From today on is the king

Chapter 631 630. IQ Suppression
Liu Mang took the tactical board and directly erased the tactics that coach Kruger had drawn, then called out the lineup in his mind, and then drew.

Coach Kruger didn't pay attention and found that the tactical board in his hand was gone!
So angry!
However, I couldn't help but want to see what Liu Mang did!
It’s the 31st game of the season, the Eagles’ tactical system has already been formed, and the role distribution of the players has long been fixed. Occasionally, today’s situation where Raheem wants to play the main role, that is, use one of Liu Mang’s tactics.

The Pacers obviously seized this opportunity. Coach Carlisle wanted to snipe the Eagles in this game, laying a psychological advantage for the two teams to have a few more regular season matches in the future, and preparing for the playoffs.

Coach Kruger really admires Coach Carlisle, he exploits any gaps and magnifies the loopholes infinitely.

Whenever this kind of unexpected situation comes, the top teams are usually unwilling to spend too much time fighting wits and courage in the regular season. They would rather leave it to the players to solve it themselves.

However, the players have alternative operations, especially Liu Mang's ideas, which made the Eagles' coaching staff very curious. This guy has too many strange moves, and coach Kruger and Mike Woodson can always learn something.

Coaches and players learn new tactics, and that's the Eagles.

Seeing the person Liu Mang wanted to replace and the tactics he arranged, Coach Kruger secretly sighed that he guessed right, this kid is messing around again!And it's getting more exaggerated every time!
Although I think this is too unreliable, but thinking about it, it won't be worse than being led by the nose by the other party, right?Simply ignore it.

Rahim, who is the protagonist of the tactics, looked at Liu Mang with weird eyes and said, "Ace, are you sure you're not playing me because I stole the ball from you?"

Liu Mang's expression was very sincere: "Sharif, how can you say that? We are brothers! I just want to use you to test a new tactic... No, I think you have such abilities!"

Accidentally slipped out.

"..." Raheem was speechless, but if it really succeeded, Raheem felt that... as a defensive vanguard, he could have more opportunities to perform!

And this style of play is really unheard of, very imaginative style of play, Rahim also wants to try it.

Seeing that Rahim didn't refute, Liu Mang took his teammates to the field!
……

Both teams returned to the field.

For the Pacers, the veteran Kenny Anderson played, and Anthony Johnson was replaced. He gained weight and his physical fitness did not decline. Artest, who averaged 39 minutes per game this season, continued to play.

For the Hawks, Liu Mang, Prince, Barnes, Raheem, and Rasheed Wallace were deployed.

When Coach Carlisle saw the Eagles' lineup, he tilted his head and curled his lips in disdain. Their lineup was not afraid of the Eagles' "cavalry tactics" at all.

Obviously, seeing this lineup, everyone thought the Eagles were going to start.

After Liu Mang came up, he saw that the center for the Pacers was Jonathan Bender. In the 99 draft year, he was an overly skinny center who could easily dunk from the free throw line. I heard that this guy was a very "gentle" person.

This made Liu Mang feel really lucky!Compared with Jeff Foster or Scott Pollard, two white big centers with meat piles, this guy is obviously easier to deal with.

At the end of the intermission, the Eagles lost the jump ball, so the right to attack first in the middle two quarters belongs to the Eagles.

Liu Mang received Raheem's serve and saw the resentment in Raheem's eyes. Liu Mang pointed at the opposite basket several times, and Raheem immediately ran forward.

The grievances belong to the grievances, but Rahim can't suppress the desire to make troubles!
Liu Mang pushed forward slowly, stepping on the 8-second illegal point to pass halftime, watching Rahim get into position while advancing.

Seeing Raheem running over, Artest continued to attack Raheem without hesitation. He wanted to compete with Raheem. Al Harrington, who was not good at defending, went to defend against Barnes, who was not good at attacking.

but……

Raheem ran all the way to the basket!

Rasheed Wallace went to the right corner to open up space and took Jonathan Bender away. Barnes went to the left corner, and Al Harrington had to follow.

Prince pulled away at a 45-degree angle on the left side of the basket and took away Kenny Anderson, the Pacers' worst defender. Liu Mang dribbled the ball and advanced to the top arc. Seeing the huge space, only Raheem and Artest were left under the basket!
Liu Mang slowly dribbled beyond the three-point line. Facing Anthony Johnson, who is known for his rough defense and is also a veteran of the Eagles, Liu Mang's speed suddenly changed from slow to extremely fast, and he rushed towards the basket!

When the Pacers saw Raheem going to the low post, they thought the Eagles wanted Raheem to play low post. Coach Carlisle didn't think the Eagles would embarrass Raheem for a regular season, so he trusted Artest's low post defense.

But I didn't expect Liu Mang to suddenly speed up when he arrived in the frontcourt!

Anthony Johnson defended toughly, but being tough and being able to defend were two different things. Liu Mang accelerated sharply and took a step past Anthony Johnson's right, rushing to the free throw line. Artest was very active in defense and was very conscious. He took a step up immediately.

This kind of positive defensive attitude and excellent awareness of supplementary defensive positions are exactly what Liu Mang wants!
Liu Mang grabbed the ball while dribbling, and without adjustment, he grabbed the ball steadily with his big hands and threw it to the basket. Raheem easily scored two points with an alley-oop!
25 to 33, Raheem scored two points to narrow the point difference to within ten.

Offensive and defensive transition, Pacers attack, Pacers players discussed before serving and advancing. Artest, as the team's defensive core, ordered the next defense to return to the basket faster. From the Pacers players' point of view, the Eagles played by surprise. They were not ready, because Coach Carlisle said that the Eagles will definitely continue to let Raheem come up as the main attack point.

Coach Carlisle's first reaction on the sidelines was the same as Artest's. He felt that the Eagles were playing a trick. Looking at the Eagles' widening position and Raheem's low post, it was clear that Raheem's mid-to-long distance breakthrough or shooting was not good for Artest, so he was going to play low.

But looking at the cooperation between Raheem and Liu Mang, why did coach Carlisle feel so wrong?But I can't tell what's wrong, just have the weird feeling that often appeared when facing the Hawks in the playoffs in the past two years.

When the Pacers players settled down in the frontcourt, a scene that the entire Pacers team, from the players to the coaches, did not expect appeared. They saw that Raheem did not defend Artest or even Harrington, but ran to the basket and Jonathan Bender was blocked!Rasheed Wallace went to guard Al Harrington, the swingman at the third and fourth positions.

On Artest's side, a guy who looked more vicious than him came up, and he was not afraid of confrontation, and he started a hand-to-hand fight when he came up.

Of course, Barnes is ferocious, but he is still a bit worse than Artest. Artest resisted and firmly pressed Barnes behind him, blocking the space for receiving the ball.

At this time Kenny Anderson came forward and saw Liu Mang in front of him. Kenny Anderson was a veteran at the end of his career.
That's a lot of height difference!A full seven or eight centimeters!Kenny Anderson decisively chose to hang the ball to Jonathan Bender.

Jonathan Bender received the ball in the low post. Although he didn't understand why the forward Raheem was defending him, how could he not play with such a good opportunity!

Jonathan Bender hits hard into the three-second zone...I can't move it!When he received the ball, he saw that Rahim was defending him behind him. He completely forgot that he couldn't get in when he wanted to squeeze into the basket just now. He forgot that although he was 92 meters, he weighed only [-] kilograms!

The unbelieving Jonathan Bender turned around and wanted to hit it high, but Raheem firmly held the lower plate, and there was no room for him to jump.

Forcibly steal!

The Eagles counterattack collectively!
Jonathan Bender, a big center was bullied by a small forward, and was intercepted so directly, the Pacers were completely unprepared.

After Rahim made the steal, he immediately counterattacked and passed the ball to Liu Mang. Liu Mang sprinted toward the frontcourt to increase his speed to the fastest. After passing Kenny Anderson's block, he rushed straight to the opponent's basket, attracting the Pacers who were supposed to defend against the five-man fast break of the Eagles in all directions.

Liu Mang rushed to the middle distance on the left side of the basket, stopped and jumped!

Artest, whose speed compares to weight is so incredible, and Jonathan Bender, who was unexpectedly the first to return to defense, all rushed towards Liu Mang to block the shot.

But Liu Mang jumped up to pass the ball!Liu Mang passed the ball to the center and Rahim rushed in, received the ball and smashed it into the basket!

After the goal, the Eagles didn't cheer or celebrate, 27 to 33, still six points behind.

The players on the Pacers side quickly communicated about the next offense.

Kenny Anderson pushed forward, Artest fell to the low post, and wanted to single Barnes, but... the inside defender was still Raheem!When Barnes saw that Artest was going to drop low, he immediately switched to defend Al Harrington. Rasheed Wallace followed Jonathan Bender to the bottom corner.

Artest relied on Raheem to get the ball and slammed into Raheem. If he defended against Artest's tank-like breakthrough, Raheem has nothing to do now, even if he didn't lose weight last season, there is no good way.

But the low-post singles are very different. It doesn't matter if you have good physical fitness. Even O'Neal's low-post steps and small hooks are very powerful.

And Artest is even confused about how to use his physical advantage correctly in low post singles!Great low post defense doesn't mean low post offense!
Artest slammed into Raheem, and Raheem lowered his center of gravity to hold it steadily. Artest was also a mixed person. He didn't hit the space, so he turned around and forcibly threw the shot.

As luck would have it, Artest's forced throw bounced off the neck of the basket and fell into the basket.

Although he entered, Artest felt very bad!

After the goal, the Pacers retreated quickly and did not give the Eagles a chance to break fast.

Liu Mang was not in a hurry, he pushed forward slowly, and then Rahim continued to go to the low position.

After Liu Mang advances to the frontcourt, there is no such easy breakthrough space as the previous attack. Anthony Johnson is really good at defending, with a good defensive distance and good small steps to prevent Liu Mang from breaking through.

The Pacers want to use Artest to stimulate Raheem's desire to attack. Of course, Liu Mang will not let this opportunity pass.
Seeing that Raheem was leaning against Artest to get to his position, Liu Mang immediately hung him to Raheem.

After hanging to Raheem, Liu Mang took the initiative to stick to Anthony Johnson, then turned around Anthony Johnson suddenly, wiped the opponent and rushed to the basket!

It took a lot of effort to break through with the ball in hand, and without the ball, Liu Mang threw Anthony Johnson far away and rushed straight to the basket!

Artest originally wanted to guard against Raheem's low-post singles, but seeing Liu Mang cut in, Raheem turned around to pass the ball, and Artest immediately blocked Liu Mang like a center.

but!Artest has a better defensive awareness than a center, but he doesn't have the wide defensive area under the basket brought by the center's height and wingspan!

Raheem turning around and passing the ball was a fake move. When Artest was going to block Liu Mang, Raheem took a step and jumped up. Artest, who turned around and entered the basket, smashed the ball into the basket!
29 to 35, the Eagles continued to cling to the score!
Artest roared angrily. He felt that his defensive judgment was wrong, but Coach Carlisle on the sidelines found something was wrong!
It's so wrong!

Why does Raheem's style of play look more and more like a center forward!
The cooperation between Liu Mang and Raheem is not like a small forward, and coach Carlisle knows very well that Raheem and the entire Eagles have the worst offensive coordination with others. This is why Raheem weakened his offensive role this year.

Coach Carlisle also grasped this point, knowing that Raheem can only play singles if he wants to play good numbers, so he asked Artest to provoke Raheem and wanted to create a two-man confrontation.

But Coach Carlisle didn't expect Liu Mang to cooperate with Raheem in the second quarter!And it's weird!
The combination of the two looks really strong!

And the Eagles' defensive strategy is so weird!Coach Carlisle didn't even have the idea of ​​calling a timeout, because he didn't know how to deal with it. Maybe he could replace O'Neal in advance, but O'Neal's physical fitness will have problems again.

Coach Carlisle is confused!Why is it only a break during the festival, and the strategy that was clearly planned is perfectly planned, but suddenly it is about to collapse?

After a few more rounds, when it was discovered that Raheem seemed to be so defensively dominant at the basket, and the offensive end and Liu Mang's cooperation changed from a duo at the beginning to slowly forcing his defense to shrink later, Prince and Rasheed Wallace on the outside began to get three-point opportunities, and the point difference was gradually narrowed by the Eagles to a negligible three-pointer.

He is finally sure!

The Eagles actually used such a weird style of play!It completely feels like a child's play!

Raheem actually played center forward!

Instead of appearing in the center position in the mini-counterattack lineup when the Eagles played Super Cavalry tactics, Raheem is really playing as a center forward!

Receiving the ball in the low post and turning back, the outside cut attracts the opponent's "center forward" to supplement the defense, and then Rahim holds up and hits high.

Jonathan Bender went to defend, but was forced by Raheem. Al Harrington couldn't defend, and Artest could defend, but when Artest defended Raheem, Liu Mang made an air cut to attract the defense. Artest had a good defensive awareness and ability, but he didn't have the height that a center should have when defending at the center position!

Coach Carlisle really felt the suppression of IQ this time. The opponent actually thought of using the small forward as a traditional center, and forced his own small forward to become a center!

In just 4 minutes, the Eagles chased the score to 37 to 40!

(End of this chapter)