Rebirth of Hayes Cyclone

Chapter 113 [Battle of Contradiction]

The Phoenix Suns, with the strongest offensive power in the league, met the Houston Rockets, whose defense was like an iron wall. The media called it a "battle of contradictions"!
Can offense win a championship?
Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni ponders this question.

太阳也是NBA名义上的“强队”，但一到关键的季后赛就掉链子。05年和06年，太阳队分别取得62胜和54胜的战绩，但都在季后赛战至西部决赛时分别以1：4和2：4被马刺和小牛队淘汰。

If it was the first two seasons, the Suns must have the confidence to win the Rockets.They have always played the role of the Rockets' nemesis. They can wear down the Rockets with their speed, make Yao Ming fall into foul trouble, and score no more than 10 points in the game.But this year, all that changed, and the disgraced man who was beaten in the regular season became the sun.

D'Antoni believes that the reason for the Rockets' strengthening is not the success of the defensive system, but the rise of Chuck Hayes.This is a super player who still has potential to be tapped. He can attack and defend well, his reaction speed is extremely fast, and his ability to attack with the ball far exceeds Marion.Therefore, after the All-Star Game, D'Antoni proposed to use a big contract to dig Hayes into the team.

As a result, his proposal was rejected, which angered Suns owner Robert Savor.

Last year, D'Antoni was promoted to the Suns executive vice president of basketball affairs and general manager of the team, but did not produce corresponding results.

In addition to ushering in Nash, the Suns' transactions were not very successful. In 2005, Stoudemire, whom D'Antoni admired most, announced that he needed knee surgery eight days after he got a big contract worth 200 million.Last year, he renewed his contract with Dior with a contract of tens of millions, and the team's salary has been tied to death.This also directly led to the team's shortage of signing funds in the summer.

Stoudemire, Marion, Nash three stars, plus Raja Bell, Diaw, Barbosa... Savor thinks D'Antoni must be crazy.This is already a super lineup, so they can't win the championship, so they still want to buy more people?Now if Hayes is attracted by a big contract, how much luxury tax will the Suns have to pay?As a manager, D'Antoni doesn't want to make money for the boss at all, but gives away the boss's money.Players earn more than their bosses, so what's the point of a championship piled up with the luxury tax? And if Hayes comes, regardless of salary, the depth of the Suns' bench will be a problem.The starting lineup is strong, but the level of the substitute players will be so bad that the rotation of the lineup cannot be guaranteed.This will be a hidden danger in the future.Marion's contract expires next year, and he will definitely ask for a big contract. The best way is to trade Marion out of the team next year in exchange for fresh blood and guaranteed salary.

D'Antoni is not a boss, he only wants a championship.In addition, he and Savor have other differences.He believes that the Suns' failure in the past two seasons is because the offense is not strong enough, but Savor feels that the Suns can't beat the Spurs and Mavericks, which is obviously a bad defense.Except for Marion and Bell, the Suns have no one to defend at all.How can you not lose?

Savor was disappointed with D'Antoni.Not only him, but many teams in the league have begun to feel that the Rockets' tactics are correct, focusing on defense and deploying a few stars to attack.If you play that kind of tactics, you have to change coaches. D'Antoni doesn't understand positional warfare at all.Savor's patience with D'Antoni is limited, and everything depends on this playoffs.If the Sun still can't win the championship, he will rebuild the team next year.

On May 5, the second round of the NBA playoffs begins!
The Rockets have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, which makes the road to the championship easier.Against the Clippers, the Rockets, who used fast counterattack tactics, tasted the sweetness. Against the Suns, Jeff Van Gundy is going to do it again.If Yao Ming only makes the first pass in the offense, he can make up for the disadvantage of slow defense.The Suns' defense has always been the team's weakness.

"Derek (Fisher), today you have to defend Nash's pass with all your strength. On offense, if you have the opportunity, you can also play singles. Nash's defense is not strong. The defense uses 122 zone defense." Van Gundy said: "As long as you limit the With Nash’s assist, we’re sure to win. Position offense, control the tempo, focus on Yao Ming first, if the opponent double-teams, Chuck picks and rolls. Tracy will play.”

Van Gundy already had a plan in mind. If he couldn't prevent the Suns from running and bombing, he would replace Yao Ming soon. The situation was already clear during the regular season. As long as Yao Ming played, unless he didn't participate in the offense, he would definitely follow Not on Stoudemire's fast break speed.But if Yao Ming doesn't attack, what's the point of letting him play?David Lee's rebounding ability is not inferior to that of Yao Ming, and even better.

In the locker room of the visiting team, D'Antoni was abnormal today. He said: "Today we have to strengthen our defense. In the game against the Rockets, their defense is very strong. It is very difficult to score more than 100 points in a game. If we let them score more than [-] points , The game is basically lost. So in defense today, you must cheer up and concentrate. The outside world said that we are a team that can't defend. If you can't defend, you can't win against the Rockets, so we Today we will start defending the zone defense. Today Kurt (Thomas) starts to mark Yao Ming. If Hayes attacks the inside, Amare will guard him. Don’t let them score easily. You must protect the backboard.”

The Rockets, who swept their opponents to advance to the second round, attracted more attention. The game was broadcast live across the United States.Barkley and Kenny Smith explained the game together again.

"Today's live broadcast of this game is a very correct choice. It can be seen from the statistics that Chuck can often play star data against the Suns. If he plays 82 games with the Suns in a season, he must be the MVP!" After the player entered the field , Buckley laughed.

"Why don't you say that the Rockets played 82 games with the Grizzlies? Then Hayes could average 40 points per game." Smith laughed.

"It seems that you have some opinions on Chuck, why don't we make a bet. See how many points Hayes can score today. Hahaha." Barkley laughed.

Smith laughed too. "I'm determined not to gamble anymore, I'm afraid."

Smith previously participated in a gay photo shoot in Los Angeles, although it was only a cameo, and also made sports headlines.

"Fisher is back in the starting lineup. I think it's good to start David Lee like he did in the first two games against the Clippers. That kid has a strong rebound and a good offense. If the Rockets give him a chance, he should be able to get the game. Both are double-doubles. In the last series, Yao Ming and David Lee grabbed rebounds, and Maddie Hayes' fast break style of play left a deep impression on people. I think the effect of that fast break is no better than the sun's bombardment Inferior. It seems that the Rockets want to play positional warfare today." Barkley said.

"The best way to deal with the Suns' running and bombing tactics is to control the rhythm of positional warfare so that the Suns can't play a habitual offense." Smith said: "How the Suns defended Yao Ming today is also a problem. In the last confrontation between the two teams, Yao Ming Got 32 points, and his turnaround jumper is amazing."

Players from both sides played, several stars greeted each other, only Stoudemire ignored Hayes.He annoys Hayes the most in the league. He sticks to his body and makes it very difficult to get inside.And when defending Hayes, he was very uncomfortable, feeling like a defensive back.

However, Hayes took the initiative to talk to Stoudemire this time. "Hi, Amare, I heard you've been watching "The Art of War" recently? What do you think?"

"You also know? I have learned a lot of ways to overcome the enemy from the real book, and I can use it on the court. Today you wait for me to dunk on your head." Stoudemire said.

"Friendship first, competition second, don't be so murderous, we were teammates in the All-Star Game anyway." Hayes laughed: "I think your nickname should also be changed. 'STAT' This nickname is too uncharacteristic. Just like me, I read the "Tao Te Ching" written by Lao Tzu in China, and gave myself the nickname "Lao Tzu" in the team. Since you are familiar with "Sun Tzu's Art of War", why not call it 'Grandson' is ready."

"Don't talk nonsense, you stand up." Stoudemire smiled on his face. He thought Hayes' proposal was very good.When the time comes, I will talk to my teammates, and I might as well change my nickname to "Grandson" in the future.

Thanks to Stoudemire, he also said that he had read "The Art of War by Sun Tzu".The two armies are facing each other, and he dares to believe the words of the enemy...

Rockets starting: Fisher, Tracy McGrady, Battier, Hayes, Yao Ming.

Suns starters: Nash, Raja Bell, Marion, Stoudemire, Kurt Thomas.

The game started.

Stoudemire won the jump ball, Nash caught the ball and immediately passed a through pass to the fast-down Marion, who caught the ball and rushed to the basket, squeezing Battier for a layup but missed, Haye Adams took the rebound and handed it to Fisher.

Fisher dribbles. He is also a player who is good at using his back, and he can always take the ball steadily across the frontcourt.In this regard, he is no worse than Alston.Several Rockets players pulled away.Fisher transferred the ball to Yao Ming.

Yao Ming played Kurt Thomas in singles, dribbled a few times with his back, turned to the baseline, and made a steady shot. 2 to 0.

After throwing the ball, Yao Ming immediately returned to defense, for fear of being counterattacked by the sun.After working hard, he finally ran back to his penalty area before Stoudemire.On the other side, Nash was tightly entangled by Fisher, and it took a few seconds to bring the ball across the half court.

When the Rockets played against the Suns this season, they have been single-defending Nash.He took the ball upfield and handed it to Stoudemire, who stayed put, waiting for Nash to come and pass the ball.Nash bypassed Fisher with a pick-and-roll, and Hayes blocked Nash's way in time. Nash wanted to return the ball to Stoudemire, but Fisher interfered in front of Stoudemire. Passes are prone to turnovers.

Nash chose to break through, his center of gravity was very low, and his steps were very slow. When he was close to Hayes, he accelerated the rhythm of the ball, and suddenly accelerated, and he was half a step away from Hayes, and he stopped and shot the ball. Enter. 2 to 2.

"pretty."

Nash listened to Hayes as he passed by.Nash smiled, he did not understand why Hayes should praise the opponent.

For Hayes, there is no shame in being scored by an MVP-level guard after switching defenses.He was also broken by Nash many times in the regular season, and now he has some understanding of Nash's dribbling.

(End of this chapter)