"The addition of Steve is a great thing for us. He is an NCAA champion and he can bring a lot of help to our team..."

When Liu Mang arrived at the arena on the morning of the 15th, he was surrounded by reporters and asked about the latest Blake trade.

The Bucks fans gave Blake, who was in the last year of his rookie contract, to the Hawks for free, which made many fans complain that the Bucks would do whatever it takes to make things worse.

Look at the Knicks. They are playing hard to win. They have no hope of the playoffs at all. They are still fighting hard in every game. They have won 17 games. They are not far behind the Heat who won 19 games. They are already far away from the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Top three.

However, Blake is in the last year of his rookie contract, so it is understandable that the Bucks let him go. Blake has partnered with Reid this season, averaging 11 points and 5 assists per game. No contract close to the mid-level can keep him.

Moreover, although the Bucks only won 11 games this season, they did not lack the performance to beat strong teams, and they won 11 games in less than half a season. For them... it was too much...

The Bucks have been dreaming of getting a super center again since they acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar decades ago. Unfortunately, Bogut didn't do it well, so they had to do it again.

Blake was also a player in the 2003 class and was selected by the Wizards with the eighth overall pick in the second round. After the selection, the Wizards gave this second-round pick a four-year rookie contract. He was regarded as a "legacy" at the time.

Blake's strength lies in his leadership qualities. He was a winner in college. He reached two finals in four years of college basketball, reached the quarterfinals in four years, and won the 2002 NCAA championship.

Although his talent is limited, he was born in February 1980 and was 23 and a half years old when he participated in the 2003 draft. However, leadership ability has little to do with strength.

If you are leading troops to fight, if too many people with strong leadership skills are concentrated in one team, there will be a lot of trouble.

But basketball is different. A team has more people with leadership skills, and its mentality is easier to adjust.

As the core point guard who helped the University of Maryland win the NCAA championship, Steve Blake is an outstanding leader. Liu Mang has always wanted to partner with such a guard.

Apart from Stockton, Liu Mang has never partnered with a defender with such outstanding leadership ability.

Although McGrady and Jason Terry are strong, and Rondo's court control ability is also good, when it comes to leadership ability, neither of them can compare to Blake.

After the interview, Liu Mang entered the arena. Unexpectedly, Blake had already arrived in the early morning and was undergoing a team physical examination.

The Hawks were still worried about getting such an outstanding point guard for free. After the deal was completed yesterday afternoon, the Hawks contacted Blake and asked him to come for a physical examination today.

Blake was also very excited about playing for a team in the playoffs and couldn't wait to get to Atlanta last night.

Liu Mang did not disturb them and watched Blake's ability evaluation.

"Steve Blake, ability evaluation 79 (peak), offense 77, defense 78, passing 83, three-pointer 84, mid-range shot 71, layup 82, speed 88, strength 84..."

The 27-year-old Blake is at his peak, making Liu Mang very satisfied with having such a backup combo guard.

Although the ability rating is less than 80, it is enough for a substitute.

After watching the trial training for a while, Blake's basic skills are very solid. His strength is not very strong. It has to do with his physical condition. The solid basic skills acquired in four years of college are still very good. He is skilled in passing and controlling, has a solid three-pointer, and is barely 1.91 meters tall.

Can play shooting guard.

Liu Mang watched for a while and then went to practice shooting. The addition of Blake was very important for the relatively weak back line. Tracy McGrady and Battier mainly played small forwards, and Granger mainly played small forwards and power forwards. The back line would only be

There are only three left, Liu Mang, Jason Terry, and Rondo. With the addition of a near-first-class backup combo guard, there are more options.

Liu Mang practiced shooting for a while, and his teammates who had had a day off yesterday arrived one after another and began to prepare for the games against the Suns tonight and the Jazz tomorrow night.

Both games were not easy to play. The Suns, Jazz, and SuperSonics were fighting for fifth place in the Western Conference.

If you're sixth, you'll have to face the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs, if you're seventh, you'll have to face the Lakers, and if you're fifth... you'll face the Nuggets, the difference is quite big.

After Blake passed the physical examination, he came to the training ground and greeted his teammates on the new team.

"Hi, Flash, we are teammates." Liu Mang said as he shook hands with Blake.

Blake was puzzled. He used to be an opponent, and Liu Mang called him Flash. He could understand that Liu Mang was mocking him for being slow, but now they are teammates. Why did Liu Mang still call him that?

"Ace, why did you call me The Flash?" Blake finally had the chance to ask.

Wade does not have the nickname "The Flash" here in the United States. "The Flash" is the nickname given to Wade by domestic commentators. Wade's nickname is D-Wade. D means defense. Wade, who was in his second year in the 2004-05 season,

Germany is known for its defense, hence its nickname.

In the United States, the nickname "The Flash" was given to Blake by Liu Mang. Of course, fans and the media treated this nickname with ridicule.

"Uh..." This question was so embarrassing that Liu Mang was at a loss for words. Although a few years later, Blake used his strength to explain what it means to be a Flash when facing the league's top shooting guard, but now Blake is a slow defender, defensive

The end usually has to defend the shooting guard or even some small forwards less than two meters tall to keep up.

Liu Mang thought for a while and found it!

"I've always thought you look a lot like Barry Allen, with a small face and a thin face..." Liu Mang said without blushing or out of breath.

"looks like?"

Blake thought of the cartoon character. It was true that he had a small face and was tall and tall...but was he similar? Blake wanted to continue questioning, but the person who came to Liu Mang's rescue came.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Hello, I am Rajon Rondo, we will be teammates from now on." Rondo greeted Blake.

When Blake saw Rondo's expression, he didn't seem to be very friendly... He didn't remember offending this young man! When he was still with the Bucks, although Blake scored 16 points to help the Bucks win against the Hawks, he

There is no matchup with Rondo, but Tracy McGrady...

Seeing Liu Mang and Blake chatting animatedly, Rondo became jealous...

Originally, he was the only backup point guard in the Hawks, but now another one has arrived, who is better than him. With the sense of crisis and Liu Mang's good attitude towards Blake, Rondo is jealous...

They all got to know Blake, as well as Fezer and Mark Madsen, who completed further physical examinations immediately after Blake.

The rest of the Hawks didn't care much about the latter two. They were just ten-day short contracts. Blake's side received a little more attention.

Despite his thin appearance, Blake has a very tough style of play and his ability is just that, but he leaves a very outstanding impression on his opponents, which is reflected in the fact that he is not timid no matter how strong the opponent is.

McGrady, Jason Terry and other stars who have played against Blake all admire Blake.

Blake joins the Hawks, and they have another person who can catch the ball and throw it at critical moments, and he can shoot from open positions with good accuracy. The Hawks' perimeter players, except for Rondo, who feels a sense of crisis, are very happy.

…

The 13-man rotation has been assembled for the time being, and two emergency tactical training sessions were held in the afternoon. At 5 p.m., there are still two hours left, and the second game between the Eagles and the Suns this season is coming. The Eagles will rest.

After five o'clock, I started to warm up.

The Hawks are 25 wins and 13 losses, and the Suns are 23 wins and 18 losses. The Suns have played half of the schedule and are now ranked sixth in the Western Conference. They have the same record as the Jazz and SuperSonics, but they were beaten by the new doubles before.

After two games, he ranked second to the Jazz.

When there is pressure, there is greater motivation. After Liu Mang's bluster, the Suns have been under the greatest pressure since the beginning of the season in recent games. Previously, their record collapsed at the beginning of the season, and once it collapsed, it was a

For a while, no one paid attention to them, but Liu Mang helped them get back into people's sight.

After all, the strength of the stars is there. After other teams paid attention to them and listed them as strong opponents and went all out, they have made rapid progress and have become the fourth team in the Western Conference after the Lakers, Marriotts and Bulls.

And one thing...Thomas Carter is awesome!

The knee pain that bothered O'Neal last season was taken care of by Thomas Carter after he played half a season with the Suns!

Except for a few games at the beginning of the season, O'Neal has not missed a game since December.

In the past month, O'Neal averaged 23 minutes per game and scored 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. He performed well and was very efficient.

Nash ranks first in assists, averaging 12 assists per game recently.

Josh Smith's average of 22 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists per game is also very impressive.

They gradually achieved the expectations that people had for them when they first acquired Josh Smith and O'Neal.

After the warm-up, Liu Mang studied the Suns' scouting report.

He is really an opponent that makes Liu Mang very interested.

Because O'Neal left for the Heat more than a year early, Stoudemire and Marion exchanged for Josh Smith's rookie contract, and there is still a year of bonuses to be paid. If Josh Smith fails to score in the past two years,

The best team, Josh Smith's next contract is 4 years and 50 million with a starting salary of 10 million.

The Suns may also become a continued strong enemy in the future. After all, Nash can maintain his peak performance until 2012 and still have the strength to lead the assists, coupled with Josh Smith, who is in better health and younger...

…

…

At 6:40 pm, Liu Mang entered the stadium.

The Suns just defeated the Heat yesterday. O'Neal scored a season-high 36 points to help the Suns get their 23rd victory, beating the Heat 126-91. O'Neal let out a bad breath.

So today, Josh Smith and Calderon did not go to the arena during the day and spent the entire day catching up on sleep.

Liu Mang briefly said hello and chatted with the Suns players. It was back-to-back games. The Suns were still in the second game of back-to-back games. However, the Eagles did not take advantage of the physical advantage. The Suns won too easily yesterday.

At seven o'clock in the evening, the game, which was broadcast live across the United States, started.

The Eagles, the bombing team, went online again after a day.

For the time being, Rondo, Liu Mang, McGrady, Marion, and Kwame Brown will be used like this first, and when a suitable small forward is found, McGrady will be returned to the back line.

At the beginning of the game, the Eagles had the advantage, starting with a 9-4 start, taking advantage of the two weaknesses of Suns center O'Neal, who no longer had the ability to play quickly and was slow to return to defense. The Eagles had a clear advantage in the first three minutes.

However, the Suns took advantage of the Hawks' Rondo passing error and replaced O'Neal with a lineup of Nash, Raja Bell, James Jones, Josh Smith, and Diaw. Neither team could guard anyone.

Who is staying?

The scoring of the two teams in this game was not as explosive as the previous game when the Eagles played the Nuggets. The main reason was that the two teams played more methodically in this game.

Rondo played well. In addition to scoring, he was better than Nash in passing and rebounding, and defensively. Even if Nash tried his best, he couldn't prevent Rondo from breaking through. It was difficult to limit Rondo's breakthrough.

Rondo used his breakthrough and the containment brought by Liu Mang after just scoring 56 points to organize the offense very well.
To be continued...