Champion Creed

At today's McDonald's All-American Game, Bulls scout Ivica Dukan was once again present at the scene.

After he delivered the scouting report on Roger to Krause, Krause laughed and said, "Stop joking. If we let a high school kid try out, the other 26 teams would laugh at us. Besides, Michael wouldn't agree to it."

Yet, just two days ago, Krause handed Dukan a plane ticket to Memphis saying, "You go and write me another report on Roger."

Men are all the same, their mouths and their actions never match.

So, Dukan showed up at the Mid-South Coliseum, but just a few minutes ago, he felt his trip today was for nothing.

The nervous Rasheed Wallace ruined the game.

When the Western Conference All-Stars were down to only 4 players, Dukan thought he probably couldn't gather any more useful information today. Unfortunately, the game was about to be prematurely ended without Roger even getting the chance to showcase his full potential.

But then, he heard the organizers announce a crazy decision—the Western Conference All-Stars would take on the Eastern Conference All-Stars with only 4 players!

And then, something even crazier happened.

Roger actually led this team, which couldn't even muster 5 players, to a comeback in the score!

That jump shot he made just a step inside the three-point line made Dukan's eyes light up.

He opened his notebook once again; with Roger in the game, it could never end in a boring way!

Stackhouse punched the basketball stand in frustration, having been all ready to defend, but he hadn't expected Roger to leap for the basket from just one step inside the three-point line—and make it!

As a top high school scorer himself, Stackhouse knew all too well how difficult a long-distance floater was.

Not every scorer has such a move, just as you can't expect every center to use the Skyhook from any position.

Roger surpassed more than just the team's score, but his personal points also reached 20, solidly suppressing Stackhouse.

But Stackhouse wasn't worried; 5 against 4 was always going to be an advantage for him.

All you have to do is slow down the pace and drag the game into a positional fight; with 4 people, it's impossible to win.

Everyone on the Eastern team knew what to do next. When playing with more players against less, the best method is to use quick passes to find open shots.

But after several passes, the Eastern Conference All-Stars found they couldn't create any open positions whatsoever!

Roger, Jacque Vaughn, O'Bannon, and Andrae, with their relentless quick rotations and defensive coverage, filled all the gaps!

In Dukan's last scouting report, he only wrote about Roger's offensive game. This time, he wanted to write about defense: "Even though his defensive skills aren't excellent and his body isn't strong enough for the NBA level yet, I can't fault his defensive attitude!"

Because it was 5 against 4, the players on the Eastern Conference All-Stars were looking for a completely open shot, but this hesitation worked against them.

So, with only 5 seconds left on the shot clock, they still hadn't found the wider opportunity they were looking for!

In the last 5 seconds, Stackhouse received the ball, with Roger and O'Bannon pressing hard for a double team against him.

With the shot clock running out, and under the pressure of the double team, Stackhouse was forced to make a hasty pass.

However, Stackhouse's passing ability wasn't much better than Roger's. After entering the NBA, he became a player whose assist-to-turnover ratio was close to 1:1—almost as many turnovers as assists per game.

His pass was floaty and slow, ultimately being intercepted directly by the rushing Andrae!

This was Andrae's second time stopping this top-five national high school player today!

The entire crowd stood up and cheered as the four-man Western Conference All-Stars, with their unmatched enthusiasm and terrifying willpower, forced the five-man Eastern Conference All-Stars to commit a turnover!

After the steal, Andrae launched a fast break with a long pass, not giving the Eastern team a chance to stabilize their defenses.

But Andrae's passing skills were about half that of Roger's.

The basketball flew directly out of bounds. Although Roger caught up with it at a stunning speed, he was already outside the baseline when he jumped up to catch the ball.

Stackhouse followed closely, raising both arms to intercept the expected pass from Roger.

But instead of throwing the ball back into the court, Roger, while turning in mid-air, threw it directly at the basket!

Ivica Dukan had dealt with basketball players all his life; he had seen his fair share of showy players.

But...

A player who doesn't pass the ball even in this situation was a first for Dukan!

In China, how many years are you sentenced for passing the ball in basketball?

Roger threw the basketball from behind the baseline directly at the basket. His fingers seemed to have a magical touch, always able to send the ball along a perfect arc.

This time was no exception; the basketball arched over the back of the board and immediately plummeted down.

A backboard-behind toss widened the gap further between him and Stackhouse!

After scoring, Roger clenched his left fist and pursed his lips while looking skyward.

Even 4 against 5 did nothing to cool his burning desire to win!

Dukan continued to flesh out his scouting report: "Roger is still far from quite like Michael, but one aspect is similar—both are absolutely mad about winning. Roger is definitely a fighter!"

Andrae rushed over to hug Roger. He hadn't expected his certain-to-be-errant pass to turn into an assist.