143 You Understood Ten Years Before Me

"But we still have an attack!"

Rick Adelman said very confidently.

Not being able to guard Zhang Jun is not a big problem. In fact, the Rockets have nothing to do with Zhang Jun, so they might as well attack with the Trail Blazers.

On the court.

The Rockets attack.

Yao Ming got the ball inside again.

Kenny Smith and Barkley at the commentary desk both looked over attentively.

They know very well that whether the Rockets can win the game tonight, or even win the entire series, depends on whether they can handle the next offense.

"Double team!"

"The Trail Blazers got a four-man double team!"

Zhang Jun, Travis Outlaw, Channing Fletcher, and James Jones contracted inside, and only Steve Blake participated in the defense on the outside.

Steve Blake's defensive position is also very detailed. He stands at the middle free throw line. This position can quickly rush to help defend players on both sides and in the middle, but misses the bottom corners on both sides.

But the positions chosen by Zhang Jun and James Jones to double-team Yao Ming are the two closest points to the bottom corners on both sides.

In other words, as long as Yao Ming passes the ball to the bottom corners on both sides, the two of them will rush over quickly. If Yao Ming passes the ball to the top of the arc, Steve Blake will go out to cover it first, with Zhang Jun, Qian Ningflei, and James Jones on the inside. The three of them will take turns to help defend as soon as Yao Ming passes the ball.

"This is a great test of the defensive players' footwork and defensive awareness."

Kenny Smith said with a frown.

He was a little surprised that the Trail Blazers were able to make defensive adjustments so quickly, and the position of every player on the field was very clear.

Barkley reminded: "Don't forget that the Trail Blazers' second team is one of the league's weakest interior defense teams, but they are also a team that rotates defense very quickly."

"They are not good at defending inside, so they use four-man defense to block Yao Ming, but at the same time, their flexible footsteps can make up for the cost of such a desperate defense."

Yao Ming passed the ball to Steve Novak at the top of the arc, who made a three-pointer against Blake's defense.

Uh-huh!

The entire Moda Center suddenly fell silent, and this ball was like a stadium silencer, leaving everyone shocked in place.

"Steve Novak hit the three-pointer, and he was guarding Blake."

"The height difference between the two is really too big. Blake's defense is negligible against Steve Novak."

Zhang Jun was also a little surprised on the court.

Although he had already been reminded by Fuli and knew that Steve Novak was a very accurate three-point shooter, it was really beyond his expectation that he could shoot so decisively and hit the target right from the start. material.

"It doesn't matter, keep on guarding like this!"

Zhang Jun's chant gave confidence to all his teammates on the field.

Turning his head, he continuously changed directions and knocked Steve Novak out of his way, and then scored a breakthrough layup.

Zhang Jun began to frequently consume Steve Novak's defensive energy on the offensive end, and the opponent was also a type of player who was very bad at confrontation.

And now Zhang Jun, after encountering opposition and entanglement from his opponents throughout the regular season, is now a player with excellent confrontation ability.

Therefore, in the matchup with Steve Novak, he can completely use his body to press the opponent.

Next round.

The Rockets did it again, but this time Steve Novak's shot missed.

The Trail Blazers counterattacked, and Zhang Jun reached the basket and succeeded with a tomahawk dunk one step from the free throw line.

Then Steve Novak missed his second shot. The more the Rockets relied on Steve Novak's three-point shooting, the more they were targeted by the Trail Blazers.

Steve Blake has also been staring at the opponent. Although he is short and cannot prevent Novak's shots, he can interfere with his center of gravity when catching and shooting.

The Trail Blazers fought back again.

Zhang Jun quickly broke through and scored, and James Jones hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner to stop the game.

"The Trail Blazers played three consecutive games where the Rockets were not able to gain a foothold."

"Yao Ming, you can't prevent him from coming back!"

"Every goal scored by the Trail Blazers is played fast. Their current flexible lineup is particularly good at playing fast. This completely shows the disadvantage of the big center on the court."

Buckley was shocked.

There was a time when the league was dominated by the four major centers. However, in recent years, the big centers in the league have gradually declined and lost their inner dominance. Only one Yao Ming is still struggling to hold on, guarding the number one spot in the league. The name of center is not recognized by most people.

On the contrary, Tim Duncan of the Spurs and Kevin Garnett of the Celtics, these former power forward players are now frequently pushed to the center position.

Compared with traditional centers, they are physically flexible enough to be able to defend on the court and switch to the outside, or they can quickly retract to help defend.

Their defensive coverage on the court is far beyond what a big center like Yao Ming can compare with.

"In that era, most post players had rough skills. Even players like Rodman, who only had physical talent and no basic basketball skills, could become All-Stars or even championship-level players."

"But now, it will be increasingly difficult for players who only have talent but no skills and abilities to enter the NBA, because they are completely unable to adapt to today's basketball environment. This has also led to the scenes of people gathering inside to protect the rim becoming increasingly rare."

"Nowadays, post players can shoot, run, and jump, and some are even as agile as guards on the court. Then the defensive role of the center will gradually be weakened."

"On the contrary, flexible big men, such as Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, have become the most terrifying inside players on the court."

All! All!

The Rockets called a timeout again during this period.

Rick Adelman stared at Zhang Jun and wanted to kill him. The key to his murderous intentions was that he really knew how to play on the court. He was completely targeting the Rockets' weaknesses. .

"If Zhang Jun scored with an extremely difficult layup or shot, would I call a timeout? Of course not."

"If the Trail Blazers have to fight Zhang Jun desperately every time they attack, will I call a timeout? No, this is what I want to see."

"But the Blazers' offense in every round is to play fast, to attack Yao Ming's inability to defend, and to attack Steve Novak's extremely slow defensive pace on the court. This is what I The reason why I had to call a timeout and I never believed what I was going to see.”

"One or two goals can't kill anyone, but finding one or two weaknesses of the opponent's team can win the entire series!"

Rick Adelman also took on Tracy McGrady and Shane Battier, the Rockets' two biggest outside shooting threats, and pushed Steve Novak to the power forward position.

In this way, the slow pace of Steve Novak, who plays inside, will not be specifically targeted by Zhang Jun. At the same time, the threat of Steve Novak from the outside is retained.

"But aren't the Rockets using the same offensive tactics as the Trail Blazers?"

"So now they're going for three points again?"

Sure enough, the Rockets began to use Shane Battier to defend Zhang Jun, and at the same time asked many people to help defend in the paint.

They want to use this to reduce Zhang Jun's distribution to the outside, while at the same time limiting his breakthroughs and mid-range shots.

But Zhang Jun has experienced this kind of defensive strategy countless times in the regular season. When the Rockets used this defensive strategy in the last game, he had already cracked it.

Uh-huh!

Zhang Jun first shot a mid-range shot, then asked for a pick-and-roll, calling Yao Ming from the outside.

After Yao Ming was pulled out, the Rockets' entire defensive system collapsed, and they began to defend randomly, frequently missing players from the outside.

"The Trail Blazers' outside shooters are blooming again."

"Although the Rockets' Tracy McGrady, Battier, and Steve Novak also scored goals, their deterrence and effectiveness are far less powerful than those of the Trail Blazers. Are they going to lose this quarter again?" Festival score?”

Kenny Smith said a little speechlessly.

In line with Barkley's words, as long as the Rockets can't guard the Trail Blazers' second team, they will really be beaten to death by this young army.

In the pre-game review, everyone agreed that the Rockets were fully capable of defeating the Trail Blazers, but now, they are almost beaten 2:0.

Barkley suddenly reminded: "There is one more thing you should not forget. The Rockets have acquired Tracy McGrady and Battier in advance, but the Trail Blazers' Luo Yin and Aldridge have not yet been acquired!"

"Rick Adelman can now use the strategy of getting Tracy McGrady and Battier in advance to stabilize the situation, but what about the second half? Do the three of them still need to rest?"

At the end of the second quarter, the Trail Blazers had taken the lead at 61:58.

In the third quarter, the Rockets continued to use their starting lineup, but Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, and Battier did not get enough rest throughout the entire game tonight. They were really exhausted.

The Trail Blazers are full of energy and high morale. After all, they have a ten-man rotation, while the opposite Rockets have nine.

Zhang Luo is here again.

Luo Yin became the main attacker on the court during this period. Zhang Jun cooperated with air cuts and reverse runs, and at the same time did his job on the defensive end.

The two first had an alley-oop dunk, and then counterattacked with a fast break.

Zhang Jun threw the ball into the sky without looking at anyone, and Luo Yin came flying in and dunked with both hands. This ball directly ignited the enthusiasm of the fans in the entire Moda Center Arena.

"MVP!"

"MVP!

"

Under the cheers of the fans in the audience, the Trail Blazers went on a rampage in the third quarter, scoring 31:22 in a single quarter, and the point difference was once again widened to more than 10 points.

"Team Rocket is doomed."

"Being behind by 10 points again, this game is even more difficult than the last one because Yao Mai has already had a big problem with his physical strength."

"Can Tracy McGrady still compete with Zhang Jun like in the last game?"

"I don't think so."

In the fourth quarter of the game, other Rockets players wanted to stand up and help the team, but due to Zhang Jun's killer qualities at critical moments, they did not make much of a splash.

118:110 The Trail Blazers won the game again.

"It's 2:0!"

"The Portland Youth Army leads the Houston Rockets 2-0, and they have played two consecutive home games."

"The next battle will move to Houston, and this young team is about to face its first away game."

"I think the Houston fans are ready to attack this team and they're just waiting for the Trail Blazers to go."

"The next game will be held in two days!"

Trail Blazers locker room.

Nate McMillan raised his right hand and said: "Guys, you played two very perfect games. You defeated a strong team in a row."

All the Trail Blazers players came over with their hands raised, and their hearts were completely at the same point at this moment.

Nate McMillan continued: "Now we're moving to Houston, and let me remind you, the Rockets are going to tear us alive on the road."

"We have to be mentally and physically prepared."

Luo Yin shouted excitedly: "They won't have a chance. We have completely defeated Team Rocket, completely defeated them."

"Brothers, play two more games and advance to the next round in one fell swoop."

...........

Post-game interview.

The performance of Zhang Jun and the Trail Blazers was once again praised by reporters. They even began to side with the Trail Blazers again, believing that they were the team that should advance to the second round.

Zhang Jun is speechless, that’s not what you said before the series started!

"This is the media reporters and commentators, they have the right to say anything, even if they are wrong, it doesn't matter, because they have the right to change their views at any time."

"Zhang Jun, you have to learn to keep a clear head, get rid of any distracting thoughts in the playoffs, and don't let outside words interfere with you."

"Because you are the most important player on this team."

Francis reminded.

Since Francis became Zhang Jun's designated veteran, the former taught him a lot. Of course, the team most hopes that Zhang Jun can learn from Francis and there is no effective improvement in passing.

After all, Francis is not strictly a point guard who is good at passing, so he can teach Zhang Jun very little passing ability, just some basic passing skills and exercises.

On the contrary, Francis taught Zhang Jun a lot of game experience on and off the court, which he had never had before.

"Francis, I will not be disturbed by these external factors. My brain is very clear now."

"I want to complete a personal duel with McGrady, and I want to lead the Trail Blazers to win this series."

"This is my goal!"

Francis couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Good guy, your personal duel with Tracy McGrady is to be ranked at the front, right?

Francis didn't know what to say about Zhang Jun, who is sober in the world. Others always put the team first, but this guy is better. He always puts himself and his teammates first.

What is a team and not a team? According to him, the team is dead but people are alive. We live for living things, not dead things.

Francis didn't even know how to refute Zhang Jun, because what the other party said was indeed reasonable.

"This is also the truth I learned after wandering to several teams. Zhang Jun, you understood it ten years earlier than me."

........