Chapter 451 449. What Is Your Dream?

On December 25th, in Seattle, a small city with highly developed science and economy in the United States, at noon on the day of the game between the Eagles and the Sonics, just after the combat meeting, Liu Mang checked the newspaper to see if there was any news today.

In terms of game news, O'Neal is about to make a comeback. The Lakers have dropped to seventh in the Western Conference and were overtaken by the Jazz. O'Neal, who has gained another five or six pounds, feels that he should play the regular season to lose weight, so he is making a comeback.

In addition, it is still news in Los Angeles. The Clippers broke out within the team. The position of the power forward is overcrowded, and no one wants to play the center. Odom's contract has reached $3.7 million, which is more difficult to trade than last season's salary of $2.86 million. Now there is no room for teams that want to strengthen. The Eagles are in vain. Under Glenn Robinson, the space is blocked, and Danny Ferry, who came back from the trade, also has a salary of more than 8 million. Although he does not have to pay the luxury tax this year, he is also above the salary cap.

Although the Clippers' salary is below the salary cap, they are definitely not willing to eat rubbish contracts. Their owner Sterling and the Rockets owner Alexander are pissed. They can save as much as they can. Anyway, they have a bad record in Los Angeles less money.

Coach Kruger also saw this news, but now the Eagles have enough inside manpower. If you want to change Odom, the most suitable bargaining chip is Boozer plus a cheap backup center, but Odom has almost made it clear that summer It will become a completely free agent, and the boss will definitely not do business at a loss.

However, with Boozer, this unexpected and powerful rookie, the Eagles have little need for the two positions of forward and small forward, and they need a backup point guard and center forward. Coach Kruger also has thoughts on Odom for the time being. Not that deep.

Liu Mang continued to read the news. After seeing the news two days ago, the NBA officials really sent invitations to themselves and Carter for the slam dunk contest. Carter, Jason Richardson, Amare Stoudemire, Drummond Mason, Richard Jefferson, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady... Waiting for a dozen or so players to be put on the candidate list, it's just a gimmick now.

Sports news seems to be nothing to watch recently, just like the middle of the season when the fans have little desire to watch the game, and the players have no idea of ​​doing things. January is often the most dull month in the NBA, and there are basically no records. Born in January, the biggest news in these two days is probably that Rasheed Wallace threatened to strangle the referee, was suspended for 7 games, and was suspended for almost a month. When he came back, it was after the All-Star Weekend .

Liu Mang turned to the entertainment page, but unexpectedly found interesting news on the entertainment page.

"..." Liu Mang was speechless.

"shock! The next Kittles? The king of technical fouls and his wife pay homage to Taoism in San Francisco...》

The headline of the standard American Globe gossip magazine section.

When Liu Mang saw the news, Rasheed Wallace actually became a believer!

Liu Mang didn't expect that Rasheed Wallace would take it seriously when he said it casually! Americans are too honest!

Liu Mang recalled two days ago...

...

On February 24th, that is, in the early hours of yesterday, after playing the Trail Blazers and being besieged by reporters, Liu Mang returned to the hotel. It was already past 1:00 in the morning. He had just taken a bath and was getting ready for a good night's sleep. There are still four games to come this month. Fighting, now the Eagles are 18 wins and 20 losses, and they are about to return to a 50% winning percentage. They can't lose the chain and have to take a good rest.

Before going to bed, Liu Mang looked at his system panel, and there was a lot of information that angered Portland fans. By accident, Liu Mang really became the public enemy of Portland fans, and his rogue value increased by more than 100,000. Upper Portland fans are all enemies.

The superstar value has increased by more than 1,700 points in this game against the Trail Blazers, accumulating 14,900 points.

Nothing else.

Just when Liu Mang sighed that the road to superstar is a bit long and was about to go to bed, his cell phone rang.

It was already two o'clock in the morning, and Liu Wei wondered who would call at this time?

He looked at his phone and yelled at Big Brother Grasheed Wallace.

Liu Mang has a ghost in his heart, could it be that he came to Xingshi to inquire about his crime?

Liu Mang still picked up the phone, Rasheed Wallace is a good person, of course he must maintain the relationship well, the other party is angry? It doesn't matter, Liu Mang can fool things around with his mouth.

However, after answering the phone, the other party was unexpectedly calm and gentle.

"Ace, I'm sorry to disturb you so late, but you must not be asleep yet?" Rasheed Wallace's tone on the phone was very gentle and calm.

Since they are all professional athletes, they don't know what time it is until the night after the game, so Rasheed Wallace still calls at this time.

Hearing that Rasheed Wallace's tone was very calm, Liu Mang didn't seem to come here to inquire about the crime, he was relieved and asked, "What's the matter Rasheed?"

"It's nothing, I was punished by you again today, I'm a little depressed." Rasheed Wallace said with resentment.

"..." Liu Mang felt that this guy didn't play his cards according to the routine! I thought I wouldn't bring it up, but I didn't expect to be so calm and still asking the teacher for the crime. Liu Mang resolutely and forcibly argued: "Even without me, Rashid, you will be called technical fouls twice every day!"

"Yes, Ace, you are so right!" Rasheed Wallace actually agreed with Liu Mang's statement! "Ace, just now Avidas came to drink and talk with me, and told me about it, but I really don't know what to do. Whenever I am on the field, I will be very irritable when I encounter something that goes wrong. , Avidas asked me to find a way to adjust my heart, I couldn't think of it, so I want to ask you, Ace, you are smarter."

"...Rashid, wait a moment, let me think about it."

At this time, Liu Mang suddenly didn't like the adjective "smart" at all, so he called in the middle of the night just because the young master was smart?

However, as a reward for his apology for pissing off this friend, Liu Mang began to think, how to calm down Rasheed Wallace?

Shouldn't this be Sabonis' thing? Why did it finally fall on the young master's head!

Liu Mang recalled carefully, how did Rasheed Wallace become calmer? At least the fight with the referee has become calmer?

Regulate the heart, that is, the kung fu of self-cultivation and self-cultivation has become better.

Self-cultivation... It seems that Rasheed Wallace will believe in Jesus in the future? That means he has become a believer, or let Rasheed Wallace believe in Jesus like this...

Wait, Liu Mang had a flash of inspiration, why should he be asked to believe in Jesus? Isn’t Taoism the same as self-cultivation!

Inherit Chinese culture!

Well, Liu Mang's bad taste has come again.

"Ahem, Rashid, are you still there?"

"Hey, Ace, have you figured out a way?"

"Wait, Rashid, I have a question to ask you, what is your dream?" Liu Mang turned into a man who would never grab the headlines.

"My dream is to win the NBA championship! Enter the Hall of Fame!" Rasheed Wallace still has lofty ambitions.

"Uh... the champion," Liu Mang thought for a while, and asked tentatively, "Rashid, do you know the Daode Tianzun?"

"Tao Dao Tian Zun? Is he a very moral person?" A negative and curious voice came from the other end of the phone.

"I don't know, that's good... No, then what, Daode Tianzun is a very famous god in Asia, his name is Li Er, do you know Taoism? Yes! You actually know, oh, I have heard of it, just know it Oh, Daode Tianzun is called Li Er, also called Lao Tzu, the name is a bit strange? Isn’t it strange that he is a god! Look at your Jesus in Europe and America, isn’t the name also very strange? You know Phil Jackson! Yes, the 9th The championship coach, the first in history, do you know his Chinese nickname? His name is Zen Master! Zen Master is Taoist... You said that Zen Master believes in Buddhism? No, no, no, you haven’t heard of it! Buddha is Tao, Buddhism is a branch of Taoism."

"The Zen master has learned the cultivation of Buddhism and Taoism in our country. You can see that he is so calm no matter what happens every time. It is because he has started to practice Zen. What is Zen practice? It is the way you want to cultivate sentiment , you always feel that the referee whistled unfairly to you like a stupid X, right? According to Taoism, you should not argue with them, they are stupid X, you should not curse them, they will send you out, you should Praise them, make them feel right, make them big idiots, someone will come to trouble them one day, why bother yourself and them and get blown away..."

...

After Liu Mang talked nonsense and made Rasheed Wallace dizzy, he almost fainted, and then he completely forgot about it after waking up. When he came to Seattle yesterday afternoon, he saw Rasheed Wallace. Lace was suspended for seven games, and almost couldn't play games before the All-Star weekend, and he didn't care too much. This big brother clearly distinguishes between games and things other than games.

But unexpectedly, news from the entertainment sector said that after the suspension, Rasheed Wallace did not play until February 19th, that is, twenty-five or six days of "unpaid leave". After Laishi and his wife received the suspension ticket yesterday, they went to the headquarters of the Taoist Association of America, the headquarters of the Taoist Association of America in San Francisco, California, and announced that they would join Taoism... This is so fast! Americans are so efficient in doing things?

Taoism has been introduced to the United States since the end of the 19th century. It has been more than 100 years. The Continental Taoist Association of the United States has been established for nearly 50 years. This is the first time that a big star wants to join Taoism. In order to expand its influence, Taoist Fenglin That is, the current head teacher of the American Taoist Association held a grand press conference...

Liu Mang looked at the face of Rasheed Wallace, wearing a priestly robe, and his wife was also wearing a priestly robe, and she was very happy. Liu Mang felt weird. Co-authoring, Rasheed Wallace became The first NBA player to inherit and carry forward Chinese traditional culture?

Depend on! I, together with four Chinese players, Yao Ming, Battelle, and Wang Zhizhi, might as well co-author a Roaring Tianzun?

The point is, Rasheed Wallace would have started to have faith, and then his heart became much more peaceful. Although his style of play was still violent, technical fouls began to decrease. There is no difference from believing in Jesus to being religious. So Liu Mang didn't even get the reward.

Of course, Liu Mang said that he is definitely not regretful because there is no reward, but as a Chinese, he is not happy that he did not take the lead in promoting traditional culture, and it is definitely not because of the reward!

...

...

In the evening, the Eagles came to Seattle's Space Key Arena, the arena sponsored by Boeing Aircraft, to challenge the Sonics away.

After the Sonics traded away most of the team's main players, they actually played well after the trade!

In the last dozen or so games, the Sonics have finally started to win. Although the winning percentage is not good, 5 wins and 7 losses, it has given Seattle fans hope. Ray Allen, Radmanovich, Rashad- The four-pitcher lineup of Lewis and Brent Barry can be superb if the shots are accurate. Of course, because there is no playmaker, Ray Allen is still organizing the offense most of the time. Ray Allen has a certain organizational ability, but obviously cannot Competent as the core of the playmaker, so most of the time his shots are a bit wavy.

But these four are really accurate, and Langjue also has a record of 5 wins and 7 losses. It seems that there is only one core point guard to take off!

So the Sonics don't have the intention of playing badly. With so many top pitchers, it's not suitable to play badly. It's better to show the strength of your team to free agents and tell those point guards whose contracts are about to expire that they have pitchers who can let you take off!

Moreover, the Supersonics have two first-round picks this year, and they can still be traded if they are not good enough. It seems that the future of the Supersonics is bright, and their boss has temporarily stopped thinking about moving out of Seattle, mainly because it is the richest city in the United States. One of the cities, the tax is too high. The Seattle metro area has a population of more than 4.7 million, with a total income of 320 billion US dollars. Especially in Seattle, there are more than 700,000 people, with an annual income of more than 100 billion US dollars, so the local tax rate here is higher than Most places in the United States are much higher, and many stars are unwilling to come here to play.

But with such a lineup, there are still two first rounds. Whether it is a trade or a sign-and-trade, it is very attractive for some star point guards who aspire to win the championship. For the championship, many stars are still willing to pay more money.

Of course, for NBA team owners, five or six percentage points are very important, so if they can't win the championship, there will be no more box office and sponsorship, and the Sonics will move away one day.

After Liu Mang entered the court at the Aviation Key Center, there were not many boos this time, because Payton had already left.

If the Supersonics want to trade Payton away, they must have something to say. Payton has a high status in the history of the Supersonics, second only to Dennis Johnson who led the Supersonics to the championship in the 1978-1979 season. Dennis Johnson is The only MVP in the history of the Sonics, and Payton has played the longest time in the history of the Sonics and has a very high popularity.

So what the Supersonics said is that Payton took the initiative to leave to reduce the pressure on the team to be blamed by fans.

The Supersonics are similar to the Magic. They broke up with the leading stars in the end, like Dennis Johnson, the strongest performer in the history of the Supersonics. After winning the championship, he just won the championship MVP in the second year because of contract issues. He was sold to the Celtics, but after Dennis Johnson's jersey, the Sonics didn't retire him, but Dennis Johnson's jersey was retired by the Celtics, and he got two more in the Celtics. champion……

Fans are always easy to be led by public opinion, just like the Magic "forced away" O'Neal, Payton returned to Seattle to play away games after being traded, and was booed. The fans thought they were abandoned by Payton.

As everyone knows, Payton also feels abandoned by the fans. He has struggled here for 14 years!

So Liu Mang, who had been booed badly when he came to Seattle last season, unexpectedly didn't get booed at all this time.

One of the Eagles and the Supersonics is in the West, and the other is in the East. The team history has never had a chance to play against each other in the finals. The main reason is that the Eagles have nothing to talk about after the 1950s.

In this game, the Sonics have no pressure. They can make it to the playoffs now, or not. Anyway, the draft pick is in the top ten picks. It is impossible for this lineup to be bad, no matter how bad it is, They can't get the top five picks, the top ten picks are enough, and the picks are almost the same whether they make the playoffs or not. It looks like they are on the edge of the lottery, so their head coach Nate McMillan is holding that if they can win, they can win or not. The idea of ​​winning and pulling is just right to cultivate a winning culture. It feels a bit like a certain Los Angeles team in the future, playing with Buddha nature.

The main reason is that the Suns and Rockets are really fierce this year, fighting for the eighth and ninth positions in the Western Conference. The Sonics really can't compare with these two teams with a clear core.

Before the game, Liu Mang got a level 4 task, which had nothing to do with the outcome of the game. Among the players participating in this game, he scored the most three-pointers.

After the game started, Liu Mang watched the Supersonics throw four pitchers and made a few blind shots. Liu Mang decisively gave up this task. can bear it.

As an NBA player, sometimes it is so helpless.

Sure enough, it is good to play steadily in the end. The Sonics are too good at three-pointers. In the last 12 games, Ray Allen averaged 3.1 three-pointers per game, Barry averaged 2 three-pointers per game, and Radmanovic averaged 1.5 three-pointers per game. Three-pointers, Lewis also averaged one three-pointer per game, and the three-pointers of the Supersonics were also good. During this period, the Supersonics averaged 11 three-pointers per game, ranking first in the league. The Specialists, Mavericks, Bucks, and Eagles all have many teams. None of these four teams averaged more than 9 three-pointers per game.

Today, the Sonics scored 8 three-pointers in the first half. The Eagles mainly defended against Ray Allen. Barry's five three-pointers in the halftime surprised the Eagles.

Fortunately, this kind of wave shooting style without an organizational core has obvious shortcomings. When the Eagles replaced the cavalry company lineup with strong impact, strengthened the confrontation during defense, and played defensive counterattacks, the Supersonics could not hold on. With a powerful big man and no playmaker, the Supersonics' excessive pursuit of three-pointers is not feasible these days. When the Eagles trailed by 8 points 51 to 59 at halftime, they overtook the SuperSonic in one fell swoop in the third quarter. The Sonic's three-pointer was stopped, and after three quarters, it went ahead 79 to 72. It used strong physical confrontation to contain the three-pointer that the Sonic relied on for survival, forcing the Sonic to only score 13 points in the third quarter.

In the end, the Eagles had the last laugh, beating the Sonics 103 to 92, winning two consecutive victories and improving their record to 19 wins and 20 losses.

Liu Mang made 8 of 17 shots and 3 of 7 three-pointers. He scored 25 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. Unfortunately, he lost to Barry's 6 in three-pointers, but it is good to win the game.

After the game, Lei Allen, the first-generation team leader who had a bright future after changing teams and was in a good mood, came to Liu Mang to exchange contact information. It's not a small discussion, and it also temporarily eliminates the idea of ​​​​other teams trying to poach him, but there is always a chance that it is not.

...

...

After playing the Supersonics, the Eagles' five consecutive away trips are finally over. Next, they will return to the home court to play a game, and then there will be two consecutive aways. The January schedule is over.

It's just that the next day's game, home and away, doesn't make much difference to the Eagles. Back in Atlanta, the family is already packing up, and they will move on February 1st.

Liu Mang seems to have nothing but clothes and a hard-working bicycle. Alexia said to help Liu Mang clean up, and Liu Mang is also happy to relax. He has been so tired recently, psychologically, so every day When he has time to rest, he rests, such as reading books, playing games, watching TV, watching video clips in the hotel, even if he is dozing off on the sofa, he doesn’t want to work. Mental fatigue can only be relieved by resting quietly. ease.

After returning to Atlanta for a night of rest, the Eagles ushered in the Portland Trail Blazers, who had just deepened their hatred again.

Speaking of hatred, there is no hatred between the players of the two teams. A team loses too many games in a year. Even the strongest in the universe lost 9 games in the regular season in a year, and the Invincible Bulls also lost 10 games. If it is not for fights, brawls, black feet, malicious wounding, etc., winning or losing will not cause hatred among players, at most it will be hostility, and next time you will take revenge or something. This kind of bickering and hatred is mainly among the fans. between.

Generally speaking, the "hate" between the Eagles and the Trail Blazers mainly lies with Liu Mang and Portland fans.

It seems that the hatred between the Eagles and all the teams is almost Liu Mang VS fans of other teams. Liu Mang has become the focus of firepower, and he is always in pain and happiness.

Because Rasheed Wallace was suspended, it had a great impact on the Blazers. In the past, Rasheed Wallace was sent off at most. The suspension is still very small, and the attendance rate is above 90% every year. , because there is no provision for suspension due to technical fouls in the current technical foul regulations, so Rasheed Wallace can create a "glorious record" of 40 technical fouls in a single season, and it is estimated that no one will be able to break it in the future. In 2011 In the new version of the labor agreement, after 15 technical fouls, the suspension will start.

Rasheed Wallace is undoubtedly the core of both offensive and defensive ends of the Blazers. He couldn't play, and the strength of the Blazers plummeted. The Eagles sat at home and won the game without much effort.

Liu Mang scored 14 points, 10 assists and 3 rebounds, helping the team to easily win the game 97 to 85. At the same time, he also completed the level 2 daily task and scored double figures in assists, earning 2,000 superstar points.

Liu Mang thinks it’s really good to cheat Rasheed Wallace once in a while, once and for all, this year’s game against the Trail Blazers, he relied on cheating Rasheed Wallace, hey, we won both games .

At this time, Rasheed Wallace, who was reading those Taoist classics translated into English that he could not understand in San Francisco, sneezed inexplicably, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and said to his dozing wife next to him: "Rosa, our summer Travel to China! Visit their real Taoist holy land!"

Rasheed Wallace's wife, Rosa Wallace, woke up in an instant. Traveling, which woman doesn't like to go out and walk around in a fancy dress, agreed immediately.

Originally, Rosa just couldn't resist this husband who was rough on the surface and childish in heart, and came to chant scriptures together. At the same time, she really wanted Rasheed Wallace to "be good". ah!

Unexpectedly, she could get a chance to travel abroad, so Rosa agreed without hesitation.

For Americans, China has always been a mystery. It is the only country among all the ancient civilizations in the history of the world that has not broken its inheritance. Other ancient civilizations have long since had nothing to do with the original ancient civilization...

...

Going back to Atlanta to play a home game. For the Hawks players, in this kind of schedule, it is no different from playing an away game. They stay for two nights and then fly away again, but they can see each other for ten days. The family is also good.

On the second day after playing the Blazers, Dinah and Alexia, who had already taken winter vacation, came to the airport to see off Liu Mang.

Liu Mang looked at the adorable doll wrapped in a big red down jacket, and felt a little reluctant to leave after staying for a day. It seemed that another New Year's Eve was coming, and when Erlianke came back, it was almost the Chinese New Year.

Since I have learned Chinese and learned a lot about Chinese culture, the three girls in my family have learned a lot about Chinese customs and ideas, so I am very curious about the New Year, because the difference between Chinese New Year and their "New Year" is Christmas. It's very big, so now all the bright red clothes are on.

Liu Mang reluctantly dragged his suitcase and left the parking lot to go to the VIP passage. This time he went out and came back, he was moving, and then... moving to a new house for the New Year? Thinking of this, Liu Mang still has a little expectation!

...

On the plane, Liu Mang saw that his teammates were very happy, and he was also happy.

After double-killing the Trail Blazers, the Eagles' record has finally returned to 5!

20 wins and 20 losses. After more than a month, they finally caught up with the record. Now they are ranked tenth in the Eastern Conference, behind the Washington Wizards with 22 wins and 22 losses, and have surpassed the New York Knicks with 19 wins and 24 losses.

It's tough!

Moreover, Liu Mang felt that thanks to the relaxed schedule in late December and the first half of January, the Eagles had a chance to catch up.

However, the schedule for the next February and March is dangerous and difficult, so Liu Mang, the Eagles players, and the coaching staff are very clear that the next two games must be won! Leave as much room as possible for the fierce battle in February and March!

After playing in February and March, and maintaining a winning rate of more than 50%, the Eagles have a chance to make it to the playoffs in the last 9 games in April!

And Liu Mang, apart from his longing for the playoffs, also wants to end the schedule before the new year with a winning streak and celebrate the new year happily!

After a few hours of flight, the Eagles arrived in Phoenix, the capital of Arizona.

Stephen Marbury, the proud son of the 96 golden generation, as Liu Mang's senior at the same university, is not so friendly to Liu Mang.

As soon as he arrived in Phoenix, Liu Mang saw the local news. Marbury said that Liu Mang was not worthy of being a candidate for Jordan's successor, and he was the one who was more qualified!

Unlike Ray Allen's pursuit of this thing, Marbury fired at Liu Mang because of this and the previous grievances!

My mother forced me to go on a blind date. After we met, I found out that the girl and I were classmates in elementary school. Then the woman said to his mother: This is the boy who beat me up every time when he was young, forced me to do homework for him, and robbed me of my meal money to buy snacks every day, his mother and my mother have black lines on their faces.