Champion Creed

Amar'e Stoudemire's performance made Gregg Popovich's supposedly perfect targeted strategy a joke.

It also made his pre-game sarcasm, "I haven't watched the Warriors game tapes," a joke.

In the NBA, there's often a thin line between being pretentious and being a clown.

Unfortunately, Popovich made himself a clown.

He knew that Stoudemire's mid-range shot was pretty good this season; during the regular season, Stoudemire also showed excellent mid-range shooting.

But there's a huge gap between "pretty good" and "deadly."

Normally, if a player can maintain his regular season performance in the playoffs, it's already praiseworthy.

And when a player performs better in the playoffs than in the regular season, he is definitely a dangerous person!

Amar'e Stoudemire's performance today was better than any game in his regular season.

The Spurs' relatively traditional twin towers were helpless against Stoudemire's mid-range.

As an old hand, Gregg Popovich's defensive choice isn't really something to criticize.

Normally, most power forwards who rely on jump shots will see a sharp drop in their scoring threat in the playoffs.

Chris Webber is like two different players in the regular season and the playoffs.

Kevin Garnett couldn't make it work in the playoffs after losing Sam Cassell.

Jermaine O'Neal's efficiency in the playoffs is even lower than Paul Pierce's on the outside.

Even with his straight-arm jump shot skills, Rasheed Wallace's efficiency in the playoffs isn't as good as the regular season.

Power forwards face more confrontation and tougher defensive tasks in the playoffs, so their touch is surely affected.

So, Popovich choosing to let Stoudemire take mid-range shots was an understandable decision.

But who could have imagined Amar'e Stoudemire would be so ridiculously accurate today.

In fact, if the Warriors' opponent in this round was the Minnesota Timberwolves, Stoudemire likely wouldn't have performed as he did today, and his mid-range would have been greatly affected.

Kevin Garnett's sweeping ability is stronger than Duncan's, with faster defensive speed and more challenges for Stoudemire.

But on the Spurs' side, whether it's an injured Duncan or an aging Admiral, their defensive style is actually more traditional center-oriented.

Both have strong help defense awareness and high defensive levels.

But their speed and defensive style don't allow them to cover both the mid-range and the paint simultaneously, thus giving Stoudemire a chance.

Many might say the Spurs intentionally let Stoudemire be to curb Roger, to justify Duncan and the Admiral's ineffective defense.

Perhaps taking advantage of these mid-range opportunities isn't a skill in itself?

If Giannis Antetokounmpo could capitalize on these shots like Stoudemire, the NBA would have concluded long ago.

A whole year of waiting allowed Stoudemire to explode, and last season Roger's transfer and loss left the league with the ruins and treasures of the last dynasty. Everyone is vying for those treasures and trying to build a new dynasty on the ruins, to take over the reign. But who says Roger can't lead his new team to continue his personal dynasty?

Stoudemire is very willing to be a part of the Roger Dynasty; he won't let anyone take the treasures Roger left behind.

The treasures must belong to the person he most admires!

Tony Parker dribbled past half-court, and Gregg Popovich urgently called a timeout.

Mike Breen took the opportunity to remind everyone: "This season, Amar'e's mid-range shooting percentage is 2% higher than Dirk's. Many people regard him as a beast power forward like Kenyon Martin, but no, Amar'e is an elite level mid-range master! If he can maintain this efficiency throughout this series, the Spurs will be in trouble."

Jeff Van Gundy also praised Stoudemire: "As far as I know, Amar'e, as a high school rookie entering the NBA, doesn't smoke, drink, or chase women, spending most of his time in training. Everything he achieved today is the result of those sleepless nights of persistence."

If Roger heard this evaluation, he would definitely want Van Gundy to delete the "doesn't chase women" part. When Zhu Fangyu evaluated Yi Jianlian, he also said he doesn't smoke, drink, or chase women. But facts proved that for a testosterone-filled professional player, not chasing women isn't necessarily a good thing.

Stoudemire chasing women is safer for the whole locker room.

As Mike Breen said, Popovich is now in a real dilemma. In the original plan, "Roger's mid-range," "Roger attacking the rim," "Stoudemire diving to the rim," "Stoudemire's mid-range" were the four options. He chose the last one.

But 20 points in the half proved this was a completely wrong choice.

Popovich has to re-evaluate his choices among these options.

But this is basically choosing between "a pile of crap" and "a pile of even smellier crap," and no matter the choice, it's disgusting.

Popovich finally decided that either Duncan or David Robinson must keep a constant eye on Stoudemire, not giving him any mid-range opportunities.

And facing Roger's pick-and-roll or breakthrough, the other inside player should switch from strong interference to weak interference. Since one no longer camps under the basket, the other can't aggressively step up to block shots as before; they must protect the paint while also trying to contest Roger's mid-range shots.