full court guidance

Chapter 12 Sure enough, collection recommendations are only useful if you ask for them at the beginning
Because of the well-known pro-donkey ass incident, Charles Barkley can be regarded as a Yao Ming to Yao Ming. He comprehensively analyzed the current lineup of the Rockets and believed that the Rockets are a strong team in the playoffs and should be ranked No. [-] in the Western Conference. Between third and sixth, but there are a lot of junk contracts in the team, which has greatly restricted the team's lineup, and the lineup is not deep enough, making it almost impossible to become a championship team.

"So what do you think of the Rockets' rookie No. 66 who has performed amazingly lately?" Kenny Smith immediately brought the topic to the late arrival of the most notable rookie.

Barkley talked eloquently: "To be honest, I think the late arrival has greatly expanded the Rockets' tactics. The Rockets mainly attack in the half-court position. From a professional point of view, their defensive ability is very strong, but The scoring ability is only ranked 28th in the league. From the perspective of fans, such a game will look very boring. But in the last two games, we can see that the Rockets are scoring higher and higher. In the game against the Rockets, they even scored 120 points. Late's precise three-pointers made other teams very afraid, which benefited McGrady and Yao Ming. I think if the Rockets management is not stupid , Late should be given a guaranteed contract immediately, if the No. 66 rookie can maintain his current level, I believe that after two years, there will definitely be many teams waving checks to win him over."

The actual situation is indeed the case. Just before the start of the game against the Mavericks, the team management has contacted late, intending to give him a basic salary guarantee contract. At present, late has not agreed to sign immediately, and plans to wait until after the game. Fee will talk first.

Yao Ming has already agreed to introduce Bill Duffy to Late. As for whether the two parties can reach an agreement, it depends on the specific situation in the future.

In the TNT commentary, Barkley hadn't finished speaking, and he spoke highly of being late: "I think the No. 66 rookie will be a very good second player if he can maintain his level. He does not occupy the ball at all, and his amazing outside shooting ability can also greatly expand and enrich the team's tactics. Of course, this does not mean that he has no shortcomings. At present, his defensive ability can only be regarded as average. Facing those superstars As a player, his defense is not enough, and we can look at his data in the last two games, he has no assists at all, which shows that his passing ability is not enough and can only be used as an offensive end point."

Kenny Smith agreed: "Yes, the Mavericks have a strong offensive ability. They are currently ranked third in the Western Conference, averaging more than 100 points per game (teams averaging more than 90 points per game abound in this era), and they are currently in the league. One of the teams with the strongest offensive power, and the opponent he will face will be Jason Terry, who is likely to be selected as an All-Star. If he can limit Jason Terry's performance to a certain extent, then we can completely think that, No. 66 rookie will be very worth looking forward to."

After chatting for a while, the game finally officially started.

The starting lineup of the Mavericks at home: center Eric Dampier, power forward Nowitzki, small forward Michael Finley, shooting guard Jason Terry, point guard Darrell Armstrong, former All-Star swingman Tuckhouse will play as a sixth man.

Rockets starting lineup for away challenge: center Yao Ming, power forward Juwan Howard, small forward Tracy McGrady, shooting guard David Wesley, point guard Bob Sura, the highly anticipated No. 66 rookie is late Did not start.

Taking advantage of a gap before the start of the game, Charles Barkley sprayed: "I think Coach Van Gundy's employment is a bit rigid. Bob Sura is a strong offensive and defensive point guard. He is average in strength, but he cares a lot. His own data. As an undrafted player, David Wesley only averaged 17 points per game in his peak season. At present, his strength has declined seriously, and he can only be regarded as an ordinary role player. Obviously, this The strength of both of them is not as good as the No. 2 rookie who came late, but Van Gundy insisted on starting with these two people, and his defensive ability and scoring ability cannot be guaranteed."

As if to confirm what Barkley said, after the game started, the two sides played a fast-paced high-scoring game.

The Rockets attacked Yao Ming in the opening game. Yao Ming made 2 free throws in the paint and hit a two-pointer. The Mavericks had to double-team him. Juwan Howard benefited from this. He made 2 of 11 shots in the first quarter, including a [-]-plus-[-] , scored [-] points.

McGrady made three shots, hit two and scored four points.David Wesley and Sura combined for 7 of 4 and scored a total of 13 points.

After the first quarter, the Rockets scored 34 points.

But the Mavericks scored 35 points, and the ones who need to be blamed are several high-scoring players of the Rockets, such as Juwan Howard.

It is true that he scored 11 points, but he benefited from Yao Ming being double-teamed.

The old German driver who was facing him also scored 11 points when confronting Juwan Howard head-on. Among them, the old driver made three of four three-pointers. Zhuwan Howard has an inescapable responsibility. Go out to chase and defend, so that the old driver can get an open space on the outside and take a calm shot.

Jason Terry, who was guarded by David Wesley, performed even more amazingly. He scored eight points on four of four shots and had five assists.

David Wesley's weakness can be seen, he has no way to limit Jason Terry's performance.

What's more frightening is that Jason Terry is a typical convulsive player. Once he is allowed to make a smooth shot, it will be very difficult to restrict him.

Barkley kept saying in the commentary booth that Van Gundy should put Late on the field. Late is close to Jason Terry in height, and even has a slight advantage. He should be able to guard Jason Terry—at least not better than David Wesley's defense is even worse.

However, Van Gundy obviously didn't think so. With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, he replaced Yao Ming with Mutombo, and then there was no other action.

At the beginning of the second quarter, David Wesley made a three-point strike. Fortunately, the Mavericks did the same. Sean Bradley, the big bamboo pole, made a three-point strike.

The old Uncle Mu grabbed the rebound, but the ball was not secure and was intercepted by Bradley. Uncle Mu had to foul.

The Rockets and the Mavericks made substitutions at the same time. David Wesley went off and No. 66 came on late.

Maverick Michael Finley in, Stackhouse out.

Late faced Jason Terry, who performed well in the first quarter. The two stood together. Terry, who reported a height of 188cm, was about the same height as Late, but Late was a little bigger.

Mutombo on the inside of the Rockets has no independent offensive ability, so the Mavericks hardly need to watch him on the offensive end. Si is also paying attention to his situation at any time.

The Rockets' offense is still grounded in the half court, but the team's formation is wide open, and they are afraid of the late three-point shooting ability. Even if they are late and stand one or two steps away from the three-point line, Terry will not leave.

Although Bob Sura has been criticized by domestic fans, he actually has three points, at least he belongs to the kind of role that cannot be emptied at will.

In fact, this season is the season with the highest three-point shooting percentage in Bob Sura's ten-year NBA career. The shooting percentage is 35.5%, which is quite good in this era.

Unlike the Rocket Warriors of the later generations who throw 40-pointers casually, they even throw 50-20 three-pointers in a game. In today's league, some teams even take less than ten three-pointers in a season. The Suns averaged only [-]+ three-pointers per game. It can be seen how little attention is given to three-pointers at this time, and it can also be seen how unusual a player who is late and relies entirely on three-pointers for scoring is in this era.

Michael Finley is old and can't stop McGrady who is at the tail end of the peak. McGrady has an amazing starting speed and crosses Finley's defense in one step. Unfortunately, his long two-point shot hits the iron.

This year's rookie Devin Harris retreated to get a defensive rebound and dribbled the ball across half court. Nowitzki found a chance from the outside to hit the iron with a three-pointer.

Mutombo grabbed the rebound and gave the ball to McGrady, McGrady made a mistake, and the nearby late had to foul to stop the Mavericks' offensive.

Fortunately, the number of free throws is less than now, and the Mavericks re-kick off. Nowitzki's chances of making a shot are not very good.

The big bamboo pole Bradley grabbed the offensive rebound, and was slapped by Uncle Mu on the second attack, and he hit another iron.

Nearly 2 minutes into the game, the Mavericks didn't have a good shot selection. Facing a defensive team like the Rockets, their shooting percentage dropped sharply.

Finally it was the Rockets' turn to attack. McGrady broke through with the ball and gave it to Uncle Mu. Uncle Mu didn't shoot himself and distributed the ball to the outside.

Terry, who was late in defense, was strong in offense and weak in defense. He was a little distracted when defending, and he didn't hesitate at all when he was late to catch the ball.

"The late [-]-point shot is so accurate, it feels like if he can get him to shoot, he will score. If he can maintain the current shooting percentage, he will be the greatest shooter in the league. " Barkley said excitedly.

Kenny Smith hurriedly interjected: "It's too early to say that. He hasn't played too many games, and he hasn't taken enough shots. We still need more observations."

Unlike the bystanders in the commentary, Jason Terry, as a defender, has a deeper feeling.

His heart was full of surprise, and he looked at the late arrival with scrutiny.

Is it an illusion?

I just paid a little attention to the inside line just now, but in the blink of an eye, this rookie has already made a shot, and his shot speed is too fast, and I haven't even had time to react.

Jason Terry had a hunch in his heart that if he guessed correctly, he might be in trouble today.

(End of this chapter)