Chapter 921 920. Not that Simple (Please Subscribe, Please Recommend)

60 points in three quarters was a pleasant surprise. For Liu Mang, besides showing off, it also meant that he had more superstar value.

After playing against the Clippers and the Warriors, Liu Mang's superstar value finally exceeded 50,000 again, reaching 51,132 superstar value points.

The rogue value also broke through 40 million again, reaching 40.22 million, and it is still rising.

Since last night, Liu Mang's mobile phone has been bombarded by players and media in the league who know his mobile phone number. He decisively turned it off, returned to the hotel and had a video call with the excited little Lolita on the computer, and ignored the mobile phone. Today, he arrived in Salt Lake City, which is very close to California and an hour away. After arriving in the room and resting for a while, he turned on his mobile phone and saw that the text messages had exploded. He replied to the text messages of those with whom he had a general relationship, called the people with whom he had a good relationship to brag, and finally solved the problem of the phone.

However, there was still no call or text message from Kobe, and Liu Mang was a little regretful.

After dealing with all these things, Liu Mang calmed down.

Just like what he said when he was showing off, it was just a win in the regular season, a good performance, but what was better was winning.

The Hawks now have 13 consecutive wins, tying the Suns' previous record of winning streak this season, but because of Liu Mang's 60 points in three quarters, the winning streak did not attract people's attention.

Liu Mang's goal of 18 consecutive wins got a chance to be secretly completed.

Arriving at the hotel in Salt Lake City at 9:30 in the morning, Liu Mang spent more than half an hour on phone calls and text messages, and rested until 11 o'clock. Seeing that there was still an hour before lunch time, Liu Mang was going to go to the gym to train his waist and abdomen strength, but was called to the meeting room of the hotel rented by the team by Emmanuel.

Liu Mang came to the meeting room, and Coach Kruger saw him coming and immediately introduced him: "Ace, this is our new teammate, Wesley Persson."

Liu Mang thought there was something to talk about, but he didn't expect to welcome a new teammate!

Persson took the initiative to extend his hand and greeted: "Ace, wow, it's great to be your teammate. I really want to play with you on the court now."

"Hello, I'm Ace, but playing with me is not a good thing. I'm not good at passing the ball." Liu Mang made a joke.

"Haha, it doesn't matter, don't we still have Tracy!" Persson laughed. The young core can joke, which proves that he is not a difficult person to get along with. Although Persson talked to McGrady on the phone, he still has doubts.

Now Persson has contacted Liu Mang himself. He has been in the NBA for eleven years and has always been a role player. He can tell whether he is easy to get along with or not at a glance.

He has come to this point, just to fulfill his dream of winning the championship, and he can make a little contribution.

After getting to know each other, Coach Kruger told Liu Mang that there was nothing to do, and Liu Mang did not stay in the meeting room. The team editors came and were connecting the computer to the projector. Liu Mang knew that this was to make the new teammates familiar with the team's tactics, and the coaching staff still had a lot to do.

It's not that there is no news that a certain player wants to join the Hawks, but most of them are groundless. It may not be that they really don't have this idea, but most of the rumors are unreliable. The Hawks want him, and he also wants to come, but there are no conditions for cooperation.

Either the contract is too big and the player is unwilling to give up so much money, or the team where the player is is unwilling to let him go.

Liu Mang remembers that last summer, Persson was called an important signing for the Heat by the media. A 33-year-old veteran role player got a 3-year, $9 million contract, which caused a lot of discussion at the time. Persson was also seen as an important supplement to the Heat's lack of outside shooting ability.

However, Liu Mang played three games with the Heat this season, and it seems that he has never seen a player named Persson on the Heat. Liu Mang has forgotten about it.

I didn't expect Persson to come to his own team! And with two months left in the regular season, it must be the minimum salary. If the Heat let him go, they must have taken a lot less money. Liu Mang was very surprised.

Liu Mang didn't have time to show off on the Internet, and he didn't know that the team had recruited players. He was interviewed last night and didn't notice that the coaching staff and Price were constantly on the phone.

Coach Kruger introduced Persson to Liu Mang. In the afternoon, Coach Kruger would bring Persson to the players to meet him, but Liu Mang, as the absolute core of the team, would meet him first.

After saying hello, Coach Kruger, Mike Woodson, Stockton and others called Persson to watch the slides, and explained the team's tactics and the role Persson would play to Persson.

Although he is just a veteran who is about to turn 34, anyone signed by the team has the opportunity to play. As long as he plays, he must be taken seriously. If a person is blind when he goes up, what's the point of substituting him? It's better to train young people well. Veterans need them to make contributions immediately, whether it's contributions in the locker room or on the court.

However, Persson is also a player who has wandered around many teams. Basically, he can make contributions immediately after changing to another team. With more than ten years of rich game experience and the good mentality of a veteran who does not care about salary and data, he is a candidate that the coaching staff has considered for a long time.

Originally, there were several days to consider, but because Liu Mang wanted to get 18 consecutive wins, Coach Kruger didn't want to disrupt the rotation plan. McGrady's physical fitness is average, Rasheed Wallace is old, and Prince defends the opponent's best singles player every day. They all need rest, and they can only rest more, not less, so Coach Kruger stepped up contact with owner Price yesterday and reached a consensus with Persson.

After Persson received the signing commitment from the Hawks, he immediately reached a buyout with the Heat and came today.

After Liu Mang left the office, he asked the system: "Persson's ability evaluation and peak evaluation."

"Ding... Wesley Persson, ability evaluation 73, offense 77, defense 70, three-pointer 88, mid-range shot 75, layup 76..."

"Ding... Wesley Persson 1997-1998 version (peak), ability evaluation 79, offense 85, defense 70, three-pointer 89, mid-range shot 79, layup 85,... 14.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists per game... 2.3 three-pointers per game, three-pointer hit rate 43%, overall shooting hit rate 46%..."

God shooter! And the three-pointer state is maintained too well!

Although he was just an ordinary starting player in his peak period, not even a quasi-first-class star, he is the type that all coaches like, with accurate shooting, clear positioning, and high efficiency.

It's just that such players are often not noticed by people. If they are in a popular team, it's okay. In some unpopular teams, even if they play well, other fans may not notice such a player except the fans of that team.

For example, Liu Mang has no impression of Persson at all.

But his strength is really good. He is about to be 34 years old, and his ability evaluation is 73.

This year, the reinforcements of the Hawks' inside and outside are very targeted, and Liu Mang's already good mood has become even better.

When the four starters are resting, the Hawks have no problem in the inside line, and there are Muhammad, Mourning, Josh Smith, Varejao and even McCarty. It is enough to have Liu Mang to support against weak teams.

But there are fewer outside players. Iguodala, Korver, Calderon, Jason Terry and Liu Mang, a total of five people rotate. In addition to Liu Mang and Jason Terry, there are three first- and second-year players, which is quite difficult.

Now there is a veteran pitcher with a 73-win rating. When Korver and Calderon, who are in their first and second years, are not performing well, there is a veteran. Not to mention whether he can score, just his career three-point shooting rate of more than 40%, Liu Mang feels relieved when he sees it.

When a team is in the best situation, it will often get better and better, just like the Warriors, who were originally champions and won 73 games in the second year, and then Durant came, and then Cousins ​​was also acquired. Before the salary crisis broke out completely, they will continue to get better.

After quickly completing the signings, Liu Mang knew that the team's lineup this year has stabilized. The lineup is young, with Rasheed Wallace, a morale booster in the starting lineup, and two veterans, Alonzo Mourning and Persson, in the bench. The team is ready for the playoffs.

Of course, Liu Mang knew that this also meant that the team's regular season had come to an end. There were still 25 games left. In addition to resting, he was probably preparing for the playoffs. Especially with the arrival of a veteran pitcher, whose ability was no worse than Iguodala, and better than Korver and Calderon, he must be well integrated into the team.

…

Liu Mang was very excited to get the help of the veteran. The media and fans did not pay much attention to the fact that the Hawks signed a veteran with a minimum salary. Now the league is hotly discussing Liu Mang's 60 points in three quarters.

However, other favorites to win the championship were very unhappy with the Heat's decision to send Persson to the Hawks.

The Hawks got Persson, which is not impeccable, but at least it filled the gap of the Hawks' lack of veterans on the outside. Last season, the veteran on the outside of the Hawks was Stockton, but this season there has been no veterans. Most of the substitutes are first-year and second-year players. It is a big but not small gap, but Pat Riley gave Persson to the Hawks, which made the head coaches of other championship teams very dissatisfied. Isn't he afraid that the Hawks will become stronger?

How can others understand Pat Riley's calculations?

In the second game of the regular season this year, he had used a lot of planning and calculations to try to deal with the Hawks, but found that Wade was still young and could not compete with Liu Mang and McGrady. Damon Jones, the team's point guard, is said to be a point guard, but in fact he is an overly arrogant three-point shooter. The three-pointer is very accurate, but the defensive awareness is weak, there is a defensive attitude but no defensive effect, and there is a lack of inside substitutes... A lot of problems were exposed when playing against the Hawks.

The fortune teller knew that this year was not their best year. Since they could not beat the Hawks, he did not want other teams to beat the Hawks. When the Hawks won consecutive championships and became slack, they would have a better chance next season.

…

…

The outside world was still discussing the Hawks, but Liu Mang had already put the game against the Warriors aside.

Winning streak was more important!

They had won 13 games in a row, and there were still 5 games to go. Although the Jazz had a bad record, their lineup was not bad, but it was not bad. They were just playing badly for the sake of playing badly.

Who knew if the opponent would explode at this time?

On the 24th, Liu Mang, Muhammad, and Jason Terry went to meet Boozer at noon. After the team had a training session in the afternoon for the game against the Jazz in the evening and the tactical training with Persson, Liu Mang went to the lounge to rest for a while, waiting for dinner and pre-game warm-up time.

Liu Mang opened the system panel.

51,132 superstar points, more than 41.76 million rogue points, more than 1 million rogue points in more than a day, and the acquisition of the second talent skill is progressing steadily.

Seeing that the physical potion and injury potion were running out again, Liu Mang said to the system: "System boss, 111 superstar value draws."

"The host uses 111 primary superstar value draws, consuming 11100 superstar value points..."

The feeling of this overwhelming light blue box "filling" the entire room is so cool. After rotating together, the whole room is full of green smoke, although only Liu Mang can see it...

"Ding... Congratulations to the host for obtaining 132 physical potions, 56 primary injury potions, and 71 skill upgrade cards."

Liu Mang took a look and now has a total of 163 physical potions, 106 primary injury potions, and 106 skill upgrade cards.

It's enough to hold on for a while, and there are still 40032 superstar points, which is enough in case of trouble, not to mention that there are Wade and Ray Allen's star cards there.

Liu Mang closed his eyes and rested his mind to prepare for the evening game. Mental fatigue is the most tiring thing for Liu Mang to play back-to-back games continuously.

…

After the warm-up training in the evening, the Hawks players stepped onto the Energy Solutions Center to challenge the Jazz away.

The Jazz fans were very friendly to the Hawks, at least they didn't boo. When Stockton's influence was still there, as long as the Hawks and the Jazz didn't threaten each other in the playoffs, the Jazz fans would probably be more friendly to the Hawks.

The two evil spirits returned to Salt Lake City together, but only as the Hawks coaching staff and trainers, but the two of them "joined hands" again, which made the Jazz fans very happy.

The Jazz had contacted the Hawks and Malone before, and the posters at the entrance of the stadium said that Malone's jersey would be retired during the halftime break.

The Jazz fans now really feel that Malone has retired completely. Originally, the Hawks vacated a position when they got the trade for Mourning. Malone wanted to continue playing, and the Hawks would definitely be happy, but Malone insisted on not coming back. Now that he has signed Persson, Malone's championship window is completely closed. The Jazz are also ready to retire Malone's jersey when the Hawks come to Salt Lake City to play.

After Liu Mang entered the court, he saw the Jazz's lineup and couldn't figure out how this team could play to achieve a record of 16 wins!

Boozer averaged 17.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, and Kirilenko averaged 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3.4 blocks per game, exceeding Camby's average of 3.2 blocks per game. Both of them are first-class star-level players.

Not only the data, but also the ability evaluation!

Liu Mang looked at the ability evaluation of the Jazz players. Boozer's ability evaluation was 88, offense 92, and defense 73. After starting, his strength was fully demonstrated and his progress became faster.

Kirilenko, ability rating 86, offense 79, defense 91.

Matt Harpring, ability rating 81, Mehmet Okur, ability rating 77, Carlos Arroyo, ability rating 71...

With this Jazz lineup, Liu Mang felt that it was not easy for Sloan to make the Jazz's record the third from the bottom in the league. The old coach didn't care about his face, just to get the fat guy who would hurt his heart in the future...

...

Just as Liu Mang thought, Sloan really lost his face and played badly. After getting Boozer and Okur, they had the strength to enter the playoffs, but they played badly last season. Basically, the two highest picks of the three draft picks were sent away, and the duo of Boozer and Okur in the interior was completed, plus the forward-guard combination of Harpring and Kirilenko. It was not just for the playoffs, he wanted a new championship team.

Last year, he had already lost his face to get the No. 6 pick for the Hawks. He was willing to lose his face again for another year.

But, playing badly is always bumpy! After all this, they are still ranked third from the bottom.

The Jazz have 16 wins and 40 losses so far, and they are losing seriously, but they can't stand the Hornets and Bobcats, two teams produced in Charlotte, who have only won 10 games so far. They are really overwhelmed!

The core combination of Boozer and Kirilenko are both first-class stars. This is also the key to Sloan's failure to completely rot the team. He can't let these two first-class stars play. They are two important components of the future core trio.

The Jazz are third from the bottom in the league. It is difficult to "catch up" with the Hornets and the future Hornets. These two teams produced in Charlotte are desperately trying to compete for the top pick. The Jazz have tried their best to play badly, but they can't stand the good team lineup!

However, with the development of the NCAA this season, Sloan feels that the top three picks are enough.

Sloan's favorite point guard, Deron Williams, was predicted to be third or fourth in the draft. However, Sloan discovered another NCAA pick-and-roll player this year, Chris Paul, who exploded in his sophomore year and rose from the middle of the first round to the top five picks. Sloan now has more options and doesn't necessarily have to pick the No. 1 pick.

The most important thing is that Australia's Duncan - Andrew Bogut has played so well this season, no less than Duncan back then. It is certain that he will be the No. 1 pick, and others will not even have a chance to compete...

Of course, it's hard to say if the Bobcats get the No. 1 pick. Maybe after seeing Kwame Brown's talent, Jordan is ready to show off his unique vision again. But even if Bogut is not selected with the first pick, he will be the second pick. The pick will definitely be taken away as well.

Bogut averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.1 blocks per game in the NCAA regular season this year. He scored double-doubles in all 26 games. He was awarded the three major NCAA basketball awards, the Associated Press Player of the Year, the Naismith Player of the Year, and the Wooden Award. Te is the most popular, and the kind that cannot be shaken.

If Sloan gets the No. 1 pick, he will not hesitate to choose Bogut. In future transactions, he will not worry about no team wanting him. The key is that Bogut plays at the University of Utah. If Sloan gets the No. 1 pick, he must choose him.

Even if there is a subsequent trade, Sloan will have to choose Bogut first. Bogut's popularity in Salt Lake City is higher than that of all the current Jazz players. If the Jazz get the No. 1 pick and don't give the No. 1 pick to Bogut, the Jazz will He will probably be scolded to death by University of Utah fans.

The University of Utah is in Salt Lake City. Most of the fans of the Jazz are students from the University of Utah and fans of the University of Utah basketball team. The reason why the Jazz can have a devil's home court is because the basketball atmosphere here is quite strong. From elementary school basketball to Junior high school, high school, college, NBA, every stage of basketball, Salt Lake City has a glorious history.

The University of Utah is just a university. The arena inside the university is better than the Jazz Arena. The Energy Solutions Center only has 20,000 seats, but the University of Utah’s basketball arena has more than 22,000 seats, and every game is packed. You can see that. How crazy are the basketball fans here.

Therefore, when the Hornets and Bobcats were ranked last and second from last, Sloan saw that the Raptors, fourth from last, and Bucks, fifth from last, both had 20 wins, so he simply stopped fighting for first place. , just guarantee three points, and avoid conflicts with fans at that time.

So in some games, if you still play well, play well. There are more than 20 games left in the regular season. It’s time to cultivate a winning culture and wait for good point guards to come next season. This will directly allow rookie point guards to experience the post-season experience. The feeling of racing.

The coach is experienced and can be shameless. He conscientiously implements a steady and steady approach to team building, which is a blessing for the Jazz. Otherwise, it would be too difficult for such a small city to rise.

You have to lose, but you have to let the players have the spirit of fighting to win. Of course, you have to work harder when playing against a strong team. If you win, it can also improve the players' self-confidence after they have been in decline for so long.

For example, against the Eagles, Sloan is ready to give his players confidence.

Boozer is very motivated to face his old team and wants to prove that he can do it if he changes teams. This is not because Boozer hates the Eagles and beat him for the trade. On the contrary, his heart still belongs to the Eagles. If he fails to win elsewhere, The team won the championship, and the Eagles are probably the team he has the most memories of in his career. It was a team that truly carried the gun together and rose from the quagmire of failure to the top.

Boozer just wanted to prove he could do it, simple as that.

…

As Liu Mang sprinkled magnesium powder into the air, the two teams started.

Boozer saw that on the opposite side, only Liu Mang was starting, and the rest were all substitutes... Do you look down on your buddy so much?

The Eagles sent out a starting lineup of Liu Mang, Korver, Iguodala, Muhammad, and Mourning.

For the Jazz, the starting combination of Arroyo, Halprin, Kirilenko, Boozer, and Okur appeared.

This lineup played together, which reminded Liu Mang of watching the playoffs between the Rockets and Jazz in junior high school. He saw that when the Rockets were defeated by the Jazz in the first round every year, the Jazz's lineup was only one Deron. .

But fortunately, they are all young. Apart from Halprin, the oldest member of the Jazz team is 25-year-old Okur.

The Jazz have won Boozer as the start of his career. Will it be different from the original history? Will he become a future threat to his team?

Liu Mang was very curious, but if he could play against Boozer in the finals...Liu Mang was really looking forward to it.

Mourning and Okur came to the center circle to jump the ball. Mourning was strong as an old man, and pushed the ball backwards over the head of the young Okur.

After Liu Mang received the ball, he advanced towards the frontcourt and quickly rushed to the three-point line.

The Jazz retreated unexpectedly quickly. After Liu Mang reached the three-point line, Halprin was already in front of him and immediately moved towards Liu Mang.

Feeling the rough movements of this tough white man who had experienced the tail end of the Jazz era in the 1990s, Liu Mang took a step back without stopping. After taking a step back, he kicked his right leg sharply and broke through to the left!

Halprin quickly moved to the right, and Liu Mang immediately changed direction. He fished the bouncing ball to the right with his left hand, changing direction to the right and accelerating.

Halprin knew that Liu Mang was about to change direction, but he had to block it, otherwise Liu Mang would rush inside from the left and would not even be able to give Liu Mang an extra second to change direction.

Liu Mang rushed directly to the basket from the center. Boozer's defense came very quickly. The active defense he learned in the Eagles is still maintained, but his awareness of the defense... Liu Mang turned sideways and actively moved towards Boozer. Go up, turn around and use Boozer to block Okur. Mourning and Muhammad have already taken a step back to the sidelines on both sides of the three-second zone to wait for offensive rebounds.

Liu Mang used Boozer to block Okur, half-turned and hooked with Boozer!

A perfect breakthrough followed by a low-post turnaround hook, but just when the ball was about to reach the highest point, a hand came out and hit Liu Mang's hooked ball away!

Andrei Kirilenko!

Just like Kirilenko's sinister face, his defense is like this, with excellent blocking awareness, fast enough to be comparable to point guards, and very good at blocking from behind, like a killer in the dark night!

The ball was hit on the backboard by Kirilenko, and Muhammad on the same side reacted quickly, grabbed the ball, grabbed the ball with both hands and sent it towards the basket, scoring two points in the second attack.

The goal was scored, but Liu Mang saw that the Jazz almost surrounded him!

Harpring was defending him alone, Boozer was assisting, and Okur also wanted to double-team him, but Liu Mang took advantage of Boozer's poor defensive awareness to block him, and Kirilenko's backup defense was behind.

That is to say, except for Arroyo who defended Korver's three-pointer, the Jazz had four players guarding him!

The Jazz obviously wanted to take advantage of their four starters' absence to kill them!

Liu Mang immediately retreated, and something unexpected happened. The Jazz was so targeted on the defensive end!

What about the promise to play badly to fight for the No. 1 pick? Liu Mang felt the pressure when he saw Sloan's bitter face that seemed to have never smiled.

Originally, he was so decisive to let the other four starters rest, and he came himself, because the Warriors and the Jazz were both weak, one was bad, and the other was playing badly, but the Jazz actually wanted to win now!

This was beyond Liu Mang's expectations. Seeing Boozer go to the low post to ask for the ball after passing half court, Liu Mang knew that this game was not as simple as he imagined!