Legend of Tomorrow

In Guo Xu's previous life, LeBron James of the Cavaliers won the regular season MVP in 2009, achieving the league's best record of 66 wins.

James has already won the MVP once in this life. It will be difficult for him to lead the team to the best record this season. If he is only ranked first in the Eastern Conference, there will definitely be huge controversy if James wins the award again. The judges can say that the Suns stars form a team, but can't the Cavaliers?

After Mo Williams joined, the Cavaliers formed an offensive trident. They are not the Big Three but are suspected of being united. Their total salary this season reached 91 million US dollars, ranking second in the league behind the Knicks with 96 million. Last season Fourth place.

Looking at the Suns again, they have two players with maximum salaries and one in the middle class, and the others are all low-paid players, with a total salary of US$51 million. Roy was selected as the Western Conference All-Star last season, but he was a rookie selected and trained by the Suns themselves.

Based on the salary comparison between the two teams, the Cavaliers cannot win the best record and give the MVP to James. He has to be the president's biological father.

Another team in the East that may have the best record is the Celtics. The Big Three team up to share the ball. Each player averages less than 15 shots per game, and the score will not be higher than about 20 points.

Yao Ming didn't take many shots in the Rockets. He didn't gain weight like in his previous life, and his average playing time was less than 35 minutes per game. This season, he only played 33 minutes. In addition, he was pulled out to cover his teammates, and he wasn't always asking for the ball in the low post. In terms of playing style, Yao Ming maintains good health, but his statistics are not very good, averaging about 20 points per game.

Yao Ming's weakness has always been physical fitness. His body is destined to consume more than others. He played in the finals last season and the Olympics in the summer. In such high-intensity games, Guo Xu feels that he is lucky not to be injured this season. . The Rockets coaching staff has obviously thought of this and strictly controlled his playing time.

Guo Xu does have a high chance of winning the MVP this season. As long as his statistics are almost the same as last season, the league will have to consider the thoughts of 6 billion fans.

ESPN broadcast the game live, and the commentators were former Rockets coaches Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson.

Before the game started, Jackson teased Van Gundy and talked about how he couldn't get past the first round when coaching the Rockets.

Van Gundy has been a commentator for three years, watched too many fast-paced games, and admitted that there was a problem with his coaching thinking back then. Yao Ming is in very good shape now. If he were heavier, it would be difficult to keep up with the rhythm of the game. Jason Guo has changed the NBA, and the inside players are now starting to pull out to shoot three-pointers. Mark, what do you think?

If I had entered the league 20 years later, I would have been able to enjoy it more. Jackson lamented.

Jackson is a famous NBA point guard. He entered the league in 1987 and scored 13.6 points and 10.6 assists in his rookie season.

He was elected Rookie of the Year as a second-round pick. He was still a point guard who could make three-pointers, but three-pointers were not popular in that era, so he took fewer shots.

Even though he was not born in an era that suited his style of play, Jackson's career was very successful. He had a total of 10,334 assists in the regular season, ranking third in NBA history. Currently, only Stockton and Kidd are ahead of him. . He averaged 8 assists per game in his career during the regular season, ranking 17th in history.

After the players from both sides came on the field, Guo Xu and Yao Ming greeted each other and chatted a few words in Chinese, first with courtesy and then with military force. The core players of both teams are not the kind of people who show their desire to win by glaring at others, so they rarely get angry when playing against each other.

Gasol started again today, and the other four are Guo Xu, Morrow, Roy, and Stoudemire.

To deal with high center forwards, human shields are an indispensable option. The Suns selected Gasol to replace Varejao in guarding the penalty area. He can keep Yao Ming out of the penalty area. If Stoudemire plays center, his height and weight will be a big disadvantage.

Rockets starting lineup: Billups, Afflalo, Prince, Scola, Yao Ming.

Yao Ming won the jump ball and the game began.

Billups caught the ball and dribbled it across half court. Yao Ming pulled out to play a pick-and-roll in the middle. Guo Xu reacted quickly and retreated to avoid the cover. Billups took the ball to the left and passed the ball to the middle.

Stoudemire defended and interfered with Yao Ming's shot, while Gasol defended near the penalty area. This two-tower hybrid defense was specially arranged by Thibodeau to play to the players' respective strengths.

Yao Ming had no chance to take an easy shot and passed the ball to Prince on the right.

Prince has a height advantage against Roy. If he plays alone, the Suns' defensive pressure will be greatly reduced. He is the kind of person who can do everything, has no special skills, and is a role player who can defend the strong and attack the weak.

Prince's desire to attack has not been strong, so he passed the ball to Scola with a step.

Scola took the ball and feinted to break through the frame, but failed to get past Gasol. He leaned back and turned towards the middle and feinted. The movement was very smooth, but Gasol did not jump or lose his position. He raised his arms. interference.

Scola's right-hand throw avoided the block and the ball went wide.

The meat shield center can interfere with the opponent when it is in front of the opponent. This is their advantage. Gasol met many insiders who played with footwork in Europe. Scola also developed his skills in Europe, and he met his opponent.

Stoudemire grabbed the rebound and passed it to launch a counterattack. Guo Xu dribbled the ball toward Billups. His center of gravity was very low, and he relied on speed to break through when he was about to hit the ball. Billups' defense is at a disadvantage, and his retracement speed is too slow. Even if he retreats too far back, Guo Xu can make an emergency stop and shoot a three-pointer.

Guo Xu passed by and rushed inside. Before Yao Ming could run back to the basket, he succeeded in a three-step layup. 2 to 0.

Van Gundy lamented: His speed is too fast. A team from the backcourt can get to the basket in a few seconds. Billups can't defend him alone.

Jackson said: As long as Jason wants to score, no one else can guard him.

When the Rockets attacked, Yao Ming reached the right low post and asked for the ball to challenge Gasol, but was pushed out of the penalty area.

Although Gasol is full of fat, he is actually excellent in immediate combat and has much more game experience than Jordan, which can make up for his lack of athletic ability to a certain extent. D'Antoni will use him when he needs to defend stars, and he will only consider Jordan when he needs to strengthen his rebounding and fast breaks.

His strength is not small, but his explosive power is poor. It doesn't matter if he doesn't jump on the defensive end. With his height of 216cm and wingspan of 230cm, he can still interfere with shooting.

Compared with Gasol Jr., Yao Ming's 220CM Tyrannosaurus Rex wingspan is a tragedy.

Yao Ming leaned back twice and couldn't squeeze. He turned towards the baseline and missed a fadeaway jumper. Gasol's defense was in place, almost interfering with his body. Gasol couldn't block shots, and Yao Ming could score based on his feel. This time, he didn't grasp the touch well and was a little far away from the basket.

This is the value of Gasol. There is a clear gap between Yao Ming's mid-range shot and two-point shooting from close range.

Gasol got in position to get the rebound. It was easier to find his teammates without jumping, and he turned and passed to Roy not far away.

Roy launched a fast break and was blocked by Afflalo in just one step. He failed to advance quickly and Guo Xubai ran away.

Afflalo is the Rockets' surprise this season. He defends very hard, and his three-point ability is better than Sefolosha. He averages 1.4 goals per game and has a shooting percentage of 40.9%. Therefore, he is appreciated by Nelson.

When Afflalo, Billups and Yao Ming form a triangle on the strong side, it becomes difficult for the opponent to double-team the low post. Last season, they could let one of Prince and Safolosha double-team Yao Ming. Neither COS shooter is good enough.

Nelson prefers to attack. Last season, in order to strengthen the offensive perimeter, he spent a lot of time playing double defenders. Sefolosha did not play much time. Afflalo has made progress this season, and the Rockets are beginning to consider trading Sefolosha after the end of the season. It will be difficult for him to get a contract extension if he stays.