super small forward

Chapter 608 608. The King of Porcelain Evolves!

The Rockets have changed their head coach.

Before the game against the Rockets, Liu Ren finally recognized the lively conversation between the head coach of the Rockets and his chief assistant. The head coach of the Rockets, John Blair Bickerstaff, was the chief assistant of the Lakers, Bernie - Bickerstaff's own son.

How miserable is the Rockets this year?

After a 5-game losing streak at the beginning, then 2 wins and 7 losses, and then 3 wins and 9 losses, McHale, who put his treasure on the Big Three combination of Lawson, Harden, and Howard, was fired directly.

This brings back a "giant" who has been shot down, and someone has to take the blame.

Lawson joined the NBA in 2009. Last season was the sixth season of his personal career. He entered a mature period, which is the peak of his career. He averaged 15.3 points, 10.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. In addition, the average turnover is only 2.2 times per game, which is almost close to the assist-to-turnover ratio of 5 to 1. The shooting percentage is 40.00%, a career high of 30.00, and the three-point shooting percentage is [-]%, a career high of [-].

Last season, Lawson was once regarded as the biggest legacy of the West that did not make the All-Stars. Of course, Lillard is habitually ignored.

What the fans expected at the beginning was that with Harden and Howard, Lawson could rush to the assists king, and then liberate Harden to sort out the Rockets' offense.

The management managed to give you McHale such a great, such an excellent point guard, who is young, capable, and has good statistics. The management and fans are waiting for results.

However, after the start of the season, Lawson played 12 starts, averaging 6 points and 3 assists per game, shooting 35 from the field and 21 from the three-point range...

What kind of giant is this? It's a huge pit!The Rockets also played 3 wins and 9 losses.

At the beginning, the Rockets only sent Papanicolaou, Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson and a first-round lottery protection pick next year. People thought that the Rockets were crazy. Also thought the Nuggets were crazy.

After completing the deal, Morey was sent to the altar for a while.

But now it is discovered that the Rockets have been pitted by the Nuggets.

Lawson's remaining contract is 1300 million, and what he played out is that the second-round rookie Montréal Harrell with a salary of 78 they selected this year did not perform as well...

The Rockets helped the Nuggets take over the pot, and also sent four rotation players to the Nuggets, plus a first-round pick...

The management always has to find someone to take the blame, right? McHale became the one who took the blame, was fired, and then temporarily invited John Bickerstaff, who is commonly known by domestic fans as *** or Bickerstaff Jr. Serve as interim head coach.

After Bickerstaff Jr. came, he did one thing very decisively, which was to kick Lawson out of the regular rotation directly, and the Rockets' record improved slightly.

But when it was getting better, Howard became emotional again, saying that he couldn't catch the ball, had no chance of singles, and was unwilling to be a role player in the pick-and-roll.

Two years have passed, and everyone can see that Howard really doesn't have the ability to play singles. He makes a mistake once in singles, or else he is a blacksmith.

The emotional Howard's game is like this: he only grabs rebounds, doesn't block people, doesn't look at people on defense, just waits for rebounds, doesn't attack with pick-and-rolls, just waits for tip-ups.

Even if Howard has declined a lot, after all, his physical talent is there, and he can still grab a seemingly good 13 points and 11 rebounds per game, but from his career-low 1.3 blocks, we can see what is really going on.

Then the Rockets are half-dead. If they are going to be bad, they will not be bad. After all, Harden, who is probably the current No. [-] shooting guard, barely maintains the opportunity to hit the eighth place in the Western Conference. Such a big possibility is hovering in the top ten right now.

In fact, Howard is mainly a mentality problem. When he could change James alone by relying on his physical talent in the early years, he did not choose to hone his skills. Now that he is getting older, his physical fitness has begun to decline, and he cannot get the ball and hit his opponent directly like before. Putting the ball into the basket, it was too late to hone his skills at this time, and he was unwilling to accept the style of play of a role player. This kind of mentality is actually quite normal. He was also the All-Star starting center and the best team in [-]. Naturally, he refused to accept the fact of decline, but he still has the ability to play excellent statistics. He can get a top salary wherever he wants to go.

So Howard's unstoppable strength makes the Rockets management who own him feel a headache.

The record is good, and any contradictions can be covered up. This is why the Lakers obviously have a group of core low-post players with explosive talents who want to start and want his position, but they are still happy. Because as long as they win, no other players Everything is not that important.

But the record is poor, and all the contradictions are intensified.

Liu Ren obviously felt that the atmosphere on the Rockets side was very weird, and happy basketball had long since disappeared.

The Lakers' pre-game event today has a very interesting thing, which is a benefit to the fans, but also a rather shameful thing.

The big screen at the scene was connected to the camera of the live broadcast, and a kissing game was played before the game started, and then the vicious cameraman repeatedly pointed the camera at two men or two women, of course most people chose Refuse to kiss, but still think it's fun, or girls who are simply gay, or like to grind tofu, just start chewing, which caused bursts of exclamation and laughter at the scene.

In the end, the DJ told the fans that the fans who were selected by the cameraman in the kissing game and then kissed will get two tickets to the Christmas game between the Lakers and Clippers this season...

The worst cameraman in history has been released. The main cameraman for the Lakers broadcast today, Andrew Burstyn, who has won the NBA's official photography award for many times, has successfully become the object of "hate" by Lakers fans.

Finally, the game is about to start.

The starting lineups of both sides came to the field.

The Lakers' starters today are Clarkson, McCollum, Liu Ren, Green, and Whiteside.

Today Kobe and Antetokounmpo actually did not have a rotation. Antetokounmpo is here because the opponent at the point guard is Beverly, and his defense is not needed. Instead, Beverly is short and brutal. Clarkson This relatively sloppy sixth-man style of play is more suitable for dealing with him.

Kobe doesn't necessarily play. The Rockets are now [-]th in the Western Conference and are in chaos. Kobe won't play unless there are special circumstances.

The Rockets started with Beverly, Harden, Trevor Ariza, Josh Smith and Howard.

When players from both sides played, the Lakers were five people discussing their running positions while going on the court together, and walked up together, while the Rockets were obviously divided into two teams, Josh Smith and Howard, high school classmates. A pair, and the other three dialed outside, there is a feeling of clear distinction.

Speaking of which, the high school Howard went to was really good. In the 2004 draft, there were actually two first-round picks in the NBA. Howard and Josh Smith were both high school students who participated in the draft directly, and Howard was the No. [-] pick.

Howard wanted to partner with Josh Smith a long time ago. Unfortunately, Josh Smith was not for sale for the Eagles. The team did not have the chips to impress the Hawks. Later, when the Hawks were about to completely rebuild and send Josh Smith away for nothing, Howard had already gone to the Lakers...

Time is a killing knife. Josh Smith has changed from the omnipotent power forward version of James before 2013 to the current CIC handsome boy, and Howard is not as tough as he was back then.

约什-史密斯坠落得真的很奇怪，2012-2013赛季还是各种全能，各种内线生吃，以40.00%八的命中率场均拿到18分8板4助攻还有1.7个盖帽和1.4次助攻，妥妥的当时最全能的球员。

But I went to the Pistons in the 2013-2014 season. I don’t know if it was because of the excitement of being sent away by the Eagles in a second round, or because the Eagles found out that he was about to decline, and his shooting percentage fell directly to 40.00% in an instant. It fell to 30.00% nine, no breakthroughs, no rebounds, no assists, no steals, no blocks.

At the end of last season, Pistons head coach and CEO Van Gundy did not choose to trade, but directly waived Josh Smith, who was claimed by the Rockets and wanted to appease Howard.

But what the Rockets management didn't expect was that although Howard had a mediocre relationship with other teammates, at least he could communicate happily. After Josh Smith came, Howard immediately hugged with Josh Smith. Both of them were delicate. It is also easy for people to think too much, and directly cut off normal communication with other teammates.

Players from both sides come to the court and stand in their positions according to the referee's instructions.

When Harden came out, there were cheers from the audience. After all, he was a player from Los Angeles, and he had no hatred for the Lakers. Kobe also liked this young man very much. It seemed that Harden was still Liu Ren’s friend. Den was very accommodating.

As for Howard, it was miserable. He was booed as soon as he entered the court, and when he reached the middle circle, he was booed overwhelmingly.

Josh Smith, who also chose not to join the Lakers in the summer of 2013, was also booed.

In the summer of 2013, Josh Smith was a player option. He implemented the contract with the Eagles, and then signed to the Pistons. At that time, he could choose to come to the Lakers, but he didn’t. The decisive thinking of the team fans is that Howard told him not to come to the Lakers, and then he agreed.

Howard and Josh Smith both have black faces...

Liu Ren and Harden happened to be standing together at the opening jump ball.

"James, the atmosphere in your team is really good! It feels so fresh and refined, unlike me and Kobe who fight almost every day." Liu Ren couldn't help but said that whenever he met a strong opponent, his heart would explode. All ready to move.

"...Thank you for your compliment, boss..." Harden really wanted to hit someone!But I can't beat it!Before Liu Ren had a conflict in the 2013-2014 season, he almost didn't beat him to death!

And Harden knew that Liu Ren liked to stimulate his opponents when he was on the field. If he listened to it, he would really fall into a trap.

Harden directly blocked Liu Ren's voice, and began to recall the hot girl with big buttocks last night...

Howard and Whiteside came to the center of the court.

Howard looked at Liu Ren, who seemed to have a good relationship with Harden, and felt indescribably complicated. He had that feeling again: If he hadn't left the Lakers back then, the big guy on the opposite side would be his now...

Howard is extremely upset every time he sees Whiteside. Whiteside's face is too stinky, and because the Lakers are so strong, Whiteside's expression is like looking down on the opposite side, which makes Howard even more upset than last year when the Lakers won the championship. It was uncomfortable to see Whiteside before.

Whiteside didn't realize it at all, because that's the face he had...

The game finally started, Whiteside and Howard jumped the ball!
Although Howard was shorter than Whiteside, he focused on jumping the ball when he was already furious. Relying on the advantages of bouncing and bouncing speed, Howard hit the ball first.

Harden advances with the ball.

In the Rockets, the actual point guard is Harden, and he has to be the first offensive point and the nanny who sends assists...

When Harden got the ball, he suppressed the tempo. This was not like entering the Lakers' fast-playing whirlwind, but also to stabilize his emotions. He was sure that Liu Ren was talking trash to him just now. Every time Liu Ren was in the game Zhong Du poked at the most painful point of the opponent. Harden has long been aware of it. It is not the first time he has been hurt. For example, when the two faced each other head-on as the starter for the first time, Liu Ren defended with his hands behind his back...

Judging from the current record, the Lakers are indeed far ahead of the Rockets. The Rockets are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of form, but this cannot stop Harden from wanting to win.

Harden came over with the ball, facing the oncoming Clarkson, Harden suddenly broke to the left with luck.

The left-handed breakthrough is the most difficult to defend. Harden easily passed Clarkson by half a step. At this time, the average guard is thinking about either rushing to the basket, or deliberately slowing down to double-team and then pass the ball.

But...Harden is such a mysterious man with a strange style...

Did not continue to break through, did not choose to attract double-teams, Harden directly stuck to Clarkson when Clarkson caught up with him...

"Ah..." Harden screamed exaggeratedly, and then threw the ball to the basket.

"beep"

"Swish"

Clarkson looked confused, and the referee gave a 2+1 gesture. Harden not only successfully caused Clarkson to foul, but also made a shot.

Clarkson stared at Harden in disbelief. Since the opponent is the Rockets today, the Lakers have already thought that Harden may continue to play giant swings or touch porcelain. In order to avoid too many fouls by Liu Ren, Bickerstaff's suggestion is Using Clarkson to defend against Harden, maybe Harden will not use such a shameful style of play because the opponent is not a superstar.

And Clarkson believed Bickerstaff's words, so he came to defend, and then he was beaten 2+1 at the beginning...

Liu Ren was also taken aback, Harden's foul-making skills...seemed to be even better!It has changed from rushing to the basket to actively smashing someone else's hands to suddenly attacking while on the move!

Harden used to make fouls when he was feinting, or when the opponent jumped up or reached out to interfere after reaching the depth, he took the ball and actively hit the opponent from the bottom to the top. Both of these are actually very good defensive methods. , As long as you restrain yourself and don't reach out, this is why Harden's performance in the playoffs has been cheating.

Now Harden has evolved!During the breakthrough process, the Porcelain mode can be switched at any time!
Hardenga made a free throw and the Rockets led 3-0.

(End of this chapter)