Pick Westbrook

Chapter 205 Combining Internal and External Cousins

"Welcome to the 10-11 season, the scene of the NBA preseason game."

Kenny Smith would like to say that it is indeed the Bucks.

In addition to having them in the announced opening game, even the first game of the preseason must be arranged for the Bucks to play.

Bucks VS Rockets.

How about the Chinese Derby?
Barkley shook his head, wanting to say he had nothing to say.

Yi Jianlian is now injured, and it is nowhere in sight to return to the court, so this is still called a Chinese derby.

In tonight's game, the only possibility is to see Yao Ming, one of the players in the Chinese Derby, play.

Technical front.

Rick - Adelman and Li came to hug and greet.

"It's a pity that I couldn't meet the Bucks in the opening game, otherwise I can witness your championship flag-raising ceremony with my own eyes."

"I watched the entire finals game between the Bucks and the Lakers. Your restrictions on the combination of Gasol and Bynum are very effective."

Immediately afterwards, Adelman saw McGrady who was warming up with Yao Ming on the court, chatting and laughing, and he couldn't help but sighed.

The once earth-shattering superhero has now been completely reduced to a substitute player. He is only 31 years old.

"Coach Li Lai, please treat McGrady well? He is a very dedicated player."

Li Lai looked back at McGrady, then looked at Rick Adelman with a smile on his face and said.

"I'm sorry Coach Adelman, now that he's my player, he'll have someone to care about."

Adelman smiled knowingly.

With Li Lai, one of the best offensive coaches in the league, to coach McGrady, maybe the opponent's talent may shine again.

on the field.

Mai Di, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, the three greeted each other with care.

Yao Ming was a little worried about Yi Jianlian's injury, and McGrady hinted at the right and wrong of Yao Ming's early departure from the Rockets as someone who had been there.

In his opinion, the management of this team is not worthy of Yao's name at all.

Yi Jianlian is also not very optimistic about the Rockets this season.

Yao Ming is already 30 years old. This is the peak age of a center player. It would be a pity if this time cannot be wasted in the championship.

The Rockets this season are not a championship-level team no matter how you look at it. Even if the era of the Western Conference has passed, it may not be so easy for them to make the playoffs.

Yao Ming naturally knew that the two people in front of him wanted him to apply for a trade, but he had inexplicable feelings for the Rockets and the fans here.

In particular, his own personality does not allow him to make the decision to leave voluntarily. Loyalty is engraved in his bones, and he will stick to it without hesitation even if it is foolish loyalty.

Game start.

Bucks lineup: Dragic, George Hill, Danny Green, Villanueva and Cousins.

Rockets lineup: Kyle Lowry, Kevin Martin, Chase Budinger, Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes.

In this preseason game, neither Li Lai nor Adelman chose to be the team's main players.

The purpose is naturally to let rookies and young players get familiar with the NBA arena on the court, and at the same time let some veteran players who have been rested for a long time find their feelings.

Midfield jump ball.

Cousins ​​jumped high and grabbed the first wave of offensive possessions from Chuck Hayes with his exaggerated wingspan.

The Bucks attack.

"We can pay close attention to the Bucks' style of play in the new season."

"After all, they have lost Yi Jianlian now, and many of the previous fixed styles and tactics will not be able to be used."

Kenny Smith looked at the court with great anticipation.

Even though the Bucks lost Yi Jianlian one after another, O'Neal and Iverson were almost unable to play, and ESPN's ranking of the team's championship strength even fell to 8th.

But Kenny Smith is still willing to fan this team.

Because he has witnessed the entire process of the Bucks from the league to the championship team, he believes that this is a unique team.

"If the Bucks can't find a new team tactic, or if the new tactic is difficult to be as deterrent and dominant as last season, it will be difficult for them to stand out this season."

Barkley is clear.

This season's Big Three, the Heat and the Lakers have a strong lineup, and the Bulls and New York Knicks have taken on a new look and become the new first-tier teams in the league.

Plus the Mavericks and Spurs, the veteran powerhouses in the West.

If the Bucks can't resume the dominant performance of last season as soon as possible, they will continue to decline in ESPN's strength rankings, and even fall out of the ranks of the championship. It is not impossible.

"attack!"

Although Westbrook did not play the game, he did not forget to stand up and clap his hands on the sidelines to cheer for his teammates.

He, who won the double MVP last season, has become more and more charismatic this season, and he dares to stand up and remind his players.

Cousins ​​was positioned at the waist on the right side of the penalty area, and Villanueva ran out of the three-point line in the left corner.

At the same time, Danny Green mentioned a 45° angle on the left, and George Hill ran from the right without the ball and walked around the baseline to the left.

"It's a pass-and-cut tactic that the Bucks played a lot last season."

"Under this tactic, special attention should be paid to marking George Hill, because the Bucks are likely to design an elevator door tactic on the right side or a [-]-pointer tactic without the ball in the pick-and-roll."

Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin have been following George Hill.

Substitute every screen, and immediately adjust your position on the field after the substitution. In short, you don't give George Hill an easy chance to catch the ball.

Kenny Smith nodded again and again, and strongly agreed with the defensive strategy chosen by the Rockets.

He said: "This was originally an offensive tactic that Curry played a lot last season."

"Although the person implementing this tactic has become George Hill, there seems to be no sense of disobedience on the court, and there is even a deterrent force that you dare to let the opponent go."

Barkley on the side nodded in agreement.

"Although George Hill does not have Curry's stormy offense outside the three-point line, he must not let it go under the Bucks' tactical system."

"You must know that under the tactical blessing of the Bucks, even Kobe and Fisher in the finals, the defense of the two can hardly limit the Bucks' three-point shooting, let alone the players on the field like the Rockets. "

on the field.

George Hill did not run out of an easy scoring opportunity, but he destroyed the entire Rockets' defensive system and positioning.

Cousins ​​demanded the ball strongly inside.

Dragic lobs the ball over.

This pass surprised the fans at the Toyota Center Arena.

"The Bucks' first pitch in the preseason was played by a rookie this year?"

Cousins ​​caught the ball with his back and Chuck Hayes defended.

Marshall turned over the data off the court and said: "Chuck Hayes, with a height of 198cm and a weight of 109kg, is the shortest center in the NBA in the past 20 years, not one of them."

"However, don't underestimate Hayes at this height. Although he is a little short, he has a lot of defensive experience, especially in low-post defense, and he has a lot of core strength."

Tyronn Lue looked at the court nervously.

He didn't understand why Li Lai designed such a tactic in the first game of the preseason, trying to use Cousins ​​to bully Chuck Hayes?

That's the wrong person.

Last season, Hayes was able to defend Howard alone without losing the wind, making the opponent extremely uncomfortable, and even allowed Howard to shoot 16 of 7 shots in that regular season.

Who can imagine that a short insider with a height of only 198cm can do it?

Even the league's one-on-one big defensive players can't do this well.

Li Lai looked expectantly at the court, and Artest and O'Neal who were sitting on the bench had the same emotion as him.

Cousins ​​turned his head slightly and glanced at the defensive positions on the court.

None of the Rockets players chose to jump over to double-team him at this time.

It seems that they are very relieved of their teammate Chuck Hayes.

Cousins ​​dribbles the ball with his back, and at the same time pushes his back hard behind him.

Ok? !

"No response."

"This rookie just can't push Chuck Hayes one step at all!"

Off the court, Yao Ming, who was on the Rockets' bench, couldn't help but smile.

In the Rockets' team training games, Chuck Hayes often played the defensive player.

But even with such a disparity in height between Yao Ming and Hayes, it is difficult to say that he can beat the opponent in one-on-one singles, let alone this rookie wearing the No. 15 jersey?

Yao Ming knew very well that only a center player like him with an extremely soft touch can take advantage of Hayes' defense. Howard's flying style of play will be restrained to death by the opponent. .

on the field.

Just when everyone thought that this offensive round would be screwed up by the 15th rookie of the Bucks, Cousins ​​suddenly turned back and forth, deceiving Hayes' defensive focus.

That is, at the moment when the opponent's center of gravity changed, Cousins ​​once again pushed his back to the inside.

This time, Hayes was successfully jacked up and took a step back.

This is the distance!

Cousins ​​turned forward and faced the basket, grabbing the frame with both hands and dunking.

boom!
"It's a shark dunk!"

Barkley exclaimed.

He knew very well who did the dunk just now, wasn't it O'Neill's favorite dunk with two hands violently blasting the frame.

Rockets bench.

Yao Ming frowned when he saw the ball.

Only he can clearly see the details of the back and forth turning to deceive Hayes' defensive center of gravity just now. This is the post-up singles technique that Shaquille O'Neal is best at.

Throughout O'Neal's career, few players could limit the opponent in low post defense.

Many people think that this is O'Neal's natural power, so no one in the entire NBA can be O'Neal's opponent in the confrontation of the penalty area.

In fact, Yao Ming can definitely say no to this point.

At least in the competition of strength, Big Ben Wallace and Iron Elbow Malone are better than O'Neal.

But when the two were defending O'Neal's low-post offense, they were also inevitably pushed horizontally by the big shark to the basket for dunks.

It is because of the offensive skills in it.

In Yao Ming's view, everyone in the world pays too much attention to O'Neal's physical talent, so instead he ignores his top-level offensive skills in the paint.

Yao Ming, who is good at offensive skills, can say with certainty that he and O'Neal have their own strengths and weaknesses in interior offensive skills. Except for Dameng Olajuwon's offensive skills that can make the two fall behind, their offensive skills against anyone else Not convinced.

"Cousins ​​is using O'Neal's offensive skills!"

"After using cleverness to break strength, use force to break cleverness."

"On this skill, O'Neal is well-deserved number one in the league."

After scoring the goal, Cousins ​​was extremely arrogant, taking the overlord step with an arrogant expression, but when he turned his head, he saw Li Lai's eyes full of warning.

Cousins ​​was instantly relieved.

It's not that he's afraid of Li Lai. A person like him who is so fearless has not yet convinced Li Lai. He is afraid of the Bucks' entire bench.

Because of Li Lai's warning gaze, all the players on the Bucks' bench, including Artest and O'Neal, stared at Cousins ​​with full vicious eyes.

This terrified Cousins.

Terby is Artest's fist and O'Neal's human bomb, and Cousins ​​​​don't want to recall the second time now.

Tyronn Lue said with great satisfaction on the court: "Although Cousins ​​still has some gaps with O'Neal in low-post offense and is not skilled enough, it is already quite rare."

"He's capable enough to be our starting center!"

Li Lai nodded. He had always been confident in Cousins' strength, but there was one thing that gave him a headache until now.

That is, Cousins ​​is still unwilling to give up his outside ball-handling style, and even bluntly told Li Lai in a big boy's temper that if he is not allowed to play like this, he will not learn O'Neal's inside offensive skills.

Li Lai always felt like he had chosen a child for the Bucks, with a lot of messy little emotions.

"It's just that Cousins ​​has learned ball-handling skills since he was a child and has entered the NBA now. It is indeed cruel for us to force him to give up his original technical moves."

"He has always hoped that he can play like his idol. He originally played at the small forward position, so Cousins' outside offensive skills are so skilled."

"It's just a pity, the height is confiscated, the longer he grows, the taller he is, it is impossible to return to the small forward position now."

Tyronn Lue is on the same front as Cousins ​​on this point.

Even if that style of play with the ball on the outside does consume a lot of Cousins, it is Cousins ​​who plays that way.

Li Lai is not a stubborn person.

Sometimes the right decision is important, but the wrong but extremely meaningful decision is equally important.

So Li Lai agreed to Cousins, and will design outside ball-holding tactics for him.

But the premise is that you can only play this way under a specific tactic, and you can't attack with the ball from the outside at any time according to his preferences.

Because Cousins ​​holds the ball on the outside, inside offense, rebounding, positioning, and cooperation between teammates are all a lot of problems.

The rest of the Bucks have to work together closely to make Cousins' ball-handling offense extremely useful and dominant.

"In the final analysis, it was his idol who caused the trouble!"

"Without that guy, how could Cousins ​​be so paranoid on the outside with the ball?"

"It's just Cousins, others don't know who your idol is, but I know it all too well, otherwise why would you wear the No. 15 jersey?"

"That melon made me lose a player of O'Neal's level in vain, but Cousins, who has a more reasonable combination of inside and outside, is also very good."

(End of this chapter)