Chapter 1579 1578. Fascinating Team Culture

In the end, the Hawks' ambition to win the trophy on the road was not realized.

On June 11, 2008, the Hawks came to the America West Arena to challenge the Suns.

This time, the Suns insisted on switching between running and gunning and positional warfare, and did not waver, and fought hard against the Hawks!

I don't know if Barkley's big mouth was a coincidence or a reminder to his old club, but in short, it made Coach Gentry determined to play his own unique game.

The Hawks were naturally fearless and took whatever tricks came.

But after all, it was an away game, and the whistle was not as friendly as at home. The referees did not blow as many small moves of the Suns players as in the Phillips Arena, and the Hawks' defensive small moves were relatively more fouls.

In addition, the Suns' offense in the third game was indeed good!

Although Liu Mang scored 37 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists with 12 of 29 shots, the Hawks still lost to the Suns 113-121, losing the chance to directly lock the championship with a score of 3-0.

On June 13, the fourth game of the finals was still held at the American West Arena.

In the last game, the Suns made 17 three-pointers and beat the Hawks.

In this game, the Suns' three-pointers were silent, and they made 6 of 26 three-pointers!

On the Hawks side, McGrady made 6 three-pointers alone!

With Liu Mang's 21 points and 14 assists, McGrady's 35 points, and Kwame Brown's 17 points and 15 rebounds, the Hawks defeated the Suns by 28 points with a score of 119-91 in the offensive battle!

This was the first time that the two teams scored less than 100 points in the finals.

However, the fourth game defeat did not shake the determination of the Suns coach Gentry. This trip to the finals made Gentry make great progress!

In the fifth game, the Suns, who were trailing 1-3, insisted on their own style of play in the last home game. Nash and Josh Smith's pick-and-roll, Calderon's positional offensive organization and mid-range and long-range shooting, O'Neal tried his best to use his flexibility, mobility and power pressure to deal with the Hawks' inside line group...

Kasha and Josh Smith fought hard. The three of them were the best performers of the Suns in the finals. They were the only three brothers with finals experience.

At the last moment of the game, the Hawks were behind by 1 point, and the ball belonged to the Suns. The Hawks adopted a foul tactic. Relying on Nash's stable free throws and Liu Mang's missed three-pointer in the last moment to drag the game into overtime, the Suns narrowly defeated the Hawks 111-108 by three points, tying the score to 2-3 and refusing to be eliminated at home!

…

…

"Uncle, if you got a free throw for that three-pointer last night, we might have gone home with the trophy now!" Little Loli was still very dissatisfied with the whistle of Liu Mang's three-pointer at the last moment last night.

Last night, when Liu Mang was shooting at the last minute, Raja Bell hit Liu Mang's arm, but the referee didn't blow the whistle. The TV station replay also proved that Liu Mang was hit on the hand.

"That was at their home court. We didn't have a big advantage in overtime, and we didn't necessarily make all the free throws, right? We just had to go back and win. I didn't make the shot. If I did, it wouldn't matter whether it was a foul or not." Liu Mang was very open-minded.

Seeing that the little girl was still angry, Liu Mang smiled and said, "Okay, okay, isn't it the same if we go back to the home court to win the championship?"

It didn't work to coax her, and she didn't listen to what he said. Liu Mang was helpless with this rebellious girl.

After 5 days and 3 games, the Hawks and the Suns were exhausted.

High-intensity confrontation, constant defensive counterattacks...

To be precise, the first five games were very tiring.

Only 1 of the 3 away games was won, which was actually not bad. The remaining two games were at home, and the Hawks still had a big advantage!

June 16th is the sixth game of the finals, and the possible seventh game is on June 18th.

After returning to Atlanta, the Hawks rested for a night. The next day, on the 15th, the whole team came to the stadium early and gathered before 7:30.

Before the coaching staff arrived, the players spontaneously studied the areas where they did not do well in the past five games and discussed and came up with solutions.

It would be best if they could come up with it. If they can't, at least they can react faster when similar situations occur.

Liu Mang and his teammates are already familiar with the adjustments in the process of the finals.

On the contrary, the recent situation of the Suns is not very good...

...

Nash was practicing alone at the visiting team's training ground. At around 8 o'clock, Raja Bell also came. The two of them were the most hardworking in the Suns training. The only one who arrived before 9 o'clock was Josh Smith.

Others were tired, and they didn't arrive until the tactical meeting at almost 10 o'clock from the third game of the finals when they returned to their home court.

After the tactical meeting, when his teammates were preparing to find a place to have lunch, Nash was still practicing shooting.

He arrived at the Hawks' gym at 7 o'clock in the morning, even earlier than the Hawks.

However, seeing the Hawks quickly gather, Nash came to the main team training ground gate that was not closed and secretly looked inside, and found that the atmosphere on the Hawks side was completely different from theirs.

The atmosphere of the Suns team was not bad either, and the whole team had one belief - only hard work can win.

However, the Hawks side was not just hard work!

Nash saw the Hawks players spontaneously discussing tactics, and it seemed that this was not the first time they did so. They seemed to be used to it. Even Gasol, who played for 10 minutes a game, could express his ideas and discuss whether it was feasible...

In the past, Nash had only heard about team culture. Although he was a player, he had not personally experienced it and still did not understand what team culture was. He thought that only strong teams had team culture.

But today he found that it was different from what he imagined!

Trust between each other, treating each teammate as an equal outside the game, and the whole team having the same goal... This is Nash's understanding of the Hawks' team culture after he peeked at the Hawks' spontaneous tactical meeting in the morning.

Although Rondo might spit on Nash's face after knowing this understanding, Nash understood it this way.

"Is this the reason why they have made it to the finals for five consecutive years?" Nash practiced shooting while comparing it with his own team...

There is no harm without comparison. In their Suns team, no star player does not value his position in the team, and it is impossible for role players to speak in tactical meetings like the Hawks.

Moreover, the atmosphere of the Hawks after losing was very different from theirs!

When the Suns lost the first and second games, their mentality was about to collapse. It was obvious from the fact that they gathered for training at 8 o'clock at the beginning and returned to the home court at almost 10 o'clock. Fortunately, they won the third game.

As for the Hawks, they missed the opportunity to win the trophy immediately the day before yesterday, but they were still full of fighting spirit in the tactical meeting today.

It was still conducted spontaneously, without the coaching staff!

Nash thought about it and patted his head quickly. He felt that he seemed to be a little fascinated by that kind of team culture...