Li Ao looked at the opposing starting lineup, Jason Terry, Emmanuel Davis, Raheem, Muhammad, and Ratliff.
Sitting on the opposite bench were Toni Kukoc, Jacqui Vaughn, Ira Newbel, DeMarre Johnson, Dean Grove, and his old teammate Chris Mihm.
There are core, veteran and young players, the age of the lineup is very good, and the player structure is also good.
Head coach Lon Kruger is also an excellent coach, good at discovering and cultivating new players. Jason Terry, who entered the NBA in 1999, was not taken seriously by Lanny Wilkens in his rookie year and was frustrated. After Luger came to this team, he boldly used this small shooting guard. Jason Terry became a first-line scorer in his sophomore year, averaging 19.7 points per game.
In exchange for the addition of Mutombo, Nazr Muhammad was discovered as a high-quality role player. In two and a half years with the 76ers, Muhammad averaged only 6.06 points per game. Minutes of playing time, in 20 games at the end of last season, he averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds per game, and received a three-year, $15 million contract extension.
There's a reason there's a sparkle in Raheem's eyes again, he really does see hope.
However, Li Ao remembered that the owner of the Eagles, the prodigal son of the Price Consortium, was an owner with little ability and unwilling to be mediocre. As soon as he had the momentum to rise, he would operate blindly.
In the mid-1990s, he won 55+ games many times, and he could reach the championship with minor repairs. However, he had to make a big deal to send away Wilkins and Steve Smith... Finally, in the summer of 1999, he The Iron-Blooded Hawks have collapsed. Last summer, ESPN selected two of the NBA's "Top Ten Worst Owners of the 1990s" on the list, Sterling and Price. Even the Warriors bosses couldn't compete with these two.
Li Ao put away his distracting thoughts and came to the center line.
If the Hawks gain momentum later, what kind of tricks their boss will do is something that will happen later. This year, the Hawks started with two consecutive wins, defeating the Heat 109-103 and the Rockets 104-98. The momentum is strong. , can't be careless.
The game starts at 8pm.
Ratliff beat O'Neal to win the jump ball, and the Eagles scored first!
Rahim excitedly came to the left side of the three-second zone to ask for the ball for a single. After relying on Li Ao to receive the ball, he wanted to make a sneak attack and turned around... The ball in his hand was poked as soon as he turned around. For a moment, I almost let go.
He quickly held the ball firmly with both hands and turned his back to Li Ao.
I almost forgot that Spider-Man is a real big spider!
Li Ao did not continue to press on, but stood firmly behind Rahim, supporting Rahim's waist with one hand and half-raising it with the other.
Rahim suppressed his excitement when he saw the two super scouts, knocked Li Ao back a step with a hit, turned left to the sideline of the three-second zone, took off, and shot a jumper from close range...
After being knocked back, Li Ao kicked off his right foot, stepped forward with his left foot to the left, jumped back in front of Rahim, and took off to block the shot.
With top-notch bounce speed, first-class bounce, and the strongest wingspan, Rahim quickly leaned back to avoid the block and pushed the ball out... It was iron!
The ball hit the front of the basket and bounced in the direction of the two of them. Li Ao landed and turned around to collect the rebound.
Rahim retreated quickly, grinning.
With this wingspan, mobility, bullet speed, and timing ability to interfere with shooting, Terry actually said it was easy to play?
He wanted to curse people all the time.
The transition between offense and defense was beyond the expectations of the Eagles. Mike Bibby advanced to the frontcourt and lobbed the ball to O'Neal who was leaning against Ratliff on the left side of the three-second zone.
O'Neal Jr. caught the ball and knocked Ratliff one step back, then stepped with his right foot outside the sideline of the three-second zone, turned left with his right foot to face the basket, and shot a jump shot from close range...in!
Ratliff knew he couldn't bear it. With his 208 cm + 107 kg tonnage, he couldn't compete with the opponent's 211 cm + 118 kg O'Neal, so he aimed at interfering with the opponent's shooting from the beginning.
He paid attention to O'Neal's legs, and when he saw O'Neal raising his right foot, he was ready to interfere with O'Neal's left turn to the front of the basket for a shot.
Unexpectedly, when O'Neal raised his right foot, he stepped forward and turned around to shoot!
And it's a right-handed shot!
This is the first time he has encountered this operation!
O'Neal clenched his fists in his chest and turned around to retreat. He played O'Neal in the opening game and Foyle and Dampier in the second game. He had no chance to use his newly developed singles skills. He finally had a chance tonight!
In the transition between offense and defense, Rahim continued to ask for the ball in singles. This time he didn't think about making an easy shot. Instead, he took a step to create space and turned into the basket.
Muhammad took away Odom with a high ball-free screen, and Ratliff also reached the mid-range on the right baseline. O'Neal had to leave the three-second zone.
Rahim turned around and jumped into the basket to attack the frame. O'Neal Jr. rushed back from the right side of the three-second zone and struggled to interfere with Rahim's layup.
Rahim changed hands to pull the lever in the air, and hit the basket with his left hand!
Li Ao bared his teeth. He was worthy of being the 1996 Talent Producer who could perform as an All-Star as long as he had the motivation.
Li Ao ran to the frontcourt after serving and continued to open up space for O'Neal Jr.
Ratliff's help defense ability is the best in the league, but his single defense is average, and he is poor when encountering strong post-playing players.
O'Neal Jr. continued to catch the ball and play from behind. Ratliff chose to stay close this time. O'Neal Jr. turned left to the front of the basket, raised the ball high and hit the basket!
When the Eagles attacked, Rahim continued to attack the inside. O'Neal Jr. shrank back in advance to attack. Rahim passed the ball to the right side of the basket. Ratliff followed O'Neal Jr. into the basket and caught the ball and hit a layup!
After defending for three rounds, Li Ao felt that the top players adapted to the new rules very quickly! Raheem has been able to make good use of the defensive three-second rule.
If O'Neal wants to shrink in advance, he has to wait until Rahim starts playing with his back. Otherwise, Rahim can wait until 3 seconds are almost up and O'Neal must leave before playing with his back. In that case, O'Neal will not be able to shrink in advance.
The Clippers attacked and the Eagles players adjusted their defensive positions.
Now that they have the ability to win, every player on the Eagles is very active.
Upon seeing this, Li Ao stopped watching the show with his hands on his hips and started running. His teammates were also moving according to the changes on the field.
O'Neal Jr. continued to catch the ball in the low post, and when he turned around with one step, Muhammad shrank up.
O'Neal Jr. passed the ball to Odom on the right side of the three-second zone. Odom raised it and was stuck by Rahim who was on defense. Odom faked a pass and threw the ball to the right rear from his head.
Li Ao ran around the free throw line to the right corner, caught the ball, turned around and shot a three-pointer...in! The first pitcher is feeling hot!
7 to 4, the Clippers lead by 3 points!
Lon Kruger looked melancholy. The perimeter defense he had worked so hard to prepare was in vain!
The opponent actually used O'Neal to attack at the beginning, which was completely beyond his expectation.
In the early stage of Rahim's main attack, he neither had a score advantage nor even a momentum advantage. The next step will be difficult!
When the Eagles attacked, Raheem, who had attacked for three consecutive rounds at the beginning, had to slow down and led Li Ao to the bottom line, clearing the high post for Terry.
But Terry's emergency stop in singles against Bibby was two minutes long!
When it came to the Clippers' offense, O'Neal Jr. not only played an efficient performance in the opening attack, leading the team to beat the opponent in score, but also disrupted the opponent's poor defensive discipline.
Jordan received a pass from Bibby, turned around and made a sudden jump shot. Muhammad did not cover up in place, and Jordan easily hit the mid-range shot!
9 to 4, the Clippers started with a clear lead!
As the team that attacked first, they fell behind by 5 points after 4 rounds. This was a big blow to the Eagles players.
Moreover, the opponent in front of them is the Clippers. The dark horse who performed amazingly last season is the benchmark for all teams eager to rise. The Eagles are also eager to replicate the achievements of the Clippers.
After a few rounds, at least now, they all began to doubt whether they had the talent and ability.
This gap is too big.
Seeing that the Eagles were about to collapse at the start, Terry stepped forward!
He faced Bibby's defense and hit a long-range three-pointer while retreating!
Bibby: "..."
Terry just passed him and made a pull-up jumper, but now he made a three-pointer!
Bibby was speechless, while the Eagles players were refreshed!
7 to 9, the situation suddenly got better again!
Terry's goal helped the Eagles regain their morale.
In the next few rounds, the Hawks, led by Terry, played back and forth with the Clippers.
At 5 minutes and 22 seconds of the game, Terry broke through and passed the ball to Rahim. Rahim caught the ball and turned around to avoid Li Ao's pursuit. He hit a long two-point shot and the score came to 15-15. The Eagles were defeated. After playing a wave of 9-4, they responded with a wave of 11-6 to tie the score!
When the Clippers attacked, Li Ao received a pass from Bibby after circling the pile. Muhammad actively switched defenses. Li Ao received the ball and took a step horizontally but failed to get rid of the opponent. He did not pass the ball to his teammate who was responding, and faced Muhammad Mulder interfered with the takeoff and took a fadeaway jumper...
Seeing Li Ao leaning back until his whole body was tilted, Muhammad could only hope that the ball thrown by the opponent would hit the basket.
But his expectations were dashed. Li Ao hit a fadeaway jumper against the defense!
When it comes to the Eagles' offense, there is always a void after the climax. Raheem's pull-up jumper after catching the ball and taking one step is ironic!
Looking back, Li Ao followed the same movement as in the previous round. After receiving the ball and raising his hand, Muhammad was knocked away! Li Ao broke through to the right and came to the sideline of the three-second zone to make a jump shot... and hit it again!
19 to 15, the Clippers regained a 4-point lead, the Eagles called a timeout and entered the official timeout stage!
The fans at the scene cheered loudly for Li Ao.
Clippers fans know this all too well about the fact that a young team cannot hold back after it gains momentum. They often performed like that last season. In many games, they relied on their fearless momentum to defeat their opponents.
The opposite Hawks team has completed player changes and has become a standard youth army. Ratliff, the oldest in the starting lineup, is also 28 years old, and the other starters are all under 25 years old.
Being driven by such a team may really be unstoppable.
But just when the Eagles were about to take the lead, their Spider-Man stepped up to stabilize the situation!
The fans were very happy. After hearing Gentry's arrangement, Li Ao, who returned to the bench, narrowed his eyes and looked at his head coach.
Gentry turned his head, ignoring Spider-Man's gaze, and wanted to hit him from behind. At least he couldn't see who hit him, so he wouldn't hold a grudge.
His eyes were useless, Li Ao had a puffy face (｀⌒′)
7 points in the half quarter, 4 points in a row when it was urgent to score to suppress the opponent's momentum. Is this the result? As a result, he was asked to guard against that guy? There is a height difference of one inch.
Forget it, this can be considered trust.
Li Ao moved his body to prepare for defense. He felt that his young master's body was really running errands. He had just finished guarding an opponent with the size of a power forward, and now he had to guard an opponent with speed from a point guard.
After returning from the timeout, the Clippers sent out a combination of Bibby, Li Ao, Matt Halprin, Odom, and O'Neal Jr.
The situation was still unstable, so Gentry only replaced Jordan, who was supposed to be resting.
For the Eagles, the combination of Dean Grove, Terry, Raheem, Muhammad, and Ratliff came on the field.
Lon Kruger knows what it takes to develop young players - give them enough playing time.
The Eagles attacked. After Terry received the serve, he turned around and saw the big spider between him and the basket. The word starting with F couldn't help but spit out.
This wasn't the first time he encountered Li Ao's defense, but every time he encountered Li Ao's defense, he couldn't help but curse.
But Terry soon became excited.
Even if Rahim comes, he is still the player that opponents value most!
No, the media is hyping Spider-Man, who may surpass Kobe Bryant to become the youngest first-guard player, to guard him!
(End of chapter)
