Champion Creed-Chapter 899 - 297: Dark Defense Era (Please vote for monthly tickets!)_2
Chapter 899: 297: Dark Defense Era (Please vote for monthly tickets!)_2
Then Joe Dumars, after Hamilton, Big Ben, and Artest, added another strong player to his team.
This was already the fourth new player he brought to the Pistons this year.
If the Pistons really succeed this season, Joe Dumars will undoubtedly become the General Manager of the Year.
At the press conference on his first day joining the Pistons, Rasheed Wallace appeared calm: "I will do my best to help the team succeed. This team has Ben Wallace and Ron Artest, they are all very outstanding players. If I can provide help, I believe we can achieve even better results."
There were no ambitious declarations, nor any provocations like "I’m here to be the boss."
Rasheed Wallace just calmly donned the blue jersey of the Detroit legion.
But people didn’t know that this calm press conference would kick off a turbulent revolution.
Since Rasheed Wallace joined, the Pistons embarked on a winning streak.
It’s easy to see that Rasheed Wallace is a perfect addition to the Pistons.
Firstly, standing at 211 cm with a wingspan reaching 230 cm, he can help Big Ben with low post defense.
This further frees up Big Ben’s insane help defense ability.
Secondly, on the offensive end, as Bill Simmons mentioned, Rasheed Wallace can provide another ball-handling threat besides Artest.
As a talent, Rasheed Wallace’s low post skills have long matured. Nowadays, he can even maintain a 36% long-distance shooting percentage while taking an average of 4 three-pointers per game.
He can provide space and is also a reliable finishing point.
As a result, the Detroit Pistons have started to make countless teams across the league suffer.
Against the Timberwolves, Kevin Garnett dared not dribble facing the Double Wallace defense, and was eventually shut down with a 0-for-7 performance in the fourth quarter, costing the Timberwolves the game.
Against the Spurs, the strongest power forward in the current game, Tim Duncan, was also limited to just 17 points.
Most legendary of all was against the Los Angeles Lakers, where the Double Wallace limited the omnipotent O’Neal, and Ron Artest held Kobe to a 40% shooting rate.
Grant Hill was left helpless against his former team.
For the first time, Lakers fans felt that the big three were a bit insufficient.
Ultimately, the Detroit Pistons secured a crazy victory in Los Angeles.
This Detroit Pistons team, without top-tier talent or a true superstar, surprisingly toppled the Lakers by a 6-point margin!
Of course, at the post-game press conference, aside from Grant Hill, the other two big three players did not praise the Pistons’ strength but instead blamed each other.
Shaq sarcastically remarked: "I don’t even know what happened. Suddenly, my partner lost patience and started irrationally chucking up shots, and this always seems to happen during the most perfect plans."
Kobe, of course, wouldn’t let Shaq get away with it: "If the guy who claims to be the most dominant player keeps missing in the paint, then the rules must be wrong, the hoop must be wrong, or the floor must be wrong, maybe even the ball is wrong. In short, that guy is always right, and he always thinks he has no problems."
Years of losses had rapidly cooled the relationship between O’Neal and Kobe. This year, their relationship had become irreconcilable, even Grant Hill couldn’t mediate. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Just like Shaq and Roger’s last year in Orlando, the locker room was divided even because of Kobe and O’Neal.
You’re either with Kobe or with Shaq.
If you’re with Kobe, Shaq will stop talking to you.
If you’re with Shaq, Kobe will ignore you in the locker room.
Phil Jackson, like last season, turned a blind eye to this situation, letting Kobe and Shaq compete.
His ability to manage team dynamics had completely failed in the face of continuous losses.
The Los Angeles Lakers are now struggling, and it’s hard for people to imagine how the OK duo can continue to coexist.
If a choice must be made, would the Los Angeles Lakers choose Kobe or Shaq?
The mutual blame within the Los Angeles Lakers confirmed one thing—the Detroit Pistons are the biggest threat to the Hawks.
This talented Lakers team is likely to implode from within, but what about the Detroit Pistons? They are as solid as a young man spending his first wedding night with his bride!
An article from the "Detroit Times" popularized a term in the league: "The Detroit Pistons, with the most suitable players and rules, have ushered the league into the Dark Defense Era!"
The Dark Defense Era became a whole new basketball concept.
The article argued that the Detroit Pistons very smartly chose players who perfectly fit the current version of the rules, making their defense impenetrable.
"As long as the league doesn’t change the rules, the shadow of the Dark Defense Era will continue to loom, preventing even the Atlanta Hawks from finding a direction to soar." The last sentence of the article read.
Previously, people always said that the opening up of team defense would change the game.
But the Hawks didn’t seem to be affected by it.
Now everyone understands, it’s not that there was no impact, it’s that there hadn’t been a strong enough team defense before.
The Detroit Pistons seized the benefits of the era, and the Dark Defense Era indeed devoured most teams.
