The Whip of the God of Basketball

The Houston Rockets have always been known for their tenacity, and I have to admit that the NBA team culture has continuity. The Phoenix Suns suffered a lot from the Rockets in the 1990s. For two consecutive years, they were overturned by the Rockets in tiebreakers in a superior situation. The unspeakable pain in the history of the Suns.

The current Rockets also have a strong style. As an experienced head coach, Adelman felt the team's problems from the first quarter of the game. When Yao Ming couldn't start the offensive end, other players' autonomy The offensive ability is insufficient. If it were not for the good performance of Luther Hyde and Luis Scola who came off the bench, the Rockets would definitely fall behind even more in the first quarter.

Defensively, the Rockets' lack of athleticism on the outside could not keep up with the Suns' offensive pace. Especially at the end of the first quarter when the Suns put on five small lineups, the Suns' flexible play style almost overwhelmed the Rockets' defense. Puncture. You must know that the head coach of the Houston Rockets last season was Jeff Van Gundy, and the foundation of the defensive system he built is still there. The Rockets also have excellent third-position defenders like Sean Battier on the outside.

But even if the Rockets increase their intensity, there is still no way to stop the three ball handlers Nash, Diaw, and Jaskovicius from going through the motions in the positional battle-their positional offensive cooperation is becoming more and more tacit.

Defensive and rhythm problems cannot be solved in one game, so Adelman decided to work on the offense. In the second quarter, he decided to increase Luis Scola's playing time and asked Yao Ming to rest more on the bench. Then they sent Kirk Snyder, who has offensive ability, on the front line, letting Battier face off against Diaw at the fourth position. The Rockets also came up with a smaller lineup.

Adelman had no choice but to do this, because in fact the Rockets' lineup is indeed quite deformed. Apart from a super center inside, among the other rotation personnel, the tallest person is actually the 6-foot-9 Scola. Under normal circumstances, Yao Ming His replacement at center is 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes. Although Hayes can defend in the low post, but with his height, assist defense and rebounding are big problems.

However, at the beginning of the second quarter, the Rockets actually played well with this lineup. The Suns used a smaller lineup, and Scola became the high point on the court. His excellent low-post skills began to help the Rockets chase points bit by bit. At this time, Nash and Stoudemire were both sitting off the court. It was Jaskevicius who controlled the offense. The European King was in average condition tonight. He tried two direct three-pointers from the outside and failed to hit. The Rockets had a chance to counterattack with long rebounds.

The Rockets' counterattack speed was not fast, but their ability to seize opportunities was good. After two counterattacks, a layup and a point ball, Battier's corner three-pointer, the Rockets suddenly closed the point difference to 4 points. Leon was still sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai on the sidelines, with no intention of calling a timeout. It had not been long since the start of the second quarter, and he did not intend to disrupt the rhythm of the rotation.

Jascovicius dribbled the ball past half-court, Diaw came out of the three-point line to catch the ball and organized the attack at the high post. Hill made a reverse run and ran inside, but Snyder followed closely and the air-cutting attack failed. Diaw passed the ball to Bell on the left. Bell didn't pose much of a threat with the ball, so he could only pass the ball back to Jascovicius. The Suns' offense came to a standstill. Now they don't have a main attacking point on the field.

Stoudemire was a little anxious on the sidelines. He said to Leon: "I should be on the court at this time, I should be on the court."

According to the rotation at the beginning of the season, Stoudemire should lead the bench lineup to make waves in the interior at this time. However, due to his knee injury, Leon reduced his playing time after his return. He usually played more in the first quarter and less in the subsequent period. Stoudemire was eager to try today, but Leon still did not resume his previous substitution strategy. In the second quarter, he played a small lineup and let Stoudemire sit.

Leon could understand Stoudemire's mood, but he still said: "Don't worry, isn't Yao sitting in the audience too?"

Yao Ming was indeed sitting off the court. His performance in the first quarter today was relatively abnormal, which caused the Rockets to fall into a passive position at the beginning. Playing against an offensive team like the Suns, once you fall into a passive position at the beginning, it will be difficult to play later. But Leon is also worried that Yao Ming will rebound later. Once he scores high points in the paint, he will pose a huge threat to the Suns.

Just one Luis Scola has given the Suns insiders some headaches. So Leon endured his patience and let Stoudemire sit on the bench, waiting for Adelman to make adjustments. Halfway through the second quarter, the Rockets slowly reversed the momentum. Scola shined in the paint, with his numerous low-post moves, ghostly feints, and long flowing hair that made Marion confused. Dio and I were at a loss. And he also has a precise mid-range jump shot. In the second quarter, he relied on his personal ability to basically support the Rockets' offense.

It is conceivable that Scola, who is still a substitute, will soon become the Rockets' starting power forward, because the offense of his competitor Chuck Hayes is really not good enough.

However, the Suns still maintain the lead in the score. Whenever the Rockets want to catch up, the Suns' outsiders can always hit key three-pointers to suppress the Rockets' momentum. Finally, the official timeout came and the two sides were about to rotate personnel. Leon patted Stoudemire on the shoulder and signaled him to prepare to appear. Stoudemire jumped up from his stool. He saw that Yao Ming had also stood up on the opposite bench.

The main lineup reappeared, but Leon asked Marion to take a rest and let Grant Hill stay on the court to participate in the offense. Hill was surprisingly useful on the offensive end. He quickly integrated into the Suns' offensive system - but to be honest, the Suns now have no special system at all. For a team full of offensive talent, the system is often a constraint for them. Only a team like the Boston Celtics, where everyone knows only three tricks, needs a system to guide their offense.

Adelman also kept Scola on the court. With Scola and Yao Ming as two low-post threats, the Rockets' offensive threat will be greatly increased, and the opposite Suns' interior defense is relatively poor. Diaw is short and Stoudemire is single. To defend against the air, Yao Ming and Gascola took turns to attack, and for most of the game, they could always penetrate the Suns' defense.

Adelman thought very well, but he ignored that the Suns' defense was indeed average, but Fox-Leon was a defensive expert, so he naturally had his own methods to deal with double low-post attackers. After returning from the timeout, the Rockets' first offense saw a change in positioning. The person marking Scola was Diaw, while Stoudemire began to directly confront Yao Ming on the defensive end.

Stoudemire began to defend Yao Ming.

Stoudemire's single defense is indeed not good, but today he is facing Yao Ming. Leon told him that he must prevent Yao Ming from catching the ball no matter what. Stoudemire was very motivated and began to defend Yao Ming at all costs, causing Yao Ming to be unable to catch the ball. The players' positions shifted. Yao Ming opened up and left the low post open to Scola. Scola caught the ball in the low post. He had already shown his form and confidence in the second quarter. He made three turns and flicked to the basket for a layup, but failed. Stoudemire, who was being defended, slapped the ball away!

Stoudemire's defensive skills and awareness are average, but his jumping and wingspan make his blocking level quite good. If you don't count the games after returning from injury this season, his average blocks per game has reached a career high of 2.3. In games returning from injury, he averaged 2 per game.

A big block was given to Scola, Diaw got a backcourt rebound, and Nash caught the ball and launched a quick counterattack. Stoudemire, who had just successfully blocked a shot, had already rushed to the frontcourt. Nash passed the ball to the left in a wide range. Hill received the ball and then made a cross pass to the middle. Stoudemire received the ball and jumped directly into the middle. Succeeded with a one-arm chop! After scoring the goal, Stoudemire showed off his biceps to the fans at the scene. One offense and one defense, the little bully played very domineeringly.

In comparison, Yao Ming seemed to be unable to keep up with the Suns' targeted defense and fast pace. His condition was not very good tonight.

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