Chapter 1498 1497. Crazy Spurs Are Coming!

The day after defeating the Sonics, back-to-back, the Eagles coaching staff went beyond the players' expectations and started taking a break!

After only six games into the season, the coaching staff is already taking a break! Even Liu Mang didn't expect this.

Coach Kruger can’t help it!

Who would have thought that they could reach the finals again last year? The new players don't matter, the key is Tracy McGrady!

McGrady has played too hard this season, averaging only 32 minutes per game. However, his defensive enthusiasm is comparable to that of a 25-year-old. After all, McGrady is already 28 years old. Look at Francis's physical fitness at the age of 30. Decline, rapid decline in physical fitness... The coaching staff is still very worried. McGrady's contract only expires in 2011. The team is currently developing in a good direction. McGrady is a very important part, and the coaching staff will not consider trading at this time. problem, then sparing McGrady is the best adjustment.

Just like the Spurs, Duncan's playing time dropped sharply from 38 minutes per game last season to 31 minutes per game, and his data also dropped from 20+10 to 17 points, 11 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.

The Spurs chose to use Duncan this season by reducing Duncan's playing time and improving Duncan's efficiency.

The biggest change for the Spurs was to increase the playing time of the substitutes and shift the core of the offense from Duncan to Parker. The effect was very good. The Spurs started with a 7-game winning streak.

Good experience must be learned, like the Spurs did by reducing playing time to protect Duncan. Coach Kruger of the Hawks felt that this was not enough, so he simply did not let McGrady play back-to-backs. Unless it was a strong opponent, otherwise he would simply go back-to-back. rest.

In addition to McGrady, Kwame Brown was also rested.

Jason Terry on the bench is okay, mainly McGrady and Kwame Brown are the two starters. They have played too many games in the past few years, more than 100 games every year.

When playing the Bucks back-to-back, the Eagles sent out a starting lineup of Rondo, Liu Mang, Grant Hill, Marion, and O'Neal Jr. It is the tradition of the Eagles that the team cannot be without high school students in the starting lineup...

You also have to choose your opponents when taking turns. Coach Kruger made this decision because his opponents were weak.

Unlike the Sonics, who were in chaos after changing to a new owner, the Bucks have a clear goal, which is to destroy the two talented players.

Without Tracy McGrady and Kwame Brown not playing, Liu Mang became very popular in this game.

Played for 40 minutes, making 19 of 41 shots, 8 of 20 three-pointers, 7 of 7 free throws, soaring 53 points, 14 rebounds and 2 assists. Rondo scored 7 points, 5 rebounds and 15 assists. Scola and Jia came off the bench. Terry and Gortat scored 30 points together, and the five of them worked together to lead the Eagles to 132 points in a single game!

When Liu Mang needed to focus on scoring, Rondo also organized the offense in a conventional way, helping the Hawks score the highest single-game score in the league so far this season.

132 to 110, the Hawks didn't even have to defend. They were too far ahead and didn't even need to defend. The 22-point difference was so great that they slaughtered the Bucks, who didn't even have Reid!

In the first six games, Liu Mang looked like he had switched to a point guard, suddenly breaking the season's single-game scoring record!

The previous record was held by Wizards power forward Antoine Jamison with 49 points in a single game. Liu Mang wanted to compete and overtake him in an instant!

…

After playing the Bucks, the Hawks took a day off. On November 13, they ushered in the ninth game of the season. The Wizards...

Liu Mang had just surpassed Jamison's season high score. Jamison really wanted to kill the Eagles to vent his hatred, but... after losing to the Bobcats at the playoff level, he met the same playoff level Bobcats. The Wizards and Hawks are trying their best...

The Wizards are very strange, very strange. Arenas was reimbursed for the season. Fans and the media both felt that their season was over, but the result was better than last season... 6 wins and 3 losses. Before meeting the Hawks, the Wizards had a record of Just like the Magic! And relying on their better record in the same division, the Wizards defeated the Magic and ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference!

Without Arenas, the Wizards are not so afraid of the Hawks. They played very hard, but the Hawks also worked very hard. After McGrady and Kwame Brown took a break, they played very actively!

The Wizards' back line has changed from Arenas and Jarvis Hayes to veterans Antonio Daniels and DeShawn Stevenson. It is true that the offensive end has suffered a suicidal decline, but the defensive end has become several times stronger!

The winning points for the Hawks in today's game were McGrady's scoring and Kwame Brown's and Marion's secondary offense.

McGrady made 14 of 25 shots, 4 of 9 three-pointers, 9 of 13 free throws, and scored 41 points!

Coupled with Kwame Brown and Marion combining for 28 points and 25 rebounds, the Hawks defeated the Wizards 106-99 and once again won three consecutive victories!

Liu Mang scored 53 points in the last game against the Bucks. Today he returned to the same state as at the beginning of the season, with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 14 assists. Liu Mang played so freely. It was McGrady who was the one scoring the most points at the critical moment. McGrady's 41 points beat Jamison's 40 points to help the Hawks win.

Center Long also continued to play the team's direct and offensive style of direct assists.

In just his second year, Rondo is able to command a group of stars with ease. Rondo's performance is increasingly praised by fans and media.

The data is average, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in this game, but Rondo's presence is too strong!

Liu Mang doesn't know how Rondo has developed like this. Geniuses are always difficult to understand. Liu Mang thinks that Rondo may feel that the team needs such a role, so he develops in this direction.

…

…

After defeating the Wizards on November 13 and winning three consecutive games, the Hawks' record became 7 wins and 1 loss. After the first eight games, the record is very good, much better than last season.

The superiority of the strong overall strength is reflected. Taking the inside as the basic tactical point and playing different tactics around the different inside rotations, this goal is a bit difficult. It takes a long time and a lot of energy to run in thoroughly, but after playing eight games, there have been certain results.

Moreover, this kind of sudden change of tactics based on the change of the inside as the basic tactical point may not be adapted by the opponent.

After eight games, the Hawks had 7 wins and 1 loss, and Liu Mang averaged 26 points, 9.5 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game, accompanied by 3 turnovers per game.

If it weren't for only getting two assists in one game, Liu Mang's assists per game could still be maintained in double digits! But in the same way, if Liu Mang hadn't scored 53 points in that game, his average score would not have exceeded 25 points.

This was something that no one on the Hawks had expected at the beginning.

The year when Liu Mang won the assist king, the Hawks played by running, and their average score per game was higher than the Suns.

Liu Mang's organizational ability is not bad, it is also first-class, but this season, the Hawks mostly spent the beginning of the season running in positional warfare with new teammates. Running and playing, Liu Mang's average of 10 assists per game is not a big problem. Those Eagles ran fast, but it was very difficult for Liu Mang to average 10+ assists per game in positional warfare.

But in the eight games this season, Liu Mang played 35 minutes per game and had 9.5 assists...

Even Rondo, the core of the team, didn't expect Liu Mang's pass to be so wonderful... It made Rondo more happy to devote himself to organizing the offense in a commanding way.

However, Rondo's face, which couldn't tell whether he was happy or not, made Liu Mang wonder what he was thinking.

Anyway, Rondo occasionally hums a song and seems to be in a good mood. Liu Mang is happy to enjoy the joy of the second pass. As a transit station, he keeps passing the ball to teammates who have opportunities. The low ball possession rate and high assist efficiency are too charming.

Liu Mang didn't expect that he and Rondo would have such a chemical reaction at first!

However, the next game is a key battle for the Hawks to verify the results of running-in!

In the first eight games, the only strong opponent is the Suns in the opening game. Including the preseason, it can be regarded as running-in for 16 games. In fact, the Suns were confused by Gasol, a guy who suddenly appeared and could defend O'Neal at this stage, and did not pose a substantial threat to the Hawks. The fourth quarter of that game was won smoothly.

The next opponent is the first real rival of the Hawks after the training camp, preseason and the first eight games of the regular season!

San Antonio Spurs!

From the start of the regular season on October 27 to November 14, the season has started for 18 days, and most teams have played 9 to 11 games.

The Hawks have only played 8 games, and they are ranked first in the East with a record of 7 wins and 1 loss.

The Cavaliers are ranked second in the East with 7 wins and 2 losses, and the Bulls are also ranked third in the East with 7 wins and 2 losses.

The Raptors are ranked fourth in the East with 6 wins and 3 losses, and the Magic are ranked fifth in the East with 7 wins and 3 losses, but because they are not the first in the division and do not have a good record like the Cavaliers or the Bulls, they can only rank fifth in the East. The Wizards are ranked sixth in the East with 6 wins and 4 losses, and the Bobcats are ranked seventh in the East with 6 wins and 5 losses. Starting from the eighth place in the East, the winning rate is less than 50%.

In the West, the Lakers are ranked second in the West with 7 wins and 2 losses, and the Hornets are ranked third in the West with 6 wins and 3 losses. From the fourth to the ninth place in the West, the Jazz, Suns, Rockets, Nuggets, Mavericks, Trail Blazers... all have 6 wins and 4 losses!

The record of the top nine teams in the West is going to explode! It feels like all teams in the Western Conference playoffs are likely to win at least 50 wins!

In contrast, the Warriors, ranked 10th in the West, started... miserable...

The Warriors made it to the playoffs with great difficulty last season. The Mavericks were a miracle, but their strength was really just like that. They also lost Jason Richardson. They started with 3 wins and 7 losses. The Kings and Clippers only won two games, the Grizzlies and Supersonics only won one game, and the Timberwolves... started with 11 consecutive losses...

The top nine teams in the West started a super melee. Even the Lakers and Hornets may fall out of the top eight if they lose two or three games in a row! It's crazy!

This is related to the fact that some stars from weak teams in the West flowed into strong teams in the summer and some stars from the East were forced to go to the West.

However, there is also a clear stream in the top nine teams in the West...

The Spurs, the first team in the West, started with 9 consecutive wins! It's also the first in the league!