Chapter 1115 1114. The Blocked Comfort Zone
Liu Mang retreated to the three-point line, waiting for Parker to push forward, and immediately stuck to him.
Today, the Hawks' perimeter defense has a heavy task. The Spurs have a lot of singles experts in the starting lineup and the bench. The focus of the Spurs' reinforcement last summer was to deal with the three strong perimeter defenses of the Hawks' starting lineup. Even fixed-point shooters such as Barry and Horry were given up in order to make room for Sprewell, Finley, Van Exel and others.
Parker pushed forward to the frontcourt. In the fifth year of his career, Parker finally began to gradually enter his peak period. With an annual contract of tens of millions, he played well this season and began to feel that he could keep up with Liu Mang's pace.
This time, Parker did not flinch. After Liu Mang stuck to him, he stuck his butt to avoid Liu Mang's hand, protecting the ball and looking for opportunities.
Seeing that the Spurs' offensive time was only 10 seconds left, Liu Mang clearly felt that Parker was wasting time! The Spurs averaged 77 shots per game this season, second to last in the league, and lost 90.3 points per game, the second lowest in the league.
Liu Mang decisively pushed Parker with his chest, pressing him.
At this time, the opportunity Parker had been waiting for came. Sprewell took advantage of Oberto's pick-and-roll and ran one step inside the top arc. Parker passed the ball from Liu Mang's armpit to the top arc when Liu Mang pressed on. Sprewell received the ball and rushed from the middle. Kwame Brown took a step. Sprewell did not take credit and hung under the basket. Duncan lifted the ball into the basket in the air!
Slow and steady!
The key is that the Spurs' first attack, Liu Mang saw their changes. Just as the game video and the scout report wrote, Duncan changed from the starting point of the attack to the end point of the attack!
This guy actually started to eat cakes!
Liu Mang didn't go to receive the serve, but ran straight to the front court, running close to Duncan and yelling: "Why did you start to catch the ball and shoot? You play like Kwame. You should play one-on-one, go after Kwame! Weren't you so good at one-on-one against him before? Go after him!"
Kwame Brown had just run past the midline, and he almost fainted when he heard this! Why do you bring me along to talk trash!
Duncan glanced at Liu Mang and actually smiled! Then Duncan ignored Liu Mang and ran to the basket to guard Kwame Brown.
McGrady received the ball from Prince and pushed forward. Liu Mang felt something was wrong with his first dribbling attack, so he chose to attack without the ball this time. After McGrady came over, Liu Mang cut into the middle under Sprewell's defense. When he got to the basket, Kwame Brown came up to help Liu Mang block Sprewell. Liu Mang squeezed out of the squeezed space under the basket and threw it to the left side at a 45-degree angle, which was his best position for receiving the ball. McGrady grabbed the ball and was about to pass it to Liu Mang, but Parker let go of Prince in the bottom corner and went around to block Liu Mang's receiving route. McGrady wanted to pass to Prince, but Duncan, who had switched defense after the pick-and-roll, went up to block Prince's receiving route.
On the other side, Rasheed Wallace was stuck by Oberto, a brisk white Argentine tough guy. The most important thing was that McGrady had already grabbed the ball, and Finley stuck to him when he made a hard shot.
McGrady saw Kwame Brown squeezing Sprewell under the basket, and immediately lobbed the ball in. Kwame Brown received the ball and turned to dunk...
"Snap"
A very crisp sound of slapping the ball, Sprewell cut the ball off when Kwame Brown grabbed the ball and turned around!
Kwame Brown's dribbling attack was too bad!
Moreover, the ball hit Kwame Brown's leg and bounced out of bounds. It was a mistake by the Hawks!
Liu Mang felt something was wrong. The Spurs' three-point defense was good enough!
Attack and defense switched, Liu Mang returned to the top arc of his own three-point line, patted Kwame Brown on the back when he ran back, and Kwame Brown nodded and retreated to the three-second zone.
After Parker pushed through half court, Liu Mang immediately went up and pressed in half court!
Parker originally wanted to use speed to beat Liu Mang, but he didn't even have the chance to accelerate!
Parker thought that his team had made defensive arrangements against Liu Mang, and now he was also targeted.
Parker controlled the ball very steadily. Under Liu Mang's close defense, he slowly approached the three-point line. When the offensive time was consumed to 10 seconds, he took a step back and prepared to accelerate.
However, Liu Mang's defensive awareness was far better than Parker's last time he played against Liu Mang. Parker felt that he couldn't breathe, as if he was shrouded in the defensive range of that pair of big hands!
"Ding... Feature: Glove effect is triggered, the host's single defense players will feel that they may be stolen or blocked at any time."
Feeling, it's just a feeling. Gary Payton relies on his strong defensive ability and the deterrence of winning the best defensive player to give the opponent this feeling. Liu Mang will have this feeling as long as he defends alone.
Although this feeling is just a feeling, it will more or less affect the opponent, such as Parker who is already very afraid of Liu Mang.
Parker thought he had made enough progress this year. He became the team's second-highest scorer, scoring more than Duncan, averaging 17.6 points per game, but found that Liu Mang improved faster! This defense made him feel the feeling of meeting Payton in his rookie season!
This time, the Hawks did a good job of switching defense on Sprewell's running in the three-second zone, not giving Sprewell a good chance to catch the ball. With 6 seconds left on the shot clock, Jordan's successor Finley came out to meet the defense, faced Prince's defense, and made a fadeaway jumper on the left side of the free throw line...
It missed!
Kwame Brown learned from his shame and then fought back, overpowering Duncan to grab the defensive rebound.
Duncan made a move to steal the ball, which scared Kwame Brown so much that he stretched out of bounds with both hands holding the ball. Seeing that his teammates had retreated across half court, Duncan immediately turned around and ran back.
Rhythm!
The Spurs' slow rhythm!
After Liu Mang received the ball, he felt that he had entered the rhythm of the Spurs.
However, Liu Mang was not in a hurry. The game had just started, and the two teams were still in the testing stage. There was still a knife on the opponent's bench.
After Liu Mang pushed across half court, Sprewell continued to block the right side. Liu Mang had already understood part of the Spurs' strategy to defend him, and wanted to double-team him on the left. Liu Mang did not go to the left. After passing the center line one step and being blocked by Sprewell, Liu Mang waved to McGrady. McGrady came up to help Liu Mang block Sprewell. Liu Mang went around and accelerated the breakthrough!
"Ding... Pick and Roll Master Level 5 is triggered, the host's speed +8 in two seconds..."
Liu Mang's speed soared, and when he rushed to the three-point line, he directly left Finley behind, but the Spurs blocked him very hard. Oberto directly let go of Rasheed Wallace on the right sideline and rushed towards Liu Mang. Liu Mang passed the ball to Rasheed Wallace. After Finley failed to defend Liu Mang, he quickly rushed towards Rasheed Wallace.
Rasheed Wallace dribbled one step, avoided Finley who jumped up to block, stepped into the three-point line, and shot a long two-pointer...
"Bang"
It missed!
Kwame Brown struggled to get the ball from Duncan's head and shot it out. Liu Mang grabbed the ball from Oberto's head and withdrew from the three-point line. Oberto immediately rushed up. Liu Mang jumped one step to the right, avoided the defense, and shot a three-pointer at a nearly 45-degree angle on the right...
It didn't go in either!
Duncan was not bullied by Kwame Brown again this time. He was always weak and kept the defensive rebound.
After failing to score, Liu Mang called on his teammates to retreat.
However, the Spurs had no intention of playing fast break, and they continued to advance slowly.
The Spurs, who averaged 102 points and lost 90.3 points per game, actually had a net score not much lower than the Hawks this season. Their defense was so good! The key was that their own hit rate was 49%, while their opponent's hit rate was 42%, which was much stronger.
The Hawks were forced to follow the rhythm of defense.
Liu Mang watched Parker slowly advance across half court. After a few rounds, he realized that the opponent's research and preparation for them were more thorough than theirs. After all, the Spurs' mid-term schedule was relatively much easier.
Parker arrived at the frontcourt and encountered Liu Mang's close defense again. This time, Parker learned his lesson and did not confront Liu Mang head-on. There was no chance of a head-on confrontation. The opponent was as fast as him, and his body was stronger. His defensive awareness had also changed. He was going to pick and roll.
Duncan came out to help Parker block Liu Mang. Liu Mang felt that the two No. 21s were both despicable villains. They had a very good sense of the mobile pick-and-roll. Liu Mang couldn't get around them, and Kwame Brown couldn't keep up. McGrady quickly went to Parker to defend. Parker quickly passed the ball to Finley who went out from the basket to the right side of the three-second zone. Kwame Brown went to Finley to defend. At this time, Finley passed the ball to Duncan who was at a 45-degree angle on the left after the pick-and-roll. The one defending Duncan was... Liu Mang!
Parker would be affected by Liu Mang's oppressive feeling, but Duncan would not. He faced Liu Mang's hand who jumped up to block the shot and shot from mid-range!
So stable!
The ball hit the backboard and bounced into the basket!
Compared with the Hawks who mainly ran to play three-pointers and the basket, the Spurs played almost all mid-range!
4 to 3, the Spurs overtook by one point.
Grind!
From the beginning of the game, the Spurs, who had more time to prepare, were grinding the rhythm.
After playing for a while, Liu Mang finally understood the Spurs' defensive strategy against him.
It's not that they didn't give him a chance to shoot, nor did they not give him a chance to organize the offense.
Liu Mang was forced to stay away from his comfort zone!
The area on the left side of the top arc that was less than 45 degrees, and the area on the right side that was less than 45 degrees from the bottom corner, were the two areas where Liu Mang had the lowest three-point shooting rate, with a shooting rate of only 33%.
For others, a three-point shooting rate of 33% is already very good these days, but for Liu Mang's opponents, letting Liu Mang shoot at these two positions is already a very successful defense!
Not only Liu Mang, McGrady only made 1 of 3 shots at the start today, and only made a three-pointer in the bottom corner.
Although the Spurs didn't lead much, they had been trying to keep Liu Mang and McGrady away from their shooting comfort zone.
Finally, when it was almost time for the official timeout, Liu Mang couldn't help it. After advancing to the frontcourt, he ran directly to the left side of the top arc, facing Sprewell's defense, and forced a shot!
Still didn't score, but fortunately he got a foul. Sprewell pressed Liu Mang's action and was called for a foul by the referee.
Liu Mang didn't go to the free throw line immediately. It happened that the game was 6 minutes in. The referee gave Liu Mang a whistle and entered an official timeout.
11 to 12, the Hawks started the game for six minutes. The Hawks only scored 11 points. In addition to Prince and McGrady each making a three-pointer, Liu Mang had a tip-in and Rasheed Wallace's layup 2+1. The Hawks' other outside shots were all iron!
Liu Mang returned to the bench and began to think about the problem in front of him.
The opponent's defense this time was not as double-teamed as before, but just forced him away from his comfort zone. Liu Mang was trying to solve this problem.