The opening game of the 95-96 season saw Roger's near perfect performance.
With a dominant 48 points in a single game, he preserved the defending champions' pride on the night of the championship ring ceremony.
It turned out that the journalists had reasons for not favoring the SuperSonics.
What serious coach would sideline Payton and have Schrempf guard Roger for an entire game?
George Karl trusted his front line too much, but for a scorer like Roger, relying on the front line alone was futile. Only with both Payton and the front line could they effectively limit him.
Not using the best defensive player against the opponent's best scorer might sound foolish; indeed, in the '96 Finals, George Karl made the same decision.
The Bulls, early on in the '96 Finals with a 3-0 lead, mysteriously lost two consecutive games, even giving rise to conspiracy theories suggesting the Bulls intentionally lost to allow Jordan to win the championship on Father's Day.
