Chapter 534 533. The Second Round Is Here!
Time flies to May 8th, the Eagles finally got on the plane to Philadelphia, waiting for the next opponent to come out is not easy!
In the past week, the six teams that have already advanced have been waiting impatiently.
The remaining two rounds of the series were played too slowly!
In San Antonio, Kobe and O'Neal stayed together when they didn't have a game and didn't have the same goals.
In New Jersey, the two opponents, Payton and Kidd, are very harmonious. I am very sorry that after five or six years, they played against each other in the playoffs again, but they just changed from the West to the East.
On May 5th, when the Trail Blazers and the Mavericks, the 76ers and the Hornets all tied 3-3, it was finally determined that the decisive time of the two series was May 7th, and the two tiebreakers were all in May The game starts on the 7th, and the next round of the winners of the two series is determined to start on May 10th.
The series between the Lakers and the Spurs, the Bucks and the Nets will start on May 8 and May 9.
The Kings are okay, waiting at home, no pressure.
Only the Eagles waited the most anxiously. They didn’t have to wait at home like the Kings did. They had to wait until the night of the 7th to know who their opponents would be in the next round. At this time, Liu Mang realized that it was not a good thing to think about the opponents in the next round. It was too hard to wait.
The Eagles have been waiting impatiently for this week. Apart from waiting for the next round of opponents, there are also things that the players are very concerned about.
The regular season MVP is out!
Duncan won the regular season MVP without any suspense, becoming the eighth player in NBA history who can win the MVP for two consecutive years. Of course, he can win it in a row, not the eighth time. Among the 6 regular season MVPs, there are two consecutive MVPs. Duncan won the MVP, and it has not been a big surprise since the second half of the season. The most annoying thing is that Duncan wore a shirt, jeans and sneakers on stage to accept the award during the press conference.
Because Liu Mang ridiculed Duncan on his talk show before, many fans saw that there is such a guy in the most disgusting team of the Spurs. Duncan's popularity has changed from the high popularity obtained simply because of his strength to the Spurs. The team's funny role.
The best coach, Popovich has survived for seven years, and finally won this award that many coaches could get in the first two years, but he didn't win much applause. Most non-Spurs fans think that Popovich is equal to Spurs, the Spurs are the hated team, Popovich is the hated team, and they didn't even make the headlines.
Finally, on the night of May 7, the series between the Hornets and the 76ers was decided. The 76ers defeated the Hornets in the tiebreaker and advanced to the second round.
The next opponent of the Eagles was determined to be the 76ers, and the owner Price went to book a charter flight that night.
Liu Mang heard that the boss, Price, said that the Hilton Hotel had already been booked, and when he chose a room at random, he felt very surprised that he was able to book the hotel without an opponent determined in advance.
Liu Mang quietly asked Mike Woodson, only to find out that Price had already booked the Four Seasons Hotel by the Sea in New Orleans and the Hilton International Hotel in Philadelphia, and booked all the rooms for 5 days from the 8th to the 12th. In New Orleans, the deposit can only be used as liquidated damages.
It seems a bit wasteful, but this kind of operation by Price obviously made the excitement of the Eagles players a lot higher.
The boss is generous, and the players are naturally the happiest.
Price was aggrieved when the players quietly discussed how the previous stingy boss was so generous this year.
In the past, the team was losing money every year, and the head office had to pay back. He wanted to be generous, but he couldn't be generous! Do you want to work? Isn't it rich now...
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Compared with so many series that seemed to have no suspense in the first round, the suspense in the second round of the series is much greater.
The Lakers and the Spurs are a very popular series. Although people are more optimistic about the Lakers, the Spurs are also very strong this year. People are optimistic about the Lakers, mainly because of their previous years.
Although the series between the Nets and the Bucks did not receive much attention, the matchup between Payton and Kidd is still very interesting.
The game between the Lakers and the Spurs started the night after the Eagles came to Philadelphia.
The Kings play the Mavericks, this series is very exciting, Webber and Nowitzki, among the four best power forwards in the league, the duel between Webber and Nowitzki, for the second consecutive year, is still very eye-catching , No less than the duel between O'Neal and Duncan.
At noon on the 8th, the Eagles arrived at the Hilton Hotel in Philadelphia.
It was the playoffs, and after the Eagles came to Philadelphia, Liu Mang didn't receive any calls or text messages from Iverson, let alone go out for a cup of tea like in the regular season.
Liu Mang is not surprised. This is Iverson. He may be willing to accept changes in his style of play, but that is already the limit. Want to change his personality? That's not Iverson at all.
Liu Mang also didn't take the initiative to contact Iverson. The greatest respect for the other party is to respect the other party's character.
Not only as an NBA player, but also for anyone. You can dislike certain things, but it is very basic to maintain respect for other people's characters and choices.
And Iverson's way of doing things in the playoffs also has an advantage, that is, focus!
There was no communication before and after the game. After arriving in Philadelphia, Liu Mang found a park and started practicing, actively preparing for the second round of the series starting on the 10th...
The Eagles had no training plan in the afternoon. Like Liu Mang, some teammates chose to find a place to train. The rented arena could only be used tomorrow. Some rested and some went out for a stroll, but they all returned to the hotel at night.
Liu Mang practiced three-pointers and mid-range shots all afternoon. After returning to the hotel, he took a bath and ate some vegetables and high-protein white meat. After finishing these, the series between the Lakers and the Spurs began.
Liu Mang watched this match as if the gods were fighting!
Duncan had 28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 blocks, O'Neal had 20 points and 21 rebounds, Kobe had 41 points, 7 assists and 2 rebounds, and the duel of three monsters.
In addition, there is another person who performed the fourth best on the field. He is Manu Ginobili. In his first season and first playoffs in the NBA, Ginobili played extremely poorly in the first round. , but as if relying on the lore of the Rockets, the Lakers replaced Stephen Jackson in the first game. When Duncan focused on defending O'Neal and focused on scoring and missed a lot of rebounds, Yaodao twisted him flexibly He scored 9 rebounds, scored 15 points and 5 assists, and scored a three-pointer with 7 seconds left in the final situation when he was two points behind!
However, when the three superstars on the field got such brutal data, the final score was 86 to 85, and Ginobili made another lore! Three-point lore!
15 points, already the fourth highest score on the field, the Spurs are okay, there are three players who scored in double figures, David Robinson pulled out a shot and scored 14 points, Duncan scored 28 points, Ginobili scored 15 points, anyway Three scored in double figures.
On the Lakers side, apart from Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant who scored in double figures, there were 10 players on the field. Except for the OK combination, none of them scored more than 5 points. The highest score was Fisher who just scored 5 points.
After watching this game, Liu Mang couldn't help sighing that the strength of the OK team is still good, but their lineup can't keep up. Only two people play, and it's okay to beat weaker opponents. When playing Duncan, it is difficult.
After watching the game between the Lakers and the Spurs, it was already half past nine. Liu Mang went to watch his teammates play cards for a while, then went back to his room to sleep. There is still training tomorrow.
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Early the next morning, Liu Mang and his teammates came to the rented basketball stadium.
The 76ers fans are still very friendly to the Eagles, mainly because Liu Mang and Iverson have a good relationship.
Although the 76ers fans are now hostile to the Eagles, it is only because the two teams have become opponents in the playoffs, and the hostility is also placed in the game, and there is no problem with it off the court.
At the training hall, coach Kruger called the players together for a meeting before warming up, and talked about the key points of training.
If it were home court advantage, the meeting would not be so simple and hasty, but there is no way. After deciding on the next round of opponents, the preparation time is only two days, and one day is to fly. This thing is quite torturous. It's interesting, but when this becomes part of the job, even charter flights can be annoying. If there was a meeting yesterday, it's hard to say how many people can remember the tactics, especially if this is a predominantly black team.
If there is a home court advantage, you can have an extra day, just like the Kings or the Eagles themselves last season, sitting firmly at home and doing everything in an orderly manner.
That's one aspect of home field advantage.
"OK, everyone is ready, the next series with the 76ers. We have no other goals, only one, which is to advance!" Coach Kruger first set the goals of the series. The expression of this matter is very OK, and he continued with satisfaction: "Although we are here to play away, our goal is only to win and regain the home advantage, and it is not just a home advantage... We have both games. Take it!"
Coach Kruger drew his voice, and then said an amazing goal!
I still want the rhythm of sweeping!
A flag was set up at the beginning. Coach Kruger doesn't seem to understand the matter of saving character, he is still too young.
Although this is the goal that everyone has set in their hearts, the players of the Eagles still feel a lot of pressure!
The name Iverson is still very intimidating to most players of this era. In 2001, he won the regular season Eastern Conference championship under the circumstances that he was not optimistic all the way, and reached the finals in two consecutive tiebreakers. He also won a game against the Lakers of the OK combination, the strongest playoff team in history, which brought extraordinary shock to the players of this period.
Liu Mang also felt the pressure, Iverson, this guy is really strong! And now because of his appearance, he began to change his style of play, making it even more difficult to deal with.
But pressure is also motivation!
The Eagles players who have experienced last season's counterattack from the regular season to the Eastern Conference Finals, and just swept the Eastern Conference No. 1, are very confident in their own strength!
Seeing that the team members were not intimidated by such a goal, but the fighting spirit in their eyes became more and more vigorous, Coach Kruger was very satisfied. If he didn't put pressure on these guys, where would the motivation come from?
"The next step is the tactical arrangement, Mike, you arrange the defense first, we still focus on defense..."
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One day of preparation time is very short, May 10th is here! Liu Wei got up early. This kind of series without home advantage is the same as playing consecutive away games. It is more about the adjustment of skills, tactics and mentality. Pre-meeting, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the Eagles arrived at the Wachovia Center for pregame warm-ups.
Coming to this arena where Liu Mang successfully returned to the domestic market, Liu Mang can't wait to play against Iverson in the playoffs!
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