Champion Creed

In fact, it's not just Gary Payton who feels this way; most players who faced Roger this season felt that his defense was exceptionally tenacious. It was already tough before, but this season it's particularly so!

Facing Roger's defense is like Stallone in "Rocky III" when he first clashed with the main villain, Clubber Lang, mumbling fearfully in the corner, "I can't shake him off!"

Look at how Chauncey Billups couldn't even release a critical shot when facing Roger's defense against the Pistons.

And in the match against the Pacers, see how Paul Pierce was lost on the court at a crucial moment because of Roger's defense.

Now in his 11th professional season, Roger is willing to devote more energy to defense because last season the team's defense was really poor, making him realize he had been too well protected by excellent defensive players inside.

Even during the season they lost Big Ben, Kurt Thomas and Dream were excellent defenders, and the Hawks' interior defense level was still stronger than many league teams. For years, having such ace defenders behind him made Roger develop a habitual reliance: I don't need to give my all on defense; the team's defense is good enough.

Of course, Roger's defense has always been outstanding; he's been selected to the All-NBA Defensive First Team for five consecutive seasons. But everything that happened last season made him kick the habit of relying on top-notch inside players, and this season he's putting in more effort on defense.

However, if a person's energy is 100, then if you allocate 10 more points to defense, you'll have 10 fewer points for offense.

Now that Roger is exerting more effort on defense, his offense is inevitably affected, but Roger doesn't mind letting Allan Houston and Amar'e Stoudemire share the load.

So it's really not Payton's fault; any player Roger has targeted this season has suffered on offense.

After Roger easily defended and counterattacked, Payton obediently passed the ball to Tony Parker this time, then ran to his corner, looking like a ball boy at Wimbledon.

Truth be told, this made Gary Payton feel ashamed.

He once was a superstar, leading every attack as the team's main playmaker.

But now, he can only stand at the corner, doing the same work as undrafted players like Bruce Bowen.

"That's right, Gary, stand obediently!" Roger said with a smile, following Payton closely. Even though Payton's action was equivalent to surrendering, Roger did not let him off the hook.

Payton still did not speak, but this does not mean he gave up resisting.

Maybe Roger is right; his opponent is Tim Duncan.

But in Payton's eyes, Duncan's victory is also his victory!

As long as the big guy can beat the Warriors, he considers himself as having defeated Roger!

Just when Payton was feeling extremely aggrieved, the No. 21 he believed could help him overturn his entire career received the ball.

After taking control, Parker stably fed the ball to Duncan, this Frenchman once despised by Popovich has now become the second main figure for the Spurs.

But as Duncan received the ball, Stoudemire and Mutombo formed a trap.

Stoudemire's ability to double-team came so quickly that Duncan didn't even have the chance for a one-on-one play.

With a poker face, Duncan calmly passed the ball to the mid-range Admiral, who now is a thorough mid-range shooter, but that's also why he's able to earn his championship ring.

He only worked with Duncan for one season and easily let go of the star aura that followed him for over a decade, willingly revolving around Duncan as a supporter. This is probably the smoothest royalty transition in NBA history.

Even as a mere mid-range shooter, the Admiral worked with full dedication.

He received the ball and prepared to shoot. But as he was about to release it, Roger rotated in from the corner to interfere!

The Admiral didn't expect Roger to come in on the rotation, so he unhesitatingly gave the ball to the corner, passing it to Payton.

Payton was left open; even if Roger rushed over now with all his might, he couldn't block Payton's shot.

However, not all stars can successfully transition. The Admiral might do well as a mid-range shooter, but Gary Payton might not do well as a corner shooter.

With some interference from Roger, Payton fired away—this indeed wasn't a pure point guard's shot, but it was still an opportunity.

Yet facing such a good opportunity, Gary Payton directly shot an airball!

Payton himself wasn't particularly good at long-range shooting, and besides, he was too nervous just now.

He feared making another mess of everything; he worried if his release was too slow Roger would block him.

Thus, he shot in a hurried manner, ultimately leading to this outcome.

"Hey," Roger's gaze crossed over Payton and towards the bench, "Craig, why do you let this useless player start?"

Popovich furrowed his brows; that was the Warriors' latest defensive strategy.

In the past, against the Spurs, the Warriors rarely sent perimeter players in for help defense; the interior offense and defense were basically two-on-two.

But just now, the Warriors used Roger to participate in defending Duncan and the Admiral inside, disrupting the balance.

Before this game, Tayshaun Prince had to guard Parker, Roger needed to conserve energy for the offense, Allan Houston had no help defense value, so a two-on-two inside was the only choice.

But today, both Hubie Brown and Roger intended to increase his involvement in defense this season.

As always, when Roger has no top-notch inside players to rely on behind him, he has to step out of his comfort zone, putting in more on defense.