721: 247: Bastard, Roger doesn’t need custom data at all!
(Asking for monthly tickets!)_3 721: 247: Bastard, Roger doesn’t need custom data at all!
(Asking for monthly tickets!)_3 Besides, the season with the lowest attendance record for George Gervin still saw him play 72 games.
In front of a future warrior like Leonard, Leonard would think George Gervin was the real future warrior.
The Iceman had never encountered any serious injuries throughout his career, which gave Roger the confidence to increase his own playing time.
Thus, the Hawks smoothly got through this period without Eric Snow.
The team’s performance wasn’t greatly affected until Snow came back at the end of March, and the Hawks lost their eighth game.
This kind of winning rate wasn’t without trace.
Firstly, the Hawks’ defense almost never betrayed them.
Compared to their reserves on the perimeter, the Hawks had a more abundant supply of interior players.
Marion, Big Ben, Kurt Thomas, Andrae Patterson, and Clifford Robinson made up a luxurious rotation.
Don’t underestimate Andrae Patterson’s role in that.
There was a clash in the game against the Pacers in the middle of March, and if it wasn’t for Andrae Patterson handling everything, the other four would have been randomly suspended.
Secondly, Marion could also swing to the small forward position, solving some of the problems with lacking perimeter players.
This ensured that the Hawks could bring stable defensive performances to every game.
Next was the offense, the Hawks were a team that relied on perimeter shooting.
Just as interior teams have to fight against foul troubles, perimeter teams must battle against shooting slumps.
Roger might have a bad shooting night, Pierce might have a bad shooting night.
But the probability of both Pierce and Roger having a bad shooting night at the same time was almost zero.
This ensured that the Hawks’ offense wouldn’t suddenly collapse one night.
Besides the record, after increasing his playing time, Roger’s average stats also solidified at 35+5+5.
In fact, if Reebok wanted to play with custom stats, they could entirely change the standard to 35+5+6.
That way, Roger would be the only person in history to achieve such average stats in a single season.
Wilt Chamberlain once posted the exaggerated stats of 36.9 points, 22.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, but what’s the use?
You tell me if 35+5+6 isn’t the only history, right?
Reebok’s marketing department did propose this, but it was vetoed by the President of the basketball department, Todd Krinsky: “What’s the point?
Roger doesn’t need these damn customized firsts in history; we don’t need these damn customized stats!
If others find out, they’d think we can’t play fair!”
In April, not only did the Hawks welcome back Eric Snow, but they also won their second game against the Lakers.
That game directly stifled Kobe’s shooting, leading to O’Neal erupting in the Hawks’ interior for 44+15, but to no avail.
You can’t blame Kobe; the Hawks’ defense, strengthened by Marion and Pierce along with the existing synergy, was indeed very unfriendly to perimeter scorers.
Most top perimeter players who played against the Hawks went through these three stages:
At first, Paul Pierce, a vibrant, excellent all-around young player, entangled you throughout the game.
And for the next 48 minutes, your ears would undergo inhuman torment.
But Pierce had drawbacks, fortunately for you, his defensive skills were not yet mature, and his lateral movement was problematic, so you would always find one or two chances to beat him.
Following that, number 33 would stand in front of you.
Scottie Pippen, one of the top three defensive forwards of the ’90s, would fiercely defend you relentlessly.
Yes, his peak was past, but his defense remained top-notch in the league, and you couldn’t breach him as easily as you did with Paul Pierce.
The only good news was, Scottie Pippen was relatively quiet, he wasn’t much of a trash talker, and even if he did talk trash, it wasn’t very effective.
Okay, say you’re tough, you beat Scottie Pippen, and you beat Paul Pierce too.
Then, welcome to the real hell.
Roger, initially considered a pure scorer early in his career, on defense possessed Pippen’s aggressiveness, defensive skills, and Paul Pierce’s trash talk.
He would make you completely lose yourself among continuous missed shots and verbal taunts, even making you wonder whether you should retire.
You think you could finally catch a breath in rotation time?
No, the Hawks, very considerately, prepared a talkative yet strenuous defender during rotation time for you.
Or perhaps a constantly smiling, seemingly harmless baldhead, who’d make you clueless about how you died.
This was the external defense of the Hawks, and this was what Kobe Bryant and other perimeter players in the league had to face.
After that game, the Lakers had lost their 10th of the season.
This meant that if they lost one more game, they would be completely out of contention for the 72-win record.
It also meant that the scale for MVP had completely tipped toward Roger.
After the game, Lenny Wilkens praised Roger’s performance:
“I have to admit, Shaq is MVP-level.
44 points, 15 rebounds?
Damn, even if I signed Robert Parish instead of Ben Wallace, the results would be better even though the Chief is already 47 years old.
But sadly, Shaq encountered the best form of Roger.”
Pippen then displayed his sense of humor:
“Have you seen a second-in-command win MVP?
As Roger’s best second-in-command, Shaq can naturally only stay ranked second in the MVP standings.
He certainly is a second-in-command, and the best proof is that he gets headaches as easily as I do.”