Chapter 1344 1343. Features: Chevaux De Frise
At 7:00 p.m. on December 16, the second match between the Hawks and the Raptors this season officially began.
On the Hawks side, Liu Mang, McGrady, Prince, Marion, and Kwame Brown appeared in the starting lineup.
On the Raptors side, Ford, Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson, Bargnani, and Milicic appeared in the starting lineup.
Kwame Brown won the jump ball and the Hawks attacked first.
After Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt, he passed the ball to McGrady and cut into the inside.
After McGrady received the ball, Marion ran out from the right baseline to screen for McGrady.
McGrady used Marion's screen to pass Joe Johnson and entered the middle. Bargnani switched defense and was like a wooden stake. TJ Ford was too late to make up for the defense so quickly. McGrady entered the three-second zone and passed the ball to Kwame Brown. Kwame Brown received the ball behind Milicic who was defending and easily dunked to score two points.
The pick-and-roll between McGrady and Marion was the main offensive method of the Hawks in this game when Bargnani was on the court.
Taking advantage of Liu Mang's first cut, the opponent's defense was compressed to the basket. Marion came to the top arc from the baseline at the same time. At this time, Marion pulled out, and Liu Mang's restraining force was still there, so the open space was Kwame Brown.
In the last game against the Cavaliers, Marion was able to attract defense after two consecutive cuts and helped Granger score a three-pointer. Today, the Hawks played against the Raptors, who had two assisting defense masters, Milicic and Richard Jefferson. The Hawks continued to take advantage of this.
Gradually, the characteristics of each player were fine-tuned in the direction the team needed. Of course, the team's tactics were also being fine-tuned.
The offensive end played smoothly, taking advantage of TJ Ford's speed and passion but no good team defense awareness and Bargnani's poor defense, and breaking through them, disrupting the inside-outside connection of the inside-outside defense combination of Richard Jefferson and Milicic.
Liu Mang became a point of deflection. Of course, after scoring more points in the interior, it will be easier for him and McGrady to score on the outside.
After seeing Kwame Brown successfully eat the ball, Liu Mang immediately retreated, and the focus was still on defense.
This season, the Raptors averaged 105 points per game in positional warfare, which is quite similar to the Kings of the year, and the offensive ability is stronger, with Joe Johnson, a guy who can score 20 points per game by singles.
After Milicic arrived at the frontcourt, he immediately came to the high position.
If he went to the interior, Milicic's own score would definitely be much higher, and it would not be a problem to score 20 points per game, but he was unwilling to do that. Only low-post singles and passing the ball could not fully exert his organizational ability. After all, the opponent was Kwame Brown. He could score a few, but the opponent would never double-team him.
It is still necessary to play high-post coordination, and play out Joe Johnson's open three-point ability when he is not single, Bargnani's open mid-range and long-range shooting ability, and TJ Ford and Richard Jefferson's open cutting ability.
Milicic reached the high post and received a pass from TJ Ford. Sure enough, Milicic saw Kwame Brown blocking his left hand side, and the right hand defense line gave him a chance to break through.
This is not the point. The point is that Milicic saw TJ Ford just ran to the right side of the basket, which means Liu Mang was also on the right side of the basket. He would inevitably enter Liu Mang's basket defense area if he broke through, and TJ Ford had almost no shooting ability.
However, the Raptors still have off-ball pick-and-roll!
Richard Jefferson cut into the inside and was stuck by Prince, and did not get a chance to attack the basket, but his purpose was not to score for himself, but to rush in to help TJ Ford block Liu Mang!
TJ Ford took a step forward with the help of Richard Jefferson's pick-and-roll and was ready to shoot. Generally speaking, at this time, he only needs to catch the ball and put it in the basket!
Milicic took advantage of the time difference between TJ Ford and Richard Jefferson's off-ball pick-and-roll. When he was about to pass the ball, he suddenly stopped because Kwame Brown let him go and moved in to double-team TJ Ford!
This... let him shoot?
Milicic quickly grabbed the ball with Kwame Brown's enviable big hands, took it back, and made a jump shot from the free throw line...
Liu Mang had already rushed to Milicic and jumped up!
Because Liu Mang's blocking action was relatively large, TJ Ford was not allowed to get close to the baseline. Richard Jefferson was from the top line to pick and roll, and TJ Ford had no space to cut into the bottom line, so the distance between Milicic's pass and TJ Ford's reception was too small!
Milicic shook a shot and broke through from Liu Mang's left side. Marion doubled in. Liu Mang landed and came to the left side of the free throw line. Milicic's fake shot turned into a breakthrough. Liu Mang jumped up to block and just jumped up lightly, blocking the direction of Milicic's pass to Bargnani.
Liu Mang's mobility and jumping ability brought a great threat of steals. Milicic faced Kwame Brown and Marion's double-teaming, and there were TJ Ford, Prince, and Richard Jefferson in the interior, which was very crowded.
When Milicic wanted to look back for someone, Bargnani was already stuck outside the three-point line by Liu Mang, and Joe Johnson was also stuck by McGrady. Facing this opponent who had scored consecutive goals over his head, McGrady defended very seriously today!
Milicic had no choice but to attack for three seconds. He leaned on Kwame Brown with his right shoulder, turned sideways to face the backboard, bent over and stood up, stretched the ball to the backboard with his left hand as much as possible, and forced a shot...
Milicic's hands were very useful, and the forced throw hit the basket and bounced and fell in.
Milicic's shot caused exclamations at the scene, and the ball was shot in!
Kwame Brown really had no choice. This ball was pushed to the limit. The shooting posture and the direct shooting method were obviously unconventional shots. Even if the opponent scored, there was nothing he could do.
Although the opponent scored, the Hawks had a good mentality. They could only score one or two goals. They had forced Milicic to the point where he had no choice but to force a shot. The defense was successful.
Liu Mang's buff of the strong heart allowed the Hawks players to have confidence despite the average record so far this season!
Kwame Brown and Milicic each scored a goal, and both teams scored one at the beginning.
It was the Hawks' turn to attack again, and it was still McGrady and Marion's pick-and-roll. This time the Raptors double-teamed faster. TJ Ford let Prince shrink in, and McGrady passed the ball to the right, but not to Prince, because Prince was moving, and the direction of the pass was the sideline on the right side at a 45-degree angle!
A mistake? The fans saw no one!
Just when the ball was about to go out of bounds, a player No. 24 caught the ball!
Just when TJ Ford was going to double-team McGrady, Liu Mang led Richard Jefferson to run in the right direction instead of the left corner and the 45-degree angle on the left, which was his best direction!
Prince, who was left open, came up to block Richard Jefferson, and Liu Mang just received a pass from McGrady when he ran to the right sideline!
He took a deep breath and jumped at the same time. When he jumped, the air poured into Liu Mang's mouth. After reaching the top, he shot a three-pointer with a standard shooting posture...
Liu Mang exhaled while landing, and the ball fell into the basket, a hollow hit!
After the pick-and-roll, Liu Mang caught the ball and shot, and the three-pointer went in!
Unstoppable!
The Raptors' switching defense ability is too poor. Bargnani and TJ Ford only know how to double-team. If they had an average level of defensive awareness, with Milicic and Richard Jefferson as two defensive gates, they could create a good defense, but with these two players at the bottom of the defense, their head coach Sam Mitchell can't do anything.
The Raptors averaged 106 points per game, far higher than the NBA average of 98.1 points per game, but they lost 101 points per game, also far higher than the NBA average of 98.1 points per game.
When playing against teams without so many stars, the Raptors' defense is actually okay, but when they encounter opponents with strong offense, they can only attack.
When the Raptors attacked, Liu Mang followed the advancing TJ-Ford to defend closely. When he reached the three-point line, Milicic came up to block him without any disguise!
After Milicic arrived at the frontcourt, he did not go to the high post to ask for the ball, but chose to pick and roll with TJ-Ford!
There was no fake move, and it was obvious that the Hawks would switch defense quickly.
When Milicic was not frustrated, his mind was very clear. They saw it in their first attack. The Hawks wanted to force him into a double-team. The opponent moved fast and ranked in the top three in the league in switching defense speed. He didn't have the confidence to play the ball again. Not everyone wears No. 24.
With the help of Milicic's pick-and-roll, TJ-Ford broke through from the right side of the top arc with Kwame Brown.
Kwame Brown also had a good sense of defense. He did not stick to him, but retreated to the back, so TJ-Ford missed the mid-range shot.
After Milicic blocked Liu Mang, he cut in from the middle and asked TJ-Ford for the ball. Facing Liu Mang who was retreating quickly to the bottom line, Milicic didn't care at all. He just received the ball and rolled in.
However, when TJ-Ford was about to pass the ball to Milicic, Liu Mang ran to the bottom line, and Marion had already switched to Milicic!
At this time, Bargnani cut into the basket and collided with Liu Mang. He immediately turned around and leaned against Liu Mang to ask for the ball.
TJ-Ford couldn't pass the ball to Milicic, but he caught the ball again. He stopped the ball in this position, and Kwame Brown was in front of him. There was no way!
Fortunately, the left side of the basket became the absolute weak side. Bargnani leaned against Liu Mang to ask for the ball, and TJ-Ford quickly lifted the ball to the left side of the basket.
The ball did not pass through Milicic's hands!
The Hawks' strategy was successful at the beginning!
Just when Marion switched to Milicic and Liu Mang blocked Bargnani and collided with Bargnani, the system prompt came!
"Ding... The host successfully contained Milicic's high-post coordination. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the talent skill: Continuous Execution. The first characteristic: Barricade. Talent skill: Continuous Execution, upgraded to level 2."
What is considered a successful containment?
This is a question that Liu Mang has been thinking about for a long time. He used to be obsessed with defending Milicic.
But in the discussion with the coaching staff, Mike Woodson proposed that it is not necessary to defend Milicic's high-post coordination.
Do you really want to lock down a center who may be one of the top three coordination talents in the league?
This is unlikely.
So how can you limit Milicic's high-post coordination?
This is too difficult. The reason why the assist is difficult to defend is because of his variability, especially for high-post assist players like Milicic who can shoot mid-range shots. Except for a little lack of experience, his awareness is not worse than Duncan, Garnett, Gasol, and Webber and Divac in those days!
The task is to prevent Milicic from grasping the timing of weak points. Liu Mang has studied it for a long time. What he is going to experiment with today is to make Milicic uncomfortable, let him play singles, or simply not receive the ball.
Liu Mang also wanted to complete this task today, but it was too difficult. It was more difficult than expected to upgrade the talent skills. The talent skill of left-handed fighting has been activated for so long, but it is only level 3 now. The shooting ability of the left hand is still far behind that of the right hand, and there is no way to really use the left and right hands to achieve different effects.
So Liu Mang just tried it, but unexpectedly, the effect was better than expected!
Or, the lineup problem of the Raptors team is bigger than expected!
TJ-Ford has the basket but not the outside line, and Bargnani has the outside line but not the basket, but he is a seven-foot power forward. The lack of the ability to attack the basket has a relatively large limitation on the Raptors' offense. Marion is so short and plays as a power forward, relying on his impact.
So, Liu Mang's strategy succeeded!
In terms of system judgment, this defensive strategy succeeded!
This method is estimated to be effective only against the Raptors, a team with a great high-post support star. Liu Mang estimates that it will not be so effective against the Spurs, Lakers, and Bulls with a more complete lineup... It is even unlikely to be effective. This is specifically used to deal with Milicic.
But apart from this method, Liu Mang really can't think of any way to defend Milicic's high-post support. Without the three-second defense, Milicic's performance is no worse than in the international arena. His international arena enhances his long-range shooting and defensive abilities.
"Level 1 of the barricade: When the opponent has a player who supports in the high position, the host has a 10% chance of accurately predicting the opponent's first pass choice."
Others have defensive prediction awareness, and Liu Mang has a direct prediction effect! Direct prompts brought by the characteristics!
However... Liu Mang can't be happy about getting new characteristics for a while, and he can't even care about the upgrade to level 2.
After hearing the prompt, Liu Mang saw the ball flying from the sky into Bargnani's hands, and saw Bargnani, who received the pass from TJ-Ford, sticking his butt up to him...
Big trouble is coming!
Blocking Milicic's high-post pass curbed Milicic's pick-and-roll cooperation, but this kind of defense will inevitably make Liu Mang face Bargnani or Richard Jefferson in the low post!
Richard Jefferson is fine, there is only a 10 cm height difference, but Bargnani... is a full 20 cm difference! The other Raptors immediately pulled away after Bargnani received the ball, and TJ-Ford also restrained Kwame Brown at the bottom line.
Bargnani met a guard in the low post, so excited, his Italian cannon is going to start crushing! Bargnani sat in with his butt sticking up.
Seeing Bargnani sticking his butt up and bumping into him, Liu Mang had no choice but to hold Bargnani's butt hard and push up with his waist!