Chapter 447 446: No hope, only disaster (ask for monthly ticket!)
In 1992, Pau Gasol was 12 years old.

He was a frail child. Although he was taller than his peers, he was very fragile and had to go to the hospital every few days.

Therefore, his parents sent him to play basketball to strengthen his body. Why basketball instead of soccer, which is popular in Europe? Because before his parents became doctors, they were both professional basketball players in Spain.

Pau Gasol did not regard basketball as the ultimate goal of his life at the beginning. To him, it was just a game. His ultimate goal in life was to put on a white coat and save lives like his parents.

But that year, the Barcelona Olympics changed the ideals of this 12-year-old boy.

In Barcelona, ​​he witnessed that group of guys who chewed gum, wore cool basketball shoes, and called themselves the Dream Team, easily slaughtered the Spanish team with a score of 122 to 81, slaughtered the world of basketball, and won the Olympic championship almost in a playful manner.

The smooth fast break, violent dunks and stunning defense all shocked Gasol greatly. For the first time, he realized that basketball could be played this way.

Watching Michael Jordan standing on the podium with the American flag on his shoulders, a spark was planted in Pau Gasol’s heart.

He wanted to play basketball, he wanted to go to the United States, to the NBA, and dreamed of playing at that level, competing with the elites of the elite, becoming strong there, and then dominating the court like No. 9 (Jordan) of the Dream Team, wearing his country’s uniform, and standing on the podium with his country’s flag draped over him!

Studying medicine won’t save Spain!

Of course, the young Pau Gasol had no idea that Jordan wore the national flag on the podium not out of patriotism or a sense of honor, but just to cover up the Reebok logo on his body – Reebok was the sponsor of the Dream Team at the time.

But this is the star effect. Everything they do will be deliberately beautified, and their existence will bring hope to people.

A year later, an even more exciting event gave Pau Gasol greater hope – Roger, a Chinese player who played in an American high school, was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the fourth pick in the first round.

Prior to this, the two leading international players, Drazen Petrovic, were selected 13th in the third round, and Arvydas Sabonis was selected 24th in the first round.

Roger, the fourth pick in the first round.

It’s not hard to imagine what a horrific achievement this is, and how much of a shock this is to Gasol.

Roger’s draft pick is completely not on the same level as the first two.

Of course, having a high draft pick is not enough. Sam Bowie was selected with the second pick in 1984, but no one thought he was better than Jordan, who was selected with the third pick, Barkley, who was selected with the fifth pick, or Stockton, who was selected with the sixteenth pick.

Before this, most white European and Asian players did not have much success in the NBA. There were Asian players in the NBA, but they were almost invisible. The only European All-Star player, Drazen Petrovic, died young. It is easy to imagine how difficult it was for Roger to survive in the NBA.

But what did Roger do? He became a superstar almost from the first day he entered the league. His performance in his rookie season has made countless media sigh that “no one can beat him in three years”. He has shown some of Wilt Chamberlain’s dominance since his rookie season, and this dominance is particularly evident in the modeling industry.

The emergence of Roger has made Pau Gasol’s hopes no longer illusory. Facts have proved that there is room for international players to survive in the NBA, and they can survive well.

Then he experienced the fantastic 90s.

The guy who was selected by the Bulls with the fourth pick not only survived in the NBA and became an All-Star, but also beat Michael Jordan, who was all-powerful in Barcelona in 1992, out of the league!
However, although Gasol sees Roger as his hope, he cannot really regard him as an idol. Because as basketball players, his and Roger’s playing styles are too different. Generally speaking, a basketball player will admire people he can imitate more.

So the player Gasol really admires is Tim Duncan, a quiet, humble, knowledgeable and well-rounded big man who was sought after before he even entered the league and won the championship in his second year of his career.

At that time, he dreamed of playing for the Spurs, playing with Duncan, and becoming the David Robinson beside him.

At this moment, Pau Gasol’s wish came true.

He was wearing the black “armor” of San Antonio, and next to him was the invincible Tim Duncan.

Although this Duncan is far from what Gasol imagined, he is funny, frivolous, not taciturn, and can cause hair loss.

But he is indeed very strong, and Pau Gasol firmly believes that they can achieve something.

But they happened to meet Roger.

Once upon a time, Roger was Pau Gasol’s hope.

But it was not until now that he deeply realized that what Roger brought was never hope, but disaster.

Disaster is brewing in San Antonio.

Gregg Popovich was helpless. The twin towers of Gasol and Duncan were indeed very strong, and the Warriors’ inside line was almost destroyed.

But the problem is that the Warriors’ offense is more efficient.

Because Spoelstra insisted on using a small lineup, the Spurs’ defense was always caught off guard.

Whether it was Roger’s mid-range and long-range shots or the three-pointers from other Warriors players, the offense of the Spurs’ twin towers was eclipsed.

And Roger’s choice of “shooting himself” and “passing the ball to his teammates” will never be wrong.

You rarely see him passing the ball when he should be attacking, or attacking when he should be passing the ball.

Al Michaels commented: “There are many players in this league who have a good career, but they don’t know how to choose a shot, what is happening on the court, and what is needed. Roger is that special player with a very keen sense of smell. He knows everything on the court and the key to winning. He has the ability to win the game in various ways. Defense, rebounding, a shot or an organization, God, he is perfect!”

In fact, all experienced players are like this, just like LeBron James, when he was 40 years old, he could always pass the ball with ease and let his teammates’ time return to zero the moment they received the ball, never wasting a second, and never giving his teammates a chance to pass it back.

That’s what experience does.

At halftime, Popovich faced a difficult decision.

He can either remove the twin towers and play a small lineup with the Warriors in exchange for better switching defensive flexibility.

He can either continue to fight in the interior and see whether Roger kills the game or the Spurs kill the game in the low post.

Popovich chose the latter.

Because the Spurs don’t have a lot of good options at the 4 position right now, Robert Horry? His help defense is no longer as quick as it was ten years ago.

Push Bruce Bowen to the four position and let Ginobili start? That would turn the team’s perimeter defense into a complete disaster.

Bruce Bowen can at least limit Brandon Roy at the 3rd position. If he is pushed to the 4th position, Roy will definitely punish the Spurs. Popovich admires Roy very much. He likes mature, stable and comprehensive players, so he can’t underestimate the second-year guard.

So in the third quarter, the situation was the same as before.

Pau Gasol and Duncan showed their dominance in the low post, and Roger and the shooters scored crazily.

The two teams carried out the spirit of “you play yours, I play mine” to the end.

However, the rules of this era are no longer the version where low-post hegemons dominate the game.

In the fourth quarter, as Spoelstra stepped up his attack, it became increasingly difficult for Pau Gasol, the center, to receive the ball in the low post.

The same is true when Duncan moves to the low post.

In the end, Popovich found that the Spurs’ offense still had to rely on Gasol or Duncan to screen and roll for Parker or Ginobili.

This means that they gave up their most advantageous offensive method.

The Desperate Demon Sword almost saved the team. He scored 8 points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter, narrowing the gap to only 6 points.

But Roger used a mid-range turnaround jump shot and a drifting bank shot to extend the score back to double digits, and also got his 45th point of the game – Paul Gasol even looked up at the big screen to realize that Roger’s data was so exaggerated.

Because Roger’s performance didn’t look “amazing”, it felt just like usual. Maybe 40 points in a single game was just a normal performance for him.

After all, this is a guy who continues to lead the league in scoring this year and has led the league in scoring from 1996 to 2008.

Ginobili’s outburst is often based on the Spurs’ outstanding defense. He can score some difficult goals, and then the Spurs rely on defense to stifle the opponent and achieve a comeback.

But facing the Warriors, Roger was better at making difficult shots than him. When Roger successfully responded to Ginobili, the Spurs’ counterattack momentum was temporarily suppressed.

The Warriors regained the lead by 10 points, and for the Spurs this will be the most crucial attack of the night.

If the point difference could be reduced to single digits, their momentum might be able to continue. But the Warriors’ defense in this round was extremely good, and their tight pursuit did not give anyone a chance.

Seeing that he would commit a violation if he couldn’t pass the ball, Tim Duncan had to go to the high position to receive the ball and make a drifting shot from mid-range to long range.

The moment this goal came out, the Spurs had already lost.

They are already playing the way they are least good at.

It’s not that Duncan was completely unable to make this kind of shot. In the original timeline, before Derek Fisher’s buzzer-beater with 0.4 seconds left, Duncan relied on a very outrageous drifting shot from mid-range to long-range to lead the team to overtake in the last 0.4 seconds.

But obviously, he can’t always have such touch and luck.

The basketball bounced off the rim and Roger grabbed the rebound himself. Pau Gasol had to commit a tactical foul on Roger to buy time.

After being hugged by Gasol, Roger looked at Gasol with contempt: “Seriously? Foul me? Do you really think this will work? Brandon, tell this Spanish woman what my free throw percentage is this season.”

At that moment, Roger’s idol halo in Gasol’s mind was completely shattered.

Just like if he knew that Jordan was wearing the national flag just to cover the Reebok logo, he would definitely break the idol halo of Jordan in his heart. Before, Pau Gasol also played against Roger in the playoffs. But because he was not the real obstacle on Roger’s way to winning the championship, Roger did not show too much hostility to the Spaniard.

But today, the Spaniards got to know the real Roger.

He also knew that this was why Roger could dominate the alliance.

Gasol watched Roger stand at the free throw line and made two free throws steadily, widening the gap to 12 points and completely securing the victory.

After scoring the goal, Roger spread his hands to Gasol: “I know you have tried your best.”

Then, there were cheers from all the fans in Oracle Arena.

Tim Duncan watched all this calmly: “This is the price of competing with that bastard. If you can’t accept it, you will suffer a lot in this series.”

Pau Gasol sighed. He now understood why the powerful Tim Duncan was also suppressed by Roger.

In the end, the Spurs lost the game by 7 points on the road, with the series score being 1-0.

However, the Spurs’ nightmare was not over.

Because their problem is unsolvable, no matter how many games they play, the problem will still exist.

In Game 2, the Spurs made the game even more tense, and only solved the problem with Roger’s big-hearted three-pointer in the last 26 seconds.

Tonight, Ginobili and Parker were in great form and played amazing offensively.

But Roger scored 40+ for the second consecutive game and led the team to victory with 43 points in a single game.

In G3, Popovich finally changed his strategy and let Bowen go to the power forward position, responsible for sweeping the mid-range.

But Brandon Roy showed no mercy. Facing Manu Ginobili’s defense, the second-year guard scored a career-high 34 points in the playoffs.

In the original timeline, Brandon Roy became one of the biggest “ifs” in the NBA because of his early end to his career.

But many people think that Brandon Roy is overrated and that even if he can continue to play healthy, he is just so-so.

No, Brandon Roy is underestimated.

He is underrated because his statistics, even in his best year (22+4+5), look mediocre.

But what most people don’t know is that Brandon Roy played on the slowest team in the slowest era of the game.

The Trail Blazers were an old-school positional team at the time, and their possession count ranked last in the league, so you can’t expect his basic data to be as explosive as those of players in the small ball era.

But Roy is a player with excellent BPM in his rookie season, and a player who can increase his production and efficiency in the playoffs. These can better reflect a player’s strength and level than basic data.

A healthy Roy may still not be able to become the MVP, but he will definitely be one of the top three shooting guards in the league for a long time.

Having Ginobili and Parker defend a guard of this caliber is simply suicide.

Seeing that Roy played well today, Roger simply gave up more offensive rights and focused on defending Parker and Ginobili. When the Spurs did not play the twin towers lineup, their offense was highly dependent on the two guards.

So when Roger forced the two guards to reduce their effectiveness, the Spurs were like a cold corpse.

Although Raja Bell’s pressure defense and Bowen’s assist defense allowed the Spurs to successfully reduce Roger’s score to “only” 31 points, the Spurs also successfully reduced Roger’s shooting percentage to only 42%.

But Roy’s performance and Roger’s defense made the Spurs’ efforts in vain. The Warriors still won the game after arriving in San Antonio, 103 to 91.

3-0, Roger only has one game left before his second “FO”.

Roger didn’t seem to care: “I predicted the end of the Spurs a long time ago, but some of you think it’s nonsense.”

Roy, who scored a new high in the playoffs, was also very calm: “It’s no big deal, the real battle is yet to come.”

Everyone knew what real battle he was referring to.

Currently, the Los Angeles Lakers lead the Dallas Mavericks 2-0.

The Mavericks have a great roster, but the super Lakers are simply cheating.

The aging Shaquille O’Neal was overwhelmed by rebounds from Dwight Howard, and Jason Kidd was defended by his old rival Chauncey Billups, becoming a blacksmith with a shooting percentage of less than 35% for two consecutive games.

Dirk Nowitzki performed well, but the combined attack of Kobe and LBJ made it difficult for him to handle the game alone.

There will definitely be a battle between the super Lakers and the dynasty Warriors.

Only by dealing with Kobe and helping Roger beat the Lakers can Brandon Roy complete his mission.

He had been waiting for that battle, and before that, other opponents were not important at all.

In Game 4 of the series, Popovich was like the struggling German army in the spring of 1945.

He had not been completely destroyed, but he knew that the situation was irreversible.

He was just waiting to die.

He desperately switched back to the twin towers, even though he knew it wouldn’t really work.

Pau Gasol was completely lost in this game. He was not strong enough and only shot 14 of 5. The deep rounds of the playoffs were completely different from the game he had understood before.

Your opponents will treat you in an extremely brutal manner. It doesn’t seem like they are competing with you, but rather fighting for their lives.

And the referee almost turned a blind eye to this level of confrontation.

As the axis and spear of the Spurs’ offense, Gasol’s performance is almost equivalent to sentencing the Spurs to death.

The game lasted only three quarters because the entire fourth quarter was garbage time.

Gregg Popovich just sat on the bench for the entire fourth quarter, and the game was completely directed by his assistant Mike Budenholzer.

On the bench, Pau Gasol covered his head with a towel, and no one knew if he was crying secretly.

Tim Duncan just sat next to Popovich, saying nothing.

Popovich patted Duncan’s hand and said, “Sorry Tim, but our last chance is gone.”

Duncan shook his head: “Without Pop, we never had a chance.”

Popovich was stunned for a few seconds, then let out a long sigh.

Yeah, they never had a chance with Roger.

4-0, Roger and the entire Warriors team cheered on the court.

When the Warriors swept the Trail Blazers 4-0, no one was surprised because the Trail Blazers were the worst of all playoff teams, with less than 40 wins in the regular season. They were forced into the top eight simply because other teams played too hard.

But when Roger was about to sweep the Spurs 4-0, public opinion exploded.

After acquiring Pau Gasol, the San Antonio Spurs have become one of the teams with the greatest potential to win the championship. According to people’s predictions, even if they lose to the Warriors, they should not lose a single game.

But Roger used two 40-point games and two 30-point games, an average of 37.2 points per game, and his unparalleled dominance to severely defeat the Spurs.

After the game, Duncan hugged Roger.

Roger smiled and told No. 21: “Tim, your future is really coming next.”

Duncan smiled bitterly: “Even if I succeed in the future, people will only say that I just won the championship in an era without Roger.”

Gregg Popovich was in a bad mood during the press conference.

But the reporter decided to risk being scolded and asked him: “How do you evaluate your last playoff match with Roger in your career?”

Popovich glared at the reporter fiercely, but did not get angry or make any sarcastic jokes.

“He’s incredible. Who can stop that guy? For more than a decade, I’ve been thinking about one thing, which is how to beat Roger. But I think it may be more complicated than relativity. Tim and David can figure out relativity, but they can’t figure out Roger. If I had a Roger, I could win five consecutive championships!”

This was the first time Gregg Popovich praised Roger in public.

This means that there is another important name in Roger’s conquest list.

(End of this chapter)