Chapter 859 858. The Difficult 03 Generation

"I am very grateful to Tony and Trevor for their contributions to the team. They are so talented. I hope they will have more opportunities to perform in the new team and show their extraordinary strength. I believe they will become excellent stars in the future. Kevin has been discussing future matters with us. I hope his life will be more fulfilling after retirement. We will hold a retirement ceremony for him during the Christmas game. We are more focused on the present and cannot provide them with more training opportunities, so we chose to let them go and let them go to a stage that is more suitable for them. We now have two veterans, Alonzo and Walter, to make up for the team's lack of veteran experience. Now our lineup is very complete and will stabilize the current lineup..."

On the afternoon of December 22, the Hawks held a press conference to confirm the transaction, bid farewell to Tony Allen and Ariza, and welcomed Alonzo and Walter McCarty.

The press conference for Alonzo and McCarty will be held after the Hawks return to Atlanta after playing the away game against the Nuggets.

At this time, Schwartz had already taken Tony Allen to Boston to report. In Boston, Tony Allen would not wander back and forth between the NBA and the Development League, and Ainge would definitely get Tony Allen's playing time.

It must be said that the positive comments brought by the Hawks' "loss-making business" are very good.

It is a good thing for the Hawks to build team culture by letting go rather than delaying the development of rookies and giving Mourning enough face.

The root of team culture, in the final analysis, is the three words of human touch.

It is very important for players to win the championship, but many players want more than just winning the championship, but also whether they can have good development opportunities.

The team needs you, you can play well, you are a bit redundant for the team, and you will be sent to a stage where you can show your abilities; when the player is old, if he has made enough contributions, he will be willing to provide him with a good retirement contract. The contract with Kevin Willis has been delayed until now, and it is only because there are teammates who must be traded that they are talking about buyouts. They also gave the Raptors cash compensation so that Kevin Willis can get part of the money after refusing to report to the Raptors. This is the most important team culture.

Otherwise, the Hawks would have traded Kevin Willis away directly. Kevin Willis could have applied for layoff without pay if he didn't report.

The Hawks have lost their team culture for decades. Except for the Bob Pettit era, the Hawks didn't have any team culture before Liu Mang came, even though they had Donimick Wilkins, who was still a good time. Moreover, there was no such thing as team culture in Bob Pettit's era. Even before the 1980s, only the Lakers and Celtics had team culture.

Now that the Hawks have Liu Mang, they are starting to rebuild their team culture.

According to unreliable media reports, after the Heat and the Hawks failed to compete for Alonzo Mourning, a suppressed but still loud laugh came from a villa in Los Angeles. In Miami, a burly giant went to a fast food restaurant and ate a lot of hamburgers...

The deal was also driven by Liu Mang's agent Schwartz, who recommended Tony Allen to Ainge after getting permission from the Hawks.

Tony Allen is also a member of Liu Mang's agency, but Liu Mang is not familiar with him. However, Schwartz has been looking for a team that is more suitable for Tony Allen, and the Celtics are a good fit.

The Celtics are too short of shooting guards. The best shooting guard is Jerry Wilshko, who averages 6 points and 2 rebounds in 20 minutes per game. Sending Tony Allen to the Celtics is more likely to give him a chance to play. Only with a chance to play can he have the opportunity to show his strength and talent, and then he will have the opportunity to get a big contract and make money for the company.

Of course, Schwartz himself is also a very humane and moral person. Liu Mang chose him as his agent in large part because he knew this person's resume. It can be seen from the fact that he did not abandon Wang Zhizhi when he was abandoned by both the NBA and the Blue Association, but actively contacted European teams for him. It was just that Wang Zhizhi himself gave in and returned to the CBA to play and gave up the last opportunity to play with world-class players.

There was also the active search for a job for Odom after he became fat, and the fact that he had no way to get ahead when he was young, but he didn't become the agent of Love, Aldridge, Whiteside, Harris-Barnes and others until he was almost 50 years old, and began to have a position in the NBA.

Being humane and moral may not necessarily make people rich, but at least it can make people have a good reputation, and with a good reputation, there may be opportunities to make money.

More than ten years later, although Liu Mang didn't know what Schwartz looked like, he knew from the news that this person was a good person. He didn't need to have strong ability to choose an agent, the main thing was not to cheat him, Duncan's experience was too miserable.

…

On the 23rd, the last game of the Hawks before the Christmas game, the Hawks came to the Pepsi Center to challenge the Nuggets.

The sudden transaction caused a lot of shock in the Hawks.

Just as the media did not expect this transaction, the Hawks players did not expect it.

There was a rumor that Alonso Mourning was coming, Kevin Willis also returned to the team, and was negotiating a buyout.

Unexpectedly, the buyout was negotiated with the Raptors, not the Hawks. The Hawks only compensated the Raptors with cash and asked the Raptors to help with the buyout.

Everyone thought it was just one more teammate, but unexpectedly three teammates were lost, which made some players feel uneasy.

Although they are just rookies who have been wandering between the Development League and the NBA, the players can't help but think: Is the team going to change the lineup? Is it possible that I will be abandoned?

This situation is inevitable, because the Hawks have changed too much since the new season, starting with the change in playing style and now the personnel.

Although Steven Price emphasized the need to stabilize the existing lineup at the press conference, the team management and coaching staff can't do anything about the turmoil in the team. It is normal for people to have fear and worry in their hearts.

The most important point is that Rahim, the great contributor to the championship last season, can be traded, what about others?

Among the Hawks players, only Liu Mang and Jason Terry know the truth about Rahim's trade, but the two will not say it, otherwise it will not only affect Rahim, but also the Hawks, so the two will never say it, and there is no reason to say it.

The management and coaching staff will not mention this matter either.

Psychological fluctuations bring fluctuations in the state on the court.

Playing with negative emotions, the Hawks performed abnormally.

Although many players are used to trades, psychological fluctuations are uncontrollable. Liu Mang has no way to deal with it. He and McGrady are stronger than everyone on the court and can still perform well with their strength, but others are a bit troublesome, mainly because they are not focused.

The decline in the concentration of the Hawks players has led to problems on the defensive end. The Nuggets, a track and field team, are very good at running. They are a fast-playing team that is difficult for the Hawks to deal with. In this game, the Hawks were suppressed by the Nuggets.

Liu Mang and McGrady started to play one by one. Liu Mang played 41 minutes and scored 35 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. McGrady played 38 minutes and scored 26 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists.

Kwame Brown and Jason Terry were not disturbed.

But Kwame Brown met a strong opponent today, the combination of Camby, Nene, Kenyon Martin, and Anthony, a frontcourt rebounding expert. Kwame Brown only scored 8 points and 8 rebounds, and it seems that he is ready to get the maximum salary.

Jason Terry was defended badly by Andre Miller, who is similar to Ginobili. He can be superb when he is on the offensive, but he can be a turtle when he is on the defensive. He only scored 9 points with 3 of 13 shots.

The Hawks have no psychological pressure at all. They are Liu Mang, McGrady, Jason Terry, and Kwame Brown. The four of them are the backbone of the team, and the other main players have alternative options, and their trading value is not bad.

When coach George Karl found that the Hawks had problems, he decisively turned on the killing mode, and the Nuggets' strong young fighting power was brought into play.

Mainly because Anthony got angry today, played for 40 minutes, got 38 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

Liu Mang and McGrady held on until the last moment, but there was really no way to defend them. The Hawks lost to the Nuggets 106-115, and their seven-game winning streak was ended.

With 22 wins and 5 losses, the Hawks' record was surpassed by the Suns again, but they still maintained the first place in the East, and were on the same winning difference with the Pistons with 23 wins and 6 losses.

Anthony is celebrating the New Year!

He became the first player among the top five picks of the 2003 generation to beat Liu Mang in a game!

The people of Miami, Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland all sent congratulatory messages.

It was not easy. The other four top five picks of the 2003 generation were so happy that they cried when they saw that one of them finally beat Liu Mang once. It was not easy!