Look to the future.

Brandon Roy looked at the motto posted inside the wardrobe, and he firmly believed that he would succeed one day.

At least it has made a good start. After working hard for most of the season, he successfully made the team determined to purge the previous core members of the older generation. He finally successfully reversed the situation even though he was not optimistic at the beginning.

Attack and become the team's future outside core.

Roy is now averaging 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. At this point in the season, the data will not change much. There is no doubt that Roy is the strongest among this rookie class.

It was time to play against the Eagles again, and Roy was not in a particularly good mood. He could only adjust his mood with the words he always used to encourage himself.

The Eagles were coming hard. When he came to the arena in the afternoon, a large number of Eagles fans had gathered outside the arena.

Defeating the Lakers in the Finals twice gave the Hawks many fans in Portland. This was a very sad thing for Roy.

Once upon a time, Liu Mang was the "Public Enemy of Portland". A few years later, the Blazers fell apart. The former star went to the Hawks and won three consecutive championships. Now he is making a lot of money to retire. Along with the Flying Squirrel, Pippen and others

People left. The players who hated the Hawks and Liu Mang at the beginning are no longer on this team. The strength of the Hawks, especially the defeat of the Lakers in the finals, has slowly forgotten the fans here in Portland.

The hatred of the past.

This is difficult for Roy, who has an old-school personality, to accept. When he was originally selected by the Trail Blazers, he gave himself an increased sense of mission, or the goal he set for himself, which was to lead the Trail Blazers to rejuvenation.

The Trail Blazers have never left Portland since the team was founded in 1970. After acquiring Bill Walton in the fourth year of the team's establishment, they quickly became a super team and won the first championship in team history in the 1976-1977 season.

Then Bill Walton became half-disabled, and the Trail Blazers remained in the doldrums until Microsoft giant Paul Allen bought the Trail Blazers in 1989. In 1990, the Trail Blazers reached the Finals again, starting a decade-long Western Conference powerhouse.

the road.

Unfortunately, after the Lakers dynasty destroyed their last chance to win the championship at the beginning of the century, the Trail Blazers declined again.

Although Roy graduated from the University of Washington, just like Pierce was born in Los Angeles but became the soul of the Celtics after joining the Celtics, Roy wants to be like Bill Walton who made this team

A superstar who has reached the top again wants to be the pride of this city.

But after all, the Trail Blazers don't have enough background. The football market in this city is about to "fall". A superstar who has humiliated them many times has come to this city, and a team that has "robbed" their star star has come to this city.

, the fans actually went to pick them up at the airport and cheered for them outside the arena, which was hard for Roy to accept.

The last time Roy and his teammates went to Atlanta to play the Hawks, they were beaten by 34 points. The opponent didn't take them seriously at all. All they could do was double-team Liu Mang to prevent Liu Mang from scoring high and humiliating him.

them.

But something is a little different now. The Trail Blazers seemed to have cleaned up a lot of role players with good statistics. However, after cleaning up those players, in the 12 games after the All-Star Weekend, they got a record of 7 wins and 5 losses. Although the record

It's still only 27 wins and 40 losses, but compared to the previous situation where they seemed to have a strong lineup on paper but were very poor!

With the progress of Roy and Aldridge, Randolph felt a lot more honest about the crisis of being sold off. The "prison inmates" who originally occupied playing time to improve statistics but had a side effect left, and the hard-working fringe players have more

After many performance opportunities, he played very hard and gave the Trail Blazers a new look.

"No matter what the result is, hard work will pay off!" Roy looked at the motto in the closet and encouraged himself in an old-fashioned way.

…

…

They look a lot like the players on this "prison team".

This is Liu Mang's evaluation of Roy. This was Liu Mang's evaluation when he first saw Roy.

This was the third time Liu Mang met Roy.

The first time was when he was double-teamed and only scored a dozen points, but the team won by more than 30 points.

The second time was the All-Star Rookie Game. In the absence of Paul, Roy won the Rookie Game MVP with his absolute dominance.

This is the third time.

From the beginning, Liu Mang felt that Roy was more mature than just the skills and experience he had honed during his four years in college. He was also more mature...

"Do the players selected by the Trail Blazers look more than ten years older than their actual age? Little Zhan Zhan is so suitable for this team!" Liu Mang stared at Roy and couldn't help complaining.

"Ace, what are you talking about?" Maddie, who was doing stretching exercises next to her, asked curiously.

Liu Mang just said it in Chinese, but McGrady didn't understand. Liu Mang didn't expect that he actually said it out loud. He looked at McGrady and said casually: "Nothing, I was just thinking that the Blazers boss is really rich and the arena has been renovated.

Bar."

"The owner of the Trail Blazers seems to be the richest owner in the NBA. He can buy the entire NBA." Grant Hill next to him interjected.

Liu Mang thought that with the current market value of NBA teams, this seems to be really possible.

But who would have thought that in another ten years, the market value of NBA teams would increase several times...

"Do you want to try to buy a team before the price increases? If the price increases, you won't be able to afford it, but American officials probably won't agree..." Liu Mang thought for a moment: "Maybe I can buy it for Avril Lavigne, Beccas

If that brat likes to play basketball when he grows up, let him make money for Avril..."

Liu Mang was thinking wildly and looked away from Roy. Roy's tense body could finally relax.

Liu Mang's scrutinizing eyes gave Roy a very strong sense of oppression.

Yesterday was the Trail Blazers' rest day. They had just returned to Portland after playing consecutive away games. All the teammates were resting at home. After Roy returned to Portland, he came to the arena and secretly watched Liu Mang's training.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! When he arrived at the arena at three o'clock in the afternoon, the staff told him that Liu Mang would arrive at about one o'clock. When he finished training at five o'clock and was about to leave, Liu Mang was still there...

At night, Roy was really curious. Although he thought it was impossible, he still came to the arena to take a look, and then saw that the lights at the visiting team's training ground were still on...

It wasn't until 9 p.m. that he saw Eagles head coach Lon Kruger come to the arena to ask Liu Mang to go back to the hotel.

I inquired with the staff and found that except for the Eagles trainer who came to deliver dinner to Liu Mang at 5:30, Liu Mang had been practicing shooting and footwork...

This touched Roy very much!

He makes leaps and bounds every year. He doesn't just happen. He is more talented than him and works harder than him!

…

The game was about to start, and Liu Mang took a look at the abilities of the Trail Blazers players.

"Brenton Roy, ability evaluation 84, offense 90, defense 81, three-pointer 82, mid-range shot 88, layup 91, speed 90, strength 87..."

"Zach Randolph, ability evaluation 90, offense 97, defense 65, rebounds 96, three-pointers 71, 90 mid-range shots, layups 96, speed 82, strength 97..."

"LadeMarcus Aldridge, ability evaluation 75, offense 82, defense 70, 51 three-pointers, 84 mid-range shots, 85 layups, 80 speed, 88 strength..."

"Jarrett Jack, ability evaluation 82, offense 80, defense 81, three-pointer 77, mid-range shot 81, layup 83, speed 90, strength 81..."

"Travis Outlaw, ability evaluation 79, offense 85, defense 62, three-pointer 81, mid-range shot 70, layup 89, speed 91, strength 79..."

"Jamal Magloire, ability evaluation 75, offense 69, defense 79, rebounds 90...speed 77, strength 93..."

This is the ability evaluation of the Blazers' six strongest players, and they are also the only six players whose ability evaluation exceeds 70. However, the core structure is indeed very good.

Jack...Liu Mang could not describe this player. No matter how hard he was killed, he would not be allowed to become his teammate.

Roy's progress has been huge, or he has completely integrated his college abilities into the NBA. He is similar to those high-ranking rookies in the 1980s and 1990s. He was already very mature when he entered the NBA, and his statistics are not as good as those back then.

James, but his role is similar to that of Anthony. He has the ability to lead the team to win in his rookie season.

Randolph is extremely strong, averaging 23 points per game this season, but he has no willingness to defend. Aldridge is also full of talent at the same position. It depends on how the Blazers choose. Liu Mang himself thinks Aldridge is not at his peak.

Not as good as Randolph.

Randolph averaged 23+10+2 per game and was extremely destructive at the basket. During his peak period, he could easily hit 20+10 for a long time. With that, Aldridge would be hard-pressed to match him no matter how he played. However, Aldridge’s professional attitude was beyond comparison.

Mang feels it will be the key to the Blazers' decision.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, the game between the Eagles and Trail Blazers started.

The Hawks sent out a lineup of Rondo, Liu Mang, Granger, Marion, and Kwame Brown today.

Tracy McGrady and Jason Terry are taking turns today. The Hawks feel that the only thing the Trail Blazers can cause trouble for them is the inside line.

The Trail Blazers sent out a lineup of Jack, Roy, Amy Uduka, Randolph, and Joel Przybilla.

The small forward is Uduka, who Liu Mang has never heard of, and the center is Przbilla, who averages 2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game... This was poached by the Trail Blazers from the Bucks last summer for 30 million in 5 years.

Liu Mang really doesn't know what the Blazers management is planning, so he can only stop it now.

The game was pretty much what the Hawks expected. The Trail Blazers mainly attacked Randolph.

And unlike the Trail Blazers, who were a completely bad team before the All-Star Weekend, this time the Trail Blazers did not give up on themselves like last time and just tried not to let Liu Mang score. The players played very seriously.

However, there are many problems. Randolph's style of play is too unique. Once the ball reaches his hands, it is the end. Of course, he is very strong and Marion cannot guard him. Kwame Brown and Marion are flanking, and Randolph still has hundreds of points.

His shooting percentage is in the early 40s, which is quite strong, and even though he is about the same height as Marion, his offensive rebounding is very strong, causing a lot of trouble for the Hawks inside.

But on the other hand... even if the Hawks don't have Tracy McGrady or Jason Terry on the outside, they'll still play like the Trail Blazers on the outside.

Liu Mang appreciated Roy's desire to fight with him, and under Roy's defense, he scored 15 points in the first quarter, including three consecutive three-pointers.

However, Roy made very prudent choices on the offensive end. He passed the ball when there was no good opportunity and shot when it was time to take the shot. His steady and down-to-earth style of play prevented Roy from being so miserably guarded by Liu Mang.

Originally, Liu Mang was quite able to restrain opponents like Roy, who had relatively less explosive physical fitness. However, Roy handled the ball very smartly, allowing him to avoid being inferior to Liu Mang in all aspects except having the same strength as Liu Mang and a slight advantage in height.

Disadvantages.

But that's it.

Liu Mang's 15 points in the first quarter were inseparable from the extra practice shooting yesterday. Today's shooting was very stable. He scored 27 points in the half, including 5 of 7 three-pointers in the half.

Indeed, the bench combination of Randolph and Aldridge in the Trail Blazers has put a lot of pressure on the Hawks inside. It is also the key to experts and commentators believing that the Blazers have a chance to defeat the Hawks.
To be continued...