Champion Creed-Chapter 887 - 294: How did you guess so accurately? (Requesting monthly tickets!)
Chapter 887: 294: How did you guess so accurately? (Requesting monthly tickets!)
The Hawks’ offense has struck fear into the entire League, as a string of consecutive victories followed the season opener.
In New York, the Hawks scored 126 points without going into overtime.
In Milwaukee, facing injury-riddled opponents, the Hawks blew past the Bucks with 114 points.
They scored 111 in Toronto, leaving Vince Carter to only exclaim post-game, "The Hawks dominate the League as they please."
In the first four games, the Hawks hadn’t scored below 110 in any single game.
In the small ball style era, such scores are common and not worth mentioning.
But bear in mind, this is an era where zone defense is starting to be allowed, and worse, it’s a time when HandCheck and zone defense coexist, making it the era with the historically highest defensive intensity.
Therefore, the Hawks’ scoring is already truly astonishing.
Beneath the Hawks, the second-highest scoring team, the fast-playing Dallas Mavericks, average only 105 points.
And the Hawks? They’re currently at 117 points per game!
Far ahead!
Indeed, this average scoring is currently somewhat inflated because the Knicks, wanting to tank for Yao Ming, were utterly shameless in the game against the Hawks.
If Tyronn Lue hadn’t had an off night, failing to turn into garbage-time Roger, the Hawks might have reached 130 points.
But even if this number drops later, it most likely won’t fall below the Mavericks’.
The slender Steve Nash cannot push the dazzling fast-paced whirlwind in this era, but Roger is entirely capable.
Mike D’Antoni indeed fulfilled his promise—next season, our offense will be leagues ahead of the rest!
The outstanding offense has overshadowed the Hawks’ declining defense, but some things cannot be completely concealed by victories.
During an early-season shareholder meeting, Bo Turner formally put the issue on the table.
"We must renew Paul Pierce’s contract early; it’s the best way to keep Roger from opting out!"
Bo Turner’s topic greatly disrupted today’s meeting atmosphere, as all shareholders drooled over the financial report, only for someone to suddenly say we need to spend a hefty sum next, enough to dissipate all joy instantly.
"Now’s not the time to discuss this," Bruce Levenson waved his hand, "There’s no need to rush a renewal; everything can wait until next summer to decide."
"No, no, no, Roger’s trust in us is already extremely low. Last season, Big Ben wasn’t renewed early, and he went to Detroit this summer. He won’t trust us anymore. Do you really want to wait until Roger opts out to make a decision? You should know, these impressive financial reports are all brought by Roger! You don’t actually believe people buy tickets just to watch the 38-year-old, sorry, 39-year-old Hakeem Olajuwon, do you?
Lose him, and we lose everything!"
This is a fact, 99% of the Hawks’ allure comes from Roger.
Bruce Levenson is well aware of this. Unlike Rich DeVos from years ago, who fantasized about replacing Roger with some Orlando prodigy.
After Roger won three Champions in Atlanta, he’s already become an irreplaceable figure.
"We will start negotiations, and do our best to settle things with Paul. But my bottom line is two max contracts, Shawn is not possible. In fact, because of the damn Scottie Pippen, we have a season where we pay three max contracts! Just tell Pete Babcock, negotiations with Paul will start soon."
Bruce Levenson said his piece and then left, thus ending the meeting.
Bo Turner didn’t resolve all problems, but at least things are moving in a good direction.
The next day, news broke that Paul Pierce is discussing early contract renewal with the Hawks.
This news was intentionally leaked by the Hawks, aiming to please Roger, conveying a message to him: Look, there’s no need for tension between us, we know what to do and what not to do.
The second function of this message is to make Paul Pierce very happy; this is his first max contract, meaning he can earn in one year what used to take five.
This indeed worked, players’ minds are less clouded, everyone is more focused on the games themselves.
After winning the first four games, the Hawks took down the Suns and the SuperSonics.
Against the SuperSonics, Gary Payton felt even more hopeless than he did in 1996.
As a defensive master, Gary Payton couldn’t find any way to stop the Hawks.
As the media said, "They are impossible to contain."
After the season opener, everyone mocked Byron, Scott’s incompetence, and laughed at Jason Kidd’s arrogance.
Yet now, everyone can’t laugh anymore, as the Hawks are sweeping through the League, reaping victories.
All teams in the League are studying ways to curb the Hawks, but none have any clues.
And all efforts of League teams turned to dust on November 10.
Facing the team with the best defense so far this season, the San Antonio Spurs, the Hawks still put up 106 points, beating the Spurs by 13 points.
Popovich made many arrangements, like fast retreat defense, shutting Roger down immediately, having Duncan attack the Hawks’ weak low post more.
But the Spurs still couldn’t gain even a sliver of winning opportunity.
After the game, Duncan, who scored 34 points, wasn’t happy at all: "They’re too fast, block one and there’s a second, block the second and a third comes. To limit the Hawks, we still need to think of another way."
