Chapter 1210: Chapter 383: How Could Anyone Imitate LeBron James?
On February 12th, the Warriors lost at home to the Dallas Mavericks, with Vince Carter scoring 32 points in the game.
Due to the presence of Shaq and Dirk, the Warriors couldn’t rely on their interior players to help defend Carter, giving Vince Carter plenty of one-on-one opportunities against Tayshaun Prince.
Roger noticed a problem, which was that Carter actually found it difficult to shake off Prince’s defense.
His breakthrough might be the weakest among the four big shooting guards; he relies too much on the first step, but his ball control isn’t as good as the other three, which makes his breakthrough attacks not lethal. In today’s game, Carter took many difficult long two-pointers.
But the deadly thing is, he made all those difficult long two-pointers.
The 04-05 season for Vince Carter might be his strongest season after his major injury. If fans twenty years later want to know the level of peak Vince Carter, they should watch his games in the 00-01 season and after his trade in the 04-05 season.
In 00-01, he was at his physical peak, full of ambition.
In the 04-05 season, his athletic ability had declined, but that was the most bloodthirsty Vince Carter, people saw what a highly competitive Canadian flyer looked like. He was eager to prove the Toronto Raptors’ stupidity, eager to tell the world that it wasn’t he who was wrong, but the damn team.
And in this timeline, he hoped to prove something else.
After the game, Carter, who secured the victory, walked over to Roger to shake hands. But alongside the friendly gesture, Carter didn’t forget to tell Roger, "Look, Roger, I don’t need your advice because I can beat you now."
And Roger killed the game with just one sentence: "Beat me? You haven’t even made it past the second round."
"That was in the past."
"No, it’s still the case now."
"We’ll see, it’d be even better if I get past the second round at your expense."
An unpleasant conversation, and Roger gained another enemy.
Roger and Shaq are gradually letting go of their grudges, although neither is willing to admit it, but it’s a fact.
But now along came another Vince Carter.
It seems Roger and the Mavericks can never get along peacefully.
The Mavericks crushed the Warriors, adding more suspense to this year’s Western Conference situation.
It proves that the Mavericks, with Vince Carter, indeed have the qualification to compete with the Warriors.
The impact of the trade has already begun to show, and the upcoming All-Star weekend further showcases how harsh the competitive environment Roger faces is.
This year’s All-Star weekend in Denver made Carmelo Anthony very excited, as the host, he warmly hosted his lifelong idol, Roger.
In the card game, Sweet Melon patted his chest: "I know New Yorkers aren’t friendly to you, if you encounter any problems off the court, just call me, I’ll handle it for you."
Roger doesn’t doubt Sweet Melon’s ability in this regard, if even LeBron James can publicly tweet celebrating a big drug lord’s release, then undoubtedly, Anthony knows even more people in this aspect.
But Roger hopes the day he seeks Anthony’s help will never come, if he really encounters something that needs a gang to solve, it must be a very bad situation.
Seeing Roger isn’t interested in this topic, Anthony chatted about this year’s official All-Star weekend lineup.
He complained self-deprecatingly: "I can’t believe I didn’t make the reserve lineup, you know, before the draft, I, LeBron, and Darko were the most talked about. But now, LeBron made the All-Star, even Dwyane made it, and I am now lumped together with Darko Milicic."
"It’s only a matter of time, doesn’t make a difference if it’s a year, we all know you’re better than at least one of those All-Stars." Roger comforted Sweet Melon.
"Speaking of which, this year’s Eastern Conference All-Star starters have three players from the New York Knicks, and the Western All-Star starters have two from the Dallas Mavericks.
These teams are crazy to beat you, I mean, who in the past would gather All-Star players all together just to beat one person?"
This is the predicament Roger faces now, his opponents are unprecedentedly strong.
The Lakers have three players selected as All-Stars, the Mavericks also have three, and the Knicks’ three are all starters.
The Spurs, with the fewest, also have two All-Stars.
The lineup of these championship-contending teams this year, none of them are unimpressive.
The Warriors also have two All-Star players, Roger and Stoudemire, but on paper, compared to the other few, they don’t have an advantage.
Roger holding cards, smoking a cigar, seemed unfazed: "Doesn’t matter, the championship isn’t awarded to the team with the most All-Star players."
"I believe in you, Roger, I have seen what you did in New York."
"That was 11 years ago, Carmelo, don’t mention it anymore."
Anthony laughed: "2005 will continue too."
The next day in the All-Star Game, Allen Iverson led the East to win and became the AMVP. But for AI, who had long lost competitiveness, it was just a meaningless consolation prize.
After the All-Star Game, the Warriors untimely lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Caron Butler’s arrival was a timely addition for the Lakers, whose wings had always been weak, in the last matchup, Jumaine Jones and Brian Cook’s rotation was almost broken through by Roger.
Caron Butler couldn’t lock Roger down either, but at least he made it less easy for Roger.
In the crucial moments of the game, when Roger went to guard the hot-handed Kobe, Caron Butler used a pump fake in mid-range to get Jason Richardson up, then broke into the interior and scored, killing the game.
After losing to the Dallas Mavericks, the transaction-completed Los Angeles Lakers also took down the Warriors.
It proved that these targeted reinforcements were effective.
The New Yorkers now just feel it’s a pity, a pity the Knicks no longer meet the Warriors in the regular season.
Otherwise, they would definitely secure a satisfying and exhilarating victory.
Shawn Battier may have mediocre stats, but his boost to the Knicks is very evident.
Their defense no longer has obvious weaknesses, they can balance offense and defense.
Spike Lee even felt disappointed: "We probably won’t be able to beat the Warriors again this season, look at their recent record, they may struggle to make it to the finals."
The Warriors’ record in February was a bit disappointing, but March entered a steady period.
Except in March, both the Lakers and Knicks’ records were terrifying, with the Knicks even achieving a 15-game winning streak, and the Lakers retaking the lead in the West.
Kobe and Caron Butler’s chemistry was incredible, they met late.
Caron Butler was moved by Kobe’s obsession with victory, and Kobe liked Butler’s serious approach to the game. On every away flight, Kobe tirelessly studied game tapes with Caron Butler. On every self-abusive afternoon by Kobe, only Caron Butler could stay with him till the end.
Not many know, Caron Butler is one of the few good friends of Kobe, this low EQ monster. Only the original timeline 04-05 Lakers were too uncompetitive, and Caron Butler stayed in the Lakers for just one year, so this relationship isn’t known to many. Why is Kobe so harsh to Kwame Brown? One reason is that he traded away his best friend Caron Butler.
And in this timeline, the combo of Kobe and Caron Butler will eventually become a hit under the brand "Brother Basketball."
In the rapid advance of the Knicks and Lakers, the Warriors’ heat slightly declined.
Until early April, the Warriors met another heavyweight opponent, last season’s Western Conference Finals rival, the San Antonio Spurs, which brought the team back to the center of the spotlight.
The Spurs are one of the few title-contending teams that have remained competitive without relying on major midseason trades.
But this season so far, they have a very embarrassing record—never defeating the Warriors.
Counting last season’s playoffs, the Spurs have lost seven consecutive games to the Warriors.
Roger’s strong dominance over the Spurs made the media narrative of "Tim Duncan is the only player Roger doesn’t dominate" completely collapse.
Roger is keen on this kind of dominance, especially in the recent period after the Mavericks and the Lakers won some games.
The San Antonio Spurs long to prove they can beat the Warriors, which would give the team some confidence before the playoffs begin.
But Roger doesn’t intend to let them have the kind of consolation the Mavericks and the Lakers got.
Manu Ginobili is very confident: "There is no owner in the West now, we will fight for everything."
Roger didn’t respond, but the ever-easygoing Boris Diaw made a joke in response to Ginobili’s words.
"Why do some people still like to emulate LeBron James who always talks nonsense?"
Perhaps the Frenchman is not having a good time.