Chapter 12: Unsolvable Puzzles

"I'll go, Tracy's little legs, it's really ecstatic!" David couldn't stop admiring Maddie's calf curve gliding into the sky after another slam dunk.

"Who's to say it isn't." RJ Adelman also nodded from the side.

During the draft and summer league, RJ Adelman was a scout for the Rockets, running around, and the two brothers kept together until the preseason was about to begin.

A week after David returned to Houston, the Rockets players also arrived at the Rockets training hall one after another, and he also imprinted the ability value of the Rockets players in his eyes.

In the Rockets, the highest ability value is undoubtedly Maddie, who has an ability value of 93 and is the only superstar on the Rockets team to go above 90.

David also saw the style of a superstar for the first time, Maddie in the Rocket training gym is really invincible, as long as he wants to score, even the double bag can't work; As long as he wants to dunk, even Yao Mingzhen is powerless to guard the basket.

"This is what Kobe Bryant has praised as the most difficult player he has ever encountered on the court!" David soon became a fan of Maddie.

In his opinion, Maddie's talent and ability are undoubted, but his mental power or willpower is not perfect, just like Xiandao Akira in "Slam Dunk", you can't say that he is not serious, but compared to Paranoid people like Kobe Bryant and Rukawa Kaede, he is still lacking.

And it is this seemingly inconspicuous absence that makes Maddie a big step away from Kobe, Jordan and other all-time top supergiants in the same position.

Yao Ming's 88 ability value ranks second in the Rockets, and he is also the only 3 stars in the Rockets team with Maddy and Brooks with an ability value of 80.

The meeting between David and Yao Ming is definitely worth a special mention by Chinese reporters, because the first meeting between the two, David burst out fluent Mandarin, which shocked Yao Ming's eyeballs.

As everyone knows, Yao Ming was shocked because of David's Mandarin, and David was also surprised that Da Yao, who is not a female omen Sun and Moon now.

Even though Yao Ming's American English is already very fluent, being able to hear the language of his motherland in a foreign country still makes him quickly get acquainted with David, who came prepared, and even Yao Ming invited David to Yao's restaurant for a dinner alone.

Originally, as the third person on the team, Battier could rank third on the Rockets with 76 ability points, but after David tied Brooks and Landry to basketball stars, he can only be ranked fifth in the Rockets.

However, David has also prepared a bound basketball star for Battier, but he is still hesitant about the final selection.

Because after Brooks and Landry are bound, David's $15 in the "distribution system" is currently only $10, and any next option needs to be cautious.

In addition to Yao Mai and Battier, the rest of the Rockets' veterans are of uneven level, including Alston, Bunch Wells and Mike James, a group of midstream players with 70 ability points, as well as Chuck Hayes, Steve Novak, Kirk Snyder and Luthor Hyde, as well as twilight veterans like Mutombo and Francis, who are no longer brilliant, and overall strength is not strong.

This is also the reason why in the past and present life, several rookies such as Landry and Brooks can immediately become the main force of the team as soon as they come to the Rockets.

And as the players arrived at the Rockets' training gym one after another, the Rockets' preseason roster gradually surfaced.

Centre-forwards: Yao Ming, Marc Gasol, DiCambe Mutombo

Power forwards: Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes, Mike Harris

Small forwards: Sean Battier, Bunch Wells, Steve Novak, Kirk Snyder

Shooting guards: Tracy McGrady, Luther Hyde

Point guards: Ralph Alston, Aaron Brooks, Mike James, Steve Francis

As we all know, an NBA team can only have a maximum of 15 players on the regular season roster, and the maximum number of players on the court per game is only 12 in total, so the current 17-man Rockets team still needs to brush 2 players in the preseason.

Or simply cancel the contract – for example, Mike Harris, who is currently on an unguaranteed contract.

Or devolve it to the Development Alliance.

Obviously, no one wants to be two of the seventeenth.

The Rockets' preseason training has been a week underway, but the results have not been as good as they could have been.

Adelman had promised to continue the tactics of his predecessor Van Gundy before coming to the Rockets, so defensively, the Rockets are no problem at all, and even the strongest in recent years.

Landry's defense has allowed Yao Ming to finally have a qualified interior partner on the defensive end, and Marc Gasol has also shown his talent on defense, and the rest of the defense is basically online.

But when it comes to offense, David can often see Rick scratching his head when he is training.

The current offense of the rocket can be divided into three stages, or it can be said that it is a choice of three stages.

Their first goal is to increase their speed, but they are also able to look for opportunities after falling into positional battles.

The Rockets' first choice was Brooks' quick push for a four-man run, Brooks quickly advanced, the other four followed, and Brooks was looking for an opportunity to break through to the basket or break through the ball in the transition.

The second choice is to respond to the high position and run back. Once the fast break doesn't have a chance, the ball quickly hits the inside of the free-throw line, where Scola or Yao Mingcue responds, and Brooks and Maddy look for opportunities to counter and cut or catch the ball through the cover pocket.

On the third chance, Maddie or Yao Ming holds the ball and breaks through with teammates, or pulls away a single, and one of them ends the attack.

David knew Rick well, so he knew his father preferred the first and second options because it was the Princeton tactic he was best at.

Maddie's holding the ball, Yao Ming's possession of the basket, and the slow half-court offense are not in line with his basketball philosophy, and the Rockets have never played the mobile offense he wanted.

But at present, the staffing and characteristics of the Rockets are more suitable for playing the third option, that is, Yao Mai's individual singles.

In terms of offensive ability alone, Yao Ming's under-the-basket offense is unsurpassed in today's NBA, and the offensive ability with the ball is comparable to Maddie's, which is also rare in the basketball world at the moment.

It's obviously stupid to forsake a strong point, but it's contrary to Rick Adelman's basketball philosophy.

But the arrogant Maddie couldn't accept more off-ball offense, and Yao Ming struggled to adapt to Princeton's tactics.

This seems to be an unsolvable puzzle.

"Rick, Martha just called, asking me and RJ to go home for dinner." David pushed open the manager's office and saw Rick Adelman with a frowning face.

"Ah, it's David." Rick rubbed his temples on both sides of his forehead, "You two haven't been home in a long time, too." ”

"Still having a headache for Yao Ming and T-MAC?" Instead of sitting down, David searched around Rick's office, remembering that when he moved, Rick brought a lot of good wine.

"Oh, it's Romanée Conti in '97." David's eyes lit up, and he finally searched for his target.

"Put that down!" Rick quickly stood up and snatched the red wine from David's hand, "You kid has ruined a lot of my good wine." ”

"Hey, don't be so stingy!" David spread out his hands, "I also have Moutai for you in Huaxia!" ”

"Humph!" Rick didn't have a good breath, "Although they are all good wines, can the price be the same?" ”

"What if I give you a way to tackle the team's offense." David pointed to the thousand-dollar red wine in Rick's hand, "How about giving me Romanée Conti?" ”

"Then let's talk about it first." Rick knew that his youngest son's tactical abilities were like the "magic ball storm" he set off at Lincoln Middle School last year, so he immediately turned his full attention.

David also said: "Princeton's offense used to rely on the center to respond, but if the Rockets play Princeton like this, it means wasting Yao's offensive ability under the basket, and T-MAC may not like to circle on the outside." ”

"That's right." Rick nodded, this is a problem that the Rockets can't avoid at the moment.

"Rick, you don't want to play Princeton, you want the ball to move, do you?" David asked rhetorically.

In the previous life, David, as a simple fan, thought that Adelman would play Princeton tactics and fight all over the world with a set of tactics, but in this life he really realized how powerful Rick is.

Adelman's last years as king are strong evidence that he didn't just know Princeton. At that time, Webb, the team's boss, was already older, Bibby was becoming more and more like a point guard in the point guard position, and Peja Stojakovic had a big impact on his competitive form because of his conflict with the team.

In the 2005-06 season, the Kings sent Peja to the Pacers in exchange for defensive titan Artest in order to bolster their defense.

From the mess at the start of the league to the middle of the schedule, Adelman has coached the Kings to feel like two teams in a locker room: either Princeton's style of play dominated by Brad Miller and Bibby, or Artest's interior singles, with the two lineups rotated.

Although they lost to the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs that year, the Kings' lethal style of play became another proof of Adelman's coaching career.

This is Adelman, a master tactician, not just a coach who knows Princeton.

"If you want this Rockets team to work, you can let Brooks lead the team in the bench and play the pseudo-bombardment, and ...... in the main stage" Speaking of which, David stared at Rick, "How about playing playmaking forward?" ”

(End of chapter)