Chapter 895 894. Fight for a Better Tomorrow (Ask for Guaranteed Monthly Ticket)

"The anger of the shark: Shaquille O'Neal is furious because he was snatched away from the All-Star starting lineup in a row, and will try his best when he meets Kwame Brown next. The host team needs to play against the Heat this season In the remaining games, limit Shaquille O'Neal's score to less than 30 points. Mission reward: Shaquille O'Neal 04-05 season star card. Failure penalty: 10,000 superstar points."

Depend on! Stingy fat man, Liu Mang couldn't help but curse: It's not like I stole your All-Star starting spot!

I originally thought that if the punishment was not high, and on the premise of ensuring victory, letting Kwame Brown be tortured by O'Neal would be good for physical and mental health. Who knew that if the task failed, 10,000 superstar points would be deducted!

You have to play three or four games to put up good numbers and win to make money back!

And what’s the use of O’Neal’s star card for this season?

O'Neal's star card at his peak was used to hit people in the paint.

It seems good to bump into people...

Anyway, this regular season must win against the Heat.

"Dancing with Giants: The host needs to win all the games against the Heat and Rockets. Mission reward: Dwyane Wade 03-04 season star card, 20,000 superstar points; failure penalty: all Celebrity Weekend invites O'Neal and Yao Ming to dance."

Looking at this task, Liu Mang felt a pain in his balls. He would have to play the Heat twice in the regular season, and the Rockets' second meeting was on New Year's Eve, the last day of the month.

When the time comes, let Kwame Brown and Mourning defend O'Neal desperately, and Liu Mang can compete with Wade's firepower on the outside.

Liu Mang was very open-minded.

After the one-hour personal training in the morning, a team meeting was held at 10 o'clock to prepare for the Celtics game in the evening.

After the meeting, Liu Mang drove home and took Alexia to a private hospital for a physical check-up.

In public hospitals in the United States, you generally have to line up long in advance. Free medical treatment is true, but Liu Mang remembered that when he was a freshman, a black teammate had a fight in the community and his head was shot open, and it was dripping with blood. As a result, there was a long queue. All night long, by the time the doctor came to work on time the next morning, not one minute earlier or one minute later, the scars had already formed, and they still had to wait for other people who had come earlier to see the doctor before it was their turn.

I went to the hospital where the private doctors hired by Liu Mang's family worked. The disadvantage of private hospitals is that they are expensive, but the advantage is that they are on call 24 hours a day, as long as you have money.

Previously, a private doctor came to Liu Mang's home to see a doctor. Since there was no equipment, he could usually treat minor illnesses such as colds and fevers. Alexia's symptoms were not serious, so she just thought she was feeling unwell and did not get any results. So the doctor asked Liu Mang to bring Alexia to the hospital today.

After doing some testing and analysis, Liu Mang and Alexia, after the doctor read the urine test and analysis report, the first words they said to them were: "Congratulations..."

…

…

"Bang"

"Ouch……"

"Ace, are you okay?" Calderon didn't expect that the ball he passed to Liu Mang would hit Liu Mang's head directly.

This is not the key, the key is that Liu Mang didn't react when he saw a ball flying over!

"Ah, it's okay. Sorry, I was distracted." Liu Mang picked up the ball and threw it to Calderon.

Now it is the team's tactical training, which is very simple passing and cutting.

Since McGrady is still in the observation period today, the coaching staff will not let him participate in tonight's game, but training is still possible, so McGrady was placed on the bench for training, and the passer who partnered with Liu Mang was Calderon.

Coach Kruger blew the whistle: "Today's training will start here, John. Let them be divided into groups for small-scale cooperative training. Ace, come here."

Liu Mang followed Coach Kruger to the side.

"Ace, what's wrong with you today? You've been distracted throughout the training." Coach Kruger asked worriedly when he saw Liu Mang's distracted look.

"Ah? Sorry, sorry," Liu Mang quickly apologized, "I was thinking about something."

"Thinking about something? Ace, what happened to you?" Coach Kruger asked with concern.

"It's not a bad thing..." Liu Mang thought of Alexia who jumped up with excitement when she heard the doctor's words. He couldn't help but smile silly again and became distracted again...

Seeing Liu Mang's silly smile, Coach Kruger didn't know what to say. It seemed like nothing serious had happened, but what did he mean by getting distracted after a disagreement?

"Ace, tell me what's going on!" Coach Kruger suppressed his anger and asked.

Liu Mang was woken up from his distraction again: "Huh? Oh, coach, do you want to know?"

Coach Kruger couldn't help it anymore and kicked Liu Mang: "Say it quickly!"

Fortunately, Liu Mang was awakened by Coach Kruger just now, and Snakeskin moved to avoid Coach Kruger's angry kick.

Liu Mang approached the angry-looking Coach Kruger and whispered, "Coach, I'm going to be a father!"

"Ace, aren't you already a father? Are you planning to marry Levia? No, or do you have your own child? Ace, although Dinah is not your biological daughter, you still have to You have to love her as much as your own daughter. You can’t ignore your care for Dinah just because you have your own child..." Coach Kruger reminded that there are a lot of news in the United States about Chinese men marrying American women who have children. , or the news that a Chinese woman married to an American man with children was sentenced for abusing children.

The Chinese concept of "own children" is also very famous in the United States, and it has a bad reputation.

Liu Mang looked at Coach Kruger, who was nagging like a menopausal uncle, and his head was big, but he was still very happy. Coach Kruger loved Dina like his own granddaughter.

"I know, coach, don't worry, I love Dina more than my own children. By the way, it's Aida who is pregnant..." Liu Mang interrupted quickly, his ears were about to be calloused.

"No, Ace, you have to treat children equally. Don't think that children are just children. They also have their own ideas and thoughts. Moreover, children nowadays are more precocious than you were back then..." Coach Kruger started nagging again...

Although he nagged a little, Liu Mang admired the values ​​of American education for children. They treat every child as an equal. They will not be prejudiced against them just because they are children. Excessive love is actually a kind of prejudice. They will treat children as people like themselves. They will communicate with children in a consultative way, rather than educating under the stick and treating children as "investment products."

Liu Mang thinks that the two educational methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. He will try his best to find a suitable balance between the two educational methods.

If you can't find a balance, then don't find it. After all, it's your own child. How can you not love him?

Listening to Coach Kruger, who has never raised a child and has a son who is a sensible teenager, talking about his experience, Liu Mang felt funny and moved.

After Coach Kruger finished nagging, he regained his serious expression: "Ace, this is a happy thing, but you can't delay the game because of this. You have to play harder. When you are playing, you have to focus on the game."

"I know, coach, let's use tonight's game to celebrate my child!"

After Liu Mang said that, he ran to practice shooting. A conversation with Coach Kruger made Liu Mang's attention, which was a little dazed, focus.

Just as Coach Kruger said, if you have a child, you have to play harder for a better tomorrow!

……

……

Can Liu Mang get 40+ for the fifth consecutive time? Can he get the 16th 40+ of the season?

This is the biggest highlight of this game.

Today, the Hawks sent out the same lineup as the last game, Liu Mang, Korver, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown.

The Celtics sent out Payton, Ricky Davis, Pierce, Antoine Walker, and LaFrentz.

Kwame Brown regained his strength in the jump ball and easily won the jump ball over the health-conscious man LaFrentz.

After Liu Mang received the jump ball, he advanced steadily. Since McGrady was not there, the Hawks played a positional battle honestly.

Korver, Prince, and Rasheed Wallace opened up space, and Liu Mang singled out Payton at the top of the arc.

Payton now meets Liu Mang, and the psychological shadow area is incalculable. After Liu Mang entered the NBA, he only beat Liu Mang twice, once when the Hawks were in internal strife in the 02-03 season, and once in the finals last season with the Big Four lineup.

Facing Payton's defense, Liu Mang pretended to force a breakthrough, then suddenly stepped back and shot. Payton's brain reacted, but his body couldn't keep up. Liu Mang easily stepped back and shot a three-pointer, helping the Hawks win the first attack and lead 3-0 at the start.

Then Antoine Walker of the Celtics received the ball and threw another three-pointer with a "clang". Antoine Walker's three-pointer depends on luck.

Kwame Brown easily grabbed the defensive rebound from LaFrentz, who was too lazy to block the position.

After receiving the pass, Liu Mang quickly advanced, and the other Hawks followed up quickly. After Liu Mang arrived at the frontcourt, because the first three-pointer was directly shot, he stopped outside the three-point line and immediately concentrated all the opponent's defense on the top arc. Prince cut into the inside, Liu Mang lobbed the ball to Prince, and Prince flew low and received the ball with his arm span and pressed it into the basket.

The Hawks led 5-0 at the start!

In this game, if it comes down to a positional battle, Liu Mang will mainly play singles and pass the ball, using his mid-range and long-range shooting threats to break through, or step back to shoot, or rush to the basket to shoot, and pass the ball when encountering double-teaming and backup defense.

If the defense is down and counterattacks, Liu Mang will run with his teammates!

Without McGrady, Liu Mang started the game mainly by passing the ball. In the ninth minute of the first quarter, Liu Mang had made 3 of 6 shots, including 2 of 3 3-pointers, and 1 of 1 free throws, scoring 9 points!

The low number of shots was mainly because the Celtics double-teamed him more, so he passed the ball more at the beginning and got 6 assists in 9 minutes!

In the ninth minute, the Hawks led the Celtics by 5 points with 25 to 20 thanks to Liu Mang's 9 points and 6 assists!

The Celtics' defense is really bad now. Antoine Walker is notoriously bad at defense. LaFrentz gets 10 million yuan a year and occupies the starting minutes. He scores 9 points and 5 rebounds. He can throw three-pointers on offense, but he is just a decoration on defense.

Ricky Davis also needs the ball. Whether he is a starter or a substitute, he needs to concentrate the ball. He is like a weakened version of LeBron James, but even in his peak period, his efficiency is not as good as James in his rookie season. His data in the Celtics is good, 16+3+3, but his effect is not very good. He is useless without the ball.

Pierce is now only concerned with offense. In the entire Celtics, only Payton is willing to defend. He is willing to defend and defends seriously, but Payton, who is about to turn 37, can only be said to be powerless in the face of Liu Mang.

Payton's low-post singles, Ricky Davis's breakthrough pass, Antoine Walker's three-pointer, Pierce's kaleidoscope offensive singles, when the four singles masters encounter a weak team with poor defense, they can still find ways to attack, but against the Hawks...

Ricky Davis was locked by Liu Mang; Payton fell to the low post to play against Korver with Kwame Brown responsible for double-teaming, LaFrentz, a center, only had a hit rate of more than 50% at the basket, which was simply the old generation of Joakim Noah, but the key was that he was only offensive like Joakim Noah, and his defense was completely inferior; Antoine Walker gambled on his touch in outside shooting, Antoine Walker averaged 16 points per game this season, which was not bad, and 2.4 three-pointers per game were not bad, but the number of shots was 7.5 times, and the rebounds also dropped to a career low of 7.2 per game.

The Celtics' highest offensive success rate was actually Pierce, who had the best defense!

If Pierce hadn't scored 12 points in the first quarter with 5 of 7 shots in singles against Prince's defense, the Celtics would have collapsed in the first quarter.

Pierce played very tired this year, very tired. If the team's defense was good, he would have no problem playing singles all the time, but the team's defense was too poor, and there were too many people who wanted the ball to play singles. The key was that the Celtics had no one else who was more efficient than him in singles, but those people had to have the ball to contribute.

After last season, he was used to playing as the absolute boss of the team, but this season, Antoine Walker is back.

The words Antoine Walker said when he left last time made Pierce feel upset, and after Antoine Walker came back, his playing style did not change at all, and he still played like a boss who just took the ball and did it.

Half a season has passed, and Pierce feels that this season is more tiring than last season! Although the Celtics didn't have a good record last season, at least everyone played as a team. But after Antoine Walker came back, it became a one-on-one game.

But the East is no longer the East of the past. O'Neal and Webber traveled east, the Wizards and Bulls rose, and the East was at its strongest overall strength in more than a decade. If the Pacers hadn't collapsed, the real rise of the East would only be a matter of time. The Pistons, Hawks, Pacers, and Heat are four top championship-level teams, which are no worse than the West.

This season, the Celtics played a performance similar to the 02-03 season, but now they have been squeezed out of the top eight in the East by the Pacers, 76ers, and Wizards.

Pierce didn't want to lose to the Hawks, and he was still fighting for the eighth place in the East. The Celtics are now 20 wins and 23 losses. Including the game with the Hawks, the Celtics still have 39 games, and they are not without a chance of the playoffs.

Moreover, Liu Mang of the Hawks seemed to be without McGrady today, and his scoring effect was not good. Although he made many passes, he was unable to widen the score. Pierce felt that there was still a chance to win this game! Pierce felt that the Hawks' victory had a lot to do with Liu Mang's high score.

The fans at the scene saw that Liu Mang only scored 11 points in the first quarter, and they felt the same as Pierce, which was a bit regretful. Liu Mang played more steadily because McGrady was not there.

However, the fans had different views from Pierce. The fans were worried that the Hawks would widen the score gap in a few moves, and Liu Mang would have to clock out if he couldn't get 40 points.

The fans of the Hawks were very confident, very confident, because although McGrady couldn't play, there was still a gun on the bench!

Jason Terry!

However, the steady play style had nothing to do with Liu Mang...

After the timeout, the Hawks replaced Liu Mang with a combination of Liu Mang, Jason Terry, Josh Smith, Kwame Brown, and Mourning.

Put Kwame Brown and Mourning on the court together, and Josh Smith played as a small forward to attack rebounds!

Liu Mang and Jason Terry started to shoot wildly from the ninth minute of the first quarter to the official timeout of the second quarter, a total of 10 minutes!

The three inside line combination was to attack the offensive rebounds and defend the basket on the defensive end to allow Liu Mang and Jason Terry to counterattack.

He only scored 9 points in 9 minutes, but he made 2 of 3 three-point shots. Liu Mang knew that he was in the mood. When Jason Terry came on the court, he followed Jason Terry's rhythm and started to shoot wildly!

Pierce was still expecting Liu Mang to score "low" today. For the Hawks' opponents, Liu Mang's current score of less than 40 points was low. Pierce expected Liu Mang to rely on singles to bite the score when McGrady was not scoring low today.

But when Liu Mang and Jason Terry started to shoot wildly together, Pierce found that he really thought too much!

It was terrible!

Liu Mang and Jason Terry threw a ball wildly, like playing a shooting machine!

In a fast break, Liu Mang and Jason Terry threw the ball wildly without caring whether it went in or not. Josh Smith and Kwame Brown pressed the Celtics inside to grab offensive rebounds. At this time, Mourning was in the backcourt and did not rush down, guarding the basket to prevent the double wave combination from missing the shot and being counterattacked by the opponent to attack the basket directly.

Falling into a positional battle, the Hawks had three people grabbing rebounds and two people throwing the ball.

This style of play is completely based on the premise that the Hawks' two outside shooters are very accurate!

Liu Mang averaged 3.7 three-pointers per game, the highest in the league, with a hit rate of 41%. Jason Terry averaged 2.5 three-pointers per game, with a hit rate of 42.5%, which was higher than Liu Mang!

In the middle of the second quarter, Pierce realized that he was overthinking when he wanted to take advantage of Liu Mang's "inability to score" without McGrady... He was also the scoring champion last year without McGrady!

2700+5000 words, and there are still 13,000 words left. Keep writing. Please vote for the next chapter before 1 o'clock!