Champion Creed
Chapter 584 - 584 210 Reverse the Heavenly Gang Vote for monthly tickets!

584: 210: Reverse the Heavenly Gang (Vote for monthly tickets!) 584: 210: Reverse the Heavenly Gang (Vote for monthly tickets!) Indiana’s fans did not regard Pippen as a threat at all, since he had already shown signs of fatigue in the series against the Hornets.

But Pacers’ coach Larry Bird didn’t think the same, he had long reminded his team, “Be very careful with Scottie, if he guards Reggie, all of you need to be ten times more careful with your passes!”

Bird had been teammates with Pippen on the Dream Team, he knew just how outstanding Scottie Pippen was.

There were only two tragic aspects to Pippen’s career.

First, during the peak of his career, he was teammates with two players at the pinnacle of basketball.

In Chicago, he first encountered Jordan, then seamlessly transitioned to teaming up with Roger, and then Jordan came back.

Second, he had become Roger’s main rival in the previous few seasons.

Roger had crushed the Chicago Bulls for two consecutive years, scattering the dynasty team and making Pippen’s defense seem worthless.

But in reality, who in the league could truly lock down Roger?

It wasn’t that Pippen’s defense wasn’t good enough, but rather that Roger’s scoring ability was too strong.

In the shadow of these two legendary figures, Pippen naturally seemed like a waste.

It’s similar to how LeBron James, taken on his own, is actually an exceptional player.

But when directly compared to Michael Jordan, he seems somewhat lacking.

In Bird’s eyes, Pippen might not make a first option for a championship team, but he was underrated as the second option.

Now, the thing Bird worried about most had happened on the court.

As soon as the game started, Pippen was going all out chasing Reggie Miller.

Miller opened the game by turning basketball into a marathon; in the Pacers, Reggie Miller’s style wasn’t much like a primary option at all.

Because what he did was always very simple: off-ball offense.

Ray Allen didn’t give up the ball-handling duties to play off-ball until he went to the Celtics.

The season before that, Allen’s assist percentage was on the same level as Kobe’s.

Stephen Curry’s off-ball play is strong, but his assist percentage is not at the level of an off-ball player.

Because they are both primary options, they need to do a lot more on the court and cannot just be pure catch-and-shoot players.

After all, the more unilateral a player’s role is, the less impact they have on the game.

And those with little impact on the game cannot possibly be the primary option.

But Reggie Miller was different.

From the first year of his career, his assist percentage was frighteningly high.

This season Reggie Miller’s two-point assist percentage was 64%, and his three-point assist rate was 86%; Ray Allen reached roughly these levels in his third year after going to the Celtics.

That’s an extremely abnormal ball-handling ratio for a primary option.

Compared to being a primary option, Reggie Miller’s style was better suited as a secondary option on a team.

But the issue was, during his entire prime, Miller never partnered with a player better than him; he was forced into the role of primary option carrying the team.

However, he thoroughly enjoyed that responsibility, catching every critical ball and producing numerous playoff masterpieces, which is why Miller was so unique.

Some people may have limited talent and ability but are full of courage.

Others may have once-in-a-century talent yet repeatedly shy away at crucial moments.

The Pacers set up screens after screens for Miller, creating space for him to shoot; Mark Jackson, who ranked third in the league in assists, was always ready to supply him with ammunition.

Lenny Wilkens couldn’t help but curse, “Damn, that bastard is just like a rat darting around in a complex sewer.”

Rats scurrying around in sewers are generally very hard to catch, which is why Reggie Miller was difficult to defend.

Roger could catch him, but that would mean sacrificing his offense.

So when Pippen volunteered to lock down Reggie Miller, Wilkens agreed.

The old-school coach appreciated Pippen’s courage.

And besides, Pippen really didn’t have much offense to sacrifice…

In the first round of defense, Pippen did quite well.

No matter how many off-ball screens there were, he could quickly get free and tightly shadow Reggie Miller, ready to cut off the passing lane at any moment.

Mark Jackson used his big behind to hold off Roger, preventing a steal, and waited outside the three-point line for a long time without finding a good opportunity to pass the ball.

Pippen’s defense was so tight that Reggie Miller had no chance to receive the ball.

In the end, Mark Jackson had no choice but to lob the ball to Rik Smits in the paint.

The Dutchman used his height advantage to score a basket, giving the Pacers the first lead.

The Pacers scored successfully, but Bird did not smile.

Rik Smits was no Hakeem Olajuwon; he was not a center who could end games with scoring.

If the Pacers were forced to pass the ball to the paint time and time again, that would prove the team’s offense was a complete mess.

Bird’s most trusted assistant coach, the main offensive coach Rick Carlisle, was somewhat worried, “Should we let Reggie increase the proportion of his on-ball two-point offense?”

“No, absolutely not,” Bird shook his head, “That would only serve to feed Scottie Pippen steal stats!”

Fortunately, the Pacers’ defense was still excellent.

The Pacers continued to use aggressive trapping and double-teaming strategies to deal with Roger in this game, but unlike the regular season, Bird specifically left someone to guard Stevie Smith, and that person was none other than Reggie Miller.

Miller didn’t need to help on defense; his only job was to stick with Stevie Smith and not give him easy shooting opportunities.