At the "advanced age" of 40 years old, Malone averaged 13 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He also defended very well and had only 2.5 turnovers and fouls. At such an age, Malone proved that he is not just a Sloan system.

star, but a true superstar.

Not playing pick-and-roll, not the first offensive option, or even just the third or fourth ball-handling option, he can still perform like this. Malone's strength proves that he is a real superstar, but he is a little older.

This year, apart from the conflict with Kobe, Malone can be said to be the most praised player among the Lakers' Big Four.

O'Neal is lazy and lazy, Payton has declined so badly that even Fisher can steal his playing time. Kobe is the target of criticism this year. Malone is the most surprising to the fans. At the age of 40, he can still truly have the grace of a giant.

He is the number one power forward in history between the old and new generations. Maybe Jordan is not even good, although Jordan's statistics will definitely be better.

Malone has naturally been very happy about this, but now, Malone really wants to return to the "system star". Looking at his old buddy, he can even compete with himself thirty-five years old with someone who is not inferior to him on the offensive end.

With Boozer at six years old, and Liu Mang, who can run better and shoot better than Hornacek, Malone really hopes that he can replace Boozer of the Hawks and become a member of the two-way game.

The Lakers were fooled by the Hawks' Sloan system!

The Lakers couldn't guard against the pick-and-roll offensive style of Stockton and Boozer, as well as Liu Mang's trio!

This Hawks team is not as easy to deal with as the new pick-and-roll style of a few years later. Liu Mang is one of the top three three-point shooters in the league, and he often gets opportunities to catch the ball in the off-ball pick-and-roll with Boozer in a tacit understanding.

Rahim's defensive ability is definitely not as strong as that of Kirilenko at his peak. Kirilenko at his peak almost won the Defensive Player of the Year, but Rahim's rebounding is better. Boozer also went in after helping Liu Mang block people.

Under the basket, on the one hand, it attracts defenders, and on the other hand, it helps Kwame Brown deal with O'Neal and Malone. Raheem, Boozer, and Kwame Brown grab rebounds, and the advantage in rebounding is restored.

When it comes to the Eagles, Liu Mang can catch the ball and throw it away without restraint.

Moreover, Liu Mang's Quick Shooting Master Level 3 brings a 30% chance of being immune to the rhythm effect caused by movement when catching and shooting. The speed of catching and shooting is increased by 15%, allowing Kobe to chase Liu Mang.

The rhythm is always a beat slower!

Kobe Bryant had also studied Liu Mang's original running shot. The little blacksmith was a basketball fanatic. From the age of 6 to now 26 years old, he had been focusing on basketball for 20 years. He had studied Liu Mang deeply. He originally estimated that

If you try your best to chase Liu Mang, you can prevent Liu Mang from catching and shooting. However, the 15% increase in the speed of catching and shooting makes Kobe a beat slower every time!

Liu Mang can shoot unscrupulously. If Kareem Rush, who is guarding Raheem, comes to flank Liu Mang without the ball, Stockton will pass to Raheem for a mid-range shot. If O'Neal is under Liu Mang's basket,

To block Liu Mang, Kwame Brown rushed in from the right baseline to catch the ball. If Boozer helped Liu Mang pick and roll without the ball, Kobe and Fisher both chased Liu Mang. Stockton

Just pass it to Boozer for a mid-range shot...

Stockton is worthy of being a super passer with a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 4 to 1, and at almost 42 years old, he still has 4.6 assists to 1.3 turnovers. He can always deliver the ball to his teammates accurately and timely.

Liu Mang was naturally the catcher and shooter who benefited the most. After halftime, Liu Mang had already scored 29 points. In the last 5 minutes of the second quarter, he made 3 of 5 shots and 2 of 4 three-pointers, scoring 8 points!

When the Lakers had to attack Liu Mang's off-ball pick-and-roll style, the Hawks' offense came to life.

The Lakers didn't do a good job on the defensive end, and Kobe became impatient on the offensive end. Every time he came back from the game to play, he would press the opponent. Has there ever been a time when he was pressed and beaten by the opponent like this? Kobe wanted to be in the game.

The offensive end came back, but when the defender became Liu Mang, Liu Mang was willing to fight again and made many small moves, which annoyed Kobe. Kobe was anxious to chase points, and his desire to shoot further increased, which made him lose the previous one.

A lot of efficient shooting performance in the quarter, and there were consecutive hits at the end of the second quarter.

At this time, his stubbornness became the key to hindering Kobe. At the end of the second quarter, the Eagles relied on Sloan's system to hit a 16-7 scoring shock wave!

After halftime, the Eagles led 55 to 51, leading by 4 points heading into the intermission!

…

Obviously the Hawks' style of play went beyond the Lakers' pre-game tactical analysis.

The atmosphere in the Lakers locker room was very awkward, and it was obviously divided into two groups, Kobe and other Lakers players.

Zen Master closed his eyes and was thinking. He didn't expect the Eagles' coaching staff to be so powerful. They first used regular play to confuse his side, and then used the Sloan system's play that he had the most trouble with to deal with his side, irritating Kobe.

The competitive spirit...

From playing tactics to psychological tactics, the Eagles have planned everything, which makes Master Zen even more afraid of Coach Kruger...

Of course, this was all Zen Master's own wild guess, because the situation on the field changed, and that was indeed the case. The Eagles managed to do all the things that Zen Master had guessed about.

Zen Master didn't think of any good solution. The current situation is that the Eagles can score goals, and they can score them easily, but the Lakers can't score.

And Kobe couldn't make a shot, but insisted on making a shot. He didn't even think about organizing an offense and insisted on making shots. This was the main reason why the Lakers played so poorly on the offensive end in the transition period.

The Eagles seized this opportunity, defended it, and made the offense more active and motivated. Then the offense made a shot, and the defense became more active and motivated, forming a virtuous cycle.

Instead, the Lakers fell into a vicious cycle of Kobe being unable to defend himself in isolation, and Kobe getting anxious and continuing to attack, and continuing to be unable to defend...

After figuring this out, Master Zen had an idea. There was nothing he could do on the defensive end, so he had to start from the offensive end.

Zen Master clapped his hands and called the players together, mainly to communicate with Kobe. He rarely communicated with Kobe this year. Firstly, he was grudged by the things Kobe had done. Secondly, Kobe was not playing well most of the time this year.

It's very reasonable. The number of shots and touches has been at a new low in the past five years. He has been ranked fourth in the MVP rankings for a long time, second only to Liu Mang, Garnett, Duncan, and ahead of Artest and O'Neal.

, Peja, becoming a double favorite for one team and one defense is not something that everyone can do.

But every time Kobe met Liu Mang, he tried his best to kill Liu Mang. Instead, the Hawks seized the opportunity and took advantage of it.

It is rare that the Zen master did not favor O'Neal, but communicated well with Kobe...

…

In the Eagles locker room, Stockton had 4 assists in half a quarter, and his face was full of smiles. If Liu Mang hadn't missed two shots, and there were several balls that he passed to his teammates and then scored.

There will be more assists in half a quarter!

Today's Stockton seems to have returned to those years at the end of the last century. He has the best teammates, the team plays around him, and he also seizes the opportunity. Age is not the key to limiting his passing. In the new century

In the following years, what limited his assists was the decline in the abilities of his teammates.

The overall atmosphere of the Eagles was very good, and Liu Mang was also very excited. He scored 29 points in the half, surpassing Kobe's 27 points in the half. His five assists in the half were more than Kobe's four assists in the half. It was beautiful.

Very.

Coach Kruger didn't expect that the tactics he just tried out worked well...not that they were not bad, but they worked very well! He started to draw in the tactical manual and write down today's tactics. He was very melancholy.

Why did we get a Stockton who is almost 42 years old? If he were four or five years younger, even if he was 37 or 38, there would be two point guards in Liu Mang and Stockton in the next few years.

There are almost no players who have suffered injuries that can affect their attendance, and their team's point guard line is the strongest in the league!

Compared with the Lakers, who still need to communicate and plan tactics well, the Eagles are quite fast. The players were excited for a while. Coach Kruger called the players together and arranged the tactics for the third quarter, trying to win in the third quarter.

The gap was widened in one fell swoop in three quarters!

…

…

The second half of the game is about to begin. The Eagles continue to send out the core lineup of Stockton, Liu Mang and Boozer, with Prince and Rasheed Wallace being replaced.

Any team will be jealous when they see this year's Hawks lineup. The core lineups are changed one after another as if they are free of charge.

The Eagles can only say that they have no choice. The core lineup of Stockton plus Liu Mang and Boozer only has a salary of more than 3 million U.S. dollars. Liu Mang and Boozer's rookie bonus and Stockton's basic salary are still available.

With Prince's rookie bonus, the Hawks are a five-man group that can be used as the core lineup of a championship team. Except for Rasheed Wallace, whose salary this year is 17 million U.S. dollars, the other four combined are less than 500 million U.S. dollars.

Thousands of dollars of swords...

The Lakers sent out a lineup of Fisher, Kobe, Fox, Malone, and O'Neal. They obviously felt the pressure and had to replace the strongest lineup.

At the age of 40, Malone averages more than 30 minutes per game. He took a break in the first half of the second quarter and also took a break at halftime. There is no physical crisis now and he remains in good condition.

After the midfield activities were over, the second half of the game was about to begin. The Eagles had the ball. Liu Mang received the serve in the backcourt and steadily advanced towards the frontcourt. His thoughts were the same as those of his teammates and the coaching staff.

In the third quarter, the score gap widened in one fell swoop!

Take advantage of the fact that the Lakers can't defend their own offense and kill them!

After Liu Mang advanced to the frontcourt, he handed the ball to Stockton and started with a pick-and-roll attack!

Tactical adjustments are the task of the loser. The Lakers were obviously unable to defend against the Eagles' offense in the second half of the second quarter. Liu Mang did not bother to change anything.

After giving the ball to Stockton, Liu Mang immediately cut inside. Kobe was closely behind Liu Mang. Liu Mang rushed inside and had no chance to catch the ball, even though Rasheed Wallace pulled O'Neal to the right.

It went to the bottom corner, but Kobe's mad-dog defense seemed to be becoming more active, cutting off Liu Mang's receiving route, and Stockton didn't even dare to pass.

But it doesn't matter. After Liu Mang rushed into the basket from the right side, he stepped on the baseline and turned back to run. He rushed out from the left side of the basket. Kobe's physical fitness was beyond compare. He reacted immediately and immediately turned back and ran to follow Liu Mang.

Mang ran out. When Liu Mang ran to the middle distance on the left, Boozer stepped over to help Liu Mang block Kobe. Liu Mang rushed to the left at a 45-degree angle. The ball flew over from the top arc immediately. Liu Mang

After receiving the ball, he saw Fisher rushing over and didn't care. When Stockton passed the ball, Liu Mang happened to be at his waist when he received the ball. After receiving the ball, he immediately threw it out. Fisher had already

He ran very fast and pounced on me immediately, but still didn't cause any interference.

"Ding... Marksman level 5 trigger, from the host."

"Ding... The level 3 trigger of Quick Shooting Master comes from the host."

"Ding... The pick-and-roll master is triggered at level 5, from the host."

After playing for a while, Liu Mang, who was already very familiar with this style of play, became more and more skillful. His rhythm was perfect. All the skills that should be triggered were triggered. He caught the ball and hit a three-pointer with a sniper shot!

58 to 51, a 7-point lead!

The Eagles' largest lead in this game also tied the Lakers' previous largest lead of 7 points!

Seeing that the score difference increased to more than 5 points, Liu Mang became more confident!

Today, we have to win this game here!

The offense and defense transitioned, the Lakers attacked, Fisher advanced past half court, and the task was completed.

Liu Mang followed Fisher, and Fisher passed to Kobe after halftime.
To be continued...