Chapter 1199: Chapter 380: Roger Speaks Many Languages
By halftime, Roger had scored 16 points, with a shooting percentage just over 40%.
Stoudemire had 12 points, with a shooting percentage of only 41%.
The New York Knicks’ tight defense made efficiency a luxury.
The Warriors were still trailing by 6 points.
At halftime, New York fans were almost celebrating victory. Spike Lee shouted into the cameras: "Which team in the world can suppress the Warriors for an entire half? Only us, only us! We will be the sole winners!"
As they returned to the locker room at halftime, the atmosphere among the Warriors was very serious.
Amar’e Stoudemire felt he had been naive. He had thought the game would be easy after the first timeout.
Matt Barnes, panting, had earned a rotation spot on the Warriors through sheer tenacity. However, the Knicks players were all wild dogs like him.
Marcus Camby was sweating profusely and suddenly cursed: "How the hell do we defend this!?"
Most centers who have played against Yao Ming have this reaction.
As you know, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan are considered the two most dominant big men of this era. But if you dare to send them to the free-throw line with a hard foul, they’ll look awkward.
But Yao Ming? He’ll smile at the free-throw line and tell you with two points: "Don’t struggle, it’s useless."
The first half was completely supported by the strong scoring abilities of Roger and Stoudemire. The Knicks’ unbeatable defensive capability made it difficult for the Warriors to create scoring opportunities through tactics.
So far, the Warriors barely managed to stay close on the scoreboard. But the whole team knew that against the Knicks’ defense, relying only on two star players’ one-on-one plays wasn’t enough to win the game.
As everyone was feeling overwhelmed, a noise similar to a drill suddenly sounded in the locker room.
People looked at each other, was it renovation next door?
Was the Knicks intentionally arranging this noise next to the locker room to disrupt the Warriors? Since when did New Yorkers become as despicable as those Boston bastards?
Soon, everyone’s eyes locked onto Boris Diaw in the corner.
It wasn’t the sound of a drill, it was the noise from the capsule coffee machine brewing coffee.
While everyone was anxious about the game, the Frenchman was actually brewing coffee to drink.
Holding a delicate little cup to his mouth, Diaw found everyone staring at him and felt a bit at a loss. Drinking the coffee wasn’t right, and not drinking it wasn’t right either.
After a few seconds of awkwardness, Diaw smiled: "Does anyone... want coffee?"
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As the second half of the game was about to start, while the players were warming up, Jeff Hornacek walked up to Spoelstra and looked at that seemingly harmless Frenchman.
"I can’t believe we’re relying on these oddballs to win."
"He is indeed odd; no coach in the NBA has figured out how to use him properly because no one can even figure out which position he plays."
"Can you figure it out?"
"I don’t know; his playing time has been limited in the past two months. Although he has shown some talent, the sample size is too small. But we have to try something, since trying now is better than waiting until the finals to experiment."
Spoelstra meant: we can only trust him this once.
But Jeff Hornacek was still frowning, not very trusting of the Frenchman.
Yes, he wasn’t very trusting of Matt Barnes before either, but he ended up being proven wrong.
However, Barnes and Boris Diaw were entirely different.
The King’s hounds always thirsted for victory and were always cruel to their opponents.
And Diaw? He’s a typical Frenchman. You’ve never seen him worry about victory or his position. He makes coffee while everyone discusses tactics and wanders around the training center in flip-flops when others are doing extra practice.
Before stepping onto the court, he even proactively told Spoelstra: "Coach, I drank a small glass of red wine at noon, can I play? I promise it was just a small glass."
This guy looks unreliable from every angle, which also explains why he hasn’t been heavily used by the Warriors yet.
The last person to trust a Frenchman was named Winston Churchill, and the result was that the French surrendered before he even got there.
But as Spoelstra said, it’s better to test now than to wait for the finals and test in despair.
The game began, and Lenny Wilkens noticed that the Warriors had changed their lineup.
Boris Diaw replaced Jason Richardson as the starting second position for the second half.
The average height on the court for the Warriors became even scarier. A second position player was 203 cm tall, practically a replica of Team China.
But Lenny Wilkens didn’t know what role Boris Diaw could play; he knew very little about the Frenchman, only knowing that he was a versatile player.
But in the NBA, versatility often means being unable to do anything particularly well.
A player with a forward’s build is unlikely to have top-tier ball-handling skills.
How could he truly be versatile in this situation?
Lenny Wilkens predicted that the purpose of putting in Diaw was mostly to strengthen the defense. Why not directly use Barnes? Probably because Diaw wouldn’t be as much of a hindrance on offense.
Wilkens guessed that Spoelstra wanted to use Diaw for a few possessions to see if it would work.
Mike Breen also focused his commentary on the unexpectedly entered Diaw.
"The last time Roger got this close to a Frenchman, it was during his romance with the French Rose, Eva Green. Everyone thought they would end up together, everyone thought Eva Green would bring Roger, the wanderer, into the hall of marriage. But in the end, the outcome was heartbreaking. This time, can Roger’s partnership with the Frenchman fulfill their wishes?"