From today on is the king

Chapter 42 42. Taking the Knight Lightly
Cleveland, really, isn't a great place to be.

Heavy industrial cities, in the United States, which has not signed an environmental protection agreement, are places where acid rain falls every two days. Although the level is not high, and it is not to the point where it can directly harm the human body, it is still scary. As a result, the population of the capital of a large state has dropped from the beginning of the heavy industry in the 40s to the current population of just over 30.

Due to fewer people, there are fewer and fewer professional sports teams here. Although the Cleveland Browns of the US football team are still in Cleveland in name, they have actually moved to Akron next door. After all, the Cleveland Browns won several national championships in Cleveland.

The Indians in Major League Baseball even disbanded because they had too few fans to make ends meet. Although they have been rebuilding, they are not in Cleveland.

But the basketball fans here are really strong. Since the Cavaliers became the top team in the league in the late 80s, their fans have become very firm. They firmly believe that one day Cleveland will win the championship of the four major North American leagues again after many years.

Probably the most ardent basketball fan here.

For example, now, as soon as the Eagles came out of the Cleveland Airport, they saw Cavaliers fans holding up slogans saying "Go to the Eagles".

"The Cavaliers fans are crazy? This is just a regular season." Liu Mang's head was dizzy from the noise of the fans penetrating into the bus.

"Hey, rookie, when you get to Salt Lake City, you will be scared to cry by the fans there!" Jason Terry said disdainfully.

No matter how you look at it, Liu Mang is not happy. Jason Terry saw that many Cavaliers fans came for Liu Mang, and there were Cavaliers fans holding signs saying "Ace, come to our team", which made Jason Terry very jealous.

This has to talk about how unlucky the Cavaliers have been in recent years.

In 1997, the Cavaliers dug up the All-Star starter in the free market and the super power forward Sean Kemp, who was the second team of the best team in the regular season, and returned to the ranks of the playoffs in the 1997-1998 season. Seeing the formation of a combination of three first-class players such as Sean Kemp, Chris Mills, and Trier Brandon, they wanted to attack the supremacy of the Eastern Conference after Jordan retired.

Unexpectedly, after a lockout, Sean Kemp, who was known as the rain man back then, became a fat man who weighed nearly 300 pounds. The Cavaliers' championship dream collapsed directly, and even fell out of the ranks of the playoffs. Sean Kemp's 7-year 9000 million contract has also become a burden for the Cavaliers.

This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that the Cavaliers' drafts in the past three years are simply bleak. In 1999, Trajon Langton was selected with the 5th overall pick in the first round.

The 1999 rookies who were selected after the Cavaliers included Timberwolves small forward Wally Szczerbiak, the current all-star level, Richard Hamilton, the successor to the CIC king, Sean Marion, the short super power forward of the Suns, Jason Terry, the quasi-first-class star of the Eagles, and AK47 Kirilenko, Ginobili...

In what could barely be called a big draft year, the Cavaliers selected a non-NBA player with the fifth overall pick.

If there were really no two parallel imports in the drafts in 2000 and this summer, then 1999 was purely unlucky. Trajan Langdon was once the top three pick in 1999, but the top four teams dared not pick it and was picked up by the Cavaliers.

Then in 2000, the Cavaliers selected Chris Mihm with the seventh overall pick... This summer, they selected Senegal's big center Diop with the eighth overall pick.

The top ten picks in the lottery for three consecutive years, and the parallel imports for three years, the Cavaliers fans are going crazy.

Look at the Spurs, who chose a small French sports car with the 28th pick in the first round. With that speed and tactical awareness, the future is bright.

Look at the Warriors, who selected Gilbert Arenas with the second overall pick in the second round. With his skilled skills and excellent overall view, if the football rights are given, I don't know what the statistics will be.

And the Eagles, who are almost at the end of the second round, actually selected a "genius" player, frequently appearing on the front pages of major sports news, and even making headlines occasionally!

And the Cavaliers' own center Diop, another Mutombo who agreed, averaged less than 2 points and 2 rebounds per game, and Mutombo would not be so bad at 50 years old!
Liu Mang looked at Jason Terry's vision of a child whose lollipop was robbed, and he had a headache. He reluctantly responded: "Yes, yes, you are our best defender. It's normal for me to be scared. Of course you won't be scared. Just give me two more balls when I come on the court later."

Jason Terry was happy when he heard this, but he was still very arrogant: "Huh, of course, I am not a ball master! Of course I will pass the ball to you."

"..."

……

The Eagles beat the Cavaliers more easily than the Knicks.

Complete strength crushing!
The Cavaliers' record at the bottom of the Eastern Conference is stable. They lost 5 games in a row at the beginning.

The Cavaliers don't have any outstanding players, but the point guard's Andre Miller is good. This year, he averaged 14 assists in the first five games. The other Ricky Davis, who later said "The Cavaliers chose James to help me", is a third-rate small forward who shoots at his own basket and has a triple-double. The annual 4 million fat contract directly dragged the Raptors to the bottom of the league and got the No. 3500 pick in 03. The contract year boss averaged 4 points per game in the first 5 games.

Then, in the game between the Eagles and the Cavaliers, the Eagles started with a wave of 14 to 2, and there was no more.

Liu Mang got playing time in the second half of the first quarter. The Cavaliers did not play defense. Those who scored assists wanted to score assists, and those who scored points wanted to score points. Liu Mang got several shots from the bottom corner in the second half of the first quarter.

In the second half, Liu Mang got more playing time, but with more playing time, it was impossible for him to hold the ball and become a full-time pitcher as he did in the few minutes of playing time before, and occasionally had the opportunity to counterattack. As the fastest player of the Eagles, Liu Mang also got several opportunities to counterattack.

This time Liu Mang didn’t have any strong opponents like the previous four games he had to face, so it didn’t look like much surprise. However, he played more than 15 minutes for the first time. He made 11 of 6 and 7 of 3 three-pointers.

On 11 of 6 shots, Liu Mang played with a normal style of play for the first time and got serious playing time for the first time. His efficiency was still high and he scored 15 points, a small refresh of his highest score.

The Eagles didn't give the Cavaliers a chance from the very beginning. The Cavaliers players only focused on the statistics. The Cavaliers' coaching staff and management's goals were also bad.

97 to 84, the Eagles beat the Cavaliers and improved their record to 4 wins and 1 loss.

(End of this chapter)