Chapter 1500 1499. Messy Rogue
After Liu Mang and Duncan complimented each other, they returned home.
He needs to think carefully about how to deal with the Spurs. He has watched some video clips of the Spurs' games this morning. The Spurs' new system is already very good. It is slightly different from Liu Mang's impression but similar.
The biggest feature of the Spurs system is that it takes shape quickly! There is no need for too many players with too much talent... Thinking of this, Liu Mang felt that something was wrong. It was not that there was no need for talent, but that there was no need for too versatile talent.
The Spurs system is like a large machine. Duncan is the skeleton, Parker and Ginobili are the bearings. It’s not that there is no talent in other positions, but with the core combination of the troika, other positions are full of unique players. The Spurs system is to bring out the characteristics of this unique player.
Take Bowen for example. After being unable to defend opponents as before, Bowen's role in the Spurs has become increasingly marginalized in the past two or three years. However, this year after they began to implement the Spurs system, Bowen was also activated, starting 9 games. He averaged 1.2 and nearly 1.3 three-pointers per game, with a shooting percentage of 43%. The offensive threat was obviously much greater.
Big pitchers like Bonner have also become more outstanding. Even Demar Johnson, who only has physical fitness, can become a rushing and cutting option in the defense.
Liu Mang thought of a word to describe the wonderful feeling the Spurs give people... that is "role differentiation"!
Different from the small-ball style that will dominate the league in the future, the small-ball style is just throwing three-pointers. Super three-point teams like the Rockets and Warriors in the original time and space, half of the shots in a game are three-pointers, even A team like the Thunder, which only shoots 334% from three-point range, still has to make more than 30 three-pointers in a game, but now the Eagles have Liu Mang, who is currently the number one three-point shooter in history. It is indeed No. 1 in the league. So far this season, the team has averaged only 26.5 three-pointers per game. The team as a whole has averaged 9.8 shots per game with a 37% field goal rate.
The Spurs' Spurs system is a team offense just like the small ball game. However, the Spurs don't just throw and throw. Instead, they bring out the characteristics of various unique players. Every position and every player on the field can play. It has its own characteristics, unlike in the future where everyone will be thrown around from point guard to center...
This is the biggest feature of the Spurs!
But these are not important. What makes Liu Mang feel the most annoying and difficult is that Duncan will only turn 32 in April next year, Ginobili just turned 30 this summer, and Parker is now 25 years old and has just entered his prime. !
"These three shameless guys are really willing to give up! At this age, they actually want to play team basketball? Let's see..." Liu Mang flipped through the Spurs' scouting report and saw Ginobili's recent contract extension. Record, couldn't help but say: "The bald man is really shameless! Renewed the contract for 50 million in 4 years? This bald man is only 30 years old and can get 60 million in 4 years or 80 million in 5 years if he changes the team! Lewis is worth 60 million in 4 years!"
Liu Mang also saw Duncan extending his contract to 2012...
"It's shameless to have facial paralysis! Two years and 40 million to extend the contract for two years? This contract is extended for two years and he is 36 years old. The Bulls gave the strong man a three-year and 70 million contract extension until 2012, which is not enough! They want 100 million! They are both No. 21, and they are too unambitious. If the Spurs don’t give me a big contract at the age of 31, will they give it to me at the age of 36?”
Liu Mang looked at the combined salary of Ginobili, Parker, and Duncan this season, which was only 37.92 million. He knew why the Spurs "interested so and so" every summer and became the "San Antonio team interested in all the stars in the league." In 2003, they really Kidd was able to sign naked. Liu Mang remembers that in 2015, the Spurs, with Leonard, who had just renewed his maximum salary contract, plus the troika of players such as Brother Diao and Zhang Tielin, were still able to sign Aldridge naked... At that time, the salary cap hadn’t skyrocketed yet…
Although there are still the Lakers and Suns competing in the Western Conference, and the Mavericks, Jazz, and Nuggets cannot be underestimated, the troika is still playing the Spurs system with the Spurs at their peak...
Liu Mang felt that the situation in the league was starting to become very subtle: "You can't use the Spurs system in your memory to judge the strength of the Spurs team now. The three shameless men who took salary cuts are still at their peak. Let's take a look first..."
…
…
"Ding... due to Gregg Popovich's praise of the host and the host's team, the mission: triggered by the first encounter with the Spurs system."
"First encounter with the Spurs system: The Spurs system is one of the most practical systems in the history of basketball. The host Hawks have one of the most luxurious systems in the history of basketball. Mission goal 1: In the next game against the Spurs, The host needs to get at least 10 assists. Mission goal 2: In the next game against the Spurs, the host's team must limit the Spurs' score to less than 100 points. The host's team must score at least 100 points. Reward: Tim Duncan's 2007-2008 season star card. Failure penalty: Publicly admit that the Spurs system is stronger than the Hawks system. Note: The completion of this task will have an impact on the host's talent skill: the fourth characteristic series of tasks. "
On November 15, 2007, after a day's rest, the Hawks ushered in the last game of four consecutive home games and faced the challenge of the San Antonio Spurs.
As soon as he arrived at the training ground in the afternoon, Liu Mang received this task.
Liu Mang didn't even need to check the news to know that Popovich was bragging about him by name again.
"Hawks system? Our style of play is actually called this? What does the second mission goal mean? The opponent's score is below 100, and our score is above 100? Isn't it just to win? There is also Duncan's star card. If I am a center or power forward, it will definitely be useful. This is the first power forward in history, as great as Jordan in the interior, but I am a guard!"
After Liu Mang complained in his heart, he focused on the last "note".
"The second and third characteristic tasks of Lian Zhu have not been completed, and the third characteristic task has not been triggered. The fourth characteristic is already coming? It turns out that it is not one after another. As long as one of them is completed, the talent skill can be upgraded, right? The effect of Lian Zhu itself is more useful to me, but the characteristics given are also very useful. The barricade is good, but the talent skill is too difficult to upgrade. Left and right fighting is only level 3, and Lian Zhu is only level 2... Anyway, it is right to win the game first!"
Liu Mang put away his messy thoughts and devoted himself to warming up. Tonight's game is very important!
Winning the strongest team in the league and accumulating psychological advantages is one; the second is to feel the bottom of the Spurs system!
…
“Tim Duncan, ability rating 97, offense 94, defense 99, three-pointer 44, mid-range shot 94, layup 95, speed 82, strength 94…”
Looking at Duncan’s defensive rating, it’s amazing!
Liu Mang remembered that Duncan was selected for the second and third teams in the 2014-2015 season… He was 39 years old at that time. He also remembered that Duncan was selected for the second team in the 12-13 season when he was 37 years old!
However, Duncan’s strength has dropped below 95. It’s still top-notch, but compared with the super-top player who fought against O’Neal in the playoffs, his strength is a level weaker!
Seeing that Duncan’s scoring under the basket has dropped to the point of almost falling below the super-top, you know that Duncan has lost weight.
Old Duncan is amazing! He will be 32 years old in less than half a year, and he has changed his playing style again!
"Manu Ginobili, ability rating 87... Tony Parker, ability rating 89..."
Parker is entering his prime. Liu Mang doesn't know if Parker can break through the bottleneck between first-class and top-class. Ginobili is starting to decline, which is just as Liu Mang expected. Although Ginobili looks skinny, his playing style is definitely physical, and he is still very explosive. Among the active guards, only three can complete a large-scale change of direction European step and then a dunk. Two of them are in the Hawks, and the other one is Ginobili.
However, Ginobili was not a particularly stable player. His characteristic was that he was a monster. In the original time and space, Ginobili was almost 37 years old in the 13-14 season, but he beat the 32-year-old Wade in the finals. The two averaged about the same points per game, but Ginobili's assists were twice that of Wade. Ginobili's hit rate was just 50%, while Wade's was just over 40%...
Liu Mang was looking at the ability evaluation of the opponent's main players. Some old players of the two teams were greeting each other. The fans at the scene...didn't boo the Spurs. The fans were very curious about how the Spurs won 9 consecutive games at the beginning.
At 4:55 pm, Liu Mang came to the technical table to apply magnesium powder and waited for the game to start.
The game time between the Hawks and the Spurs was at 5 pm. At present, the league regretted such a schedule.
It was originally expected that the major TV stations would not broadcast too many national broadcasts of the Spurs. After all, the live broadcast ratings of the Spurs' games against popular teams in the past few seasons were also very low. When the major TV stations booked the number of live broadcasts of each team before formulating the schedule, the Spurs only had 6 games booked, so most of the Spurs' games started early.
Who knew that the Spurs suddenly became popular at the beginning of the season. Unlike before when only Duncan was popular, now the entire Spurs team is popular, especially in the past two days, and it has become popular outside the United States!
After entering the Internet age, information spreads very quickly, and the Spurs soon have a group of new fans.
Just like now, T.N.T broadcasted this game, but the Chinese court TV station wanted to broadcast it too early, and it couldn't be broadcast at five in the morning in China.
While applying magnesium powder, Liu Mang was thinking about the defensive strategy arranged by the coaching staff during the team's tactical meeting in the morning. It was a very conventional defense, which was what Liu Mang wanted. It was good to defend normally at the beginning and make adjustments according to the changes on the scene. As for the offensive end, of course, it was to follow his own style of play and change the formation in any effective way.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Mang saw that the time was almost up and was about to reach out to grab the magnesium powder... Suddenly! A big arm reached out in front of him, grabbed a handful of magnesium powder and threw it into the air... Liu Mang looked at No. 21 who turned around and left under the magnesium powder floating in the air, and was confused...