Champion Creed
Chapter 662 - 662 231 How could this go wrong

662: 231: How could this go wrong?

(Vote for me for the monthly ticket!)_2 662: 231: How could this go wrong?

(Vote for me for the monthly ticket!)_2 The thoughts of a 19-year-old girl are very complex, yet the thoughts of this 24-year-old boy, Roger, are quite simple.

Why had he disappeared?

It was simply because he was busy training.

Roger had never relaxed his training regimen; ever since he became a basketball player, he had been obsessively focused on only two things—winning and getting stronger.

Last summer, Roger had concentrated on enhancing his finishing and defensive abilities, the latter of which enabled him to make the All-Defensive First Team for the first time in his career.

This summer, he wanted to improve the consistency of his long-range shooting.

The training at this stage was harder than before because it was very unsatisfying, making it difficult to persist.

Before, the effects of Roger’s training were often very clear.

But now, as his skills and abilities had become more well-rounded, the effects of training were not as obvious.

When a player reaches his peak, it’s normal for his abilities to hit a plateau.

After a summer of hard training and finer adjustments to his posture, perhaps Roger’s three-point shooting percentage would increase by only two percentage points.

But Roger was well aware that the two- or three-point improvement wasn’t the point.

The point was that, facing a seven-point deficit in the last moments of the previous season, he could be much more confident in completing a comeback.

Roger had no complaints about training, and the off-season was quickly coming to an end.

By mid-September, the NBA officially announced the schedule for the next season.

The marquee game of the opening night, on November 2nd, the Atlanta Hawks would face the defending champions San Antonio Spurs on the road.

It was a match-up all fans were looking forward to; in the eyes of most, the Spurs hadn’t shown any dominance over the former champions.

So, they needed to prove themselves on the night of the championship ring ceremony.

The first game against the champions had Roger very excited.

There was no better litmus test than the defending champions.

One week before the start of the preseason training camp, on September 25th, Roger, Pierce, and Marion finished their regular training as usual.

Marion had joined Roger and Pierce’s training in mid-September, as Roger needed Marion to enhance the consistency of his shooting.

Marion didn’t refuse; he never dared say no to Roger.

After training, Pierce, already drenched in sweat, continued to pick up the basketball and asked Joe Abunassar to stay and practice shooting with him.

Roger sat on the sidelines, silently watching Pierce in his drenched clothes take jump shots from spot to spot.

He didn’t know how many shots Pierce had taken, 300?

No, definitely more; that was probably just his warm-up.

Even Abunassar, helping with the passing, felt tired, but Pierce still didn’t stop shooting.

Abunassar walked off the court to rest, yet Pierce continued to practice, even if it meant picking up the balls himself.

“Three days a week, he would keep shooting like this until he was too exhausted to stand.

The kid has been like this all summer long, like a wild dog that doesn’t know fatigue and keeps running,” Abunassar remarked helplessly as he sat beside Roger.

“Don’t underestimate the wild dogs running along the roadside; their veins may also carry the blood of male lions,” Roger admired Pierce, who was genuinely getting stronger.

Having trained together for some time, Roger could feel that Pierce had made significant strides in endurance, shooting stability, and defensive consistency.

Roger was already imagining how good Pierce would perform next season.

“Roger, the new season is about to start, how do you feel?” Abunassar shifted the topic onto Roger.

“Feel?

I’m so excited I could die!

I think it’s time to start anew!

No excuses about shortened seasons or injuries, next season I have no reason to lose.”

“I think the season looks promising too, but Tim is strong, and the Lakers have hired Phil.

Plus, the Miami crowd; your competition hasn’t gotten any easier,” Abunassar warned.

“You’ve got it all wrong, Old Joe, it’s their environment that’s bad,” Roger confidently retorted.

Finally, after shooting until he was utterly spent, Paul Pierce finally stopped practicing.

He lay on the floor, too tired to even stand up.

He wanted to get as accustomed as possible to the feeling of shooting when completely exhausted, so he could seize the opportunity to shoot at any moment.

Roger walked over to Pierce, who was lying on the ground, and gently punched him in the chest, “You did well, Paul, but from today until the pre-season training camp, you’re not allowed to set foot in the gym.”

“What?”

“I don’t want you to be exhausted before the season even starts.

Take these days to relax, do whatever you want, go wherever you want to play.

It won’t be long, Paul, soon we’ll be able to shut those bastards up.”

“Heh, I’ve been waiting for this moment!”

That evening, when he got home, SportsCenter’s season preview program ranked the Atlanta Hawks first in the power rankings.

The defending champion Spurs had to settle for second.

Keith Olbermann’s reasoning was simple:

“The Hawks are in a better place in every aspect compared to last season.”

Last season, the Hawks went through a lot; they lost Stevie Smith and Alan Henderson, and in March, Scottie Pippen.

That’s right, three starters from the 1998 championship Hawks were suddenly gone last season.

But Roger still led such a team to the Eastern Conference Finals.

This season, the Hawks have added Shawn Marion, who performed quite well in the Boston summer league, and in addition, Paul Pierce spent the entire summer in the gym, and Scottie Pippen’s surgery went very smoothly, and he has fully recovered.

The Atlanta team is strong, and they have the chance to recreate the 1998 miracle.

I believe they are the team with the best chance of winning it all next season!”

Roger was probably looking forward to the new season even more than the fans; he was fed up with days when even trash like Spree dared to yell at him.

There’s still one week left before the new season’s training camp starts, and Roger also has one last thing to do before the new season begins.

—————–

On the banks of the Tallapoosa River, the wind was as strong as ever.

Roger stood by the river, hands in his pockets.

This city is full of Roger’s marks, and even though they missed out on the championship last season, his status in Atlanta wasn’t affected in the slightest.

The relationship between him and the city couldn’t be measured by mere wins and losses.

Roger is a symbol of Atlanta, and Atlanta is Roger’s kingdom.

The bond between him and this city is deep, and one of those bonds is right here on the Tallapoosa River.

“Andy, after the 1998 championship, I made a promise to build a dynasty in Atlanta.

Unfortunately, we had a mishap last season.

Of course, I take all the blame.

The Miami team’s defense was really tight, and I had a hard time getting inside to score.

And on the perimeter, I missed a lot of long shots, even being limited to a shooting percentage below 40% in two games.

It’s all on me.

But this summer, my three-point stability has improved further, and I promise I’ll do better in the playoffs.

Hey, it’s you who gave me the courage not to fear failure.

Really, I’m not scared at all facing failure.

All I’m thinking about is winning it back!

This time, I promise, the dynasty moment will come to Atlanta!

The Hawks are not just champions, they are going to define this era as the ultimate rulers!

Whether it’s Tim or Shaq or those bastards from Miami, they’re all going to die!

Unless someone comes at me right now and stabs me a dozen times, everything will be on track.”

Roger spoke a bunch of words to the Tallapoosa River, then pulled out a lighter, burned a season ticket to ashes, and let it blend into the river water, flowing into the distance.

His annual conversation with Andy before the season starts was very important to Roger.

After sorting all this out, Roger was ready to drive home.

But as soon as he got in the car, he received a call from Joe Abunassar.

“Old Joe?

What’s up?”

“Damn it, Roger, Paul is in the hospital right now!”

“What?

What’s he doing at the hospital?”

“He was just stabbed thirteen times in a bar in Los Angeles, someone called the police and took him to the hospital!

Nobody knows his condition right now, I’m buying the first available flight over!”

Roger was stunned for a moment.

Did I just say something like “Unless someone comes out right now and stabs me a dozen times, everything will be on track”?

No, can these things even go awry?