Chapter 787: James Harden, Who Wants to Cry if He Cheats

The West Seattle SuperSonics and Rockets are both competing teams for the Western Conference playoffs this season. Although the SuperSonics have now widened the gap with the Rockets, this is still a two-game game.

Therefore, this game against the Rockets is still very important to the SuperSonics.

Last season's Rockets were an almost perfect team with no shortcomings.

Although the SuperSonics eliminated the Rockets in last year's playoffs, without the help of "ten thousand pounds", it would be impossible for the SuperSonics to defeat that flawless team.

What's more, the SuperSonics this season don't even have Durant.

However, the current Rockets are not the perfect Rockets last season.

Therefore, Nelson is still confident that he can try to give the Rockets a three-game losing streak in this game.

If you want to defeat the Rockets, you need to hold them back in the first three quarters.

The Rockets have a strong starting lineup, a balanced offense and defense, and a balance inside and outside. There are few teams in the league that can compete with the Rockets in the starting lineup.

Seattle's starters can't do that either.

In addition to Ibaka, the SuperSonics' starters, Milicic and Millsap, Yeas and Rondo are all very good.

But in front of the Rockets, starters like the SuperSonics are somewhat passive.

Even the SuperSonics' strongest insiders Milicic, Millsap and Marc Gasol, the combination of these three is not that big when facing Yao Ming, Scola and Carl Landry on the bench. advantages, even at a disadvantage stage.

The SuperSonics now have Gasol or Milicic playing center, and they will be suppressed by Yao Ming. These two can hold up almost all centers in the league, except for two and a half, these two are There is really no way.

After his own center was suppressed, Millsap was not very advantageous in the one-on-one duel with Scola, and was even slightly at a disadvantage, not to mention Scola and Yao Ming's defeat of Milicic or Help after Gasol.

The Sonics and Rockets also played a game before. In that game, the Sonics were defeated by the Rockets' inside combination, and they collapsed without even delaying the critical moment of the fourth quarter.

This time, Nelson obviously changed his tactical thinking.

In the last match between the two teams, the Sonics' tactic was that the combination of Milicic, Millsap and Gasol was a defensive-oriented inside combination, so when facing the Rockets, They did not put pressure on the Rockets' two inside combinations offensively, and passively accepted the pressure from the Rockets' inside lines throughout the process.

For basketball games, being beaten passively on one side, unless you are the strongest defensive player in history like Bowen, is a real disadvantage.

If you can withstand your opponent, that's okay, but if you can't, you will really be crippled. The SuperSonics were crippled in one game inside.

But that was when there was no other way. The reason why Nelson chose to defend passively in the last game was not because he didn’t want to put pressure on Yao Ming and Scola on the offensive end. It was actually because the team’s three insiders were not that reliable in offense at that time, especially Milicic, who needs to contain Yao Ming, is a bit unreliable.

But Milicic has made great progress now compared to that time.

After beating Larry Brown with the Charlotte Hornets, Milicic's change in coming out of Larry Brown's shadow is quite big.

Let Milicic beat Yao Ming on the offensive end. Nelson doesn't need Milicic to really beat Yao Ming. He doesn't need to beat Yao Ming. He just needs to divert Yao Ming's attention on the defensive end, and then give it to Marc Gasol or Marc Gasol. Millsap has a good chance of beating Scola.

Yao Ming can help Scola on the offensive end, but there is no way. Yao Ming can really beat any insider one-on-one on the offensive end, but on the defensive end, Yao Ming must not be allowed to help Scola anymore.

The SuperSonics need to make Scola feel the pressure on the defensive end, keep more of his energy on the defensive end, and limit his performance on the offensive end.

There is a gap between the offensive strength of Marc Gasol and Millsap compared to Milicic, and the gap is quite large. Both of them are all-round offensive players, who can post up and shoot. Relatively speaking, Marc Gasol's singles ability is much worse. Don't look at Gasol, who looks quite fierce. On the defensive end, he is indeed very fierce. But on the offensive end, Marc Gasol looks completely different from him. This is a A center who likes to play in the air and uses his height advantage to shoot and support from the outside. As for post-ups...

Gasol really doesn't play post-up singles. Even if he does post-up singles, it's a turn-over jump shot. If he hits Scola with a turn-over jump shot, it's better to pull up directly in front of him.

If Gasol's post-up ability is strong, Nelson will definitely use Gasol in the starting position in this game.

Although the starting small forward was contracted to Ibaka by Yes, he was unable to make adjustments, but he has complete autonomy in other positions.

He can make any adjustments he wants.

Compared with Gasol Jr., although Millsap is not as tall and thick as Marc Gasol, and his height is not as advantageous as Marc Gasol, Millsap's offensive skills are very comprehensive and not as partial as Marc Gasol. None of the techniques are top-notch yet, but he can shoot three-pointers whether it's face-to-face shooting, post-up offense or even organization passing.

It can be said that Millsap is now in the SuperSonics. He seems to be a little different in height, basic strength, speed and other height talents. Like Duncan, he can do everything. Everything seems to be a quasi-first-class young Duncan.

Anthony previously said that Millsap has reached the All-Star level. Many people disagreed, but within the SuperSonics, most people are willing to believe that Millsap, a player who once entered the league with his PP, is now really He has grown into a player who is at least a quasi-All-Star.

It is also precisely because Yes entered the league because he took a fancy to his PP. Therefore, compared with his other offensive skills, Paul Millsap's post-up offensive skills may have reached the top level in the league. This is the most polished by him. With careful skills, he was blocked six times by Howard in one game, and he is extremely confident in his big shots and back attack.

"That's why Yes chose me!"

“That’s also the source of my confidence!”

These are Millsap's exact words.

"Paul, play with him!"

After Milicic's attack on Yao Ming was blocked, he threw the basketball in his hand to Millsap on the other side. Facing Millsap's strong attack, Scola was helpless. He even defended twice this time. He couldn't wait for Yao Ming's defense to come over. Millsap directly drove him to the basket and completed a dunk.

As a kaleidoscope on the offensive end, Scola's defensive skills are no problem, but Millsap's offense this time will not play tricks with him at all, okay!

"The start of this game is a little different from the last time the two teams met!"

Although the regular season rankings of the SuperSonics and Rockets this season are not as good, the match between the SuperSonics and Rockets is still the most watched China Derby in the country.

When the SuperSonics played against the Rockets in the last game, Zhang Liangzhi and Su Qun still have fresh memories. The SuperSonics were defeated by the Rockets' inside line as soon as they came up.

At the beginning of this game, the Sonics took the initiative to attack the Rockets' inside line.

With Yes being double-teamed by Roy and Rasheed Wallace, two very good defensive players, the offensive level of other Sonics players when facing the Rockets is very, very important.

In the last game between the two teams, why did the SuperSonics collapse so quickly?

Yes was double-teamed by Rasheed Wallace and Roy and could not stand up immediately. The combination of Milicic, Millsap and Marc Gasol was completely defeated by the combination of Yao Ming and Scola Landry. Suppressed, in the end, the Sonics had to rely on Rondo and Ibaka to step up and score...

If this is not defeated, it would really be unreasonable.

After the Sonics changed their tactics in this game, it was obvious that the game between the Sonics and the Rockets had undergone tremendous changes.

After the first quarter of the game, the SuperSonics were not defeated. When the two teams finished the first quarter, the score was, with the Rockets only leading by 4 points.

The Sonics still can't stop the Rockets' offense, but the Sonics' offense is very strong, and the Rockets' offense has indeed declined. The main decline is Scola's offense.

At least the Rockets' 4-point lead in the first quarter allowed Yes to face the double-teaming of Wallace and Roy. The 10 points scored on 3-of-4 shooting were meaningful.

In the last game, Yes also scored 10 points in the first quarter, but it was meaningless because the Rockets had already scored 36 points by that time.

"Judging from the first quarter, Nelson and the Sonics' tactics are effective!"

"Whether the Sonics players can drag this game into the fourth quarter, the critical stage of victory or defeat, requires the contribution of the Sonics substitute players. The Sonics' substitutes are one of the strongest in the league this season, while the Rockets' substitutes are relatively weak in the league. Let’s talk about being ordinary!”

After the first quarter of the game, Mr. Zhang Lili and Su Qun had great expectations for the SuperSonics' rotation in the second quarter. Although Milicic and Millsap were exhausted in the first quarter, they did not. There is no way to play during the rotation in the second quarter, but the inside combination of Marc Gasol and Nick Collison should also be able to fill the big hole left by James Harden on the court.

only……

As soon as the game started in the second quarter, Teacher Zhang Lili and Su Qun felt that they had made something wrong.

Marc Gasol and Nick Collison are indeed very good, but their inside attack ability is really average, or even non-existent. They are completely unable to punish the Rockets' center Hayes and power forward Carl Landry. Even Gasol and Nick Collison could only compete 50-50 with Landry Hayes when grabbing rebounds.

And Landry's offensive aggressiveness is greater than Gasol and Collison combined!

The SuperSonics' rotation this year is mainly to train James Harden. The rhythm is very strange. Without the inside advantage, James Harden is really a trap.

If there is a very experienced veteran like Brent Barry on the opposite side who doesn't like James Harden's way of drawing fouls, James Harden's game will be uncomfortable. He can't find anyone after dribbling for a long time and observing for a long time. When he got the opportunity to cut in, he couldn't find the opportunity to draw a foul. In the end, he could only force a shot at the buzzer or pass it to Barea next to him.

Every time he receives a pass like this from James Harden, Barea wants to hit someone!

Damn it, even though I was cheating at the beginning last season, I never passed the ball to me, okay?

You fucking think you are Yes!

Even if it was Yes, he would not pass such a blame ball. Didn't you see that there were defensive players standing in front of me?

My official height is the sacred height of 1.83 meters. Do you really think that I am 1.83 meters tall? !

Partnering with James Harden this season is really a scam. They say Rondo is the one who wants to kill James Harden the most in the team, but in fact he is the one who wants to kill James Harden the most!

In other words, his strong shooting ability is also good, otherwise he would be even worse this season!

During the rotation period of the second quarter, Nelson originally hoped that the Seattle SuperSonics could easily defeat the Rockets' rotation.

He really didn't expect that the rotation of the two teams would be so anxious.

"It seems that the inside man who partners with Mark must be an inside man with extremely strong inside aggression."

At the end of the rotation time in the second quarter, the score between the two teams became equal, and the Seattle SuperSonics were even further behind.

This made Nelson frown a little. He had high hopes for the current Gasol. Gasol is not yet mature enough to be able to block the inside alone like Milicic.

Also, when James Harden can't draw fouls and can't break through, it's a real trap, the kind of trap that can kill people. A strong person like Barea almost cried after being trapped.

You can’t be beaten or scolded, and you still have to serve someone even if you don’t want to serve them.

After the rotation time in the second quarter, Nelson frowned a little, while Adelman on the other side breathed a sigh of relief.

Nelson's tactical changes in this game shocked him. His tactics were broken by Nelson.

but……

"You don't have any players who can match your tactical ideas!"

The tactics were successful, but the game failed. This is the most regrettable thing for the coach.

In this game with the Rockets, the SuperSonics were like this.

In the end, the SuperSonics still did not force the Rockets to appear in the final decisive period. The final score was that the score seemed good. In fact, the Rockets maintained a 10-point lead over the SuperSonics until the second half. The Rockets won quite leisurely.

After losing to the Rockets at home on January 8, the Leafs and SuperSonics played back-to-back away games against the Timberwolves on January 9, another China Derby.

, the Timberwolves, who were waiting for work, defeated the SuperSonics at home.

They lost another Chinese Derby. For a gimmick game like the Chinese Derby, it doesn't matter whether the SuperSonics are up or down.

What is known is that after losing to the Rockets and Timberwolves, the SuperSonics' record became negative.

The SuperSonics' top eight position in the Western Conference seems to be in trouble again...