Defeat the Lakers and sweep the Lakers in the regular season. If it can be done, it will undoubtedly bring great confidence to the Hawks team composed of young players.

Especially since Raheem, who has been in a downturn for many years, has finally regained the high-spirited core of the team he was when he graduated from college and entered the draft, it is necessary to further enhance this confidence.

Coach Kruger has been preparing for the game against the Lakers since he finished playing with the Spurs. As for the Hornets winning so easily in the middle, it was purely an unexpected surprise. He has maintained his physical fitness very well and is waiting for the Lakers to arrive.

The two most critical points are that O'Neal continues to be absent, Kobe leads the team alone, and Jason Terry has been in excellent form recently, averaging close to 30 points per game in recent games.

Jason Terry is in good form, Raheem is confident, and there is a certain rookie who causes trouble from time to time. Coach Kruger is still very confident in defeating the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant alone.

It’s not that Kobe is not good at leading a team, it’s just that he is better at taking a lineup that could have made the playoffs to a championship level, and is not the kind of player who can support a system on his own.

A sharp offensive weapon, stifling opponents on both offense and defense at critical moments, this is what Kobe is good at.

It's okay to let Kobe lead the team alone. If the team can't keep the team together, this guy will hit 60 or 70 points by himself and make his opponents cry, but it's relatively easy to beat.

These combined reasons are the key to Coach Kruger not having much confidence in beating the Spurs, but wanting to double defeat the Lakers.

Just before the pre-game training with the Lakers, coach Kruger had just put pressure on the players to stimulate their fighting spirit, when the tragedy happened.

Ratliff sprained his ankle during training. After examination, he was not seriously injured, but he will be sidelined for at least two weeks!

This is undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for the Eagles!

Ratliff's injury is inseparable from the Eagles' tight schedule of six games in nine days. The main reason is that they rested for eight days and then immediately played six games in nine days.

Averaging 7 points and 8 rebounds per game may not be important, but blocking people when grabbing rebounds, blocking and defensive interference at the basket against the opponent's breakthrough players, and defense at critical moments. Even though Ratliff can only play 27 games in a game

Eight minutes, but his role is irreplaceable by anyone else on the Hawks except him. In the entire NBA, except for Ben Wallace and Mutombo, no one else can do these things like Ratliff.

.

For a time, a shadow fell over the Eagles, who had won seven consecutive games.

The core center was injured, and people discovered that except for the five main players, the Eagles seemed to have nothing else!

No matter who of these five people is absent, it will have a huge impact on the overall structure of this team!

…

…

"I hope Theo can return soon. He is a key part of our team. No one in our team can be missing, otherwise it will not be the Eagles." Rahim said in a pre-match interview.

"We will wait for him to come back, and we will win and not let him worry. Hey, man, is Theo just a sprain? Just wait and see, he will be back in less than two weeks, and he is still the strongest shot-blocking leader.

, we will still maintain the title of one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference." This is the always confident Jason Terry.

As for the last of the three Hawks All-Stars, the head coach locked him in the locker room and refused to let him come out for interviews...

Liu Mang doesn't care much about whether he accepts interviews or not. It's not that he has any prejudice against domestic reporters. The main reason is that domestic reporters sometimes have some questions that are too irritating. Now domestic reporters almost account for the number of reporters during the Eagles' home games.

Half of them, you have to remember that the Eagles are now the most popular fried chicken team in the East, and they can't match the number of domestic reporters coming from across the ocean.

I always ask Liu Mang how he evaluates Battelle’s strength, how he evaluates Wang Zhizhi’s strength...

I haven't played with either of them. How can I evaluate Liu Mang? Battelle was in the Nuggets and had no playing time. He was placed in the newly established Development League and he never played against the Mavericks.

These problems can still be accepted. After all, he has playing time in the NBA. There is no doubt that he is one of the more than 400 strongest players in the world. He is the pride of national basketball in any country.

But these reporters asked Liu Mang to predict which national players besides Yao Ming could enter the NBA...

More than one or two reporters asked this question.

So after Liu Mang's All-Star Weekend, except for the first two or three games where he honestly accepted interviews, he never went there again.

But, today we are playing against Kobe!

If you don't exchange a few words with Kobe and watch this future Mamba look angry and angry, how can he be worthy of Peter Pan who only comes to Atlanta once a year?

Making Kobe angry is the funniest thing, okay?

As a result, coach Kruger, who had long expected Liu Mang to cause trouble, banned him from being interviewed. Liu Mang could only regretfully do pre-game warm-ups in the locker room.

Speaking of which, the Three Little Eagles played the Lakers today, and after Ratliff couldn't play, they were even more excited than before!

As for what to do in the first two weeks of March after playing the Lakers, I still don’t know. Anyway, when playing the Lakers now, the opponent gave up O’Neal. The Eagles have a complete lineup and are definitely superior in strength. Even if they are just rising up, the Eagles will definitely have the upper hand.

season, it has not yet been determined that the Eagles will be No. 1 in the Eastern Conference at the end of the season. All the Hawks players are very confident.

But if you want to play against such a competitive opponent like Kobe, everyone wants to be "fair". If you let O'Neal, we will also let Ratliff!

Yes, the three Little Eagles forcibly regarded Ratliff's injury as a big center for the Lakers!

…

…

Strategically, we want to be "fair", but in fact, the Eagles are still under a lot of pressure.

After the All-Star weekend, I don’t know why he started to go berserk. He had 40 points in 4 consecutive games. Kobe, who also led the Lakers to a complete victory record after the All-Star weekend, was indeed very strong!

The key is that this guy has an iron shot, an even harder heart, and a strong will!

After the pre-game activities, Kobe Bryant took the Lakers on the field. It was obvious that this Lakers team was very different from the Lakers they had played against before!

When O'Neal was there in the past, the atmosphere of the Lakers was that of everyone playing together. Before the game, O'Neal would greet his opponents and chat a few words, regardless of their relationship. In addition to seeing Duncan and the Clippers, O'Neal had nothing to do with the Clippers.

Everyone else was smiling.

Now, the Lakers have a strong sense of seriousness.

That very distinct feeling of high-pressure rule from Kobe and Jordan!
Chapter completed!