I just play ball

Chapter 388

Chapter 388

"Harden has proved his scoring ability many times, and he can make adjustments quickly, but the root of the problem lies in the strategic arrangement of the Rockets before the game," Kenny Smith said, "Judging from the current performance of the Rockets, McHale The leading coaching staff did not formulate any focused strategy, otherwise Anthony played so well, why would he not get the ball all of a sudden?"

"You remind me of the Lakers at the beginning of the 12-13 season," Barkley mused. "At that time, the Lakers just had a Big Four lineup. It was also because of running-in problems. From the preseason losing streak to the start of the regular season, it took a long time. ..."

"Totally agree!" O'Neal raised his hand to touch his bald head, "And the Rockets' specific tactics are like my hair, not at all. If I have to generalize, it can only be a high pick-and-roll, but that's the basics of a basketball game. option..."

"Why did it happen?" Ernie asked. "It can't be that Coach McHale did it on purpose?"

"Because the general manager of the Rockets is obsessed with data research, it is more practical to draw three-pointers, layups, and fouls than mid-range," O'Neal said. , There are few tactics related to mid-distance, even if you get Anthony this season, it is too late to make adjustments, and you are confused by the illusion of winning streak in the preseason.”

"Then let's see what adjustments the Rockets will make after the timeout."

...

On the court, the Lakers were on the bench, and the first quarter ended with 3 minutes and 57 seconds left.

D'Antoni briefly summarized the situation in the past few minutes, focusing on Marshall's consecutive three-pointers, announcing that Jokic will play power forward, Gobert will play center, Clarkson will play point guard, and Covington should play small forward.

Considering the debut of the two rookies in their careers, Li Yue gave them high-fives to encourage them.

"You two play casually, just treat yourself as an All-Star player. I will applaud you when you get ahead, and analyze for you when you are behind. Even if you are behind by [-] points, I can help you get back together with Kobe. Don't be pressured. .”

Jokic and Clarkson nodded and appeared on the stage. Li Yue walked to the technical stage and raised his hands to lead the audience to give encouragement.The announcer tacitly dragged out his voice, and the Staples Center immediately resounded with cheers, and the faces of the two rookies were full of excitement.

The Rockets also made personnel adjustments, and McHale arranged for the two core players, Harden and Anthony, to rest temporarily.

And Howard reappeared, joining forces with his high school friend Josh Smith, as well as three-pointers Jason Terry and Troy Daniels, plus defensive champion Trevor Ariza, the taste of the Magic's championship lineup in a trance.

Jokic and Josh Smith are facing off, and Nick Young, who is watching the game in a suit, is very worried about this.

"As far as his confrontation ability is concerned, Josh is very likely to break through and score easily many times..."

Li Yue smiled and said nothing, knowing that Nick Young, like some fans, probably learned that Josh's style of play is very violent from many dunks or chasing shots. physical fitness.

This also led to Josh, who averaged 4.2 assists per game at his peak and felt like a weakened version of LeBron James, but was never selected for an All-Star, and was swept out by the Pistons and signed with the Rockets with a basic salary.

This matchup between Josh and Jokic is very likely to develop into a high-position support competition. After all, the Rockets' lineup is seen as the main player, and the others are responsible for opening up the space and are ready to catch the ball and shoot at any time.

After thinking about it, the referee blew his whistle and the game continued.

The Rockets made a three-point pass from the outside. Howard caught the ball with his left waist and hit with his back, forcing his body to grind in.

Where Gobert could defend, Iguodala shrank the double-team according to the plan, and Howard immediately distributed the ball out.

Daniels received the hand, ignored the return defense, and faced him with a three-pointer.

The basketball crashed into the net, 29 to 17.

The Lakers attacked, Clarkson caught the ball from the bottom line, and strode forward with a nervous face.

"Come on, you can do it, believe in yourself!" Li Yue shouted, come on, and the audience cheered and encouraged.

Clarkson took the ball to the right wing, passed it to Gobert at the top of the arc, and rushed straight to the baseline.

Gobert split another 45 degrees to the left, and Iguodala received it, and immediately passed the ball to the left waist.

Jokic's back turned to Josh, and the moment he caught the ball, he took advantage of the situation and moved towards the basket, while Clarkson just rushed to the basket with the help of Covington's cover, and took off immediately after receiving the ball, facing Terry who was chasing behind him, with a backhand put the basket.

boom!The basketball rebounded into the net, 31 to 17.

Li Yue and his teammates raised their hands and cheered. The audience stood up and applauded collectively. Many viewers took out their mobile phones to take pictures.

Easy side Rockets attack, all players open up space, Josh holds the ball at the top of the arc, and cooperates with Howard in the pick-and-roll.

Jokic chased two steps hard, and was pulled away visibly to the naked eye. Gobert stayed at the free throw line and hurriedly switched to intercept Josh.

For a while, Howard was left unattended, and Covington quickly moved laterally from the short corner on the right to supplement the defense.

Just when everyone was worried that Howard might be strong, Josh jumped up and passed the ball to the right corner.

Ariza received it, calmly raised his hand to aim at the basket, and steadily threw a wide open three-pointer.

Swish!The basketball went into the net hollow, 20 to 31.

Jokic raised his hand to indicate that it was his problem, and Iguodala ran to him and patted his back to comfort him.

The Lakers attacked, Clarkson dribbled the ball to the right wing, and still chose to pass it to Gobert at the top of the arc.

The whole team operated according to the previous round, but the Rockets team went to the inside to shrink early, and Howard ignored Gobert and stood directly at the free throw line. If it wasn't for the scruples of the three-second violation, he would have squatted under the basket.

Jokic took the ball and couldn't pass it to Clarkson, who slipped to the baseline, and he hesitated.

After all, he was still a freshman, and it was the first time for a genius. Li Yue shouted: "Come on yourself, come on."

The audience followed up with encouragement, Jokic paused for a moment, turned to face the basket, and raised the ball above his head with both hands.

The height advantage was revealed, but Josh lowered his center of gravity instead, rooting his feet to defend against him, as if he wanted to limit his strength.

Li Yue thought to himself, if he changed where he stood at this time, he would most likely choose to retreat and shoot, because doing so would make it too late for Josh, who was defending with all his strength, to readjust his center of gravity. If he wanted to complete the interference, he could only rely on the Bullet speed.

Just thinking about it, Jokic moved his right foot back, followed by his left foot, and then stepped on the spot to make a shot.

It's a pity that the basketball had just flown less than one meter before it was slapped out of bounds by Josh's hat, and the referee gave the Lakers the right to the sideline.

Jokic was a bit confused, and Li Yue almost laughed out loud when he saw this. Before, he was worried that Jokic's shot would be too slow and easy to be disturbed. He didn't expect it to happen today. The take-off is too low and too slow. .

Of course, Josh's excellent physical fitness is also one of the reasons.

The referee was set up in a blink of an eye, the Lakers organized the offense, and the Rockets still chose to shrink the defense.

Jokic continued to play with the ball under the encouragement of the audience. Unfortunately, Josh was very defensive. He couldn't complete the shot and had to pass the ball out. But when Iguodala received the ball, there were only more than two seconds left, so he had no choice but to rush Make a three-pointer.

The basketball hit the basket and hit the iron. Howard grabbed the rebound and made a long pass to Terry who ran to the center line ahead of time. I didn't dare to make up for it.

In this way, the Lakers watched Josh gliding and scoring a dunk, and the Rockets chased 22 to 31.

Turning around, the Lakers attacked again, Jokic rushed to the basket and failed to grab the ball, Josh made a steal and launched a fast break, and the Rockets scored another 2 points.

D'Antoni signaled to slow down the pace, the Lakers will pass many times, Jokic successfully attracted double-teams and distributed the ball out.

Clarkson took the ball wide open, but it was a pity that the shot hit the iron. The Rockets launched a fast break again and scored easily again.

...

TNT commentary seats.

"The Lakers don't seem to believe in evil. Their lineup is the main reason for their eight-game losing streak in the preseason," Barkley said with a smile. Except for Iguodala, the four players on the field are all rookies, and the overall shooting percentage from the outside line is biased, and the Rockets are very good at defending."

"It must be training rookies," O'Neal said, "Anyway, you can win against the Rockets."

"To be honest, the Rockets' current lineup is much more coordinated than when Anthony and Harden are on the court." Kenny said, "Almost everyone is running, and the Lakers have a large lineup, which is more difficult to deal with. "

...

On the court, the short whistle sounded, and after the first quarter, the Lakers led 36 to 32 by 4 points.

D'Antoni got up and said to Walton: "We need a shooter to break the Rockets' zone defense..."

"Let me do it." Li Yue raised his hand and nodded to Bazemore, motioning to explain later.

(End of this chapter)