Chapter 598 Liar

The Grizzlies were defeated in the second game, and the Pacers gnawed down a hard bone.

After taking a shower at the end of the game, the whole team got on the bus, then immediately went to the airport and flew to Atlanta. The Pacers will usher in the first away game of the new season, which is also a back-to-back game.

On the way to Atlanta, Li Liang took a nap.

It was a night of fierce confrontation and consumption.

It is indeed a lot harder to play inside than outside.

But playing inside does have the fun of playing inside.

That kind of high confrontation at the basket will make people's blood spurt.

The feeling of sweating is even more comfortable.

After arriving in Atlanta, the team conducted simple training in the training hall during the day.

Bird finally stopped sitting on the sidelines drinking tea and watching the show with a stool.

He picked up the whistle and participated in the team's offensive and defensive training.

Together with Mike Brown and Vogel, he began to guide the team's system.

During the training camp in October, although Bird has been doing hands-off shopkeepers, he is not in a daze, but thinking, thinking about what kind of ball the team will take this season.

After having Li Liang, the Pacers' strength increased.

But sending George to the Cavaliers did make the Cavaliers even stronger.

In yesterday's game, the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Bulls away. James and George scored 50 points together. With Irving's 21 points, the three scored 71 points.

It can be said that Li Liang's honey operation in Xia Tian somehow raised a monster for himself and the Pacers in the East.

Bird is now going to face this monster created by Li Liang.

The Pacers' original solid lineup is clearly showing signs of degradation.

Injuries to West and Hill all point to possible ensuing declines.

West is 34 years old, this age can decline a little bit younger, already Amitabha.

Last season, West's scoring has begun to drop sharply, and this season will definitely drop again.

Hill still has room for improvement in terms of age and ability, but his injuries make people not very optimistic.

He should rest until the end of December before returning to the game.

Throughout November, and most of December, the Pacers will have a hole at the back line.

As for Hibbert, let’s not talk about it. It has been inexplicably declining since the second half of last season. The insider who bullied Noel and the 76ers in the first game of this season was okay. Malaise.

Throughout the fourth quarter, he was only allowed to play in the last three minutes. He only scored 4 points and 2 rebounds. These statistics are really pitiful.

Therefore, the Pacers' situation is much more serious than many people see.

Li Liang joining the Pacers is completely different from joining the Clippers last summer.

The Clippers have a neat lineup. During the rising period, the players are healthy and the coaches are replaced. It can be said that they have a new look, and they have a record of 70 wins.

However, the Pacers are at the end of their strength. If they want to achieve results this season, they have to change their lives against the sky.

The pressure on Bird's shoulders is not small.

After serious consideration in yesterday's game, Mike Brown's Li Liang's center forward strategy was implemented, and the effect turned out to be good.

So this time during the training, Bird asked the two groups to confront each other, and once again asked Li Liang to lead a lineup as a center.

Li Liang suddenly realized, what does this mean?

Is it normal for me to play center forward?

Believe it or not, I won't jump if you ask me to jump the ball?

But in team training, you should listen to the coach.

So Li Liang led the second team to fight for 15 minutes.

As a result, Hibbert led the first team and was beaten by Li Liang...

Hibbert couldn't match up with Li Liang in defense.

Li Liang is shooting three-pointers from the outside line. If you want to save it, I will definitely break through.

Hibbert became cumbersome in front of the flexible and changeable Li Liang.

More importantly, in offense, he can't beat Li Liang in low post singles!

This is very fatal, if you are not in the right position on defense, you can't score if you are misplaced in offense...

Hibbert was very injured. The strange feeling and state since last season has been haunting him, and it can't go away for a long time.

After training, Hibbert left the training hall without saying a word.

Bird looked at Hibbert's gloomy look and knew that his time in the Pacers should not be too long.

Li Liang approached Mike Brown after training and asked, "Mike, did you tell Bird to let me play center? Do you have any humanity?"

Brown spread his hands and said, "No, it's not me! You obviously wanted to play center yesterday!"

Li Liang was right when he thought about it, I was the one who wanted to fight.

"But you must have suggested to Larry that I should play center. We will be practicing in October."

Brown didn't deny it this time, and said, "Yes, Bruce, but don't you think the effect is very good? You can change the alliance, you know?"

"I've changed leagues."

"But it changed again."

"If I change it again, I will let him go out of business."

"It's not your concern, you can be more unique anyway."

Li Liang understands Brown's meaning, in fact, playing center is really interesting.

But apart from worrying about rhythm and fouls, Li Liang also worried about his body. He was strong enough for the small forward position, but not enough for the center forward position.

In fact, Li Liang is tall enough to play a center forward, and Daben's 206 center forward with his hair can't fly.

The key to the center position is weight and strength.

Not enough weight means that you have to push hard and squeeze hard against the basket, which is very tiring.

If you are like O'Neill and Barkley, you don't need to use force to get in position, just stand there and lean back.

Defensive person, you squeeze, push, you push me out and you win.

Li Liang has already gained 15 pounds in the summer. If he wants to stabilize the center position, his muscle mass needs to increase a lot.

Knowing Li Liang's doubts, Brown patted Li Liang's shoulder and said, "Okay, starting today, you can improve your strength."

"How to improve?"

"Of course I trained Bruce well, I believe in you!"

Brown left after speaking, anyway, he said, he said, Li Liang will definitely be able to practice.

Li Liang thought, what should I do if I have to become stronger?

[Physical fitness] The strength tasks in the dimension are getting more and more difficult, and Li Liang feels that he can't practice anymore.

It is getting more and more difficult to fight against the beast forwards of the 90s like Anthony Mason and Larry Johnson.

It's okay if the key point is not completed, but the next day I was so tired that I couldn't compete.

What should we do?

As Li Liang thought about it, something seemed to come to his mind.

...

That night, at the Phillips Center in Atlanta, the Pacers challenged the Hawks away.

As one of the most tepid teams in the league, the Eagles have put a lot of effort into the lineup this year.

Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Korver, Jeff Teague, Carroll, the starting five are all very capable players.

Although there is no superstar, the configuration is very balanced.

And it's an undersize small-ball lineup.

Horford plays center, but his actual height is only about 208, which is the height of a power forward.

Not to mention Millsap, known as 203, whether there are 2 meters is a problem.

Horford has the ability of medium and long distances, and Millsap is a small steel gun in the third and fourth positions.

This lineup is very flexible and changeable, and it is really not easy for the Pacers to deal with it.

The process of the game proved this point.

In the opening game, the Pacers began to adopt the original starting lineup, allowing Hibbert to play center.

As a result, they fell behind in the opening game because the Pacers couldn't defend against the Eagles' offense.

The head coach of the Eagles is Budenholzer, a Spurs coach.

He has been Popovich's assistant coach since 1996.

After coming to the Eagles, he brought some ideas of the Spurs to the team.

In this game, the Eagles looked very much like the Spurs in every way, including the defense against Li Liang.

Millsap marks him, and at the same time, there are always people around Li Liang who are chasing and intercepting him.

The Eagles basically adopt the defensive strategy of letting go of Hibbert and Scola, play the low post as you like, pick and roll the air cut as you like, and grab the offensive rebounds as you want.

Anyway, give the Pacers enough room to play inside, and then bet you are useless.

The Pacers' inside line is really useless and can't kill people.

In the second half, Bird once again used the lineup that let Li Liang play center.

The Pacers once closed the gap, tied it, and relied on Li Liang's three-pointer to overtake the score.

But after the Eagles survived this wave of attacks, they stabilized the situation and played steadily.

Horford succeeded in beating Li Liang continuously in the low post, and cooperated with Millsap. The two attacked the basket, causing Li Liang to foul.

Li Liang, who was alone, fouled five times in the last two minutes.

Bird could only replace Hibbert again, and then the Pacers' offense and defense collapsed.

As Li Liang missed a three-pointer at the last moment, the Pacers lost their final chance to tie the game.

Li Liang had already used the three-point shooting rate improvement post at the end, but he still missed the shot.

There is no way, the consumption is a bit large, and the feel is not so good.

At the same time, the Eagles' defense is really in place.

Everyone knows that Li Liang will definitely make a three-pointer, and he will definitely make a super-long three-pointer.

Therefore, Li Liang was defended to death, and finally he was able to make a shot, and the ball was almost made, which already scared the Eagles into a cold sweat.

In the end, the Pacers lost 98:101 away from the Eagles by 3 points.

The winning streak only lasted two games before ushered in the first loss.

Of course Li Liang was very upset after the game, losing is always unpleasant.

In this game, under the siege and interception of the Eagles, he made 9 of 21 shots and still scored 27 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

Li Liang only had 3 assists tonight, not because he passed the ball less, but because he passed it out, and his teammate NM couldn't make a shot!

What about the number one in the Eastern Conference?

What about the perennial league strong team?

The agreed five-tiger lineup, how about taking off with just one Li Liang?

Damn, Byrd is a liar.

Now I have to trick Lao Tzu into playing center forward.

Li Liang had no choice but to rely on the system's son for help.