Chapter 1361 1360. The Divine Calculator Aspiring to Become the Great Emperor
Liu Mang lost the Christmas game for the first time!
Including this time, Liu Mang played a total of 5 Christmas games, and this was the first time he lost in a Christmas game!
Liu Mang's hit rate was not bad, 13 of 28 shots, but he couldn't keep shooting. Once he shot accurately, the opponent's defensive focus shifted to him, Kobe blocked the outside line, and others defended Liu Mang to the inside.
Moreover, the main scorer of the Hawks did not perform badly. When Liu Mang passed the ball to McGrady or Jason Terry, the final success rate was good.
Moreover, the Hawks shot 97 times, more than the Lakers' 89 times.
But the Lakers' success rate was too high!
A certain No. 24 who shot inaccurately did not continue to shoot stubbornly, but he couldn't let this go! Several open positions in the second quarter really went in.
The first No. 24 confrontation ended with the West's No. 24 winning!
Liu Mang got his fifth 40+ this season and his 60th 40+ in his career, but unfortunately lost the victory.
…
…
"Ace, don't be unhappy. Look at it from another angle. This is a good thing, isn't it?" Levia comforted.
"Yeah..."
Liu Mang could only think so.
It was expected that the Mavericks would be strong in the regular season this season.
No matter how much the Suns improve in the future, it will be difficult for them to break out of the West. The Spurs...they have the helplessness of a small market and a stingy boss.
But the Lakers...
The Hawks won three consecutive championships and accidentally forced out a behemoth!
Originally, after Yao Ming entered his peak period, the drug-taking combination was difficult to deal with, and there was also a Gasol...the small ball style of play was not tenable at all in their place. They had two tall towers in the interior, and powerful role players such as Wang Zhizhi, Odom, and Mark Jackson should not be underestimated.
Since the Bulls Dynasty, Zen Master has been very good at avoiding the weakness of poor defense in the point guard position. The main point guard of the Bulls' first three consecutive championships was John Paxson, who was 31 to 33 years old. He was not as good at defense as Fisher, and his shooting range was not as long as Fisher.
"The future is worrying..."
Liu Mang put the laptop aside, hugged Levia, whose neck and chest were covered with teeth marks, and slept soundly. 18 wins and 11 losses, there are two more games this month, on the 28th against the Heat, on the 30th against the Nets, the last two games of the five-game road trip, and the wins must be increased to 20 wins before the end of 2006.
Moreover, no three consecutive losses!
Since December 22, 2002, the Hawks have maintained a record of 1,466 consecutive days without a three-game losing streak, and Liu Mang still wants to continue to maintain it.
...
The Hawks suffered two consecutive losses against the Mavericks and the Lakers, which is great news for non-Hawks fans.
The Hawks finally don't have the dominance they used to have!
Being swept by the Mavericks in the regular season, and not being defeated by the Lakers head-on, made non-Hawks fans excited.
In other words, the Mavericks and the Lakers in the West are stronger than the Hawks led by the three Hawks in good form in terms of overall strength, which makes most fans happy.
It is true that fans are happy to see the birth of a dynasty, but after the dynasty is really born, they want to see a hero come out to kill this dynasty team.
The fans were still very excited to watch the game, Liu Mang's rampage, Kobe's reasonableness, Yao Ming's dominance under the basket, Gasol's fantastic high-post support, McGrady's versatility...
The main reason is that the Lakers won!
And the Hawks are very likely to suffer their first three-game losing streak in four seasons, which makes fans even more excited!
However...
It seems that God does not want to see the Hawks' record of not losing three games in a row be broken.
On December 26, 2006, the Hawks returned to Atlanta, preparing to rest for a night and train the next day to prepare for the game against the Heat in Miami on the 28th. The Heat's official website announced that Dwyane Wade had a torn cruciate ligament and needed surgery. His return date was uncertain!
Then Sports Illustrated broke the news that Wade had undergone cruciate ligament repair surgery, which is a minimally invasive surgery. Wade was out for the season, and the sweet combination was broken!
Stoudemire is S, Wade is W, S-W combination, sweet combination, that is, sweet combination.
This nickname fits the performance of the combination of Wade and Stoudemire. Wade averaged 27 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists per game, and Stoudemire averaged 25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks per game. The two worked together to bring the Heat to the fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The record of 19 wins and 13 losses is quite sweet, especially Stoudemire, who was not expected to recover from the year-long break. On the contrary, his performance was even better than before he was reimbursed.
After the Hawks lost the Christmas game and suffered two consecutive losses, the Heat fans were looking forward to the Hawks defeating the Hawks when they played in Miami and climbed to the third place in the East.
However, Wade sprained his foot during the previous game against the Rockets. The problem with his foot was not serious. When he fell down, he injured his knee. At that time, people focused on his foot. After a few days of consultation, it was determined that Wade's knee needed minimally invasive surgery instead of conservative treatment.
The biggest problem was Wade's injured left knee. Most of the meniscus was removed in college, so the cruciate ligament damage was more difficult to conservatively treat than ordinary players.
…
"Wade is out." Jason Terry sighed after saying that.
"Well, I saw it when I got home yesterday." Liu Mang also sighed.
Wade was out earlier than Liu Mang remembered!
Liu Mang remembered that Wade did have a 10-month injury period in the early stage of his career, but it was from February 2007 to December 2008. He played about 50 games in the 2006-07 season and the 2007-08 season, so the delay was not too much.
But because he was squeezed too hard in the past two years, Pat Riley still wanted to continue to attack this season and wanted to do something when the Hawks were weak.
Wade did play a super performance, 27+7+8, which was even more irritable than James.
It was just 32 games, and Wade was reimbursed early. The estimated recovery period and rehabilitation is eight months. With the recovery training, it is estimated that he can catch up with the training camp next season, but he will definitely not be able to come back this season.
"Hey, we are professional players, and we may be seriously injured one day. Ace, you have to be careful. If you provoke the opponent, remember to run away early to avoid being beaten." Jason Terry said seriously.
"Uh... I know..." Liu Mang thought of the No. 21 player on the Bulls...
Jason Terry actually taught him to fight and retreat? Liu Mang didn't expect it.
Liu Mang thought about it. Jason Terry seemed to be 30 years old in September. He was about to reach the age of thirty. He was probably much more mature psychologically, and it was time to feel sentimental.
Many small guards retired at Jason Terry's age.
Liu Mang also felt sentimental. At first, he thought, should he help Wade get well?
Liu Mang thought about it and decided not to. Although he had saved 7 intermediate injury potions and one advanced injury potion in the past two years, the advanced injury potion was for that guy who didn't care about humanity at all.
And if Wade didn't change his playing style, with his left knee without meniscus, it would be a matter of time before he was reimbursed again. Maybe he would not change his playing style because of the success of the minimally invasive surgery.
Isn't that the case with Carter? He will be 30 next month. Except for the first time when he was eliminated by the Hawks in the playoffs, he thought about working hard, but he was the same as before. The new version of "Jordan Pippen combination" is still racking their brains for the playoffs, and they no longer have the spirit of fighting together in the first two years. They are all trying to change teams.
Liu Mang can heal Wade's torn cruciate ligament, but what if it breaks in the future? If it breaks, it will be connected and healed, and it will be different from before...
Wade relied on changing his playing style to extend his peak period to 2012. Liu Mang thinks he should not change this. He has seen enough of Wade's strongest first step. He looks at the handsome mid-range shooter, who seems to be good...
On the 27th, the Hawks conducted training against the Heat in Atlanta, but I don't know how to target them. Without Wade, the Heat... I don't know what they can do.
After the afternoon training on the 27th, the Hawks came to Miami on the South Coast. On the 28th, they suddenly received new news that Stoudemire would not play today...
The reason given by the Heat was that Stoudemire had soreness in his right knee...
But in the evening, when Liu Mang and his teammates finished warming up and entered the court of the American Airlines Center, he looked at the ability evaluation of Stoudemire in a suit... He was obviously not injured!
"Amar'e Stoudemire, ability evaluation 93, offense 97, defense 79, three-pointer 61, mid-range shot 88, layup 98, speed 85, strength 90..."
"What is the fortune teller thinking? Isn't he the kind of head coach who is not happy unless he makes his players useless?" Liu Mang was very puzzled.
At this time, Stoudemire in a suit was also confused and looked at the head coach fortune teller on the bench in front of him. He didn't know where he was injured.
Pat Riley was helpless. Before Wade was injured, he would have killed the Sweet Combination for the sake of the record. But Wade is out of action. What can the remaining Stoudemire do?
Barely make the playoffs?
It is better to play badly as soon as possible!
Although he is a Zhou Paopi-type management, he is not a fool. Stoudemire also has hidden dangers of injury. If he plays against a team with strong defense, he should just let Stoudemire rest. Play badly to get a high draft pick. The draft picks they gave to the Suns in 2007 and 2009 were protected in the top five. 2007 happened to be a big year for the draft, so they just played badly.
In the original time and space, they still had O'Neal this season. Although O'Neal was in a bloody state, he only had no advantage against the inside group in the West and Kwame Brown, Milicic and others. He was still one of the strongest teams in the East. The East in the original time and space did not have the top four teams. The Heat only had 44 wins this season in the original time and space, and they were still in the top four in the East.
But this time is different. The Bulls, Cavaliers, Hawks, and Raptors are all very strong. After Wade was injured, it was a question whether the Heat could enter the playoffs. If they dropped out of the playoffs and didn't draw the top three picks, it would be a big loss.
So, after Wade was injured, the Heat management discussed for a few days and decided to play badly!
Let Stoudemire brush up his stats when playing against weak teams. If he plays against strong teams, if it is an offensive opponent, let Stoudemire play. If it is a team with strong defense, let Stoudemire rest.
The key is not to win!
Pat Riley is extremely jealous of Oden!
At the beginning of this month, Oden led Ohio State University to the South Coast to play Florida University. Facing the inside twin towers of Al Horford and Joakim Noah, Oden came off the bench and scored 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in 29 minutes. He limited the opponent's twin towers to only 2 of 6 shots and 0 of 3 shots...
If they could get Oden, the super center, with Stoudemire, I don't know what the situation will be after Wade comes back, but it won't be much worse...
Pat Riley began to look forward to it again...
...
At 7 o'clock in the evening, the Hawks' away game against the Heat began.
Without the sweet combination, the Heat's strength...
Jason Williams, who was injured repeatedly, Antoine Walker, who lost his fighting spirit, Payton, who was sadly considering retirement, Kapono and the aging Eddie Jones all became the main players. The best player was Haslem, who was at his peak and rated 80...
The Hawks' play against the Heat was almost like beating an amateur team.
But today Liu Mang's playing style has changed.
No more holding the ball, just shoot when receiving the ball!
Liu Mang now has a new idea, he doesn't need to consider too many organizational issues, just throw it directly!
McGrady will organize the offense in the starting lineup, and Rondo will organize the offense when he plays with the substitutes.
Let McGrady and Rondo hold the ball more, and he can just throw it when the ball comes to him!
In this way, will it be possible for Rondo to improve faster? When McGrady holds the ball, will his teammates have more opportunities to touch the ball because Liu Mang doesn't hold the ball, which will make his teammates improve faster? Liu Mang is not sure.
But...
Liu Mang did it like this!
Just shoot!
Don't think too much, focus on shooting, Rondo, Granger, and Jason Terry will not be at a loss when they don't have the ball in their hands.
The key is that Liu Mang plays like this, and his teammates don't feel uncomfortable, but very comfortable.
So...
Amid the low pressure of Miami fans, Liu Mang faced the extremely weak Heat team, and in 31 minutes of playing time, he made 17 of 30 shots, 7 of 15 three-pointers, and scored 52 points!
Seeing that no one could compete with Liu Mang, what could the Heat fans do? They returned to the state before the championship with the Hawks and cheered for Liu Mang!
Liu Mang sent a Facebook message to wish Wade yesterday, which made Miami fans very happy.
There was no suspense. Liu Mang scored 52 points, McGrady also scored 27 points and 8 assists. Rondo came off the bench for 19 minutes and scored 2 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. The Hawks did not feel any obstacles and led by 27 points after three quarters.
In the end, the Hawks defeated the Heat by 129 to 91, a difference of 38 points, avoiding a three-game losing streak.
Liu Mang set a goal. When it seemed that cooperating with the whole team was not so reliable, he simply made himself a role player!