Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Cleveland, really, isn't a great place to be.

Heavy industrial cities, in the United States that has not signed an environmental protection agreement, this kind of place is a place where acid rain falls every three days. Since the start of heavy industry in the 1940s, the population of the capital has dropped to just over 300,000 now.

Due to fewer people, there are fewer and fewer professional sports teams here. Although the Cleveland Browns of the US football team are still in Cleveland in name, they have actually moved to Akron next door. Several national championships for the Fleurand Browns were won in Cleveland.

The Indians in Major League Baseball even disbanded because they had too few fans to make ends meet. Although they have been rebuilding, they are not in Cleveland.

But the basketball fans here are really strong. Since the Cavaliers became the top team in the league in the late 1980s, their fans have become very firm. They firmly believe that one day Cleveland will win again after many years. To the championship of the four major leagues in North America.

Probably the most ardent basketball fan here.

For example, now, as soon as the Eagles came out of the Cleveland Airport, they saw Cavaliers fans holding up slogans saying "Go to the Eagles".

"The Cavaliers fans are crazy? This is just a regular season." Liu Mang's head was dizzy from the noise of the fans penetrating into the bus.

"Hey, rookie, when you get to Salt Lake City, you will be scared to cry by the fans there!" Jason Terry said disdainfully.

No matter how you look at it, Liu Mang is not happy. Jason Terry saw that many Cavaliers fans came for Liu Mang, and the Cavaliers fans holding the slogan "Ace come to our team", let Jason- Terry was very jealous.

This has to talk about how unlucky the Cavaliers have been in recent years.

In 1997, the Cavaliers dug up the All-Star starter in the free market and the super power forward Sean Kemp, who was the second team of the best team in the regular season, and returned to the playoffs in the 1997-1998 season. The combination of three first-class players such as Sean Kemp, Chris Mills, and Trier Brandon wants to attack the dominance of the Eastern Conference after Jordan retires.

Who knew that after a lockout, Sean Kemp, who was known as the Rain Man back then, became a fat man close to 300 pounds. The Cavaliers' championship dream collapsed directly, and even fell out of the playoffs. Sean Kemp's share The 7-year 90 million contract has also become a burden for the Cavaliers. In recent years, they have entered the lottery zone every year, and even ranked among the bottom eight and top five.

This is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that the Cavaliers' drafts in the past three years are simply bleak. In 1999, Trajan Langdon was selected with the fifth overall pick in the first round. The formed NBDL is the Development League, and the four-year rookie contract is expected to leave.

The 1999 rookies who were selected after the Cavaliers include the current All-Star Timberwolves small forward Wally Szczerbiak, the successor of the CIC King Richard Hamilton, and the short super power forward Sean of the Suns. -Marion, the Hawks' quasi-first-class star Jason Terry, followed by AK47 Kirilenko, Ginobili...

In what could barely be called a big draft year, the Cavaliers selected a non-NBA player with the fifth overall pick.

If the 2000 and this summer's drafts really didn't have to pick two parallel importers, then 1999 was purely unlucky. Trajan Langdon was once the top three picks in 1999, but the top four picks The team didn't dare to choose, and was picked up by the Cavaliers.

Then in 2000, the Cavaliers selected Chris Mihm with the seventh overall pick... This summer, they selected Senegal's big center Diop with the eighth overall pick.

The top ten picks in the lottery for three consecutive years, and the parallel imports for three years, the Cavaliers fans are going crazy.

Look at the Spurs, who chose a small French sports car with the 28th pick in the first round. With that speed and tactical awareness, the future is bright.

Look at the Warriors, who selected Gilbert Arenas with the second overall pick in the second round. With his skilled skills and excellent overall view, if the football rights are given, I don't know what the statistics will be.

And the Eagles, almost at the end of the second round, unexpectedly selected a "genius" player, who frequently appeared on the front pages of major sports news, and even occasionally made headlines!

And the Cavaliers' own center Diop, another Mutombo who agreed, averaged less than 2 points and 2 rebounds per game, and Mutombo would not be so bad at 50 years old!

Liu Mang looked at Jason Terry's vision of a child whose lollipop was robbed, and he also had a headache, and reluctantly responded: "Yes, yes, you are our best defender, it's normal for me to be scared , Of course you won’t be scared, just give me two more balls when I play later.”

Jason Terry was happy when he heard this, but he was still very arrogant: "Huh, of course, I am not a ball master! Of course I will pass the ball to you."

"..."

...

The Eagles beat the Cavaliers more easily than the Knicks.

Complete strength crushing!

The Cavaliers' record at the bottom of the Eastern Conference is stable. They lost 5 games in a row at the beginning. The league doesn't pay much attention to them. The strength of the small city is poor. Back to back, the Eagles were lucky to be one of the teams that picked up the record.

The Cavaliers don’t have any particularly good players, but the point guard is Andre Miller, who has a good assist this year. He averaged 14 assists in the first five games. The other Ricky David Si, that is, the famous saying "The Cavaliers chose James to be my helper" later, the third-rate small forward who shot to his own basket to get a triple-double, and Larry, who also had soaring statistics after coming to the Cavaliers. Monty-Murray is the guy who cheated the Raptors into a 4-year 35 million fat contract next season and directly dragged the Raptors to the bottom of the league and got the No. 4 pick in 2003. He averaged 25 per game in the first 5 games. It's all over the place.

Then, in the game between the Eagles and the Cavaliers, the Eagles started with a wave of 14 to 2, and there was no more.

Liu Mang got playing time in the second half of the first quarter. The Cavaliers don’t play defense. Those who count for assists think about assists, and those who count for points think about scoring. He got several shots, and scored 6 points in 2 of 5 three-pointers in the first quarter.

In the second half, Liu Mang got more playing time, but with more playing time, it was impossible to keep holding the ball and become a full-time pitcher as he did in just a few minutes of playing time before. The fastest player of the Eagles, Liu Mang counterattacked and got several shots.

Liu Mang's game was nothing like the previous four games where Liu Mang had to face strong opponents, so it didn't look like much surprise, but it was the first time he played for more than 15 minutes. He scored 6 of 11 and 3 of 7 three-pointers in the game, as always. It's a pity that the Cavaliers have no defense, and Liu Mang's foul-making ability can't be used. He can easily get shooting opportunities, and whoever is idle is hurting to draw fouls.

On 6 of 11 shots, Liu Mang played with a normal style of play for the first time and got serious playing time for the first time. His efficiency was still high and he scored 15 points, a small refresh of his highest score.

The Eagles didn't give the Cavaliers a chance from the very beginning. The Cavaliers players only focused on the statistics. The Cavaliers' coaching staff and management's goals were also bad.

97 to 84, the Eagles beat the Cavaliers and improved their record to 4 wins and 1 loss.