Champion Creed-Chapter 906 - 299: Until the opponent is completely destroyed, he will never be satisfied (Requesting monthly votes!)_3

Chapter 906: 299: Until the opponent is completely destroyed, he will never be satisfied (Requesting monthly votes!)_3

The Pistons called a timeout, and Artest cursed loudly, stomping his foot in frustration. As he looked up, he saw Roger smiling at him, like he was watching a joke.

Artest’s mind was filled with Roger’s words: "I will defeat you like this countless times. I’ll keep looking back at you, enjoying the pathetic sight of you, this loser."

Now, Roger was doing exactly that.

A fire burned in Artest’s heart. He couldn’t control himself as he walked towards Roger, fists clenched.

Damn, this bastard dares to mock me!

I’ll make him regret this! Yeah, that’s exactly what I’ll do!

Screw the game, screw it all!

At this moment, a large hand pressed down on Artest’s shoulder: "Ron, where are you going? Our bench is on the other side!"

Big Ben appeared in time, pulling Artest back to reality.

He almost lost control, sweating heavily, not knowing what he was just thinking. frёeweɓηovel_coɱ

What good would it do to beat up Roger? Would it change anything?

Artest, now regained his senses, didn’t say a word and simply walked toward his own bench.

Pistons’ head coach Rick Carlisle wasn’t panicked. He told Big Ben, "Stay under the basket next."

"Kurt’s shooting well today," Big Ben expressed concerns.

As a teammate who has partnered with Kurt Thomas for four years, Big Ben knew him well.

Most of the time, he posed no offensive threat. His mid-range shots lose accuracy with even slight interference, and when his touch is off, even open shots aren’t stable.

The problem was that Roger’s offensive threat today was too strong, forcing Big Ben to retreat deep to help defend Roger and be unable to return to disrupt Kurt Thomas. When Roger breaks through and passes, the Pistons can only gamble on Kurt Thomas’ touch from open positions.

Unfortunately, Kurt’s touch tonight was on fire.

But Carlisle didn’t care about Big Ben’s concerns: "Kurt is done, he’s exhausted. Next, if there aren’t any surprises, the Hawks will use Andrae Patterson at center."

Carlisle didn’t say more, Big Ben already knew what to do.

Andrae Patterson didn’t have any offensive capabilities, so facing the V-shaped pick-and-roll next, Big Ben could confidently retract and protect the basket, knowing even if Roger passed to Andrae Patterson, he wouldn’t make the shot.

Andrae Patterson’s influence on offense was similar to Big Ben’s, no, perhaps even less, at least Big Ben had the value of fighting for offensive rebounds.

Basketball isn’t a one-person sport, nor is it ever just a five-person sport.

Dream’s knee injury weakened the Hawks’ interior rotation, possibly costing them the game!

The match continued, and Rick Carlisle’s prediction was correct.

Exhausted, Kurt Thomas was off the court drinking water, and Andrae Patterson became the Hawks’ center on the court.

Andrae Patterson, full of energy, blocked the Pistons’ first offensive attempt after the timeout. Facing the cutting Hamilton attacking the hoop, Patterson jumped vertically to block, using his strong physique to distort Hamilton’s movement, leading to a missed layup.

On defense, Andrae Patterson could contribute some strength, with certain rim protection value.

But on offense? Carlisle was very much anticipating his performance.

Big Ben was also ready to guard the paint, despite the NBA’s unique defensive three-second rule limiting the power of camping defense, Big Ben could still achieve 80% of the camping defense effect by constantly moving in and out of the paint’s edge.

Artest also geared up, determined this time to make Roger taste the bitterness of defeat!

But the unexpected happened for the Pistons; this possession, the Hawks didn’t set up a V-shaped pick-and-roll, instead, they simply and bluntly let Roger isolate for a one-on-one!

Lenny Wilkens naturally knew without Kurt Thomas on the court, the team lost the condition to play the V-shaped pick-and-roll. The most distinctive trait of the V-shaped pick-and-roll compared to other setups, in simple terms, was having both screen-setting bigs capable of scoring, forcing the opponent’s center not to camp and protect the rim. Adding in two wings with three-point threats creates space for the pick-and-roll initiator.

If the screener can’t provide space, the V-shaped pick-and-roll is meaningless.

Let Roger play off the ball? Too risky, because Artest could disrupt the pass leading to a Hawks’ turnover.

Thus, under this offensive setting, letting Roger go one-on-one against Artest was the safest approach.

Substitute Tyronn Lue initiated the tactic—passing the ball to Roger.

As a player aspiring to be a coach after retirement, Tyronn Lue had been studying various tactical arrangements.

Currently, this move was the most practical he’d learned.

Easy to execute, indeed effective, why wouldn’t it be a practical strategy?

Seeing Roger ready for isolation, Artest felt reinvigorated: "Without the pick-and-roll, you’re nothing!"

"Ron, I’ll relish the expression on your face like a lost dog. I promise."

After speaking, Roger dribbled towards Artest, not making any feints, directly charging left.

Roger wasn’t underestimating Artest, but one absolutely cannot perform any wide crossovers or overly complex dribbling moves near Artest. It’s taboo unless you wish to watch him steal the ball and perform a ridiculously amateurish layup.

Therefore, when isolating against Artest, the movement should be as simplified as possible, not giving him any opportunity to poke the ball.

Of course, refraining from wide direction changes and moving the balance point makes the offense harder. Plus, Artest’s resistance was strong, and one couldn’t overpower him—this was why he could be a one-on-one lockdown defender, even schooling Kevin Durant as a budding star while he was already aging.

He was really tough to handle.

Roger’s breakthrough was predictably blocked by Artest; despite Roger’s decent resistance, he couldn’t push through against Artest.

But at the moment of resistance, Roger smoothly spun, pushed Artest slightly, and directly executed a turnaround fadeaway jumper in just a sliver of space!

Artest jumped up immediately to block, seemingly a perfect defense.

But perfection isn’t determined by the level of interference, but by the outcome.

Roger, thanks to the space created by pushing and fading, successfully scored, stretching the lead to 11 points!

Artest was incredulous; he thought with the Hawks unable to play the V-shaped pick-and-roll, he could feast on Roger, believing this was the beginning of the Pistons’ comeback.

But Roger still scored under the worst offensive circumstances!

In fact, playing the V-shaped pick-and-roll was just an easier approach, but it didn’t mean Roger lacked the ability to duel Artest one-on-one.

Real superstars utilize systems but don’t rely on them.

The Philips Arena erupted completely, the 11-point lead symbolized one thing—the Detroit Pistons couldn’t yet dominate the Hawks, not even close!

Steve Jones shared the same view: "Stop talking about domination, Detroit Pistons almost can’t win two consecutive games against the Hawks even in the regular season!"

A total one-on-one defeat overwhelmed Artest’s mind with a huge sense of failure. As Artest turned around, he again saw Roger’s disdainful smile.

"Ron, I fucking love that lost dog expression of yours now. Dark Defense Era? Huh? I’d say this is the Dark Offensive Era! No matter how strong the defensive team, they can’t stop me!"

Watching Roger humiliate Artest repeatedly, Big Ben sighed. He couldn’t help Artest; this was what one had to endure against Roger.

Roger would never be satisfied with the situation, not until he utterly destroyed his opponent, otherwise, he’d never be satisfied.

He would tirelessly defeat you, humiliate you, again and again, until you crumble, until you want to flee the court.

Artest clenched his fist, shame and anger already starting to flood his mind.

Now, there was an uncontrollable strong voice in his head, perpetually appearing.

"Forget about everything, Ron, you must teach him a lesson—by any means necessary, you must teach him a lesson! You can’t let him keep chastising you, you need to chastise him too!"

Artest’s breathing became rapid.

Yes, yes, I must deal with Roger!

I must change this passive situation!

In this regard, he can’t possibly still beat me!