146 Very Happy to Accept the Result

April 26th.

Game 4 between the Trail Blazers and Rockets is coming soon.

Compared with the previous game, all Trail Blazers players were completely used to the shouts and insults from Houston fans and ignored them.

They are determined to defeat the Rockets in tonight's game.

In the Rockets coaching bench, Rick Adelman was still in the mood to accept a live interview with CCTV.

"We have never been afraid of the Trail Blazers. Of course, they are a very capable team, and the players on the team are very young. They will definitely achieve a good record in the Western Conference in the future."

"But we're really not afraid of this young Blazers team right now."

"Yao and Tracy McGrady are both very strong players. Their performance in the last game was their normal performance, and they will continue to fight with this performance."

"So, 1:2 really means nothing to the Rockets. We will advance to the next round with a big score of 4:2, absolutely."

All! All!

The midfield whistle blows and the game begins.

"Attack! Attack!"

Zhang Jun shouted on the court, signaling his teammates to speed up the attack.

Yao Ming is too intimidating on the court, which is why the Trail Blazers suppressed him throughout the series. Otherwise, Yao Ming would be allowed to play freely. Zhang Jun even had a hunch that Yao Ming could score 40+ points in every game. Score data.

So tonight's game started with the jump ball. Zhang Jun reminded his teammates to always pay attention to consuming Yao Ming's energy and prevent him from catching the ball.

"Great job, Brandon!"

"You go and finish the offense, I'm on the defensive end!"

Brandon Luo Yin used Aldridge's pick-and-roll on the court to complete the offense.

Zhang Jun's shout was responded to by Luo Yin. He nodded solemnly to show that he would go all out.

In the next round, Luo Yin broke through and singled out Battier.

Change direction in front of the body, accelerate, fight, turn around and go to the basket.

The double team is coming!

call!

Luo Yin flew directly out of the court, but the moment he landed, he passed the ball to Jarrett Jack in the bottom corner.

Uh-huh!

The latter made a steady three-pointer.

Luo Yin's body slid several meters on the floor. When he reached the photography area, he did not choose to stop and take a breath, but quickly got up and ran directly towards the backcourt.

The Rockets had no intention of stopping. Seeing Luo Yin fall to the ground, McGrady quickly served the ball to signal his teammates to get down.

"The Trail Blazers team played very hard tonight!"

Kenny Smith said with some admiration.

Barkley shook his head in fear and said: "Without cracking the restrictions imposed on the Rockets after their formation changes, the Trail Blazers will never be able to defeat the Rockets. This is absolute."

"So no matter how hard the Trail Blazers players try, they just can't beat it."

Switch offense.

Yao Ming got the ball inside and was double-teamed by Zhang Jun.

Snap!

The ball was intercepted by him, and Yao Ming fell to his knees during the fight.

Blazers fast break!

Zhang Jun sent the basketball into the sky, and Luo Yin took off from the free throw line and glided for an alley-oop dunk.

CCTV commentary station.

Su Qun couldn't help but remind everyone: "The word "Zhang Luo Lian Xian" has appeared frequently on the Internet recently, and many fans are also talking about it, but I still want to remind everyone."

"Alley-oop dunks are not that simple."

"This action requires a very good understanding between the passer and the dunker. They must be familiar with each other and know each other's speed, jumping height, and take-off details. Therefore, both of them must be very familiar with the timing of passing and taking off. Even to the point where two people are one person.”

"And Zhang Jun and Luo Yin's consecutive alley-oop dunks were fast-break alley-oop dunks, which is another dimension more difficult than the alley-oop dunk just now."

"Alley-oop dunks along the fast break are the most difficult. Even though the players can do it easily on the court, why don't other teams and other combinations in the league do this more often? Only Zhang Jun and Luo Yin of the Trail Blazers are there. beat."

"It's not that those players don't have such abilities, but it really tests their tacit cooperation."

"The two twin stars of the Trail Blazers are quite suitable."

The game continues.

The Rockets quickly called a timeout.

They found that the Blazers' offensive firepower in the first quarter tonight was a bit too fierce, and Luo Yin's outstanding performance was a bit surprising.

In the eyes of most people, although the core of the Trail Blazers' declared team is three young players Aldridge, Luo Yin and Zhang Jun, everyone knows that Zhang Jun is the most threatening among the three. player, so much so that they all ignored Luo Yin's excellence.

Luo Yin has actually grown into a very good shooting guard, and has even entered the top five in the Western Conference. However, because Zhang Jun in the team has been so bright, people have ignored that the Trail Blazers already have Two All-Star caliber players.

"Double-team Luo Yin! His touch tonight was so good!"

"We can't let the Trail Blazers play like this. They are leading now. If we enter the second quarter in this state, it will be very detrimental to us."

Rick Adelman said with sharp eyes.

Next round.

As long as Luo Yin breaks into the free throw line, he will inevitably encounter the double-team defense of Rockets Luis Scola.

Luo Yin passed the ball to Aldridge, who received the ball and hit a mid-range jumper steadily.

"After experiencing the playoffs, Aldridge's mid-range shooting has become more stable, and he has become the Trail Blazers' best scorer besides Zhang Jun and Luo Yin."

Then McGrady and Yao Ming played a high pick-and-roll. McGrady broke into the basket and passed to the ground to help Yao Ming dunk to the basket.

Starting with the Magic in the 2001-02 season, McGrady began to actively develop his passing ability. This was learning from Jordan.

McGrady, whose offensive ability has been developed to his personal extreme, began to think that he not only needs to become better himself, but also needs to make his teammates better. The most important thing is that a certain passing ability can help him complete the offense better. .

Unlike Kobe, McGrady had a good head coach to help him improve his passing ability and use triangle offensive tactics to allow Kobe to pass the ball more comfortably on the court.

Therefore, McGrady's road to improving his passing ability on the court is not easy. In most seasons, he averaged only 5 assists per game. Until last season, he increased his average assists to 6 per game. This season he still reached this level. a little.

Don't underestimate this simple 5 to 6 improvement. It often requires the ball holder to pass the ball several times to convert it. Most of the time, the pass can only be turned into an indirect assist, and there is no data to reflect it. Even if it is passed, Now, whether teammates can hit the basket is also a big question.

If you compare the average of 6 assists per game with the average of 7 assists per game, you can understand this well. You will think that the player who averages 7 assists per game is very strong, and the player who averages 8 assists per game will have better passing ability. powerful.

But in fact, the average difference between 7 assists and 8 assists per game is only one, but this requires a lot of ball possession conversion.

In the middle of the first quarter, the Trail Blazers' outstanding performance helped them tie the Rockets at 15:15.

Rick Adelman knew that Zhang Jun would be off the court in two minutes, and by then it would be Yao Ming's moment to attack the frame aggressively in the paint.

In the first three games, Rick Adelman also arranged it in this way. Most of Yao Ming's points came from the time when Zhang Jun took a rest.

"Hey Brandon!"

Zhang Jun suddenly shouted on the court.

Luo Yin nodded and immediately passed the ball.

All the Trail Blazers players on the court understood that Nate McMillan also looked at Zhang Jun expectantly. He replaced Joel Przybilla in advance and brought on Channing Fulai.

Barkley looked a little baffled at the sudden substitution changes made by the Trail Blazers.

"What's going on? Did the Trail Blazers push Aldridge to the center position? Did Channing come up early and play power forward?"

"Does this mean that Zhang Jun will enter personal attack mode in advance?"

As soon as Barkley finished speaking, Zhang Jun took the ball and called a pick-and-roll on the outside for singles.

Trail Blazers coaching bench.

Monty Williams looked at the substitutions and tactics proposed by Zhang Jun with some doubts and said: "Coach, can this be done?"

"This is a centerless lineup."

Nate McMillan was also a little skeptical, but he remembered what Zhang Jun said to him yesterday, and he chose to believe him.

"Zhang Jun is right. Today's strong teams in the league are pushing the pace and trying to push power forward players to the center position to improve the team's offensive flexibility."

"The previous era of physical combat and internal grinding has long passed. The league's refereeing is also tilted in the offensive direction, so the main offense will receive more care from the referee than the main defense."

"Moreover, the basic abilities of today's basketball players have been greatly improved compared to the past. How many post players have you seen in the past who have terrifying mid-range or two-point shooting skills?"

"But now, especially young players, their individual skills are getting better and better."

Monty Williams understands this very well.

Those accomplished players who have retired always brag about how good they were in that era, but everyone knows that 90% of the players who became superstars in that era relied on physical talent. As long as they have the body, they can play in the NBA.

This was a commonality among everyone in that era, so big players were more likely to excel.

But in fact, people only superficially recognize them out of respect for the legendary stars. This is also their final dignity and the treatment they deserve to promote the development of basketball.

But the progress of basketball is unquestionable, as is the improvement of tactics and individual players' abilities.

If today's basketball and players are not as good as they were then, then the sport can basically be considered stagnant or regressing.

But that's not the case.

Nate McMillan took a deep breath and said: "It is difficult for the older generation of coaches to change this concept. They all believe that defense comes first and the center wins everything. For this reason, it does not matter if there is less offensive space."

"Actually, I am the same way. I think the same way. It's just that the player configuration of the Trail Blazers doesn't allow me to play like this, so I play offense."

"Monty, you are different. You are still very young. You accept new ideas faster than me. I believe you will become one of the best people in the coaching position in the future."

Monty Williams was speechless for a moment. He could see that the ideas and theories put forward by Zhang Jun did have some impact on Nate McMillan.

But at this moment, everyone has the same idea.

"Winning this game tonight!"

The nimble-footed Aldridge directly brought him up, and Yao Ming had to defend him, because Aldridge has a mid-range shot and is extremely accurate.

Aldridge went directly after the pick-and-roll, and the Rockets switched defense.

Zhang Jun made a strong breakthrough, and Yao Ming had no time to change defense.

With one step to break through the emergency stop, Yao Ming froze in place.

Uh-huh!

Hit!

"Zhang Jun is becoming more and more comfortable in using the mid-range. His combination of sudden shots has become a trump card on the court."

"But Zhang Jun played so early and took the initiative to play Yao Ming in singles. This is not good news for the Rockets."

"Because this time period was supposed to be when Yao Ming scored for the team, so that McGrady would have the energy to lead the team in the second quarter."

"But Yao Ming was beaten like this by Zhang Jun in advance, and his physical exhaustion was already serious. He was afraid that he had to leave the game early. Then McGrady had to bear the important responsibilities of the team during this period."

"But in this case, who will lead the Rockets in the second quarter, or Yao Ming?"

Buckley's analysis was like a stone that set off a thousand waves.

No one expected that the Trail Blazers disrupted the Rockets' entire deployment with just Zhang Jun's early attack.

Kenny Smith said worriedly: "It depends on how the Rockets respond."

The first quarter is over.

The Trail Blazers took the lead in the first quarter for the first time in the series, 32:28.

Yao Ming left the game early to rest, and McGrady had to come on again for the second quarter after finishing the first quarter.

It can be seen that Rockets head coach Rick Adelman would rather consume too much of McGrady's energy and let him maintain the advantageous results achieved in the previous game.

Zhang Jun and Yao have the same name, but he came on again after a 2-minute break.

Chuck Hayes' defense against Zhang Jun still took a lot of physical exertion, but Zhang Jun played smarter than in the previous game.

He asked for a lot of ball-handling pick-and-rolls on the outside, hoping to get rid of Chuck Hayes' defense. Of course, the latter was unwilling and would rather pay for a foul than allow Zhang Jun to easily engage in misplaced singles.

"In the entire second quarter, Zhang Jun made 7 of 10 free throws. The free throws alone were fine, but Chuck Hayes had already committed 4 fouls in a single quarter. This is definitely not good news."

"Rick Adelman also took Chuck Hayes off the game early."

McGrady's leadership in the second quarter was still efficient, and then Yao Ming came on and Zhang Jun had to go down to rest.

The Rockets played the same efficient offense as in the previous game, and Yao Ming continued to bombard the Trail Blazers inside in various ways during this period.

Halftime is over.

The Trail Blazers and Rockets tied at 62:62.

"Hey, it's a tie at halftime. This is a result that the Trail Blazers are very happy to accept."