super small forward

Chapter 11 Chapter 11
With the Lakers beating the Spurs in the last game, people think that they are playing the Rockets this time, not to mention crushing, at least they have the advantage.

Except for Harden, the Rockets have no advantages in other positions. The Lakers have Howard as a big killer in the paint. Blake and Jamison both have solid three-pointers. Clark has outstanding ability to support high positions. Liu Ren's almost unstoppable air cut, the Rockets have no way to stop it.

This is not a fantasy based on the lineup. All these things were displayed in the last game against the Spurs. Although the Spurs troika is not there, the Spurs are much stronger than the Rockets even without the troika.

Public opinion agrees that the Lakers Rockets, which the Spurs can't stop, have little chance to stop them.

Even the Rockets themselves don't have much confidence to stop the Lakers. It is true that Kobe was reimbursed, but the Lakers' record after the All-Star break is the first in the league, and that momentum is still there.

But after fighting, the Rockets found that the opponent was not as strong as imagined!

Especially Howard, who is known as the number one center in the league, played so badly!
So the Rockets began to fight back against the Lakers, and became more confident as they played, until then they kept pressing the Lakers.

In the first quarter, 33 to 17, the Rockets quickly pulled the point difference to more than 15 points!
During the break during the festival, D'Antoni was not well.

"Liu, what's wrong with you? You only take two shots in a whole quarter? Cut inside! Cut! Take more shots! Steve, Antoine, where are your shots? Earl, you pass the ball to the right place In the hands of others, it's not a blind pass..." D'Antoni roared loudly.

Before the game, D'Antoni was dismissive of the Rockets. Now his only opponent is the Spurs in the playoffs. Who knew that the Lakers were actually beaten by the Rockets!
If they lose to the Rockets, they will only be ranked eighth in the West. The Thunder are much more difficult to deal with than the Spurs. The two cores are young and strong, and no one on the Lakers side can stop them.

The most important thing is that D'Antoni didn't think about how much he could do in the playoffs. He just wanted to disgust the Spurs and get revenge on the opponent for using them as a stepping stone.

If they lose to the Rockets, how can they get revenge on the Spurs?
To the Western Conference Finals?

It is also impossible to think.

Liu Ren was the first to be scolded, and he was also aggrieved. He wants status in this team but has no status. It doesn’t matter if he wants to be related.

Thinking of this, Liu Ren became angry, and at the same time felt very helpless. He knew what had happened. Howard was obviously disturbed by the media. In addition, he had already made it to the playoffs. The jar broke.

And this time, the broken jar was more eye-catching than the one that Liu Ren knew about in his previous life. Although Howard played well in the game Liu Ren played against the Spurs in his previous life, it was far from as good as this time. In that game in his previous life, Although the Lakers also won, but because there was no one with athletic ability to help Howard in the interior, he worked hard in the interior alone to suppress Diaw, Splitter, and Leonard.

This time, Liu Ren kept making empty cuts and hitting the basket, which attracted Splitter's attention and Leonard's chasing defense, allowing Howard to play with ease, easily destroying the Spurs' inside group without Duncan, and by the way, making it to the outside With a wide open space, relying on D'Antoni's tactical running position, he easily got scoring opportunities.

Facing the Spurs' defensive explosion, Howard successfully proved his strength and helped the Lakers reach the playoffs.

Therefore, even if Howard fights randomly now and causes the Lakers to lose, no one will doubt his strength, but judge the situation from off-court news.

Howard is broken now. He feels that the media has already treated him that way anyway, and it doesn't matter how bad it is.

Just as Liu Ren thought, Howard did, as he expected, never want to stay with the Lakers again.

The pressure in Los Angeles was too great. I just thought that playing a good game would make the media praise him. At the beginning, the media in Orlando was so easy to deal with, but the fact was that it attracted constant ridicule.

Looking at the helpless expressions of everyone, how could D'Antoni not know what happened, but Howard is the only star of the team, so he must not be allowed to play, right?How can he play if he doesn't play?Moreover, Howard was traded by the Lakers at a high price. If Howard does not renew his contract with the team due to certain reasons, then the job may be gone.

Liu Ren looked at D'Antoni with contempt, and D'Antoni's concerns were almost written on his face, no wonder the locker room couldn't be controlled at all.

Can Howard keep him on the court all the time?D'Antoni was too blind to the facts.

Last summer, D'Antoni always thought that he and Jeremy Lin could stay in the Knicks, and then they both left, and the Knicks didn't even have the intention of keeping them.

It's not that Liu Ren doesn't want Howard to stay with the Lakers. With Howard, the rebuilding of the Lakers can be said to be in place in one step. With Howard, it will definitely attract the attention of many stars. No one dares to take over the transaction.

But Liu Ren and Howard have no intersection at all, and their status in the NBA is even more different. There is no room for the two of them to talk together.

Liu Ren felt that if he posted it and told Howard that you stayed, how powerful we would be in the future, who would we attract, and then he said that the players he wanted to recruit were all people with no reputation at all. Being scolded by this big man for being stupid-cha.

So Liu Ren thinks that if Howard's brain is trapped by the door and stays with the Lakers, it is definitely something to be happy about. It is more realistic for future powerful players to come to the Lakers.

Seeing D'Antoni take the initiative to communicate with Howard, Liu Ren felt that it was meaningless to face a privileged player. You, a head coach, still need to ask the players to play well, so what prestige can you have?
No wonder some people say that the biggest trouble for the Lakers after forming the Big Four is not the conflicts among players, but that there is no coach with WeChat who can suppress this group of players. It may be that the record is so poor with such a good hand. The Lakers lineup last season was far worse than this season. Kobe's state is not so good, and his record is still in the top three in the West.

"Dwight, you are the only hope for our team. All hope of victory is placed on you. Only you can lead us to victory..." D'Antoni was prone to blush when he was anxious, such shameless words I can't tell if I'm sorry.

Howard is like a big kid. Although it is impossible to change his mind that he does not want to stay in Los Angeles, it is still possible to coax him to play a good game. Under D'Antoni's persuasion, Howard looked at the team without Kobe, I feel like I'm really what my teammates expect.

Although I don't want to stay in this team anymore, my teammates are innocent!We must lead them to win. We don't worry about the next contract, but other people are different!

Howard thought of Liu Ren, who had a good understanding with him in the last game and always took away the opponent's defense player at the right time. He seemed to remember that the contract of this Chinese American was about to expire this year. If he lost his stay in the NBA chance, that's not good.

(End of this chapter)