Chapter 1072 1071. The Romance of Big-Handed Players
At 10 o'clock in the morning, the Lakers held a press conference at the Toyota Center training hall, officially announcing that Fisher would return to the Lakers and would wear the No. 2 jersey.
The Hawks were training at the training ground in the same arena, so the Hawks players naturally became the focus of the interview.
When asked about the impact of Fisher's return on the Lakers, McGrady's answer was very official; Jason Terry's answer was very disdainful, he had everything Fisher had, and he also had things Fisher didn't have; Rasheed Wallace respected this contemporary veteran who scored two key goals in the fourth quarter of the fourth game of the 2000 Western Conference Finals, a counterattack dunk and a three-pointer to help the Lakers lock in the victory and make the score 3-1. If it weren't for Fisher's key 5 points that allowed the Lakers to maintain a two-point lead in the last few minutes, the Trail Blazers, who then won three games in a row to make the score from 1-3 to 3-3, would have likely won the series. It is worth mentioning that in the fourth game of the 2000 Western Conference Finals, Fisher scored only 7 points in the whole game...
When the Hawks players were interviewed, their answers were very consistent with their personalities. Most of them gave more official answers. After all, this was a game that the whole world was watching. Except for Jason Terry, who was against everything, no one else's answers deliberately expressed too deep views on this matter.
As for Liu Mang...
Liu Mang looked at the reporter from Sports Illustrated and smiled sweetly. When the reporter felt a little nervous, he replied: "Fisher is back with the Lakers. This is a great thing, especially for Kobe. He must be very happy, right? With Fisher, he can finally make the playoffs this year. As you know, without Fisher, Kobe has never played in the playoffs. He has found another strong thigh to hug."
"..."The reporter from Sports Illustrated had thought of many questions to guide Liu Mang to say something that could make the headlines.
Who knew Liu Mang would say such a thing!
The reporter from Sports Illustrated didn't know how to continue the conversation!
This angle is too weird!
The reporter from Sports Illustrated called the editor-in-chief. When the editor-in-chief of Sports Illustrated received the interview content, he hesitated for a long time and finally decided to make it the headline of the noon edition of the news!
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On January 1, 2006, the first game of the NBA New Year, the Hawks challenged the Lakers away. The game was getting closer and closer in the expectation of 6 billion Lakers fans around the world.
In the morning, the Hawks conducted pick-and-roll tactics training, and in the afternoon, regular season tactics training. After an interview about the Fisher trade was opened in the morning, the Hawks refused all interviews and closed the door of the training ground to prevent the content of the training from being exposed.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Liu Mang rested for an hour in the guest team lounge of the Staples Center. Kobe's wife Vanessa was responsible for taking Liu Mang and his family to the Staples Center to watch the game today. Liu Mang woke up from a nap at four o'clock in the afternoon and went to the parking lot to pick up his family.
Lakers owner Jerry Buss was more discerning than the Clippers. He gave Liu Mang a box and four courtside tickets. The highest score in the history of this arena was obtained by Liu Mang. Jerry Buss didn't want to cause trouble.
After receiving his family, Liu Mang and the team had a nutritious meal together. At five o'clock, they started to warm up. At six forty, which is ten forty in China, the players of both teams began to enter the stadium.
As a team that had defeated the Lakers in the finals, the Hawks players received a lot of boos from fans when they entered the stadium. However, this time the Staples Center was a little different. Thirty percent of the fans were Chinese fans, fans from other parts of Asia, and Chinese Americans. Most of these people supported both the Lakers and the Hawks because both teams had Chinese players.
When Liu Mang watched his teammates go out in the player tunnel, there were boos and cheers mixed together. I felt that the Staples Center was quite friendly today.
When McGrady, Prince, Kwame Brown, and Rasheed Wallace went out, they all received cheers and boos at the same time. Liu Mang felt pretty good. In the low voice of the on-site DJ, Liu Mang ran out of the player tunnel.
Then...
The whole stadium was full of boos!
Liu Mang almost slipped!
Liu Mang looked at the fans wearing his jersey and joined in the fun, booing him along with the Los Angeles fans who hated him!
Liu Mang had a mouthful of blood stuck in his throat!
When the Lakers players came out, the boos immediately turned into cheers.
The first to come out was Yao Ming. As the second-in-command of the team, he came out first, followed by Luke Walton and Odom. The fourth to come out was Derek Fisher.
When Fisher came out, the fans stood up. Finally, there was a reliable point guard. Smush Parker started more than 30 games and almost pissed Kobe and Yao Ming off several times.
When Kobe was the last to come out, Liu Mang felt Kobe's strong murderous aura.
Kobe saw the headlines of the Sports Illustrated's afternoon edition on the first day of the new year!
Since yesterday afternoon, Kobe and Yao Ming knew that the trade with the Warriors was about to be completed, so they waited together at Yao Ming's house for Fisher to return to Los Angeles. They were both very excited about Fisher's return, at least the point guard was not so clingy to the ball.
As for why Kobe didn't wait for Fisher at his home...
Faced with Kobe's murderous intent, Liu Mang chose to ignore it and went up to greet Fisher.
Derrick Fisher, who will take over Antonio Davis as the chairman of the Players Association after this season, has good relationships with people and is smooth in dealing with people. He hugged Liu Mang and McGrady.
Fisher now has a good impression of Liu Mang. Although he did not respond to the sentence "Kobe can't make the playoffs without Fisher", he agreed very much!
Liu Mang ignored Kobe with murderous eyes and greeted Fisher, then came to Yao Ming: "Da Yao, your contract will expire after this year, right? You haven't renewed it yet, right? Do you want to come to our team? I really want to be your teammate."
"I don't want to go to a small place like Atlanta. I grew up in a big city. Do you know Shanghainese? Of course, I have to live in the best city. Do you want to consider coming to Los Angeles?" Yao Ming immediately counterattacked.
"Tsk..." Liu Mang found that Yao Ming's words were really good, worthy of being the future boss of the Basketball Association.
Coach Kruger, with his shiny forehead, shook hands with the gray-haired Zen Master. As two of the only three active head coaches who have won the defending championship, the two have begun to be compared.
The only head coach who can win three consecutive championships, apart from the Celtics' Red Cardinal, is Zen Master. Zen Master doesn't want a third person to win it, and Coach Kruger is the most likely to become the third head coach to win three consecutive championships.
The two teams have been very tense since the beginning of the game.
After Liu Mang greeted him, he began to carefully observe the ability evaluation of the other team's players.
Focus on Yao Ming!
"Yao Ming, ability evaluation 94, offense 96, defense 87, three-pointer 61, mid-range shot 90, layup 98, speed 70, strength 99..."
Yao Ming has reached his peak this season!
If it weren't for some obvious flaws, such as too slow speed, which limited his help defense to the three-second zone, and relatively disadvantageous against front and pick-and-roll, he would definitely be a superstar!
Averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks per game. Although not as amazing as the crazy weight gain in the original time and space, averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes per game, but not gaining too much weight and reducing playing time also prevented Yao Ming from suffering injuries early.
Kobe, ability rating 100, the best player in active service, Odom, ability rating hovers between 80-95, around 85 under normal circumstances, this season averaged 13 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists per game, and it feels very easy when he gets it, which is the X factor of the Lakers.
Luke Walton, ability rating 77, averaging 7 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists per game, an excellent triangle offense organizer.
Derek Fisher, ability rating 77, excellent shooting, dribbling across half court is very stable, but the speed and defense are not as good as before. After all, it is the tenth year of his career. Many top stars and even superstars have collapsed by the tenth season.
Wang Zhizhi, with an ability rating of 74, is a high-quality role player in his prime. He can start in a weak team and play as the third man in the Lakers. He can play as a center or a power forward. He averaged 2.1 three-pointers per game this season, and his three-point ability rating reached 85, which is the level of a first-class goalkeeper, with a 41% three-point shooting rate.
In addition, the best substitute for the Lakers is Chris Mihm. The 26-year-old white center has made some progress this year and has an ability rating of 73. Then there is Luke Walton's substitute Devin George. Devin George's performance has recovered a little this season. Since the Lakers won three consecutive championships in 2002, he received a full middle-class salary of 18.7 million for four years, and then began to decline sharply, causing the Lakers to fall into a middle-class crisis. In this season's contract year, the 28-year-old should be in Devin George. He has recovered some of his form and has recovered to an ability rating of 70.
The Lakers have only 8 players with an ability rating of over 70. The bench lineup is relatively weak. The drug-taking combination has just been formed. Many veterans had doubts about the Lakers last summer. The Lakers have not picked up a lot of cheap players like the Spurs, and the Lakers' own draft has always been mediocre.
The Lakers' frontcourt is very good, the starters and substitutes are OK, but in the backcourt, Kobe's substitute Vujacic has an ability rating of 63... Fisher's substitute Vaughn Weaver has an ability rating of 59...
Liu Mang feels that this is their chance!
Backcourt!
Especially the point guard!
…
“CCTV, CCTV, this is the 2006 New Year’s game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Los Angeles Lakers brought to you by CCTV Sports Channel…”
“Beat-LA…”
“Charles, that’s enough!”
“This is the first match between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Atlanta Hawks this season, which is being broadcast live on ESPN Sports Channel. I’m Brin, and today I’ll be explaining this game to you…”
“…”
“…”
The three major TV stations in the United States, sports TV stations and court TV stations in major European countries, TV stations in some Asian countries, South America, North America, and a few African TV stations… More than 50 countries and regions around the world broadcast this game live.
In the opening introduction of the commentators of major TV stations, the game between the Hawks and the Lakers is about to begin.
McGrady and Kobe argued with the referee at the technical station whether a more inflated ball would make a crisper sound when hitting the iron, or a less inflated ball would be more comfortable to pass.
In this case where both sides have superstars, and more than one superstar, the referee chose a ball that meets the regulations.
Liu Mang sprinkled magnesium powder into the air amidst cheers and boos, and went on the court with McGrady.
The Hawks sent Liu Mang, McGrady, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Kwame Brown.
The Lakers sent Fisher, Kobe, Luke Walton, Odom, and Yao Ming.
With Fisher back, the Lakers became more lively. Kobe is not the type to greet the other team after the live broadcast begins, nor is Odom. Yao Ming is not suitable. As a big center, Smush Parker and Luke Walton are not qualified.
But with Fisher back, the Lakers' opening became normal. Fisher came up and greeted each of the Hawks' starters.
This surprised the fans at the scene and the fans in front of the TV. The relationship between the Lakers and the Hawks did not seem to be that bad.
The relationship between the Hawks and the Lakers is very subtle, and the relationship between the players of the two teams is also very wonderful.
Overall, the lineups of both teams are very traditional, with fixed positions. The number of traditional teams that can guarantee positions has gradually decreased, and only those teams with top inside players are still stubbornly maintaining tradition.
Of course, because the peak period of a No. 21 player who always likes to touch other people's heads will last for a long time, in 2014, the era of fixed positions really ended.
At eight o'clock, the referee came to the center circle, and Yao Ming and Kwame Brown were ready for the jump ball.
The referee blew the whistle to start the game and threw the ball into the air. Kwame Brown quickly bounced up and flicked the ball over Yao Ming's head to the back.
Liu Mang received the ball and started a fast break!
Fisher rushed up and wanted to block Liu Mang at the midline. Liu Mang easily pulled sideways and changed direction, shaking Fisher off. At this time, Kobe had already come up.
Liu Mang changed direction again, but Kobe was very good at single defense, with a fast lateral movement speed and a strong body, blocking in front of Liu Mang.
Fisher did not block Liu Mang, and immediately switched to Prince, and followed Prince to the bottom corner.
The Lakers' defensive discipline is very good!
People's impression of Phil Jackson's team is that a god-level player and a top star form a triangle offense, ignoring that he was an excellent defensive assistant coach, and his team's defense was extremely good in the years of winning the championship.
Kobe wanted to use oppressive defense to force Liu Mang to pass the ball. Although Liu Mang is also good without the ball, the Lakers are more afraid of the ball-holding offense.
However, Liu Mang did not pass the ball to McGrady facing Luke Walton, but waved to Kwame Brown to come out for a pick-and-roll!
At this time, Rasheed Wallace pulled to the right corner to pull Odom out, and Yao Ming could only follow Kwame Brown out.
Liu Mang broke through from the right with the help of Kwame Brown's pick-and-roll. When he rushed to the right side of the free throw line, Liu Mang grabbed the ball and made a move to the top arc. Kobe could only rush back to block Kwame Brown's empty cut.
At the same time, Luke Walton, who was originally preparing to double-team Liu Mang, could only chase him because McGrady ran toward the top arc, so he did not double-team him.
The romance of big-handed players, the people who cut and the people who blocked the cut did not understand, Liu Mang's pass was a fake move! Grab the ball and take three big steps towards the basket, easily shake Yao Ming off, jump on the third step, and gently dunk the ball into the basket!
The Hawks took the lead!
Today's strategy of the Hawks is to use Yao Ming to defend against the pick-and-roll!
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