On February 23, 2003, the Hawks traveled to the Energy Center arena in Salt Lake City to take on the Jazz.

Taking advantage of the morale of the Kings, the Hawks did not give the Jazz much opportunity from the beginning, relying on tough defense to press the Jazz and beat them.

The twins won't be able to bring the Jazz this year.

Last year, we were able to maintain the posture of a strong team, but this year it is really not good.

Stockton averaged 10+2+8 per game this season, but the shooting percentage and three-point shooting rate both fell to a new low after the rookie contract, but there was also a 48+36 shooting rate, but the performance was really not as good as last season, because most of the time the ball he passed was difficult to convert into assists, and his teammates were a year older, resulting in more and more double brakes being trapped, so that Stockton's organizational ability could not be reflected like last season.

Then Malone was forced to take on more of the work of mid-distance singles playmaking, and Malone played a career-high assists per game this season, averaging 20.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5 assists per game, and became a 20+5+5 player.

In addition to Malone and Stockton, the rest of the Jazz team is a little better than Matt Harprin and Kirilenko and Mark Jackson, who was given to the Jazz by the Knicks in the second round, the first two are powerful, but they are both defensive, Kirilenko's organizational ability has not yet been developed, and he only averages 1.7 assists per game this year, not the core of the future organization, and cannot give much help to the double, Mark Jackson still has an average of 4 points and 5 assists per game.

So the organizational pressure of the Jazz team is all put on the three old men of Shuangsha and Mark Jackson, the three of them together have an average of almost 20 assists per game, and the entire Jazz team averages 23 assists per game, that is, except for the three people, no one else has the ability to score independently, and it is all up to the three people to support the Jazz offense, in the past 18 years, the Jazz team has averaged 103 points per game, and last season there was an average of 98 points per game, and this year it directly collapsed to an average of 93 points per game, if it weren't for the fact that Harprin began to enter his peak and became the toughest hard bone in the new Shuangsha era, Kirilenko's defense began to look like an all-around defensive warrior who almost won the best defensive player in the future, and the Jazz may have collapsed long ago, and now they are completely relying on the old duo and young defensive giants to maintain the seventh place in the West.

But compared to the seven or eight top teams in the league, the Jazz don't have the slightest advantage.

Jason Terry and Raheem chiseled the Jazz team from the starting stage, Jason Terry's various mid-range pull-up jump shots, Rahim chiseled Kirilenko into the interior, Malone's awareness of supplementing defense is still there, but the pace can't keep up, the offensive end Malone can still score efficiently by rhythm, but the defensive end is not his own rhythm, but to keep up with the rhythm of the opponent, as long as Raheem can receive the ball on the inside, often a turn to accelerate Malone can't keep up, Kirilenko is still thin, can't stop Rahim, Ostertag and his twin brother Jellon Collins are okay to defend against O'Neal, their role is to defend against O'Neal, and other times it really doesn't work.

On the defensive end, the Hawks pinched the mid-range and contracted the basket, and the group of helpers who were at the peak of the mid-range shooting type basically retired, and now some players are completely veterans like Mark Jackson who got back at a big price with a little strength but didn't have much effect, and they can't help too much.

The two eaglets who have begun to take off played the first quarter, with a score of 29-17 in a single quarter, and they can only sigh helplessly that the years are unforgiving, especially Malone who played the first quarter with a full range of power, and was still powerless to struggle, so he could only sit on the sidelines gloomily.

In the second quarter, the Jazz double-shaks went to rest, and the Hawks' "little shuangsha" came up and played the Jazz with the same style of play as the shuangsha, Liu Mang and Boozer took Prince, Chris Crawford, and Kevin Wesley, and the point difference opened faster than in the first quarter.

Generally, the tactical play of their own team is difficult to defend against by their own team, because they have never considered it, and the combination of Liu Mang and Boozer is really a bit of a small double brake, but Liu Mang doesn't like to shoot so much, and prefers three-point shooting and hitting the basket to make fouls, but the Jazz team still can't prevent it.

In the second quarter, Liu Mang had 12 points and 4 assists in a single quarter, and Boozer had 9 points and 5 rebounds, and the two led the Hawks to stretch the score to 62-39 and clocked out at halftime.

Dean Grove was shocked, and finally had a chance to perform, in the second half with Barnes, Prince, Boozer, and Murtola to play, the Jazz team did not struggle much, and changed to the bench lineup, Mark Jackson took the play, the two teams had a good relationship, and they enjoyed a game without suspense.

Larry Miller, the old owner of the Jazz team on the sidelines, looked at the combination of Liu Mang and Boozer on the sidelines, his eyes were hot, especially Boozer, there are many point guards who can play blocking and dismantling, and the interior line that can play blocking and dismantling is not so common, and being able to play and being able to play are two different things.

Liu Mang, Larry Miller didn't think about it that much, it was ironclad that Liu Mang would not come to Salt Lake City, and the Hawks were even more unlikely to trade, but Boozer ......

……

……

The reason why the two sides got together with Liu Mang before the game was because the Hawks had a tight schedule, and after playing the Jazz, the Hawks flew to Oakland, the eighth largest city in California, next door to Utah, that night.

One of the things that stars of all NBA teams don't like to play the Warriors the most is that their city is so close to San Francisco, and some of the districts are connected, but the Warriors have to move to Oakland.

It's nothing for San Franciscans to go to Oakland to watch the game, so close, it's very convenient, but the team that comes to play away is very uncomfortable, mainly because Oakland and San Francisco are so close, and large hotels are opened in San Francisco, because San Francisco's per capita income is much higher than Oakland, and hotel room rates can be set higher, and Oakland's per capita income is incomparable with Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, the top three cities in California.

There is only one Kleist Club investment resort in Oakland called Montfair, which is a five-star hotel, on the border between Oakland and Berkeley, far enough from the city to be sparsely populated in the United States.

The Eagles don't live in a five-star hotel, it's similar to when they played the Nets, and they live in a four-star hotel that claims to be unlisted.

Unlike Liu Mang, who doesn't care so much about where he lives and doesn't think this kind of thing is a "loss of face", blacks, even if they are white, are very face-conscious, and they feel that they have lost face by coming to the Warriors.

This is probably one of the reasons why all teams beat them to death when the Warriors are not strong, and in the last six or seven years, Warriors fans have been abused to the point of doubt, and the highest winning year in consecutive years was 21 wins last season, or the selection of the likes of Jason Richardson and Arenas only barely recovered a little bit.

However, this year, the Warriors have begun to have the momentum of rising, although the 24-30 record is not very good, and it is far from the eighth place in the West that it has not even had a chance to try to make a impact, but by the end of the half-season, it has surpassed the highest record of previous seasons, and for Warriors fans, it is already very satisfying.

In the eyes of Warriors fans, they have Arenas, Jason Richardson, this pair of potential twin star combinations, plus Jamison, who has played at an All-Star level, averaging 22 points and 7 rebounds per game, and the future is bright!

Losing all year round has made Warriors fans have a lot of patience, and they are willing to wait until their "three less" grow.

Their reference is the Hawks, Jamison is regarded by them as their own Raheem, a swingman who can play three and four, a scoring master, although rebounding and defense are qualitatively different from Raheem, but Jamison has more offensive means, more explosive scoring power, and is more suitable for the Warriors' offensive style of play.

Jason Richardson, although it seems that there is an obvious combat gap with Jason Terry in the second year, Jason Terry averaged 20+3+5 per game in the second year, and Jason Richardson only averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game this year, and the gap is obvious.

But age represents potential, Jason Terry was almost 24 years old when he was in the second grade, Jason Richardson is now less than 22 years old, younger than Jason Terry when he entered the NBA, and his physical fitness is also better, historical physical talent, last season's dunk king, full of talent, shooting talent is visible to the naked eye, and fans feel okay with the ball, shooting is more difficult to practice than breaking through with the ball.

Arenas, of course, is Liu Mang who is used for comparison.

The data of the two is about the same this season, Liu Mang is 17 + 3 + 6, Arenas is averaging 18 + 4 + 6 per game, of course, Liu Mang's shooting rate of 47 + 40 + 84 surrounds Arenas' 43 + 33 + 76 shooting rate in all directions.

But the Warriors fans who already have the spirit of Ah Q feel that it is not bad, Arenas data is better, Arenas is stronger!

This game between the Hawks and the Warriors is not a strong matchup, and the difference in strength between the two teams is obvious.

However, the match was broadcast live by ABC TV and the European Channel London Sport 22, which is the same sports station in Europe that broadcasts the Euro Basketball League.

Domestic TV stations are not interested in Liu Mang VS the rookie of the same class, and domestic fans are very powerful, thinking that Liu Mang is a super guard, and even the strongest guard in the NBA, which is used to discuss with Iverson, Kobe, Maddy, and Carter, all relying on the title of Jordan's successor.

And on the side of the United States, Liu Mang is still discussed in the younger generation of players, Arenas has gone wild this year, in 2000, 2001, 2002 three rookies who entered the NBA, Arenas's data is the best this year, and there is even hope of taking off to become a super guard, after this season, the rookie contract expires, and there are countless teams that want to poach him as the core.

This year's Arenas, like Liu Mang last season, has become the biggest surprise among the guards entering the NBA in the new century, and some people even predict that the younger generation of guards is the two of them competing!

Of course, this argument may not be obvious elsewhere, but it is an absolute leitmotif in Oakland basketball circles!

On the evening of the 24th, the Hawks arrived at the Oracle Arena, where there are many Chinese and other Asians other than Chinese, Liu Mang came to play, attracting a lot of Chinese fans and Asian fans to watch the game, the pre-game interview was very harmonious, the questions asked by the local pro-Warriors media in Oakland and California were very harmonious, they didn't want to offend the Hawks and Liu Mang, they didn't want to offend the huge number of Chinese and Asian fans in the local area, most of the people who could immigrate to the United States were rich and were the main local consumers.

However, they will always have a problem, which is "what they think of Arenas".

The other questions were fine, but the last question made Liu Mang raise his eyebrows.

"Ace, Gilbert said his goal was to be the best defender in the class of 2001, to be the best player in the class of 2001, what do you think about that?" A local reporter asked, there is nothing wrong with this, what player with a fighting spirit and talent and quality does not want to be the best.

But Liu Mang was not happy to hear this question here.

Originally, Liu Mang didn't have any special feelings about Arenas, he didn't fight for anything, he didn't want to get too close, it would be good to be an ordinary opponent, Liu Mang felt that his personality and Arenas didn't fit at all, and his style of play didn't match at all, there was no possibility of becoming a teammate, when the opponent was good, he was not an enemy, the ceiling of the team with Arenas as the core was too obvious, Liu Mang attached great importance to him as an opponent, but he would not regard Arenas's team as an existence that could be regarded as an enemy, and the team goals of the two were not at the same level.

Liu Mang wants the championship, and Arenas' team is at most breaking through the second round.

However, after being asked too much, Liu Mang had a deeper idea of wanting to defeat Arenas.

In particular, Arenas was very active in defeating Liu Mang, saying that he would become the best defender in the class of 2001.

But it's all on this, everyone claims to be the first person in 2001, how can Liu Mang not respond: "Wow, did he say he was the best player in the class of 2001?" I think I'm the Rookie of the Year of 2001, okay, let's see who's better. ”

The reporter who asked this question was stunned, what's wrong? The previous questions, such as Arenas' better data this year, Liu Mang's answer is that Arenas's efforts deserve; For example, the number of key balls Arenas hit this season is about the same as Liu Mang's, and Liu Mang's answer is that Arenas is a great key player, and he appreciates it; Like what......

But how did you get to yourself, and say that Arenas' goal is to be the best player in the class of 2001, that's the goal, not the self-proclaimed, how did you set this guy on fire all of a sudden?

No one is saying that Arenas is the best player in the class of 2001, just goals!

The local reporter explained to Arenas: "Ace, Gilbert means his goal is to be the best ......."

"Help me bring a message to him, if you want to rob my things, come on!"

Liu Mang finally found a reason for himself to grab the right to brush the data with Jason Terry in this kind of abusive game, and improve his average data per game, and said that I don't listen to the reporter's explanation......