128: 075: Surpassing Michael Jordan (Vote for Monthly Ticket!) 128: 075: Surpassing Michael Jordan (Vote for Monthly Ticket!) Scottie Pippen was on the verge of tears.
He hadn’t expected Roger’s impact to be so strong.
Though Roger only weighed 3 kilograms more, with added momentum, the final force on Pippen was far greater than just 3 kilograms.
As for Roger’s trash talk, the damage was even measured in tons.
Pippen slammed the floor with force, damn it, when Jordan was retired Roger bullied me, and now that Jordan is back, Roger still bullies me, what the hell was the point of Jordan coming back?
Why did it feel like whether Jordan was retired or not, he was always the one who got hurt the most?
At that moment, Jordan appeared in front of Pippen and reached out to pull him up.
Just like O’Neal didn’t start off at odds with Kobe, there wasn’t initially a rift between Pippen and Jordan either.
The current Jordan may not have deep feelings for Pippen, but at the very least, he treated him as one of his own.
After all, you should respect the master when beating his dog, Roger really went too far!
“Scottie, don’t just sit there looking so down and out!”
Pippen grabbed Jordan’s hand, and with a strong pull, Jordan dragged the disheveled Pippen to his feet.
Roger’s violent dunk ignited the tension from the get-go, setting everyone’s emotions ablaze.
But this wasn’t entirely good either, anger that burned too fiercely could result in self-immolation.
In the following defensive possession for the Magic, O’Neal, too angry for his own good, committed an early foul.
In this play, Webber received the basketball at the high post ready for a mid-range shot.
Shaq came rushing out of the paint and, with a mighty arm, flipped Webber and the ball over.
The referee blew the whistle, and O’Neal had just gotten himself a foul early in the game.
Roger knocking down Kukoc to pick up a foul wasn’t a big deal since he is a perimeter player.
But it’s different for inside players; because they protect the rim, the probability of getting called for fouls is higher, so they need to control their number of fouls better.
But O’Neal didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of controlling his fouls; in fact, this foul was practically voluntary.
He didn’t need to go for the shot block so brutally.
O’Neal did it on purpose; all he wanted was to knock down Webber, to make that asshole who mentioned his grandmother feel the pain.
Webber stepped to the free-throw line, much to the delight of the viewers, and made one of two shots.
This time Jordan didn’t scold him; he didn’t want to waste his energy on such matters.
Roger, however, gave Shaq a reminder, “Shaq, don’t listen to Chris’s nonsense.
Keep your cool, you don’t want to be benched because of foul trouble, do you?”
“I’ll control myself, buddy, I’ll keep it in check,” O’Neal nodded.
A possession later, O’Neal, in the double team, found Roger cutting to the baseline.
He kept his word; he was going to let Roger do more of the shooting today.
But Roger’s shot didn’t go in, and the Magic failed to extend their lead.
O’Neal clapped his hands: “It’s okay, buddy, it’s okay, just keep shooting with confidence next time.”
It seemed O’Neal had resolved to truly play the game.
But during the next Bulls’ offensive possession, Webber, while posting up, sneakily punched O’Neal in the neck.
O’Neal’s recently settled heart immediately flared up again, and he responded with an elbow strike.
Worst of all, it was a blatant elbow!
The referee’s whistle interrupted the game again; just then, everyone’s attention was on Jordan with the ball, so they had no idea what had happened.
When people’s gazes turned to O’Neal, he was angrily chasing the referee and yelling:
“You bunch of idiots, I really want to crack open your skulls to see if there’s any brain in there!
It was that sneaky bastard who harassed me first, damn he deserves to die!”
“Shut your mouth and play the game Shaq, don’t make me call a technical on you,” the referee’s response only added fuel to the fire.
As O’Neal was about to continue his rant, Magic coach Brian Hill had already substituted him with former rebounding champion Michael Cage.
O’Neal’s two quick fouls were too much, too soon, forcing Brian Hill to protect Shaq.
And to cool him off by taking him out of the game.
So now, Roger had to face the furious Bulls without Shaq!
Angering O’Neal to get him into foul trouble had always been Webber’s strategy for the day.
He might not be able to defend against Shaq, but what if Shaq wasn’t on the court?
Michael Jordan didn’t deign to gain an advantage this way, but he wasn’t crazy enough to rant at Webber for it either.
Because in competitive sports, a victory achieved by any tactic is a victory, no matter the strategy.
Whether ugly or magnificent, victory in the end is victory.
Finding a way to get the opponent’s key player in foul trouble and off the floor is already one of the gentler approaches, compared to the direct methods of people like Bruce Bowen or Pachulia.
O’Neal sat on the bench, furiously yelling at Brian Hill.
Roger didn’t know what they were arguing about, but it no longer mattered.
What mattered was, the Magic’s inside advantage had utterly vanished.
O’Neal didn’t fail to keep his promise; just now, he truly did pass the ball to Roger, letting him attack.
It’s just that he was forced to sit down after one possession.
Now it was Michael Cage playing the four and Grant pushed to the five.
Even though Webber wasn’t good at defending, Grant couldn’t completely dominate the paint either.
Now, the anti-Mike alliance could only hope that Roger would give Michael Jordan a severe beating.