Chapter 14: The Tactics of the Four Differences

Time flies, and the preseason is about to kick off in the blink of an eye.

The Rockets are also on the verge of hosting their first preseason opponent, the New Orleans Hornets.

The Hornets are still CP3 Chris Paul's team, and last season, the Hornets were okay with injuries, and they are looking to break out in the new season.

This summer, the Hornets signed Peterson, Pargo and David Wesley, and the addition of these three has undoubtedly boosted the overall strength of the Hornets. In addition, Stojakovic has also recovered from injury, and the Serbian star has stated that he will give his all in the new season to help the Hornets achieve satisfactory results.

In the face of the first preseason game, the Rockets, who have changed their coach, must further adapt to the new tactics, and the Hornets who have changed their personnel will also have to run in the personnel.

However, the number of fans watching the game inside the stadium and the empty media seats at the stadium showed that it was only a pre-season game.

According to the pre-game arrangement of the Rocket coaching staff, no matter what the score of this game is, Yao Mai's playing time will not exceed 20 minutes.

After the opening ceremony, the starters from both sides came on one after another.

On the Rockets' side, Rick Adelman fielded a starting lineup that wasn't a surprise: center Yao Ming, power forward Landry, small forward Maddy, shooting guard Battier, and point guard Alston.

Compared to last season, the Rockets' starting lineup has only changed from Juwan Howard to young Carl Landry.

On the Hornets' side, starting center Tyson Chandler, power forward David West, small forward is core Peja Stojakovic, shooting guard is Bobby Jackson, and point guard Chris Paul.

"Drop!"

As the referee's whistle blew, Yao Ming pulled the ball back into the half court from Chandler's hand, and the Rockets got the opportunity to attack first.

"Yao's bounce seems to be much better than last season?"

Just when the fans at the scene were still marveling at Yao Ming, who always lost more and won less in the past when he danced with Chandler, this time he easily jumped to win Chandler, and the Rockets were already about to fall.

After receiving the ball, Maddie held the basketball back with one arm, and Paul, who came back to the defense, put on a singles fight, but in the next second, he didn't move his head, and directly threw the ball to the back of his head, and the ball flew straight to Landry, who was fast.

Landry took a step forward from the ball, jumped high and raised his arms, and shook his arms with a two-handed dunk.

"Bang!"

With a muffled sound, the basketball was smashed into the hoop.

The entire Toyota Center was boiling in an instant!

"The rocket is speeding up?" Hornets head coach Byron Scott was puzzled, but he was still ready to take another look, "Can Yao keep up with this speed?" ”

The Hornets' offense, Paul chose to split the ball near the breaking free throw line, and "17-foot assassin" David West faced Landry's defense, and he chose to step back and shoot.

Landry came up with a blindfold defense that learned from Battier and managed to interfere with David West's shooting sight.

"Bang!"

David West's shot came out, and the rebound was won by Yao Ming.

"Carl did a good job!" RJ Adelman, who was on the sidelines, tilted his head to David.

David nodded with satisfaction, this offense and defense, Landry has fully shown his characteristics, even if he is facing an All-Star fringe player like David West, it is completely worthwhile.

Yao Ming passed the ball to Alston, who dribbled to the front court and handed it directly to Maddy, who was standing at the top of the three-point arc.

"What?" Hornets head coach Byron Scott was stunned when he saw this, "This is also a Princeton tactic?" ”

Adelman's Princeton tactic is that the center mentions the free throw line to hold the ball, and the rest of the players are constantly moving to create open spots, while the Rockets are now Maddy holding the ball at the top of the three-point line arc to lead the offense.

The fans are also puzzled, is this a play-forward style of play, or a Princeton tactic?

After Maddy held the ball, the Rockets quickly blocked and dismantled on both sides, Battier and Alston walked the bottom corner three-point line on both sides, Yao Ming took advantage of Landry's block to land inside, and Landry also fell near the mid-range shooting point after the dismantling.

Byron Scott's brow furrowed, this is not a traditional Princeton tactic, it is somewhat plausible, but it is also difficult to limit.

At this moment, there were four offensive options on the field in an instant!

Yao Ming and Chandler under the basket are one-on-one?

Or Battier and Alston with three-pointers in the bottom corner?

Or Landry, who has already shown his mid-range shooting ability in summer league?

As for Maddie, who holds the ball at the top of the three-point arc, this in itself is a killer feature for opponents.

"Rub, this is a triangular attack, right?" Byron Scott felt a little like the Princeton tactics, but it felt a bit like a triangle offense.

Maddie's first step was already the fastest in today's NBA, and now after binding Jun Tsuchiya, he broke through Bobby Jackson, who has an old grudge, in one step, and then rushed to the basket.

Chandler hurriedly gave up Yao Ming and wanted to step forward to make up for the defense, but at this moment, Maddie passed the ball without looking at people and played the basketball directly under Chandler's armpit.

And then......

"Bang!"

Yao Ming smashed the basketball into the basket!

Two attacks, all of them are violent buckles!

Yao Mai is connected for the first time in the new season!

"Tsk!" David was not very satisfied, after Maddy's breakthrough just now, Stojakovic and David West had recovered, and Maddy could have passed the ball to the unmarked Battier and Landry, instead of risking it from Chandler's armpit to Yao Ming.

If Chandler had reacted a little quicker, he would have had a chance to break the ball off the line.

But players are not machines, and in the case of equal chances, or when there is not much difference in chance, the choice of passing often involves more aspects.

Of course, Maddy's choice is not wrong, after all, it is still two questions whether Battier and the three-point shot and Landry's mid-range shot are scored, and as long as the ball is passed to Yao Ming, it is a 100% shooting rate.

After the Hornets served from the baseline, Paul dribbled over half the court and easily broke through Alston's defense, but just when he thought that this time he was going to make a layup, he encountered Yao Ming's huge palm!

"Bang!"

After Yao Ming blocked Paul's layup, he quickly jumped twice and grabbed the rebound before Chandler took the rebound into his arms again.

This made the fans at the scene almost jump!

Who has ever seen a big center close to 2.3 meters with such speed and agility?

Yao Ming did not pass the ball to Alstom this time, but directly threw it to Battier.

Battier took the ball and was ready to go down quickly, but this time he was stopped by the Hornets.

The Rockets had to slowly advance to the frontcourt, with Maddy holding the ball in the same position.

Byron Scott loudly reminded his players from the sidelines that the Hornets have a relatively small defensive lock and that if Maddie breaks through again, he will get caught in the netting they have set up.

At this moment, Maddie directly threw the ball to Battier in the bottom corner, and Battier, who had just run without the ball and shook off the defender, received the ball and shot directly.

The basketball swirled through a high parabola in the air, and then fell straight down.

"Huh!"

A crisp sound echoed through the arena, and Battier hit the first three-pointer of the game.

"That's it!" Compared with the previous violent dunks of Landry and Yao Ming, this time Battier's three points made David excited, raising his arms and shouting, the previous two balls showed more of the player's personal ability, and this ball is the role of tactics!

Byron Scott was also stunned for a moment, he is more or less reminiscent now.

The Rockets' offense is not complicated, it is not simple, it is Maddie holding the ball at the three-point line, which seems to be a Princeton tactic, but the core is still a triangle offense led by Yao Mai and the two, but unlike the pure triangle offense that uses individual singles to finish the offense, the Rockets' triangle offense is based on Yao Mai's containment, and the other three follow the characteristics of Princeton's tactics of running without the ball and multiple blocks and dismantles to end the offense.

This tactic has both the shadow of the triangle offensive and the outline of the Princeton tactic.

In the final analysis, it's still a superstar tactic.

As long as you can defend Maddie and Yao Ming alone, you can limit the Rockets' offense.

But what team can do it?

Can you make OK combinations at your peak?

The game on the court continued, and Paul's mid-range shot after the breakaway finally got the Hornets open.

After the rebound was accepted by Yao Ming, the Rockets continued to push and counterattack.

Maddie continued to organize the offense, but after two passes, the other players of the Rockets did not get the opportunity to shoot unguarded, and the Hornets players were still physically gifted, and under the full defense, plus the Rockets had just accepted this tactic, this time they did not run a good offensive opportunity.

When the basketball passed back to Maddy's again, there were only Yao Ming and Chandler near the three-second zone.

Seeing this, Maddie didn't hesitate, and a cannonball-like pass smashed into Yao Ming's arms.

After Yao Ming received the ball, he hit Chandler with a force, and then directly turned around and hooked his hand.

"Huh!"

Before Chandler could jump to interfere, Yao Ming's small hook hand had already sent the ball into the basket steadily, and the scene instantly resounded with explosive cheers from fans.

"That's it!" David was also smiling at this time.

That's why Yao still doesn't recommend Adelman to play Princeton's tactics even after tying Masashi Kawada and having a playmaking and mid-range shooting ability that can rival Brad Miller.

There is a big killer like Yao Ming under the basket, and he also mentioned that the upline organization is attacking, isn't it a brutal thing?

(End of chapter)