Chapter 1350 1349. Card Shark Combination!
Liu Mang thought that after playing for a strong team for a few years, Calderon would be very good in other teams, and he also knew that his statistics were excellent, but he didn't expect that he would be so outstanding!
Unlike when he was in the Hawks, when Jason Terry or McGrady and Iguodala controlled the ball when he came off the bench, Calderon was the absolute ball-controlling core in the Suns' second lineup, and O'Neal admired Calderon's passing.
"Ding... Features: Engine level 4 is triggered, in slow-paced offense and defense, there is a clear judgment of the situation on the field, and the tacit understanding of teammates is improved, from Jose Calderon."
The skill prompt is to give Liu Mang an intuitive explanation of the role Calderon plays on the field. Calderon relied on his strength to play the same role as the skill effect given to Liu Mang by the system prompt!
Moreover, because he had worked with Liu Mang, McGrady and others, Calderon was not afraid to command O'Neal. Josh Smith was an old teammate and knew that Calderon was an excellent passer, so he actively cooperated. At first, Calderon was just seen as a bonus to Josh Smith, with only the role of a pitcher, but with the support of Josh Smith, Calderon became the core of the second lineup.
When the Suns traded Marion for Calderon and Josh Smith, they were scolded by the Suns fans. Some non-Suns fans also sneered, mainly because they were dissatisfied with the Suns for helping the Hawks when everyone was targeting them, allowing the Hawks to smoothly overcome the crisis of Rasheed Wallace's aging, and also helped the Hawks solve the crisis of Josh Smith not being able to be traded in the third year and the sharp drop in the trading value in the fourth year, because the Hawks did not have the conditions to renew Josh Smith.
If neither Josh Smith nor Iguodala were traded, they would definitely be rotten in the hands of other teams in the future. The Suns fans were also dissatisfied with trading these two people with a second-team All-Star power forward who averaged 20+10 per game.
But Josh Smith quickly won the love of the Suns fans with his brutal physical fitness when he arrived at the Suns. After Gentry made O'Neal a pseudo-starter-real sixth man, Calderon showed his excellent passing skills and rhythm control in his partnership with O'Neal, just like the second engine of the Suns, allowing the Suns' second lineup to have a positional warfare offense that is completely different from the main lineup but very efficient!
Calderon has performed very well in recent games, averaging 9 points and 7 assists in the last ten games. From being just a steady shooter next to Nash at the beginning, he has become the core of the second lineup!
Nash's efficiency this season is higher than last season, and Calderon has made an indispensable contribution. He not only gave Nash a full rest, but also allowed him to hit three-pointers and mid-range shots as a steady shooter when partnering with Nash.
Rondo... was abused by Calderon, the senior!
Even when facing Kidd or Baron Davis, Liu Mang had never seen Rondo being abused so badly, but against Calderon, Rondo was completely unstoppable!
On the offensive end, because O'Neal was under the basket, it was useless for Rondo to easily break through Calderon. Calderon saw Rondo breaking in and went to block the Hawks' three-pointer's off-ball pick-and-roll and running.
Gentry used a beautiful 5-defense-4 tactic, with four small guys blocking the outside line and relying on O'Neal's huge body to guard the basket.
Rondo scored 2 of 4 shots in the basket in half a quarter, and his personal score was pretty good, but his teammates didn't have any good shooting opportunities! Rondo didn't know what to do when he was playing, just like LeBron James in the 2014 Finals in the original time and space. He couldn't shoot from mid-range with the ball, and he couldn't pass it!
Originally, the Hawks wanted to rely on the second lineup to set up a one-control and four-shoot lineup to open the score, but the second lineup led by the duo of Calderon and O'Neal turned around and blew up the Hawks' second lineup!
The Suns' scoring efficiency is definitely much worse than the starting lineup, but they are stable!
Calderon is a stable point guard, and O'Neal is probably the most stable center in history...
Many people think that O'Neal is the most dominant center in history, but they ignore how stable he was in the fourteen years from entering the NBA to the age of 34!
But think about it, you can still win three consecutive championships with a partner with a No. 24 who dares to smash the basket when he is iron-headed. How can it be stable...
In the fourth minute of the second quarter, with Barbosa's three-pointer from the bottom corner, the Suns overtook the Hawks by three points 39 to 36!
The Hawks called a timeout!
…
Liu Mang was about to go up, but was pushed back to his seat by Coach Kruger.
"Jason, Tracy, you go up, Danny, you continue to defend Josh, Kwame, you go up to defend O'Neal..."
Coach Kruger made personnel adjustments and replaced McGrady, who played the entire first quarter, early.
The Hawks had to replace the main players early after being beaten 10 to 5 by the opponent's second lineup.
However, Liu Mang's strategy of keeping the ball alive remained unchanged, so Liu Mang could only sit.
He understood that this was the experience learned from the Rockets and Lakers' use of Olajuwon and O'Neal during their defending seasons. Not everyone can be like Jordan, winning the regular season championship every year for three consecutive championships.
Jordan is still the most majestic mountain in people's minds.
The reason why Liu Mang is regarded as the most qualified junior to challenge Jordan is that during his three consecutive championships, his regular season record did not decline, but broke the historical record in the third year.
But this is the defending season after three consecutive championships. Even if the Hawks are very confident in Liu Mang's physical fitness, they have to keep him healthy. As the season progresses, the implementation is stricter, even if there are unexpected situations. For example, this time their substitute lineup was suppressed by the Suns. In addition to Rondo's two shots, only Granger received the ball and caused Tim Thomas to foul and made one of two free throws. He only scored 5 points in more than four minutes. He still did not replace Liu Mang immediately when he was overtaken like in the past five seasons, and let Liu Mang continue to rest.
Liu Mang was relieved when Jason Terry and McGrady came on the court and partnered with Rondo on the outside. Granger and Kwame Brown went up.
Sure enough, after the timeout, with McGrady and Jason Terry, the Hawks were not at a big disadvantage like at the beginning of this quarter.
However, Calderon played with ease against Rondo's defense, focusing on stability, and the rhythm was so slow that it made people crazy.
O'Neal doesn't have to worry about physical problems. Even if he is tired, there are still main players, so he tries his best to play his strength. Even though he is so old, he will be 35 soon, he can't help but defend, and he has a vision to pass the ball after receiving the ball.
Although Rondo has become easier to organize the offense after Jason Terry and McGrady, the most amazing thing about the genius Rondo is that the stronger his teammates are, the greater the role they can play.
The Suns have always maintained a slight lead. Rondo and McGrady tried their best to organize the offense and break into the inside, helping Jason Terry and Granger get outside shooting opportunities, or helping Kwame Brown get outside shooting opportunities, and the offensive performance is already very good.
However, the Suns still firmly maintain their lead!
After the official timeout, it was still a stalemate. When the Eagles were 6 points behind at 53 to 59, they called a timeout again!
Liu Mang took off his training suit. There were more than two minutes left in the second quarter. He had to take advantage of this time to narrow the gap.
Liu Mang had to say... Gentry's brain is really useful!
O'Neal can't beat Kwame Brown. Among the current inside players, the only ones who can beat Kwame Brown one-on-one with high efficiency are Yao Ming, Duncan, Nowitzki, Elton Brand, Garnett, Milicic, and O'Neal Jr., who are real inside players. There are only pseudo inside players like Turkoglu and Lewis. It is impossible for O'Neal to beat Kwame Brown alone now.
But putting O'Neal in the second lineup... invincible!
Reduce O'Neal's playing time from 34 or 3 minutes at the beginning of the season to 23 or 24 minutes now, of which 15 or 16 minutes were played with the substitutes in the second and third quarters. No team's inside substitutes can compete!
Moreover, after the Hawks exchanged two of the three eagles, the Suns only replaced Kurt Thomas with James Jones to suppress Jason Terry and McGrady. After the Hawks came on the court, they accelerated. They still relied on their offensive performance and rhythm to withstand the firepower of the double eagles instigated by Rondo!
This is a rare time when the Hawks were restrained by the opponent's tactics!
Calderon + O'Neal, the strongest second lineup core combination in the league!
Even better than Liu Mang had imagined before, Gentry broke this team apart!
They don't have a star like Liu Mang who can seamlessly switch between various rhythms, but they have more people!
The roles have been swapped, but the opponent feels cruel to the Suns!
...
After the timeout, the three eagles came on together. The Hawks have an advantage against the Suns in that they can send the three eagles together without worrying about the problem of perimeter defense. First, it is not easy to defend against the fast-paced offense and defense of their main lineup. Second, there are few players in their back line who can hold the ball to attack, but there are more players in the front line who hold the ball. Jason Terry can defend their starting Raja Bell, McGrady and Marion defend their Josh Smith and Dio, and limit as much as possible. Kwame Brown protects the rebounds under the basket.
Of course, the limitation is not big. When O'Neal is not there, their main lineup is even better than last season. After all, they didn't have Stoudemire last season. In addition, the Hawks wanted to tie the score before halftime, but they were in a hurry. Instead of narrowing the score before the end of halftime, they were pulled two points behind!
At the end of the half, the Hawks were 8 points behind the Suns 57 to 65!
In terms of assists, because Liu Mang and Nash played at the same time, Liu Mang only lagged behind 1 by 4 to 5, but in terms of three-pointers, Nash and Calderon successively commanded the Suns' offense. Both of them were sharpshooters, leading the whole team. The Hawks lagged behind the Suns' 10 three-pointers in the first half with 7 three-pointers in the first half!
Liu Mang was still thinking about how to complete the three mission goals at the beginning, but now... the whole line collapsed!
The Card Shark combination... it's too cool to put it in the second lineup!