The loss to the Suns didn't frustrate the Rockets too much, after all, it's not a shame to lose to the leaders in the absence of the number one star. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.infoespn published a commentary article on this, saying that the clash between the new and old hegemons of the league ended in a victory for the Suns, but the Rockets were not the losers. The Suns' style of play, which emphasizes blocking and pick-and-roll, strengthens outside three-point shooting, and speeds up the tempo, is exactly the style of play advocated by the Rockets over the years. After winning the championship, this advanced tactical concept was learned and imitated by other teams, and the Rockets should hold their heads high and be proud.

In fact, this statement is somewhat unfair to Suns coach D'Antoni. He was the first NBA coach to carry forward the Hit&Run strategy in his lifetime. D'Antoni had great success in European basketball in his early years, winning the Italian League Coach of the Year twice. He also served as an assistant coach in the NBA, and although this tactical concept may be useful for the Rockets, it is more derived from his understanding and summary of basketball over the years.

On January 7, the Rockets came to Staples to play the Lakers on the road. After Atkins was traded to the Jazz, Mo. Williams was the starter, and he was a playmaker but had excellent shooting ability. This time, Kobe Bryant put down the superstar shelf to make a wedding dress for his teammates, he played 27+5+10 as a point guard, and Williams also played well under his leadership and scored 21 points. In the crucial fourth quarter, the Lakers resolutely played the inside line and caused Yao Ming to foul in a row, making the little giant who cut 30+8 6 fouls. In the end, the Lakers narrowly defeated their opponents by 7 points and defended their home court.

The pressure of criticism will come after this loss. To say that losing to the Suns is nothing, but the Lakers can be called the old enemy of the Rockets, and they have been eliminated by the Rockets for two consecutive years and sent home. Now the Lakers have less F3, but they have won two games against the Rockets. The media did not attack Tang Shuai, but they held Van Gundy to the sky. In particular, Yahoo Sports dug up the news that Alexander once wanted to hire Van Gundy, and there was no shortage of ridicule about the Rocket.

Fortunately, no one in the Rockets players questioned Tang Shuai's prestige, and no one dared to raise questions such as whether it would be better to replace Van Gundy. However, Dawson communicated with Yuan Fei privately, after all, Lao Tang's contract was about to expire, and it was estimated that he would not continue depending on his physical condition.

'I'm very clear about Rudy's shortcomings, he's too pampering and gives players too much space. Yuanfei analyzed: "Of course it's OK to have a superstar like Tracy who can control the whole game, and as soon as Tracy rests, our performance plummets." It's because Rudy trusts the players too much and treats them as adults. Van Gundy is like an elementary school teacher, treating the players as children and explaining every detail on the field to them. This kind of teaching is good for leading a group of role players to achieve results, but it is not conducive to player development in the long run. He's good for taking bad teams into the playoffs, but not for championship-caliber teams. ”

Dawson nodded repeatedly, convinced. From this point of view, Tomjanovich, Phil. Jackson and Rick. The Adelman routine is relatively close. Zen master Jackson is a notoriously non-time-out coach who likes to let his players think for themselves and solve problems on their own. Yuanfei took a fancy to Adelman as his successor, and it can be regarded as a succession.

The next question for the two to discuss is who is the leader of the team? Lao Tang is a good man, and he will not command the players in a big way like Fan Baldzi, so there must be a leader among the players to command everyone. In the past, the leader on the field was Maddie, and the leader in the locker room was Big Dream, but now both of them are gone, and although this team is still talented and combative, it lacks a spirit.

On January 9, the Rockets defeated the Nuggets away, Billups scored 34 points and 11 assists on 5-of-9 three-point shooting, and Yao Ming also scored 30+11.

After the game, it was a rare two-day break, and Yuanfei used his personal relationship to invite Yao Ming to dinner, and this time the discussion was about how to establish Yao Ming's authority as a leader.

On January 12, the Rockets challenged the Mavericks away. The team flew to Dallas in the morning, and the itinerary was similar to that of a normal day, and after the players had a moderate break at noon, they came to the stadium in the afternoon for acclimatization training, and after a dinner break, they played a game.

After more than an hour of training in the afternoon, Wang Yuanfei came to the training ground out of breath. "I'm sorry guys, but I didn't get on a plane with you because of something at school today." He smirked.

None of the players took it seriously, after all, data analysts don't need to go with the team to every away game, and besides, this young master has a special identity, who dares to be more serious with him.

But Yao Ming dares!

"Don't do that next time, we all take this game in Dallas very seriously, and everyone really wants to win the Mavericks once. You should show up when the team needs you. Yao Ming criticized Yuanfei mercilessly.

"Yes!" Yuanfei had a correct attitude, went to Tang Shuai to report, and after getting his affirmation, he stopped training and publicly reviewed it to the players.

"I was a team manager, I didn't take the lead in following the team's schedule, I didn't participate in the previous training, which affected the team's training plan to a certain extent. I formally apologize to all of you. Yuan Fei apologized to the players and staff very seriously: "Yao is the leader of our team, and even he can't stand to criticize me, which shows that I usually have a lot of shortcomings, which may have caused dissatisfaction among some players." I hope you will give me some advice and help me correct my shortcomings. Please trust me and treat me and the rest of the staff as family. Only if we are united can we continue to win. ”

The smart Billups nodded secretly, the little boss is playing a bitter trick, this is to help Yao Ming Liwei. Even the small boss has to accept Yao Ming's criticism, which player can disagree? If you are not satisfied, just wait to be traded.

But most players don't think as well as Chaunse, after all, Lao Mei doesn't have as many communicative eyes as Chinese. The upright Bosh was still worried about Yao Ming, and when he saw that Yuanfei apologized, he was also relieved. Potzbilla was even more surprised, the Rockets were too far apart from the team he had been with before. Why does the small boss have to apologize to the players when he is late? It seems that this team is really good, businesslike, fair enough.

Yao Ming also struck while the iron was hot, and said a few words seriously before the game, encouraging everyone to go all out to win and strive for the first kill of the Mavericks of the season.

Sure enough, the Rockets players played extremely hard, and although Nowitzki was still shooting hot, Bosh repeatedly went around the front to stop him from receiving and shooting. Noh Tianwang finally scored two, and the defender in front of him was replaced by Vallejo. The king of heaven took out his hand and made a probe after making contact, but he didn't expect Vallejo to fall as soon as he got wet, and Nowitzki ate an offensive foul.

Containing Nowitzki doesn't mean it can contain the Mavericks' offense. Terry, Finley, and Stackhouse are all good scorers, but the Rockets also blossomed more today, Reed scored 25 points on 6-of-8 three-point shooting, Billups also hit two three-pointers to score 12+8, and Jefferson scored 21 points on 4-of-9 three-pointers. Coupled with Yao Ming's 30 points, the Rockets finally overturned the Mavericks 126-114 away.

The next day, the Rockets returned to their home court to play back-to-back games against the Nets. The Nets just completed a big 5-for-1 deal with the Raptors, trading 3 players including Mourning plus 2 draft picks for Canadian Flyer Humans. Carter. Yao Ming easily cut 20+10 against Collins, who started in place of Mourning, while Billups contributed 35 points on 6-of-7 three-point shooting to blow up Nets superstar Kidd. At 85:90, the Rockets won two consecutive victories after establishing Yao's core. (To be continued.) )