Chapter 945
"We can't give up! Basketball is round. As long as we work hard, there will be hope!" Jamison loudly cheered for his teammates.
The Wizards are a youth team. Apart from former Lakers player Samaki Walker, the oldest players are Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes, who entered the NBA in 1998.
Although Jamison's leadership skills are average, the Wizards players are young and easily motivated.
There is one man who is desperate but eager to break free from this miserable fear, and that man is Gilbert Arenas.
In the past, I was only beaten by Liu Mang in the regular season, but now I meet Liu Mang in the playoffs. After this match, two situations may occur.
One is to defeat Liu Mang and break his inner demons; the second is to be defeated by Liu Mang and never recover from it...
Arenas was almost depressed when he faced Liu Mang. He was originally depressed when he met James in the playoffs for three consecutive years starting from the 2005-06 season. Some fans joked that he pulled out a gun in 2009. Because I was depressed after being beaten by James, I couldn’t bear it anymore...
Arenas is now eager to defeat Liu Mang more than anyone else. As a rookie in the same class, he is neither in the same position as Liu Mang like Gasol, nor does he want to be Liu Mang's teammate like the No. 1 pick he hates. Parker did not have the good fortune to win a championship with Duncan within two years of entering the NBA. Parker was the first player to win a championship in the 2001 class, mainly because the Lakers did not have draft picks in 2001.
Arenas came out of the second round, and his fate is very similar to that of Liu Mang. They both started to perform far better than their picks in their rookie seasons. However, Liu Mang is the more dazzling one, and Arenas has always been the best. In Liu Mang's shadow.
Arenas can only defeat Liu Mang. Even if he can win one game, his inner demons will be resolved. But four years have passed and he has yet to win against Liu Mang.
Arenas doesn't want to go on like this, he wants to win!
…
…
Watching the regular season championship flag being raised, the Eagles players were very excited, mainly the new players, including Alonzo Mourning, who had never won a regular season championship.
The championship banner is embroidered with the names of every player, coaching staff, and owner of the Hawks, including the names of Tony Allen, Ariza, and Kevin Willis who have left the team, which is the first in NBA history. A small mark was left on the game, and even the old players were filled with excitement.
As for Liu Mang, Jason Terry and Muhammad, the three players who have been on the team, their interest is average and they have already won their third regular season championship banner.
If it weren't for the fact that although his team is one of the 11 oldest teams in the NBA, it doesn't have much honor and the sky above the arena is empty. Liu Mang would have wanted to suggest that the Celtics and Lakers directly The championship flag has been hung, but although it is a veteran team and one of only four remaining teams out of the original 11 teams, which has a longer history than the Lakers, it has not accumulated much heritage. , you can only hang it first.
After the championship flag was raised, the pre-game activities were almost over. Waiting for the Perfect Empire song to be played, getting ready, the game was about to begin.
While the American Empire song was playing, Liu Mang took a look at the Wizards' lineup.
Arenas has an ability evaluation of 87, Jamison has an ability evaluation of 86, Larry Hughes has an ability evaluation of 88. The trio is still so good, but the others are not. Haywood has an ability evaluation of 73, Jarvis- Hayes, ability rating 69.
Arenas finished the regular season this season, averaging 25.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, but the Wizards' best performer was Larry Hughes, who averaged 23 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.8 steals per game. He is versatile in both offense and defense. He is the Wizards' best performer. The real core, Arenas is relatively speaking, a weakened version of Liu Mang who can pass the ball more.
As for Jamison, he only averaged 19 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists per game this season. His tactical status is not high. He is strong offensively and weak defensively. His blocks and steals data are almost equal to 0. However, he has a good attitude. At least he will not become a black hole. His skills are said to be ten short. Centimeter Nowitzki.
I think Jamison's statistics in the first three years of his career were much better than Nowitzki's, but he was with the Warriors. The Warriors' determination to wait for Curry to throw away any star made them let go one after another. A first-class star or a star embryo.
Arenas is compared to Liu Mang for a reason. Players in the same class are both top-scoring point guards, second-round picks, and have the highest and second-highest salaries in the 2001 class.
After looking at the strength of the Wizards' main force, there are only three stars. Except for Haywood and Antonio Daniels on the bench, there are no role players with average starting strength. The main reason is that the team is reluctant to spend money. They have 4,900 The salary of 10,000 yuan has not yet reached the salary cap. Except for Jamison and Arenas, who have annual salaries of 10 million yuan, and Larry Hughes, who earns the mid-level salary, the remaining player with the highest salary is the No. 10 pick in 2003 with 2.48 million US dollars. Jarvis Hayes.
…
The pre-game preparation time was over, and with Prince dancing and Kwame Brown clapping his hands and powder flying in the air, the lights dimmed and the scene became quiet.
Rasheed Wallace's rough face appeared on the big screen, and with a roar, the arena that had been extremely quiet just a moment ago suddenly exploded!
Liu Mang threw magnesium powder into the air and walked onto the court with Tracy McGrady, who had discussed with the referee for a softer ball with less air.
"Ding... The Hawks' Devil's Home is triggered, and the morale of the Washington Wizards has dropped significantly, from Rasheed Wallace and the fans at the Phillips Arena."
"Ding... Gilbert Arenas has entered a desperate state. In this round of the series, he will ignore any external interference and offset the pressure of the Hawks' Devil's Home."
Liu Mang didn't expect to hear this prompt!
"Hey, is this guy going to eat people?" Liu Mang only then noticed the desperate look in Arenas' eyes when he looked at him.
Anas was also a top-level star in his prime. At that time, Liu Mang felt that Arenas could be a threat, but now Arenas...
Hit him!
Anas is now judged by the system to be in a desperate state, but Liu Mang is not afraid. Liu Mang's idea now is to do it!
On the Hawks side, Liu Mang, McGrady, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Kwame Brown all started.
On the Wizards side, Arenas, Larry Hughes, Antawn Jamison, Jarvis Hayes, and Brand Haywood appeared in the starting lineup.
"Tayshawn, do you defend Arenas or me?" Liu Mang asked Prince.
"It's OK." Prince replied.
The main reason is that Arenas and Larry Hughes are about the same in strength. McGrady needs to defend Jamison. It doesn't matter whether Liu Mang or Prince defends Arenas or Larry Hughes.
"Then I'll defend Arenas!" Liu Mang wanted to play against Arenas. Anyway, these two are the best among the first-class stars.
"Okay."
Prince is as cool as an emotionless killer.
Who is the boss? Liu Mang felt seriously frustrated. He wondered if he should be cooler?
After seeing Liu Mang glance at him, he began to lose his mind. Arenas's pent-up energy was ignited and he wanted to win!
Kwame Brown and Haywood, the two "enemies", came to the center circle. Of course, the enemy was Haywood's perspective. Now Kwame Brown no longer took the grudge with Haywood to heart. After his vision was raised, he would not care so much about the dirty things in the past. Kwame Brown's view on Haywood was to deal with this guy well, because this guy's blocking and blocking ability was excellent.
The referee came to the center circle, pointed to both sides, blew the whistle to start the game, and threw the ball into the air.
Haywood jumped hard, but as a player of the same class, he was a physical man. The reason why the No. 1 pick was the No. 1 pick was because his physical fitness was better than that of other physical men in the same class!
Kwame Brown slapped the ball to the back with a small palm difference. Liu Mang received the ball and passed it to McGrady, and ran to the front court.
Liu Mang was just past the center line when Larry Hughes came up to him.
Liu Mang's continuous lateral movement, rapid acceleration, and deceleration did not get rid of Larry Hughes. Larry Hughes focused on defending Liu Mang, and his awareness was so good!
Moreover, the Wizards' defense was very good. Liu Mang ran to the inside to use the pick-and-roll, and the opponent used the method of blocking him in advance. In the playoffs, the referee's whistle became loose, and the referee did not blow the whistle for this kind of physical confrontation.
He is worthy of being the best defensive player among the outside players this season! Liu Mang sighed secretly. Larry Hughes used his own awareness, physical fitness, and the defense of his teammates to run to the left 45-degree angle, which is the best 45-degree angle on both wings, to open up space outside the three-point line.
McGrady saw that Liu Mang had no chance. When Liu Mang ran back from the inside with Larry Hughes to the left 45-degree angle, he immediately chose to force a breakthrough, easily leaving Jamison behind, and rushed to the inside to layup and scored two points.
The inside and outside of the opponent's inside and outside lines worked together to defend Liu Mang. As long as McGrady passed the defender from the other side, it would be too easy for him to score in the inside!
Attack and defense change, the Wizards attack.
Seeing Arenas advancing, Liu Mang defended outside the three-point line. This season, Arenas' average three-point hits per game ranked eighth in the league, averaging 2.6 per game, with a hit rate of 36%, and he is also a very accurate three-point shooter.
What makes Arenas most popular with fans and makes him disliked by Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan is his iconic long-range three-pointer.
Arenas passed the half court and saw Liu Mang's expectant expression. Arenas tried to suppress his indignation and fear of never winning against Liu Mang, and observed Liu Mang's defense.
Arenas knew Liu Mang's defense very well. Liu Mang was very good at defending technical and speed-type singles players. Unless he was as skilled as Ginobili, or deliberately relied on his body to force it like Kobe, Wade, and Francis, it would be difficult to single Liu Mang.
Arenas calmed down and waved for a pick-and-roll.
Haywood came out to block Liu Mang. Liu Mang was afraid of Arenas' breakthrough and quick stop jump shot. He did not go around the pick-and-roll from the front, but leaned on Haywood to quickly go around the pick-and-roll and blocked Arenas' breakthrough route. However, after Liu Mang went around the pick-and-roll, he saw that Arenas only moved sideways one step!
Arenas, in a straight line with Haywood and the basket, took a step across the three-point line and shot a three-pointer!
"Bang"
"Shua"
The shot was very accurate! The front three-pointer hit the small rectangle on the backboard and bounced into the basket!
Arenas came up and shot a three-pointer!
What a dare to throw!
Kwame Brown defended Arenas' three-pointer after the pick-and-roll, and Liu Mang defended Arenas' breakthrough after the pick-and-roll. As a result, Arenas saw the Hawks' defensive intention and forced a three-pointer directly, and it went in!
Attack and defense change, the Hawks attack, Liu Mang immediately attracted most of the Wizards' defense after he arrived at the frontcourt. McGrady used Liu Mang's restraining force to break into the inside again. This time, Jarvis Hayes let go of Rasheed Wallace to block McGrady, and together with Jamison, he sandwiched McGrady on the right side of the three-second zone.
Rasheed Wallace cut in, McGrady passed the ball to Rasheed Wallace, and Haywood, who had just helped Larry Hughes block Liu Mang, turned around and blocked Rasheed Wallace again.
At this time, Liu Mang, who had just run back, cut in again, Kwame Brown helped Liu Mang block Larry Hughes for the second time, Liu Mang cut into the basket from the left side of the basket, and Rasheed Wallace was blocked by Haywood and threw the ball to the left side of the basket. Liu Mang rushed into the inside and jumped, and lifted the ball in the air, and the ball hit the backboard and bounced into the basket!
4 to 3, the Hawks scored two goals in a row.
The Hawks quickly retreated, and Liu Mang talked to Prince and Kwame Brown and adjusted their defensive strategy.
It was the Wizards' turn to attack again. Liu Mang waited for Arenas to advance. Sure enough, as soon as Arenas came over, he asked Haywood for a pick-and-roll again, but this time Kwame Brown did not come out and continued to defend in the three-second zone. Prince let go of Larry Hughes, who had no mid-range and long-range shooting ability, and let Kwame Brown guard the basket to defend Arenas' pick-and-roll attack.
Arenas used the threat of pick-and-roll and breakthrough to shake Liu Mang off, but Prince directly defended him in front of him!
Arenas saw Prince's long arms and legs and didn't dare to say a word!
Is it that necessary? Use two single defense masters to defend me? Arenas immediately passed the ball to Larry Hughes at the right baseline, who did not play a role in opening up space at all.
Larry Hughes received the ball and rushed to the basket, and Kwame Brown defended outside the three-second zone on the right.
Good physical fitness means you can do whatever you want. Kwame Brown's lateral movement is too good. He made full preparations to switch to Larry Hughes and blocked Larry Hughes outside the three-second zone!
Larry Hughes stopped in the three-second zone and kept changing directions to shake off Kwame Brown, but Kwame Brown just didn't move. Kwame Brown's defensive talent is really amazing. In the past two seasons, his defense has become stronger and stronger. He knows how to defend the outside line under the basket. The important thing is not to move or jump casually.
Larry Hughes was helpless. He didn't expect Kwame Brown to move so quickly and predict so accurately. He blocked him all of a sudden. Seeing that he wasted seven or eight seconds here, he could only look for teammates.
Jamison was bypassed by McGrady, and Haywood who cut in was blocked by Prince. Larry Hughes could only pass to Arenas who was running.
Arenas received the ball, and Liu Mang blocked him in front of him like a shadow. After Arenas received the ball, he took a strong step and made a quick stop jump shot within the three-point line!
Liu Mang's level 5 blocker predictive ability is very good. When Arenas took off, Liu Mang jumped up at the same time, a little higher than Arenas, and stretched out his hand to block the shot. Arenas leaned back in the air, doing a Steve Nash-style super fade...
The ball flew past Liu Mang's fingertips a few centimeters away and fell into the basket again!
Got it in!
Seeing Arenas landed unsteadily, he took a few steps back and sat on the ground, then got up and retreated quickly.
Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan was once Byron Scott's assistant coach. He is good at defense and triangle offense, which he himself may not understand very well. The Wizards' defensive feature is fast return defense, which can always bring the opponent into a positional battle. As for whether it can be defended or not, it is another question.
Looking at Arenas who made two difficult shots in a row, this is really... explosive! Liu Mang was shocked by Arenas' singles!
In fact, this is the normal performance of Arenas when playing against other teams. It's just that Liu Mang pressed Arenas too hard. It's hard for Arenas to play normally against Liu Mang unless he's on the edge of the cliff.
And this time Arenas met Liu Mang in the playoffs, and he really reached the edge of the cliff!
When the Hawks attacked, McGrady continued to use Liu Mang's threat to create opportunities for his teammates or to score for himself. In the playoffs, scoring is the kingly way. Liu Mang and McGrady don't care who scores and who gets assists.
Moreover, even if Liu Mang is a threat to contain the defense, Liu Mang has a lot of scoring opportunities. After more than two months of tactical running and running-in with teammates on the court, Liu Mang's running ability is stronger than the first half of the regular season. When playing against the Wizards, a team that has defensive enthusiasm but no good defensive system, Liu Mang only needs to do more off-ball pick-and-rolls, and he can have scoring opportunities after the threats from other teammates come out. The Wizards only have Haywood and Larry Hughes who can defend, and the others are scum.
When the official timeout came in the first quarter, Liu Mang easily scored 6 points, McGrady scored 5 points and 3 assists, and the Hawks scored 16 points in 7 minutes, with a high offensive efficiency.
However, the Wizards also scored 16 points!
Arenas exploded! He scored 10 points and 2 assists in more than half a quarter!
It wasn't that Liu Mang's defense was bad, nor that Prince's double-teaming was not fast enough, but that Arenas was too accurate! He made 4 of 6 shots at the start! The Hawks were double-teamed, and Arenas scored 10 points and got two assists!
The Hawks focused on tactical coordination, while the Wizards focused on Arenas' singles. The fans at the scene were very excited and cheered. The offense and defense of the two teams were very good. The Hawks used tactical coordination to mobilize the opponent's defense and used team defense to defend Arenas, and they played very well.
But after seven minutes, the fans who had been watching the excitement saw the score magnified on the big screen after the official timeout, and the scores of the two teams were actually tied!
It's incredible! Is this still the Wizards? Is this still the Arenas who is afraid of the cold?