.
No one noticed that the Spurs’ rookie, who had just finished an outstanding debut season in the shortened Texas league, was staring blankly, glimpsing the future of the league.
War is never easy, and building a new dynasty is even more so.