Chapter 1349 1348. If We Switch Roles

Watching McGrady and Marion talking and laughing while returning to defense, Josh Smith felt so miserable. Back then, he and McGrady humiliated their opponents together, but this time he became the background.

O'Neal has worked very hard, but he can't retreat as fast as Kwame Brown.

Although O'Neal doesn't work hard in training, he never lets his game go. During the Lakers' regular season, he struggled to play, mainly because of Kobe's support. Without Kobe, O'Neal always worked hard during the game. After two years in a row, he reached the Finals during the Magic era. At the end of his career with the Suns, he was quite serious in the game, but by this time he was no longer as brave as before.

Josh Smith miserably picked up the ball and sent it to Nash. Nash controlled the rhythm and advanced towards the frontcourt.

With O'Neal around, running and gunning, pick-and-roll fast attacks are out of the question. Fortunately, Nash is not only good at fast breaks. He is also an All-Star in positional warfare with the Mavericks, and he was not the core of the Mavericks at the beginning.

After Nash advanced to the frontcourt, O'Neal was already in position inside.

O'Neal, who weighs 150 kilograms, is even more sturdy in his position inside. One defense and one defense cannot stop him from taking the position. Nash passes the ball to O'Neal, who is well positioned on the right side of the three-second zone.

However, O'Neal has become more powerful, and his explosive power has seriously declined. Kwame Brown is pushing him from behind. O'Neal wants to slam into the ball and dunk like he did last season. So, O'Neal chooses to turn around, push his big butt, and rely on the static Power squeezes Kwame Brown away.

However, although Kwame Brown has small hands, he has an excellent wingspan and good defensive judgment, limiting the space for O'Neal to transfer to the basket behind the backboard!

At the same time, Diaw came up to help Nash block Liu Mang. Nash cut inside and Prince switched defense.

O'Neal was indeed blocked by Kwame Brown, but it also allowed Kwame Brown to have his back to the player in the high post! O'Neal passed the ball to Nash head-on, and Nash received the ball and layup...

Hit!

Prince's defense change was in place, but Nash and Liu Mang's similar on-the-fly layups were too difficult to guard against, and they were fast. Nash, Prince, and Diaw scored two points together!

The vision brought by O'Neal's height of 2.16 meters is great, just like Yao Ming who doesn't have very good organizational skills but has two to three assists in every game with the Lakers.

You can learn anything, but you can’t learn height.

"Use O'Neal as a pivot! This guy can figure it out!" Liu Mang glanced at Gentry on the sidelines.

Perhaps it's because he hasn't won the fourth championship yet. Not having one more championship than Kobe has become a knot in O'Neal's heart. Some things he was unwilling to do before are now doing quite well, such as becoming a supporting role and helping teammates pass the ball so that they can score. This kind of thing.

Except for Raja Bell, the other four players in the Suns' starting lineup can pass the ball!

Liu Mang became excited and quickly advanced after receiving a pass from Kwame Brown.

Speed ​​up!

Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt, and the Suns retreated very quickly. O'Neal dragged his big butt and ran back to the basket. As soon as Liu Mang reached the three-point line, Laga Bell immediately followed him.

Laga Bell has reached his peak this season, with an ability rating of 79 and a defensive rating of 94.

Faced with Raja Bell's rough defensive action, Liu Mang wanted to pass the ball to McGrady, but the defensive player McGrady encountered was Josh Smith...

Now the lanky Diaw is guarding Marion. The Suns' positions 1 to 4 can switch defenses seamlessly!

Nash couldn't defend well, but his enthusiasm was enough to follow Prince to catch and shoot.

In this case, Liu Mang beckoned for Kwame Brown to pick and roll.

Kwame Brown came out to help Liu Mang block Laga Bell. After Liu Mang picked and rolled, before O'Neal could defend him, he shot a three-pointer from the right side of the top arc...

Missed!

But Marion, who cut in, easily tipped in and scored two points after McGrady, who cut in at the same time, helped block Diaw.

This is a style of play that the Suns cannot play. The Suns used to like to play like this, but at that time their center was Diaw or Stoudemire. Now it has become O'Neal. They can only watch the Hawks play like this.

In his peak period, O'Neal helped Kobe to block people and let Kobe take key shots. This was an important tactic for the Lakers during the OK combination period, but now O'Neal is really running.

When the Suns attacked, it was O'Neal who received the ball under the basket to support the singles. This time Marion stepped in early. Nash received the ball from O'Neal and passed it to Diaw. Diaw's three-point shot from the bottom corner... missed!

O'Neal was unable to grab a rebound at this position and was stuck under the basket by Kwame Brown. Liu Mang bypassed Josh Smith's pick-and-roll and rushed into the basket, grabbed the defensive rebound, and immediately counterattacked!

Liu Mang passed the ball to McGrady, who was one step ahead. After following up to the frontcourt, McGrady, who was being chased by Josh Smith and Raja Bell, passed the ball back to Liu Mang, who was following up. Liu Mang received the ball from the top of the arc for three seconds. Break up...

Hit!

Liu Mang thought of the lines of the little mage in a later game...

If our roles were reversed...

Now the Hawks and Suns seem to have swapped roles. The Hawks are speeding up counterattacks and shooting unrestrained three-pointers, while the Suns are playing positional warfare.

However, although Nash is also good at positional warfare and offense, Josh Smith is not a big problem, and he does a good job of cutting into blocks. O'Neal is an expert in positional warfare, but Laga Bell and Diaw are playing very uncomfortable and open. The shooting rhythm is poor.

The Hawks discovered this and actively retreated, not giving Josh Smith and Nash a chance to cut in and score, leaving Dio and Raja Bell open to receive the ball and shoot in the positional battle. The two really couldn't make a shot at this rhythm.

On the Hawks side, Liu Mang, McGrady, and Marion each scored a counterattack. Liu Mang and McGrady each made a three-pointer, and Marion had a counterattack dunk.

The Hawks played a 10-4 wave at the beginning of the game!

In addition to Nash's lob shot, Josh Smith grabbed the offensive rebound and passed the ball to O'Neal, who made a lob shot and scored two points. The Suns' three three-point shots were all missed!

At 3 minutes and 17 seconds in the first quarter, the Suns called a timeout!

…

The offense was good at the beginning, and the defense was very purposeful. However, the Hawks did not dare to be careless. It was expected that they would play well at the beginning. Raja Bell, a sharpshooter who ranked sixth in the league with 2.6 three-pointers per game this season, performed poorly in the positional battle. Dio's three-point shooting was average, which was known from the previous research on the Suns.

The next step is the key!

During the timeout, the Hawks made tactical arrangements for the Suns' rhythmic sudden changes.

Sure enough, after the timeout, the Suns made a substitution, replacing O'Neal with Kurt Thomas, a 2.06-meter forward nicknamed "Crazy Eyes", and Nash, Raja Bell, Josh Smith, Kurt Thomas, and Dio played.

The Hawks also made a substitution, replacing Prince with Liu Mang, Jason Terry, McGrady, Marion, and Kwame Brown.

The Suns, who immediately switched to a running and gunning rhythm, immediately started to rush after the timeout.

The Hawks did not think about slowing down the tempo. They had a good start and good offensive efficiency. Of course, they had to continue shooting. The two teams started a crazy offensive.

Liu Mang made a three-pointer around the pick-and-roll, and Nash scored two points by shooting arrows on horseback in a counterattack; Liu Mang passed the ball to McGrady, who passed it to Marion for a layup, and Nash passed the ball to Raja Bell who was running, and Raja Bell made a three-pointer...

The Suns' current lineup, opponents can't stop their counterattacks at all. Although Josh Smith doesn't have the mid-range shooting ability and strong attack ability under the basket that Stoudemire showed in the Heat this season, he runs faster than Stoudemire! And his passing is much better than Stoudemire. Josh Smith's scoring ability is better than Stoudemire... Maybe he will never catch up with Josh Smith in his lifetime, but Stoudemire will never catch up with Josh Smith's passing and speed in his lifetime. Although Josh Smith's independent scoring ability is not as good as Stoudemire, his ability to eat cakes is not worse than Stoudemire.

The six-point difference was nothing after the game started. Liu Mang led Nash by two assists at the beginning, but when the official timeout came, it was wiped out! The two three-pointers that the Hawks led by were also chased by the Suns to 2 to 3 when the official timeout came!

At the end of the first quarter, the Hawks only led the Suns by two points, 31 to 29!

In more than eight minutes, the Suns scored 25 points!

Liu Mang scored 8 points and 3 assists in the first quarter, and made two three-pointers and a second-chance tip-in.

The Suns have Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas, who are very good at defending mid-range shots. Liu Mang's mid-range performance is not good, especially Kurt Thomas, who was strengthened this season. He can fight Kwame Brown under the basket, and can block mid-range shooters with mid-range shots. He also has many small moves and a dirty style of play. The nickname "Crazy Eyes" refers to his mad dog-like defense.

After the first quarter, Liu Mang looked at the data on the big screen. Nash actually got 4 assists in more than 8 minutes!

Moreover, the Suns made 3 three-pointers in the first quarter, only one less than the Hawks' 4 three-pointers!

The score was almost tied!

…

After playing the entire first quarter, Liu Mang was replaced by Rondo in the second quarter, and McGrady and Jason Terry were also replaced by Korver, Battier, and Granger's forward-guard trio, and Rasheed Wallace was replaced at the center position.

To play against the Suns, one big and four small is a must.

Sure enough, the Suns also had one big and four small, with Calderon, Barbosa, Jaylen Rose, Josh Smith, and O'Neal on the court.

After the start of the second quarter, the Suns' rhythm suddenly changed again, entering an extremely slow rhythm, Calderon and O'Neal... There was a feeling that the old man was a perfect match!

From the Suns' first attack in the second quarter, Liu Mang saw that Gentry was learning his rhythm change style!