Garnett's high popularity does not mean the Bulls' high popularity. This is the consensus of the media this season.

It can be seen from the number of live purchasers of Bulls games and the actual ratings of the game that the average number of live purchasers of the Bulls' regular season this season exceeds 5 million, ranking third in the league after the Lakers, Hawks, Cavaliers, and Knicks.

Five, higher than the Suns, Warriors, Nuggets, and Magic.

However, the actual ratings only ranked 17th. Most American fans with a strong sense of genuineness only wanted to watch Garnett's appearance at the beginning and the key moments. After all, the pace was too slow.

For example, in the game between the Eagles and the Bulls, more than 17 million people purchased the live broadcast, and the ratings dropped by half before the first quarter was over.

The two teams only scored six points in the first two minutes, which made the fans in front of the TV feel shocked.

Sure enough, at the end of the first quarter, the Eagles only led by two points, 18-16...

This was in the last two seconds of the first quarter. Jason Terry received a pass from Liu Mang who was double-teamed in the blind corner. Jason Terry hit a 27-foot long three-pointer at the buzzer to take the lead.

of two points.

In the first quarter of regular time, the Eagles only scored 15 points!

On defense, Liu Mang could think of 10,000 ways to hinder the Bulls' offensive tactics with his eyes closed. Garnett's high-post support ability was not fully reflected in the Bulls.

Without the inside threat of holding the ball, it is difficult to implement high-post support. After all, the Raptors' Bargnani plays like a small forward and has the inside to hold the ball. Howard and Raheem of the Magic are both good inside scorers. Milley

The support ability of Cic and Turkoglu is so good. The Spurs' Parker has the highest shooting percentage in the three-second area among the league's outside players. He has a higher shooting percentage in the three-second area than Liu Mang and James. The Lakers don't need it.

It is said that both of them are masters in the low post, and Gasol has improved his support and is able to play with ease.

The Bulls' lineup cannot fully utilize Garnett's high-post support ability.

Therefore, the strategy discussed by Liu Mang and Mike Woodson to limit the Bulls' team offense is very effective.

The Bulls could only rely on the individual abilities of Garnett, Luol Deng, and Hinrich to score, and only scored 16 points in the first quarter.

However... the Bulls also studied the Hawks' offensive strategy very thoroughly.

The proposal of "Snake Science" is not only beneficial to the Eagles. Other teams will definitely be better at playing this game without Liu Mang. But if you spend more time, you can always use the analysis method Liu Mang uses in the show.

analyze.

From the shooting percentage of players in various shooting areas, the probability of using various breakthrough lines, the probability of various choices after the pick-and-roll... other teams may not be able to use it well, but originally they only have defense and the defense ranks first in the league.

The Bulls used it very well, allowing the Hawks to only score 15 points in regular time.

Thanks to Jason Terry's catch-up shot, the Hawks took a two-point lead in the first quarter.

Liu Mang and Rondo, who came on as a substitute after the official timeout, have worked hard to pick up the rhythm, but the Hawks still only got 21 shot opportunities in the first quarter, and the Bulls had even fewer, only 17.

This is a bit different from the Hawks' average of 95 shots per game and nearly 24 shots per quarter in the first round.

The more games we play, the better it will be for the Bulls!

The Hawks easily swept the Pistons in the first round, which indeed gave the Hawks an advantage in terms of physical fitness.

However, the Bulls have been locked in defense with the Nets since the first round, scoring more than 60 to 60 in a single game. The Bulls are used to this situation.

After the Eagles struggled to lead by two points in the first quarter, they began to fall into a clear disadvantage in the second quarter.

The Eagles, who scored 18 points in the first quarter, only scored 15 points in the second quarter.

The Bulls scored one more goal in this quarter and scored 19 points in a single quarter.

35 to 33, after halftime, the Bulls led by two points entering the intermission.

…

I have a headache, feel uncomfortable, go crazy... but there is nothing I can do!

This is part of basketball. It doesn't matter how strong your personal ability is or how many ways you come up with.

Sometimes it just doesn’t work!

Garnett's iron-blooded roar made Liu Mang want to complain.

But don't mention it, Garnett's hard-working and passionate style of play is indeed difficult to deal with.

He showed off his strength there, and it looked funny afterwards, but at the time he really made his opponents and teammates feel how powerful he was.

On the offensive end, the Bulls and Garnett don't get along very well, but the defense is so tacit and strong!

Too much outside confrontation has led to a decline in the Hawks' shooting efficiency. The Bulls have been playing this style of play for a year and have long been used to it.

"Mike, are you saying that if we don't guard them, they won't be able to make shots? Why do you feel that the greater the confrontation, the more accurate their shots will be?" Liu Mang complained to Mike Woodson.

"Ace, this is a good idea. You should talk to the coach about it." Mike Woodson felt that Liu Mang had a brilliant mind.

Liu Mang just complained and complained.

During the halftime break, coach Kruger rearranged his tactics.

But the biggest problem is that this is the home court of the Bulls. The referee will not blow the whistle easily when confronting the referee. Sometimes controversial calls are likely to favor the Bulls.

McGrady and Jason Terry just complained and were called for technical fouls.

The Hawks played pretty well in the third quarter, at least much better than the first two quarters. Liu Mang, Jason Terry, and Tracy McGrady came together and scored 17 points in a single quarter, plus Marion's 2+1 dunk.

The Eagles scored 20 points in a single quarter.

But for the entire quarter, the Eagles only scored with these four people.

The Bulls caught Jason Terry in the third quarter and allowed Duhon to play in isolations, scoring 9 points in a single quarter, helping the Bulls score 23 points in a single quarter!

At the end of three quarters, the Bulls led the Eagles by 58 to 53 and entered the interquarter break.

…

COSCO has invested too much!

Too much!

Except for second-attack scoring and rare counterattack scoring inside, Liu Mang and his teammates rarely get inside scoring opportunities.

By the time of the official timeout in the middle of the fourth quarter, the Eagles were already 7 points behind. We saw the score distribution of the two teams displayed on the big screen.

The Hawks only scored 17 points in the paint, and only 29 points including free throws! Although the Bulls scored only 14 points in the paint, and only 25 points including free throws, which was lower than the Hawks.

But the Bulls are not a team that is very good at scoring inside, and the Hawks, a team that ranks first in the league in inside scoring during the regular season, higher than the Lakers and Spurs, have played 43 minutes and scored inside.

Only 17 points!

At the seventh minute of the fourth quarter, the Eagles still trailed the Bulls 64-71, with the point difference widening to the largest 7 points in the game.

There were some obvious home whistles, and the Bulls provided a high-intensity defense that was not at the same level as the Pistons. It was really difficult for Liu Mang to lead his team to recover the point difference.

I tried several times, but in the end it didn't work very well.

After the official timeout came back, Liu Mang tried to attack the inside. But in the playoffs, it is not as easy to get the whistle as in the regular season. With Garnett as the core, he beat Ben Wallace or Big Z inside and outside.

With Luol Deng, Hinrich or Duhon, Sefolosha and others playing high-speed defensive rotations, breaking into the quagmire will result in mistakes or blackouts.

The key is not to get the whistle!

Porcelain players are disgusting in the regular season, but in the playoffs, their advantage in this regard will be greatly reduced.

Liu Mang played very poorly in this game. He only made 8 of 20 shots, 2 of 8 three-pointers, and 9 of 12 free throws. He only scored 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, but he made 5 turnovers, and...two of them were assists.

It was a passing ball. McGrady and Jason Terry each took the blame and threw a three-pointer.

In addition to Liu Mang's 27 points, McGrady's 15 points, Jason Terry's 11 points and Marion's 7 points, there were only 6 points from Grant Hill and 4 points from Kwame Brown... Rondo, Grant

Jay, David Lee and others all ate zero eggs when they went up.

Gortat played 13 minutes... 0 for 3, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists... only 3 irons.

When the rookie encountered a bad inside combination like Ben Wallace and Garnett, he suffered terribly.

David Lee, who Liu Mang originally had high hopes for, also performed poorly in the low post. He performed worse than his sister-in-law when she met Garnett in the playoffs. He made 0 of 5 shots and was blocked by Garnett twice.

The roar was overwhelming.

The Hawks only scored 73 points in the game, and ultimately lost to the Bulls by five points, 73-78.

…

…

Eagles first loss of series!

This... is the first time in Liu Mang's career!

It decisively made the headlines.

Liu Mang has played 19 series before in his career, and won the first series victory 19 times. Even in the 2002-03 season, when the Eagles had no home court advantage throughout the entire season, they still won the first victory in all three series.

Eventually, the record ended at 19 times.

"This was a very bad game. I didn't take many shots. Their defense was very good, but we have found a way to win. We will go home with a tied record the day after tomorrow."

Liu Mang issued a strong declaration at the post-match press conference.

You must win the next game!

In fact, this game... I didn’t lose much!

This is an important reason why Liu Mang was not particularly disappointed after the game.
To be continued...