start with scouting

Chapter 649

As WOJ broke the news, various discussions followed.

ESPN issued an article to take stock of the Rockets lineup. Paul, Harden, Tucker, Ariza, Capela are the starters, Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson are the substitutes, plus Nene and other players, it is already considered a super team, and there is still a chance Pick up leaks in the buyout market.

TNT specially interviewed Rockets CEO Ted Brown. He talked about why he has made continuous big moves recently. The answer is that the Rockets have always wanted to win the championship. The pace of building a super lineup has never stopped, but there was no Harden before. For other super players Unattractive, but with cornerstone players like Harden, the Rockets have attracted super giants like Howard to join.

The online betting website BET360 simultaneously increased the odds of the Rockets winning the championship, directly surpassing the Warriors, Cavaliers, and Spurs, but still ranked behind the Kings. The reference suggestion is that the Rockets' lineup lacks running-in, especially Harden and Paul's possession of the ball.

Regarding the issue of ball ownership, the famous coach and commentator Hubie Brown expressed his opinion: Harden and Paul’s compatibility problem is very easy to solve. They have super personal abilities and do not need the whole team to link up. Their existing lineup can completely target the Kings through unlimited defense changes, because the Kings only have Curry and George who are good at holding the ball.

Su Yang saw all kinds of discussions and found that they were all on point. He couldn't help feeling that there are too many smart people in the NBA.

It can be said that the Rockets' lineup is built for the king, especially the limit, if they don't win the championship in two years, they will collapse.

I don’t know what the effect will be. The Kings can carry out some targeted training in advance, especially the Rockets’ infinite switch routine. It will be a headache when encountering short pick-and-rolls, because when the infinite switch is used, the player in charge of the block will be easily dismantled.

On the [-]th against the Eagles, the Kings trained before the game.

Su Yang instructed the whole team to practice a series of short pick-and-roll tactics around Antetokounmpo. He didn't emphasize targeting the Rockets, just said to practice casually.

Compared with ordinary pick-and-rolls, short pick-and-rolls are more often launched at positions farther from the three-point line. After disassembling and catching the ball, you can often get one more operating time and space, either hitting the basket or shooting the ball by yourself, or looking for teammates.

"When the opponent encounters us playing like this, he will definitely try to stay in the penalty area, gamble on Giannis' mid-range, and block the space for others to receive the ball, waiting to return to the defense..." Assistant coach Mike Brown casually assumed, Di Brown, West and other assistant coaches nodded in agreement .

"Giannis' shooting and playmaking really sucks..."

Su Yang also nodded, and then said: "But his impact is strong enough, disrupting the opponent's defensive formation will be considered as completing the task."

In today's league, LeBron is the best player in short pick-and-roll tactics, followed by Dream Green. But the Kings don't have those two guys, so they can only develop Antetokounmpo's impact ability to the extreme. Anyway, the penalty area will give him space. come out.

After the training was arranged, Su Yang went to the media center to accept the pre-match interviews of the reporters and directly talked about the PJ Tucker deal.

"Honestly speaking, the Rockets came up with the strongest lineup they could get half a year earlier than me. The competition in the Western Division will become very exciting. If we can play against the Rockets in the playoffs, we can put on a wonderful series for the fans. game..."

Between the words, it was obvious that the Rockets were not taken seriously.

The interview was quickly compiled into news, which was posted by ESPN on social platforms such as Twitter, and corresponding comments followed.

The mainstream view is that the Rockets' current lineup is indeed very strong, but the depth of the lineup is still not enough. Maybe the starting five can tie with the Kings, but entering the rotation stage, King LaVine + Thomas Jr. + Covington + Brogdon, let people despair.

Therefore, Su Yang does have the capital to look down on the Rockets, and can only expect the combination of Harden + Paul to produce unexpected results.

At eight o'clock in a blink of an eye, the game between the Kings and the Eagles started.

Su Yang specially presented Bazemore with the championship ring, and by the way, congratulations on signing a 4-year $7000 million contract.

The Kings played a crushing momentum at the beginning, and led by as many as 27 points at the end of the three quarters. The Eagles withdrew their starters early, and Su Yang then arranged for Zhou Qi, Donian, Galloway and other third-team players to appear on the field. The victory over the Eagles ended with 11 points.

On the same night, the Rockets' new lineup played against the Spurs in the first game, winning 124 to 109. Paul scored 28 points and 8 assists, and Harden scored 28 points and 6 assists. The key defense was oppressive, and Leonard only scored 12 points. The only shortcoming is Harden's three-pointer was a bit eye-catching, and he actually made 11 of 2 shots. If he hadn't scored 16 free throws in the game, more than the Spurs, the points would be very few.

In related interviews after the game, Popovich complained that Harden could not be touched. One touch is three free throws, which caused the Spurs players, especially Leonard and Danny Green, to face Harden every time. Difficulty in choosing and delayed symptoms.

Not many fans pay attention to the connotation of Popovich,
Most of the fans are lamenting that Paul and Harden's running-in is very good. The two take turns to find the pick-and-roll, break down the Spurs' strong overall defense, turn the game into a regional two-on-two, and use a large number of three-pointers to force the rest of the Spurs. double team.

Throughout the game, the Rockets made 50 of 18 three-pointers, becoming the team with the most three-pointers in a single game in the NBA.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey retweeted the data website BAR's research on 50 three-pointers, writing: "This is a great attempt, data analysis is changing the league, Magic Ball will lead the arrival of a new era, let us witness together! "

The famous Pistons star Isiah Thomas reposted Morey’s Twitter and wrote disdainfully: “Haha! What is the magic ball? It’s just that the league canceled the hand check rule and favored offense. Once the defensive strength increases, it’s useless.”

Su Yang saw Thomas's tweet, thought it over and then liked it, regardless of what kind of speculation it would cause fans and the media.

As early as the 90s, the Mavericks had shot a lot of three-pointers, and the Nuggets had played running and bombing earlier, but they were not successful because the version of the rules was not good for them. The so-called data analysis led the change. Belongs to pull.

With a day off, the Kings face the Pelicans.

Halfway through the game, the Kings had a big lead. Su Yang was confident that there was no suspense, and began to let Antetokounmpo try short pick-and-roll tactics.

In view of Antetokounmpo's cover quality and Curry's three-point deterrent ability, the Pelicans were forced to switch defenses to pick up moves.

The power forward against the Pelicans is Dante Cunningham, and his ability to catch up is not bad, but when he encounters a non-carbon-based creature like Antetokounmpo who can layup with a single step outside the three-point line, he can only call Davey the thick eyebrow Davis' supplementary defense, and Davis fell at the touch.

"Davis may be the one with the worst downside power among the super giants, not as good as Dayao in his rookie period..."

Su Yang frowned. Originally, Brother Antetokounmpo played very well, but the referee saw Davis frequently fell to the ground, and gave Brother Antetokounmpo a symbolic offensive foul, and ignored Davis' two drags. The short pick-and-roll tactics can only be put aside for the time being.

Instead of playing short pick-and-rolls, Cousins ​​​​could take the ball in the low post and attack continuously, giving the Kentucky junior thick eyebrows a good lesson.

At the end of the game, the Kings won 115 to 101. Cousins ​​scored 28 points and 14 rebounds, winning a four-game winning streak.

After a day off, the whole team flew to Los Angeles to challenge the Lakers.

The game should have been crushed to win, but Curry seemed to have a grudge against Staples' basket. He only made 14 of 3 three-pointers and only won the Lakers by 11 points in the end. Fortunately, Cousins ​​scored 40 points. Crazy data of points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists.

The whole team flew to Oakland overnight to challenge the Warriors back to back.

Before the start of the game, team doctor Tom Kaufman reported that Curry's left ankle was somewhat hindered, and Su Yang decisively gave him a rest.

Cousins ​​also rested. After going up to the two main players, he was a bit of an opponent of the Warriors, and eventually lost to the Warriors by 13 points.

In the same night, the Rockets without Paul defeated the Cavaliers 117 to 113, mainly because of Tucker and Ariza's entanglement with LeBron. There were 46 free throws.

The Rockets took Magic Ball to the extreme.

Many fans left messages on Twitter and Weibo, asking Su Yang for his deeper views besides likes.

Su Yang bluntly said that the style of playing is not critical, the key is the player's ability and the team's on-the-spot response, and one star can do it.

Early the next morning, Cousins, Curry and other Kings four All-Star players, as well as LaVine who participated in the slam dunk contest and Brogdon who participated in the Rookie Challenge, took Su Yang’s private jet to New Orleans, preparing to participate in the All-Star Game. weekend.

(End of this chapter)