Chapter 1409 1408. Gaining the Upper Hand!

"Dick, do you know who I think of when I see Stromaier now?" Hubie Brown, the commentator of SBC TV and former best coach of the Grizzlies, asked his partner Dick Stockton.

"Who?" Stockton was very curious about what new views the old coach had on his former disciple.

"Amar'e Stoudemire! God, I never thought that Stromaier could perform like this. If he had performed like this back then, we wouldn't have lost a single playoff game..."

Hube Brown's evaluation of Swift's two offensive performances was beyond the expectations of the fans who were watching the game!

Hube Brown is a legendary coach. Although he only coached for 13 seasons, or 11 seasons to be exact, he retired after only coaching for 10 games in two seasons due to illness, but he won two best coaches, making the Zen Master, Popovich, Sloan, and other head coaches envious and jealous.

Almost every time he comes out, he can make the young core of the team grow rapidly, such as John Drew, the legendary player of the Hawks, Patrick Ewing, the legendary player of the Knicks, and Paul Gasol, the core power forward of the Lakers.

Hubie Brown's evaluation is very authoritative. He actually gave Swift such a high evaluation!

Mainly because Hubie Brown coached Swift, perhaps it was limited by the team's point guard Jason Williams's passing too much at that time. Swift acted like a fool in Hubie Brown's more than one year coaching the Grizzlies. He couldn't catch the ball and ran in the opposite direction...

But in the first game of the Hawks, Liu Mang and Grant Hill made good use of Swift's obedient and top physical fitness. He could become the second pick without any skills. Super physical fitness made Swift look as explosive as Stoudemire.

"Dick, whether the Hawks can win the championship this year or not, they have been very successful this season. I think countless veterans will want to join them in the summer, and those rookies, very talented rookies, will also want to go to the Hawks." Hubie Brown boldly predicted.

"Why?" There are also supporting roles in foreign countries, and Stockton is specially assigned to the popular Hubie Brown's supporting role.

"Can't you see it? Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, and Rajon Rondo and Danny Granger, who are now being targeted by other teams, their talents are not wasted in the Hawks, but they have developed a winning culture. The Hawks will also send them to the right team after using their rookie contracts. Grant Hill has found a suitable position for him when he came to the Hawks, and Stromaier can play so well..."

Listening to Hubie Brown's analysis, the fans in front of the TV found that the Hawks have developed a good player mobility!

It seems that all this... seems to be because of that Chinese player - Ace Liu!

Just when Hubie Brown was thinking about the future of the Hawks, the game between the Hawks and the Lakers became tense.

Although the Hawks did not take the upper hand with that 5-0 wave, the Lakers quickly regained the initiative after replacing Wang Zhizhi with Odom, but the Hawks were not as passive as in the first quarter!

Stabilized the situation!

The Hawks had a clear goal. Liu Mang's tactical arrangement was not to fall into the position, and did not want to enter the "natural moat" under Yao Ming's basket. Liu Mang told his teammates to try to throw the ball before Yao Ming returned to defense. It didn't matter if it didn't go in, and consume the opponent as much as possible.

If it was a key ball at the last moment, Liu Mang would definitely ensure that the success rate was the top priority, but this was only the second quarter, so he could be as wild as possible and try his best to speed up. The Lakers' ability to suppress the rhythm was not as good as the Spurs and the Jazz, which was where Liu Mang could take advantage.

While Liu Mang consciously accelerated the pace, although Yao Ming consciously returned to defense in advance, did not fight for offensive rebounds, returned to defense in advance when his teammates shot, and tried to ensure efficiency as much as possible when he got the ball, his speed was indeed too slow. Except for the Bulls' Big Z and the Pacers' Foster, it is difficult to find a slower player than Yao Ming in the league.

Although they still failed to defend the Lakers' offense led by Yao Ming and Kobe, at least the Hawks did not have an offensive block in the first half like the last match, and they held on!

When the official timeout in the second quarter came and Yao Ming was replaced, the Hawks were only two points behind with 47 to 49!

After Yao Ming went down, the Lakers replaced Gasol, Odom, and Wang Zhizhi with a three-high combination, and Kobe continued to play and partnered with Fisher in the back line.

On the Hawks side, Kwame Brown, who had rested for half a quarter, came back to deal with Gasol, Marion continued on the court, and Liu Mang, McGrady, and Battier partnered on the outside.

McGrady and Grant Hill took turns defending Kobe, so there was no physical problem.

And the key is that Kwame Brown got a chance to rest!

He was ready to play the whole game, but the inside combination of Swift and Marion relied on counterattacks to hold up the time when Yao Ming was on the court, giving Kwame Brown a chance to rest!

In the second half of the second quarter, the two teams were close in strength, but the Hawks had the upper hand!

Liu Mang, McGrady, Battier actually had to add Marion, who was outstanding in assisting defense. The four people's outside defense was too fierce. Without Yao Ming's absolute advantage in the interior, Liu Mang and Marion did not have to assist in the interior defense. Kwame Brown, who had returned from rest, was the pillar in the interior. The Hawks had the upper hand in the second half of the second quarter!

16 to 10, the Hawks played a 16 to 10 offensive in the last five minutes!

63 to 59, the Hawks overtook by 4 points and entered the halftime break!

The most eye-catching thing in this quarter was Swift's performance of scoring 11 points in that half of the quarter.

The Lakers actually took into account the Hawks' speed-up counterattack style of play, and did a good job of restricting Liu Mang and Marion, but they didn't expect that when Kwame Brown and McGrady were resting, Swift actually played so well, eating cakes and flying, and scored 11 points in 6 minutes and 22 seconds, disrupting the Lakers' expectation of using Yao Ming's half-quarter of each quarter to widen the gap. Moreover, McGrady and Kwame Brown rested for a full half of the quarter, giving the Hawks a chance to overtake!

Rondo didn't play well, but the Hawks still had Battier. The defense of the five-man team of Liu Mang, McGrady, Battier, Marion, and Kwame Brown was too good! Even the Lakers were blocked for a time!

In the second quarter, the Hawks scored 34 to 26!

For the Hawks, this is obviously a huge confidence boost!

The Hawks players were very excited when they returned to the locker room.

Liu Mang was still calm: "It's only the end of the half, and we are only leading by 4 points, which is almost equivalent to no advantage. Yao Ming, that unkind guy, must want to mess with me. He only played for 12 minutes in the first half, and he has enough energy in the second half..."

Liu Mang analyzed it and found a problem!

"The third quarter! They may make trouble in the third quarter!"

Liu Mang saw the half-time statistics, Yao Ming had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 assists, Kobe had 14 points in the first half, Gasol had 5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Odom had 7 rebounds and 2 assists...

Liu Mang found that except for Yao Ming who went all out when he played, the other Lakers players had not really fought hard!

It is very likely that they want to make a wave of efforts in the third quarter to take the game away!

This is the usual trick of the Lakers!

We have to hold on in the third quarter!

Liu Mang opened the system panel and used everything he needed!