Chapter 1159: Chapter 368: Golden State Gangsters
Roger now doesn’t want to use one flaw to cover up another.
Bob Bass shrugged: "Haven’t you heard from the media? The next is the era of offense."
"Nonsense," Roger retorted without hesitation, "The new rules at most bring the game back to an era where offense and defense are balanced at a ratio of 50 to 50. Defense is still important."
From the timeline of original experiences, Roger knows that the League in the early 21st century hasn’t completely softened yet. The new rules indeed make scoring easier, but not to the extent of the small ball style.
The referees weren’t as strict on hand-checking back then; you couldn’t be as rough as before, but as long as your movements aren’t too extreme, most of the time referees would turn a blind eye.
Therefore, Roger told Bob Bass: "To solve the problem, we need a forward who can play the third and fourth positions, shoot, and pass."
Not just this time, but whenever the Warriors want to reinforce their lineup, they will prioritize bringing in forwards.
Roger believes that although Pat Riley is a jerk, his concept about the future of basketball is extremely correct.
The key is that truly versatile forwards who can play multiple positions are scarce resources. Hence, this future lineup mostly exists in theory.
Bob Bass was stunned for a few seconds after hearing Roger’s request: "A forward who can play third and fourth positions, shoot and pass...you might as well let me trade for LeBron James."
Roger laughed: "I don’t favor LeBron’s jump shot, but I must admit, if he were the second in command, he’d be as outstanding as Scott. Alright, currently none defending him are as good as Scott. Dammit, how exactly is this guy comparing me and Michael? Surpassing Scott seems to be his destiny."
"Putting him on par with Scott, I’ll take it as you praising LeBron. Well, Roger, although your demands are strict, the Russians pay me to do just that."
Before Bob Bass found the person Roger needs and introduced new players, players from the Warriors’ side had already begun flowing out.
But it wasn’t a transfer, it was a retirement.
In the original timeline, Florida guard Charlie Ward, who had little presence in the basketball world, announced his retirement this Season after securing a ring with the Warriors.
Last Season although he occasionally subbed for Allan Houston, he truly had low presence as his playtime was too limited.
Plus, his contract coincidentally expired, he knew if he went to another team, he probably wouldn’t even manage playtime, so he simply chose to retire, having no regrets about his career anyway.
As for money, as long as he doesn’t make random investments like Latrell Sprewell, or have a brood of children like Reign Man Kemp, with the NBA league’s unique pension, Charlie Ward will surely live comfortably for a lifetime.
Although Charlie Ward wasn’t a very important member, he still left a void at the second position for the Warriors.
If you compare a team to a complete person, substitute players are also part of the body. Some body parts you might not need for a long time, but you can’t do without them.
Meaning, the second position’s players also need replenishing.
This summer, the Warriors at least need to replenish a ball-handler and a forward who can play the second position.
Initially, Bob Bass had rumors with the Trail Blazers’ versatile forward Sheriff Abdul-Rahim, this former All-Star forward had a frustrating Season with the Trail Blazers, ending up with averages of only 10 points and 4.5 rebounds in the last 32 games of the Season.
No one knows what happened to him, nor whether he can continue playing high-level basketball. Precisely due to this unknown, the Trail Blazers began shopping this All-Star forward.
But Bob Bass thinks Roger is the kind of leader who can revive fallen talents.
If Sheriff Abdul-Rahim recaptures his All-Star-level performance with Roger’s help, the Warriors would be unstoppable.
Yet Roger wasn’t pleased with this choice, Rahim is indeed talented offensively, but just like the reason for previously trading away Antawn Jamison, Rahim’s defense is awful.
Not fast enough to defend the third position, too soft to defend the fourth.
His offense is strong, but not strong enough to change the game. Some value in passing and controlling the ball is present but not much.
Overall, his help to the Warriors is extremely limited.
Since the time of Ted Turner holding the sole power in influencing the team’s acquisitions, Roger never liked relying on popularity for acquisitions, rather focusing on whether a player fits the team.
Players who don’t fit the team, regardless of their fame, Roger doesn’t need.
Only those who have lost hope will obsessively seek stars to be teammates.
After multiple selections, the Warriors eventually obtained two new players.
Bob Bass first signed Matt Barnes, who was cut by the Knight, SuperSonics and Clippers last Season, with a one-year veteran’s minimum contract, to take over Charlie Ward.
Originally Bob Bass wasn’t interested in this, but Roger thinks his toughness can help the team. Though his offense is poor, he doesn’t need to play much. For players who occasionally step on the court, defense is more reliable than offense.
Getting the feel for offense might take time, but defense comes instantly.
After this, the Warriors traded Troy Murphy’s final rookie contract year for the physically gifted Frenchman Boris Diaw.
Although as part of the 03 generation, his rookie Season stats were not impressive, he did have highlights.
He’s quite a versatile forward, and his shooting, defense, and ability to pass and control the ball are all outstanding.
His towering basketball IQ comes from his mother, who was considered one of the best centers in the history of French women’s basketball. She instilled in Diaw the idea: "Involve four teammates in the offense to make the game more fun."
And his father, Issa Dio was the Senegal high jump champion, which gave him exceptional physicality.
This is a treasure from France, merely yet to be discovered by people.
Externally it was found that, apart from Roger, Allan Houston, and Old Cat Mobley, the remaining players of the Warriors have official heights over 200 cm.
You could say this is a crazier forward-centric team than the Seattle SuperSonics of the 90s.
They’ve shed a guard (Charlie Ward), a not versatile enough nor tough enough inside player (Troy Murphy), and the rest are a bunch of defensively tough forwards.
Furthermore, they all possess excellent shooting capabilities to follow the trend.
ESPN’s SportsCenter host Steve Levy described it this way.
"Imagine, when you hold the ball ready to attack, you are surrounded by a circle of fierce large players. You attempt to find a defensive weakness, but there is no opening. You’re being besieged by a band of fierce gangsters and can only obediently give up the ball. Yes, Golden State Gangsters, that’s my new nickname for them.
The weak need rules for shelter, while the strong succeed under any rules.
The No HandCheck rule won’t change anything, trying to use this to affect Roger, is nothing but a naive fantasy of losers."