68: 050: Orlando in Chaos_2 68: 050: Orlando in Chaos_2 Webber was truly a good teammate; since he joined the Magic, no one criticized O’Neal’s free throws anymore.
This move was literally taking a stab for a brother.
So, what exactly happened to Magic’s Webber?
In Roger’s expectation, Webber’s passes were gorgeous, his attacking range wide, and in perfect sync with Shaq, creating an ideal twin tower setup.
Roger even felt this duo could be stronger than Penny and O’Neal.
Webber should have been flourishing.
Yet, under the guidance of the Zen Master who watched the game videos of the Magic, Roger realized he wrongly transposed the peak Webber onto the current Webber.
The current Webber simply did not mesh with Shaq.
If it had been the more mature King Webber, then he indeed matched well with O’Neal.
But the current rookie Webber, while he could shoot, was inconsistent, and his high-post threat never reached the level of Nowitzki.
Thus, the effect of spacing out the floor wasn’t as significant as people expected.
If his shooting had been really solid, he wouldn’t have had a lower free throw percentage than Shaq, let alone falter in the playoffs.
Moreover, the prideful current Webber needed ball control; he wasn’t content just to be a role player, pathetically waiting for Shaq to feed him a few open shots.
When he didn’t touch the ball for extended times, Webber would become noticeably frustrated, affecting his game performance.
In terms of ball handling, while Webber’s passes were gorgeous, his ability to read the game wasn’t as exceptional as during his Kings days, so he also made many turnovers.
Moreover, Webber wasn’t truly a point forward.
No one really thought that Webber’s playmaking could be stronger than Hardaway’s, right?
Plus, there was a very critical issue: Chris Webber was never a competent defender.
Not in his prime, and certainly not now.
As everyone knows, Shaq only liked to stay under the basket on defense, so pairing him with another weak defensive power forward was simply disastrous.
To make O’Neal comfortable, you’d either need his power forward partner to be someone who didn’t need the ball and just waited to shoot, like Horry.
Or someone willing to defend diligently, like Grant or Haslem.
Thus, looking back, when the Magic traded Webber for Hardaway, it was one of the few smart moves made by their otherwise foolish management.
Now, Roger could understand why both the people of Orlando and Shaq disdained Webber so much.
Webbber was making it difficult for himself and the team.
Therefore, at the end of the tactical meeting, the Zen Master concluded, “The only trouble in the next game is Shaq; handle him, and we can happily enjoy Christmas.
Just leave him be, he’ll destroy himself.”
On Christmas night, just as the Zen Master predicted, the Magic were easily devastated by the Bulls.
Cartwright, Wennington, and other centers took turns grappling with Shaq, supplemented by tight cooperative defense from Pippen, A.
Green, and others, which resulted in O’Neal “only scoring” 20 points today.
Webber scored only 13 points with 5 assists, but committed more turnovers than assists.
In one sequence, Roger rotated to cover Webber.
Instead of posting up, Webber dribbled between his legs like a guard, preparing to break to the basket.
He really wanted to beat Roger his own way.
But as soon as he made his move, Roger stole the ball.
Roger’s defense was weak, but he could still steal the ball from a power forward.
The NBC commentators joked, “Chris has proven the media right with his actions; Roger indeed looks more like a No.
Webber didn’t get the Christmas gift he wanted, instead, he became Roger’s gift.
O’Neal was truly furious and immediately yelled at the head coach Brian Hill, “When will you finally bench this idiot!”
Since Pippen focused all his energy on defense today, he was forced to let Roger handle most of the offensive duties.
It was his first game back with fewer shots compared to Roger, who didn’t disappoint, scoring 27 points and helping the Bulls secure a 95-84 win on Christmas Eve.
After the game, O’Neal hugged Roger and invited him to his Christmas party, “Truth is, I’ve got a lot of girls coming over to the party later; you won’t want to miss it.”
Roger agreed since he was just hanging around the hotel anyway.
In front of Roger, Shaq was so friendly.
But when he turned and saw Webber, Shaq’s face soured instantly.
His dislike for Webber was now completely out in the open.
Back in the locker room, O’Neal kept sarcastically saying, “Nick, last season I was the rookie with the most points, rebounds, and blocks, right?
That’s the kind of performance a No.
1 pick should be showing.”
Webber was always a thorn in his teammates’ side during this period; he would soon fall out with his good friend Juwan Howard at the Bullets, so naturally, he was not polite to Shaq, “You hog all the ball rights, of course you can put up great numbers.
If it wasn’t for me sacrificing myself to draw the defense away, could you comfortably receive the ball down low every time?”
“Draw away the defense?
Green wasn’t even guarding your shots, and you only scored 13 points!
Oh, and a reminder Chris, you actually made a turnover against Roger!
Damn, Roger is a guard!
You can’t even imagine what it would be like if a guard defended me!”
“What would be the outcome?
You’d be sent to the free throw line to entertain everybody throwing shot puts.
I really want to see what your grandma looks like, to inherit such brain-shrinking, silverback gorilla traits from her.”
Young and impulsive, Webber didn’t want to back down in the argument, but he didn’t expect O’Neal to march up to him and slap him hard after he spoke.
The locker room fell silent as if time had stopped; Webber felt dizzy, the ringing in his ears preventing him from hearing anything.
Once his vision cleared, he saw several teammates restraining an almost frenzied Shaq.
In English, both grandmother and grandmother are the same word.
Because Shaq had grown up without a biological father, the most challenging days before his stepfather appeared were spent with his grandmother and mother.
His kind grandmother was an untouchable presence in his heart.
Webber’s words crossed a line for Shaq.
Half an hour later, the entirety of Orlando was in utter chaos.
“I’ve had enough; trade me!
Every day in Orlando is torture for me!
You will soon realise that it’s not my problem, Shaquille O’Neal is just a massive locker room cancer!” — Webber at the press conference discussing being slapped by O’Neal.
“I’ve been saying repeatedly what a damn mistake it was to use the No.
1 pick on Roger instead of Chris!
At the time, the media ran some bullshit poll saying Chris was better.
Ironically, just a few days ago they ran another poll, and now the fans don’t think Chris is a No.
So you see, to hell with those shitty polls!
When will we ever get to do the right thing?
When will we ever get the right people?” — Shaquille O’Neal, righteously at the press conference.
This Christmas Eve was destined to be chaotic for Orlando.