262: 116: Say something!
(Asking for monthly votes!)_2 262: 116: Say something!
(Asking for monthly votes!)_2 After two and a half dull quarters, the fans finally began to enjoy the game.
But Chris Mills couldn’t enjoy it at all; he never learned to enjoy being overwhelmed!
In the Cavaliers’ offensive round, Terrell Brandon couldn’t respond to Roger anymore.
As usual, he shook off Saru, but at the moment of the shot, he was covered by Horace Grant who was helping defend.
Terrell could only change his shot to a pass in mid-air, trying to push the ball to Tyrone Hill.
But just as the ball was halfway there, it was intercepted by Saru who suddenly popped up!
Saru’s defense wasn’t great, mainly due to physical limitations, but his ability to read the game was absolutely outstanding.
Seeing Terrell Brandon preparing to pass the ball in mid-air, he was sure the target was the unguarded Hill, and he immediately appeared on the passing route.
Indeed, Terrell Brandon was much easier to restrain than Roger.
The Cavaliers still ran like a machine, immediately falling back quickly, and not giving the Magic a chance to counterattack.
But it didn’t matter, Brian Hill was very clear that Roger would smash that machine into a pile of scrap metal!
When the Cavaliers’ team defense was forced to split, destruction was all that awaited them!
Seeing Roger preparing to go one-on-one against the completely demoralized Chris Mills, Thunder Dan, who had just been substituted in, couldn’t hold back and immediately helped to double-team.
Roger passed the ball to McKey, who calmly made a mid-range shot.
Fratello immediately exploded, “Dammit, who allowed you to double-team on your own?
Damn it, if you don’t want to play, you can step down now!”
Fratello was very strict about discipline; the thing he least accepted was players acting on their own without following commands.
With the lead continuously increasing, the Magic were getting closer and closer to victory.
The fact that Thunder Dan was severely scolded by the coach after the double-team meant that Chris Mills had lost his last hope of survival.
No one would help him double-team Roger anymore, never again.
The entire third quarter turned into Roger’s solo show.
The strategy of suffocating Roger in the paint didn’t work at all because as soon as he broke into the paint, it was almost certainly a beautiful score.
By the end of the third quarter, Roger’s personal score had risen to 30 points!
He scored more in just the third quarter than he did in the entire first half!
Under Roger’s leadership, the Magic entered the fourth quarter eight points ahead.
Of course, anyone could see what suddenly changed the situation.
The camera gave Saru a close-up; this European guard, considered to have lost all hope, was now walking off the court with his hands on his hips.
Saru sat at the end of the bench, looking at his own hands.
Once averaging 18.9 points per game, he had managed only two field goals that quarter.
But for those two points, he felt as if he had walked a very long road.
The year and a half of struggle, the daze in Seattle last season, countless days and nights of confusion, giving up, losing his spirit every day…
It was over, all of it was over!
“Hey, asshole, what are you doing!?” Brian Hill’s shout suddenly shot into Saru’s ears.
He turned his head to see that Hill seemed to be yelling at…
“Do you want to get back on the DNP list again?
Why are you sitting so far away?
You’d better come over and listen carefully when I’m drawing up tactics, after all, you’re a rotation player now!”
“Go for it, Roger, just go, we’ll keep those bastards in check!”
In the fourth quarter, Saru started by hitting two shots in a row.
A three-pointer, followed by a pump fake and a step-in mid-range.
Today he was four for four from the field!
NBC commentator Bob Costas had absolutely no idea what was happening; when Saru entered the game in the third quarter, he only saw him as material for a snide joke.
But now, he was swinging the victory.
Terrell Brandon was now completely trapped by Saru’s side, completely unable to help defend against Roger.
So, Roger started his one-on-one show again.
He blew past Mills in one step and then, under Danny Ferry’s defense, he erupted with a slam dunk!
Every draft profiled player compared to Bird, no matter how lacking, had at least two things consistent with Bird: they were always white, and they always lacked athletic ability.
The athletically challenged Ferry, as expected, got brutally dunked on, and after a fierce collision with Roger in the air, Danny Ferry embarrassingly tumbled to the ground.
This tumbling action after getting dunked on was precisely the same as when Bird famously got dunked on in a movie highlight.
After landing, Roger pointed at Ferry: “Now I understand, the similarity you have with Larry is right here, the way you get dunked on is exactly the same!”
Roger started trash-talking Danny Ferry, and it must be said, Danny Ferry hadn’t provoked Roger today.
But with Chris Mills completely silenced, Roger had to seek out new amusement for himself.
Who would have known that Danny Ferry, just like Mills, was completely silent, didn’t retort, even when Roger dunked him to the ground, he didn’t reply even a word.
He just slammed the floor; that was the only way he could vent, or what else could he do?
Dunk back over Roger’s head?
He did get that opportunity; during the next Cavaliers’ offense, they patiently circulated the ball, through a series of rotations and switches, Roger accidentally switched onto Danny Ferry.