Champion Creed
Chapter 50 - 50 036 I allow Scott to hide behind me

50: 036: I allow Scott to hide behind me 50: 036: I allow Scott to hide behind me As the man who snatched away Roger’s first assist, Steve Kerr felt that Roger wasn’t as selfish as everyone said.

Today, Roger passed the ball to Kerr twice, but Kerr missed one of his shots, which is why Roger only had one assist.

So in Kerr’s eyes, the kid was clearly a talent!

The Zen Master starting him was the right call!

In the locker room, Roger helping the Bulls score an opening victory for the new season and securing a starting position didn’t cause much controversy.

Even Pete Myers, who was squeezed out by Roger, didn’t have much to say about it.

After all, competitive sports aren’t about seniority; if your skills are inferior, you step aside.

Even the greatest shooters have off days.

Experience only represents the past, not the present.

However, Pippen seemed more upset than Myers, who lost his starting spot.

Pippen thought he was finally going to shine, but then a rookie overshadowed him in the season’s first game—nobody could be happy with that.

But then again, it was Pippen who couldn’t handle the game, right?

Just think, if it weren’t for Pippen’s 30% shooting serving as a contrast, how would people view Roger’s 25 points for the game?

The media would probably say, “Scoring 25 points against the Hornets, who are not known for strong perimeter defense, does not prove Roger’s scoring ability.”

But because of Pippen’s presence, Roger’s offense seemed all the more outstanding.

Roger began to understand why Pippen was considered one of the best second-in-commands in history.

If not for Wade’s unbelievable actions during the Big Three era, Pippen could have been called the best second-in-command without any qualification.

But today, it wasn’t just Pippen who played the supporting role to Roger.

Chris Webber, whose IQ seemed to completely disconnect at critical moments, and Roger’s continuous success in one-on-one scenarios during crunch time, naturally made Webber another stepping stone for Roger.

Shawn Bradley, the number two draft pick, in his debut, put up an unbelievable 16.7% shooting rate at a height of 229cm.

The basket was right in front of him, but he just couldn’t get the ball in.

Webber only performed poorly at the end, but Bradley was off his game from start to finish—both were truly the hidden dragons and crouching tigers of the ’93 draft.

76ers’ coach Fred Carter had to bench the poor giant in the fourth quarter to prevent his field goal percentage from dropping below 10%.

Was he preserving Bradley’s dignity?

No, he was safeguarding the 76ers management’s IQ.

Their remarkable performances made SportsCenter host John Anderson comment, “I thought Roger and Penny were the number one and number two picks.”

Well, today the only one who didn’t turn into a clown was probably Penny.

Because the Warriors’ other “Tim-Bug” Hardaway suffered a catastrophic knee injury during training camp, tearing his left ACL, Penny took over the playmaking duties.

And in a team like the Warriors that emphasizes a fast-paced, crazy offense, Penny’s debut numbers were naturally quite spectacular.

With 20 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds, Penny led the Warriors to a victory over the Spurs led by the Admiral.

Hardaway’s dazzling playstyle was executed to perfection under Old Nelson’s wild system.

David Stern was very pleased with such an outcome.

On the first night of the new season, both of Jordan’s successors put on the performance he had hoped for.

Although Commissioner Stern has always been keen to promote Roger and Hardaway, in competitive sports, if you lack ability, even strong promotion won’t hold you up.

Just think, if a player doesn’t even understand how many steps he can take for a layup, then no amount of hype declaring him the GOAT would be useful.

So, when Hardaway and Roger stood out on the first night of the new season, Stern was happier than both of them.

These two have both the talent and the looks; they don’t even need my help.

They are sure to become superstars replacing Michael!

With the league’s marketing and media reporting, the discussion among fans about who was stronger or weaker between Roger and Hardaway became a hot topic.

The day after training at the Berto Center ended, Pippen reluctantly accepted an interview.

Although he liked being surrounded by the media, about half of the dozen or so questions he was asked today were related to Roger and Hardaway!

This irritated him greatly.

There it was again, a reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times asked him, “Scottie, who do you think is the better player between Roger and Anfernee?”

It was actually an easy question to answer—just support your teammate.

But Pippen thought for a while and then said with a smile, “Roger has stronger scoring talents, but he really needs to learn how to read the offense.

Buddy, he can’t always end up with only one assist per game.

When you can’t score smoothly, you have to have other ways to solve problems, and Anfernee is doing well in that regard.”

The keen reporters sensed Pippen’s dissatisfaction: “Scottie, do you think Roger is a bit too authoritarian?

Will his style affect the team’s overall operation when he starts?”

“I’ve always believed in and supported Phil’s decisions.

If he says the kid deserves to start in the NBA, then he does.

All I can say is that he has a lot to learn.

Yesterday there were a few times my teammates and I were open, but he didn’t spot us.

Although he made those shots, what about the times when they don’t go in?”

With Pippen complaining in front of the media, combined with a previous fighting incident, the media, as naive as they might be, should’ve realized by now—Pippen and Roger are not as harmonious as they seem on the surface!

The media love to overinterpret and exaggerate.

And Pippen’s grievance-filled statement gave the media the sound bites they’d been looking for.

Not to capitalize on it would be a waste.

Therefore, Krause soon saw many headlines like this in the newspapers:

“Scottie Pippen unhappy with Roger taking too many shots, it seems like the Chicago train’s journey out of the dark tunnel will be incredibly long.

The Warriors?

Everyone loves Penny; they’re on their way to a great season.”

“Starting Roger could ruin the triangle offense, because the one thing the triangle offense hates the most is ball hogging.

But Anfernee, he can be positive in any system.”

“While Scottie Pippen didn’t say it outright, he probably thinks it’s too early to start Roger.”

Krause was infuriated, he couldn’t understand why Pippen was causing trouble again.

Last season, Grant, because he was unhappy with the contract extension amount and also due to Jordan’s suspicions of him leaking information, had already created a bad atmosphere in the locker room.

Pippen should know the impact this has on the team.

And now, this season too?

Just at this time, the Bulls lost their second game of the regular season.

The Miami Heat won with a score of 95 to 90, with the 211 cm Lebanese giant Rony Seikaly dominating the Bulls’ historically weak inside game, scoring 28 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Glenn Rice had an extremely hot hand, scoring 24 points.

But these weren’t the keys to the loss, the key was that the Bulls’ offense was too inefficient today.

Steve Kerr went 2 for 9, Kukoc 4 for 12, and Cartwright and Wennington, the two centers, together only went 4 for 16.

Only Roger and Pippen had relatively normal shooting percentages, with Roger scoring 22 points on 45% shooting and Pippen 20 points on 43% shooting.

The Bulls’ worst moments on offense occurred in the middle of the second and third quarters.

The Bulls had one thing in common during these times: Both Kukoc and Pippen were off the court.

With both of them off, the team’s offense lacked “lubricant.” The entire Bulls’ offense was like a rusty machine, totally unable to run smoothly.

Without a focal point in the triangle offense, other players found it difficult to get good opportunities.

A.

C.

Green was great, but after all, he didn’t have Grant’s high-post playmaking abilities.

The Zen Master intended for him to play the pivot role, but the result was a mess.

Kerr and Pete Myers were also attack-minded guards.

Handing the ball to them meant they neither passed well nor scored efficiently.

So, during those two periods, Roger simply played one-on-one.

It wasn’t that he deliberately didn’t pass, it was more like a forced move.

The Zen Master also noticed this issue and was planning to solve it.

The team’s rotation still needed adjustment, no team remains unchanged from the start to the end of a season.

This game’s defeat wasn’t anyone’s fault.

But some didn’t see it that way; they thought Roger took too many shots for his first start.

After the game, a reporter asked Pippen: “Scottie, this is the first game the team has lost this season, do you have anything to say?”

Pippen was furious, “What does it have to do with me?”

“Ah?

Aren’t you a member of the Chicago Bulls?”

“But when I was on the court, our offense was clearly smooth.

After I went off, it got worse.”

“Are you saying Roger played too much isolation?

You don’t support him starting?”

“What I’m saying is, find whoever lost the damn game, whoever took the most shots, and stop bothering me!”

Ten minutes later, Roger heard from the reporters what Pippen had said.

But his comments were more sensational than Pippen’s:

“Right, losing has nothing to do with Scottie.

In the past when we lost, Scottie could hide behind Michael.

Now Michael’s not here, and I allow him to hide behind me.

So don’t trouble him, if there are any problems after a loss, just come to me.”

Pippen wanted to express his dissatisfaction, hoping to draw the team’s attention to him.

But the next day, people were praising Roger for being responsible and showing leadership qualities…

Pippen: ???

Why does everything I do have the opposite effect?

Of course, some media sided with Pippen.

“The struggle over the steering wheel between the two drivers, Scott and Roger, may very well lead to the wrecking of the entire car.

Roger is a good scorer, but also a huge problem.

If the Bulls had gotten Anfernee, the team wouldn’t have all these troubles.” — Chicago Sun-Times.

Krause had a headache, he hated the media meddling the most; it was they who pushed Michael out!

He really didn’t want any more troubles for the team, so he had to make some follow-up plans.

If the team completely lost control, he must have a contingency plan.